He came to 40 yards and stood by a brush pile. It was another doe, and the big buck was right behind her. Still, he never caught up to the deer during the 2018 season. It later taped out at 186 3/8 inches. Around 6:55 p.m., this giant buck stepped out of the cover and walked toward him. On Dec. 8, 2021, though, he did. biggest deer ever? The stage now was set for him to truly blossom into a world-class trophy. Hooper waited 15 minutes before starting the recovery. So I went ahead and let the bow down to the ground, climbed over and onto the climbing sticks, he says. It was bittersweet. They were a little downwind and they started getting nervous. He was just a special deer, and very much a result of patience in both management and hunting. It was sunny and 40 degrees with a north-northwest wind. I leaned Dads .25-06 against the tree and tried to collect myself, he said. Fowler's buck scored 212 6/8 making it the #12 All time Non-Typical in Arkansas Matt Howard had the biggest Typical that scored 172 6/8 making it the #44 largest typical in Arkansas to date. When he succeeded, he was hooked. He encountered the buck a second time soon after. The deer closed within range, and Jared took the 27-yard, quartering-away shot. One day, while Lee was with him at his house, his father confirmed his fears. Chase Watson shot the biggest buck he's ever killed two weeks ago while hunting from a treestand on his family's farm in Arkansas. I sprayed some Tinks Doe in Heat Urine, more to check the wind direction that anything else, he said. Jeremy Martinson had been hunting in the area throughout the season, but on Nov. 1, 2021, he received an opportunity at a huge whitetail. Instead, they hunted elsewhere in hopes of allowing the deer to live another year. Stan Potts doubles down in Montana and Wyoming. The story of Loyd's Arkansas buck shows why effective deer management in many states is creating the potential for record-book . By 2021, there was no doubt this was the largest 4x4 hed ever hunted. In this edition of "Big Buck Profile," Gordon Whittington talks with young whitetail hunter Reid Crawford about his trophy buck taken in 2017. Hunting public land, he killed a buck in the Natural State that would make a Midwesterner swoon. Last year, in Arkansas. Since then, I've only killed deer with my bow. Although Moreland hadnt gun-hunted in years, he made the decision to muzzleloader hunt during Arkansas early blackpowder season. He was directly downwind of me and lifted his head and sniffed," Ryan recalls. West Virginia hunters killed a total of 118,606 deer . Morelands arrow went in perfectly through the top of one lung, but hit a rib on the opposite side. Then, a big deer walked out of the timber to his left. Ive been hunting all my life, Murdaugh said. He posted trail cameras, and confirmed it was him. The majority of these came from Maverick (28), La Salle (24), Webb (23), Dimmit (20) and Kleberg (11) counties. I said, did you hear my shot? He said, yeah, what did you get? I said, Im not sure but its the biggest Ive ever seen here. This deer is special because 8-pointers typically dont get to this level. The action was fast and furious right from the get-go. In 2011 the buck blossomed into a true shooter. Moreland, who always brings his camera along to film hunts, talked to the rolling camera for about 20 minutes before settling into his climber to wait. It was so thick that he couldnt see what made the sound, though. Arnold, an environmental engineer for Tyson Foods, is an expert bowhunter who hunts in some of America's most . That's based on photos from 2010, when he clearly wasn't over 3 1/2. With a net non-typical score of 212 6/8 it is also our largest whitetail ever taken with a muzzleloader. The region is unique to Arkansas in that it doesn't have a traditional rifle season. I hunted him hard all of 2020, but he disappeared mid-October. I shot him, and he bucked up like a bucking bronco, spun and turned back into the woods.. Bryant scored big in 2007 when he took the Oklahoma state record whitetail deer. He was coming right towards me. With his head down, did I hit an antler? On Nov. 24, Hall launched his boat around 9:30 a.m. and reached his stand half an hour later. Neither can most people who hunt this Southwest Mississippi county, which has produced only one non-typical entry in the Magnolia Records Program, a 174 4/8-inch 10-point in 2011. Throughout the day, we saw a few bucks that I rattled in, one being a nice 4-year-old, Kamps said. By the fall of 2013, Ryan was enrolled at Arkansas State University in Jonesboro. Im very fortunate to have had the opportunity not only to see a wild New Hampshire buck this big, but harvest him., Justin Kamps Illinois GiantScore: 170 inchesDate of Kill: Nov. 4, 2021Location: Northwest IllinoisWeapon: Hoyt RX-1 compound bow. Eastern Arkansas farm country is home to a growing number of record-book deer. The buck took three steps and bounced back. "I've always loved deer hunting," the young sportsman says. It took a while, but they started to figure things out. Chase Watson shot the biggest buck he's ever killed two weeks ago while hunting from a treestand on his family's farm in Arkansas. Articles may contain affiliate links which enable us to share in the revenue of any purchases made. I could see his left horn and it looked bloody, and I instantly thought he was still in velvet. When you see a photo of a young hunter with a world-class deer, it's tempting to wonder if he or she "lucked" into it, or if perhaps an older hunter did most of the scouting and strategizing. The larger buck snort-wheezed twice. Then, much to his surprise, and with only a few minutes of shooting light left, the big deer reemerged in front of him. His stand location was in a draw between two ridges that led to a destination ag field. He was hunting in a large clearcut paralleled by a steep ridge line. The deer had fallen, but gotten back up and continued running. A few minutes later, his friend, David, who was also in the tree, said he heard something in the bottom. He was running away from me, and it was a snap shot. He lived in Mississippi until 2004, when he moved back to the Arkansas town of Benton just southwest of Little Rock. Check out these 10 monster bucks that were taken throughout the country. The hunt unfolded on Nov. 28. He hit hard, fracturing a bone in his right leg and three vertebrae in his back. Ryan did have one other encounter with the buck that season, but it was while he was taking his 7-year-old cousin out for his first-ever deer hunt. When the Washington Blade caught up with Gisele Barreto . It was very warm for November, extending upward of 70 degrees with a southeasterly wind. and the buck followed. I killed him in the mock scrape I created., The deer ran 30 yards and tipped over. . If he had any chance of killing the deer with his 50-pound Toelke Whip longbow, Johnathan was going to have to get the buck in close again. A native of Hattiesburg and graduate of the University of Southern Mississippi, Cleveland lives on Ross Barnett Reservoir near Jackson with his wife Pam. We estimate he was 7 1/2 years old. Whispering 'fire in the hole ' while floating the crosshairs on the spot, I gently squeezed the trigger until the recoil removed the buck from my view. I followed it up with a few grunts and grabbed my rifle. Like many of his fellow Arkansans, Ryan is a deer and duck fanatic. X-Vision Optics long-range ImpactThermal Scope (TS300) boasts a 640 x 480 thermal sensor that can detect big game well past 3,000 yards. Watson has been bowhunting on his familys 450-acre farm since he was 10. Instantly, my mind started in on me, he said. I was in the wide open, but it worked out. We started game planning, dreaming of getting close to this magnificent animal.. It netted 209 0/8 Boone and Crockett, but grossed 216 2/8 B&C before the mandatory, 60-day drying period. Justin Kamps first learned of this deer in 2019, but it wasnt on their radar. He found the matching sheds of the buck from the year before, and he played his cards just right during the multi-year pursuit. He missed. The one on the right was 4 inches. I couldnt believe what I was looking at.. I was just hoping he would survive in 2013 and not lose too much . My dads spirits never once faltered.. He was 28 yards, quartering away, when he stopped. The DNR estimated 574,000 hunters spent 8.7 million days afield during the 2017 deer season, and harvested 376,000 deer for a nearly 50% success rate. Subscribe to our newsletter for new stories, tips & events. Ryan was shooting a 2-blade Rage broadhead. And to get close enough to kill one, you need to be smarter than they are. But this buck would measure much more than that. Despite having broken off a 9-inch tine on his left side when he crashed, there was no ground shrinkage. At the 2009 Arkansas Big Buck Classic, the huge typical mainframe 5x5 rack officially gross-scored 182 7/8 inches and netted 174 2/8. Is This the Largest Buck of the 2019 Deer Season. He was a good-looking, 150-class 10 . Likewise, the last 200-class buck to break into Boone and Crocket Club's list, which includes gun-hunted deer, was also killed in 2003, and 2000 before that. Although the arrow hit a little high, striking the spine but went through both lungs. Its hard to justify shooting a spike or forkhorn when you know there is a Boone and Crockett buck in the area. When the buck is adding 20-30 inches of antler per year, the stakes just keep getting higher. However, some just keep growing. This deer means so much, Reed said. Lefty was gone., Then, our family received news that rocked me to my core, Lee said. Yet, the state Game Commission charged him with poaching, killing out of season what was described as the largest bear ever seen in the county. BREATHE LIFE! He was truly the deer of a lifetime.. They monitored the buck for several weeks, and hunted some, but had no luck. The arrow slipped right behind his shoulder, and the buck didnt go far. Currently, Watson is recovering from his injuries at home. Much to his surprise, he turned, and there stood Lefty about 70 yards away. . Texas. I killed a lot of deer with a gun before I started bowhunting about six years ago. We couldnt believe what we were looking at. In addition to the single short drop tine, the deer had two split brow tines one with three splits. I thought he was bigger than 190. This deer had a track that was undeniable. I hit it four times, pointing in each direction once.. He decided he would try to take a deer with it. While in Mississippi, Hooper made many friends and became a serious deer hunter, joining a club in Scott County. Follow along to see exactly how. He weighed 235 pounds (field dressed), and New England is known for hunters who classify a trophy not by the antler size, but the dressed weight. The following year, he put on significant main beam length. Two weeks ago, Arkansas hunter Chase Watson took the biggest buck hes ever killed however it came with a price. Within minutes, the buck showed. Hall sure did. . Lee Dixon and his father have been hunting together for 28 years. He was hunting hill country in a 65-acre hay meadow, which was part of the larger 160-acre cattle operation. I called my dad and said, 'It's over. The buck turned broadside, and Hall grunted to stop the buck for a top-pin shot. At just about any time I could have gone and seen him a mile away in a bean field. . It was a special deer. 5 Purdue outlasted Wisconsin 63-61. Konschak was hunting deer in nearby property and said he killed what he thought were . They both laid their ears back and stood their hair up, Hall says. Bucks like this in New Hampshire on public land are far and few, Martinson said. Kamps settled the pin and took it. In addition to being the top non-typical bow buck in Arkansas history, this giant was the state's biggest killed by any hunter, gun or bow, in 2013. On a morning when the bucks in Scott County were in a serious mood for love, Jason Hooper got a lucky break when he pulled the trigger on the first shooter than ran past chasing a doe. Arkansas resident named Stan Whitt, . The left main beam had palmation, and the last circumferences were as big as the bases. Everything about himhis frame, tines and beamis exceptional., Lee Dixons Tennessee TankScore: UnknownDate of Kill: 2021Location: TennesseeWeapon: .25-06 Remington. After a while, he looked for the deer and recovered his buck. STACY FOWLER Danville, AR The big non-typical buck killed by Stacy Fowler of Danville is the largest deer taken in the Natural State last season. After graduating from college, the West Memphis, Ark., native moved to Jackson in 1992 to begin his career. Man, that stand doesnt have any cover at all, not at all, and I was sticking out like a sore thumb, he said. This means you have the option to read your magazine on most popular phones and tablets. I turned in his direction and prepared to shoot. Mississippi Sportsman Frequently Asked Questions, Mississippi Sportsman Big Buck Photo Contest. Photo by: Markus Semmler. Taking any deer with a traditional bow is an accomplishment, but shooting a giant buck with a traditional bow can be a truly once-in-a-lifetime experience. Junior's outstanding whitetail is the biggest ever recorded from Monroe County, and he ranks as one of the Bluegrass State's top bucks from the 2013-14 season. Stan Potts heads to Montana with his rifle in search of a Big Sky buck. The buck had morphed into a world-class bruiser right on Ryan's home turf. Fast forwarding to Sept. 7, 2021, the day brought hot temperatures. Lucas drew back, settled his pin, and took the 38-yard shot. Thank you, Dad, for being my constant in life. I knew about this buck in 2018, he says. He was hunting near a pond and a small field. Taylor's Temptation. The buck took off, the arrow still in him. The buck was as massive as hed looked on camera, and the biggest Moreland had ever killed. . Unfortunately, the spike spotted Latimer move, and started to ease off. Around 2:30, Hall heard some deer and spotted two does walking through the water. Check out these 10 monster bucks that were taken throughout the country. Last year, we thought he was a really great deer, but this year, hes a world-class 8-pointer. Arkansas rounds out the top of the special state stats thanks to William L. Loyd's 2018 typical buck from Lee County that scored 200-1/8 points and ranks #17 All-time and #1 in the state, pending review by the Judges Panel for the 31st Big Game Awards in 2022. The doe, however, wanted nothing to do with her pursuer and jumped into a nearby pond in an attempt to flee the buck. The first year was challenging, as they had to learn how deer used the property. They hoped itd survive another season or two. But, I will keep shooting the 125s and 130s because around here, those are what you expect and they are trophies.. Whitney Reed and her husband, Cody, spend a lot of time hunting big Oklahoma bucks. However, this 4-year quest came to fruition on the most stereotypical whitetail rut day on the calendar for most of North America: Nov. 15. Hunters in Texas have killed 200 bucks since 2010 that made book. Ryan estimated the deer now was 7 1/2 years old. This monster Arkansas buck is rumored to gross 212 inches with a net of 195 inches on the Boone & Crockett scoring system and could be certified as the new state record. He was quartering to my right and I let him put another 100 yards between us so I could get turned. Dad came alive. Subscriber Services. 10. This photo isn't great so don't be confused by the extra antler on the bottom left; it's from an adjacent deer . I remember telling them, 'It's going to be a perfect morning in the morning. "About 50 yards behind the doe, there he was. The G3 on the right had three stickers and the left G3 had two. I finally decided to take a chance and take off work. Its pretty common to scroll through your social media news feed this time of year and see various photos of bowhunters sitting behind the monster bucks they have shot. Everytime we go out, we can get our hopes up that the deer crunching the leaves behind the stand we're in is one we have only seen in our dreams until now. His father remembered some advice from Grandpa Hill (Jimmy) about hunting near water on rainy days. It was a long 4-year process, but it paid off.". In fact, going into 2013 he'd shot two net Boone & Crocketts: one a non-typical scoring over 200, the other a typical from public land. I called my dad at 7:45 a.m. and told him what had happened." Now in private ownership and no longer a club, it was on that same property he took the 16-point. My other younger brother was hunting the same property 200 yards away and I called him, he said. Ryan didn't bother taking his bow that day, as he'd been hunting for seven straight days and hadn't seen the big deer once.