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Check out this Ohio *TRIPLE* drop!
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Not much info on what is probably record buck. Arrowed by Ryan Boyer in Greene County, OH. The BigBuckDown FB page says Ryan is doing some interviews about this buck — apparently “the story on this buck is as rare as the deer is.” Can’t wait to hear more…will keep you posted.
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“Horsefly” buck has 13-inch G3s and 11-inch G4s!!
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Another week, another huge deer dropped in KY! Look at those skyscraper tines!!
Realtree got the lowdown from bowhunter Justin Hogan, who has 11 P&Y deer on his wall…#stout! Sounds like he only found one pic of the deer all summer. Then on the 2nd day of the archery season he checked his trailcam and there he was: The buck had visited the evening before, during daylight:
> Hogan knew he needed to hunt. Problem was, he hadn’t packed any of his gear. He quickly drove home, grabbed his stuff, and came back to hunt that evening.
Shortly after he got into his stand, a doe appeared — followed by his target buck. Unfortunately the deer didn’t give up any good shooting angles. Get this: Then a horsefly bit the buck and gave Justin an opportunity. He made it count — he drew and fired from just 13 yards:
> The buck spun and charged off into heavy cover, and almost immediately disappeared from sight. Hogan never heard him crash. Just before dark, he quietly climbed down and went to the spot where the deer had been standing. There was blood….
> After 3 hours, he went back in to pick up the trail…good blood the first hundred yards…less for the next hundred. After tracking for 300 yards, Hogan began to worry. Pinpricks of blood turned into large chunks of clotted blood, which raised hopes. But…the buck suddenly stood from its bed and crashed off.
> “I was sick,” Hogan said. “I thought I was going to throw up.”
He spent a sleepless night at a nearby motel, and decided to resume the track at 4 a.m.
> He spent the next hour crawling around the thicket on his knees, looking for sign. Just as he began to lose hope, his flashlight beam hit a white patch of belly hair in front of him. It was his buck, dead.
> It green-scored 171 7/8″. The buck’s body was so massive that Hogan had to quarter the deer and pack it out in 5 trips.
Whoa! Heckuva deer Justin, congrats!
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What’s the best DATE to hunt the rut?
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What’s your favorite DATE to hunt the rut? MeatEater asked 10 deer gurus for their absolute favorite date. All of them named a date in the Nov 2-15 range, and 7 of the 10 picked Nov 7-10. Here’s what a few of them say:
> Michael Hunsucker, Heartland Bowhunter, Nov 2: “It’s typically a time when the first does are coming into estrus, and bucks are on the move trying to find them. It can be a good time to decoy bucks as well, as they’re very aggressive at this stage.”
> Nick Mundt, Bone Collector, Nov 7: “It seems like it’s always a great day for mature bucks to be on their feet looking for does in estrus. They can really let their guard down and become very visible and killable during daylight hours for the first time.”
> Mark Drury, Drury Outdoors, Nov 9: “That’s the day that I’ve killed 3 of my top 5 deer on. All 3 were SE winds with extremely high pressure, so there’s been some historically good weather for me.”
> Justin Zarr, Bowhunting.com, Nov 15: “I believe that a lot of bucks will stay in or near their core areas and breed home-range does first, which is what causes the lockdown we all dread. Once those does are bred, the bucks seem to start extending their range to find other does.”
Let us know your go-to rut date and why, and we’ll run a few!
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Check out these 2 brawlers!
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Usually only see the aftermath, when they’re locked up and deceased, so this is cool:
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Big ol’ 12-point goes hardware shopping in KY.
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> A large 12-point buck was trapped in an office inside of Westcott’s Hardware Store in Goody, KY, after it jumped through a window.
> KY State Police had a trooper on scene, and the KY Division of Fish and Wildlife was called, but they did not have a game warden close enough to respond. Troopers decided to put the massive deer down, as they believed it had sustained injuries before entering the store.
The store was apparently closed at the time. Our source says the KY state trooper eventually let “some random dude shoot it with a crossbow.” Seems like a pretty stiff penalty for breaking and entering.
Thanks to deer brother Boo H for tipping us about this.
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News
1. IA: Kayaking hunter drowns.
> Investigators believe [Cody] Bengford left the boat ramp at the Nobles Lake Wildlife Management Area on Friday afternoon to head out for a bowhunt in the Desoto National Wildlife Refuge. Bengford was reported missing that evening after he didn’t return.
Bless you deer brother.
2. LA: Hunter dies in ladder stand accident.
> It appears that the IA resident stumbled on a large tree stump, causing him to tumble forward and strike his face or head on the lowest rung of his 14′ metal ladder deer stand, Sabine Coroner Ron Rivers said.
Bless you deer brother. Please be extra careful out there folks.
3. WI: Town wants to ban hanging deer in yards.
> “No person shall dismember, display, eviscerate, hang, skin or slaughter any animal or part of an animal in any front or side yard, in any rear yard other than in an enclosure that will prevent such activity from being viewed by persons adjacent to such yard, or on any public property in the City.”
Could see this in CA or NY, but WI??
4. SD: Common ag pesticide could cause deer defects.
Not good:
> …the world’s most widely-used family of pesticides — neonicotinoids — is likely causing serious birth defects in whitetail deer, deepening concerns over the chemical’s potential to harm large mammals, including humans.
> …showed that whitetail deer with high levels of neonicotinoid pesticide in their spleens developed defects such as smaller reproductive organs, pronounced overbites and declined thyroid function. Fawns with elevated levels of the pesticide in their spleens were found to be generally smaller and less healthy than deer with less of the chemical in their organs.
5. PA: Moon phases do NOT affect deer movement?
Lots of data and:
> “Moon phase has an insignificant effect on deer movement, meaning that none of the moon phases cause deer activity patterns to increase or decrease significantly.”
But:
> “We looked at female deer in the month of Oct in one particular part of central Pennsylvania.”
6. Hurricanes might bring out the bigs?
Nothing good about extreme weather, usually:
> “Deer may have a tendency to get on their feet more,” he said, sensing the air pressure dropping.
7. SC offers bowhunters an island experience.
Only time you’re allowed to camp on Bulls Island.
8. NY county allows rifles for deer.
Actual photo from the county seat:
Very cool.
What the article ^ says.
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Gear of the Week
Yes, that pic is in fact a smokepole, and not another 6.5 Creedmoor tactical rifle LOL. American Hunter put the high-tech “primitive” weapon through its paces, and it sounds like a winner:
> …the Paramount’s bolt only serves as a method to open and close the breech, which houses the first of the rifle’s upgrades, a VariFlame breech plug. The VariFlame plug utilizes a large rifle primer and a VariFlame primer casing — as opposed to the standard 209 shotshell primer — to ignite the powder charge.
> The large-rifle primer burns hotter and more consistently, which in turn delivers a more consistent bullet trajectory. The bolt face is spring-loaded to tightly seat the primer casing, creating, in theory, perfect headspace every time, and increasing the muzzleloader’s accuracy….
> …CVA used a free-floating, fluted 26″ Bergara barrel made from 416 stainless steel with a 1:22-inch twist, specifically designed to stabilize the new .45-caliber PowerBelt projectile.
> The target-style stock with its pistol grip echoes current trends in long-range shooting. It’s built around an internal aluminum chassis that supports the barreled action.
> The stock also includes a tool and accessory housing built into the fore-end. This “toolbox” is designed to house four loaded VariFlame primer casings and the VariFlame insertion tool (both included) so hunters always have a primer at the ready.
> …range capabilities are on par with most centerfire rifles out to 300 yards, and at that distance the PowerBelt ELR still has more than 2,000 ft-lbs of energy, surpassing the threshold for what most consider necessary for lethal penetration on elk or similar-sized game.
> It’s also only dropping around a foot (using a 200-yd zero) at 300 yds. That’s the same point of impact as some 6.5 Creedmoor rounds when zeroed at the standard 100-yd mark.
MSRP is right at $1,000 — expensive for a typical muzzleloader, but pretty sure this ain’t typical! (Does this mean it’s a…non-typical? lol, had to….)
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Tip of the Week
Stuff to try when nothing else seems to work.
Not a joke — for-reals suggested by Michael Hanback, a 5th-degree blackbelt deer brother, and posted by Outdoor Life:
> For a week or so in the late pre-rut, dominant bucks looking to mix it up are drawn to the musk of one another. Play off that and set a mix of buck urine and/or tarsal near your stand. If you can hack the black hocks off a buck your buddy shot earlier in the week, do it.
> I always parallel a trail well on the downwind side of it. When I have to cross one, I take a few steps back, take off and jump as far and high as I can. Sounds silly and a little overboard, but by launching you leave no scent on the trail or several feet off to either side of it. I’ve seen with my own eyes that it makes a big difference.
> MO researcher [Dr. Grant Woods] has captured and analyzed hundreds of thousands of trailcamera images over the years, with many of the best shots coming at scrapes doctored with a variety of scents and lures. So what’s the best scent to attract bucks to scrapes? …human pee! Woods has found that both mock scrapes created with human urine and pre-existing real scrapes doctored with pee produce the most buck sightings and…the most mature buck sightings.
> IL hunter Dan Perez: When the weather turns brutal and the creeks freeze solid in the Midwest he rolls into his best spots with his bow or gun, pack, treestand — and a sledgehammer. “If you crack open some moving water near a crop field, you can have fantastic action, especially if it’s been a dry fall and there’s not a lot of standing water around.”
We love that one! #headslapper
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Quote of the Week
“It’s affecting my bank account, I can tell you that.”
– Deer brother Rich Gresens talkin’ about getting his girlfriend into deer hunting. Lol no doubt! She just shot her first. He also said:
> “It’s about being in each other’s company and doing things outdoors. And it absolutely will help our relationship as it goes forward.”
Do we hear weddin’ bells…?
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Shot of the Week
How ’bout this for a first deer! That’s 11-yr-old Lilly M with a NICE MN 12-point and her proud dad — raisin’ her right, good job!
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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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