Name: Larry Weishuhn

Number of years hunting: 55 yrs

Most memorable hunt: My first whitetail... Sitting in a tall oak (about 30 feet off of the ground) in the Zimmersheidt Community of Texas, about a hundred miles west of Houston back in 1961. Opening morning of deer season... sitting holding my maternal grandfather's (A.J. Aschenbeck - who had passed away a few years earlier) single-shot 12 gauge shotgun, which he had called "The Roar". In the distance hear a shot, few moments later hear a deer running through the fallen oak leaves coming my direction. Glance to my left and here goes the world record whitetetail, no doubt of it...quickly shoulder the shotgun and point it in the direction of the deer down below...cock the hammer, sight picture looks good, pull the trigger. At shot deer goes down, but quickly gets up...quickly I try to reload, as I break open the old single-shot, I happen to tug a bit to hard on the forend, which in turn releases not only the forend, but also disengages the barrel. I watch in horror as the barrel falls 30 feet to the ground below and sticks into the soft sand. For a moment I considered jumping to the ground to recover the barrel. In the meantime I see the world record whitetail walking away. Thankfully sanity returns and with the forend in one hand the buttstock and action in the other, with a OO Buck clenched firmly between my teeth, I descend the tree on extremely shakey knees... On the ground I pick up the barrel, blow the dirt out of it, reassemble my gun, then reload and immediately pick up the trail of "my" buck, no doubt the world's largest buck ever!

Walking looking at the ground at specks of blood on the leaves at feet, I nearly step on and stumble over the world record whitetail, now laying extant in all his glory. I let out a warhoop to let everyone in the county know I am finally a successful deer hunter...whisper a prayer of thanks, and then and only then, do I reach down to caress the world record whitetail's antlers...his 6 inch spike on one side and a 4 inch spike on the other....

Favorite way to hunt whitetails and why: I dearly love hunting whitetails no matter of where, as long as I can hunt from the ground, ...But, I guess if I had to choose one favorite way it would be with rattling horns in hand, attempting to, and being successful in attracting whitetail bucks to respond to the sounds made by the rattling horns, but also the vocalizations which I add, using my natrual voice. I don't think there is a bigger thrill in the hunting world (including hunting dangerous game such as Cape buffalo and grizzlies) than to have a large-racked mature buck respond to my "horns", whether he comes slipping in cautiously, or comes charging in, eyes bugged, ears layed back in a threatening manner, and drooling for the fight. I've experienced many ways of hunting whitetails but rattling remains my favorite...And of course that too means hunting with a firearm... to me there is no greater alluring aroma than just burned gunpowder fired at a big mature whitetail buck!

Favorite place to hunt whitetails and why: I dearly love hunting whitetails regardless of the place, habitat and terrain..I love hunting the hardwoods of the north and east, the cottonwood bottoms of the west, the creek bottoms and bottle necks around farm land...but I guess since I need to have one favorite place it would be the Brush Country of South Texas the first weeks of December...no place in the world of whitetails can compare to hunting a well-managed ranch in South Texas, when the bucks are coming to horns or the rut is just beginning. The quality of deer in South Texas rivals all other places in North America...and generally no place else can you see the number of big bucks in a day or watch more interaction or learn more about whitetails than what you can do on a well-managed property in South Texas.

Favorite firearm and caliber: As a writer for many years and a hunter even longer, I've hunted with just about every imaginable firearms and caliber, starting with the .22 rimfire many years ago, to shotguns (buck shot and slugs), and calibers from .22 to .50, both modern centerfire and muzzleloader. I've tried them pretty much, all, as research biologist and hunter... There are numerous favorites such as the .270 Winchester, .280 Remington, 7 x 57 Mauser, .405 Winchester, the .308 Winchester... I'm not much on the zip-zam-zoomer that have recently been developed, because they don't shoot any more accurately or kill any quicker and quite often when you're out of ammo, finding those rounds becomes rather difficult and expensive... I guess if I had to choose one caliber it would be the .30-06 in both a T/C Encore rifle and pistol.. Although I shoot other calibers quite regularily and even occasionally shoot bolt action rifles like the T/C Icon and when and where necessary shoot .50 T/C muzzleloaders, my preference are single-shot rifles and pistols.

Planned Tactics for this years hunt: I'm fortunate in that I get to hunt in numerous states with varied terrain and habitat. Tactics change somewhat from one area to another as result. I will hunt from the ground, shunning treestands and the like, I'll spend time on each of my hunts with rattling horns. I'll hunt from first to last light (depending upon legal shooting hours and times) and I'll pretty much hunt all day long. Big mature whitetail bucks are individuals and may well buck the patterns and feeding habits and times of other whitetails, thus I'm going to spend every possible moment I can in the deer woods, brush, fields and prairie. I'll adapt my tactics and techniques according to the time frame of the rut, checking activity charts as to possible prime and secondary feeding periods, as well as the terrain and type of habitat I'm hunting in. Don't ever have only one or two tactics and only use those, if you're hoping to take a mature buck...

Hunt hard from first to last light, every possible hunting day, while having fun and keeping an open mind and continually learning... those are my tactics!

Name: Bob Foulkrod

Number of years hunting: 43 years

Most memorable hunt: My most memorable hunt was my first year that I harvest a deer, it was a doe, but my mother was with me, so that it made all the more special and I was finally a deer hunter. My second most memorable hunt was when my father and I both took a bear; that is when I decided to start my bear camp in Ontario.

Favorite way to hunt whitetails and why: I break hunting whitetails down into three distinct segments; the first is over food sources early in the season. This is when I hunt evening stands over food sources hoping the bucks arrive before nightfall. The second is the early rut; bucks are looking for the first does to come into heat and I hunt them over active rub and scrape lines. The rut hasn’t really kicked in yet, but they are cruising the woods for that first doe in heat. The third segment is the rut, at this time of year I like to find a bottle neck in the woods, a place you know deer will travel through, once I find one of these spots I wait for a hot doe to bring a buck by me. If you find a hot doe at this time of year you will find a buck hot on her trail.

Favorite place to hunt whitetails and why: I would have to say my favorite place to hunt whitetails is at with my at home overlooking one of our food plots.

Favorite firearm and caliber: Browning rifle chambered in 300 WSM with Winchester nosler ballistic tip bullets.

Planned Tactics for this years hunt: Since we will be hunting during the rut, my plan is to find a bottle neck and sit and wait out the deer. The bucks will be chasing does and I will be using patience and persistence to get my buck. While my teammates are walking around trying get warm I will be bundled up waiting for my buck over a bottle neck.

Name: Steve Stoltz

Number of years hunting: 35 yrs.

Most memorable hunt: I have two; my daughter Shelby's first turkey (last spring) and my first turkey & deer.

Favorite way to hunt whitetails and why: I enjoy a variety of way s to hunt whitetails because you have to be versatile when hunting mature bucks. You have to be willing to do whatever it takes. You might have to spot and stalk one animal, and the next you might have to figure his travel pattern and try to sit stand to take him. Like people, each mature buck has his own personality and unraveling the way to take him is the challenge.

Favorite place to hunt whitetails and why: My favorite place is wherever there is a healthy population of mature bucks. Age structure is the key. The states that manage their herd by setting their gun seasons after the peak of the rut are usually the best (Iowa, Kansas, Illinois are three great examples). If I had to pick one it would be Iowa- hands down.

Favorite firearm and caliber: I like the Winchester model 70 in 30-.06 caliber. I like the pinpoint accuracy of a bolt action and 30-.06 is a large enough caliber to take almost all big game animals in North America.

Name: Mystery Hunter

Number of years hunting: 15 yrs.

Most memorable hunt: Lion Hunt in Benin – while in pursuit of plainsgame a lion was spotted and I had to take a quick off-hand shot. I missed, but could sense the urgency in my professional hunters' voice to try again. I shouldered my rifle once more noticing that my first shot angered a herd of elephants who decided to charge us at full speed. Regardless, I made a 2nd shot on my lion while he was running and luckily hit him well. Now elephants were dangerously close and we had to fire rounds in the air to stop them from killing us. After the elephants reluctantly retreated, we went in after my enraged wounded lion who was grounded well, but roaring with an extreme fierceness. Much to my surprise I kept my composure and completed the task. This hunt defined me as a hunter –one never knows how they'll handle such a situation until in the midst of it!

Favorite way to hunt whitetails and why: I greatly enjoy spending time in the field studying the patterns and behavioral characteristics of deer. After attempting to anticipate their next move, I'll plot according to the season – I thoroughly enjoy watching the response of deer to rattling, but when the time comes have found that blinds are the most effective way to ensure success with whitetail. After all, in my experience, whitetails are far too clever to simply walk upon!

Favorite place to hunt whitetails and why: Known for producing beautiful representatives of the specie, I'm positively crazy about hunting whitetail in South Texas –here, one never knows what's going to step out! Due to extensive game management implemented throughout the years, in combination with native browse, ensures you'll see good mature whitetail bucks. From the abundance of wildlife to typically pleasant weather; I'm completely enchanted with hunting Whitetail in Texas!

Favorite firearm and caliber: For North American game and plainsgame I prefer a 300 Win Mag, for Dangerous Game a 458 Winchester. For the Versus Whitetail Challenge (and in accordance with Illinois State Laws) I have chosen the Winchester SX-3 Shotgun.

Planned Tactics for this years hunt: After surveying both the layout of the land on topo maps, determining where the water and food sources are and the direction of the wind, I intend to scout what seems to be an ideal place for whitetail to traffic through. I'll then look for tracks, scrapes and rubs, pinpoint their movement patters, set up a blind on the edge of a food source where consistent fresh tracks have been observed and wait for does to come out to feed which hopefully will lure big bucks out from the wooded areas!