BuckFest 2025, featuring the Big Buck World Championship XVIII, was held in Nashville at Marathon Music Works from Oct. 10-11. With a prize pool of $125,000, there were a lot of big winners at the event, including Jordan Classen, the Saskatchewan resident who took home the coveted Pappy’s Jug, a gun trophy and $25,000.
Classen is an avid player, having won the Rookie of the Year in 2022 and taking third place in 2024. The Canadian crew that he’s in is called the SaskBuckHunters and are “a mighty force having now delivered two different World Champions, multiple top four finishers and a 3-time Ladies Division Champion with six top four finishes,” organizers reported.
Second place went to Federico Read of Lawrence, Massachusetts, who took home a gun trophy and $12,500; third place went to Chris Lehnen of Cold Spring, Minnesota, who took home a gun trophy and $10,000; and fourth place went to Adam Holm of Edmonton, Alberta, who took home a gun trophy and $7,500.
In the Ladies Division, the first-place winner was Kattey Pass of St. Petersburg, Florida, who won a gun trophy and $6,500 (she was a rookie last year); second place belonged to Abby Rutko (part of the SaskBuckHunters), who won a gun trophy and $3,500; third place was Lauren Hope (also part of the SaskBuckHunters and a 6-time gun trophy winner), who got another trophy and $2,100; and fourth place was Rachel Hight of Traverse City, Michigan, a second-year player who won $1,500.
The Rookie of the Year for 2025 was Adam Caswell of Flagstaff, Arizona, winner of $2,900.
In addition to the main tournament, there was the Big Buck Hunter Amateur Open tournament, meant for more casual players looking to test their skills in competitive play. The winner was 15-year-old Kylie Garver from Texas, daughter of Big Buck great Matthew Garver. She won a Big Buck Hunter Pro Arcade 1Up Mossy Oak Edition. Second through fourth places won Big Buck Hunter cash cards up to $150.
BuckFest took the World Championship to the next level by bringing the host city into the event like never before,” organizers added. “Being in Music City, BuckFest showcased live Nashville bands, a pop up market with local vendors including a shop tattooing patrons with the Big Buck Hunter tattoos of their choice, and local food trucks like Hattie B’s hot chicken and Daddy’s Dogs. There was a free play arcade with Play Mechanix games including Top Gun: Maverick, NBA Superstars and more.”
They also noted that Keystone Light was a presenting partner and was on hand to deliver “free swag and a side tournament on Big Buck Hunter, complete with Keystone Light prizes.”
The event was streamed on Twitch and had nearly 400,000 views over the weekend.
Next year’s BuckFest will be in Milwaukee. Get ready for beer, brats and Buck Hunter in 2026!
Another big news item from the event… Throughout the year, Play Mechanix held a vote on all online Big Buck Hunter: Reloaded machines for players to choose the next animal in the game. Players got one vote for every Pro mode play. The company racked up over 63,000 votes and in the end, Mountain Goat came out on top by a landslide. The new animal will be added in Spring 2026.
Qualifying for the next season begins soon. Learn more at www.bigbuckhunter.com/tournaments.