Back at it this week, still a bunch of stuff going on even in the off-season – thanks 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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A 190-class buck out of…Georgia??
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> …first saw the buck during the 2019 season. “He was a 150-class 3.5-yr-old that year. That’s a great buck, but on this property we manage for 5.5-yr-old bucks so he was off-limits.”
> With high hopes for the 2020 season, Croft scanned camera after camera for the buck, only to be disappointed. “He just disappeared from our property that fall, and I run a lot of cameras in a grid-pattern survey that’s pretty intensive. When I checked with the neighbors, they had the same report; the buck was just a no-show. So we figured something bad had happened.”
> But when the 2021 season arrived, Croft was in for a pleasant surprise. “One day I got a text from the neighbor that just said ‘He’s back’….” And he’d blown up into a true giant.
> Finally, Croft was able to lay eyes on the buck during a last-minute bowhunt. “…I couldn’t find my release anywhere. I had no choice but to run to the store and buy one. I came home and shot it a few times, but really didn’t have time to tune it very well. That came back to bite me….”
> That very afternoon…”just at prime time, he came back out and stood at 22 yards. I drew and was settling in, and that’s when not knowing that release hurt. I just barely touched it, and it went off before I was ready. I watched in shock as my arrow hit the buck square in the shoulder. I shoot 70 pounds, but I had almost zero penetration and found very little blood.”
> Croft figured his big opportunity at the buck had come and gone and that the old whitetail would avoid the property. “Then for some reason, the buck came back to us in Nov…. I was still hunting with the bow…I saw him several times but he was always out of range.”
> Finally Croft decided to start taking his rifle. “On the morning of Nov 12, it was very foggy and as it got light I could see a couple of bucks with a doe. As I watched them through my binocular, I spotted the big one in the background, bedded.
> “One of the smaller bucks, a 3.5-yr-old, started walking toward me and I thought, This is perfect’ – and sure enough the big one stood up to follow and while he was standing in some tall grass, I had a good shot to his vitals. When I pulled the trigger he bucked and ran, then quickly disappeared. I felt like the shot was good, and it was, as he only ran about 10 yards.
> “The buck was not doing well after the arrow wound. He’d lost a lot of weight, and it didn’t seem like he was participating in the rut…so I was really happy to get another chance.”
The buck was a 10-point with matching forked G2s and G3s, had 18 scorable points and grossed 196″ B&C. 🤯
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“I think deer are an incredibly destructive force in eastern North America, and our results provide further credence to this.”
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> From the far northern forests of Canada, through the temperate forests of the US Midwest, to the tropical forests of Columbia, white-tailed deer are ever–present, overpopulated and can drastically change an ecosystem.
> “These seemingly innocuous creatures have inadvertently changed entire forests and their canopies, which can then influence critical aspects of a forest, such as carbon sequestration and the prevalence of wildlife habitat.”
So…gun control, lead ammo hurts birds, ammo shortage, deer supposedly carry covid, deer are bad for forests, etc…what’s next??
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Practical advantages of x-bows vs other bows.
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> With a crossbow, you don’t need to move as much as with other bows, which reduces or eliminates the need to seek an elevated perch to avoid detection.
> Rather than slipping into your treestand well before dawn to await daylight and deer, you could wait and then still-hunt your way in, a method made much easier by the narrower, more compact crossbows now dominating the market.
> Rather than burning valuable hunting time waiting until midday to hike in, set a stand, let things settle down and return later to hunt it, you can simply plop down and start hunting then and there. This means you can scout and hunt at the same time….
> …you discover the deer are traveling just out of range. It’s too late to move, unless you have a climber, and even that will cause a bit of commotion at the worst possible time. However, when hunting on the ground with a crossbow, you can simply get up and move.
> This also eliminates the need to look for trees. We’ve all found a hotspot that would be ideal, if it only had a climbable tree.
> You’ll still need a rangefinder, but you won’t have to worry about compensating for steep downward angles. That also means a better chance of complete pass-through on broadside shots….
Gets ya thinking!
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30-30 wins vs 45-70 for deer.
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> …for most, the 30-30 Win is the best option. The various 150-grain loads have proven to be fantastic for deer hunting and recoil is negligible. Currently, Winchester and Henry both offer traditionally styled lever guns, and you can find used Winchester 94s and Marlin 336s at about any gun shop. Also, the ammunition options for the .30-30 are plentiful.
> The .45-70 is for sure deer capable with any load, and with second power level loads it’s good to go out past 200 yards. However…from a trajectory standpoint it’s inferior to the .30-30 Win. It also has added recoil. A 45-70 loaded with a 300-grain bullet at about 1,800 fps will recoil almost 3 times as hard as a 30-30 Win.
> But there is another consideration. In some states, where shotguns were previously all a hunter could use for deer, they are now allowing straight-wall centerfire rifle cartridges for deer hunting. …the 45-70 is a good option whereas 30-30 Win is not even legal.
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> …harvested about 147,000 deer this season…behind the 2020-2021 season harvest of 162,752 deer.
Grayson, Dallas, Rockwall and Collin counties where it has been archery-only.
Mar 21, 23, 24 and 29.
Hot, cold, thorny vegetation, Mexican drug runners 😳 and more.
> …partnered with Safari Club International, Sportsmen’s Alliance Foundation and Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation…to intervene in and dismiss a lawsuit challenging the US Fish and Wildlife Service’s decision to expand hunting and fishing opportunities on more than 2.3 mil acres of land at 106 National Wildlife Refuges.
The expansion of hunting and fishing was done by the Trump Administration. The suit was brought by the Center for Biological Diversity, a pretty radical environmental organization that the media has been trying to portray as “conservationists.”
9. 2A stuff.
> “I ask Congress to pass proven measures to reduce gun violence. Pass universal background checks. Why should anyone on a terrorist list be able to purchase a weapon? Why? Ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines that hold up to 100 rounds. You think the deer are wearing Kevlar vests?”
Reminder that the FBI/DOJ have said that anyone who basically thinks that people are free, disagree with school boards and things like that are potential “domestic terrorists.”
Should be a no-brainer under the US Constitution but we know how that goes…🙄 Makes us wonder how state laws can be under a federal court?
Good tips from the NRA. Make sure it’s legal in your state.
11. Keep an eye on…
Bizarre on its own but doing that while there’s an ammo shortage here??
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Deer Disease News
…resulting in baiting ban in Unit 2B “along the Red River between Grand Forks and south of Fargo” – because 1 CWD deer was shot in…MN!
> “Any unit that falls within 25 miles of a previous detection, where that deer was found we apply a baiting restriction,” said Dr. Charlie Bahnson, wildlife veterinarian for Game and Fish….
Including the first in Floyd County:
> As a result of this detection, Carroll County has been added to the Disease Management Area.
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They literally sell out every month so if you like it, jump on it!
> …model 117 Brahma featuring a satin finished, Bos heat-treated, S35VN steel, clip point blade. Handled in olive drab green canvas Micarta and an aluminum pommel/guard.
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In .22 LR but cool – the 6.5″ Rough Rider Black Tactical Cowboy:
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> One thing about red dots that I find so attractive is the fact that they are really fast to acquire, allowing for rapid follow-up shots even on running game. Keep in mind, these optics provide no magnification. What they do offer is a lighted dot that you place on your intended target then let lead fly. It’s that simple.
> They even shine in low light where picking up the crosshairs of a scope (unless it has a lighted reticle) or aligning open sights may be difficult.
> The one oft-cited criticism is relying on batteries that can fail. This is a truth that cannot be denied, but over a dozen years pursuing game with a red dot on a revolver from VA to South Africa…I have never had a battery fail in the field. …simply put in a fresh battery before heading out to the field. The peace of mind is worth its weight in venison.
> Rifles are also great candidates for red-dot sights for all of the aforementioned reasons. Rifles…tend to be easier on optics than hard-kicking handguns – an added benefit. A red dot on short lever actions makes for a great heavy brush gun. I know a number of NC bear hunters who use lever guns for their speed and ease of use in the thick stuff. Adding a red dot enhances your ability to shoot in the low light of heavy brush.
> Another reason for a low-powered fixed unit is that with the long eye relief necessary to run one on a handgun, the lower-powered units are much easier to acquire quickly. You can turn down the power on a variable, but this is adding a step to a situation where time may be limited.
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“If we get up to go hunt at 5 am and take a break for lunch, start back and hunt until 4, then go fishing until 2 in the morning, they ain’t got time to get in trouble.”
– NC’s Buddy Early talkin’ about keeping at-risk young folks busy enough to stay out of trouble = great! 💪 Buddy owns what might be the only black-owned hunt/fish club in the US. 👊
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Is this what happens when antlers get hit by a beam from a UFO?? 😁 This Alberta, CAN muley was shot by guide Justin Eckert in 2012:
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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 – culled from around the interwebz for DIEHARD whitetail hunters and blasted into your inbox.
The DB is put together by some deer nerds 😁 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!
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