Yep it’s September!!! Maybe you’re sitting already, maybe not yet but if not it’s coming soon! Can’t wait…we’re feeling kinda like this:
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π Thx for reading! If you’re getting the DeerBlaster for the first time it’s probably because a deer-crazed bud signed you up!
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KY hunter got the buck of a lifetime β on only 7 acres!
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π€― π€― π€― Imagine seeing that BEAST in your own little woodlot! Well, that deer β taken by Bruce Laudick β was roaming his home property of 7 acres with just 5 of it in woods! When he first saw the buck last summer, he put up a bunch of trailcams, then a ground blind and ladder stand, and it was on:
> Bruce had planned to usher in the season by sitting in the blind, which he’d set up next to a toppled tree, but he switched to the ladder when his son Scott and 6-yr-old grandchild…expressed in interest in hunting together….
> “I got into the ladder about daylight. Around 9:00, I heard what sounded like a buck chasing a doe where Scott and Dakota were sitting. I could actually see a portion of their ground blind.”
> Shortly after a gunshot echoed across the hillside, a 9-pointer charged in front of Bruce and collapsed only 40 yards from his tree. The Laudicks returned to their respective stands around 3 pm, after they’d retrieved the morning’s buck.
> About 2 hours after a 7-point buck cruised past Bruce, a doe appeared and began snuffling up acorns within feet of his vantage point. When a second doe came through less than a half-hour later, the pair began walking uphill. That’s when Bruce heard a buck grunting, and then he saw it just before it disappeared into a cedar thicket. When the deer emerged…he was ready.
> The 70-yard shot was a no-brainer. “When I finally got down and walked up to it, I almost cried.”
Heck yeah brother! 19 scorable points, measured 212 3/8″ β 5th-biggest deer taken in KY last year! π π π
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Very cool “funky” velvet buck dropped by Katie Van Slyke.
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Congrats to Katie for shooting that wacky-lookin’ dude β she called it the “Funky Buck” β during the 3-day private-land archery velvet hunt in TN. Deets from her Insta:
> The Funky Buck is Down!πΉ Thank you Lord for such an awesome answered prayer! Wow, this morning was crazy!
> @jonathanmabry_ and I got out to the woods for our last day of velvet hunting here in TN, and we had a feeling it was THE day! By 6:30 am there were 6 bucks and 3 does within 30 yards of me! I honestly have no clue how I was able to stand and draw back without getting busted!
> We have watched this deer for 2 years, and I knew that he was something special, but in person, he BLEW MY MIND! Such character, such mass, and such an all-around cool deer to be my first velvet buck ever!
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UT hunter arrows a SUPER FREAK muley!
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Look at that huge piece of bizareness! π Hunter Brett Scott and guide Austin Clark connected with that enormous 250-point green-score monster on the opening day of UT muley season β deets from F&S:
> Austin: “It was a real team effort. That’s what resulted in a first-day kill. We sat on that buck at 50 yards for over an hour while it bedded beneath a cedar. All you could see were the tops of his antlers.”
> The deer rose and moved away, heading toward a large patch of timber. Brett and Austin pursued, estimating the deer’s route and then hustling to get ahead and intercept it. They guessed correctly. The buck was 70 yards from them when it emerged from the woods.
> It began heading in the hunters’ direction, but then halted at 40 yards when Scott tried to stealthily adjust the sight on his bow. “It was a real small movement, but enough to make the deer stop. He turned broadside and gave us enough time to shoot.”
> The antler base on the buck’s right side is so pronounced that it looks a bit like the bosses on a cape buffalo. It projects so low…that it likely obscured the deer’s vision for its right eye. Austin said the deer canted its head as it walked, clearly favoring its left eye.
Outstanding! The cactus ones always look wild!
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Lightning and stepping on a stick? Np β‘οΈ big muley!
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In UT again! Austin and Colton Land guide for an outfitter in UT, and don’t get much time to hunt together. But they decided to go after this deer, which Austin and his wife first spotted over the summer. Austin tracked it every day, but as the season got closer he saw less and less of “Gear Head.” Hunt story from OL:
> On opening day, Austin and Colton sat on a high ridge the entire day, glassing for the buck at the same spot where they regularly watched him during the summer. At about 6 pm a blustery mountain storm began building. The hunters were ready to head back to camp when they spotted Gear Head.
> “We put a quick gameplan together, looped around the deer [to get favorable wind and cover] and started our stalk,” says Austin. “It took us 35 minutes to slip to 50 yards of him and another buck feeding in sage.”
> They got to 38 yards of the feeding bucks and Austin was preparing to shoot, when suddenly the wind picked up and a lightning bolt struck nearby, startling the deer.
> The buck panicked and ran…straight toward the hunters β then stopping at just 7 yards when he spotted the 2 brothers. He changed course and bolted toward a large stand of trees, where he disappeared. Austin and Colton figured they’d probably never see the buck again.
> [But] “it didn’t take long that next morning for us to spot Gear Head and 7 other bucks. We knew the deer liked that cover for food and water, and we decided to slip down toward them [to] set up and hope for an opportunity.”
> After several more fruitless stalks, Austin and Colton chose a spot to wait for the buck to show. But after 6.5 hours they decided to slip into the aspen stand and try to pinpoint the big buck. They located the bucks and, at one point, got within 18 yards of Gear Head β again with no shot. Again they looped around the deer, started a stalk, and then spotted them at 40 yards, with some open shooting lanes through cover.
> “The moment I’d practiced and waited for all summer was finally here,” Austin says. “I moved another 5 yards forward to put the buck in an opening, I ranged him at 35 yards [while he was feeding] broadside. Just as I moved my feet to settle down for a shot, I stepped on a limb that snapped.
> “Gear Head turned, looking right at me. I froze, praying. But after a 30-second stare-down, he calmed down, started feeding, and I drew my bow, put my sight pin on his chest, and released the arrow.”
Crazy! After all that, guess it was just meant to happen…. Buck was estimated at 6+ yrs old, weighed 300+ lbs, and green grossed just over 201!! π€― Video of the hunt here.
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How far can a buck swim??
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Well, this is a 12-point someone saw swimming across Lake Superior from one island to another, a distance of MORE THAN 3 MILES. Crazy!
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Not sure what’s really up but the net result is nothing changes:
> In yesterday’s UT Wildlife Board meeting, the board voted to postpone receiving public comments on the trail camera recommendations until further surveys could be conducted on the issue. The recommendations regarding trail cameras, the use of night-vision devices and various other big game hunting proposals that were made public for feedback on Aug 23 will be presented to the public in a future meeting.
> “Feeders are not necessarily the best thing to have for hunting because deer tend to not come to them as much as food plots during the day. Corn is high energy and fat, so they tend to want to go there, but not stay as long due to nutrient density.”
> Gives a qualifying landowner a 3-day season on their own property preceding the regular firearm deer season.
> …some of the areas with a reduced ‘antlerless harvest limit’ fell in areas with a higher deer population, so WFF took them out of Zone C.
Good for wildlife, a lot lost to fire every year apparently.
Should help deer a bit too….
8. WY says last year’s fire may help hunting in SE portion of state.
Over the long term, for muleys and elk. Can’t link it, but it’s at: oilcity news
Big thank you to all of ’em:
> Glenn St. Charles: Glenn was with the National Field Archery Association (NFAA), where he served as the VP, but he knew bowhunters needed their own organization. Someone to fight for the rights of bowhunters and help create more bowhunting opportunities throughout North America. He gathered several close friends and fellow bowhunters, and the foundation for today’s P&Y Club was laid.
> Fred Bear: A significant contributor to P&Y, Fred introduced mass production to archery equipment, making and inventing countless adaptations of bowhunting equipment. His films, books, articles, and television appearances captured the imagination of millions….
> Scott Showalter: …instrumental in the development of P&Y’s record-keeping system. His efforts helped P&Y promote bowhunting at the state level throughout the US, and these records helped to prove that bowhunting was a legitimate means of harvesting big game animals and an effective management tool.
> Jim Dougherty: A great hunter…served numerous roles within [P&Y] throughout his tenure. He served as the club’s executive secretary 1969-70, club president 1976-1984, and…director 1984-2002.
> Harv Ebers: As a close friend to Glenn St. Charles, Harv was part of the group in Seattle that laid out the road map and outlined the initial principles of what we know as P&Y today. …instrumental in maintaining a cohesive working relationship among board members as the organization grew and developed. Harv remains to this day a passionate bowhunter that gets out in the field with his bow any chance that he has.
Great idea and sounds π€€!
And MT approved baiting and night-hunting for ’em.
Thinking that’s a good sign??
> Gaining a better understanding of long-term patterns is further complicated by the fact that satellite records of daily sea-ice cover go back only about 40 years.
> Dr Eayrs said it was also not clear that man-made climate changes was to blame for reducing sea-ice cover in the Antarctic, explaining that more research was needed.
15. 2 A stuff.
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Deer Disease News
Doesn’t say how many deer:
> …closest confirmed case to the Rio Grande Valley, with Duval County located just north of Jim Hogg and Brooks counties.
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Video link ^:
> …offers the same proven on-game performance as original Core-Lokt with improved accuracy and long-range potential. …combines truer flight, flatter trajectory and devastating terminal energy. The deadliest mushroom in the woods is now deadlier.
Says Vudu is a new-ish company owned by Eotech:
> The body of every Vudu scope is cut from a solid piece of aircraft-grade aluminum and has a hard-anodized, durable finish.
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> For most popular straight-wall cartridges (like the .450 Bushmaster, .350 Legend and .45-70 Gov’t), giving you accurate holdovers and rapid target acquisition at ranges common to straight-wall shots.
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> The 2021 4MM Full Metal Jacket has been updated with a new spine configuration, an all-new 8-32 point half-out system, and redesigned graphics.
> For a non-lace up farm boot with snake protection that are appropriate for nearly year round wear, the Irish Setter MudTrek SnakeGuards are hard to beat.
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New kit from Axe Crossbows kinda looks like it was designed for a Star Wars movie! π American Hunter says there’s lots of new technologies and ways of thinking in this setup:
> Sitting at 30.5″ long and less than 12″ axle to axle (cocked), the weight of the 440 is centered over the shooter’s hand by way of a balanced shoot-through stock and riser design and reverse-limb system. This configuration empowers the most efficient part of the split-limb system from just 15″ of power stroke to launch bolts at 440 fps.
> The proprietary Axe cam system is linked by cables that run parallel to each other, rather than from the top of one cam to the bottom of the other. This configuration is designed to eliminate cam lean and limb torque.
> Unlike the 1-piece aluminum rail concepts of conventional crossbow designs, the stock of the AX440 also eliminates the rail and utilizes dual-carbon guide rods along the entire length of the stock. When combined with the shoot-through riser and a tunable roller-rest on the bow’s front end, these features create a free-floating arrow system that minimizes contact, friction and torque along the arrow’s entire path.
> The AX440 also puts to work the proven small diameter 19.5″ (0.166 I.D.) bolt system.
> The bow cannot be over-cocked and features a hard stop upon achievement of full draw. The crank system can be stopped or continued from any position along the guide rail, and de-cocked in this same capacity.
> …the x-bow can be customized to each individual user. An adjustable cheek rest boasts 1.25″ of height adjustment, stock standoffs adjust length of pull, and an adjustable stirrup nests into the bow’s front end. …kit includes the new Axe scope system, with a reticle optimized for the crossbow’s trajectory, a compact, side-mount quiver, and 3 proprietary 0.166 Axe micro-diameter bolts.
MSRP is $2,099.99.
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If you haven’t hunted velvets before, you might not know how different it is. Tips from Realtree:
> Once the season opens, the typical Sept sit in these parts is long, hot and boring with a half-hour of deer movement β if you’re lucky β at the end of the day. As an outfitter, I can tell you it’s often tough to keep a client’s head in the game under those conditions.
> Persistence is frequently what it takes to kill a good velvet buck, but after a few slow sits, clients frequently want to move. That’s precisely the wrong plan, according to Josh Honeycutt. “Hunting your best velvet stand several days in a row is the best way to cross paths with the buck you’re targeting. It might be on day 1 or day 4, but if you’re bouncing stand to stand, you’re decreasing your odds.”
> Early-season bucks bed within proximity of their favorite food sources, but rarely right on top of them. Ridge ends and other high points 200 to 500 yards away are more like it. When it comes time to bed, the bucks will scatter across a ridge, often facing different directions and sometimes with 100 yards or more of space between the widest-ranging bucks in the group.
> The velvet-shedding window is almost a month long. “Really, it lasts from about the third week in Aug to the third week in Sept….” A few bucks might shed especially early, in late Aug. And a good many 1.5-yr-old bucks, in particular, hold on to their velvet well into Sept. Still…Sept 5 seems to be when the “switch flips,” and most bucks start stripping, and you’re pretty lucky to see a mature buck in velvet after Sept. 10.
> KY Fish & Wildlife biologist Gabe Jenkins: “All hunters know that once a buck sheds velvet, he changes pattern β but I think a lot of that happens just by use of day. A lot of it depends on pecking order and health. Some bucks just wander more than others. And at that time of year, there are changes happening metabolically that make them less visible.”
And make sure you know this one:
> Antler velvet is covered in ticks. Infested might be the better word. I keep a spray bottle of permethrin concentrate in my guide pack, and I douse downed bucks liberally with it ahead of photos.
π³ Maybe then this is a better velvet buck to get:
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“I stopped focusing on his antlers and really just focused on me, trying to stay calm.”
– Good (unintended) advice, and 10x more important at that time because that’s Brian Butcher talkin’ about what ended up being the #2 deer ever, taken Oct 2019 in Chase County, KS:
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What’s the DB and who does it?
The DeerBlaster is a weekly roundup of the best, funniest, newest and most important stuff about whitetail deer hunting β culled from around the interwebz for DIEHARD whitetail hunters and blasted into your inbox.
The DB is put together by some deer nerds π β Ted, Jay, others β from around the country. We excerpt content (and credit EVERYONE!), comment on content, do some original content…because we can’t get enough deer hunting β bet you’re wired the same!
The DeerBlaster’s a work in progress, just like we are. π Any issues, suggestions, whatever, just hit Reply to this email and weβll get it. Thank you for reading!
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