Like most, I'm simply amazed with the number of giant whitetails taken each season in the Midwest. Occasionally, I get the chance to interview the hunter and write their "hero" story for a national magazine, one noted for publishing only the biggest of the biggest. As a result; only a handful of those ever hit the "big time." Unfortunately, few of us ever hear or read about the majority of those that didn't make the initial cut.

Greg Richards arrowed this giant 23-point non-typical in Chickasaw County, Iowa, on the eighth of November last year. The buck officially nets 1974⁄8 inches. It was also amongst the top six taken in the state.

The following are the exciting stories from two Iowa bowhunting enthusiasts detailing their hunts that ended with some impressive results. They hadn't made it big, at least until now anyway!

"They Call Him Lucky"

Greg Richards doesn't come from a hunting family, nor did he have a mentor to guide him along in the hunting sport. In fact, the 30-year-old insurance agent from Nashua, Iowa learned the ins-and-outs of hunting whitetails on his own! He began hunting just 12 years ago, and has since taken several nice bucks, four of which qualified for the archery record book.

In 2002, Greg raised the goal post and set his sights on shooting a deer that would qualify for the prestigious Boone & Crockett Club record book. He came close a couple of times, but his dream didn't become reality until this past November, that's when he arrowed a giant 23 pointer in Chickasaw, County.

Scouting Tactics
"Unlike some, scouting for me begins during the summer months, glassing and running trail cameras on the different properties I hunt, begins Greg. "For the most part I try to get a picture of a good buck, or spot one glassing first, then turn my attention toward locating his core area, and a stand site that offers the best odds of intercepting the deer.

"When I first started hunting the different properties, I spent a lot of time going over aerial photos trying to locate all the nooks and crannies where I felt a mature buck might go to find sanctuary. As I scouted those places for sign and likely stand sites, I also looked for ways to get in and out with the least amount of disturbance.

"Back then I started keeping a spreadsheet that contains all my stand sites on the various properties. The stands are categorized for a specific wind direction. From that I can determine my best stand options for a given day.

"By the time the season rolled around I had two nice bucks located, and set my sights on hunting them exclusively; that is until a landowner told me about the big non-typical seen on his place. He also said that his neighbor had trail cam photos of the deer, and claimed it had at least 21 points. Needless to say, I was pretty excited after hearing that.

"That particular farm is maybe 200 acres, and consists of crop ground, pasture, and probably 40 to 50 acres of timber. The one place where I felt the buck would be most vulnerable was a thick strip of timber paralleling the river. Problem was; the timber was surrounded by standing corn. Knowing there was little chance of slipping through the cornfield without bumping the buck, I decided to keep my distance until after the corn came out."

Season Opens
"Opening day found me hunting a different farm where I spotted a big buck crossing a field early that morning. From what I could tell he had 18 points and was definitely a shooter. I hunted the deer for about a week, but didn't see him again. To avoid burning out the area, I decided to back off and let the area cool down for a while.