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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.
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Teamwork and a water truck = big buck down!
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Jonathan Linen and his cuz Cody Sparks are whitetail diehards. Check this out: VA had a big-time late-season drought that killed most food plots, but Cody told NA Whitetail that he’d “routinely” fill up his tobacco farm’s water truck and drive it over to their hunt club for their food plot. So…it was a whitetail magnet:
> Jonathan: “On Oct 6, Cody hunted over the food plot in a treestand, and I took my climber and went farther down below the food plot. We were probably about 100 yards apart.
> “Around 6:30 am, I had 3 does come by in front of me. So I texted Cody to see what he was seeing.
> “When I looked back up, there he was! The buck we were after was standing right there on the trail the does had just walked up. He had his head down just like he was in the rut, almost in a sneak, like he was trying to be real quiet, taking real soft steps.”
At 20 yards he let the x-bow bolt go and:
> “The buck made that ‘ruff’ noise right when the arrow hit him. The arrow didn’t pass all the way through.”
After a 45-minute wait, the guys hooked up and found the deer real fast. No word on what it scored — any guesses? Either way, sounds real handy to have a water truck!
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Tall-tined “Goofy” bites the dust…in the dust!
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Check out the mass and bases of that deer! Scott McNown named the KS buck “Goofy” cuz there’s lots o’ character on those 13 points! Taxidermist green-scored it at 175!!
Scott told Buckmasters he had to fight a man-made dust storm to take this deer:
> An automobile accident on nearby Hwy 160 had forced traffic to detour down the dirt road upwind of where Scott was hunting. At times, it was like trying to breathe inside a vacuum cleaner bag.
> Scott endured the grit because he wanted a shot at a geriatric buck he and wife Rachel had nicknamed Goofy in 2017. They thought the old warrior had died until it walked in front of a trail camera in Oct 2019. “He was bigger-bodied and taller-racked than ever.”
> On Nov 5, Scott got the south wind he needed to hunt the stand. 2 hours in…he saw a doe running through the bedding area, and he wasn’t sure whether he’d actually heard a deer grunting behind her or if he imagined it.
> …a moment later…he actually saw a buck 90′ [behind her]. …no doubt it was Goofy. While the doe ran downwind of Scott, the buck paused at a hedgerow less than 10 yards from him.
All she wrote! He shot his arrow through a 4″ hole in the cedars and dropped it. Goofy be like:
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Elmer Fudd got his gun confiscated??
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Guess it’s no surprise the nannies won (again). If you’re old enough to remember Looney Tunes cartoons, Elmer was all about his shotgun. But now the wascally wabbit (and duck) hunter is using a huge scythe to chase down Bugs Bunny. Ain’t that kinda like teaching kids TO run with scissors??
Petersen’s Hunting points out that while cartoon guns may not be popular in Hollywood, the kind that real people use to hunt with and defend themselves are more popular than ever:
> …March 2020 saw a total of 3.74 million [gun] checks performed at gun stores across the nation. …that’s the background check system’s all-time high-water mark. …came during a month where some states across the country [closed] stores that sold firearms and ammunition.
> ….Elmer Fudd may have lost his gun in this topsy-turvy world unfolding in 2020. But from all indications, he might be the only one.
Sorta funny about Elmer, sorta sad but…really doubt anyone watches or even knows what Looney Tunes are anymore so….
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^ found by Bowhunt or Die prostaffer Kurt Thorsen (@kthor94) when he was a-fishin’:
> Went searching for river monsters tonight on the river, caught me a 13-pointer instead. Definitely not complaining. Something interesting happens every time @awac93 and I hit the river, never fails!
Crazy!
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James Jean is an archery trick shot genius.
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Dude can do INSANE things with the stick and string! Sounds like James is just a GA country boy who likes to think up “impossible” (for everyone else) trick shots for his recurve. His stuff is mesmerizing:
> James shoots arrows with Flu Flu fletching, standard fletching and at times bare shafts. James uses bare shafts when shooting around trees and barrels [around??]. He relies on Gold Tip Warriors (400 spine) and fletches his own arrows.
> Best I can tell, there’s no trick photography in play during the production of this video. James Jean can flat out shoot.
Hard to argue with that. About the only other guy that might be in his league is Lars Andersen (YT video).
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New Stuff
1. Hornady intros the 6mm ARC.
Apparently designed with help from the military to maximize the potential of the AR platform:
> …less felt recoil than larger short-action-based cartridges, yet takes full advantage of modern, heavy-for-caliber 6mm bullets that provide excellent accuracy and ballistic performance at extended range.
2. Hatsan says it’s got the most powerful PCP air rifle — .50 cal!
PCP = Pre-Charged Pneumatic:
> Capable of producing over 800 ft-lbs. of energy in .50 cal, it is also available in a 700+ FPE-generating .45 caliber model.
3. Barnett has a couple new budget x-bows.
> Rugged limbs and a sturdy yet simple single string provide plenty of speed and power….
4. Vortex new 15x binos.
> For the hunter looking for a binocular powerful enough to replace a spotter in their pack, the new Diamondback HD 15×56 packs all the optical strength you need into a lightweight package.
5. First Lite Catalyst Vest.
Love us some First Lite:
> Silent, breathable, insulating, and engineered to stretch and move with you, it changes what is possible in a softshell garment.
From Firstlite.com — can’t link it….
6. Tie in with the Hawk Elevate Lite safety harness.
Says it’s built with comfort in mind, which if true would help treestand hunters to actually wear one.
7. Couple new wireless Wildlife Innovations trailcams.
The Insite Cell sounds like a typical cell-enabled camera — usually means sorta expensive data plan — but the new Insite Air don’t need no stinkin’ wireless plan:
> The Insite Air uses Bluetooth technology to connect to the WGI app, sending all photos and videos to your device with the simple press of a button. Just get within 150 yards of your camera, and you’ll receive a notification to download.
8. Level your scope with Scope Jack.
> The Scope Jack eliminates the need for plumb bobs, levels, lights and other tools while quickly and effectively leveling the scope to the rail.
Website is store.fixitsticks.com — can’t link it.
9. New cover scents from Wildlife Research.
> New X-tra Concentrated Masking Scent is available in pine, earth, acorn, cedar and apple. These extra-potent formulas not only work overtime to help mask human scent, but the super-appealing smells may even attract big-game animals as well.
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Gear of the Week
And is that good news or not?
Okay let’s back up. Y’all know the explosive growth of x-bows over the last decade. Many, many more hunters are in the woods during archery season now that they can use a horizontal bow. A lot of vertical archery guys are in a bunch over that — too many hunters, too easy to kill deer, not enough experience, etc. But word is it’s brought more folks to hunting.
Fast forward to the January SHOT Show, when Federal dropped the FireStick a REAL slick pre-measured powder charge for in-line muzzleloading rifles. Outdoor Life got a chance to play with ’em — in the Traditions Nitrofire muzzleloader, which sounds like the only smokepole it’ll work with:
> First you load a .50 cal muzzleloader bullet through the muzzle of the rifle. Then, you break open the gun and load the FireStick through the specially designed breech of the muzzleloader…then press a standard 209 primer into the FireStick’s primer pocket. Snap the gun closed and you’re ready to shoot.
> The system is cleaner because the powder is igniting inside the capsule…no powder touching the barrel directly. Also, because of the bullet shelf design, that crud ring or powder ring doesn’t develop the way it would in standard muzzleloaders. Lastly, there’s no breech plug to pull out and soak.
> At 100 yards, I was shooting about 2″ average groups with Federal’s 270-grain Bor Lock Trophy Copper bullets, and 1.6″ average groups with Smackdown Carnivore 305-grain bullets. My best group was 1.09″. This is not game-changing accuracy.
> So should this product be allowed in regular muzzleloader seasons? Many game agencies answer loudly and clearly — yes. These agencies see it as a way to bring more hunters into muzzleloading with a safe product that’s easy to use.
> Ohio DNR rep: “We’ve seen groups who say ‘my way is the only right way to do it.’ But when that conversation becomes exclusionary, and creates unnecessary barriers to entry…. It should be the individual’s freedom to make that choice on what type of hunting implement they want to use — as long as it falls under our safety parameters.”
OL says about 30 states will allow the FireStick this fall. Be interesting to see if it leads to more smokepole hunters overall, not just more bow and rifle guys now choosing to also hunt that way.
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Tip of the Week
The dos and don’ts of bait.
In the Midwest, where I (Ted) grew up, baiting was illegal and everyone felt only a poacher would do it. Now I live in TX, where you can get a 40-lb bag of deer feed at every gas station and grocery store in town!
So if you CAN and want to bait, Buckmasters says it’s not as simple as throwing out some feed and waiting for a booner to come up to it:
> WI outfitter Mike Noskoviak: “I start baiting a stand 7-10 days before I plan to hunt it. I learned a long time ago that if you start baiting for a longer period of time, the deer go nocturnal, especially the mature bucks. It wasn’t until I reduced the time that I baited a stand that I started seeing bigger bucks in the daytime.”
> SC outfitter Hayward Simmons: “We forbid our hunters to go anywhere near our bait locations. It seems like everybody wants to go look at the corn before they climb into their stand. That’s the fastest way to ruin a spot. One time I walked a 10′ circle around a bait pile. The deer never touched it. It sat on the ground and rotted.”
> SC outfitter Terry Hiers: “Human scent is the #1 reason deer won’t come to a bait pile during the daytime. It doesn’t matter if it’s corn or a food plot. If deer smell you, they will stop showing up in daytime. Deer will get used to a truck, but not the smell or sight of a human.”
> Hiers: “I think a lot of hunters sit over their bait day after day and wonder why they aren’t seeing deer. It’s real important to limit pressure. If someone kills a deer from one of my stands, I won’t hunt it for several days, or even longer if we had to track the deer.”
> TX guide Gary Smith: “If we’ve had a good rain and everything turns green, you won’t see a deer at a feeder. A lot of people don’t realize that they don’t live on corn alone. In fact, I don’t often see big bucks stay at a feeder for very long.”
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Quote of the Week
“…deer are a menace to society. I don’t know how long deer hunting season is, but it should be longer.”
– Hahaha that would be great! Just a little longer maybe…. That’s someone in TX talkin’ ’bout deer-vehicle accidents…possibly meaning TX hunters need to shoot more if they can!
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Shot of the Week
Pro bass fisherman Greg Hackney was so proud of his latest rack, he had to take it with him to show it off at a Major League Fishing tournament! Lol lovin’ it — think he’s ate up??
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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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