DeerBlaster blasts

Two giants one hunter! Best states ranked, 20ga slug gun better?

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How does that happen?? VA deer brother Chip McCarthy told NA Whitetail how it went down:

> “My wife grew up here on this farm so I walked into this gold mine for hunting. My father-in-law has farmed it his entire life. The barley and wheat industry is not as profitable as it used to be, so the farmers punch in a mixture of rye, clover and radishes for me in the open once they’ve cut. So I’ve got the equivalent of some pretty giant food plots.”

Nov 7 Chip was in his blind and saw a buck he hadn’t seen before:

> Something stuck out that looked like a drop tine, but there hadn’t been any drop-tine bucks on [the trailcams]. To the hunter, it looked almost as if the deer had a piece of timber or weeds stuck in his antlers. Chip ranged the buck to be at about 240 yards…for the hunter’s Traditions muzzleloader wasn’t out of range.

> “When he turned broadside, I put it on him.” When the smoke cleared…expected to see the big buck on the ground. Instead he’d run about 10 yards, stopped and was standing there broadside.

> “My initial assessment was I’d missed him. But I noticed he was kind of hunched over.” After scrambling to reload, the hunter then noticed the big buck had lay down, as if bedding….

One down. 3 days later he’s in the same box blind, and this time saw a BIG 8-point typ he’d been tracking since bow season:

> …softly bumping the two mature does along the edge of the plot. “He wasn’t rushing at them or running them – he was just soft-bumping them. They walked broadside to me at about 180-190 yards, but they wouldn’t stop.”

> …Chip raised his muzzleloader, took careful aim and pulled the trigger. “He went straight down. I dropped him like a ton of bricks and turned his heart to mush.”

What are the best big-deer states? Bet you have an opinion! According to B&C, WI wins – based on the number of record-book entries:

1. WI: 1,822 total entries and 6 counties in the top 20 US counties with the most records. The #1 county overall is Buffalo County, with 150 entries.

2. IL: 1,445 total entries and 4 counties in the top 20 US counties.

3. IA: 1,330 total entries and 3 counties in the top 20.

4. MN: 1,194 total and 4 counties in the top 20.

5. OH: 1,049 total. Of particular note, all the new typ records in the state’s top 10 and 6 of the 10 non-typ state records were taken in the 2000s. EMOJ

6. KY: 1,048 total, and is an up-and-comer with 5 of the new state typ records and 9 of the 10 non-ty state records taken in the 2000s.

7. MO: 896 total entries.

8. KS: 867 total.

TX, AR and TN all received honorable mentions. Any surprises for you?

1. NY had a record deer harvest.

> …an estimated 253,990 deer during the 2020-21 hunting seasons, an increase of 13% from last year.

Looks like EHD fears didn’t amount to much.

2. NC’s deer harvest was up.

> Hunters across the state reported harvesting 169,973 deer this season. That’s a 9.1% increase compared to the average harvest the last 3 seasons….

3. ME legislature still considering Sunday hunting.

4. ID controlled hunt application is open.

> Successful controlled hunt applicants will be notified by Jul 10.

5. MT: Non-rez hunters can sign up for alternate’s list…

…between May 15- Jun 1, for returned or leftover licenses.

6. MT still doing online hunter ed classes.

Says seeing the most increase in new adult bowhunters.

7. CA raffles “Golden Opportunity” deer tags.

> These rare tags allow hunters to take any legal buck by any legal means anywhere in the state beginning Jul 10 through the end of the year.

8. IA could have January rifle deer season.

Would only be for counties that didn’t sell all its antlerless tags:

> “The purpose of this season is not to hunt for sport, but rather to manage the size of the herd…which is why more efficient and effective firearms are being authorized.”

9. F i e ld & S t r eam and O utdoor L ife now only digital.

End of an era, also sort of inevitable – not because print will disappear (it won’t and hasn’t), just thew way they do it:

> The economics of the print business can no longer support our legacy title.

10. DC: Natl Deer Assn likes 3 conservation bills.

> The freshly-introduced Recovering America’s Wildlife Act (RAWA) comes directly on the heels of the introductions of the Outdoor Restoration Partnership and Trillion Trees Acts.

B&C is also supporting the Trillion Trees Act.

11. P&Y offering early bird special for its convention.

Jul 14-17 in Reno.

12. TX Summer Hunters Extravaganzas shows are on.

Houston – Aug 6-8 – NGR Center
Fort Worth – Aug 13-15 – Fort Worth Convention Center
San Antonio – Aug 20-22 – Freeman Coliseum Expo Hall

13. OH cancels sportsman’s expo.

No explanation given.

14. WI: Fundraiser for hunter paralyzed after treestand fall.

Deer brother with a young family. In the post he said he stand broke. Here’s the GoFundMe for donations if you are able.

15. Remington now supporting the Mule Deer Foundation.

16. New Pure Archery SW territory mgr: Chris Levai.

17. Leupold looking for digital marketing person.

18. 2A stuff.

OR bill would punish original gun owners for crimes with stolen firearms. Fits right in with what seems to be going on there….

DC: ATF can monitor firearms buyers who “might” commit a crime?

VA high school teacher injecting anti-2A stuff into classroom.

19. Keep an eye on….

MN, NY, ME bills would ban lead ammo. For hunting only. About the MN bill:

> …institutes a voucher program for reduced- or no-cost non-toxic ammunition and a “buy-back” program for the state to purchase lead ammo from hunters or exchange it for alternative ammunition. However, both of these are dependent upon available funding with no guarantees or even an estimate of costs of future funding.

> “There isn’t, and hasn’t been, ammunition of any kind, lead or not, available to hunters for the last year, and now Rep. Morrison wants to compound the issue and implement even more restrictions on ammunition use, which will limit, if not end, our ability to hunt,” said Jacob Hupp, associate director of state services at the Sportsmen’s Alliance. “This is just another example of an anti-hunting politician advancing legislation that fits a political rhetoric.”

NH bill allowing anti-hunters on Fish & Game Commission still alive.

Crazy.

Headlines of the Week

Deer culling normalizes gun violence

🙄

How to Keep Your Butt from Going Numb While Turkey Hunting

😂

Deer Disease News

1. MO found 44 new CWD cases.

> MDC collected more than 15,300 tissue samples, from mostly hunter-harvested deer, for CWD testing and confirms 44 new cases of CWD from deer tested.

> The new findings bring the total number of CWD cases in the state to 206. MDC has tested more than 152,300 deer since the first cases of CWD were found in free-ranging deer in MO in 2012.

2. TN opens first CWD testing facility.

> While its primary goal is to find and track the movement of the disease…the lab will also play an active role in understanding CWD.

3. LA DNR wants mandatory deer scent testing.

Because of CWD fears.

4. MT will consider regs on deer and elk urine.

Will be discussed on May 13:

> The 2nd rule permits the use of urine that has been approved by the Archery Trade Association and Responsible Hunting Scent Association (RHSA)…approval must be on the product packaging of any urine lure a hunter intends to use to mask human odor.

> The 3rd rule clearly outlines how the commission will approve urine-based and natural glandular scents for use by hunters.

5. NC found no CWD last season.

6. Smell like a million bucks with Realtree cologne/body wash.

Little bit ago they came out with the women’s version, and now they’re taking care of us guys $40 gets you “top notes” of grapefruit and basil, “middle notes” of orange blossom, cardamom and Asian ginger, and “bottom notes” of musk, lemon and ambergris. Those “bottom notes” sound better than the ones in hunting camp…EMOJ

Sounds like you might be smelling like the produce aisle of the grocery store?? At realtreebeauty com – can’t link it.

Okay there’s no way a lot of us can swing a $4,000 rifle. But we can dream, and this looks very cool – the Fierce Firearms CT Edge:

> This rifle comes with our carbon barrel that’s cryogenically treated to relieve stress from the barrel before the carbon wrap is applied, and titanium action. This combination gives you a rifle that weighs less than 6 lbs. and still delivers bull barrel, tack-driving accuracy!

> …combines the highest-grade components that Fierce has to offer. The powerhouse of the CT Edge is the Fierce Titanium Triad action, featuring: 3-lug bolt, 70° throw, 3-position safety, detachable magazine.

> Every Fierce rifle is guaranteed with 1/2 MOA accuracy and Lifetime Limited Warranty.

> …a validation target is included with every rifle.

Drooling over that one – love to shoot it! Check out Fierce’s current inventory on their website.

Could a 20ga be a better slug gun??

Seems logical and common sense that a 12ga pumpkinballer has to be the better option than the smaller 20ga, but F&S says that’s not necessarily the case?

> The larger bore of the 12ga can accommodate more payload when stuffed with shot, but this becomes a moot point when dealing with a single projectile. Bigger is usually considered better when it comes to bullets, but there’s a point when large enough is large enough.

> At 100 yards, a 2.75″ 20ga Hornady SST sabot slug is moving along at 1470 fps, and hits with 1,200 ft-lbs of energy. At the same distance, the 12ga equivalent travels at 1641 fps and delivers 1,793 ft-lbs. There’s not a lot of difference between the two, and both have more than enough power to humanely take deer-size game out to about 200 yards.

> Less felt recoil means the shooter is less likely to flinch at the moment of truth, which usually translates into better accuracy.

> The internal diameter of a 20ga barrel is 0.114″ smaller than a 12ga, which corresponds to a reduction in both barrel and receiver size. The result is a lighter gun that’s easier to tote through the woods.

🤔 Pretty good points!

“To this day I have never killed a deer with a gun that I bought brand new and in fact, most are older than I am.”

– From a thoughtful AmmoLand post by David LaPell askin’ whether hunting is now being portrayed as too expensive. Little more from it:

> The point has been to try and get new people interested in hunting, not scare them off with sticker shock and discouragement.

> …in more than one state, the land to hunt on is getting less and less easy to find, the land being bought up and those who have it are not about to give out permission for hunters anymore in so many instances. The cost to book a hunt at a ranch is quickly turning for many to be a once in a lifetime affair, certainly not what the average everyday meat hunter is looking for or could ever possibly afford….

> When so many are struggling just to make ends meet at all, it’s not surprising why so many hunters get turned off watching outdoor shows where the host travels to some of the nicest hunting spots in North America or even the world while they are struggling to make their car payment….

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!