Year Of The Giant
Field & Stream|August 2017

Last season was special for top-end bucks, and 2017 could be even better

Scott Bestul
Year Of The Giant

IN THE ANNALS of trophy whitetail bucks, the year 2016 will go down as one to remember. On Nov. 7, 27-year-old Tennessean Stephen Tucker killed the largest hunter-killed non typical whitetail ever taken. With 47 scorable points, the 312-inch giant easily toppled the long-famous 3075⁄8-inch Lovstuen buck for that distinction. Just a few weeks after Tucker’s buck rocked the whitetail world, on Nov. 21 Iowan Deric Sieck arrowed a 2822⁄8-inch behemoth that now stands as the second-largest bow-killed whitetail in history.

In short, monster-buck lightning struck twice in 2016—and yet the fact that these two giant white tails fell in the same season was, oddly, predictable. In the Feb.–Mar. 2016 issue of FIELD & STREAM, we covered what was widely described as a “crash” in whitetail numbers, in which years of aggressive antlerless harvests combined with a pair of epic EHD outbreaks brought deer numbers down nationwide, and especially in several midwestern trophy-buck strongholds. Making matters worse, northern states endured the monstrous winter of 2012–13, which resulted in winterkills the likes of which had not been seen in decades.

But in our coverage of the crash, Justin Spring, assistant director of records for the Boone and Crockett Club, offered one of the few silver linings. “If history is any teacher, we may see more top-end bucks shot in the next few years,” he told me then. “If you look at our books, most of the really big whitetails came from areas with relatively low deer densities.” It comes down to simple math, he explained. Fewer deer on the landscape means less competition for prime feed and less social stress. “Under those conditions, bucks that have the potential to get truly large have the chance to do so.”

Denne historien er fra August 2017-utgaven av Field & Stream.

Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.

Denne historien er fra August 2017-utgaven av Field & Stream.

Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.

FLERE HISTORIER FRA FIELD & STREAMSe alt
Field & Stream

LIVING THE DREAM

After the author arrives in Maine’s fabled North Woods with a moose tag in his pocket, an adventure he’s been wanting to take his entire hunting life, reality sets in, and he learns a valuable lesson: Be careful what you wish for

time-read
10+ mins  |
Volume 125 - Issue 4, 2020
Field & Stream

Get the Drift

How to make an accurate windage call under pressure

time-read
4 mins  |
Volume 125 - Issue 4, 2020
First Sit
Field & Stream

First Sit

An icebreaker outing in a pristine spot produces the rut hunt of a lifetime

time-read
4 mins  |
Volume 125 - Issue 4, 2020
Field & Stream

A Local Haunt

The author finds a sense of place in an overlooked creek, close to home

time-read
4 mins  |
Volume 125 - Issue 4, 2020
A Hop and a Pump
Field & Stream

A Hop and a Pump

Jump-shooting rabbits with classic upland guns is about as good a time as you can have in the outdoors

time-read
4 mins  |
Volume 125 - Issue 4, 2020
Welcome TO camp
Field & Stream

Welcome TO camp

Is there any place better than a good hunting camp? It has everything: great food, games and pranks, and of course, hunting. Shoot, we don’t even mind going to camp for grueling work days in the summer. Here, our contributors share their favorite stories, traditions, and lessons learned from camps they’ve shared. So come on in and join us. The door’s open.

time-read
10+ mins  |
Volume 125 - Issue 3, 2020
Field & Stream

THE DEERSLAYERS

Before you even claim a bunk, you need to eyeball the hardware your buddies have brought. In the process, you’ll see that the guns at deer camp are changing. What was walnut and blued steel may now be Kevlar and carbon fiber. The 10 rifles featured here aren’t your father’s deer guns. They’re today’s new camp classics

time-read
8 mins  |
Volume 125 - Issue 3, 2020
Field & Stream

THE JOURNEY TO PIKE'S PEAK

Last summer, the author and three friends ventured off the grid to a remote fish camp in Canada. They hoped for great fishing, but what they experienced was truly something else

time-read
10 mins  |
Volume 125 - Issue 3, 2020
Stage Directions
Field & Stream

Stage Directions

When early-season whitetails vanish from open feeding areas, follow this woods-edge ambush plan

time-read
5 mins  |
Volume 125 - Issue 3, 2020
Field & Stream

Rookie Season

A pup’s first year, from preseason training to fall’s big show

time-read
5 mins  |
Volume 125 - Issue 3, 2020