DeerBlaster blasts

World record antlered DOE?? Huge 11-yr-old buck! Ever hunt honey locusts?

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North American Whitetail took a look:

> For starters, the sheer size of the deer’s rack has led many to believe the whitetail must have been a “cactus buck” – meaning a buck with a testicular abnormality…that can prevent antler shedding and velvet stripping.

> During the rut, when rises in testosterone cause bucks’ necks to swell…the neck on this deer never did [from trailcam shots]. …an absence of swelling of the neck doesn’t necessarily prove the deer is a doe.

> One rear-facing photo of the deer has convinced many onlookers that no male sex organs are present, specifically testicles.

> It’s believed the deer did not shed its antlers annually. But there is a photograph of the deer in early spring that appears to show a new set of antlers growing from the base of the skull. As can be the case with both antlered does and cryptorchid males though, the antlers never truly harden and are thus constantly in a fragile state.

Hard to say. We’d be curious to know if there’s some way to genetically test the antlers to determine sex. Since the deer isn’t able to tell us what gender it identifies with, we may never know. 🤣

Great-looking typ shot by James Greene in WV’s Monongahela National Forest. Told the WV MetroNews that the buck snuck up on him in thick fog:

> “I was trying to look and see where he was, but it was just so foggy you couldn’t see but 25 or 30 yards.

> “I heard him grunt again and the first time I saw him was through the platform of my stand. He was standing right under me.”

> “I guess he was 3′ away from me at 30′ down. I was going to spine him or get a heart shot.”

> The shot struck its mark, but the buck – which at this point Greene knew only had a nice set of antlers – simply walked away. He didn’t jump and run, he just walked calmly off into the mist and out of sight.

James waited til the fog cleared (the next day!) to track the deer, which he found dead under 80 yards from his stand. Bet he was stoked to see how nice that rack really was!

Thomas Abbott took it on PA public land – deets from Wildlife Analytical Labs:

> …knew his buck was old, so to get the most accurate age result possible he sent the teeth to us…and we determined his buck to be 9.5 yrs old!!

> Here’s what Thomas told us about his buck: “I hunted this deer hard for 5 years. I noticed he actually started to go downhill this past year. I killed him as a 7×5 with 1 drop tine but the previous year he was an 8×6 with 2 drop tines.

> “The buck had a gross score of 171 1/4 as measured by a good friend…had a 20 5/8″ inside spread and a 9” drop tine. There is a ton of hunting pressure where this deer was killed.

Gotta be worth extra points for killing a deer that old in a place hunted that hard!

Check this out – from a great post by Jim Shepherd at The Outdoor Wire:

> In a conversation with the owner of one of the NSSF’s 5-start certified range and retail locations, I learned that on Mar 9 they were informed their credit card processing agreement with BillPay.com was being cancelled. They had only just established the relationship and made it clear throughout the certification process they were a firearms-focused business…included providing BillPay.com with a copy of their Federal Firearms License.

> …they tried processing a card. It was denied. At that point, owner Keith “Doc” Ruter reached out to the processing house. He was told that because of Chase Bank’s decision to have “nothing to do with the firearms industry” BillPay.com was closing the account.

And it’s not just Chase:

> I spoke about the problem with Dan Edwards, owner of classicpaydirect.com, a company that helps find credit card processing for retailers – including those in the gun business. What I learned was that in many companies inside the merchant services industry “gun-related accounts” are not wanted.

> “Many companies like FirstData have cancelled all gun-related accounts – and that includes guns, accessories, whatever.”

Because:

> The Obama Administration tried to dry up access to credit – quietly – via Operation Chokepoint. They selected a group of “undesirable” businesses, then put the pressure on big banking facilities to stop doing business with them.

> Ostensibly, when revealed, the operation was shut down. But it was later disclosed that regulators weren’t seriously discouraging the practice. After the Trump administration took definitive action to protect the firearms industry, it appeared the chokepoint, if not removed, had at least been suppressed. Yesterday, we learned that wasn’t the case.

Cool San Antonio post – can’t link it, at expressnews com – about ’em, a species you folks outside TX may not know much about:

> Native to the grasslands of India and Sri Lanka.

> Originally intro’d to the Texas Hill Country in the early 1930s.

> Can leap over fences up to 5′ tall.

> Breed year-round.

> Mostly eat grass but also get into berries, shrubs and even weeds – bad news for whitetails.

> In TX the exotic animal industry is a $2 bil/yr biz.

If you’re looking for a year-round hunting opportunity and some great venison, axis deer are hard to beat.

1. WI county deer advisory council meetings begin this week.

Each county sets dates and harvests, make sure you give your input!

2. ID set its seasons.

Whitetails: No major changes, but adjustments to season dates in some units.

Muleys: Less harvest in some regions, more in others.

3. MT hunters might get a traditional muzzleloader season.

Sounds like it’ll be passed in the legislature:

> Limits the hunt to muzzleloaders with iron sights, a minimum of .45 cal and not having more than 2 barrels. Limitations also include traditional firearms such as flintlock, percussion cap and matchlock designs.

4. NY wants to extend shooting hours.

Not sure this is a good idea?

> Extending shooting hours from (to) 30 minutes before sunrise to 30 minutes after sundown.

5. WY: New film by students on muley migration…

…sorta:

> 3 bold women test their endurance and wits as they brave the formidable, migratory journey of a pregnant, scrawny doe.

6. Garmin sponsors Pope & Young.

Will be interesting to see how this shakes out because historically P&Y has been pretty anti-technology. In fact, their position statements include this on x-bows: “The P&Y Club does not consider the crossbow to be a hunting bow and will not accept any trophies collected by crossbow hunters.”

Soooo…hard to imagine they’re comfortable with Garmin’s Xero laser rangefinding bowsights and x-bow scopes, but maybe that’s what this little collab is all about?

7. Bushnell marking 25 years of the laser rangefinder.

> In 1996, Bushnell adapted the same technology used by NASA for space shuttle deployment and retrieval to bring the first laser rangefinder to the hunting and shooting market, the Yardage Pro 400.

8. Metallica’s James Hetfield talks hunting on the Fierce podcast.

9. Firearms industry economic impact is $63.5 bil.

Up 232% since 2008:

> …the total number of full-time equivalent jobs rose from approximately 166,000 to over 342,330, a 106% increase in that period….

> The firearm and ammunition industry paid nearly $7 bil in business taxes, including property, income and sales-based levies.

10. New Buck Knives president Lane Tobiassen came from Smith & Wesson.

11. TX Trophy Hunters has new president/CEO.

Christina Pittman, has been with TTHA for 8 years.

12. CA: Black bears steal deer killed by cougars.

Dominant predator vs dominant scavenger.

Deer Disease News

1. OH DNR plans to thin herd near CWD outbreak site.

> By reducing the deer density there [Killdeer Plains Wildlife Area], the wildlife agency hopes it can remove deer that have CWD.

2. WI: Feds kill all deer at CWD-infected farm.

The feds?? This sounds kinda drastic? Can’t link it – at theridgefieldpress com:

> State agriculture officials announced Thursday that the US Dept of Agriculture Wildlife Services destroyed 14 deer at Schultz Whitetails on Mar 3. The move came after a 4-yr-old buck on the farm tested positive for CWD in Oct. …immediately quarantined all animals on the farm….

> Tests conducted after the herd was destroyed showed no other animals were infected. The farmer owner will receive federal reimbursement for his lost herd on the condition that the farm not hold any cervids for 5 years. The farm also must maintain its fences and submit to routine inspections during that time.

This sure ain’t new – maybe so old-school most of us haven’t even thought about owning one. But Outdoor Life makes a good point: The Lee Loader might be able to help you handload new rifle, pistol, rimfire and/or scattergun cartridges during the current ammo shortage:

> Handloading ammunition isn’t a singular solution to ammo shortages – component shortages are a problem too – but being able to hand-load ammo, even in limited quantities, simply gives you more options.

> I got my start in handloading with the Lee Loader, and so did my dad. It’s been around for more than 60 years. …kits come in packaging that’s a little smaller than your standard reloading die box and include all the basic tools you need to decap, re-size, prime, measure and fill powder, and seat bullets, with only the aid of a non-marring mallet.

> Each kit comes with a generic powder measure and lists of powders and associated measurements with that cartridge. It does help to use a real powder scale for accuracy, but as long as you stay within the guidelines, your ammunition will be totally safe.

> …this kit is very capable of producing accurate and dependable ammunition, and is completely safe. These kits are mostly sold out on the Lee website, but you can still find them by hunting around online.

The honey locust tree is hated on by a lotta people because of the thorns and the pods that fall all over the ground. But Buckmasters says it’s an overlooked food source for deer:

> Honey locust trees are considered invasive species at worst, or weed trees at best, so we’re not recommending planting the wild varieties. But the bean pods produced by honey locusts can be a big draw later in the season after most of the acorns have been gobbled up.

> It seems like a good, hard frost increases their appeal, the timing of which often coincides with the rut throughout much of the whitetail’s range. If you’re having trouble finding deer during the rut, put a camera in patch of honey locusts.

Whitetail Journal says persimmons also make a great deer forage. They can be found growing wild or you can plant them.

“…all these important flowers and plants don’t exist anymore on a scale that is massive.”

– Tom Rawinski, a former botanist for the US Forest Service, talkin’ at timesunion com (can’t link it). Said:

> “Whitetail deer overpopulation is the greatest forest conservation challenge of our time.”

Luckily us hunters are available to help lol. Of course the antis say it’s our fault – that DNRs are trying to create “too many deer” for hunters. And if there’s not enough deer, that’s our fault too. Or global warming…🙄

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!

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