Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Hunting With Huntography: The Plan
by Chris Larsen
This is the 2nd post in a multi-part series on Huntography: Filming America’s Hunters One At A Time.
When I saw the map detailing the Huntography 2011 Deer Tour I immediately noticed the route went right through my hunting area. After a quick email to Rudy from Huntography to confirm dates and the route, we were all set. If you don’t know about Huntography, check out my last post. To put it simply, Rudy is traveling east from Colorado to film hunts with 19 different hunters in 12 states. The idea is to capture what hunting is all about from regular hunters, not the guys from big budget TV shows.
My location and timing were perfect for a quick stop on the Deer Tour. Rudy plans to arrive in camp on the evening of Saturday, October 15. He will likely be coming off the road after 12 hours of driving, so I don’t plan to work him too hard. We’ll have dinner, tell stories, and perhaps shoot some interviews. My dad will head off for his favorite turkey field Sunday morning as Rudy and I sneak into the woods for a rendezvous with a whitetail. My dad doesn’t bow hunt so chasing whitetails outside of the gun deer season is off limits to him. He’s more than happy to wait for fall gobblers.
Up until this season, that was my game as well. I am rookie bow hunter this year. The opportunity to chase some of the giant whitetails on our property for more than 10 days a year is just too much to pass up. I’ve watched them move through the woods confidently as I sat still with a turkey gun on my lap. Two years ago I sat in the woods for two days during the rut. To say I was impressed would be an understatement. A few weeks later, one of the bucks I saw that weekend hit the ground. They are out there. I just need to put in the time to get my chance.
I recently purchased a Parker Trailblazer XP from A1 Archery in Hudson, Wisconsin. Dan Ellyson has put together an awesome package with the Trailblazer XP. First off, the bow originally retails for $499. He has a deal on this bow right now for $250. This single cam arrow launcher is IBO rated at 310 fps. It’s an incredible bow at a great price. This deal is good for all readers of foremosthunting.com. Dan ships anywhere in the US. He has an accessory package that is just as good. For $109, I added on a 3 pin Trophy Ridge sight, Trophy Ridge whisker bisquit rest, Bohning quiver, Truglo Stabilizer, peep, and string loop. I also picked up a half dozen Easton Carbon Storm arrows for $35. So for under $400, I now have a certified deer-to-venison conversion machine. I’ll have more details on my equipment in a future post. By the way, Dan has helped me go from newbie to competent archer in no time. Over the weekend I grouped three arrows inside of 3 inches at 30 yards. It was the first time I have shot at thirty yards and my bow is shooting tacks!
Back to the hunt… I have chosen three stand sites for this season. In addition, I have recently acquired a climber so if I need to switch it up it’s not a problem. This is the third season of hunting this property and I feel confident in these spots. The three blue triangles on the map represent my stand sites. The red lines are the property boundaries and the yellow lines are fence lines within the property. The white lines are roadways. The yellow triangle is our cabin. I have two refuge zones. The north one gets driven on the final day of the season. The east refuge has never been walked in by anyone in our hunting party, ever. That doesn’t mean someone else hasn’t. But it gets very low pressure. The corn is still quite green and probably won’t get picked until November. There will be some standing corn well into mid-November but usually a few rows are cut by then. This would logically be a big hindrance for our hunting success but so far, it has not been. Deer use the forest as safe travel routes from field to field. There are cattle trails along the fence lines that deer frequent as well. I plan to utilize these as ambush points throughout the season.
The southeast stand sits on a small funnel going into the main valley. This point is the top of a small ridge. On the map you can see a little brown spot in the field just below the stand site. That brown spot is a wash that forms a bowl. There is a lot of space below the barbed wire fence for deer to cross under at that point. Deer then use this crease to walk into the main valley. I have also seen deer cruising the trail that runs parallel with the fence line. Bucks are probably scent checking the does in the field along this trail. The road to the west of this tree line is down in a valley and vehicles can not see the forest edge. Deer feel safe here. There are several benches just inside the forest from here and the orchard across the road offers good eating for deer with a sweet tooth. Baiting is illegal in this area, making natural food sources dynamite. This is the main entry point into the woods from the property to the west of us.
The stand site just north of this one sits on what we call “The Hot Corner”. Nearly every time I walk into The Hot Corner I see deer. There are several fingers leading into this area from adjoining properties and ours. Nearly every deer trail in this woods eventually leads to The Hot Corner. It stacks up. I don’t think there is a bad wind or a good wind for this site because deer literally come from all directions to get here. There is a 90% chance this is where the opening day of the 2011 Huntography Deer Tour will take place.
The stand to the east sits along a fence line overlooking a cornfield and a corner of the woods. Probably not the most ideal place to hunt when the corn is standing. But in reality, the standing corn makes this place what it is. There is a crease that runs from the creek on the southeast boundary through the center of the refuge directly to the northwest corner of the refuge boundary. You can also see the clearing in the woods separating the refuge woods from the main woods and my stand site. Deer walk along the fence from the refuge right to my stand site before jumping the fence into the other refuge area. I have seen several large bucks run this path and found two dead bucks this spring in this area. When bucks are injured, they usually go where they feel safe. This is the spot. The fence should serve as a natural speed bump. When they stop before jumping the fence, I’ll launch an arrow. The corn serves as a natural buffer. It is planted right up to the fence and prevents deer from jumping over until they walk in front of my stand. It is all part of my diabolical plan! Muh hah hah hah! If we’re going to see a trophy buck at any of these stand sites this is the place. It is also a great doe site. That little clearing in the north refuge is known as “The Cave”. Deer load up in there. During last year’s season ending drive I pushed at least two dozen deer out of The Cave. As Ferris Bueller says, “I highly recommend it.”
I can already envision our day on the stand. It’s a crisp autumn morning. Just before the morning dew greets the rising sun, a flash of antler appears. A thick wide ten pointer is walking the saddle of the ridge on his way to destiny. Rudy has the Huntography camera pointed in his direction, recording this big fella’s every step. As he walks below my stand and into range, nothing happens. I watch him walk in and out of range with a wide grin on my face. It is exciting to see deer like this walk below your stand. But I never lift my bow. No reason for it. This Sunday morning marks the final day of the antlerless deer season in our area. We couldn’t shoot a Booner if we wanted too.
Yep, I read the 2011 deer regulations a few weeks ago and was not a happy camper. I planned to hunt Friday and Saturday before Rudy arrived to scout. I would only shoot if a “can’t pass it up buck” walked under the stand. I would wait until Sunday’s Huntography shoot to take anything less. Now I will still be in stand Friday and Saturday. But only to film. I have no desire to kill two does in one weekend. If I’m going to take a doe that weekend it will be with Rudy. Unless something crazy happens, I know we can get a doe in range in The Hot Corner within a few hours. I’ll let Rudy decide how long we wait. We can sit all day and get some great footage of deer moving through the area or kill the first one in range and relax a bit before he hits the road to Green Bay. We’ll play it by ear and enjoy the day. Even if we can’t kill a buck, it will still be a great time.
If you’re trying to figure out what this “antlerless” season is all about, here is the skinny. Chronic Wasting Disease was discovered in Southwest Wisconsin in 2001. Since then, state deer managers have worked hard to reduce the size of the herd in the area. They essentially put a target on every deer in the state. Their efforts to reduce the size of the herd worked great, in the northern part of the state where there is no CWD. The southern portion of Wisconsin is primarily privately held. Most people continued to hunt with the attitude of more deer is better.
The state instituted what is called “Earn-A-Buck”. Basically, it means that you are not allowed to shoot an antlered deer until after shooting an antlerless deer. This rule applies to archers and gun hunters. To make it more appealing, the state gave gun hunters an opportunity to kill an antlerless deer before the regular gun deer season by creating the early antlerless season. Ten years later population densities are still high, CWD is still present, and people still hate Earn-A-Buck. Bowing to political pressure, this year the DNR is allowing hunters to kill either sex for their first deer. However, if you kill a buck first, you must kill an antlerless deer before killing another buck. It really didn’t matter to me, but this has made a lot of folks pretty happy. Personally, I would rather have seen deer managers manage the herd, not the hunters. The DNR allowed the previous year’s doe kill to count for the following year if you didn’t get a buck. There are plenty of does around and most property owners don’t manage them unless they are forced to. This was clearly a political maneuver.
The unfortunate part is that even though the antlerless requirement is relaxed, they still kept this stupid early antlerless season. I’m usually a guy who applauds any extra opportunity to hunt. However, it’s usually so warm that people don’t want to shoot deer. And secondly, and more importantly, this season imposes a blaze orange requirement on everyone who hunts. Ever try to hunt turkeys wearing blaze orange? It doesn’t work. I’m firmly convinced that deer can not see blaze orange if you take the glare off of it. I’ve had deer literally walk right up to me when wearing blaze orange, even when sitting on the ground.
Remember the big buck I talked about at the beginning of this story? Here he is. He came within 15 yards of a hunter sitting on the ground wearing a blaze orange jacket & cap. But do we really need this season anymore? It literally cancels four days of turkey season and puts an unnecessary burden on bow hunters. The middle of October isn’t exactly prime time for hunting. But I would guess more people are negatively affected than take advantage of the early hunt, especially after the EAB restrictions have been relaxed.
So when you get your Huntography 2011 DVD next year remember, the guy bow hunting in blaze orange isn’t stupid, his state is.
This is the 2nd post in a multi-part series on Huntography: Filming America’s Hunters One At A Time.
When I saw the map detailing the Huntography 2011 Deer Tour I immediately noticed the route went right through my hunting area. After a quick email to Rudy from Huntography to confirm dates and the route, we were all set. If you don’t know about Huntography, check out my last post. To put it simply, Rudy is traveling east from Colorado to film hunts with 19 different hunters in 12 states. The idea is to capture what hunting is all about from regular hunters, not the guys from big budget TV shows.
My location and timing were perfect for a quick stop on the Deer Tour. Rudy plans to arrive in camp on the evening of Saturday, October 15. He will likely be coming off the road after 12 hours of driving, so I don’t plan to work him too hard. We’ll have dinner, tell stories, and perhaps shoot some interviews. My dad will head off for his favorite turkey field Sunday morning as Rudy and I sneak into the woods for a rendezvous with a whitetail. My dad doesn’t bow hunt so chasing whitetails outside of the gun deer season is off limits to him. He’s more than happy to wait for fall gobblers.
Up until this season, that was my game as well. I am rookie bow hunter this year. The opportunity to chase some of the giant whitetails on our property for more than 10 days a year is just too much to pass up. I’ve watched them move through the woods confidently as I sat still with a turkey gun on my lap. Two years ago I sat in the woods for two days during the rut. To say I was impressed would be an understatement. A few weeks later, one of the bucks I saw that weekend hit the ground. They are out there. I just need to put in the time to get my chance.
I recently purchased a Parker Trailblazer XP from A1 Archery in Hudson, Wisconsin. Dan Ellyson has put together an awesome package with the Trailblazer XP. First off, the bow originally retails for $499. He has a deal on this bow right now for $250. This single cam arrow launcher is IBO rated at 310 fps. It’s an incredible bow at a great price. This deal is good for all readers of foremosthunting.com. Dan ships anywhere in the US. He has an accessory package that is just as good. For $109, I added on a 3 pin Trophy Ridge sight, Trophy Ridge whisker bisquit rest, Bohning quiver, Truglo Stabilizer, peep, and string loop. I also picked up a half dozen Easton Carbon Storm arrows for $35. So for under $400, I now have a certified deer-to-venison conversion machine. I’ll have more details on my equipment in a future post. By the way, Dan has helped me go from newbie to competent archer in no time. Over the weekend I grouped three arrows inside of 3 inches at 30 yards. It was the first time I have shot at thirty yards and my bow is shooting tacks!
Back to the hunt… I have chosen three stand sites for this season. In addition, I have recently acquired a climber so if I need to switch it up it’s not a problem. This is the third season of hunting this property and I feel confident in these spots. The three blue triangles on the map represent my stand sites. The red lines are the property boundaries and the yellow lines are fence lines within the property. The white lines are roadways. The yellow triangle is our cabin. I have two refuge zones. The north one gets driven on the final day of the season. The east refuge has never been walked in by anyone in our hunting party, ever. That doesn’t mean someone else hasn’t. But it gets very low pressure. The corn is still quite green and probably won’t get picked until November. There will be some standing corn well into mid-November but usually a few rows are cut by then. This would logically be a big hindrance for our hunting success but so far, it has not been. Deer use the forest as safe travel routes from field to field. There are cattle trails along the fence lines that deer frequent as well. I plan to utilize these as ambush points throughout the season.
The southeast stand sits on a small funnel going into the main valley. This point is the top of a small ridge. On the map you can see a little brown spot in the field just below the stand site. That brown spot is a wash that forms a bowl. There is a lot of space below the barbed wire fence for deer to cross under at that point. Deer then use this crease to walk into the main valley. I have also seen deer cruising the trail that runs parallel with the fence line. Bucks are probably scent checking the does in the field along this trail. The road to the west of this tree line is down in a valley and vehicles can not see the forest edge. Deer feel safe here. There are several benches just inside the forest from here and the orchard across the road offers good eating for deer with a sweet tooth. Baiting is illegal in this area, making natural food sources dynamite. This is the main entry point into the woods from the property to the west of us.
The stand site just north of this one sits on what we call “The Hot Corner”. Nearly every time I walk into The Hot Corner I see deer. There are several fingers leading into this area from adjoining properties and ours. Nearly every deer trail in this woods eventually leads to The Hot Corner. It stacks up. I don’t think there is a bad wind or a good wind for this site because deer literally come from all directions to get here. There is a 90% chance this is where the opening day of the 2011 Huntography Deer Tour will take place.
The stand to the east sits along a fence line overlooking a cornfield and a corner of the woods. Probably not the most ideal place to hunt when the corn is standing. But in reality, the standing corn makes this place what it is. There is a crease that runs from the creek on the southeast boundary through the center of the refuge directly to the northwest corner of the refuge boundary. You can also see the clearing in the woods separating the refuge woods from the main woods and my stand site. Deer walk along the fence from the refuge right to my stand site before jumping the fence into the other refuge area. I have seen several large bucks run this path and found two dead bucks this spring in this area. When bucks are injured, they usually go where they feel safe. This is the spot. The fence should serve as a natural speed bump. When they stop before jumping the fence, I’ll launch an arrow. The corn serves as a natural buffer. It is planted right up to the fence and prevents deer from jumping over until they walk in front of my stand. It is all part of my diabolical plan! Muh hah hah hah! If we’re going to see a trophy buck at any of these stand sites this is the place. It is also a great doe site. That little clearing in the north refuge is known as “The Cave”. Deer load up in there. During last year’s season ending drive I pushed at least two dozen deer out of The Cave. As Ferris Bueller says, “I highly recommend it.”
I can already envision our day on the stand. It’s a crisp autumn morning. Just before the morning dew greets the rising sun, a flash of antler appears. A thick wide ten pointer is walking the saddle of the ridge on his way to destiny. Rudy has the Huntography camera pointed in his direction, recording this big fella’s every step. As he walks below my stand and into range, nothing happens. I watch him walk in and out of range with a wide grin on my face. It is exciting to see deer like this walk below your stand. But I never lift my bow. No reason for it. This Sunday morning marks the final day of the antlerless deer season in our area. We couldn’t shoot a Booner if we wanted too.
Yep, I read the 2011 deer regulations a few weeks ago and was not a happy camper. I planned to hunt Friday and Saturday before Rudy arrived to scout. I would only shoot if a “can’t pass it up buck” walked under the stand. I would wait until Sunday’s Huntography shoot to take anything less. Now I will still be in stand Friday and Saturday. But only to film. I have no desire to kill two does in one weekend. If I’m going to take a doe that weekend it will be with Rudy. Unless something crazy happens, I know we can get a doe in range in The Hot Corner within a few hours. I’ll let Rudy decide how long we wait. We can sit all day and get some great footage of deer moving through the area or kill the first one in range and relax a bit before he hits the road to Green Bay. We’ll play it by ear and enjoy the day. Even if we can’t kill a buck, it will still be a great time.
If you’re trying to figure out what this “antlerless” season is all about, here is the skinny. Chronic Wasting Disease was discovered in Southwest Wisconsin in 2001. Since then, state deer managers have worked hard to reduce the size of the herd in the area. They essentially put a target on every deer in the state. Their efforts to reduce the size of the herd worked great, in the northern part of the state where there is no CWD. The southern portion of Wisconsin is primarily privately held. Most people continued to hunt with the attitude of more deer is better.
The state instituted what is called “Earn-A-Buck”. Basically, it means that you are not allowed to shoot an antlered deer until after shooting an antlerless deer. This rule applies to archers and gun hunters. To make it more appealing, the state gave gun hunters an opportunity to kill an antlerless deer before the regular gun deer season by creating the early antlerless season. Ten years later population densities are still high, CWD is still present, and people still hate Earn-A-Buck. Bowing to political pressure, this year the DNR is allowing hunters to kill either sex for their first deer. However, if you kill a buck first, you must kill an antlerless deer before killing another buck. It really didn’t matter to me, but this has made a lot of folks pretty happy. Personally, I would rather have seen deer managers manage the herd, not the hunters. The DNR allowed the previous year’s doe kill to count for the following year if you didn’t get a buck. There are plenty of does around and most property owners don’t manage them unless they are forced to. This was clearly a political maneuver.
The unfortunate part is that even though the antlerless requirement is relaxed, they still kept this stupid early antlerless season. I’m usually a guy who applauds any extra opportunity to hunt. However, it’s usually so warm that people don’t want to shoot deer. And secondly, and more importantly, this season imposes a blaze orange requirement on everyone who hunts. Ever try to hunt turkeys wearing blaze orange? It doesn’t work. I’m firmly convinced that deer can not see blaze orange if you take the glare off of it. I’ve had deer literally walk right up to me when wearing blaze orange, even when sitting on the ground.
Remember the big buck I talked about at the beginning of this story? Here he is. He came within 15 yards of a hunter sitting on the ground wearing a blaze orange jacket & cap. But do we really need this season anymore? It literally cancels four days of turkey season and puts an unnecessary burden on bow hunters. The middle of October isn’t exactly prime time for hunting. But I would guess more people are negatively affected than take advantage of the early hunt, especially after the EAB restrictions have been relaxed.
So when you get your Huntography 2011 DVD next year remember, the guy bow hunting in blaze orange isn’t stupid, his state is.
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Hunting With Huntography
by Chris Larsen
Like it or not, social media is becoming an increasing popular way to communicate. I am firmly in the “like it” category. Sites like Facebook and Twitter help me stay in contact with friends and family. What is just as amazing is the new relationships fostered on these sites. I can’t tell you how many times people have asked me how I met a new contact or interview and I’ve answered with “Twitter”! One of my Twitter pals is Rudy from Huntography.
Rudy is an internet professional originally from New York, now residing in Colorado. He has an interesting way of burning up his vacation time. 2011 will be his second season of filming America’s hunters, one at a time. We’re not talking about big budget hunting television on ranches with tens of thousands of acres. Rudy films real hunters on family plots and public property. His goal is to capture the experiences, traditions, and lifestyle of hunters across the country.
The theme of this season is “Getting Social With America’s Whitetail Deer Hunters”. Rudy is filming 19 different hunters in 12 states, all of whom he met through social media. I will be the first stop on the tour. Rudy is filming my hunt Sunday, October 16 in Southwest Wisconsin. From there, he will travel to the Green Bay area to complete the Wisconsin portion of the tour. Rudy is also filming hunts in Michigan, Ohio, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, Arkansas, and Oklahoma. It’s a four week adventure covering 5,000 miles.
At the end of the saga, Rudy puts the entire experience on DVD. He has the 2010 inaugural trip on sale now for just $15. This is not your average hunting video. There are no staged shots or retakes. Rudy lets everything happen naturally. “If you are as passionate about the experience of hunting whitetail deer, the outdoors, archery, the shooting sports and the lifestyle, then you just might like what you see.”
Huntography is a raw look at what makes a hunter tick and how the hunting lifestyle is changing. You’ll see hardcore bow hunters, a mother-daughter combo, and upstate New York brothers keeping the tradition alive. Ever thought about visiting a Georgia deer camp? You’ll see a nice Peach State buck hit the ground and witness field dressing a deer Georgia style. It’s an eye opener for a northern hunter.
The great thing is you won’t have to wait until the end of the year to see what is happening on the 2011 tour. Rudy offers live updates from the tree stand via his iPhone. You can also check in if you’re on Twitter or Facebook. Visit the Foremosthunting.com blog next week as I review my game plan. I have just one day to make magic in front of the Huntography camera. I’ll need to bring my A-game!
Like it or not, social media is becoming an increasing popular way to communicate. I am firmly in the “like it” category. Sites like Facebook and Twitter help me stay in contact with friends and family. What is just as amazing is the new relationships fostered on these sites. I can’t tell you how many times people have asked me how I met a new contact or interview and I’ve answered with “Twitter”! One of my Twitter pals is Rudy from Huntography.
Rudy is an internet professional originally from New York, now residing in Colorado. He has an interesting way of burning up his vacation time. 2011 will be his second season of filming America’s hunters, one at a time. We’re not talking about big budget hunting television on ranches with tens of thousands of acres. Rudy films real hunters on family plots and public property. His goal is to capture the experiences, traditions, and lifestyle of hunters across the country.
The theme of this season is “Getting Social With America’s Whitetail Deer Hunters”. Rudy is filming 19 different hunters in 12 states, all of whom he met through social media. I will be the first stop on the tour. Rudy is filming my hunt Sunday, October 16 in Southwest Wisconsin. From there, he will travel to the Green Bay area to complete the Wisconsin portion of the tour. Rudy is also filming hunts in Michigan, Ohio, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, Arkansas, and Oklahoma. It’s a four week adventure covering 5,000 miles.
At the end of the saga, Rudy puts the entire experience on DVD. He has the 2010 inaugural trip on sale now for just $15. This is not your average hunting video. There are no staged shots or retakes. Rudy lets everything happen naturally. “If you are as passionate about the experience of hunting whitetail deer, the outdoors, archery, the shooting sports and the lifestyle, then you just might like what you see.”
Huntography is a raw look at what makes a hunter tick and how the hunting lifestyle is changing. You’ll see hardcore bow hunters, a mother-daughter combo, and upstate New York brothers keeping the tradition alive. Ever thought about visiting a Georgia deer camp? You’ll see a nice Peach State buck hit the ground and witness field dressing a deer Georgia style. It’s an eye opener for a northern hunter.
The great thing is you won’t have to wait until the end of the year to see what is happening on the 2011 tour. Rudy offers live updates from the tree stand via his iPhone. You can also check in if you’re on Twitter or Facebook. Visit the Foremosthunting.com blog next week as I review my game plan. I have just one day to make magic in front of the Huntography camera. I’ll need to bring my A-game!
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Saying Goodbye & Remembering Seasons Past
I got my new Iphone in the mail today. That means all the memories stored in my old phone need to be moved or will be lost forever in cell phone purgatory. While going through the photos I found shots of my son from back when he was just learning to walk, shots of him in the backseat of my car sleeping with my dog, and a recent one taken just moments after my daughter was born.
They all brought a smile to my face and made me think about everything this phone has done with me over the past 27 months. It is still a good phone. It almost never drops calls & takes pretty good pictures. But being able to access the internet at anytime is starting to become a necessity. It has been a good run old friend.
Wedged between the photos of kids and dogs were photos of a deer. A really big deer. This too brought a lot of good memories back. The fall of 2009 was the first deer season on a great piece of property I hunt with my dad and a friend. My dad and I hunted turkeys a few weeks before gun season opener and saw some nice bucks that weekend. The only issue was that we would have to shoot antlerless deer before taking a buck. Chronic Wasting Disease is on the landscape in this area and these regulations were in place to promote more deer being taken in an effort to combat the disease.
We put a “kill the first antlerless deer you see” strategy together for opening morning. We would then have a chance at one of the bucks spotted a few weeks earlier. My dad decided to sit out deer season this year so I posted Jason near an area my dad saw a nice buck. I set up on a trail I spotted a big ten pointer on a few weeks earlier. Thirty minutes after legal shooting light, Jason’s .30-30 broke the silence. I’m an overly social hunter. If someone shoots something, I’m always curious to know the story behind it as soon as I can. But in this case, I needed to stay put. I assumed he killed an antlerless deer and I still needed mine so there was no reason to visit with him, even though I wanted to.
I was hunting just above the bottom of a wooded ridgeline where three fingers of woods intersect. The fingers are surrounded by corn. At this point in the season, the farmer had harvested three or four rows around the outside of the fields so there was room between the standing corn and the woods. About thirty minutes after Jason’s gun barked, a half dozen deer emerged from the corn and headed right toward me. As soon as they hit the woods all but one peeled off and headed in another direction. The lead deer continued closing the distance. I grunted at her and she came to an instant halt. I put a 165 grain .30-06 bullet through her left shoulder at 35 yards. She dropped without taking another step. I took a few minutes to allow her to expire without someone gawking at her, but I’m certain she didn’t need it. When I approached what I thought was a her, I noticed two bumps on the crown of her… his head. It was a button buck. Either way, my antlerless commitment was fulfilled.
A few moments later, Jason arrived on the scene. He just finished field dressing and hanging his deer. He had also shot a button buck. I walked up to his stand site which was only about 125 yards from mine to take a look. His deer was strolling along the edge of the cornfield between Jason and the standing corn. He put the bullet right through the lungs. The deer went about 20 yards before falling to it’s death. The edge of the corn looked like a scene from a gangster movie.
After helping me with my deer, Jason was off to sit on stand again. But he planned to set up 50 yards into the woods and hunt the ridge to let his stand cool off. I stayed put. The buck I was hunting had appeared from the opposite direction a few weeks earlier. He’s probably still out there, I reasoned.
Two or three hours passed. More deer sauntered by, but nothing I was interested in shooting. At this point I had venison for the freezer. I was hunting trophies. A lot of people struggle with the ethics of trophy hunting. I must admit that I don’t do it until I already have a deer in the freezer. But trophy hunting is liberating. You can watch deer without putting any pressure on yourself to perform. There are no worries about misplaced shots because you’re not going to shoot. This allows you to really study their movement and body language. A doe and her fawn actually bedded down about 15 yards from me. It was an incredible experience. But it didn’t last.
Three hours after wishing Jason good luck, his gun boomed once more. This time it had to be a buck. We talked at length about our strategy. I studied the forest with extreme focus in case his shot was errant. 45 minutes later I was satisfied that his deer was not on his way to my stand. But I had to see what he shot. I walked up the gully toward where I heard the shot. After a ten minute hike, Jason’s blaze orange peeked through the hardwood forest. As I made my way closer, I saw the look on his face. It resembled that of an accident victim. He was in complete shock. “Where is he?” I said. He just raised his arms up in a Y. Jason couldn’t get any words out but he wanted me to know it was big. Really big.
Jason didn’t introduce me to hunting but he is the one who made me serious about it. We hunted waterfowl exclusively for years. When he met his wife, he started deer hunting with her family. It was a tradition with them and he was sucked into it. I continued duck hunting and just accepted his deer hunting as if it was a bad habit he would eventually grow out of. But he never did. Now here I was with him on the day he shot the biggest deer of his life. But the question remained, where is he?
Jason sat down and explained what happened. He was sitting in a tangled dead fall when a doe bedded down right above him on a ridge. Moments later a big eight pointer slogged through thick brush at the bottom of the gulley. He could see the antlers as plain as day but never got a good look at the body. He had to pass up the biggest deer he had ever had a chance to shoot. Ten minutes later he heard steps to his right. When he turned to look, a giant whitetail was headed toward the doe. He was less than 15 yards away. Jason put the crosshairs on him and sent a bullet flying. The buck hesitated but kept moving in the same direction.
We retraced the deer’s steps and found blood. I called my dad on the phone. He was back at the cabin relaxing. I told him to walk out in the direction we last saw the deer. We would stay put in case he spooked the buck back in our direction. Five minutes later my dad called back. He saw the big buck. He was limping badly but made it into the corn. We decided to back off for a few hours.
The lunch counter at the cabin was filled with excitement but apprehension. We had deer hanging in the woods and a possible wall hanger that needed to be recovered. But would we be able to recover him? Three hours later we approached the corn field. Jason would enter the corn. I posted up to his right and my dad would spot from Jason’s left. Jason made it ten yards into the corn before the thrashing began. My vantage point was higher in elevation allowing me to see the pursuit. I couldn’t make out the deer but I could see the corn stalks shutter as the deer rushed through the field. I kept pace with him but from forty yards outside the edge of the standing corn. The chase continued for a few hundred yards. Jason shouted to me. “Are we doing the right thing?” I could see a clearing ahead where the farmer cut a few rows right down the middle of the field. Fifty more yards and the buck would have to show himself.
Jason kept going and the deer did too. I knew he would pop out of the corn at any moment. And just then, there he was! His head was down and his tongue was out. He was out of gas. But at the sight of me, he turned the burners on one last time. I had closed the distance and my first shot was taken at around 20 yards.
The scope was just a blur of brown. The shot sailed over him. He was running away from me but still less than fifty yards away. I set myself and put the second shot right behind his rib cage. The bullet traveled through both lungs. We later found it buried in the opposite shoulder. The big fella took a few final bounds but collapsed at the edge of the field. He was down, and he was big.
One of the best parts of this recovery was that we were all there. Jason and my dad appeared a few minutes after the buck fell. We all experienced the pursuit and it’s conclusion. There is a great deal of satisfaction in a successful recovery. Smiles were wide and abundant. The deer sported a distinctive 7 x 5 rack with double brow tines on one side. But there is a shred of sorrow involved with killing a deer like this. It is sort of like landing on the moon. At that moment, the moon loses some of it’s mysticism. Every time someone else lands on the moon, the achievement loses a bit of it’s luster. Hunters kill bigger deer than this one every year but this was the biggest deer either of us had ever seen while hunting. Jason wondered aloud if he would ever gain as much satisfaction from hunting as he did that day. Would any deer ever stack up to this one?
Jason dressed the deer as I went back to the cabin to get the truck. The good thing about dropping a deer on a field edge is there isn’t much dragging to do. We carefully loaded the giant buck in the truck and headed back to the cabin with excitement about the day’s events. Upon our arrival, there were more pictures taken including this one.
Then the phone calls began. He called his dad and even the inlaws. It was at this time, I started to feel bad for him. His big buck story included someone else killing his deer. He could not have all the glory to himself. I should have let him stand where I stood. I honestly believed the deer was dead and that Jason would find him in the corn. Once the deer was up and running, we couldn’t make the switch. He calls it a team effort and is just happy we found it. I didn’t want credit(or the taxidermy bill). But I will be forever connected to his trophy.
The next day we hunted together but didn’t see another buck. We enjoyed watching does snack on corn and keep their fawns in line. At the end of the day we loaded his buck on the back of his truck. More pictures were taken. Handshakes, smiles, and promises of having more time the following year were shared before his truck cruised down the driveway headed for the taxidermist.
When the deer was caped out, Jason's bullet was found pancaked on the shoulder blade. The .30-30 never made it through the shoulder and into the vitals. It just broke the big brute’s shoulder. That was another source of frustration for him. He wrote about it shortly after the season. He hasn’t hunted with that gun since. Jason now totes a Browning A-Bolt in a .30-06. As it turns out, there is still a lot of satisfaction in hunting. We don’t do it for the antlers or the mounts. The story of that day, that buck, and the teamwork that went into a successful hunt is what it’s all about. Every day we spend in the woods is an opportunity for another great story.
Today, the buck hangs on the wall in our cabin. The mount looks great and I would show it to you. But I don’t have a picture of it on my phone.
They all brought a smile to my face and made me think about everything this phone has done with me over the past 27 months. It is still a good phone. It almost never drops calls & takes pretty good pictures. But being able to access the internet at anytime is starting to become a necessity. It has been a good run old friend.
Wedged between the photos of kids and dogs were photos of a deer. A really big deer. This too brought a lot of good memories back. The fall of 2009 was the first deer season on a great piece of property I hunt with my dad and a friend. My dad and I hunted turkeys a few weeks before gun season opener and saw some nice bucks that weekend. The only issue was that we would have to shoot antlerless deer before taking a buck. Chronic Wasting Disease is on the landscape in this area and these regulations were in place to promote more deer being taken in an effort to combat the disease.
We put a “kill the first antlerless deer you see” strategy together for opening morning. We would then have a chance at one of the bucks spotted a few weeks earlier. My dad decided to sit out deer season this year so I posted Jason near an area my dad saw a nice buck. I set up on a trail I spotted a big ten pointer on a few weeks earlier. Thirty minutes after legal shooting light, Jason’s .30-30 broke the silence. I’m an overly social hunter. If someone shoots something, I’m always curious to know the story behind it as soon as I can. But in this case, I needed to stay put. I assumed he killed an antlerless deer and I still needed mine so there was no reason to visit with him, even though I wanted to.
I was hunting just above the bottom of a wooded ridgeline where three fingers of woods intersect. The fingers are surrounded by corn. At this point in the season, the farmer had harvested three or four rows around the outside of the fields so there was room between the standing corn and the woods. About thirty minutes after Jason’s gun barked, a half dozen deer emerged from the corn and headed right toward me. As soon as they hit the woods all but one peeled off and headed in another direction. The lead deer continued closing the distance. I grunted at her and she came to an instant halt. I put a 165 grain .30-06 bullet through her left shoulder at 35 yards. She dropped without taking another step. I took a few minutes to allow her to expire without someone gawking at her, but I’m certain she didn’t need it. When I approached what I thought was a her, I noticed two bumps on the crown of her… his head. It was a button buck. Either way, my antlerless commitment was fulfilled.
A few moments later, Jason arrived on the scene. He just finished field dressing and hanging his deer. He had also shot a button buck. I walked up to his stand site which was only about 125 yards from mine to take a look. His deer was strolling along the edge of the cornfield between Jason and the standing corn. He put the bullet right through the lungs. The deer went about 20 yards before falling to it’s death. The edge of the corn looked like a scene from a gangster movie.
After helping me with my deer, Jason was off to sit on stand again. But he planned to set up 50 yards into the woods and hunt the ridge to let his stand cool off. I stayed put. The buck I was hunting had appeared from the opposite direction a few weeks earlier. He’s probably still out there, I reasoned.
Two or three hours passed. More deer sauntered by, but nothing I was interested in shooting. At this point I had venison for the freezer. I was hunting trophies. A lot of people struggle with the ethics of trophy hunting. I must admit that I don’t do it until I already have a deer in the freezer. But trophy hunting is liberating. You can watch deer without putting any pressure on yourself to perform. There are no worries about misplaced shots because you’re not going to shoot. This allows you to really study their movement and body language. A doe and her fawn actually bedded down about 15 yards from me. It was an incredible experience. But it didn’t last.
Three hours after wishing Jason good luck, his gun boomed once more. This time it had to be a buck. We talked at length about our strategy. I studied the forest with extreme focus in case his shot was errant. 45 minutes later I was satisfied that his deer was not on his way to my stand. But I had to see what he shot. I walked up the gully toward where I heard the shot. After a ten minute hike, Jason’s blaze orange peeked through the hardwood forest. As I made my way closer, I saw the look on his face. It resembled that of an accident victim. He was in complete shock. “Where is he?” I said. He just raised his arms up in a Y. Jason couldn’t get any words out but he wanted me to know it was big. Really big.
Jason didn’t introduce me to hunting but he is the one who made me serious about it. We hunted waterfowl exclusively for years. When he met his wife, he started deer hunting with her family. It was a tradition with them and he was sucked into it. I continued duck hunting and just accepted his deer hunting as if it was a bad habit he would eventually grow out of. But he never did. Now here I was with him on the day he shot the biggest deer of his life. But the question remained, where is he?
Jason sat down and explained what happened. He was sitting in a tangled dead fall when a doe bedded down right above him on a ridge. Moments later a big eight pointer slogged through thick brush at the bottom of the gulley. He could see the antlers as plain as day but never got a good look at the body. He had to pass up the biggest deer he had ever had a chance to shoot. Ten minutes later he heard steps to his right. When he turned to look, a giant whitetail was headed toward the doe. He was less than 15 yards away. Jason put the crosshairs on him and sent a bullet flying. The buck hesitated but kept moving in the same direction.
We retraced the deer’s steps and found blood. I called my dad on the phone. He was back at the cabin relaxing. I told him to walk out in the direction we last saw the deer. We would stay put in case he spooked the buck back in our direction. Five minutes later my dad called back. He saw the big buck. He was limping badly but made it into the corn. We decided to back off for a few hours.
The lunch counter at the cabin was filled with excitement but apprehension. We had deer hanging in the woods and a possible wall hanger that needed to be recovered. But would we be able to recover him? Three hours later we approached the corn field. Jason would enter the corn. I posted up to his right and my dad would spot from Jason’s left. Jason made it ten yards into the corn before the thrashing began. My vantage point was higher in elevation allowing me to see the pursuit. I couldn’t make out the deer but I could see the corn stalks shutter as the deer rushed through the field. I kept pace with him but from forty yards outside the edge of the standing corn. The chase continued for a few hundred yards. Jason shouted to me. “Are we doing the right thing?” I could see a clearing ahead where the farmer cut a few rows right down the middle of the field. Fifty more yards and the buck would have to show himself.
Jason kept going and the deer did too. I knew he would pop out of the corn at any moment. And just then, there he was! His head was down and his tongue was out. He was out of gas. But at the sight of me, he turned the burners on one last time. I had closed the distance and my first shot was taken at around 20 yards.
The scope was just a blur of brown. The shot sailed over him. He was running away from me but still less than fifty yards away. I set myself and put the second shot right behind his rib cage. The bullet traveled through both lungs. We later found it buried in the opposite shoulder. The big fella took a few final bounds but collapsed at the edge of the field. He was down, and he was big.
One of the best parts of this recovery was that we were all there. Jason and my dad appeared a few minutes after the buck fell. We all experienced the pursuit and it’s conclusion. There is a great deal of satisfaction in a successful recovery. Smiles were wide and abundant. The deer sported a distinctive 7 x 5 rack with double brow tines on one side. But there is a shred of sorrow involved with killing a deer like this. It is sort of like landing on the moon. At that moment, the moon loses some of it’s mysticism. Every time someone else lands on the moon, the achievement loses a bit of it’s luster. Hunters kill bigger deer than this one every year but this was the biggest deer either of us had ever seen while hunting. Jason wondered aloud if he would ever gain as much satisfaction from hunting as he did that day. Would any deer ever stack up to this one?
Jason dressed the deer as I went back to the cabin to get the truck. The good thing about dropping a deer on a field edge is there isn’t much dragging to do. We carefully loaded the giant buck in the truck and headed back to the cabin with excitement about the day’s events. Upon our arrival, there were more pictures taken including this one.
Then the phone calls began. He called his dad and even the inlaws. It was at this time, I started to feel bad for him. His big buck story included someone else killing his deer. He could not have all the glory to himself. I should have let him stand where I stood. I honestly believed the deer was dead and that Jason would find him in the corn. Once the deer was up and running, we couldn’t make the switch. He calls it a team effort and is just happy we found it. I didn’t want credit(or the taxidermy bill). But I will be forever connected to his trophy.
The next day we hunted together but didn’t see another buck. We enjoyed watching does snack on corn and keep their fawns in line. At the end of the day we loaded his buck on the back of his truck. More pictures were taken. Handshakes, smiles, and promises of having more time the following year were shared before his truck cruised down the driveway headed for the taxidermist.
When the deer was caped out, Jason's bullet was found pancaked on the shoulder blade. The .30-30 never made it through the shoulder and into the vitals. It just broke the big brute’s shoulder. That was another source of frustration for him. He wrote about it shortly after the season. He hasn’t hunted with that gun since. Jason now totes a Browning A-Bolt in a .30-06. As it turns out, there is still a lot of satisfaction in hunting. We don’t do it for the antlers or the mounts. The story of that day, that buck, and the teamwork that went into a successful hunt is what it’s all about. Every day we spend in the woods is an opportunity for another great story.
Today, the buck hangs on the wall in our cabin. The mount looks great and I would show it to you. But I don’t have a picture of it on my phone.
Friday, June 24, 2011
Antlers Are Growing Fast In June
Our friend Paul Korn from Tombstone Creek Outfitters recently sent over some awesome trail camera photos we can't help but share with you. Antlers are starting to take shape on whitetails across the country. These Missouri bucks are going to be monsters in just a few short months. It's fun to see what deer look like in early summer before the full potential is realized. Antlers will continue to grow for another 30 to 45 days before they begin to harden and the velvet is shed. It's amazing what great genetics, quality food sources, and age will yield in a buck. Should be a great season!
Sunday, June 12, 2011
The Awesome Power Of A Whitetail's Nose
While taking a look at some of last season's deer hunting video, I noticed something I had not paid attention too before. Foremost Outdoor TV ProStaffer Jason Oswald was hunting in an improvised ground blind on the west ridge of a large gully. The wind was blowing straight out of the east. A group of deer move up the ridge right in front of his location. They are practically looking right at him. This is gun season so Jason and his camera operator are both wearing blaze orange hats and jackets. The deer have no problems with him until they catch his scent. You will see the doe take in a big breath and then.... watch what happens next!
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Review Cabela'sBig Game Hunter For Wii
Foremost Hunting Jr. Pro Staff Member Mike takes a look at Cabella's Big Game Hunter Video Game For Wii:
Cabela's Big Game Hunter For Wii Entertainment System.
3.5 out of 5 StarsCabela's Big Game Hunter is a fun game that you can buy for $20 or less. The first time you load the game, you will have to create a new profile and start a career. You can set the difficulty at easy medium or hard. Easy provides you with a map, tips and “easy animals”, making animals abundant and not spooked easily, highly attracted to calls etc.. Medium Takes the Animals up a notch, making them sparser, and spooked much more easily. Hard truly is hard, taking away your map, making animals virtually non-existent, and much harder to call-in. When you first start the game, you are provided with a .270 caliber bolt-action rifle, a simple rattle call, a 3-9X40 Scope, and a 20ga Over Under Shotgun.
As your loading into a game, the screen will display useful tips. On the Nintendo Wii, getting oriented is a little tricky, pointing your remote at the screen and moving it to the side turns your body, your aiming point is where you point the remote. The Nunchuck is required, and adds some useful features, such as Hunters Instinct. Hunters Instinct makes your screen very dark, and highlights wildlife in yellow making animals easy to spot.
As you go throughout the game, you will unlock little mini-hunts, such as shooting ducks or geese. When you are walking around in the woods or sahara, any small game or waterfowl wildlife are unlimited take. For certain animals (such as Geese) you have to use a shotgun. You can equip certain items in the equipment screen (see picture).
Once you are almost done with each level, you will “stumble” across a trophy animal, Such as a 20 point mule deer, a lion, or a warthog. Sometimes you will be attacked by other animals such as a bear. After completion of a level, you will unlock certain items, such as a new rifle, scope, or handgun. When you finish all the Hunts, you will have 7 rifles in calibers from 22-250, to 416, and a 50 cal Muzzleloader. You will also have 3 shotguns, a crossbow, 3 pistols, and a host of calls. Your First Hunt is in Montana, hunting for Mule Deer. Later you go to places like Ethiopia in the summer and in fall, and back to Montana in the winter. When you put your crosshairs of your scope over an animal, the animal's information will be displayed in the lower left corner (see Picture). During the game, hitting the Minus button on the remote, accesses your PDA (Personal Digital Assistant), Showing what tags you have, the map and your objectives. There are also blinds and tree stands that you can enter and hunt from.
One criticism I have is that the animals that attack you and also some trophy animals like the lion, require 7 or more shots from your highest powered rifle, 8 shots to kill a warthog with a 416 Rigby, I don't think so! The other problem I find with the game is that most other big game animals only require one shot anywhere on their body to kill, with only a few exceptions such as using a very low caliber rifle. The Game is a great deal of fun, with a good selection of gear and good graphics. Sometimes Hard is a little too challenging, but overall, I Give this game 3.5 out of 5 Stars.
There are also blinds and treestands that you can enter and hunt from.
The Map Screen
Trophy Elk Fighting
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
New Turkey Shot Placement Widget Released
Foremost Hunting has just released a cool widget that can be added to your website or Blog:
Add this Widget to Your Website:
Simply copy the code below and paste it into the HTML of your blog, website, or Static FBML box on Facebook
Turkey Arrow Shot Placement
Add this Widget to Your Website:
Simply copy the code below and paste it into the HTML of your blog, website, or Static FBML box on Facebook
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Connect With Us:
