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Sorry we couldn’t get this week’s DB done til today – hope you have a great weekend!
The DeerBlaster culls the best of the whitetail interwebz every week for DIEHARD whitetail nerds…cuz it’s fun! And important…and educational…. Then it “blasts” into your inbox.
Thx for reading and please let us know how we’re doing! If you’re getting the DeerBlaster for the first time it’s probably because a deer-crazed buddy signed you up!
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14-yr-old shoots a Kansas 40-POINTER!!!
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We love the states that open their deer season with a youth-only hunt. In our 2c letting the kids get first crack at ’em can only help ’em keep at it! And this can happen too: How ’bout 14-yr-old Paslie W. shooting a buck that green-scored 282 6/8″ — she might have shot her way into the KS record books! Not an easy thing to do for sure!
Paslie was hunting with her dad on Sept 6, the 2nd day of the season:
> “I hunted all day Saturday, opening day, and all day Sunday. It was Sunday evening when I had the opportunity to shoot him.
> “When he stood up 25 yards away, I was in shock of his massive rack.”
> Paslie, who also enjoys fishing and competes in 4-H shooting sports, air pistol and archery, said this was her 4th buck she’s harvested in her burgeoning young hunting career.
> “My next biggest was a 12-point whitetail that scored 178.”
> Paslie’s mom: “We’ve actually been watching him grow for the last 3 years. We feel very fortunate that she was the one that was able to harvest him.”
Huge congrats and nice shootin’!
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Wade Middleton got lucky in Kentucky lol!
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HUGE congrats to our deer nerd bud and hunting TV host Wade Middleton for arrowin’ this KY velvet 10-point stud last week. Wade’s a serious outdoorsman who gets to hunt a LOT of places, and he’s hunted the KY early season for 4 years without taking a deer (he passed up a bunch). This one he got just when his camera dude said they were about outta light on the LAST DAY they were there!
Full story will be Yamaha Whitetail Diaries at some point, but here’s a little of what Wade posted on FB:
> A very exciting and humbling conclusion in KY this year. I’m very thankful to everyone that was involved over all the hunts that led to this moment. We enjoyed it all, from the near misses [and] close calls to the recovery of this buck.
> My knees are still shaking from seeing him coming across the bean field….
Know the feeling brother! Congrats! |
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Close encounters of the whitetail kind??
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Sweeeet shot of Bone Collector Nick Mundt grippin’ and grinnin’ a really nice buck (maybe a little palmated?) — near the base of Devil’s Tower in WY. Deer nerds of age will recognize it from the Close Encounters of the Third Kind movie:
Is that deer sorta alien lookin’…maybe? Here’s the story, from Nick:
> We capped off a great week with @sevenjoutfitters in WY with a massive old buck!! …last minute, couldn’t have worked out any better!
> I ranged him at 51 yards…drew, let er’ rip and he was piled up at 80 yards???
> What an unbelievable week! In all we went 8 for 9 on great bucks and happy tones were had by all! Thanks Jeff and Deb Smith for the gracious hospitality, it was great to be home!!!
Happy tones — love that! But…the Close Encounters tones are actually a thing (YT video). Wonder if Nick was hinting at that??
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New longer-lasting CWD-Free semi-synthetic pee attractant?
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Is it deer pee or is it not? Some states have banned real deer urine as an attractant because they’re worried it might/could help spread CWD (chronic wasting disease). Not sure about that, but here’s a new CWD-Free deer attractant:
> Using their patent-pending urine neutralization and conversion system, Inventive Outdoors was able to create a true urine-based “hybrid” deer attractant.
> This neutralization and conversion process targets “bad” or unwanted compounds found in urine while leaving the “good” or desired compounds in it. …also targets uric acid and neutralizes the urine pH, thereby prohibiting the generation of ammonia.
> Because of this, the attractant does not degrade over time and is as fresh on the 4th day in a scrape as it was the day it was applied! [Whoa!] ,,,deer and other animals react naturally to it.
Interesting. Been a lot of debate about what’s better, natural or synthetic urine. Maybe now you don’t have to choose…if it truly works….
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Massive trailcam-check fire???
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That escalated quickly! That’s Heartland Bowhunter’s Shawn Luchtel — hopped on his old golf cart to check trailcams, then it somehow caught fire. Luckily sounds like he wasn’t too far from his truck:
> He noticed it didn’t have the usual torque it once had so he assumed the batteries were almost shot. He drove about a half mile, parked it and went down the hill to check out a plot. 10 minutes later he looked up the hill to see a black cloud of smoke.
> By the time he made it back to the top of the hill the tires were beginning to catch on fire! Thankfully he didn’t park it back in the shop before this happened.
> So many much worse scenarios could’ve happened so at the end of the day count your blessings….
Glad you’re safe, Shawn. Got your next golf cart right here lol:
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News
Crazy:
HSUS sounds like animal care but is big-time anti-hunting:
> A contingency of animal-rights organizations, led by The Humane Society of the United States, have filed a lawsuit to overturn recent rule changes on Alaska National Preserves. Those recent rule changes aligned hunting regulations and management practices on preserves with the rest of the state, and returned those management and decision-making powers to the state. This alignment is the standard across the nation, and was the law for decades until the Obama administration changed those rules in 2015.
> The Sportsmen’s Alliance and the Alaskan Professional Hunter’s Association opposed the Obama-era rule changes…and sued to return them to the standard of wildlife management…states, and not the federal government, dictate management decisions (such as season dates, methods and means of hunting and bag limits) within state boundaries, even on federal land….
7. NE wants bowhunters to log deer they see.
> “…will help us to better understand doe-to-fawn and buck-to-doe ratios, as well as establish a baseline for population trends.”
8. MN offering deer hunting how-to classes.
> …including how to prepare, where to hunt, picking a spot, gear for hunting, safety, regulations and how to care for meat from a harvest.
9. VT considering proposals to get more people into hunting.
> …start a novice turkey-hunting weekend and introduce an electronic reporting system [instead of in-person] for big game….
10. Covid is hurting conservation groups funding.
Banquets, their prime money raisers, have been canceled. If you’re able, please make sure your memberships are active — these folks need your help!
11. Bankrupt Remington sells ammo biz.
Reminder that it’s bankrupt even with record gun/ammo sales because the investment firm that owns it loaded it with a ton of debt:
> Remington Outdoor Co. has agreed to sell its ammunition business out of bankruptcy to SC-based investment firm JJE Capital Holdings LLC for $65 million plus the assumption of liabilities, subject to better offers.
> The company has been looking to sell off its various brands, including Remington firearms, Marlin and Barnes Bullets.
Look at this 196 Mini Alpha Hunter — we likey!
13. Bass Pro/Cabelas grant for venison for the hungry.
> This funding will help Farmers and Hunters Feeding the Hungry pay meat processing bills to transform donated deer into nutritious meat for local food banks while helping people across the nation see and understand the incredible value of “hunters for the hungry” programs.
14. WI says don’t eat deer livers…
…of deer harvested within 5 miles of the JCI/Tyco Fire Technology Center (FTC), particularly in and around the Marinette and Peshtigo areas.
15. AK: Rocket crashes where deer hunters were hunting!
This is the video:
Don’t see that every day — glad they’re okay:
> Van Dongren noted that the rocket exploded in the area where they had been hunting. They had left their hunting grounds in the afternoon, to avoid a widespread closure of the area surrounding the spaceport, which routinely takes place before a launch attempt.
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Deer Disease News
1. OH fences off deer farm to prevent CWD in wild deer.
> “We know that there are still (CWD) prions on the land and we didn’t want wild deer mixing with that soil.”
> “We know prions exist indefinitely,” said Dr. Mike Tonkovich, the deer program administrator for the OH [DNR]. “What is indefinitely, that we don’t know, but we had to protect the wild deer herd.”
2. CO has new random mandatory CWD testing.
> Beginning in late Sept, CPW will be sending out letters to CO rifle season deer (buck and doe) hunters who have been selected for mandatory CWD testing.
> 89 GMUs, the majority on the Western Slope, are included….
3. MT simplifies CWD transport rules.
> Hunters will now be able to move deer, elk and moose carcasses across management zone borders.
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New Stuff
1. Henry Big Boy in .44 Mag makes a great brush gun.
> This pistol-caliber rifle boasts a hard-chrome satin finish on its metal components and an industrial-grade moisture resistant coating on its walnut stock for optimal weather resistance in the field.
2. Gunwerks cool new peep sight for muzzleloaders.
> The turreted open sight looks like a traditional peep sight mounted on the turret of a riflescope, but it can be raised and lowered much like the turret on a high-end riflescope, giving accurate and repeatable dial-up for bullet-drop compensation.
3. Vortex Razor HD LHT scope.
> Vortex recognized there was space in the market for a hunting scope that carried a few modern features — like a locking adjustable elevation turret, illuminated reticle, and side-parallax adjustment — but still managed to be relatively lightweight and easy to use.
4. Carbon Express’ tiny-diameter Maxima Triad arrows.
> The arrow’s extra small (0.166″) diameter means thicker walls for more durability, decreased wind drift and exceptional penetration.
5. WileyX Kryptek camo sunglasses.
About a half-dozen models like:
See ’em at wileyx.com — can’t link it.
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Gear of the Week
Moultrie X6000 series trailcams.
Wireless trailcams have been around for a few years, but 2020 seems like the first year manufacturers have dialed in how to set them up and actually use them. Before now, we sorta needed a computer science degree (or a 12-yr-old??). But maybe not anymore: Bowsite.com founder Pat Lefemine thinks they nailed it with the X6000 series:
> Activating a new camera has been greatly improved and is now much easier thanks to the updated Moultrie Mobile App. You simply click on activate, then scan the bar code on the camera itself. It takes literally seconds before you are up and running.
> The improvements to the app go beyond ease of setup. New…interactive mapping which shows you where your cameras are located. The app also has integrated image recognition which can distinguish a buck from a doe, a person and a turkey.
[What about this sitch tho…lol — crazy pic by shooter Jenna Lindquist:]
> When you set the camera to take video, it will take a photo for Moultrie Mobile, then it will save a video to the SD Card. Because of the bandwidth and battery limitations, the camera does not upload video files, however, they are available for you when you pick up your SD card.
> …dramatically lowered the price point on this camera…lists for $119. However, I have seen this camera on sale for under $100 at some retailers! That is a great price point for any trail camera — but for a cellular trail camera that is a fantastic value.
Pretty tempting, especially if you can’t get to your hunting spots to check cards or don’t want to spook deer doing it. Moultrie Mobile says plans start at $4.99 per month.
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Tip of the Week
Is pre-rut the best time for a big buck?
Field & Stream’s Scott Bestul says the time may be NOW to fill your tag on a big buck. He believes the deer are pretty predictable right now, and aren’t on high alert yet:
> Farms: At this time of year, whitetails are food-focused to a fault. Give a buck (or a group…) a prime food source where he’s rarely disturbed, and he’ll visit it with regularity.
> …mature bucks will gravitate toward secluded (…not visible from a road) plots near dense bedding cover. Before the season starts, visit such alfalfa, soybean, and winter-wheat fields at midday, and look for track-laced entry trails and feeding sign.
> About a week before the opener, visit the spot at midday to erect your stand or blind. I like to do this just prior to a rain (which cleanses the woods of residual scent) or on a hot, windy day (whitetails can’t smell or hear well under such conditions).
> Woods: If trees of the white oak family are present, their late-summer acorn drop will pull deer like softball players to a free keg of beer.
> Don’t think that you need to find thigh-thick rubs and washtub scrapes to know you’re onto a trophy. Mature deer usually produce the season’s first buck sign, and I’ve seen numerous instances where a monster seemed to warm up for the rubbing season by picking on smaller trees.
> [Stealth is key.] You will inevitably bump some deer, but don’t worry. Just rest the spot for a few evenings and hunt some of the other areas that you have scouted. By spreading your effort across several sites, you should have an excellent chance of bagging a nice buck before many hunters start their season.
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Quote of the Week
“Telling a woman not to wear makeup in the field is like telling a guy not to fart in the field! Why would I change who I am when I go hunting?”
– What?? No one we know has EVER passed gas while hunting! Lol. That’s Rihana Cary talkin’ in a good Outside Magazine post on her and Amanda Caldwell, 2 hunters with big ‘gram followings.
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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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