Giant Bison, Bears, Whitetails…and Everything in Between

With some hunting seasons underway and others right around the corner, your head should be in the game by now. If not, then let us help with some of the top trophies of the 31st and upcoming 32nd Awards periods. If this doesn’t get your blood pumping, then you should really check your pulse.

The echo of their bugles through the aspen is the quintessential sound of fall. When heard on the hunt, those screams trigger a primordial drive. The hunters in the following stories know that drive. They are cowboys, miners, Army medics, and a maintenance guy from the highway department.

Arkansas is known for world-class duck hunting, but that doesn’t mean you should overlook its deer and bear hunting opportunities. The state’s biggest whitetail deer to date came out of Prairie County in 1999, and the state record typical scored 211 points. No one county can really stake a claim as the king of whitetail habitat, but thanks to the Boone and Crockett Club’s County Search Tool…

That’s right, Oklahoma stakes claim to the world’s largest peanut, but a quick look at the record book reveals a variety of big game species there for the chasing. The panhandle features pronghorn hunting with a 2018 entry that scores more than 82 points. Typical and nontypical whitetail deer entries abound. Black bears aren’t shy about making the book, either, but the real curveball is elk.…

Thankfully, the state of Georgia’s hunting season runs well past the regular college football season. Die-hard Bulldogs fans can rest easy knowing they won’t miss a game or a chance to hunt some whitetail deer and a few black bears in the Georgia pines. Monroe County had a couple of whopper deer entries, but that was decades ago. Today, Worth and Dooly County are coming into their own. And…