10 Giant Public-Land Bucks

Buck Score: 170 inches (gross)
Date Killed: Dec. 16, 2016
Location: Murray County, Georgia
Public Property: Coosawattee WMA
Weapon Used: Gun

“The Coosawattee WMA is where I first started hunting as a kid, and it’s where I killed my first deer — a 6-point buck,” Stone says. “I wasn’t on any hunting clubs until I was out of high school. I really relied on public land for hunting.”

Prior to the hunt, Stone spent a good bit of time scouting and found a decent amount of deer sign, as well as hunting pressure. The last day of scouting, he went to a spot he’d hunted in the past and found big scrapes and rubs. That was the spot.

The morning of the hunt, he met up with his brother for the breakfast of champions — gas station biscuits. They planned and strategized, then went their separate ways. He passed several trucks during the ride to the parking lot and worried someone might be in his spot. Thankfully, no one was.

It was in the mid-20s with a heavy frost on the ground. Several pine ridges transitioned into cutovers and a hardwood flat, creating great edge habitat. Stone was about 20 feet up a white oak, and it was so cold that his treestand kept making popping noises.

Soon after he settled in, a buck chased several does under him in the moonlight. For the first couple of daylight hours, though, there wasn’t much action. Then, five slickheads trotted down the hill behind Stone, and all of them stopped and looked back where they’d come from. A deep grunt erupted from the cover.

Stone had only one lane to shoot through, and the buck passed through it unscathed not once, but twice. It chased a doe through the gap a third time, and that trip proved fatal. Stone made the 70-yard shot. The buck dropped immediately.

“I couldn’t believe it,” Stone says. “I knew I shot a monster, but I didn’t realize yet just how big it was. This was the buck of a lifetime. To kill it on my hometown WMA where I killed my first deer made it that much better.”

The Georgia DNR had trail-camera pictures of this 6 1/2-year-old deer from the previous year, but Stone had never seen it before.

Check out the full Rack Report for more details on Eric Stone's buck. 

Buck Score: 180 inches
Date Killed: Nov. 3, 2004
Location: Mason County, Illinois
Public Property: Sand Ridge State Forest
Weapon Used: Compound bow

Few 4 1/2-year-old deer score 180 inches, and fewer hunters kill one in their fourth year of hunting. But John Sondag achieved the unlikely on a hunt back in 2004. It all started due to a little adversity.

“I was forced to move in on this newer area due to public hunting pressure,” Sondag says. “I was skeptical, as the night before, other hunters set up in my original spot. It’s very common to get walked in on.”

He’d heard other hunters speak of a huge buck in the new area, though, and hoped to at least lay eyes on it. The area was a mix of ag, food plots, hills, and flat ground, adding up to lots of edge habitat.

Nov. 3 brought clear, sunny skies, cool temperatures, and light wind — the type of day hunters hope for during the rut. He could almost envision a big ag-fed deer working through the timber and down the trail that led to his ridgeline treestand.

Early in the hunt, it was calm, peaceful, and void of deer. Then, he heard something. Two does and a button buck ran right by him. A good one followed behind them, but Sondag let it pass on by. A few more seconds ticked off the clock, and then, a body materialized in the brush. It carried a ginormous set of headgear.

“I was able to draw back as he walked behind some thick foliage,” Sondag says. “When he cleared 40 yards, I started to shake. As he got within 30 yards, I tried to grunt to stop him, but my nervousness wouldn’t let out a sound.”

He finally produced a grunt, and the buck stopped 20 yards away. Sondag squeezed the release trigger. The buck mule-kicked, spun around, and ran back the way it came from.

Sondag and a family member who was hunting nearby took up the blood trail. They recovered the Illinois monster about 150 yards from the point of impact.

Buck Score: 174 5/8 inches (gross)
Date Killed: Nov. 11, 2016
Location: Putnam County, Georgia
Public Property: Oconee National Forest
Weapon Used: Gun

This year will be Jeff Goins’ 40th deer season, and he’s hunted the Oconee National Forest on and off for 27 of those.

“I prefer public land because of the freedom,” Goins says. “I’m a patriot, a free American, and can’t stand to live within constraints. I’ve been in clubs that are too political, cost too much, and have someone else deciding when and where I can hunt. For me, that takes away the joy. I’m hunting wild animals and like to be as free and wild as they are when I’m in their element.”

On Nov. 11, 2016, he decided to hunt his honey hole yet again. He didn’t know a giant deer was in the area, only that big bucks traditionally used it. The rolling ridges with drainage ditches caused by poor farming techniques in the early 1900s made great habitat.

The 28-degree air spurred excitement in Goins. The only problem? Not even a squirrel was stirring. Then, he spotted four brown legs walking straight toward him. Antlers protruded out from the heavy cover. The buck turned its head, giving him a great view of its rack.

“It walked to its right and disappeared from sight due to the curvature of the ridge,” Goins says. “It stopped. I was concerned it’d catch my scent in the swirling winds. It moved again and came straight up the ridge on a trail just to my left. Its head went behind a large white oak. I slowly stood and aimed my rifle. When it stepped out, its vitals filled my scope perfectly.”

Goins took the broadside, 21-yard shot. The buck dropped in its tracks. While his son had slept in and missed out on the hunt, his fiancée was there, and they enjoyed the moment together. The deer was aged at 4 1/2 by Georgia DNR wildlife biologist Charlie Killmaster.

Check out the full Rack Report on the Goins buck. 

Buck Score: 181 2/8 inches (gross)
Date Killed: Oct. 31, 2015
Location: Iowa
Public Property: Undisclosed
Weapon Used: Compound bow

Tom VandeYacht hunts with his twin brother, Willie. They alternate between being hunter and cameraman. “We love hunting new areas with completely open minds and no preconceived notions,” Tom says. “When we came to Iowa to scout for the first time, it was with tag in hand. We e-scouted the region and picked out multiple spots.”

They climbed into the treestand on Oct. 31. It was frosty and in the high 20s. The duo sat amid thick bedding cover, surrounded by dry creek beds, rolling hills, standing timber, nasty brush, and set-aside grass. A large private alfalfa field stretched out in the distance, too. Still, they saw nothing that morning.

That afternoon, the temperature and wind picked up, reaching 50 degrees and 20 to 25 mph gusts. Minutes ticked by, and the two hunters wondered if deer would ever move. Eventually, five antlerless deer walked down the hill. Then, a 5 1/2-year-old giant stepped out behind them. He fed along the field edge while keeping track of the does.

Eventually, the buck followed them more closely. The entire group worked toward the bowhunters’ setup, and the stud stopped 15 yards away, offering a slight-quartering-to shot opportunity. Tom’s arrow struck true. The deer mule-kicked, ran 100 yards out, and bedded in some tall grass.

“We watched the buck expire, so the recovery was fast,” Tom says. “The buck was over 200 pounds dressed, so the drag was rough until a pair of hunters from the private land offered to help. They drove a truck nearly to the property line and hauled the deer to the road for us. They knew the deer well and were true sportsmen by helping us out.”

Check out the footage of this hunt here. 

Buck Score: 193 2/8 inches (gross)
Date Killed: Nov. 23, 2016
Location: Chippewa County, Wisconsin
Public Property: Undisclosed
Weapon Used: Gun

Dan Ryan has hunted a piece of Wisconsin public land since 1996. And in 2016, numerous trail-camera photos and videos fueled a desire to tag a giant that had showed up on the property.

On the fifth day of the 2016 firearm season, everything felt right in the rolling hills of Chippewa County. “It was 30 degrees with fresh snow,” Ryan says. “I walked up to the top of a clear-cut knob and looked around. This was the first time I had been on this piece since it was cut. I peered down into the bottom and everything was white except for the one brown thing beneath a small pine.”

He pulled up his scope, and it was indeed a deer, but he couldn’t tell if it was a buck or doe. Several minutes passed until the deer moved its head enough that it revealed an antler tine.

“That’s all I needed,” Ryan says. “The freezer was empty, so it didn’t really matter how big his antlers were. I slid the crosshairs behind the shoulder and squeezed the trigger. I immediately jacked another round into the chamber as I always do. The buck stood up, so I put another one in him.”

Both of his 100-yard shots struck vitals, but the buck dashed a few yards before collapsing behind some standing pine trees. He slowly stalked down the hill toward the downed buck. “I took my time watching in the direction I thought the buck went,” Ryan says. “Thankfully, I never had to take another shot. He was lying there dead 10 to 15 feet from his bed.”

Buck Score: 199 inches (gross)
Date Killed: Oct. 16, 2016
Location: Muhlenberg County, Kentucky
Public Property: Undisclosed
Weapon Used: Compound bow

A buck with only four teeth must be ancient, right? “My guess would be 13 to 14 years old,” Patrick Shemwell says. “I hunted it for three years.”

With three sets of sheds, and many encounters with the giant while glassing from afar, Shemwell had laid plenty of groundwork leading up to the 2016 season. He’d tried different things and failed to connect, but he always learned from each attempt.

Finally, on Oct. 16, he settled in above the buck’s bed well before daylight with the wind in his face. “I learned how to hunt the bowl where wind only exited in one direction,” Shemwell says. “I learned how the wind blew in the specific area I was hunting.”

The sun started to rise, and the cold morning air rose with it. Fog rolled off the lake, and the smell of pine needles filled the air. The sound of unseen deer moving through cattails kept Shemwell’s eyes trained on the landscape before him.

For a while, he was left with only sightings of ducks doing ducky things. Then, the giant walked out of the cattails directly toward him, and lazily looked toward several other deer that were sparring and chasing.

It finally breached bow range, and Shemwell took the broadside shot. His arrow pierced both lungs, sending the buck into a death sprint that ended right below his treestand. “I gained a lot of respect for the buck,” Shemwell says. “I would’ve never killed it in the evening. The wind would always blow toward it in the funnel. That’s why it bedded there. I had to get in its bed and hunt in the morning to kill it.”

Check out the full Rack Report on Shemwell's buck. 

Buck Score: 199 4/8 inches (gross) 
Date Killed: Dec. 14, 2016
Location: Claiborne County, Mississippi
Public Property: Undisclosed
Weapon Used: Gun

Clark has killed a number of deer during his tenure as a hunter, but nothing compared with what happened during the 2016 deer season. He talked to a local, studied some maps, scouted a new area, located a nice pinch point, and found a few big rubs. Needless to say, Clark did his homework.

The December gun season arrived and brought warm, 70-degree weather with it. Still, on the 14th, he walked through the hills of Claiborne County in hopes of tagging his dream buck.

“It’s real rugged terrain with a lot of gullies,” Clark says. “I found a pinch point with a big river and a 30-foot bluff. Deer cruising the river have to come by me.”

Despite how good the spot looked, Clark hadn’t seen a deer that morning. He had already called it quits when he spotted the buck, following the river and walking straight toward him. Clark panicked, as he’d already lowered his gun to the ground. He quickly hoisted it back up, chambered a round, and prepared for the shot.

The buck stopped broadside at 80 yards, and the blast rang out. It picked up its front leg, ran about 50 yards, and tipped over.

“It was absolutely crazy, as I had no idea how big it was,” Clark says. “No history with the deer. It’s just a once-in-a-lifetime 6 1/2-year-old deer on public land.”

Buck Score: 212 7/8 inches (gross)
Date Killed: Nov. 1, 2019
Location: Stearns County, Minnesota
Public Property: Undisclosed
Weapon Used: Compound bow

Leo Van Beck first saw this buck in the fall of 2017. The 140-inch deer lived on some family land that bordered public ground, and he captured it on multiple trail cameras. In 2018, it surprised him even more by blossoming into a 170-inch 12-pointer.

Fast forward to 2019. “That was the only buck on my mind,” Van Beck says. “I knew it was alive and was going to be something special.”

Deer season arrived and he still didn’t have a great pattern on the deer. On Oct. 7, the deer appeared on his uncle’s camera. Ten days later, it showed up again.

“I began hunting our area persistently,” Van Beck says. “I started following the sign and hunting different areas on the public and private land. After a few uneventful hunts, I became convinced it was either living on neighboring private land or the one area of public I hadn’t yet tried.”

On Oct. 27, Van Beck walked to a thick, brushy spot filled with rubs and scrapes. He hung his treestand along a trail intersection but didn’t see the giant.

Five days later, a cold front prompted an all-day sit. Soon after daylight, a doe and fawn walked through and hung around for about 10 minutes. Then, he heard faint footsteps in the distance. Several minutes went by before he finally caught movement.

“I had no idea what deer it was, but I knew it looked like a shooter,” Van Beck says. “He stood in the thick stuff just watching the doe and fawn. This lasted for about five minutes.”

At last, the buck continued down the trail and stopped 10 yards away. “As I drew back, my jacket rustled and it heard me,” Van Beck says. “It was subtle, but it spooked and bounded directly away. Luckily, I had the foresight to pre-range the area.”

The buck stopped and turned. Van Beck settled his 40-yard pin and launched the arrow. The giant bulldozed through thick cover. Then, nothing.

“I started shaking uncontrollably,” Van Beck says. “I updated my family members about what just happened and asked for some prayers.”

He climbed down and backed out. The search party assembled (nine people total), and they all trekked into the woods around noon. They picked up the trail, which only lasted 75 yards before they recovered the deer.

“We spent a long time celebrating out in the woods before we finally dragged it out,” Van Beck says. “The next two days were filled with nonstop visitors showing up to check it out. The craziest part was just how fast word traveled. My phone was blowing up before we even had it out of the woods.”

Check out the full Rack Report on Van Beck's buck. 

Buck Score: 254 4/8 inches (gross)
Date Killed: Dec. 13, 2014
Location: Winona County, Minnesota
Public Property: Undisclosed
Weapon Used: Muzzleloader

A 250-plus-inch buck rarely goes unnoticed. Generally, at least a few people know about it. This deer was no different, and rumors of a giant had been leaking out of Winona County, Minnesota, for three years.

“I have had people send me trail-cam pictures for three and a half years, and my nephews had about 200 pics from 2014,” Stan Kreidermacher says. “My nephews hunted it some, but I only hunted it on two deer drives — once in shotgun season, and then the day I shot the deer.”

Dec. 13 produced 35- to 40-degree temperatures. About 2 inches of snow had melted, producing soft ground, which is perfect for a party hunt.

Their destination was some wooded, rolling hills, but Kreidermacher saw nothing during the first three drives. So, they tried a new spot. “It was thick,” he says. “I didn’t know the area very well. My nephew told me to find a place at the bottom of the ravine.”

Then, it happened. The drivers jumped up the giant along a flat, and it came down the wide gully with several does. “I heard a buck grunt and then saw its rack above the brush,” Kreidermacher says. “I shot it crossing the ravine.”

The buck took off across the ditch, and the hunter lost sight of him. Several members of the party followed the blood trail, and they recovered the deer about 60 yards from a road.

“Landon and Layton Kreidermacher and Brian Ruhoff had done all the work for it,” Kreidermacher says. “They were all very happy to be a part of it, and I know it would not have happened without all of their help. We have a celebration of life every year with the group of hunters who helped out.”

Check out the full Rack Report on Stan's buck here. 

Buck Score: 196 6/8 inches (net)
Date Killed: Nov. 24, 2019
Location: Randolph County, Arkansas
Public Property: Undisclosed
Weapon Used: Compound bow

Preston Hall hunts a 30,000-acre tract of Arkansas public ground, and he’ll take that honey hole over your posh piece of private any day of the season. He’s found the perfect treestand location and has a wall of bucks to show for it. “I’ve been hunting that same tree since 2014,” he says. “I’ve killed a 160-plus deer out of it every year.”

With the spot’s track record, it came as no surprise when a 5 1/2-year-old deer Hall had a history with showed up again in 2019. He’d never seen the deer in daylight, but it regularly graced his cameras. 

On Nov. 24, 2019, fairer winds blew. It was a typical Thanksgiving Day in Arkansas. Trail-camera photos showed deer hadn’t been moving much until midday and afternoon. Duck season was getting close, and there were a lot of waterfowl hunters riding around scouting. Due to a lack of morning activity, Hall didn’t boat to his stand until 10 o’clock.

At 2:30 p.m., three does came in feeding on acorns, and a 170-inch 10-pointer chased them around his treestand location. Hall stood up to shoot the deer, but just as he started to draw, water splashed behind him. There stood the giant buck with a doe. All five deer were within 25 yards.

“That big buck saw the 10-pointer off to the right,” Hall says. “He started grunting at him, pawing at the ground, and rubbing trees. He was tearing up the woods. The bucks grunted back and forth a few times, and then the big one started toward the other. He got about 15 yards from me and I shot him.”

The buck dropped in his tracks. Hall hunts from about 30 to 35 feet, and from that high in the tree, with such a steep shot angle, the broadhead struck the buck in the top of the shoulder blade, clipped the spine, ran through the vitals, and exited out the armpit on the left side.

Check out the full Rack Report on Preston Hall's buck here.