Ultra long smokepole shot! Lead frag venison pics? Best shed spots!

> Glassing for the giant, Burgess scanned the standing cornfield in front of the blind. Part of it was already down and deer were definitely flocking to it.

> Deer were also spending time in the [Wetlands Reserve Program] land to the left, as well as the finger ridge coming out of it. The big timber and open hardwoods to the right was of interest, too.

> …young bucks, does, and fawns started filtering through. A big buck followed…Burgess almost pulled the trigger…still held out hope the big typical 10 would return.

> …the bigger buck he was hoping to see walked into view. It was over 300 yards away, but it was feeding toward them.

> A few minutes later, about 4 o’clock, all of the deer started feeding away. It was then or never.

> He switched off the safety, then resettled on the vitals. After he carefully inhaled and exhaled several times, the gun sounded and smoke rolled. The buck hit the ground.

10-pointer scored 174″. Look at those brow tines!

> He was aloft…about 20 minutes before 5 pm, which gave him less than an hour and a half to hunt. …he spotted a couple of does feeding on acorns on the hillside to his left. Maybe 20 minutes later, they both stopped eating to stare at a thicket 80 yards to his right.

> …had no idea the buck of his dreams was hiding in a briar patch 80 yards from his stand…he might’ve never bothered to pick up his binoculars if they hadn’t continued staring for 10 minutes.

> Determined to discover what was holding their attention for so long, Ian peered through his binoculars. He saw just enough of the buck’s rack to realize it was none other than Kingpin.

He got a shot with his .308, and Kingpin went down! Ian had been after that buck since 2018, when it was maybe a 140″ 10-point. On the ground 2 years later, it ended up being 200 1/8″ – a monster!!

> 10 years of monitoring donated venison in MN have found that more than 7% of deer meat contains toxic lead fragments from bullets. …conducted each year by the MN Dept of Agriculture, which x-rays all of the venison donated by hunters….

> Over the past 10 years, 94,782 lbs of venison have been donated by hunters to help feed the hungry. But of that, 6,735 lbs – 7.1% – had to be thrown out because it was contaminated with lead.

This x-ray shows 450+ lead bullet frags in the neck of a mule deer:

Kinda looks like a toupee on there, like this:

Has happened “just a few times in ID’s history:”

> …elk and deer harvests were up about 10% and 11% from 2019. …hunter numbers also bounced back by about 4% for deer hunters and nearly 6% for elk hunters.

> …whitetail harvest was about even with its 10-year average, and mule deer harvest was down about 11%. Success rates…were steady for mule deer and elk hunters…while the success rate for whitetail hunters jumped more than 5%…to 43.5%.

Can’t link it, at localnews8.com.

2. DE breaks last year’s harvest record.

17,265 last season, vs. 16,969 taken in the 2019-20 season.

3. VA harvest up slightly.

> …the overall fall 2020 deer harvest numbers were nearly identical to last fall and would have probably been slightly higher if not for several hemorrhagic disease events scattered across the state in late summer and early fall 2020.

4. TX asking for public comment on new regs.

Including:

> Add crossbow to the definition of lawful archery equipment.

> Remove the prohibition on trailing wounded deer with dogs in Angelina, Hardin, Nacogdoches, Orange, Shelby and Tyler counties.

5. OH proposing new regs.

These and others:

> …will allow antlerless deer to be taken from all public hunting areas from Sep 25, 2021 to Feb 6, 2022, provided that a hunter takes only 1 antlerless deer from these lands per license year.

> …proposed to expand deer management permits to all 88 OH counties from Sep 25 to Nov 28.

6. MN deer staff available for your calls on Mar 31.

Great idea – by “calls” they really mean “complaints” 😂:

> From noon until 8 p.m. on that day, wildlife managers throughout the state will be available to discuss deer-related topics with anyone who gives them a call.

7. TX: Slots still open for She Hunts Skills Camps.

8. UT: New app allows for anonymous poacher tips.

> …technology that “will scrub your message of all identifying information, including your IP address” so that any tips reported through the app are completely anonymous.

9. S&W had a record 3rd quarter.

> Quarterly net sales were $257.6 mil compared with $127.4 mil for the comparable quarter last year, an increase of 102.2%.

10. The online American Sportsman Expo is still open.

Next best thing to in-person – new stuff, contests, giveaways. Click it ^ to get there.

11. TX: Arctic freeze decimates exotics.

Whitetails are hardier and seem to be faring better:

> Texas Canyon Ranch lost more than 2,000 of its 4,000 Axis deer population and about 60% of its Black Buck antelope population.

But…a new TX proposal would allow exotic meat at food banks.

Axis deer….

13. Lyme disease vaccine coming soon-ish?

Not sure where you’re at with vaccines these days, but sounds like this could be available in early 2023. You might know there’s already a Lyme vaccine for dogs.

> Patients would need to be inoculated every year as the shot’s effectiveness would last for 9 months.

14. Jobs.

Hawke optics looking for regional sales mgr – IN, OH, MI.

Natl Deer Alliance wants a new senior development officer.

Leupold looking for marketing comms person.

15. 2A stuff.

DC: Fair Access to Banking Act proposed – To stop banks form discriminating on firearms and similar businesses based on politics.

Bad guys pushing use of “legally registered” terms for firearms – To make it seem like it’s a good thing for gov’ts to track all firearms ownership.

OR looking at mandating firearms storage – With penalties for not doing so.

TN moving toward carrying without a permit.

16. Primary Arms/Liberty AR giveaway.

1. PA CWD projects making some progress.

> …new partnership to train dogs to detect chronic wasting disease. I am pleased to report that 2 dogs have successfully passed the first phases of this pilot research and have shown that they can detect CWD infected samples and are now entering the final trial. This final trial will focus on CWD detection in field situations.

> The CWD-infected materials from these trials are also being used for 2 additional studies to try to detect CWD in several different deer tissues and in deer feces.

2. OH: CWD-poz deer ID’d in northeast part of state.

Less than 2 miles from another deer that had CWD.

3. LA cracks down on deer urine, fears CWD transmission.

> Says the only natural deer urine products lawful to import, sell, use or possess must have a seal of approval on the product from either the Responsible Hunting Scent Assn or the Archery Trade Assn Deer Protection Program.

4. UT bill proposed to ban bait for CWD reasons.

5. Hunters can’t be counted on for CWD testing.

Meaning a lot of hunters won’t voluntarily submit heads for testing, not surprising….

6. USDA offering $60K for invention of CWD live screening test.

> The Partial Back-Scoop Wedge pushes material away from the arrow, creating a more of a hole.

2. Mossy Oak’s Shadow Leaf camo is back.

Part of Nomad’s line of camo:

3. Stealth Cam solar charged unit is improved.

> Stronger, quicker and operates in low light conditions.

Just $44.99.

5. New snake boots from Irish Setter.

> …17″ brown vulcanized rubber boot features SnakeGuard which provides resistance to fangs and thorns.

> Rossi has been making blued R92s for over 25 years in .454 Casull, but what if the gun was made with stainless steel, making it immune to the environment? This is exactly what Rossi has done….

> Able to drive 300-grain bullets in excess of 2,000 fps, this small dynamic package has better ballistics than factory-loaded .45-70 cartridges, in a more compact package. Being chambered in .454 Casull, it also has the ability to shoot .45 Colt rounds, making it both versatile for hunting and cheaper to practice with.

> The action was smooth when working the lever and the trigger was crisp, creep-free and smooth, breaking at 3.5 lbs.

> The black rubber buttpad was nicely fitted to the stock and appreciated for taming the recoil generated by stout .454 loads. Overall length is 38.5″ and length of pull is just over 13″.

> 8 rounds can be loaded from either the side loading gate or by removing the magazine tube.

> Sights consist of blued buckhorn rear with stepped-wedge adjustment, and the front sight consists of a traditional brass bead.

> Rossi did an excellent job building these guns and I didn’t have a single malfunction. The gun shot as accurate as I could hold.

MSRP is $896…if you can find one!

You could just walk deer trails, but better to get right to the hot spots in this good Petersen’s Bowhunting post. Excerpts:

> Food sources are probably the #1 location…. During the late season when food is scarce and bucks are trying to recover from the rut, food sources are at the top of the list for wintering whitetail hangouts.

> When we think of late-season food sources we generally think of food plots, agricultural fields and supplemental feeding areas. However, do not forget about…oak trees where the acorn crop was heavy earlier in the fall…. Deer will still be digging heavily looking for leftover acorns.

> …big bucks love to bed on specific points where everything is to their advantage. Bucks love to be able to see what is going on and smell what could be coming behind them. Finding good vantage points that allow for warm sun in the winter and good open views below them are key.

> …pine thickets and young conifers. Throughout harsh, cold winters, deer love to bed in pine thickets and under low-hanging conifer branches where it is warmer…. During months where there is a lot of snow on the ground, deer will bed down here because the snow is a lot less abundant.

– From a post talkin’ about new hunters who post hero pics with animals on social media. Real good point. More:

> What if she was a newcomer to hunting, perhaps 50/50 on whether she’d continue, and she was met with harassment or even threats for posting a photo on social media of a well-deserved turkey, duck or pheasant?

> “Social media has absolutely made new hunters and hunters in general more accessible for negative feedback. We as a community need to do a better job providing positive feedback to new hunters in our recruitment efforts.

> “Part of mentoring new hunters in the digital age, especially those most vulnerable to online bullying [women and youngsters], is preparing them for the fact that a fraction of society doesn’t think we ought to hunt at all. Beginning hunters should be armed with the basic information needed to respectfully refute common criticisms and know better than to engage with someone who’s simply being abusive.”

Sad but true.

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!

If you’re forwarding the DeerBlaster 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…. And follow us on Facebook and on Instagram at @deerblaster.official

If you’re interested in learning more about the DeerBlaster and how we do things, just respond to this email and we’ll get in touch – thank you!