DeerBlaster blasts

Cold wet monster buck! New 2-shot crossbow! Good scope under 2 bills!

Click to see this issue in your browser

Visit DeerBlaster.com for all past issues!

Sweet-lookin’ symmetry on this 186 5/8″ green score deer taken by Cole Johnson! He said it took 8 days of cold sittin’ in fog, rain and wind to finally put an arrow in that stud buck:

> “I got to my stand around 3pm. About 15 minutes later, a small basket-racked buck appeared. I let him walk. Then it started to rain harder. I was thinking how uncomfortable it was sitting out there.

> “After a while the rain finally let up a bit I stood up and noticed that the ratchet strap on my ladder stand was broken.”

> Cole questioned whether he should stay or move to another location. He chose [to stay] because his stand appeared to be stable.

> “About 80 yards away in the ditch, I saw (antlers) moving through the brush. I thought he was going to jump the fence and not give me a shot.

> “I didn’t realize he was as big as he was. The closer he got, the bigger he got. I kept telling myself, ‘It’s just a deer, Cole. It’s just a deer.’

> “When he walked out from behind the trees, I let the arrow fly and smoked him right there. It was a 20-yard double-lung pass-through shot. It doesn’t get much better than that.”

When Seth Box missed a long shot on that giant, he was super bummed. The deer was so big that the folks he told didn’t even believe it! So what did he do? He climbed back into his stand (excerpts from here):

> “I told them it was 140 or better. They were just laughing. I actually sat in the tree for 10 hours the next day. They were like, ‘Wow, it must be a big deer if he’s going to sit for 10 hours.’

> “I knew I spooked him, but I guessed anything could happen because of the rut. I had my whole Christmas break I could hunt him.

> “I get in the stand and I’m sitting there and about 9:15 I grunted and rattled up a little 8-point. That was pretty cool. About 10 minutes after that buck left, a small buck chased some does down the same ridge where I missed him. About 5 minutes after that a buck walked out on the same ridge where I missed him at.”

It was the big one! He wasn’t about to take another 450-yard shot this time:

> “I rattled at him and he put on the brakes. He turned and came down the first hill and went into a valley. I thought he went into the woods, but then he walks up on the next hill inbetween us.

> “I think he saw me. He had his head up looking directly at me and that’s when I shot him. He just hit the ground. He didn’t run anywhere.”

Shot was 325 yards, still reachin’ out a bit – nice shootin’!

Big congrats to Kim Ellis’ first-ever bow buck! She tells Realtree that after she snuck into her stand on a cold Nov morning, the woods came alive with deer:

> “…I did not know which way to look. It was phenomenal.” She blind-called every 15 minutes. Eventually a doe walked up the hill toward her position [and] the giant she recognized from trailcam photos chased hot on its heels.

> “…I had already used my rangefinder and marked trees as a reference so I would know the yardage. He walked through saplings, and I found one opening. Thankfully I was able to get him stopped, and that’s when I released the arrow.”

The numbers: 17-yard shot, 15 scorable points, 183″ of bone. 👊

Wow, didn’t see that coming! A 2-shot x-bow?? Sounds like that solves the dilemma of not having a fast follow-up shot. Slick design too – 2 sets of independent limbs, 2 strings, 2 rails, and 2 triggers – info from here:

> …allows a bowhunter to carry 2 arrows locked and loaded. This means if your 1st arrow deflects off a branch, or you simply misjudge the range and miss an animal, you can follow up with a 2nd arrow immediately.

> …sends arrows downrange at 360 fps. It has a Two-Trigger Platform, meaning double, independent 4-lb frictionless triggers. The front trigger fires the top rail, the back trigger fires the bottom rail. …set up for arrows from the top and bottom rail to hit in the same spot at 50 yards.

> The bow’s Over/Under Rail System results in a compact setup with great balance…weighs only 7.75 lbs.

Only question we have is if your first shot is WAY inside 50 yards, the deer might be hightailing it outta range by the time you’re ready to pull the trigger again? But cool either way and props to Excalibur for pushin’ the envelope!

Lotta folks still swear by it, but research – and some pretty basic logic and math – implies it’s real tough if not impossible to get rid of inferior genetics from a deer herd. Sporting Classics Daily explains why:

> Female deer contribute at least 50% to the genetics of any fawn. How do you identify and cull the does that birth male fawns that will only show their inferior antlers 3-4 years later?

> …hunting seasons buck/bull harvest may impact 10% to perhaps 25% of the male segment of a herd, leaving at least 75% of bucks untouched. How many of that 75% carry (and spread) genes for inferior antlers?

> During many firearms seasons, when the bulk of buck harvest occurs in most states, much of the annual breeding is already done.

> How many other hunters in your area are religiously culling bucks? Even if every licensed hunter took out a cull buck with weak antlers, that would still leave about 74% of the buck population untouched.

> How accurately do hunters age bucks before shooting? A buck really doesn’t show its true antler-growth potential until it is fully mature. Culling bucks when they’re just 2-3 years old (because their antlers look inferior) is like shooting pheasants before they can fly.

Post says the only way to get big-antlered deer is to let ’em grow to at least 4.5 yrs old before shooting ’em. BUT if your neighbors aren’t following that, not much you can do.

1. Did Bass Pro/Cabela’s stop selling ammo online?

If so that’s pretty bad. Maybe unavailable online since the 10th? So far no statement from BPS/Cabela’s about what’s going on. Wonder if it’s related to this court case…?

2. Where did all the ammo go?

Sounds like Covid decrease ammo plant production, millions of new gun owners, civil unrest, and concerns about gun control all play in. Also check out this explanation (YT video) from Federal, CCI, Speer, Remington prez Jason Vanderbrink.

3. OH’s January muzzleloader harvest is way down.

Sounds weird: 9,708 taken Jan 2-5 compared to an avg of 12,695 same period over the past 3 years.

4. MO hunters take more deer in “alternative methods” season.

14,555 deer taken with methods other than a rifle or shotgun Dec 26-Jan 5. Just over 12K were taken during last year’s season.

5. ND considering several new hunting laws.

Written landowner permission for trailcams, trespassing revisions, and allowing pink camo.

6. NC wants opinions on public-land Sunday hunts.

7. NE considers special landowner deer season.

8. OR: Most deer and elk hunters haven’t reported in.

This sounds crazy but a lot of stuff in OR does:

> OR law requires holders of deer, elk, bear, cougar, pronghorn and turkey tags to report even if they didn’t harvest an animal or go hunting.

9. PA town cancels buck opener as a paid holiday.

Because it used to be a Monday but is now a Saturday.

10. OK: Cherokee Nation creates 1st hunt/fish reserves.

For Cherokee citizens.

11. MI: Detroit bowhunters can hunt til Jan 31.

12. UT: More than 1,000 animals illegally killed in 2020.

Sounds like a lot? But less than last year. No species breakdown.

13. ME hunters give venison to veterans.

14. WV hosts “Mountaineer Heritage” season.

Opens tomorrow, runs thru Sunday:

> …hunters may only use primitive-style archery equipment including longbows and recurve bows or the old-style muzzleloading black powder rifles with a flint-lock or percussion cap action.

Coonskin cap optional. EMOJ

15. Looks like CZ is buying Colt.

Kinda hate to see it not remaining a US-owned company….

16. MD has a new ammo background check bill.

Like CA’s. MD has a RINO governor….

5. New VooDoo SS is the best x-bow bolt?

> …world’s best penetrating bolt with stainless steel mesh woven into the carbon for extreme durability. It also features Victory Archery’s Rail Rider technology, a patented system that allows for 95% less contact with the rail while simultaneously eliminating nose up or nose down launch angles.

> “With the improved SHOKTL outsert and reconfigured vane offset, the Voodoo SS is the most accurate, hard hitting and durable bolt we have ever made.”

For sure a bunch of good optics out there, but yep a good scope can be spendy! Game and Fish says the new Burris Droptine line might be a good scope at a great price:

> Available in 3-9×40 and 4.5-14×42 configurations…offer a level of versatility and quality rarely encountered in optics less than $200.

> Budget-friendly optics…work fine so long as the shots are close and the light is good…during my career as a gun writer I’ve found this largely to be true. Burris’s Droptine family of optics…challenge that long-held notion by offering performance that far exceeds other scopes in their price range.

> First, the optical clarity in Droptine scopes is exceptional, rivaling optics costing several hundred dollars more.

> …offer a level of clarity on par with optics costing hundreds more and far better than competing scopes in this price class.

> …uses high-grade, precision-ground optical glass lenses with an index-matched Hi-Lume multicoating for maximum clarity, better light transmission and improved durability.

> …utilize premium components including steel-on-steel adjustments for consistent bullet placement and superb accuracy.

> With its 1-piece, stress-free aluminum outer tube, the Droptine stands up to abuse. I mounted the scope in Burris’s Signature 1″ Zee rings and never encountered a shift in point of impact.

Lifetime warranty, and priced from $143 to $189! 🤯 If you get one, let us know how you like it!

More details on the Burris website here.

I (Ted) recently came across an old box of Hornady .30-06 that must be close to 30 yrs old. With the current ammo shortage, I wondered if it was still any good. Realtree’s Mike Hanback looked into it:

> If factory centerfire cartridges are stored in a dry, cool place with low humidity, preferably in an airtight container, they can have an amazingly long shelf life. Many ballistics experts who have shot 10s of thousands of rounds over the years report shooting 20- to 50-year-old ammo with no problems.

> But before shooting any ammo that has been stored for years, check each round in a box carefully. If the cases and bullets are clean, smooth, and not corroded, the rounds should shoot fine.

> Keep in mind the warning signs of unusable and potentially unsafe cartridges: split case necks, bullet rust, corroded brass or primers, difficulty loading / chambering in your rifle. If a cartridge shows any of these signs, don’t shoot it. Discard of it properly.

Here and here are some suggestions about how to get rid of old or bad ammo properly and legally.

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 – culled from around the interwebz for DIEHARD whitetail hunters and blasted into your inbox.

The DB is put together by some deer nerds 😁 – Ted, Jay, others – 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 – bet you’re wired the same!

The DeerBlaster’s a work in progress, just like we are. 😂 Any issues, suggestions, whatever, just hit Reply to this email and we’ll get it. Thank you for reading!