 |
|
|
|
One of the best counties in the U.S. might be no bucks??
|
|
Would you hunt deer if you couldn’t take bucks? That’s what hunters in big buck country in WI — Buffalo County — might be asking themselves this season:
> The Buffalo County Deer Advisory Council has recommended an antlerless-only hunting season for 2019. The measure would prohibit shooting of bucks and is intended to reduce the white-tailed deer population.
> …perhaps nowhere would such a proposal arouse more emotion than in Buffalo County, regarded by many as the No. 1 trophy buck destination in North America.
> …local outfitters…offer hunts to hundreds of clients each year. “Holding an antlerless-only hunt would be devastating to local land owners and outfitters who depend on that revenue to pay property and sales taxes every year,” said Tom Indebro…owner of Bluff Country Outfitters.
> Indebro said most of his hunts are already booked for fall and many customers have already purchased airfare. “[Our customers] do shoot does, but would not travel thousands of miles to just shoot a doe.”
Here’s a few of what we believe are Buffalo County bucks:
But then this guy backtracked:
> Buffalo County Deer Advisory Council chair Mark Noll said hunters in the county need to kill 6,000 antlerless deer to make a dent in a fast-growing deer population. He said council members didn’t want an antlerless-only season and only suggested it to begin a discussion about making more deer management tools available to counties.
Suuuuuuuuure they did…!
|
|
|
|
Check out this gnarly AR cactus buck.
|
|
Big non-typ deer like that are called “cactus bucks” because of their rough/bumpy antlers, usually caused by irregular testosterone levels [!!]. North American Whitetail says this deer — which measured an amazing 240″ was taken by Stuart Everett in AR after years of hunting him.
> “The following week I put a trail camera close to the spot where I had seen the oddball and dumped a 50-lb bag of peanut rice bran out in hopes he was hungry. That night started a 3-yr-long game of cat and mouse.”
> Stuart studied the buck’s pictures month by month and was perplexed to see that he never lost his antlers or their velvet. Instead, it seemed the buck’s rack was still growing!
> “Honestly, he was the craziest-looking deer I’d ever seen. The buck looked to have over 20 points, and all still in velvet. I was in awe.”
> After seeing the photo of the wild-racked monster, Stuart really got serious. …he’d only gun hunted for deer, but this buck had him convinced his season needed to start a little earlier.
> “I didn’t want to tell anyone what I was after. However, late one afternoon, I got a text message from my neighbor, showing me a trail camera picture of the buck on someone else’s land. Directly after seeing the photo, I realized I had been very naive to assume I was the only hunter who knew that one of the greatest deer in AR was on my farm.”
> Over the…next 2 years, he hunted, planted food plots and continued to supplementally feed the giant buck in order to keep him on his property.
> By the time Sept 2015 rolled around, Stuart had over 1,000 trail camera pictures of the buck, and he’d seen him grow from a main-frame 7-pointer into a giant non-typical with more than 40 visible points.
And then it happened! Love the obsession Stuart! Btw, the deer did have that irregularity:
> A close analysis of the deer’s anatomy proved he did in fact have a testicular mutation…that’s what caused him to grow antler year-round without shedding.
Maybe it happened like this? lol
Btw, cactus bucks aren’t recognized by Boone & Crockett….
|
|
|
|
Dude says whitetails are a public health threat!?
|
|
From USAToday:
> What’s needed is a paradigm change, DeNicola said, for Americans to view deer less like majestic Bambis and more like health threats that spread diseases.
Could be true in suburbia, where DeNicola’s company is contracted to kill deer, but in the woods? Ticks are just part of the deal…but all measures should be taken to prevent ’em!
One of our Deer Blaster guys lives in NJ, has had Lyme 2x, and his 2 kids have had it each 1x. He says, “A lot of people we know have gotten it, except for our neighbor’s cat:”
lol
|
|
|
Lookit these deer go at it!
|
|
Guess they don’t just fight in the fall lol:
Full video here on YouTube. Sounds like it was shot in Alberta, Canada, where I guess they have a whitetail overcrowding problem??
|
|
Gear of the Week
Savage 110 Apex Hunter XP.
I love Savage rifles. For the money, it’s hard to beat their accuracy and reliability, and I LOVE their AccuTrigger. American Hunter has a look at their new 110 Apex Hunter XP.
> The 110 Apex Hunter XP features a 3x-9x-40mm Vortex Crossfire II scope that comes mounted and bore-sighted from the factory.
> Standard features of the 110 Apex Predator XP include the Savage AccuTrigger, a floating bolt head, an adjustable length of pull and a precision button-rifled barrel.
> The 110 Apex Hunter XP is available in 17 calibers ranging from .204 Ruger to .338 Win Mag, 11 of which are available in left-handed models.
All of that for $699. Looks like a lot of gun for the money….
|
Tip of the Week
We all know a whitetail’s eyesight — any time of day — is something we need to think about. Deer & Deer Hunting has some new research on how deer eyesight works:
> Whitetails…are well adapted for crepuscular [dawn and dusk] and nocturnal behavior because of a membrane in the back of their eye known as the tapetum lucidum. This membrane reflects light back through the receptor layer of the retina….
> Deer can also see well in bright light because of a ring of pigment that surrounds the cornea in the eye. This unique structure acts as an antiglare device….
> They also have an especially wide field of vision: 310 degrees. This lets them see across a wide area and focus on the horizon, where predators might appear — all without turning their head.
310 degrees! I looked it up — humans have a 114-degree field of view. So when you think you can shift your position, think again!
Btw, the field of view for an owl is about 110 degrees…except for this one:
|
|
|
|
What’s the DB and who does it??
The Deer Blaster is a year-round weekly roundup
of the best, worst and funniest stuff in deer hunting — put together by a couple diehard deer nuts including Ted Gartner << that’s him right there! Ted’s down in TX but we have other guys all over. All Deer Nerds!
Let us know what we can do better and thanks for readin’!
|
Sign up another deer nut!
If you’re forwarding the Deer Blaster to other deer crackheads, tx much — or you can email us the addys and we’ll take care of it! We’ll never send spam, sell the list or anything else crazy….
|
|
|
|
|
|
