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Unless you're a dedicated bowhunter, muzzleloader season is the first crack you get at the local whitetail populations in Virginia. NRA Publications' Tom Rickwalder was itching for the chance to get after the herd that called his hunting club's property home, and wasted no time when the season opened last month. You can get a closer look at his hunt—and see the wild looking buck he harvested—in the gallery embedded above.
Five elusive Coues bucks in three days? Odds for that are low in the Southwest habitat the diminutive deer call home. But that never stopped a family from trying.
What defines a trophy? It’s a question every hunter asks and answers throughout his or her career. In the beginning it may be any deer or any buck; the first wallhanger; the first head of Western game; a kid’s first deer; a limit of … whatever. Curious about an answer? Read on.