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Welcome to 2020! If you’re still out there hunting, great! If not, we’ve got your fix! Still big bucks coming in, and lotsa new product news coming soon from the ATA and SHOT shows — so let’s git it on!
Today’s Top 5
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KS buck is the 4th largest non-typ ever and new state record.
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Get a load of that 67-point freakshow!! Taken by KS bowhunter Brian Butcher in Oct, and if the B&C score of 321 3/8 holds up it’ll score as the 4th largest non-typ in the world, and by FAR the largest non-typ in KS — that’s saying something since KS is known for the bigs!
Deets from the KDWPT via the Salina Post:
> “When I first saw it, I thought it had some branches or grass tangled up in its antlers,” said Butcher. “But when I looked at him with binoculars, I realized it was all antlers.”
> Butcher released his arrow when the giant buck was just 25 yards from his treestand and the shot was true. After waiting only 5-10 minutes, Butcher tracked the deer to a spot 50 yards away.
> “I had the most opposite feeling of ‘ground shrinkage’ possible. I was in complete shock.”
> “We added it up five times because it didn’t make sense,” Butcher laughed. “We had it at 341 inches gross, and 316 inches net.”
It doesn’t make sense to us, either… but job well done!
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Hunter shoots buck in gramp’s bedroom with a 7mm Mag!
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Whoa! Story is that TX hunter John Sasser was hunting his grandparents’ farm, tagged a buck and processed it in their backyard. All good so far but then…
…on his way back from disposing the carcass, his lab “Bo” decided to jump out of the back of the truck and chase a buck that was chasing a doe:
> …the doe crossed the road and took off across a pasture. The buck, meanwhile, peeled off and headed up the driveway in the direction of his grandparent’s home. Bo was in hot pursuit.
> Sasser said he was walking the perimeter of the house when he heard a strange thumping noise coming from inside.
> “One of the big windows in the living room was busted out and everything was wrecked.”
> They opened the doors to the house hoping the deer might make a run for it, but it wouldn’t budge after 15 minutes of waiting. “My grandmother has 3 china cabinets full of Depression-era glass in the house. You can’t put a value on that stuff. That’s what we were really concerned about.
> “I really didn’t know what to expect when I went in there. I slipped in the door, raised up over the couch and was able to see the deer in the bedroom. Unfortunately, the only rifle I had with me at the time was a 7mm Mag. Shooting that thing in the house sounded like a cannon going off. It was pretty rough.”
Yikes, we bet cleanup was rough too…just glad everyone (and the glass?) was okay.
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14-yo WI hunter’s first deer is a HOSS!
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Brycen Dumke (15) — an accomplished hunter — and his bud, Nathan Schmitt, a 14-yo hunting newbie went muzzleloader hunting on Brycen family’s property. They were in a blind before sunup, and as Deer and Deer Hunting says, that’s when the magic happened:
> They were…enjoying the time outdoors when suddenly several does appeared. The deer were moving quickly across a field….
> …Brycen knew something was following them — most likely a buck. Peering to the side of the blind’s window, he caught movement. Buck! Big buck!
> Nathan quickly got into shooting position and tried to find the buck in the scope. Brycen instructed him to let him know when he was ready, so he could stop the deer as it was trotting in front of the blind.
> Nathan gave confIrmation when the buck was about 70 yards out, and Brycen let out 2 “blats.” KABOOM! Nathan’s shot was on the mark.
The 12-pointer green-scored 184″!! Great job guys!
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ATV traffic actually -helps- LA hunter bag a big’un!
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Usually the sound of ATVs is bad news for guys hunting public land. At best guys are hunting nearby, at worst it’ll scare off every critter around. But longtime deer hunter Brandon Burke decided to stay put — LA Sportsman tells the story:
> Fortunately for him, the motorized vehicles inadvertently aroused a big buck from its bed. The 13-point buck was apparently trying to sneak away from all the noise when Burke dropped him in his tracks at 70 yards.
> The buck, which tipped the scales at 245 lbs, sported 13 points on a massive rack. Inside spread was 14″ but the bases measured an eye-popping 6″ each with measurements nearly 5″ at the last measurement up the rack.
Love it! Don’t storm outta your stand mad fellas, give it time!
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“King of Carson” buck saved from clothesline…by hunters.
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Matt Parent of Carson City, NV is a big-time hunter, but like most hunters is also a big-time conservationist. Proved it recently when he helped free a mega-racked deer from a clothesline.
The deer — named “King of Carson” — was kinda a local celeb, so Matt knew “who” it was and got to work. CarsonNow.org had the details:
> “He had roping tangled around his antlers and it was dragging about 20 feet behind him, and I knew we needed to do something about it…. He had 4-inch eyebolts hanging from the rope that sounded like bells every time he shook his head.”
> Matt called the Nevada Dept of Wildlife (NDOW) and told them about the situation…. “…I told them, ‘Hey, this isn’t your average buck, he’s the King of Carson, a lot of people follow him, he’s an icon of our city and we need to take care of this guy.'”
> After a 2-day search, Matt and a buddy located the deer, and they called a warden to tranquilize the deer. “I asked the warden if I could cut the rope. I said, ‘I found him, I’d love the honor of setting him free.’
> “I want people, anti-hunters and non-hunters, to understand that most hunters are ethical sportsmen and we genuinely, deeply care about our wildlife. We are true conservationists.”
Good work Matt and bud!
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News
1. KS auctions off 2nd-largest rack — for $16K.
> Possession of the 14-point rack inspired an emotional legal and political dispute between landowner Tim Nedeau, who claimed rights to the trophy illegally shot in 2011, and KS [DNR] officials who contended Nedeau shouldn’t receive the ill-gotten mount worth thousands of dollars.
Sheesh, why not? Here’s what happened: The landowner had to buy it from the DNR. #CmonMan
2. Best way to control deer populations: at night, over bait.
[At grandforksherald.com — can’t link it, sorry.]
> [The Cornell U. study] evaluated the effectiveness of hunting, surgically sterilizing deer and no management action in reducing the impact of excessive browsing on red oak seedlings in three adjacent management zones.
> More effective, the study found, was…allowing volunteer archery hunters to shoot deer over bait, including at night, practices that aren’t legal for hunters in NY state.
3. PA considers a dozen changes for next hunting season.
> Most controversial of the plan will be to open hunting on the first Sunday of the firearms season for deer, running that season from Saturday, Nov 28, through Saturday, Dec 5, and Monday, Dec 7, through Saturday, Dec 12.
4. MT considering 2020-21 regs.
Including 2020/2021 deer seasons and hunting district boundaries, wants comments.
5. MD: Late firearms deer season opening.
> …opens in the counties that make up Deer Management Region B….
6. NY: Late antlerless season getting underway.
1/11-31 on 60,000 acres of overpopulated habitat:
> Registered hunters may take up to 2 antlerless deer per day using any hunting implement that is legal during any other deer season at the site where they are hunting.
7. IA deer population holding steady.
> …the last 5 years of [firearms] deer hunting seasons, the harvest numbers have been averaging 100,000 deer.
8. ID 2020-25 whitetail and muley plans now available.
9. Get ready for shed season.
> Even if you didn’t bag that big boy on your hit list, there’s still a chance to take home some treasure.
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Gear of the Week
Thompson/Center unveils new bolties.
T/C guns are just plain good. Not the fanciest, prettiest or most expensive gun in your safe, but more times that not it’s the gun to reach for to get the job done no prob. So we gotta know about their 2020 lineup of bolt actions:
> Each of these new bolt-action rifle lines features Thompson/Center’s 5R rifling and M.O.A. accuracy guarantee, and provides a host of features and value at a variety of price points….
> The T/C Compass Utility is designed to provide today’s sport shooters and hunters with an accurate rifle that won’t break the bank… Chambered in 223 Rem/5.56 NATO, 243 Win, 6.5 Creedmoor, 270 Win, 308 Win, and 30-06 Sprg…MSRP starting at $359.
> T/C Compass II is a feature-rich rifle…. New T/C Generation II Trigger System provides crisp, light 3-4 lb trigger-pull weight…. Chambered in 223 Rem/5.56 Nato, 243 Win, 6.5 Creedmoor, 270 Win, 308 Win, 30-06 Sprg, 7mm Rem Mag, and 300 Win Mag.
> Available in T/C Compass II Compact versions, featuring a 16.5″ barrel with an interchangeable, extended butt pad for length of pull adjustments from 12.5″ to 13.375″…..MSRP starting at $405.
> T/C Venture II [pictured above] — Our flagship bolt-action hunting rifle…with T/C’s Generation II trigger system. Designed for the toughest conditions, this rifle incorporates a corrosion-resistant Weather Shield coating to help shrug off the harshest weather….
> Available in 223 Rem/5.56 Nato, 243 Win, 6.5 Creedmoor, 270 Win, 308 Win, 30-06 Sprg, 7mm Rem Mag, 300 Win Mag, and 350 Legend…. Threaded muzzle for use with compensators, muzzle brakes, and suppressors…. Hogue grip panels provide a sure grip in all weather conditions…. MSRP starting at $525.
Definitely gonna give these a look!
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Tip of the Week
Get to late-season deer through their stomachs.
By the time January arrives, bucks are beat down. They’ve been chasing does for months, fighting other bucks, and hopefully breeding — all while trying to stay warm.As Field & Stream points out, now that deer are back in food mode, your chances for successfully finding a post-rut buck will most likely depend on determining where he’s getting his groceries:
> If I had to nominate a most-overlooked winter food it’s the acorn. They’ve been dropping since the beginning of fall, causing many hunters to think the show is over. (And in areas where oaks are rare, or the crop is poor, it might be.) But if there are nuts left, even buried under the snow, deer will be all over them.
> I’ve seen December deer ignore corn and soybeans to dig through a foot of snow and feed in a newly seeded alfalfa field. Alfalfa is extremely high in protein, and a fresh field must still maintain its flavor because deer devour the stuff.
> If I were forced to pick only one ag-species row-crop to plant in a food plot, it would be soybeans. In addition to being high in protein, soybeans grow relatively low to the ground and are lightly attached to the stalk.
> …a food plot seed perfectly designed for the winter, brassicas (the seed category that includes rape, kale, turnips, and radishes) are the ticket. For starters, deer largely ignore the leaves in summer and early fall…. But after those leaves get hit with a frost or two, deer are all over them.
> Standing corn looks like an easy buffet, but in reality, chewing corn from a cob is kind of a chore for deer, and in most cases they prefer the kernels on the ground. This makes a picked (but not plowed) cornfield even more attractive to whitetails.
> Woody browse is a highly overlooked food source in the food plot era, and it’s actually the stuff that whitetails evolved to eat to sustain them through the winter. It’s their go-to choice, sometimes even when better-looking, easier-to-access sources (like food plots and farm crops) are available.
Good stuff! Don’t forget Doritos…lol:
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Quote of the Week
“The most sobering part of all this is hunters stand alone when it comes to recruitment. No one will help us replace ourselves.”
– J. Scott Olmstead from American Hunter talkin’. A logical and for sure sobering thought.
Part of a good post urging hunters to make New Year’s resolutions to bring new hunters into the fold. Not a new idea, but it’s never been more important. What are you gonna do to help hunting in 2020? (we’re talkin’ to ourselves here too!)
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Shot of the Week
GREAT closeup of a true albino doe taken by @taylorbarlowphotography. Biologists say the chances of sighting an albino deer are 1 in 30,000:
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What’s the DB and who does it??
The DeerBlaster is a weekly roundup of the best, worst and funniest stuff about whitetail deer hunting culled from around the interwebz. We were kinda doing it already, just not the blastin’ it into your inbox part….
It’s put together by some deer nerds — Ted, Jay, Wade, couple more — from around the country. We excerpt content (and credit EVERYONE!), comment on content, do some original content — it’s an internet thing…. We do it because we can’t get enough deer hunting, hopefully you’re wired the same.
The DeerBlaster’s a work in progress, just like we are. Let us know what we can do better and thanks for readin’! Any issues, suggestions, whatever, just hit Reply to this email and we’ll get it. Thank you!
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