In this season-long series, we're showcasing the biggest whitetail bucks taken by hunters all around the country. We kicked things off in mid-October with the biggest early-season bucks, and now, with the rut in the rearview, we're updating our roundup with a fresh batch of giants taken from late October through November. With the combination of off-the-charts deer activity and the start of rifle seasons, the late pre-rut and rut is always prime time for tagging whopper whitetails, and this fall didn't disappoint. Check out some of the biggest bucks taken by hunters in the last month or so, including a half dozen 200-plus-inch slammers.
Kansas Colossus
Chad Chambers knew he was on to a special buck when he first saw the trail cam pics in 2022. Figuring the buck was only 3½, he passed a 15-yard shot that fall on the buck he called “Titus." Determined to give the deer another yet another year, he chose to not even hunt the buck in 2023. When August 2024 rolled around, Chambers got his first pic of the buck and knew it was time to hunt him. “Titus had blown up into a mega giant,” he told F&S. "I hunted him hard when the season opened, but he disappeared completely from mid-September for an entire month.”
Chambers was puzzled by the buck’s vanishing act, until a friend spotted the buck using a draw two mornings in a row. Scouting that area, Chambers found the buck’s bed and realized the deer had been watching him come in and out of his hunting area. Formulating a new game plan, Chambers went out the morning of October 27 and after a calling sequence of rattling, grunting, and snort-wheezing, he spotted Titus coming at a trot. While he had the monster buck in bow range for several long minutes, Chambers had to wait, wait, and wait some more before getting a shot. The monster tipped over after a short run. The main frame 5x5 has over 57 inches of nontypical points and gross-scored 252⅛” B&C.
Ohio Droptine Giant
World-class nontypical whitetails are famous for nocturnal wandering and maddeningly shy and unpredictable behavior. Then there’s the monster buck Ohioan Mark Dunn shot after getting multiple daylight pics of the deer and seeing him from stand. The whopper drop-tine buck was frequenting a 30-acre farm Dunn hunted, and he watched the deer pass by just out of range at least once and go into a neighboring property–which was un-hunted–on several other occasions. Finally, Dunn had a perfect wind for his setup, and the buck came in and gave the patient hunter a 27-yard broadside shot. Noted Buckmasters scorer Toby Hughes measured Dunn’s buck and gave it a score of 233 ⅞ inches BTR. In addition to a giant drop tine on the right side, Dunn’s buck sported a 19-6/8" inside spread, more than 41 inches of mass, and an irregular points total of 53-6/8”.
Patience Pays Off
Midwest bowhunter Matt Williams was scouting in the summer of 2022 when he spotted a heavy-racked buck with matching split G2s. “But I was pretty sure he was only 3½ years old and had great potential,” he said. “So I left him alone. The next year he developed deep forks and even better mass. I figured he was a 160-class buck and normally a shooter for me, but I wanted to see what he did with one more year.” Williams found the buck’s sheds that spring, which scored 165 inches, and by the summer of 2024, the buck made an even bigger jump. “I only had 4 days to hunt this buck, and during the first three, I had several encounters but no shot,” Williams said. “Finally on Day Four, he followed a doe into some corn stubble nearby and I was able to get a shot.” Williams’ buck grossed 205-6/8”, proving well worth the wait.
Double-Drop Mega Buck
There are buck names that arouse curiosity, and some that are just so simple and straightforward you don't have to wonder. When Matt Mogenson saw a great 6X6 go from 160 inches to well over 200 inches in one season, he named the buck “Mega." Mogenson was getting pics of the buck along a stretch of river bottom in late summer and early fall, and then things changed up. “When the corn started coming out, he left that side of the property and moved to the other side, where there was still standing corn,” he said. The buck started showing up on camera again, though largely at night, so Mogenson waited for a late-October cold front before setting up on him. After an aggressive rattling sequence, Mega appeared and gave Mogenson a 20-yard shot. The 19-point, double-drop-tine giant tipped over after a 60-yard run. You can read the full story of Mogenson's hunt here.
Hoosier-State Hammer
Some world-class bucks grow up on large, sheltered estates where a single owner or small group of hunters decide to pass on the buck until he reaches maturity. But not the buck Indiana bowhunter Mike Taylor killed this fall; the 220-inch monster had been chased by at least 20 different hunters (that Taylor knew of) and had been wounded twice in its life. But the giant buck's luck ran out on the afternoon of November 11, when Taylor watched the buck approach his stand and, after several tense moments, gave the nervous hunter a 20-yard shot. “I knew I’d made a good, double-lung shot,” Taylor said. “The buck ran only 100 yards and died in mid-stride. The first thing I saw when I walked up on him were those split G2s and that wall of tines. I never dreamed I’d kill a buck like that.” Taylor’s 19-point slammer grossed over 220” B&C. Check out the full story of Taylor's hunt here.
Buckeye-State Beast
Coming up with an appropriate name for a buck can be tricky business, but when you leave it to kids, the process is simplified. Brandon Sheets’ daughters called the buck he killed this year–a whitetail he’d pursued for three seasons–”Big John." Sheets had encounters with the buck in 2022 and ‘23, but couldn’t seal the deal. When Big John showed up on camera this fall, Sheets was surprised and excited that the buck had made another year. “I’ve never seen a buck with so much mass in my life,” he said. “He’s the kind of deer you daydream about.” Sheets had an oh-so-close encounter with Big John the afternoon of November 8 and was right back in the stand the next day, when the buck followed a doe within 25 yards. Sheets’ sealed the deal with his crossbow and was soon wrapping his hands around a massive, 20-point rack that’s expected to measure well over 200” BTR. You can read the full story of Sheets' hunt here.
Public-Land Jayhawk Giant
Kansas’ Fort Riley has coughed up some great bucks over the years, and military veteran Chris Sykes had hunted the base for four seasons. He finally connected on a giant typical that he spotted from his tree stand, then ditched the stand and slipped up on the buck. “I watched him follow two does into a patch of grass and cedars, so I got down and snuck into that thicket with him,” Sykes said. “I managed to get between him and the does and when I grunted he didn’t like that one bit; he thought another buck had come in to steal his girls.” The Jayhawk giant walked into 25 yards, and Sykes made good on the shot. The tall-racked 5x5 gross scored 197-4/8” B&C. Check out the full story of Sykes' buck here.
Second-Chance Trophy
North Carolina hunter Gavin Glance was toting a muzzleloader the morning of November 9th and saw great rutting activity on the field near his blind as soon as the sun rose. “But it was mostly smaller bucks chasing does,” he said.” "Then at about 9:30, I heard a grunt behind the blind and turned to see a doe about 75 yards behind me, and this big buck right behind her.” The doe led the buck on a chase across the field and, after several desperate attempts to stop the buck, Glance finally yelled at the deer and stopped it broadside at 200 yards. His shot flew high and the pair left the field. After returning home to double-check the zero on his gun, Glance returned for the afternoon hunt and, amazingly, the buck appeared again and gave him a 100-yard shot. Glance didn’t miss his second chance, and he tagged the main-frame 5x5 with a ton of sticker points and character that grossed 194”.
Show-Me the Monster
We can always count on the Drury Outdoors team to send a few big bucks our way each fall. While we don’t have a ton of information on this awesome whitetail killed by team member Adam Anderson, we do understand that Anderson knew the deer well and had hunted him several times on a 100-acre Missouri property. Things finally came together for Anderson during Missouri’s rifle season, when a buck he’d named “Crazy Eyes” appeared just after shooting light on the season’s second day. Anderson made a good shot and was soon posing with the 191-2/8” Show Me State giant.
Prairie State Stare-Down
Bowhunter Mark Shumate got a trail-cam pic of a great buck on October 8, and he knew he was chasing a shooter. But when Shumate finally laid eyes on the buck November 6, he realized that the camera didn’t do the deer justice. “I was sitting 20 feet up in an oak tree on a timbered ridge, just off a food plot,” he said. “Then I saw this big buck jump the line fence from my neighbor’s and head my way. When I realized it was the same buck from the cam pics, I couldn’t believe my eyes; he was way bigger than I expected. He walked right into my setup, stopped at 15 yards, then looked right up at me while I was holding at full draw. He was facing me straight on, so I had no shot.” After a long stare-down, the buck finally relaxed and turned to walk away. Shumate stopped the buck with a whistle, made a perfect double-lung shot, and watched the buck pile up after a 50 yard run. The Schuyler County nontyp had several broken points and still scored 181” B&C.
Stand-Licking Slammer
Diego Kreidermacher had not killed a buck with his bow going into Minnesota’s 2024 archery deer season. That changed in a big way on the morning of November 6, when the 19-year old crawled up in a ladder stand on the edge of a field. “I was running a little late and didn’t get in the stand until shooting light,” he told F&S. “Not long after I was watching a small buck near my stand when I looked up and saw a doe coming my way with a really big buck behind her. They came so fast, I was kind of pinned down and couldn’t move, and while I was sitting there, the doe started licking the steps of my stand. When she moved back toward the field, I thought here’s my chance, so I stood and grabbed my bow, thinking the buck would follow her. I came to full draw and then the buck came in and started licking my stand!” Kreidermacher was at full draw for four minutes before the buck finally turned and gave him a 10-yard shot. Kreidermacher took his trophy to his friend Dan Rolbiecki, owner of Ridgetop Taxidermy, where they gross-scored the main-frame 10 point at 180¼” B&C.
Fort Knox Knee-Knocker
Drawing a Fort Knox tag is a blessing, but not one that comes without challenges. On the opening day of his hunt, Jason Taylor completed the mandatory check-in at 4 a.m., then hiked deep in the timber, toting his shotgun, gear, and climbing stand. He set up in the dark and had to wait two hours for shooting hours, hoping he’d picked a good spot he’d chosen simply by looking at his mapping app. Well, his hunch paide off. When dawn arrived, he watched several does and young bucks following the terrain features he’d analyzed, and a couple hours later a bigger deer appeared. “I raised my binocular and could see he was a good 10-point with some stickers,” Taylor said. “I dropped the binoculars and decided to watch the buck through the scope.” Though the buck remained motionless and screened by cover, a nearby doe finally got the buck to move, and Taylor made the 90-yard shot. The 17-point buck had broken off three large tines but, thanks to amazing symmetry on kickers and splits, still scored 174⅞” B&C.
Biggest Bucks of the 2024 Early Season
As mentioned, we kicked this series off during the pre-rut with the top early-season whitetails (and one muley) taken in September and early October, including a couple of 200-inch velvet monsters, a 260-inch colossus, and one of the widest bucks you'll ever see. Here are 17 giants from the first month and half of the 2024 deer season.
1. 260-Inch Teen Tank
Logan Urban was hunting on the ground with a crossbow on October 5 when the biggest buck he's ever seen stepped into a bean field about 200 yards away. Urban had been patterning and observing the enormous whitetail since July, he told Field & Stream—so when the deer closed the gap to just 30 yards and began quartering towards him, the 18-year-old hunter was ready and made a perfect shot.
Logan took the buck's antlers to longtime Buckmasters scorer Toby Hughes in Caledonia, Ohio, who said he was dumbfounded by the deer's mass, main beam length, and the size of its palmated brow tines. He scored it at an astonishing 260 7/8 inches BTR. You can read the full story of Urban's buck here.
2. Illinois Freak Show
Illinois bowhunter Evan Morgeson almost didn't go hunting when he overslept on the morning of October 8th, and when he got to his stand, a farmer was moving cows in the field next to him. But before long, several does trotted toward him from the field—with the big buck in tow. Morgeson was at full draw before the nontypical ever stepped into his shooting lane. “I tried to stop him with a grunt, but he didn’t hear it, so I yelled at him,” he told F&S. “When he stopped, I hit him center of mass. I found my arrow covered in blood, then I saw his white belly sticking out of the phragmite grass. The whole thing was surreal." Morgeson's 31-point buck green scored 232 ⅞ inches. You can read the full story of his buck here.
3. Manitoba Monster
Manitoba hunter Evan Proctor arrowed this 218-inch giant nontypical on the evening of September 22—but not without a few close calls first. Proctor had the buck at 19 yards on the August 26th bow opener, but the deer spook before he could shoot. Then, three weeks later, the buck walked into bow range, looked directly at Proctor in his tree stand and bolted. “After that encounter, I was almost 100% certain there was no possible way of killing this buck with an arrow,” the hunter told F&S.
But Proctor wasn’t giving up and, on the evening of September 22, the huge buck gave him one more opportunity. “I’d sat in the stand for 22 days, and I knew the distance to every blade of grass in that field,” Proctor laughed. “He stopped at 30 yards, and I was ready and waiting and the arrow was on its way." The buck mule-kicked, ran off, and disappeared into some long grass. "I’d just shot the biggest buck I’d ever seen, and ever will see.” You can read the full story of Proctor's buck here.
4. Extra-Wide Load
When we first saw the photos of Tanner Stay's buck, we wondered the same thing some of you may be thinking now: Is this thing for real? The buck is certainly turning heads—and raising some eyebrows—on the internet. But based on our conversation with the hunter as well as additional trail-cam video and photos, it seems like the buck is both for real and one of the widest whitetail we've every profiled.
Stay took the giant whitetail during an evening archery hunt in Monroe County, Missouri on September 25. He unofficially measured its wide, typical rack at just over 185 inches. "He had 29-inch main beams and 25 inches of width," he told F&S. "I think he’s gonna go number one for typical 10-point in the state.” You can read the full story of Stay's huge buck here.
Related: The 7 Best Days of the Whitetail Rut
5. Ohio Ghost Buck
If you’ve ever suspected that a mature buck is avoiding your trail camera on purpose, you won’t get any argument from Ohio bowhunter Tommy Allen, who'd played trail-cam cat and mouse for three seasons with a buck he called “Zeus.” He finally caught up with the giant whitetail this month and made a perfect shot to end his multi-year campaign. The main frame 6X6 sported 20 scoreable points (12 inches of abnormals), 28- and 27-inch main beams, a 17-inch inside spread, and a gross score of 216-4/8 inches. “I spent a lot of sleepless nights wondering how to get it done, and when I did it was just incredible," said Allen, who is a member of the Buckeye Boyz Outdoors team and self-filmed the hunt for Zeus, which you can watch it on their YouTube channel. You can also read the full story of Allen's hunt here.
6. Twenty-Acre 200-Incher
After spotting a colossal buck feeding in a beanfield last summer, Ohio County sheriff’s deputy Will Grodhaus found himself very excited about the upcoming archery season. “Trouble was, the beanfield was right next to a chunk of public ground," he told F&S. “The buck was so visible, I was sure others knew about him too.” Grodhaus did a little research and found a 20-acre private parcel nearby and got permission to hunt it from the landowner.
“I put out a mineral block and a wireless camera in August and, 46 minutes after I left, I got a picture on my phone of the same buck,” he said. “I couldn’t believe it.” Grodhaus knew he was close to the buck’s bedding area and set a stand on an oak flat near the camera. Only a few days into the opening week, Grodhaus had the buck at 25 yards and, and although it was legal shooting light, he couldn’t see well enough through his peep sight to make a good shot. “I let him go and prayed I’d get another chance, which I did on October 3.” That day there was plenty of light, and Grodhaus sent a lethal arrow through the Buckeye State giant, a main-frame 10-point that grossed 200-4/8 inches on the Buckmasters (BTR) scoring system.
7. 199-Inch Velvet Giant
Kentucky bowhunter Jacob Deaton arrowed this huge, velvet nontypical on September 7 after a three-year chase in the northern part of the Bluegrass State. According to his taxidermist, the buck's green score came in just shy of 200 inches. When Deaton recovered the buck, he was surprised that its rack was still in full velvet. "I thought for sure that his horns had hardened out when I was looking at him the night before," he told F&S. "I guess I was so focused on his body, and so full of adrenaline, that I didn't even notice the velvet." You can read the full story of Deaton's buck here.
8. Second-Chance Trophy
Oklahoma hunter Adam Duncan had a close encounter with this giant 13-point buck on the Sooner State's October 1 archery opener. "He was 60 yards away, and I couldn't get a shot," Duncan told F&S. "My heart sank. Opportunities at mature bucks like that are hard to come by." While that is generally true, Duncan's second opportunity on this buck came only a day later, but when he saw the deer's giant rack emerge from a thicket, buck fever almost got the better of him. "I absolutely lost control of myself," he says. "It worked in my favor that his approach was extremely slow, though. That gave me time to slow my thoughts and my heart rate. I was able to transition from sheer excitement to kill mode." Duncan says he is still looking for an experienced scorer to give him an official measurement of the deer's huge 6x7 frame. You can read the full story of Duncan's hunt here.
9. Third-Chance Trophy
It wasn't enough that Ohio bowhunter Daniel Cermeans missed a shot at this massive buck on October 2nd; his step brother and hunting partner had also missed the buck previously. But Cermeans wasn't about to give up, and October 7th, he got the perfect conditions. “I normally wait for my step brother Ryan to go with me, but we had a 30-degree temperature drop coming and he had to work,” he said. “So I told him, ‘Bud, I have to go without you,’ and he said ‘Go kill him!’” And that's just what Cermeans did. The heavy-racked main-frame 10-pointer scored 201-⅜ inches on the Buckmasters scale. You can read the full story of Cermeans buck here.
10. Great 8
Kentucky bowhunter Brandon Burman took this incredibly tall-racked 8-pointer on the evening of September 23. Measured by BTR scorer Dale Weddle, the buck had only a 14-inch spread, but it's towering tines pushed it to an impressive 174-⅛-inch gross score. Not many 8-pointers crack the 170-inch barrier, but that's especially true with such a modest spread measurement. “Thanks to Deedee, Cecil, and Josh Newton,” Burman said. “We all worked hard for this buck, and I’m so grateful for them, as well as for my wife Alexis…and God.”
11. Teen Tank, 2
Ava Kirtley was hunting with her father and a family friend during the Indiana youth season when this monster 12-pointer stepped out in front of their elevated box blind. "I think about 10 seconds passed from the time she saw him to the time she made the shot," her dad Kevin Kirtley told F&S. "I was worried that she might have missed him because she aimed and took the shot so quickly."
But Ava's shot was dead on. "It was a perfect heart shot," her dad said. "He didn't go more than 25 yards. I was so proud of her." The buck's unofficial green score came in at 184 inches B&C. You can read the full story of Kirtley's buck here.
12. Talk About a Headache
Anyone needing proof that mature bucks are tough as nails need only look at Noah Dresbach’s 2024 Ohio buck. Dresbach, owner of Elite Outfitters, had been following a buck he’d named “50 Cent” for several seasons. “Last fall I heard that a hunter on a neighboring property had made a bad shot on the buck,” he said. “We started getting pics of the deer with an arrow that went into his head but obviously didn’t kill him. I was sure he wouldn’t survive the winter, but last spring I found his sheds and was amazed to know he’d made it.” Dresbach kept track of the buck over the summer and, on the afternoon of October 2, caught up with him on a turnip-and-radish food plot. The 5X5 sported a 21-inch inside spread, 27-inch beams, 45 inches of mass, and gross-scored 171-⅜.
Related: The Best Deer Rifles of 2024, Tested and Reviewed
13. The Ups and Downs of Bowhunting
Tommy Gliatta had his eye on this Ohio buck all during the 2023 season. “But I was actually hunting a bigger deer, so I didn't go after this one very hard,” Gliatta told us. “After he disappeared from my cameras, I figured he was dead. But this summer he was the first buck that I got on camera, so the chase was on.”
Unfortunately, on his first opportunity to hunt, Gliatta had to move his stand to accommodate an unusual wind, and the stand come out from under him. Gliatta fell more than 20 feet and landed on his head and shoulder. “After an ambulance ride to the ER, I laid in the trauma bay that evening and watched the buck come past my camera right on cue,” he recalled.
“I had no broken bones, but I did have a small tear in my windpipe and a partially torn rotator cuff, which kept me holed up in the hospital for several days so they could make sure my windpipe was healing on its own. Finally I got discharged early one afternoon, got a ride home, gathered all my gear, and headed straight for the woods. I ended up sitting on the ground in a makeshift blind in a log pile. Shortly before dark, I scanned the woods and there he was, just inside the wood line. He stopped with his head behind a tree at 50 yards, so I settled in with my 50 yard crosshair—I was hunting with a crossbow due to my banged up shoulder—and let it fly.” Gliatta’s buck has 11 scorable points and an unofficial score of 165 inches B&C. The buck was 5-½ years old.
14. Missouri Public-Land Stud
We profiled Allen two falls ago, when he arrowed a giant buck on public ground in Kentucky. Well Allen was back at it this year, on the hunt for a Missouri buck he’d encountered in 2022. “The buck busted me that fall, but I scouted that tract over and over and knew it so well I thought I had a good shot at him this fall, if he was still alive,” Allen said. Well the buck was alive and well and using an oak flat that had been part of Allen’s 2024 scouting plan. “The evening of October 4th I hung my mobile set on a drain head that led up to the oak flat from a creek,” he said. “ At 5:45 in the evening I heard a deer walking in the leaves about 70 yards away, and 15 minutes later I heard a deer cough in the same spot. He stayed there for 45 minutes so I was starting to get fearful that he would just stay put for the entire evening. I decided to be aggressive and I let out a snort wheeze and I spotted a deer headed my way. As soon as I put my binos on him, I knew it was a buck that I had called ‘The 9’, a buck I’d been hunting for 3 years. He closed the distance to 17 yards and I went to full draw for 3-½ minutes before he stepped out into a clear shooting lane. I lined up my top pin behind his shoulder and put an end to the story on the buck of a lifetime for me.” Allen’s gorgeous 10-point grossed 168-4/8 B&C.
15. 200-Inch Spot-and-Stalk Muley
Yes, we know the title says "Biggest Whitetail Bucks," but we didn't want to deprive you of this giant velvet muley. When Keaton Artherton started getting pics of the buck last June, he knew the buck had potential. Then the buck disappeared for over a month, and when it reappeared at the end of July, the buck’s rack had positively exploded. “Right then, I knew that he was a 200-inch buck, and he still had some growing to do,” Artherton said. “I saw him once on a scouting trip before the season, and he was hanging out in one saddle with six other bucks.” When the season opened, Artherton had to sift through several other bucks before he could locate this one. When he finally found the tall-racked giant, it took a couple days of observation and oh-so-close stalks before he finally snuck within bow range.
Early on the morning of the final hunt, Atherton glassed the muley on a hillside with four other bucks and watch until they bedded down. It took him two hours to stalk within 28 yards and deliver a fatal arrow when the buck finally stood. The velvet muley grossed 217-4/8 inches B&C.
16. Great 8, No. 2
Many of us avoid hunting in the morning during early season, nervous that we'll spook a mature buck as he heads back to bed. But Kentuckian Jason Taylor used cameras to prove that the buck he was after—a towering 8-pointer still in velvet—had abandoned his evening daylight feeding sessions and switched to mornings. Using wind and cover, Taylor was able to sneak into a shooting house overlooking a food plot well before dawn. “As daylight came, I could see multiple deer feeding, and one of them was ‘Amigo’, the buck I was after,” Taylor told F&S. “He was about 65 yards out when all the deer suddenly went on high alert, and then a single doe stomped and blew, causing the deer to trot toward me and Amigo followed.” Soon the spooked deer–Taylor assumed a coyote spooked them–were relaxed and feeding again. Amigo finally fed to within bow range, and Taylor made good on the 40-yard shot.
17. Bluff Country Booner
When she’s not busy teaching middle school, Lisa Boyum hunts the deer-rich bluff country of southeast Minnesota. As the Gopher State archery season opened in mid-September, Boyum had her sights set on a buck she and her husband, Brady, had known for three seasons. Boyum had two close-but-not-close-enough encounters with the buck from a Maverick blind that the couple had mounted on a platform they’d attached to a mobile gravity wagon, which they moved to take advantage of the buck’s favorite travel route along a hayfield and timber edge that led to a beanfield. On the evening of October 1, the buck finally walked within range of Boyum’s crossbow, and she made good on the shot. The 15-point buck had a gross B&C score of 176 inches and field dressed 223 pounds. The buck was Boyum’s second whitetail that scored 160 B&C or better.
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