Keith Costley: Bucks can be difficult to identify in spring

Keith Costley notes that bucks can be difficult to identify in spring, a truth his Barton County hunting diary makes vividly clear. On a 300-acre farm, signs of turkey life—scat, tracks, scratch marks, dusting bowls and feathers—layer the scene alongside a distant mule deer crossing the road about 20 yards from the truck. The author recalls a prior hunt northwest of Joplin, where a heavy buck offered a 75-yard broadside shot with a .243 Remington Model 600 Mohawk, the 100-grain Core Lokt round felling the animal after a brief pursuit.