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Brothers get serious, then get 300 points!!!
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KS is known as big buck country, but there’s big and then there’s monster. Look at this thing!
That’s “Christmas Tree,” recently scored at an incredible 300 3/8 inches. [mind blown emoji] The intentional efforts of 2 brothers from AR got him…bet KS hunters love that lol. Here’s the lowdown from Buckmasters:
> Several hunters were…drooling over the buck when it was alive, but none were more serious about taking it home than…Mark and Rob Watson.
> …the Watsons don’t usually target the same bucks. Last year, however, they came to a pact.
> Since trail camera photographs clearly indicated the massive whitetail favored one spot, the custom-built stand overlooking it — Rob’s — became the go-to vantage point. If Rob couldn’t hunt from it, Mark would.
> In 2017, so intent upon increasing their odds…the Watsons bought a home away from home in which they could stay while hunting. They also hung cellular trail cams attached to external batteries so they wouldn’t have to go in and check the units.
> Mark hunted alone on Dec 2. That evening, he saw a big, antsy 10-pointer on a nearby logging road. He wondered if it was ill at ease because of the much bigger buck in the vicinity.
> The 5×5 spotted Mark in the blind from 15 yards, and that was more than enough to send it packing. Soon after it disappeared, a doe led Christmas Tree into chip-shot range for a .270.
That’s COMMITMENT! Nice one guys….
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Here’s the story on that huge Alberta non-typ…
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…you’ve probly seen kicking around the interwebz:
Deer blogger Mike Hanback ran down the story:
> It took some digging but I finally caught up with @tiffcheryl on Instagram.
> …I was able to study the official score sheet and see just how massive this buck is!
> 14 points on right antler, 10 on left.
> 42 inches of total mass.
> Most awesome: 27 5/8″ length of right beam, 27″ left beam (just 5/8″ deduction)
> Final non-typical score: 238 2/8″
On her Insta account, she says this bad boy is unofficially the biggest non-typical buck ever taken in Canada by a woman. Big congrats to her!
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End of a 50-year era: Opening day changes in PA.
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Got any deer-hunting traditions? Heck yeah you do! So imagine the freakout when the PA Game Commission voted to change the start of deer season from the Mon after Thanksgiving to 2 days before that (Saturday).
> Rifle season…in PA has kicked off the Mon after Thanksgiving since 1963. The change expands the firearms season to 13 days, including 3 Saturdays rather than 2.
> Supporters hope a Sat opening will bring back people struggling to find time to hunt, and help high school and college hunters who don’t get opening day off from school.
> Opponents said the change would interfere with hunting-camp traditions and complicate travel during the Thanksgiving weekend.
Why this is big news: There’s more licensed hunters in PA than any other state except…TX. PA folks are deer-huntin’ crazy! #loveit
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Bahahahaha! Check out these deer-hunting protest signs.
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Ran across these online, had to show you a few — but there’s SO many good ones:
LOL! Deer tolerance, not violence??? Where the heck do people come up with this stuff?
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News
1. Coyotes don’t affect deer pops in eastern US.
> Using hunting records from state wildlife agencies, the team looked for changes in the number of deer harvested after coyote arrival and establishment in an area. The experts found a general increase in the number of [hunter] harvested deer in all states, and found no consistent crash in harvest numbers following coyote arrival.
2. SD will change hunting regs because of CWD.
Just not saying how yet.
3. TX will expand south-central CWD containment zone.
4. MI may allow deer baiting.
Proposal in the legislature. Had been banned to stop the spread of CWD but may not be enough evidence to keep it….
5. AL baiting bill passes in 1 house.
> The bill has become an annual fixture in the Legislature but has never passed both chambers.
> Hunters could buy a baiting privilege license to hunt whitetail deer or feral hogs over bait. The annual cost of the license would be $16 for AL residents and $51 for non-residents.
> …the department wants the option of hunting over bait as a tool in its efforts to protect the health of the state’s deer population. The DOC has cited concerns about the feral hogs…because they are destructive and multiply at a fast rate.
6. PA hunters take 375K deer in 2018-19, 14-year high.
> The 2018-19 deer harvest topped the previous year’s harvest of 367,159 by about 2%. The last time the total deer harvest exceeded this season’s total was in 2004-05.
But:
> The 2018-19 buck harvest represents a 10% decline from the 2017-18 buck harvest of 163,750.
7. MN: Will kids learn hunting, shooting, fishing in school??
Proposed bill:
> “We’re trying to help get our MN kids away from the TV and get them out in the woods and on the water again to get them hooked on the outdoors and hooked on fishing.”
Amen!
8. DC: Bipartisan senators propose fully funding LWCF.
> LWCF is funded up to a maximum of $900 million annually from royalties paid by offshore oil and gas drilling. That creates an almost irresistible pile of cash for Congress to raid for other purposes and rarely has LWCF been funded anywhere near the full level.
> A bipartisan group of Senators is aiming to end that by permanently funding the LWCF at $900 million, effectively making it off limits to budget raids.
9. TX man makes up story about kid poaching deer…
…but then:
> …the landowner admitted that he had made it all up and admitted to killing the whitetail deer. The landowner stated he was operating his riding lawnmower and fired 3 shots at the whitetail deer with his .22 rifle.
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Gear of the Week
Swarovski dS rangefinding scope — too much tech or…?
Cool scope and great rundown by Ron Spomer. No doubt Swarovski makes 1st-class glass. Their new rangefinding scope has a lot of built-in stuff: a laser rangefinder, which compensates for bullet drop, angle of shot, temperature and atmospheric pressure, and even gives you compensations for crosswinds.
Some think that decreases “fair chase.” Others say the opposite — it eliminates guesswork and gets you cleaner, faster kills. Here’s an excerpt from Ron’s post, worth a full read:
> Anyone who has ever switched between a handheld laser and rifle in a hurry will appreciate the speed and convenience of getting a laser distance readout right in the scope’s eyepiece. Fast. But that’s not all…also measures the angle of the shot and spits out the shoot-to range plus the remaining energy of your bullet at that distance!
[To me, this goes a long way in deciding whether or not the shot is one you can take, vs. one you should take.]
> The dS reads temperature and atmospheric pressure and factors the effects of both (air density) on trajectory before lighting up that precise aiming point. Then, instead of just illuminating a red dot, the Swarovski dS lights up a horizontal red bar with windage hash marks at the proper locations to compensate for 5 mph and 10 mph crosswinds or 10 mph and 20 mph winds.
> What is a modern, bolt-action rifle but a high tech step up from a muzzleloader? And what’s a muzzleloader but a technological advancement over a bow and arrow which is itself a high tech throwing spear?
> My conclusion is that this is the fastest-to-employ, most precise scope I’ve ever used for hitting targets at unknown ranges out to 700 yards. I even waded through the smartphone app and set-up easily….
Interesting concept, and similar to the Garmin Xero laser ranging bow sight. BUT the Swarovski costs FIVE THOUSAND DOLLARS [!!!!] so…pretty sure it’s not a scope that many of us’ll have anytime soon. But it does maybe indicate what’s coming, eventually affordable….
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Tip of the Week
How to get your breathing down…
…when your heart rate is up. Ever practiced it? Then here you go — from a good post on the QDMA site:
> You won’t be as accurate as you can be if you don’t breathe properly. And you definitely won’t overcome buck fever if you’re breathing irregularly and uncontrollably when a buck steps out.
> Make a conscious effort to inhale deeply and exhale slowly. Continue this process over and over from the time you see the deer until just prior to the shot. This will help your muscles to relax and brain to focus.
> One helpful way I’ve found to practice this is to watch videos of deer hunts. As soon as the buck is shown on screen, begin your deep breathing routine. …muscle memory…everything needs to be second nature and done subconsciously when you’re in a real hunting situation.
Interesting…and an excuse to watch more hunting vids! lol
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Quote of the Week
“I asked the good Lord to let me live till 105 and get 1 more buck.”
– Clyde Roberts talkin’, who is — yep — 105 years old. In the Field & Stream post, his son Mike said his dad says that every year. I bet he does! Keep after ’em Mr. Clyde! And bless you….
Is he America’s oldest living deer hunter? Hmmmm….
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Shot of the Week
What in the?!?!?! Posted on the Big Buck Registry FB page. Lots of speculation in the comments, but most likely (to me anyhow) is that he was swept away in a flood. Other theories I guess are: Sasquatch, pterodactyl and…???
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What’s the DB and who does it??
The Deer Blaster is a year-round weekly roundup
of the best, worst and funniest stuff in deer hunting — put together by a couple diehard deer nuts including Wade Middleton << that’s him right there. Wade’s a TX native, host of Americana Outdoors and Yamaha’s Whitetail Diaries, and had a fateful conversation with a bud of his about the need for a really good deer-focused “thing”…and here it is!
Let us know what we can do better and thanks for readin’!
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Sign up another deer nut!
If you’re forwarding the Deer Blaster to other deer crackheads, tx much — or you can email us the addys and we’ll take care of it! We’ll never send spam, sell the list or anything else crazy….
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