Big Rack Roundup: Outdoor Channel Hosts Knocking Over September Whitetails

Back in the day, the month of September was tailor-made for dove hunting across Texas and the south, chasing early blue-wing teal near the Gulf Coast or maybe taking a trip out west to bowhunt for bugling bull elk, rutting pronghorn antelope or high country mule deer.

Just don't tell show hosts for a number of Outdoor Channel televisions shows, hunters that are already in the woods chasing big whitetails even though September seasons are only days old in many places.

What's more, after perusing the social media sites of a number of these show hosts in recent days, several of them are already racking up big taxidermy bills as our first Big Rack Roundup report is filed for the 2015-16 season.

Nate Hosie Scores a Booner in Big Sky Country

On September 6, Nate Hosie, co-host of Headhunters TV on Outdoor Channel, climbed into a Montana treestand hoping to find a Big Sky bruiser buck to wear his deer tag.

It didn't take him long to find that buck, a big whitetail dubbed "No. 12" by Budd Williams and his guides at Big Sky Outfitters.

Unfortunately, the mainframe 10-point typical measuring more than 170 inches sauntered by just outside the effective range of Hosie's Mathews No-Cam compound bow.

A couple of days later, however, on September 8, the buck made a cat-and-mouse cameo appearance, popping up at 100 yards from Hosie's stand before disappearing again.

Several anxious moments later, the buck showed itself only 30 yards away from Hosie's stand. When the deer moved past him at a scant 15 yards, the country-and-western musician drew and let his Muzzy-tipped arrow fly.

The hit was good and the buck went down not far from the bubbling Powder River.

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“That is my biggest buck to date,” Hosie told Josh Honeycutt of Realtree.com “I usually get fired up. But I was so humbled at that moment. It was a reminder of how lucky we are to be out there enjoying God’s creation.

“It was a gift from God to be out there and get the opportunity to take that deer,” he added in his interview with Realtree.com.

Shipley Strikes Antlered Gold in Cowboy Country

(Photo courtesy of Jordan Shipley Facebook page)

When Jordan Shipley traveled to the Cowboy State of Wyoming in September of 2009, snagging footballs out of the air from Texas Longhorns teammate and quarterback Colt McCoy was high on his list of priorities.

Before that particular day was done, Shipley had seven catches for 61 yards etched into the books as his Longhorns won big over the Wyoming Cowboys.

While Shipley failed to crack the end zone that day, the Central Texas resident hardly cared as his burnt orange teammates outscored Wyoming 41-10 in a game played en route to a BCS National Championship berth later that season against Alabama.

Now, with his college and NFL football career behind him, touchdowns aren't what Shipley has on his mind when he travels to Wyoming in the month of September.

Instead, the co-host of The Bucks of Tecomate show on Outdoor Channel made his recent trip hoping to tag a big whitetail buck while hunting with Seven J. Outfitters out of Sundance, Wyo.

On the morning of September 3, Shipley got his chance when a big 10-point with a couple of kicker points came out in the rolling hills not too far away from the Devils Tower in Wyoming.

While some bucks were still in velvet (Duck Dynasty reality television star Justin Martin shot a nice velvet-rack 8-point and Realtree's Kristy Barnes shot a velvet-racked 150-class 10-point while on early September hunts at Seven J), the buck that Shipley downed had slick antlers.

Hard-horned or not, Shipley downed the buck with his Hoyt Nitrum bow and was very excited about tagging his first buck – a Pope & Young-class buck at that – from the Cowboy State.

"(Shot my first) Wyoming buck this a.m.," Shipley announced on his Facebook page. "(This is an) amazing place!"

On the same hunt, Jordan's wife and The Bucks of Tecomate co-host Sunny Shipley added to the antlered haul by tagging a wide-racked eight-point buck at Seven J, giving even more good footage for the forthcoming episode.

With a good supply of venison headed for the Shipley's freezer back home in Texas, the guess here is that the hunting couple will be more than ready to return to the Cowboy State once again next September.

Miller Tags Familiar Badger State Bruiser

(Photo courtesy of Greg Miller/The Hunt Facebook page)

In his many years as one of the nation's top outdoor writers and a deer hunting television show host on Outdoor Channel, it takes a really big whitetail to get Greg Miller excited.

Over this past weekend, Miller, who co-hosts The Hunt with Greg and Jake, did exactly that – he got excited about a big whitetail, a well-known giant buck in his home state of Wisconsin.

With his son and show co-host Jake Miller filming the hunt, Greg found himself at full draw on September 13 as the familiar 10-point buck came calling in Dunn County, Wisconsin.

After having watched the deer grow for several years, the big Badger State bruiser was one that Miller could no longer pass up when it came into range of his Mathews bow.

"We have a three-year history with this deer, capturing literally thousands of Reconyx photos of him over that span," Miller said to fans on his Facebook page. "We finally put the 10-point on our 'hit list' this year, and last evening (Sept. 13), I just happened to be in the right place at the right time.

"But isn't that the case in so many instances when mature whitetails are involved?," the Bloomer, Wis., resident added.

In the spirit of modern whitetail management practices of no deer being shot before its time, Miller made it clear to his fans on social media exactly why he believes this big early season record-book buck is now wearing his tag.

"This deer (is) a direct result of me and Jake LETTING YOUNG DEER WALK for the past three years," said Miller. "Let 'em go and watch 'em grow!"