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.

Chase Thebarge of Dixfield tagged this 244.8-lb. buck in Byron.

Michael Cummings of Bucksport tagged Maine’s biggest patch club buck – 269.4 lbs. – on Halloween Day in Mariaville.

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

Maine Sportsman reader Brian Parkhurst of Solon tagged this 196.5-lb. 10-point buck during Maine’s muzzleloader season. Brian was hunting in Somerset County with his Thompson Center 50-cal. rifle on December 1, 2023. The weight was certified at the Bingham General Store. Photo by Sallie Parkhurst


Zachary Loubier of South China was hunting in his hometown on October 31, 2024 when he dropped this 200-lb, 9-point buck with his .30-’06. He registered and certified the trophy at Tobey’s Grocery on Route 3 in South China.


Suzanne Clement was hunting in her hometown of Bucksport on November 10, 2023 when she used her .308 to tag this 201.5-lb., 10-point buck. Suzanne took the big deer to Snowman’s Grocery, 31 Duck Cove Road in Orland, for weight certification and registration.


Kaden Doughty of Whitefield earned his Biggest Bucks in Maine patch from The Sportsman for this 207.8-lb., 8-pt. trophy. Kaden was hunting with a .308 on November 11, 2023 in Pittston.


Jared Richards of Dedham was bowhunting in Otis on October 18, 2023 when he dropped this 215-lb., 10-pt. buck. Richards, a Maine Sportsman subscriber, took the deer to Bill Melgey of Greenfield Twp for weight certification and processing.


Mitchell DeCosta of Wiscasset was hunting in Alna on November 2, 2023 when he shot this 202-lb., 8-point buck with his .308. DeCosta, a Maine Sportsman reader, brought the deer to Holly Wilkerson of the Gardiner Road in Dresden, for certification.


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