This Seasons Bucks

I think its time throw out a blog update and show a few of the bucks that are around for 2013. The first is a big nine point, I have had his pics for a few years and I think he would ahve scored better last year as a 10 point with stickers but he's no slouch this year, and i would love to get a crack at him.

The second Is a big six point that I had one picture of in late September in velvet. He is now back in the same place that the big nine lives. The six is by far the dominant buck and I have video of him pushing the nine point around several times.

The third is decent 8 point I have a few videos of, he seems to live near where I hit my buck last year. My brother actually got him on video in that area making a scrape just this week.

There is one other buck we are calling the mutant. He is a big bodied buck that I think is an 8 point. It is possible that he is the buck that I hit last year. He lives in the same place, and is about the same size (body). I guess we will never know unless I get the chance to shoot him and see if my rage broadhead is in his shoulder.

and here are a couple small bucks checking scrapes...

My time-off starts on Nov. 2nd, hopefully I can fill a tag and make a post about a successful hunt. Hopefully Bunny can fill his second tag before he kills himself hiking out to my old stand spot over and over again.

Oct. 22 early buck

In August Brian offered o show me a spot he used to hunt until he became lazy and wanted bigger deer that were easy to get to.  So I took him up on it and he dragged me a mile out and up a steep mountain.  It was a perfect spot and I would gladly kill myself to hike out there and hunt it

By early Oct I had pictures of 4 bucks regularly out there.  Opening day came and I sat all day I was in by 6 am and at 620 PM 4 bucks came through but not where I could shoot and the light was fading fast.  By the time they were in my lanes I couldn't see my pins.  Two of the big ones started fighting and smashing their antlers together pushing each other around and grunting. 

I stayed till they were gone and got down at 7:30.  The next morning I was right back determined to sit all day again.  Seated by six and it was windy so I couldn't really hear well.  At 7:10 I spotted a six point coming up t

he logging road.  He circled around and came into my mock scrape sniffed around and started eating.  At 7:20 he was quartering away at maybe ten yards so I took him.  Double lung hit ran maybe 50 yards and went down.  6 PT 126 LB.

Mineral Sites June 1st

Checked the sights again, they are getting more deer. I do not have many bucks visiting mine, but my brother has quite a few visiting his (and we are in the same general area). I was pretty happy because I had a hard time finding doe's last year, and thought that was why I didn't see many bucks. So this winter and spring I tried to locate some doe groups. I set mineral sites in a couple areas that I thought held some doe family groups, and it appears that I was right.  Here are a few vids...

Mineral Sites May 1

So May 1st I checked my mineral sites for the first time. The deer activity was low but the sites were pretty active. Fisher Cats, Coyotes, Porcupines, Raccoons, Rabbits, Bears are all visiting the sites. Here are a few vids.

Starting Early

Ok so this year we are going to try something new.Over the last few days we have set out some mineral sites. We used a fairly popular mix around the web (1 part Di-Calcium Phosphate, 1 part stock salt, and 2 parts red trace mineral salts). We put the mix in areas that we know that the bucks and does like to hang out in the summer. We placed cameras at the sites. We hope to use the sites to improve herd health, as well as give us a place to inventory the bucks that are around. we plan on checking the cameras about once a month. We hope post some pics in about a month and let everyone know how the sites are doing. Until then we will be getting in the turkey woods, and continue a little scouting for next year before the leaves fill in and it gets too warm.

Second chance buck

On Nov. 14, 2012 at 2:15 PM I was sitting in my tree stand when I heard foot steps from a deer walking.  I looked back and saw a spike approaching.  Since this was the first buck I had seen in MA I wasn't about to pass him up.

I had shot a porcupine that had been pissing me off and I had thrown it in the brush.  During the night some animal had dragged it out of the brush and it was now in the spikes path.  As he approached he stared at the dead carcass and then veered off and circled around to look at it.  He was broadside at 21 yards and acting nervous about the dead critter.  No excuse I just blew the shot as the arrow sailed right over the top of his back.

The next afternoon I was back in the same stand when again I heard a deer approaching from behind.  I had seen 5 does and a button in the morning and I could tell this deer was alone so I thought it might be a buck.  I glanced back and watched this 4 PT clean a scrape, rub his head in the branches and then piss.  Once that was done he walked by me quartering away just slightly.  I slipped the arrow in a little far back and got guts but it came out on the other side through the last two ribs. 

I left him till morning but he had only gone about 75 yrads.  The coyotes had eaten the tail off and were just starting to pull at the fur when I found him.  He weighed 121 lbs.

Doe Tag

I've been racking my brain all bow season trying to figure out why there was such little sign in my favorite bow area that I've been hunting for the past 15 years.  Usually with some success, if not always an encounter.  Opening day I saw a decent buck and had another deer wind me, but after six or seven sits with quite a bit of scouting, I still couldn't figure out the pure lack of sign.  Of course there are no acorns which does not help and what little sign I did see, was immediately adjacent to a small green field that I could not set up near.
I had a feeling that the deer were feeding in some Ag fields across the street which also holds heavy cover.  But this is an area that I tend to stay away from as another hunter usually hits it.  I was happy to hear recently that he was booted from the property and I had a good relationship with the landowner and got permission for access.  So Saturday I am driving by this spot at 12:15pm and there are two small does standing in one of the fields that had winter spinach growing.  I had to get in there tonight!
At 2:30 I snuck in and got into a tree just off the back of the field and along a tremendous run that connected another field through an old orchard.  I quickly checked the field before climbing and it looked like an Alabama food plot loaded with tracks.  I finally figured out the puzzle!
At 4:30 I hear a deer slowly approached the field and out walks this mature doe.   Since I had a doe permit in my pocket and have not christened my new bow yet, this was a no-brainer.  I previously ranged the corner of the field at 36 yards which I felt very comfortable with.  She walked exactly to that spot and I stopped her with a quick mouth grunt.  I aimed a little high but watched the luminock fly through the air like tracer fire as it buried behind her shoulder.  She immediate turned and bolted through a ravine and towards a thick swamp as I watched from the tree.  After a few seconds I heard the crash of death, and then the quiet again.
Since it would soon be dark in a few minutes and I heard the crash, I decided to at least check the arrow and for blood.  Oddly enough, I found neither which caused me to get that feeling.  Did I just hit her shoulder??   I went to the spot where she ran back into the woods and saw the back 40% of my arrow sticking out of the leaves.  But still no blood.  After some coaxing from a friend and fear of losing this one to the coyotes, I decided to take a quick walk to the area where I heard the crash.  You could see where she kicked up the leaves while running but I still found no blood.  But just as it was getting dark and I was about to turn back for the night, my headlamp caught what I thought was the rump of a deer laying in the leaves.  As I got closer, the bad thoughts quickly turned to elation as she was already done.

She had gone about 75 yard and I was so surprised that my three blade rage did not make the hole as advertised.  The shot was good, a little high. But it took out the top of both lungs and the broadhead stuck in her opposite shoulder with no exit wound.  That explained the lack of blood.  It was all holding in her diaphragm.  But I was also disappointed to see that only one of the rage blades deployed.  Since this is the first deer i harvested with these broadheads, I have to review going back to the old reliable muzzy's.  But I must admit, I love the range and accuracy of these broadheads.  They went hand in hand with the reason why I got into a new bow this year.  Way too many missed opportunities from 35 to 45 yards in the past five years.  A few I will never forget.

Mr.Big

Back in week one I posted a video of a huge 10 point that we now call Mr. Big. He is still around and we actually got a couple pics of him just the other day right near where I hit my buck. After looking at these pics, we believe this is the buck that we found the sheds for last year due to a flat spot, or start of a split g2 on the left side that can be seen in the pics. That same flat spot or start of a split  is also on the big sheds we recovered last year.

Crook-ed

All this talk about the buck I hit has made me think about some of the other big bucks that are in the area that we have not seen. One of the biggest bodied deer we have is a buck that we have had pictures of for the last three years. He has nice horns this year but is just a 7 point.  We have captured his picture several times this year checking scrapes. The first two years we captured his picture his horns were a little odd, so we had named him "crook-ed". Here are some pics, the first as a six point is from 2010, the second is a video as an 8 point with crab claws from 2011, the third and fourth are videos from this year. The last one really shows how big this deer is.

2010

Feeling better!

  So its now Saturday the 17th. After spending yesterday morning looking for my deer and not finding it, I was pretty depressed and I did not hunt today. My brother hunted this morning and when he was done he checked a couple cameras. Low and behold he got my buck checking scrapes at 4:40 yesterday evening (nov 16th). The scar from my shot can be seen, and the deer may have a slight limp, but other than that he seems to be doing just fine.
   The most interesting thing to me was the scar...the shot appeared to have hit exactly where I was aiming. He was standing facing me, when he turned his shoulders to his left he exposed his chest on the right side, and I tried to slip the arrow behind his shoulder. From a stand at 20yds distance. I must have just caught the edge of that shoulder blade (it's a game of inches). At least he is still alive and well, which I think is every hunters worst nightmare (to possibly kill a deer and not recover it...never-mind a big deer).