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AL non-typ scores 221 4/8!
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SOOOO non-typ he’s almost alien! Look at the bases on that freakshow!
Lol! AL Whitetail Records has some deets:
> 25-point Cullman County record!!! Hunter is Tommy Waldrop. New #1 non-typical deer for Culman County all time. 221 4/8″ non-typical scored by master scorers Larry Manning and Dennis Wilborn.
Deer’s got more points than the KC Chiefs scored in the 4th quarter of the Super Bowl! LOL
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WIIIIIDDE 747 buck has 35 1/8 outside spread!
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Man what a stud…on an unusual transport vehicle for deer! Check out the width on that dude. Hard to imagine how a deer that wide — they called him 747! — got through the woods. OH’s Isaac Yoder is the lucky hunter, rundown from NA Whitetail:
> “I’m telling you, when he lifted his head up, I started shaking. The buck’s rack was so wide it seemed to go on forever. I had the worst case of buck fever right then that I have ever had….”
After a several-year cat/mouse game with the deer — including trailcam pics, sheds and Isaac passing on every other trophy deer that went by — suddenly it was on:
> When the behemoth whitetail did finally turn broadside, Isaac drew his Mathews Halon and found a spot behind the buck’s shoulder…. Then Isaac felt his bow arm come up against a tree limb. It was either shoot then or let the bow down. Isaac shot. Immediately 747 crashed away, bulldozing everything in his path.
> “He even caught a decent-sized tree in his rack and actually ripped it out of the ground.”
Thankfully that rack stayed intact and Isaac had himself a 175″ deer. 175’s a lifetime achievement, but a 35+ outside spread is pretty much one of a kind. Awesome deer!
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11-yr-old arrows “Meanie” the 150-pt buck.
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Aleah Wozniak and her dad David named that ^ big OH buck “Meanie” because they watched him literally blow up a fork-horn a coupla years ago when he was just 3 1/2. Fast forward to last fall when Aleah and her dad were in a hard-to-reach stand and Meanie finally messed up — they told it to Realtree:
> Aleah: “Meanie walked straight toward us and then turned broadside. He was right behind a scrape tree we had put in, so it prevented me from getting a clear shot. He eventually fed to our left.” That was her cue. She drew her bow, settled the pin, and took the 32-yard, slightly quartering-away shot.
> David: “I can still remember hearing the excitement in her voice after she made the shot and knew it was true. Even with the success she’s been blessed to have the past 5 years [started when she was 6?!], she still gets as excited as if it were her first deer.”
> Aleah: “My family and close friends were really excited for me. A few people had seen trail camera pics of Meanie. They all said he looked even bigger in person.”
He sure looks nice in that pic! Way to go and go find another one!
Wow the deer girls have been on ’em this season — good job deer-huntin’ parents!
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How patterning deer is like patterning bass.
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5 of the biggest names in pro bass fishing talked to Buckmasters about it:
> Kevin VanDam (in pic): “Both bucks and bass become vulnerable when a really good food source becomes available. A big bass can go crazy during the shad spawn. The same can be true of a big buck, especially when acorns are falling, persimmons are ripe or he’s found a standing bean field when snow is on the ground.”
> Greg Hackney: “The big fish I caught…were always in a seam where different types of vegetation came together. The same thing holds true for deer. Hunt where others haven’t, particularly edge areas near heavy cover. They like heavy cover, but they like to see too. That is why they lurk along the edge.”
> Denny Brauer: “If you want to catch a big bass, you have to stick with it. Deer hunting is the same way. You can almost look over the land and pick out where, if it were flooded, a big bass would be. It’s no different with deer. A big buck will look for a place with heavy cover where he can get away from pressure.”
> Shaw Grigsby: “Fishing taught me patience and stealth. If you come rambling into a cove and make a lot of noise, you won’t have much success. It’s the same with whitetail hunting. Keep quiet and leave as small a footprint as possible and you’ll have better success.”
> Gerald Swindle: “Big bass and big bucks have a few things in common. They don’t make many mistakes. A big bass won’t bite a lure that is presented wrong, and a big buck doesn’t walk out into a green field for no reason. You have to study each animal’s weakness…usually food or love, and know how to take advantage of it.”
The guys didn’t say what the deer-hunting equivalent of this is…lol:
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Wanna guess how old this muley doe is?
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Answer: Old enough to get a driver’s license! From Lone Star Outdoor News:
> …captured in Motley County west of Matador in Dec 2008 as part of a TX Parks and Wildlife Dept research project…. At the time of capture, biologists aged her at 5.5 yrs old.
Then the TPWD took this pic of her last Dec, which makes her 16.5 yrs old! Crazy!
We know captive deer can go well beyond 20 years, but a deer living that long in the wild has gotta be crazy rare, especially in an environment as harsh as west TX.
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News
…might be the new WI record:
> “The record for the biggest deer in WI ever to be found or killed is 253 inches. …he is flirting with breaking the record. It’s been 47 years. Let’s see if he can do it.”
Sounds like the bud of the guy who found it — Nate Olsen — has been after that deer for years. Here it was alive:
2. Where the bucks are: QDMA’s annual whitetail report.
In 2018, the most recent year for which data is available, 79% of licensed SC hunters killed a buck. That’s 4 of every 5. No other state topped that. TX was next best, with 69 of every 100 hunters killing a buck. MS was 3rd (64 of every 100), and MD (50) and FL (49) rounded out the top 5.
3. IA considering giving non-rez hunters more opportunities.
While western states (ID and MT) are considering fewer opportunities for out-of-staters [can’t link it — at radioiowa.com]:
> …a House subcommittee [is] embracing the idea of offering 1,500 more deer-hunting licenses to out-of-staters — and setting aside 500 of those licenses for hunters who’ve signed up with an IA-based hunting guide. The IA Bow Hunters Association opposes the move.
Currently 6,000 non-rez licenses are permitted in IA.
4. WV hunters took fewer deer this season.
> The buck kill fell 17%. The antlerless-deer kill dropped 13%. The overall statewide kill dropped 9% to 99,437 — the lowest total since 1983. Even in the face of those declines, however, the archery kill rose 11% and the muzzleloader kill went up 7%.
5. MD deer harvest went up a little.
> Hunters harvested nearly 80,000 deer…between Sept 6 and Jan 31. …included 29,233 antlered and 46,777 antlerless whitetail deer, plus 1,552 antlered and 1,895 antlerless sika deer.
> The harvest was 3% higher than the 2018-2019 total….
Plus here’s the reg changes MD is considering making, including that primitive weapons season.
6. NV: Sheriff deputy faces poaching charges.
Article says:
> …facing multiple felony charges for killing a buck without a hunting tag and aiding another man in killing bucks without a tag.
7. Where does venison from culls and poachers wind up?
If you’ve ever wondered, sounds like it’s good news:
> After extensive research and interviews it looks as though most of this meat is making it into the freezers of the people who need it most, and very little is wasted as long as it is safe for human consumption.
8. Sketchy stats on bullet lead poisoning birds?
Starts out talking about how 7 eagles allegedly were poisoned by deer meat with lead in it (no evidence cited of what was in their stomachs) then says:
> Millions of birds across the US, including bald eagles, are poisoned by lead every year, according to the American Bird Conservancy.
How ’bout:
Lol! Okay, any birds dying from lead stinks, but drawing a line connecting 7 bald eagles, hunters’ bullets and “millions of birds” dying is a little sketchy….
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Deer Disease News
Sounds like they want it to be faster too….
> The commission tested about 9,600 deer in 2018, looking for the disease. A total of 123 whitetails tested positive.
> …collected almost 16,000 deer heads in 2019. As of Jan 14, researchers tested roughly 10,000. Of those, 148 tested CWD positive. “And given that there’s still 6,000 pending analysis, we are expecting that number to go up.”
Nearly 7,000 deer tissue samples from hunter-killed or road-killed deer in the recent hunting season were tested. Testing showed 43 positive results, 6 of which in Clayton County.
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New Stuff
1. TruGlo Veros 5-pin bowsight.
> …unique design where all fiber optics are enclosed in a protective cover that provides maximum light exposure while protecting fibers from the elements.
2. Easton Superdyne 19 arrows.
> …Easton’s made-in-USA super light carbon material. …weigh as little as 7.0 grains/inch….
3. FLIR Scout TK monocular thermal.
> Once I discovered the power of thermal vision by using the FLIR Scout TK to recover my game, I knew I had an advantage that I wouldn’t want to go without. A few features that specifically stuck out to me about the Scout TK was its size, simplicity of use, and affordability.
4. Tested: Thiessen’s V1 Whitetail Camo system.
> …dedicated to making high-performance field wear the average bowhunter can actually afford.
> its lightweight, long-sleeved T-shirt is $29.99, and the lightweight pants are $59.99. The midweight pants are $69.99, while the midweight jacket is $79.99. The most expensive piece in the entire line, the Heavyweight 3-N-1 Parka, is $199.99. The regular heavyweight parka is $179.99, and the heavyweight pants are $169.99. …You can get a full outfit from Thiessens for less than the cost of a single piece of clothing from some other brands.
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Gear of the Week
Federal Custom Shop ammo.
Without question, handloading is the best way to get precise, repeatable ammo that caters to a specific rifle. And for handloading geeks, that’s great. But some of us don’t want to/can’t invest the money and time into ballistic tables and recipes.
So…the Federal Custom Shop. Sounds like they do it just like you would — IF you had all the components and decades of handloading experience. That’s North American Hunter’s read on it anyhow:
> …Every round is handloaded by an elite team of experienced employees operating hand-presses in a state-of-the-art workshop…each box will be signed by the technician who loaded it.
> …feature many components used in present catalog offerings — including award-winning developments from Federal plus a curated selection of highly regarded projectiles from other brands. Included are select brass (Federal and other top suppliers), along with proprietary Gold Medal Match primers and the optimum powder for the load’s intended application.
> …hard-to-find rifle calibers…classics like .257 Wby, .257 Roberts +P and .284 Win, along with all-American favorites like .243 Win, 6.5 Creedmoor, .30-06 and .300 Win Mag, to name a few.
One cool thing is it gives those of us who don’t handload the ability to try loads we might otherwise not be able to get our hands on.
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Tip of the Week
“Frost-seed” now to kick start your food plots.
Word from the Hunting Page is late-season snow or frost on the ground may be the ideal time to sow some seed — pretty interesting if you’ve never done it:
> No special equipment (other than a whirligig seeder) is required, and the results can be quite surprising. A top dressing of fresh seed will eventually make soil contact and, if all goes well, the seeds will germinate and new plants will be off and growing with the rest of the spring greenery.
> Tired old plots can be given a facelift with a good frost seeding. The best time to frost-seed is when the frost is coming out of the ground in early spring. The top layer of soil is forced open by alternating freezes (usually at night) and thaws (mostly sunny days). The ground takes on a honeycomb appearance during “frost out.”
> The freeze-thaw cycle allows the seed to penetrate the uppermost layer of soil and gives your seeds a reasonable chance of germinating and surviving.
> You can also spread seed on a snow surface that is in the process of melting down. As the snow melts, the seed will gradually make contact with the soil, and subsequent rains and or freezes will help “seat” the seed in the soil.
> Most food-plot seeds like clover and chicory only need soil contact to germinate and grow. In fact, if they are covered by more than 1/4″ of soil they may not grow at all.
> …you can only do it on well-drained soils. If your plot tends to puddle from snowmelt or spring rains, forget about it. The puddle will kill the seed…. Your only option there is to wait for the soil to drain and dry sufficiently for some form of light tillage that will support a traditional seeding.
> You can count on maybe 25-30% of a frost-seeding to germinate and grow, so you have to spread 3x as much to get the same coverage.
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Quote of the Week
“I think all hunters feel remorse over the animals they kill because we do not hate them, we respect them.”
– One of twin Danish sisters talkin’ to European media, which is cool cuz the European media is all about animal rights. Where we come out: It’s sad and joyful man, part of it….
She also said:
> “The glowing look on her face, when she saw that big animal fall was unforgettable.
> “…gives me the rush of adrenalin when the animal you have been waiting for finally comes along.”
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Shot of the Week
Great to see folks of all skin colors with deer on the ground! Here’s Alexis L. via AL.com with a nice Bullock County buck — great job Alexis!
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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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