All Biggest Bucks, All the Time
Each February, we interrupt our regularly-scheduled programming to bring you a celebration of whitetail deer hunters in Maine – especially those who have tagged a buck that’s 200 pounds or more, qualifying the hunters for membership in the Maine Sportsman’s “Biggest Bucks in Maine” patch club.
Hold the issue in your hands, and let the pages fall open to the centerfold – pages 42 and 43 – to see the biggest of the big: the Top 10 biggest bucks patch club winners. The behemoth bucks range in size from 238.6 lbs. all the way up to 269.4 lbs. – true monsters of the woods.
Next comes “The List” – the 482 members of the Patch Club of 2023. It’s an accomplishment, and a testament to the skill and hard work of the hunters.
What circumstances come together to result in the tagging of a massive buck? Monthly columnist Christi Holmes Elliott provides an analysis in her “Maine Sportswoman” article, starting on page 37, in “The Stories Behind 2023’s Two Biggest Bucks,” consisting of the results of her interviews of Michael Cummings (269.4-lb., 8-pt. buck) and Brian Durrell (whose 8-pt. buck weighed 266 lbs.).
To complete our coverage of the topic, outdoorswoman Staci Warren, who has gotten close to club membership but has not cracked the 200-lb. barrier, laments the near-magical powers of big deer to stay out of sight from Monday morning through Saturday night, in her lighthearted piece titled “The Curse of the Sunday Buck.”
The Sportsman has never had a “weather report” section – until now, that is! This winter’s wind- and rainstorms indirectly and directly affected outdoorsmen. Lou Zambello begins our coverage in The Almanac with his page 12 offering, “December Storm Impacts Mainers Who Love the Outdoors,” illustrated with photos of damage to fishing spots located in Mooselookmeguntic, Stratton and Yarmouth.
And Randy Randall adds a personal note, chronicling damage to his remote camp in his “Tidewater Tales” column (page 61), titled “Your Beach is Gone!”
But wait – there’s more! Jon Lund, Bill Graves, Tom Seymour and Blaine Cardilli provide coverage of ice fishing; Dave Petzal, an authority from his time as rifles editor of Field & Stream, introduces readers to the benefits of handloading; Steve Carpenteri reveals the ins and outs of renting snowmobiles; and Bob Humphrey discusses boating safety compliance, to help us dream ahead to the time when the air and water are once again warm.
All this, plus scholarly Letters to the Editor, an information-packed Almanac, lots and lots of trophy photos, cartoons, and jokes that will make you lose your balance on the ice.
Questions? Contact the editor at Will@MaineSportsman.com or the office manager at Carol@MaineSportsman.com. And call (207) 622-4242 to renew your subscription, or give a gift subscription to a deserving relative or friend.
Good luck to all our readers who are ice fishing and snowmobiling this month!
Will Lund, Editor
The Maine Sportsman magazine
