Can you imagine getting one of these bucks on your trail camera?
Ah, summer. While most people are enjoying the warm weather, cookouts and fireworks, die-hard deer hunters are anxiously waiting for deer season. On the plus side, the most exciting time of summer is the first time you pull cards from your trail cameras. Waiting to see what might be running around your hunting spot is like waiting for Christmas morning.
So, for today's #WhitetailWednesday, we're highlighting some of the biggest bucks to ever appear on a trail camera.
We know there are a lot of trail camera photos that come from high-fence ranches. And, because there are so many floating around the internet, we're only including confirmed 100-percent wild whitetail bucks.
The Stephen Tucker Buck
It just doesn't get much bigger than this. Stephen Tucker's 312-inch Tennessee whitetail showed up on his trail cameras numerous times. Tucker had regular photos of the big buck from almost every different angle on his Moultrie game camera. We're guessing these game camera photos made it very hard to sleep at night!
198-Inch Kansas Monster
This Kansas monster is what hunters dream of when they pull their SD cards. This buck would've been a new state record for Kansas it not fallen victim to poachers. The poacher who shot the big buck almost got away with it, too. Luckily, multiple people had camera images of this awesome 14-pointer to prove the poacher's story about where he shot it was false.
The Jim Cogar Buck
If you were drinking coffee while looking over your trail camera photos, a picture like this would make you spit it out! Cogar and his family named this 213-4/8-inch Ohio buck "Conan" after the Arnold Schwarzenegger character. Quite fitting, don't you think? Cogar and many others were after the giant deer that hunting season. Numerous photos of the buck surfaced, including this awesome picture from a Cuddeback game cam. Cogar would finally catch up with him on the very last day of archery season Feb. 3, 2013. Talk about going down to the wire!
The Austin Pontier Buck
When this giant buck fell, many thought it would break the world record for an archery-killed deer (and possibly even Milo Hanson's record). It wasn't quite that big, though. The buck grossed 202 3/8 inches and netted 194 1/8. But we sure wouldn't complain! The Browning trail camera photos of this monster would be enough to give us a heart attack!
Monster Illinois Non-Typical
This buck graced an SD card near Petersburg, Illinois, in 2009. Unfortunately, there's no lucky hunter to end this story. Someone found this buck dead in January after the deer hunting season had ended. The monster buck netted an impressive 254-1/8-inch non-typical score, and was the subject of many more photos from local hunters' trail cameras. It's just a shame the story had to end in such a disappointing fashion.
Louisiana Monster
Frank Sullivan, a Louisiana dentist, used a Browning trail camera to monitor the movements of this double-drop-tine, 198-inch non-typical in 2017. Since it was living right behind his dental practice, he was able to develop a routine of monitoring his game camera before work. This allowed him to perfectly pattern the buck's regular movements along deer trails to and from his property. It eventually led to him shooting one of the biggest bucks in Louisiana history!
The Dan Coffman Buck
This monster non-typical was showing up on Ohio hunter Dan Coffman's trail cameras on a weekly basis before he arrowed the 288-inch monster in November 2015. Having the trail camera photos also helped Coffman dispel some of the ugly rumors that often come with a big-buck harvest. He notified his local game wardens ahead of time and they were able to confirm the legality immediately after he shot it. That definitely some smart thinking!
The Travis Links Buck
Can you believe there's another Louisiana monster on this list? Travis Links, a Louisiana chiropractor, harvested this awesome 190-inch, non-typical buck in October 2016. The craziest part of this story was that Links and his buddies didn't even know the buck existed until seeing trail cam photos only days before he shot it in mid-October. The moral of the story is to never get discouraged if you're not seeing a lot of action on your trail cam. You never know what'll happen when the rut starts!
The Joe Franz Buck
Sure, we've shared the story of this great buck many times, but not the trail camera photos. Look at that awesome picture! Who wouldn't feel their heart beating out of their chest upon finding that picture on their SD card? Just look at the tine length and great mass on display here! This monster non-typical scored 230 7/8 inches, becoming one of the most iconic whitetails ever taken in Iowa.
NEXT: #WHITETAILWEDNESDAY: CHECK OUT 20 MORE INCREDIBLE VINTAGE HUNTING PHOTOS
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