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Is “Major League” the biggest deer of 2019?
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Wow that sucker IS “Major League”!! Named by the guy who got him — IA bowhunter Jacob Darbyshire — this absolute freak green-scored 259 7/8 and has 32 points!! (28 scorable.) Realtree got the lowdown:
> “I’ve been hunting the property since I was a little boy. My dad and grandpa have hunted it their entire lives as well.
> “I’ve been hunting this deer for 2 years. I never had any encounters with him. But I had trail-camera photos.”
On 10/29 a buddy helped him hang a new stand and clear shooting lanes overlooking a steep ravine. That evening, Jacob climbed in the new set and waited. At some point he pulled out his grunt tube and:
> “He showed up. I was facing north, watching the 2 ridges where I assumed he’d come from. I heard a stick crack directly behind me — southward and downwind of me. He was standing in the bottom of the ravine making a scrape.
> “I didn’t have time to range him before the shot. Things were happening very quickly. I just knew he was close enough for my top pin. The shot angle was 100% broadside.”
After about 30 minutes of tracking, they found Major League in a CRP field:
> “…a moment we will never forget. Later that evening, we brought Major League back to the family farm. Everyone was there waiting to see what I’d been obsessing over for the past 2 years. Everyone was speechless.”
> “This deer consumed my life — ask my family. To be able to harvest this animal — after 2 years of work, dedication and help from friends and family — is rewarding and humbling.”
Love the obsession and hard work, great job dude!
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LA 30-point non-typ monster!!!
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Is your wife saying you spend too much time in the stand? How ’bout not enough! If it wasn’t for Scottie Coutee’s wife telling him to stay put, he never would’ve thwacked that gigantic weird buck. Here’s Scottie telling it to LA Sportsman:
> “Just as it was starting to get light, I watched a big boar hog walk one of the trails and disappear into the thicket. Then about 7:40, a big doe came out and was nibbling on foliage and I thought about trying for her as I needed some meat. However, something told me to let her go.
> “Around 8:30 I texted my wife and told her it looked like I wasn’t going to see anything to shoot and would be headed home soon. She suggested I hunt awhile longer — said I might see something I want to shoot. Then I remembered that just about every time after we text, whether I’m fishing or hunting, something good is about to happen soon after we hang up.”
Can you hang up after a text?? Nevermind…cuz sure enough, right after that here comes Mr. Toad outta the brush, following some does. Scottie took a 50-yard shot with THE CROSSBOW HIS WIFE BOUGHT HIM and the deer piled up just 30 yards away.
The 30-pointer weighed 270+ lbs [!!!!], and will probly score in the 180s. Gotta say: As good as that deer is, Scottie your wife’s the real trophy dude:
Lol, we’re super stoked for ’em both!
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Pass-ups lead to 21-point GIANT.
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Get a load of that monarch! Jason Stannard from upstate NY tagged this big boy on Thanksgiving morning. Hasn’t been scored yet, but Jason says there’s 21 scorable points. Jason said this on the Hunters of America FB page:
> I am living the ultimate dream of a deer hunter. This truly is the buck of a lifetime. Passing on the young deer has paid off. I have passed up many quality bucks. This is truly what keeps you going as a hunter just waiting for an opportunity like this.
Love to hear that! #strong Jason!
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Kinda like GrubHub, only for venison?
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Super-cool idea from Bryan Hetzel, owner of “Deer Guys” in Buffalo, NY. He goes to you to process your deer, so no waiting. Plus you can watch him break down your animal so you KNOW the venison you get is from YOUR deer. From a news profile of the biz:
> Hetzel says he process anywhere from 150 to 250 deer during the season… charges his customers $99 for a deer to be processed any way they would like. …comes to each home to do the processing and even offers a pickup service so you no longer need to load a deer into your car.
> “This year happens to be a very bad year for ticks, so I think the insurance that you won’t have all these ticks in your vehicles or the outside your vehicle rings home, for safety purposes.”
> Business is so good for Deer Guys that the owner says he is looking to expand next year through franchising.
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So much for regular buck home ranges?
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We’re lovin’ all the buck research MSU is doing. Latest deal: In 2018 several bucks were given GPS collars, and one — nicknamed “Buck #27” — apparently had traveled 13 miles, WAY farther than most deer ever travel (or are supposed to).
At first the researchers thought it might’ve had to do with the sedatives needed to tranq the whitetail for the collar…cuz he headed for the hills as soon as he came to. But apparently not because this year ol’ #27 did it again:
> Almost 1 year to the day from when he was captured, he made the same journey to the area where he spent the winter last year. Now researchers feel he truly has 2 home ranges that far apart, and the fact he vacated the capture site immediately after his capture was merely a coincidence.
> On average…other [buck] dual ranges were 3-5 miles apart.
Researchers WANT you to shoot #27 and other collared deer:
> Buck #27 is among the 10 deer with active collars…researchers encourage hunters to harvest any collared buck they encounter and return the collars because 90% of the data collected is stored in them.
Even more unbelievable: They’re trying to track down another study deer that might’ve traveled 39 miles!
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News
1. PA: We lost a brother in an x-bow incident.
75-yr-old gentleman — bless you deer brother. From the article:
> …troopers said he lost his footing, fell and discharged a crossbow into his left side and abdomen.
2. MO: Albino whitetail shot, Sika deer spotted??
Weirdness in Mizzou: ^ This hunter shot a true albino deer, a 1:20,000-30,000 deal. Meanwhile just 50 miles away, a woman photographed this Sika deer:
It’s native to Asia, but the breed has been imported over the years. Our bet is it escaped from somewhere….
3. MS: Weird antlered doe shot…on purpose.
Meaning the hunter didn’t think it was a buck:
> “Finally she faced away from me and gave a flick of the tail. That’s when I knew what I had in front of me. I waited a few more minutes for that perfect broadside shot at 120 yards, and that’s when I sent a Berger VLD .308 bullet.”
4. DC: Use of Pittman-Robertson funds could be expanded.
DNRs get a LOT of $$$ from this federal excise tax program and the fishing version, known as Wallop-Breaux. This would expand the allowable areas where those funds could be spent:
> Should HR 877 be enacted, state fish and game agencies will be able to utilize Pittman-Robertson funds to promote hunting, target shooting and educate the public on the role that hunting and recreational shooting play in funding wildlife conservation. Additionally, funds can also be used to enhance access for hunting and recreational shooting.
5. MI bait ban could be repealed soon.
The original ban was instituted for this season (as an anti-CWD measure), but some reports say the state lost 20k deer hunters as a result.
6. KY had a record gun harvest.
> …a record 107,039 deer during the 16-day modern gun season that concluded Nov 24.
7. NE: Firearm harvest up 2%.
> …during the 9-day season…43,346 deer taken compared to 42,466 in 2018….
8. MD opening day firearms harvest up 29%.
9. MO blames low firearms harvest on Thanksgiving.
Sorta:
> …the timing of the hunting season, which is set based on what day Thanksgiving falls, was misaligned with the peak of deer breeding in MO.
Still, more than 88K deer were tagged in the first weekend! Plus young MO hunters killed nearly 2K whitetail during the late season.
10. AR: Still time for the Triple Trophy Award.
Get a patch for shooting 3 deer, 1 each with centerfire, smokepole and bow.
11. MI: Bowhunters can tag out in metro Detroit.
Thru 1/31 — wonder if Ted Nugent will be out there:
> “Archery hunters can take advantage of some excellent hunting in January. This longer season also is a fairly low-cost first attempt for municipalities to help reduce the conflicts that arise when deer numbers rise in more populated, urban areas.”
12. Hornady A-Tip bullet won innovation award…
…from Guns & Ammo mag:
> …the aluminum tip of A-Tip Match eliminates the problem of inflight friction and deformation that affects some polymer-type tips and that the ogive, tip length, bearing surface and boattail are optimized according to caliber.
13. MI: Guy sprayed deer repellant on his brother’s stand.
14. NE: Woman mauled by muley.
While she was doing chores. Buck tested negative for rabies:
> A responding conservation officer, who later shot and killed the deer, said the animal showed no fear of him.
15. TX: Feral hogs kill woman by a residence.
Hate to hear it. We really need to stop these things.
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Deer Disease News
1. AZ: CWD-positive deer found outside management zone.
> [Fish & Game] will evaluate the need for any expansion of the CWD Management Zone during the hunting regulations-setting process once the season is over.
2. MT: 25 CWD cases so far this year.
> The majority of the new positive samples were from animals harvested within CWD Management Zones, where the disease is known to exist. Two of the positive samples were from areas where the disease had not been previously detected.
3. IA: DNR wants samples for CWD testing.
CWD-poz deer recently confirmed near Sioux City. Can’t link it but it’s at: radioiowa.com.
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Gear of the Week
Ruger Hawkeye Hunter
Ruger puts out consistently good firearms, and its M77 Hawkeye line of deer rifles has been popular for many years. Now they’re using that platform for the new Hawkeye Hunter, with updated features for today’s whitetail nerds. American Hunter with the lowdown:
> …stainless-steel action and factory-threaded barrel, which pairs well with its traditional American-walnut stock.
> Atop its action sits a 20-MOA Picatinny rail, making the mounting of optics quick and easy. …a Mauser-style claw extractor pulls loose spent shells, while a 3-position safety allows the user to lock the bolt, or load and unload the rifle with the safety engaged.
> The floorplate latch rides flush with the trigger guard to avoid any inadvertent unloading.
> …initially being offered chambered in 6.5 Creedmoor, .308 Winchester, .30-06 Springfield and .300 Win Mag. The .300 Win Mag version features a removable Ruger radial-port muzzle brake to significantly reduce felt recoil.
MSRP is $1,099, but the street price looks like about $100 less….
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Tip of the Week
What you can learn from deer poop.
No question we can learn stuff about deer by the stuff that they leave behind. Pellets, poop, scat, sign, whatever you wanna call it — Outdoor Life’s Jace Bauserman has a few “nuggets” (lol) on it:
> One of my best CO whitetail stands isn’t on a rub or scrape line, but rather in a spot where deer pellets traditionally abound. When I discovered it, I did a hang-and-hunt in the area and saw 14 different deer. Over time, as I learned the property more, I came to realize that the area is a major staging zone used by the deer just before heading out to the big ag fields for the evening.
> Many hunters believe that they can tell the sex of a deer by the size or shape of their pellets. I’m one of them. Many top researchers do suggest that the length of a formed pile can suggest buck or doe, especially when dealing with a mature buck.
> Top researchers suggest that bucks drop more pellets than does. On average, bucks drop around 75 per excretion. Whether you believe you can determine deer sex or not from the size of poop, you should take notice when you see lots and lots of pellets on the ground. Chances are they belong to a buck.
> Round individual droppings indicate a diet of browse such as leaves and twigs. A diet of acorns can also produce roundish-sized droppings. Long, tubular-like piles suggest softer foods like grasses, alfalfa and clover. If you happen to find a few pieces of gold in those pellets, you might want to spend some time in your cornfield stand.
> If the droppings you’re finding are dark in color and hard, they are days and sometimes weeks old. Slip around the woods and look for piles of dung with a greasy greenish tint. Soft brown pellets that hold moisture also suggest poop that hasn’t aged much.
> Deer poop makes a great cover scent. Whenever I find a fresh pile, I step in it. If the poop is dry and I’m tent camping and not able to shower daily, I rub it on my clothing.
What did he say right there?? Not sure about that tip but maybe you’re cool with it? Either way, you can always make a necklace out of it…?
Lol!
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Quote of the Week
“I stink, my wife is telling me I need to use regular shampoo and soap, and this buck comes into range and I don’t have a shot.”
– Lol we get it man (sorta)! MO hunter Joe Weimer talkin’ in this good post on Joe’s complete and total obsession with hunting one particular buck this fall. We’ve all been there — seeing that sucker but not being able to shoot it. Spoiler alert: Joe gets another chance. Here’s what he was after:
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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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