Marc Anthony’s last six bucks have an average gross score of over 170 inches. Photo by Ron Willmore.

When the term “whitetail expert” is mentioned these days, most people immediately think of several people you routinely see on the The Outdoor Channel. In reality, there are probably far more “whitetail experts” whose names you have never heard of. The typical profile of these experts is someone who does not want to always be in the spotlight of the deer hunting world. These deer hunters typically let their results speak for themselves.

One such expert from Illinois who has not gone out of his way to promote himself is Marc Anthony. First and foremost, Anthony does not consider himself an expert. He just has this habit of routinely killing large bucks. Anthony is a homebuilder by trade, and owns and operates Look Alive Taxidermy in Goodfield. He still somehow finds time to work in a little bowhunting, and the results are impressive. In the last few years, his top six bucks with a bow have an average gross score of over 170 inches. Included in his top six bucks is a typical that has a gross Boone and Crockett score of 190 4/8 inches and a net score of 175 0/8 inches. Also included in the top six bucks is a non-typical buck that has a gross B&C score of 204 inches, and a net score of 195 7/8 inches.

There are thousands of bowhunters who have never even seen a Boone and Crockett buck. There are very few bowhunters who have killed a Boone and Crockett buck. And those bowhunters who have killed two are part of a very short list of people.

Having said all of that, how does one bowhunter put it all together on a routine basis? The following accounts of how Marc Anthony’s top three bucks were taken may shed some light on just what you need to do in order to consistently be successful in the pursuit of big white-tailed bucks. On the other hand, the more typical response to these stories may be, “Why didn’t I think of that?”

BUCK NO. 1
Let’s start out by saying this buck was taken in total contrast to Anthony’s usual approach to big bucks.

Anthony was hunting a 160-acre farm in Schuyler County in 1995. Schuyler County may not have the same reputation as Pike County or several other great counties in Illinois, but Schuyler has been consistently producing some really great bucks over the past several years. Although Anthony usually focuses his major efforts for big bucks in October, this particular year found him high in a tree stand in December still looking for a large buck he knew was in the area.