Jack Brittingham's 2008 Season

Brittingham has been at it again this year! He has taken 4 bucks that gross over 180. Including one main frame 8 that scores 187. I believe that all of these bucks were taken on his Athens, Texas Ranch and his south Texas ranch (Rancho Encatado). I hope he will have a new video out soon with all of these hunts included.

Congratulations Jack!!!

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What Is Wrong With This Picture?

I got this picture emailed to me. The subject line read: I think we have been shooting too many does

The Now Legendary and Controversial Spider Bull

This is a story that has been much publicized on the internet for a couple of months now. Hunters are torn on whether this bull should be considered for the new world record non-typical elk. I for one think that if the story checks out and this was not a ranch raised bull it absolutely should be considered. Just because the hunter had the means to spend six figures on a governors tag that allowed him to hunt any unit and with any type weapon does not mean that the hunt was not fair chase. After all I think that governors tags and other similar tags in different states go towards what all hunters and the Boone and Crockett club stand for which is conservation. All money raised from this tag goes directly toward conservation efforts in the state of Utah.

I'll let you read the story of this incredible bull from ESPN Outdoors and decide for yourself

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The 'Spider Bull'
Idaho hunter's elk that tops 500 green-scored looking like world record

By Joe Keller
ESPNOutdoors.com


An Idaho hunter tagged what looks to be a new world record Rocky Mountain elk. The huge-racked "Spider Bull," as the outfitter calls it, reportedly green scores more than 500 Boone and Crockett Club non-typical gross points (the current world record is 465 2/8).

"The Spider Bull is an outstanding specimen and aptly named," said Keith Balfourd, B&C's director of marketing, as he looked at a photo of the bull on the Internet. "Its tines are splayed out" like a spider's legs.
Hunter Denny Austad MossBack Outfitters world record elk boone and crockett

Courtesy KIDK-TV

Denny Austad poses with the 'Spider Bull' that stands to be a world record.
Hunter Denny Austad hired MossBack Outfitters to help him find this 9x12 bull elk on public land in the central Utah area near Monroe. On Sept. 30, 2008, Austad dropped it with a shot from a rifle he designed himself.

Since then, the Spider Bull has had a life of its own on Internet chat rooms and outdoor sites.

Most hunters have a big congratulations for Austad and the MossBack guides. The armchair sportsmen recognize that they're watching hunting history being made.

Never before in the record-keeping club's 100-year history has anyone come close to taking, or even finding, an elk with these proportions: a green-score 500 4/8 inches total antler length, and a net score of 488 B&C inches. The current world record non-typical is a 465 2/8 bull found dead in 1994 at Upper Arrow Lake, British Columbia.

"The reality still hasn't set in," said Brandon Verde of MossBack Outfitters. "Something like this, a pending world record, hasn't sunk in yet, but it's starting to."

The term "spider" comes from guide Doyle Moss' reaction to the way the tines form what looks like the legs of a spider. All bulls have unique tine lengths, points and shapes, but the Spider Bull is overwhelming to elk-hunting experts. It's an explosion of points. The G1s, also called fronts, and G3s are especially mesmerizing.

While sentiments of congratulations pour in, just as many observers complain about the way the majestic bull fell.

Maybe it's sour grapes. Maybe there is something to the accusations.

Austad is a well-known hunter in the Western big-game circles. The Ammon, Idaho, man has taken record pronghorn antelope and mule deer among other hard-to-hunt game. Austad claims he hunted just as hard for two weeks to take the Spider Bull.

But he used a centerfire rifle in muzzleloader season. He also had a large number of guides scouting out the location of the bull for him while he was still in Idaho.

Austad had purchased a six-figure Governor's Tag for the right to hunt any game management unit in the state with whatever legal weapon he wanted to use (Governor's Tag proceeds go to wildlife conservation organizations).

Field & Stream writer Andrew McKean called this hunt "troubling."

"There are a couple of unsettling aspects to this story," he wrote on the F&S Web site. "For hunters who are passionate about America's tradition of free, public hunting and fret the implications of trophy hunting at any cost, the Spider Bull represents a troubling trend."

In phone interviews with ESPNOutdoors.com, some wondered if it was even a wild bull at all.

"Looks like a ranch elk," said one central Utah taxidermist who asked that his name not be mentioned. "There are a few elk ranches near Monroe and this elk looks pretty 'ranchy.' No way of saying for sure though."

Ranchers give bulls lip tattoos. No tattoos were present on the Spider Bull, said Verde of MossBack.

Other accusations range from MossBack guides blocking public access to the hunt area and intimidating other hunters who had heard of this public-land trophy.

"Not true," said Verde. "To discredit the bull is sad. This bull is real. We wouldn't be in business if we did things like that."

Verde said many other hunters had the same opportunity to bag the Spider Bull. It's a fact that about every hunter in the area knew about the bull.

In August 2008, a video of the live bull walking public land surfaced on the Internet. Anyone who drew a tag for the Monroe Mountain Unit was hunting there in bow and muzzleloader season.

Someone e-mailed that video clip to a MossBack guide and he contacted longtime client Austad. Austad hunted the bull with MossBack guides for two weeks in September before Austad had to return to Idaho, reportedly to deal with carbon monoxide poisoning.

When Austad returned to central Utah two weeks later, he wasn't at camp more than an hour before the MossBack guides brought him to the bull, according to reports.

"It was probably one of my most difficult physical and mental hunts," Austad told KIDK TV in Pocatello, Idaho. "Whether it is a world record or not is OK with me. It's just a great animal, and it's created a lot of excitement."


What's next for the spider bull

Austad is expected to enter his Spider Bull for Boone & Crockett Club recognition.

First, he must wait for the mandatory 60-day drying period to end on Nov. 29. Then, B&C will ensure that it meets their trophy entry standards before it is accepted. It must be taken with a legal weapon, be taken in a fair-chase manner, that is, it wasn't in a high-fence enclosure and the bull's antlers must not have been altered in any way, among other prerequisites.

If the entry score is anywhere near the current world record, a special judges panel would convene to confirm the final score and decide if it is the new non-typical world record.

Although the record-keeping body hasn't gotten its hands on this bull yet, B&C's Balfourd said he had a lot of faith that this could be real deal.

"Doyle Moss isn't an official scorer, but he knows how to score accurately," said Balfourd. "I don't suspect the score will be that far off."

Baldwin City, Kansas Buck

This is a buck that was reportedly taken this year near Baldwin City, Kansas. Reports say that the hunters name is Chad Christy. I have not been able to find anymore details about this awesome Kansas buck.

Another Iowa Monster

This is a picture of a buck that was emailed to me. It was reportedly killed by Chris Wood in Iowa with a shotgun.

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The e-mail accompanying the photo of the Chris Wood buck, reportedly taken in Iowa, states:

Attached is a picture of a buck my buddy Chris Wood from Des Moines shot this Saturday, December 6th with a shotgun during the 1st shotgun season.

He was hunting with a group of guys from Perficut Lawn Care, they were hunting in Taylor county by Bedford, IA. It was Woody's turn to post on this push. He was standing just inside the timber when a group of does came running by. This buck just walked by trailing the does, he was about 60 yards away when Woody shot. He only ran about 40 before piling up.

We scored the deer Sunday night and came up with a green score of 264-0/8", it has 33 scorable points and it has one drop tine. If the score holds close, it will be the 2nd largest buck harvested in Iowa; next to the Albia Buck.

2008 Kansas Success!!!

My first trip to Kansas turned out to be a very successful hunt. Not only did I have great hunting partners and good friends, Shane Howell and Robert Sterett, but I also was able to take a nice Kansas buck. This was actually my second trip, we went up to Jewel County at the end of October in order to do some scouting, hang a few stands and tried to mix in a little hunting. We did not see any good bucks on that first trip, but we did see a lot of does and buck sign. Our real hunting was going to be November 10 through November 16. We were really excited since this trip would fall right in the middle of the rut.

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The first 2 days of the trip were very cold and rainy. We hunted as much as we could stand, but being from Texas where it does not get that cold we could only stand 3 or 4 hours at a time. Those first 2 days we did not see very much activity, probably due to the rain, but we did see some signs of rutting behavior.
On Wednesday the rain finally moved out, that morning I saw my first shooter buck. I was hunting in the same stand that I had hunted the first 2 days of the trip as well as every day of our October trip. The stand was set up over looking a wash between a soy bean field and a wheat field. At about 7:30 a very nice buck came out of the wheat field down into the wash. I never put my field glasses on him, because it was obvious that he was a shooter. He turned and started walking to the east away from my stand. I grunted many times, but could not get him to pay attention to me. He had something else on his mind and after about a minute he was gone. I saw a couple of more does that morning, but no more bucks.

That afternoon I sat in the same location, but did not see much activity. I saw one small buck and several does, but no shooter bucks showed up. Both my friend Robert and Shane saw one really nice buck that they estimated would score in the 160’s. Robert saw him just after he climbed into the stand that we called death trap. He had the buck somewhere between 30 and 40 yards behind him, but was unable to maneuver to get a clear shot. The buck left his area and went into the soy bean field. Shane saw the same buck walk all the way across the soy bean field and into the creek bottom where his stand was set up. Shane grunted, bleated and rattled, but the buck kept steady rolling and never got any closer than 80 yards from him.
After Shane saw the big buck jump the creek behind him and vanish, he turned around to find that a nice 10 point was in the CRP grass in front of him about 40 yards away. Shane figures that the 10 point had come in as a result of all of his calling. Shane decided to take the shot on this buck at 40 yards. Unfortunately he hit the buck high and back and watched him disappear with the arrow sticking out of both sides of the buck. Shane had been having all kinds of trouble with the site on his bow all week, which probably was the cause of the poor shot placement.
About 30 minutes later Robert had a nice 10 point enter his stand location from Shane’s direction. He stood and prepared for the shot. He had the buck at about 20 yards and drew back. That is when the voice inside Robert’s head reminded him of the bigger buck he had seen just 30 minutes ago and he decided not to take the shot. After he had let his draw down, the buck turned and he saw an arrow hanging out of his side. Robert figured that I had shot the buck and hit it poorly. By this time the buck was about 40 yards from him, and he drew his bow again and released the arrow. Unfortunately the arrow sailed right over the bucks back and Robert watched him run away toward the north end of the property we were hunting.
After dark when the 3 of us got together and explained the events that had unfolded, we all decided that the buck was definitely not hit very good due to the distance that he had traveled. We all thought that it would be best to not push the deer and wait until the morning to try to recover it. I know that it was a restless night for Shane, as if I were in that situation I would want to be out in the woods looking for that deer.

The next morning, November 13, I went back to the same stand that I had been hunting. Even though I had only seen one mature buck after many hours in that stand, I knew that if I was patient and persistent, something good would come my way. At about 6:45 I had a small 2 ½ year old 8 point walk right beneath my stand. Even though the buck was small, I got pretty fired up thinking about what more the morning may have to offer.

At 7:00 I heard a buck grunt over my right shoulder. I could tell that he was on the ridge above me. I hit my grunt tube a couple of times and then silently waited. Less than a minute later I hear a couple of deer come crashing down the steep hill to my right and into the wash. It was a doe and a fawn. They made their way in front of me at about 20 yards and continued on a steady pace toward the bean field to the west. A couple of minutes later, I heard another deer come crashing down the steep hill to my right. When he finally appeared from the cedars I immediately recognized him as a shooter. I attached my release to my string loop and tried to calm my nerves. The buck went to the first tree that he came to and began thrashing it with his antlers, trying to get the does attention. He then walked to a tree that was about 30 yards in front of me and treated it the same way as he had the previous tree. By this time the doe and fawn were a good 50 to 60 yards away from me and I realized that the buck was not going to take the same path that they had which would have brought him to within 15 or 20 yards of my stand. I decide that I must make the shot pretty quick or he was going to get away. As I told you in an earlier post I shoot an adjustable single pin sight. I adjusted it from 20 yards to 30 yards and waited for the buck to move from behind the tree and present a shot.

The buck finally looked up at the doe, who by this time had made her way up another steep hill, and he began to walk at brisk pace toward her. I grunted with my hands free grunt tube, but he did not stop. I spit the grunt tube out and made a loud grunt with my mouth and the buck stopped and looked directly at me. Within a split second I lowered my pin behind his shoulder and let the arrow fly. The Easton Full Metal Jacket tipped with a 100 grain Grim Reaper broadhead hit its mark with a loud THWAk ! The buck kicked and then ran away from me hunched over. I grunted at him a couple of more times, and was able to get him to stop about 80 yards from me. He stood there for a few seconds and then slowly walked around a corner and out of my view. I sat down in the stand and again began trying to calm my breathing. I was not sure exactly what I had shot, but I knew that it was a mature Kansas buck.

I was sure that I hit him good and decided to get out of my stand after about 30 minutes. As many of you know, that is the longest 30 minutes you will ever spend, it feels more like 3 hours. I went to the spot where the buck had been standing when I shot. I found some white hair with a tiny bit of blood on it. I searched all over for my arrow, but the grass was so high I never found it. I briefly searched the area for blood, but could not find any. Since I knew where I he went I decided to move forward without a blood trail. I went around the corner where the buck walked out of my site. The trail narrowed along a 6 or 7 foot wide creek. The trail was so narrow that only one deer would have been able to walk it at a time. About 10 yards ahead of me I saw a big pool of blood. I went to the spot and bent down, looking ahead of me for the next sign. I did not see anything. I could not figure out where he went. As I was contemplating my next move I glanced over to my right in the creek, and to my surprise there he was laying right in the middle of it with his head under water. It was by far the biggest bodied deer I had ever shot. I jumped down in the creek and grabbed his massive antlers. To my surprise he was only a seven point, but he was a BIG seven point. I tried to get him out of the creek, but I could not do it by myself, I had to wait a couple of hours for Shane and Robert to get done hunting to give me a hand.


Finally at about 9:00 Shane radioed me and I told him the good news. I went and picked him up, and then we made our way to the creek where the buck was laying. Shane and I managed to get the buck out of the creek and up on the bank. Shane congratulated me on the buck as we both stood and admired the massive seven point frame. We took a couple of pictures while waiting for Robert to show up with the Polaris Ranger to get the deer out of the area.

Looking back on it now, that was one of my most memorable hunting experiences. I was not expecting much, having never been to Kansas. It was very rewarding knowing that I went to an unfamiliar area and managed to take a mature buck. Unfortunately we never found Shane’s buck. We looked for it for hours and covered a lot of ground. We never found any blood, so it was like trying to find a needle in a hay stack. I am convinced that the deer survived the shot and will be fine, perhaps one of us will get another opportunity at him next year.
All three of us had opportunities and saw some good deer. Hopefully we will all draw a tag next year and have the opportunity to go back and do it again. Now that we have more knowledge of the area and the type of hunting, I expect us to have even more success next year.

As always, taking a trophy deer was just icing on the cake. The real experience and enjoyment of the hunt comes from the companionship and time shared with good friends. The memories and experiences of this trip will last a lifetime. I look forward to many more enjoyable trips with these guys in the years to come.

Trail Camera Pictures From Kansas

I thought that I would share a few of the trail camera pictures that Robert, Shane and I got from the small piece of land that we hunted in Kansas. We put these cameras out the weekend of October 25 and retrieved the cameras on November 10. I was suprised that we got this many pictures of good bucks in that short amount of time. Needless to say this got our blood pumping for the upcoming hunt that week. Unfortunately none of us got an opportunity at these bucks, but hopefully they will survive the hunting season and winter and be there for us next year.

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Clay Center hunter shoots 27-point doe

This is a story that I got from the Wichita Eagle. I have heard of people shooting antlered doe, I even have a good friend that shot an 8 point doe many years back, but I have never seen or heard of one this big

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BY MICHAEL PEARCE
The Wichita Eagle
Mike Smith of Clay Center thought he had shot the buck of a lifetime when he walked up on this 27-pointer on Dec. 3. He found out it was an antlered doe.
Courtesy photo
Mike Smith of Clay Center thought he had shot the buck of a lifetime when he walked up on this 27-pointer on Dec. 3. He found out it was an antlered doe.

Everything seemed perfect for Mike Smith.

His scouting, stand location and shot were all on.

The whitetail wore the kind of 27-point, gnarly non-typical rack most hunters only dream about.

But something totally expected was missing.

"When I rolled it over there was nothing male-looking on the deer," said Smith, of Clay Center. "I looked at the back end and it was definitely a doe. That was a real surprise."

Not only was the deer he shot Dec. 3, on the opening of firearms deer season, a rare antlered white-tailed doe, it may be the largest antlered doe ever shot in the world.

The rack was measured at about 179 inches.

Doe deer occasionally have antlers, said Tom Bowman, a retired Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks biologist, avid hunter and official Boone & Crockett scorer.

He's had several in the taxidermy business he's operated in Wakefield for more than 20 years.

The antlers on Smith's doe were covered in velvet. That's a soft covering usually found on the outside of antlers as they're growing. Bucks normally rub the velvet from their antlers in the late summer.

Bowman said doe antlers are frequently covered in velvet. Does seldom shed their antlers, like bucks do annually.

Smith, an avid bowhunter, went into this fall's deer seasons knowing at least two great deer were around his hunting grounds.

One was a very nice buck with typical antlers he'd captured on trail camera photos.

The other turned out to be the big doe.

"A guy I know drives by the place I hunt as he goes to work about every day," Smith said. "He told me a deer had crossed the road with 'two of those hangy-down-thingies' so I knew there was some kind of non-typical around."

Seeing neither buck he wanted during archery season, Smith sat on a stand near an alfalfa field on the Dec. 3 opening of firearms deer season, holding a .25-06 instead of a bow.

Several little bucks entered the field that afternoon. At dusk he spotted another buck back in the timber.

"I immediately saw it had double drop tines. When I looked with binocs I could see it was still in velvet," Smith said. "I couldn't get a shot at it back in the woods. It sure seemed to take its time coming through a little wooded draw before I could get a shot."

He figured the strange antler configuration and velvet was because a buck had gotten injured while the antlers was growing, which sometimes happens with whitetails.

The 100 yard shot was easy and on-the-money. Smith didn't notice his "buck of a lifetime" was a doe until after he tried to load the deer into his truck.

Bowman was surprised when Smith arrived to get an unofficial score. It tallied about 179 gross inches of antler and should net-score around 164 non-typical inches.

"It was basically just a conglomeration of points. The longest point was maybe about six inches," Bowman said. "It had an ugly, ugly rack."

Unfortunately for Smith he can't find any record-keeping system specifically for antlered does.

An online search found a highly touted "world record doe" from Iowa that grossed about 155 inches.

Smith plans on getting a life-sized mount of the deer with the velvet still on the antlers.

He's hoping the deer gets a lot of attention and is willing to talk with most media for free.

"I'm not trying to get rich. That's not why I hunt," he said. "I really appreciate it as being a very rare animal and I want people to see it. I think a lot of people will really enjoy seeing it and learning about an antlered doe."

Mississippi Giant

Here is a giant buck killed with archery equipment by Michale Burkley of Natchez Mississippi. I am interested in this buck because I used to live in Mississippi while attending Ole Miss.

It is said that if it were not for the non typical trash this buck would have been the new archery state record typical in Mississippi. The 15 point has a non typical net score of 188. Pretty impressive buck from the Magnolia State none the less.

Texas' King Daddy bow buck

Legendary King Ranch gives up crown jewel of Texas' 2008 early archery season

Click Here To Read The Story From ESPN Outdoors

Legendary King Ranch gives up crown jewel of Texas' 2008 early archery season

By Lynn Burkhead
ESPNOutdoors.com

Deer hunting is king in Texas and nowhere is that more evident than at the sprawling King Ranch located in the state's southernmost coastal counties north of Brownsville.

Begun in the early 1850s when Richard King and Gideon K. Lewis set up a cattle operation in South Texas on Santa Gertrudis Creek, the 825,000-acre spread is nearly as large as the entire state of Rhode Island.

Found in portions of Nueces, Kenedy, Kleberg, and Willacy counties, this vast ranch is home to some amazing South Texas deer hunting each year, perhaps the best low fence whitetail hunting the Lone Star State has to offer.

That fact was reinforced in a big way on Sept. 27, opening day of the 2008 early archery season in Texas, when New Mexico bowhunter Terry Hall arrowed one of the largest typical whitetail bucks ever killed in the Lone Star State.

With the huge 6 X 7 typical buck's antlers still wrapped in velvet, no less.

The Hall buck sports an initial green gross score of 196 0/8 inches as reported by the Texas Big Game Awards program director David Brimager.

That's really big, even by Texas' lofty whitetail standards.

What's more, with the buck's final net score expected to be in the mid 180s (once the official 60-day drying period required by the Pope & Young Club and the Boone & Crockett Club has been completed), the Hall buck stands poised to shake up the Lone Star State's record books.

If Hall chooses to strip the amazing buck of its velvet (required for the deer to become an all-time record book entry), the whitetail could potentially become the Pope & Young Club's new state record typical bow buck in Texas, in addition to potentially becoming one of the Top 10 bucks ever taken by a hunter in the Lone Star State.

And should the velvet remain attached, the Hall buck currently stands as one of the largest velvet antlered typical whitetails ever killed by a hunter.

Butch Thompson, the longtime wildlife biology manager of the King Ranch's hunting operations, says that this deer is indeed something special.

Even in Texas and even on the King Ranch.

"Yeah, you don't grow deer like that very often," Thompson said. "We've had a couple of other similar deer through the years that I've been here, including one taken back in late 1970s that scored about 190.

"This deer will (net) score about 185 inches by the time he dries," he added. "So he's the second largest typical ever taken on the ranch, at least in our recorded history.

"You get a deer like that about once every 30 years."

How does a deer like the Hall buck grow to such legendary proportions?

"Well, here at the King Ranch, we've been managing wildlife longer than most places have even existed," said Thompson, now in his 35th year with the Ranch.

And along the way, the Ranch has championed the primary components of quality deer management, or trophy buck development, if you will.

"We've got superior genetics and excellent habitat (to start with)," Thompson said, noting that the King Ranch has a great selection of protein filled, highly digestible forbs that help the Ranch's bucks develop legendary headbones.

Then there is simply the passage of time, something required for good bucks to become truly great bucks.

"We let them reach their potential as far as age goes," Thompson said. "We try not to take our trophy deer until they are at least six years old.

True to form, the massive whitetail buck Hall arrowed was in all of his antlered prime.

"This buck was 6 ½ years old," Thompson said. "We had actually been watching the deer for about three years. We passed him up last year."

Passed him up?

Yes, that's the price to be paid for a true blue Texas Muy Grande to become a monster that will rewrite the record books.

"He was probably a book deer last year, but we chose to let him walk another year," Thompson said.

That proved to be a good decision, especially for Hall, a veteran of deer hunting on the ranch.

"He's been hunting with us for quite a while, but this is a once in a lifetime deal (for anybody)," Thompson said.

"Terry Hall appreciates that deer probably as much as anyone that could have killed it would," he added. "He's a very ethical hunter and a good customer of ours and he was very thrilled to get that deer."

Thompson said Hall wasn't the only one thrilled by the big deer's tagging as word quickly spread around the vast acreage that something special had occurred.

"Everybody was thrilled to death," Thompson said. "We took a huge a huge non-typical deer in 1998 and we all had the same feeling then.

"Every once and a while everything comes together at the right time as you get the right doe, the right buck, and the right weather coming together.

"We are thrilled to death to grow a buck like that."

Even deep in the heart of deer hunting Texas, a vast and storied state whose big buck capitol is none other than the fabled King Ranch.


Texas top 15 Boone and Crockett typical bucks

HUNTER NET SCORE COUNTY YEAR
1. Tom McCulloch 196 4/8 Maverick 1963
2. Milton P. George 196 1/8 McMullen 1906
3. Basil Dailey 192 2/8 Frio 1903
4. Steven W. O’Carroll 190 2/8 Shackleford 1991
5. C.P. Howard 190 Dimmit 1950
6. Donald Rutledge 187 7/8 Zavala 1946
7. Pick-Up Entry 187 5/8 Starr 1945
8. Phillip T. Stringer 187 4/8 Zapata 1992
9. Herman C. Schliesing 186 2/8 LaSalle 1967
10. Pick-Up Entry 186 1/8 Zavala 1965
11. Jesus Lopez 185 4/8 Zapata 1969
12. Henderson Coquat 185 1/8 Webb 1949
13. Loyd Nail 185 Frio 1941
14. Harry Richardson, Jr. 184 6/8 Starr 1973
15. Pick-Up Entry 184 4/8 Bandera 1949

Source: “Boone and Crockett Club Records of North American Big Game, 11th edition”


Texas top five Pope and Young typical bucks

HUNTER NET SCORE COUNTY YEAR
1. Glenn Thurman 181 4/8 LaSalle 2004
2. Ryan Friedkin 180 Maverick 2006
3. Jim Lillis 175 2/8 Grayson 2007
4. Dan Friedkin, Jr. 174 4/8 Dimmit 2004
5. John T. Wright 173 7/8 Wilbarger 1998

Source: Pope and Young Club

Possible New Iowa Archery Record

I found this on The Outdoor Sportsman Blog. This buck was reportedly killed by Kyle Simmons in Jackson County Iowa. My understanding is that Jackson County is located in East Central Iowa.

The buck has 28 points and should gross in the 270's. It is projected to net high 250's to low 260's and if so that should make it a new Iowa state archery record.

For more information on this buck check out this forum www.idohunting.com

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A Week for Whitetails

This is an article that I found on realtree.com that has some useful tips. I am about to go on my first week long hunt out of state on a property that I am not all that familiar with. As I said in an earlier post this week, I went on a scouting/ hunting trip a couple of weeks ago to this property, but the deer were not moving all that much. We really did not get a very good idea of what the deer are going to be doing and where the deer are concentrating.

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A Week for Whitetails

By Brian Strickland

If you’re anything like me, time seems to always be in short supply. With a full-time job, a family and everything in-between, finding time to spend in the whitetail woods each fall can be a challenge. But when that week finally arrives—a whole seven days—our intention is to make the most of every second, and ultimately come home with many whitetail encounters, backstrap for the freezer and some bone for the wall.

However, in our zest to take in every ounce of the hunt, often times we are too aggressive and have an all or nothing mindset to our week of whitetail wonder. Although this approach sometimes has its rewards, oftentimes the deer figure out pretty quickly they are not the only ones in the woods and become almost invisible. Our once highly prized week that we’ve had X’d-out on our calendar for months now falls short of our expectations.

If you want to get the most out of your week when you head to the woods this fall, step back and take the whole week into perspective. If you look at every aspect of the hunt and plan each step, you might just have the week of whitetail hunting nirvana you’ve been dying for.

The Perfect Week

Picking the perfect week is a must when you’re looking to increase your odds at punching your tag, and it goes without saying the first or second weeks of November are prime. It’s then that lust-crazed bucks are on their feet most of the day and throw caution into the wind and make mistakes in their search for love.

However, if you work with other hunters, getting a chunk of time off could be difficult. If I had to choose a backup week, it would definitely be during the early season, which can be as early as August or September in some states. That time of year can also yield opportunities at giant bucks. Although you won’t find bucks dogging does then, they are usually easy to pattern, travel in bachelor groups and haven’t felt the pressure of other hunters yet. If you take the time to find where the bucks are feeding and can figure out their travel route, sticking one of them with a well-placed arrow is almost a sure thing.

Before You Get There

Scouting is a huge key to your week in the woods, especially if this is your first time hunting a particular piece of ground. And with gas prices at all-time highs, and our old trucks barely getting 15 miles a gallon, pre-season scouting can be tough. So in order for us to have a good idea of what the patch of ground we’re hunting has to offer, a little bit of research is a must.

For instance, I drew a tag for southern Iowa this fall, and I have decided to hunt a patch of public ground. After talking with the local conservation officer and hunters who have hunted there in the past, getting my hands on some maps, and checking the area out with online aerial photos, I have some good starting points. This by no means should take away from old fashion boots on the ground scouting, and I will definitely have to do some looking around once I get there in November, but I already have a few stand locations in mind. All I’ll have to do when I get there is fine tune the information and I’ll be off and running.

Fools Rush In

Well, the week has finally arrived and you’re ready to get into your stand. Before you jump into what you think will be your best setup, you might want to plan each day of the hunt. Consider hunting an outside-in approach before you rush in. This is especially true if you’re in a new area, but this principle is also usable if it’s a property you’ve hunted several times in the past. Things can change in and around a property from year to year when you consider crop rotations, logging and in some cases urban sprawl, all of which can change deer movement. So starting on the fringe of your hunting area can be a good approach. Hang that first stand in a low impact area that will give you the ability to watch and learn, but also the opportunity to kill a buck.

I have hunted a small piece of property in Kansas for years, and one that I know very well. One of the first stands I sit is usually an isolated row of trees that is between a crop and a CRP field. It is by no means the best spot on the place, but it lets me come and go without being detected, and allows me to see a good chunk of the property. In fact, a couple of seasons ago I watched a buck enter at a corner of one of the fields, and a couple days later I hung a stand there and ended up sending an arrow through him.

Once you have a good idea of what the deer are up to, it’s time to go deeper into the cover and start looking for funnels that lead from bedding-to-bedding and bedding-to-feeding areas. Bucks will be filtering through these areas as the rut begins to kick in. At this point however, it’s still early in the hunt so don’t set up too close to the best bedding areas unless you can come and go undetected. Spooking deer now can really be a damper on your hunt. Some good setups for this would be creeks, ridges, inside corners, saddles and pinch points of timber.

Another area to consider for evening hunts is staging areas. These areas are typically close to food sources, so find the best food the area has to offer. Mature bucks will hang in these areas waiting on the sun to sink before going out to feed, especially in high pressure areas. Often times these areas will be littered with rubs and scrapes.

Once you hit the latter part of the week, it’s time to put conservatism aside and get in the thick of things. Although spooking deer should always be a consideration, start hunting the edges of the best bedding areas. During the rut, bucks will visit these areas throughout the day. However, your stand must be on the downwind side. And if you have not hung your stand yet, you might have to do it at night when the deer are gone or on a windy day. Once you decide to hunt bedding areas, you need to be there all day. Trying to sneak in and out while they are there can ruin the area the rest of the week.

I did just that the second to last day of a recent Wyoming deer hunt. Although I had been covered up with deer all week, no shooter bucks ever presented a shot. So with time running out, I set up a stand that was within a stone’s throw of a bedding area and was in a staging area. Later that evening I had a mature buck wonder under my stand that proudly wore my tag when I headed home the following morning.
On the last day or two of your hunt a “no holds bar” mindset is necessary. Hunt the best areas you have found and plan on hunting all day. These are spots you have been avoiding early in the week because you know you will bump deer trying to get into them. However, if you keep the wind right while you’re hunting, bumping a few deer as you come and go at this point will not take you out of the game.

Making the Most of It

To get the most out of your week and come home with some head bone for the record books, the key to success is avoiding mistakes. The mistake hunters make most often is deer knowing they are being hunted early in the week. Having good scent management before you leave your truck is a given, but it doesn’t matter how “scent free” you think you are, never hunt a stand with a marginal wind. I don’t know how many times I’ve had a wise ol’ doe give that all too familiar warning blow and not had a deer come close to me the rest of the day. Also, a good entrance and exit strategy to your stands is a must, and be sure to have multiple stands up and ready to go. Burning a productive spot out early can make for a long week.

Furthermore, hunt all day if you’re hunting in November; this is the week you have been waiting for. Although you are burning vacation time to be there, and hunting all day at times is no vacation, it will definitely increase your odds of taking that happy-hunter picture by the end of the week.

Finding quality bucks in only a week can be hard enough, but having equipment failure along the way can turn that week of vacation into a disaster. Shoot a good quality bow or gun, use good optics, top notch tree stands and ground blinds, and dawn on your best set of Realtree camo. Sometimes there is nothing you can do about equipment failure, but using quality gear minimizes the chance of a mishp.

Finally, make the shot. You don’t want to spend hours and hours in the stand and finally have that toad you’ve been after under you and miss. Prepare for that shot both physically and mentally, and practice, practice, practice! Be in good physical condition. If you can’t walk a couple of hundred yards in hilly country without keeling over, your chances of killing a mature buck are slim. Also, know your weapon intimately. Start a shooting regiment now! I don’t know how many times I’ve heard of hunters—me included—missing deer at 10 yards. They are solid at 20, 30 and even 40 yards, but overlooked those close opportunities that sometimes presented themselves, so be sure and hit the 10-ring.

When it’s all said and done, it’s your week in the woods, and making the most of it is what will ultimately lead you to success this fall. So start slow and finish strong and see if that puts a smile on your face at the end of the week.

Flint Hills buck could be an all-timer

Another great buck taken from Kansas this year. Man I hope we find something half of the size of these bucks!

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BY MICHAEL PEARCE
The Wichita Eagle

Jamie Farr could tell a big buck was heading his way Oct. 22.

Fortunately, the Junction City hunter didn't know how big.

As soon as he saw long tines on one antler he decided, "That's the one I'm going to shoot this year. I just focused on my shooting lane. I didn't want to get buck fever."

The whitetail he shot a few minutes later will probably score high enough to be one of the top bow-killed typicals in Kansas history.

Farr was hunting where two deep Flint Hills canyons met near a feeding area. Things didn't start well that afternoon.

"When walking to the stand, I scared up two does and a fawn and they made a lot of noise," he said. "I figured the hunt was over, but the wind was so perfect I went ahead and hunted."

He watched a flock of turkeys fly up to roost not far away, and listened to the ruckus they made when something spooked them.

He almost headed for his truck, figuring nothing would come with all the noise. He was also getting chilled in the wind, low temperatures and moist air.

Looking to his left, he saw movement coming through a stand of oaks.

Soon he saw the antlers and diverted his gaze.

"They say that once you decide you want to take an animal you shouldn't look right at it so you don't get buck fever," Farr said. "I saw enough that I wanted him."

The buck eventually worked to within 30 yards and started eating acorns.

Farr wasted no time making a good shot.

"When he turned to run away, I realized the rack was very big, very nice," he said.

The buck fell about 45 yards away. Farr was amazed at what he found when he walked to it.

"He was an absolute monster," he said. "I knew I'd shot the biggest deer of my life."

His previous best was a respectable bow-killed 10-pointer that netted 167 inches.

This buck carried 11 main-frame tines and an extra point on each browtine.

The buck had tines to more than a foot in length, main beams to 29 inches and an inside spread of more than 24 inches.

Later, the buck was unofficially scored at 208 gross points. It's expected to net about 188 typical points when the mandatory 60-day drying period is over. It could also score about 203 non-typical inches, though the typical score will probably rank it higher in Kansas.

According to the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks, the archery state record is a 193 7/8 buck shot in Wabaunsee County in 2001. The fifth-best scored 188 5/8 and was shot in Pottawatomie County in 1998.

Having too many points is keeping Farr's buck from scoring higher.

Pope & Young rates racks on symmetry and perfection. The extra points on the browtines deduct from the total score.

"If he didn't have those splits on the browtines, he'd net 195 and be the new state record, But those add character to him," Farr said. "I'll keep hunting and hoping for something bigger and better. I realize that's a pretty big dream."

Brothers' four-year quest leads to world-class whitetail The Wichita Eagle

Hopefully We will have something like this walk in front of one of us when we are in Kansas next week.

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The Wichita Eagle

BY MICHAEL PEARCE

From 2005 to 2007, the White brothers doggedly hunted a buck called "Big Nine."

Luckily they didn't get him until this week.

"Last year he was a 160-class deer and this year he's a 200," Scott White said.

Monday evening, White made a 30-yard shot on the 11-point buck that's expected to eventually net about 185 inches, after grossing 200 7/8.

That's about one-tenth of an inch per hour the Whites annually invest in their passion for big whitetails.

Brothers Scott, Nick and Matt White are usually in a stand every day of Kansas' bow season until they've all killed trophies.

Summer evenings are spent watching feed fields from a distance or sitting close enough in a ground blind to video good bucks.

They have many trail cameras over corn piles in the midst of some of central Kansas' best deer habitat.

In the late winter and spring, they walk miles searching for shed antlers.

Scott White said they've found at least one shed antler each year from the legendary buck beginning at age 2.

"He was a 120-inch deer as a 2-year-old and then he just blew up to 160 inches as a 3-year-old," said Scott White, of Marquette.

It was like the buck's IQ increased as fast as his antlers.

"He's the smartest deer we've ever hunted," Nick White said. "We never got a picture of him over a corn pile. We never got a really good picture of him on a trail camera. He just totally avoided those things."

The buck was also largely nocturnal.

Still, enough hours in tree stands and ground blinds offered the hunters some glimpses of the buck.

Scott White figures he got about 15 looks at the buck in 2006.

Going into this bow season, the brothers knew their chances had never been better to see the buck in bow range.

"We finally got a good break when we figured out he was bedding about 150 yards from the landowner's house," Nick White said. "We were able to find a good tree to hang a stand in and figure out a way to get to and from the tree."

As he has most weeknights since the season opened, Scott White hustled from his Hutchinson job Monday afternoon, showered at home and headed for the tree stand.

"It was just such a perfect afternoon. It was cool and the wind about quit blowing," he said. "I just had a feeling it was going to be a good night."

A little before 7 p.m., sounds of a deer walking through some trees got Scott White's attention. Antler tines rising far above a massive rack told him it was the buck they'd been after for many years.

His 30-yard shot was good. The buck made it 80 yards and died.

Scott White called his brothers before he climbed from his stand.

They walked to the downed buck together.

"I'd thought he might go 190, but didn't think he'd go 200 inches," Nick White said.

"We've been after one like that for such a long time."

As well as two extra points compared to years past, Scott White was surprised by the big buck's dimensions.

It carried 27-inch main beams and tines to 16 inches tall. Both third points are more than a foot.

If the measurements hold after the mandatory 60-day antler drying period required by the Pope & Young Club, the buck could make it into the Kansas top 10 or 15 of all time.

Would the buck have grown more had it lived another year?

"I don't know how big he'd have been next year," Scott White said. "I've thought about it and it's kind of scary, but I'm glad I got him."

Heading For Kansas Sunday

I will be leaving this Sunday for a week long hunting trip in Jewel county Kansas. Jewel County is located in north central Kansas and the particular area that I am hunting is only about 7 miles from Nebraska. My hunting partners for this trip are a couple of good friends of mine from high school, Shane Howell and Robert Sterett.

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We actually went on a 4 day trip to Kansas about 2 weeks ago. We did a little hunting, but did not have any success. We used that time primarily as a scouting trip. We spent most of our time setting up stands and getting to know the land that we are going to be hunting. We all saw deer, Shane and Robert both saw a couple of small bucks, but I only saw does. Shane and I did see a couple of shooter bucks one night driving back to the lodge where we are staying.

The hunting in Kansas is much different than the hunting that I am used to doing here in Texas. We are mainly hunting the edges of crop fields and in drainage areas around creeks. I was surprised by the terrain that we are hunting. I have always thought of Kansas is being flat, level land where you could see for miles. The land that we are hunting actually has some rolling hills and steep elevation changes from the crop fields to the drainage area.
Before we left we set out some game cameras by three of the stands that we set up. Hopefully we will have some picture of good bucks in the area. We are hoping to get there early enough on Sunday to go and retrieve the SD cards and check the pictures, but we may have to wait until Monday morning.

The rut should be peaking during the week that we are there, so even if our piece of property is not holding any big bucks, we may get lucky and get a couple of neighboring bucks cruising through searching for hot does.

I did not take any video or pictures of our last trip, but I plan on documenting this upcoming trip, and I will be sure and post pictures and stories when I get back. Hopefully I will have pictures of 3 monster bucks lay down, after all that is what we are making the trip for.

The Hanson Buck: 15 Years Later

Since there is talk about the buck in the previous post possibly contending for the new world record typical whitetail, I thought I would take a look at the story behind the current typical world record shot in 1993 by Milo Hanson.
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Whitetail history is filled with landmark events, but perhaps none more noteworthy than the one occurring on the morning of Nov. 23, 1993.

A decade has passed since Milo fired the shot heard 'round the deer world.

By Gordon Whittington

Whitetail history is filled with landmark events, but perhaps none more noteworthy than the one occurring on the morning of Nov. 23, 1993.

That day a decade ago, western Saskatchewan rifle hunter Milo Hanson downed a tremendous 14-pointer that would go on to be certified as a world record in the typical category of the Boone and Crockett record book. The monster received a final panel score of 213 5/8 net points, obliterating the old record of 206 1/8. The record had been held by the James Jordan buck, which had been shot in western Wisconsin all the way back in 1914.

Not only did Milo's trophy handily beat one that had been the world's biggest typical for more than three-quarters of a century, he's still the buck to beat in the typical category. That fact surprises many whitetail experts who openly doubted that the Canadian deer would hold onto his No. 1 ranking this long.

Among those skeptics was Larry Huffman, former owner of the Legendary Whitetails collection. That display, now owned by Bass Pro Shops, includes the Jordan buck and three other typicals ranking among B&C's all-time Top 10.

"I said at the time Milo shot his buck that his record would be broken within five years," Larry recalls. "With all the big sheds that were being found, and with so many more big bucks out there, as a result of better deer management, I just figured it would have happened before now. Obviously, I was wrong."

For what it's worth, Milo claims he wasn't exactly confident his buck would still be hanging in there at No. 1 after all these years, either.

"Yeah, I guess I'm probably a little surprised that (the record) hasn't been broken," he says. "Every year it seems we hear about another big one, but so far none of them has officially scored enough to beat mine."

Enough huge typical sheds have been found to suggest that the Hanson buck is beatable. In fact, a deer of similar size is featured on Page 52 of the Dec. 2003 issue of North American Whitetail. That buck, from the Midwest, was thought to still be alive as that issue went to press. We'll feature him in another story if he's actually taken by a hunter.)

While Milo felled his record with a .308 bullet, he claims he wouldn't be shocked to learn that the next No. 1 typical was done in by an arrow.

"It definitely could be a bow-hunter who breaks my record," he says. "There are more people hunting with a bow now. It seems that when I go to a hunting show and talk with people, more of them hunt with a bow than with a gun."

As full-time farmers who stay busy with crop harvest every fall, Milo and his wife, Olive, don't have time to bowhunt. However, they remain avid gun hunters.

When asked about his pick for the most likely place to yield the next No. 1 typical whitetail, Milo names his home province, as well as Iowa. Indeed, a look at the B&C records shows both have a history of producing contenders; in addition to Milo's record, Saskatchewan has given up at least two other typicals netting over 200, while Iowa has produced one.

Could there be any more "Hanson" bucks roaming the area where the world record fell a decade ago? There's a chance the same bloodline is still out there.

"A few years after I shot the record, our friend Walter Meager got some video of a buck that looked a lot like him," Milo notes. "Olive and I saw the same buck one day, too. He was a 5x5 instead of a 6x6, but he had long tines and looked just like the big one. He was obviously a young deer, but we never saw him again, and I don't think anyone shot him. We keep up with what gets shot around here, and nobody got him."

Although Milo beat the odds to shoot a second B&C typical in 1994 -- that deer qualified for the record book despite netting more than 40 inches less than his 1993 giant -- the hunter says he thinks his chances of breaking his own mark are too low to calculate. "I'd be more likely to win the lottery," he says with a laugh.

Most other hunters would say he already did.

Record Buck? Archer bags notable deer

The buck that that I posted video of last month from Wisconsin was reportedly killed on Saturday November 1, 2008.
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By Julian Emerson
Leader-Telegram staff

It had been a slow morning. Perched in his tree stand for more than three hours, Bob Decker hadn't seen one deer in the Buffalo County woods he hunts south of Mondovi.

Growing restless despite the excitement of knowing a potential world-record buck recently had been sighted roaming the area, Decker thought of checking in with his longtime hunting buddy, Paul Olson, who was hunting these same woods between Modena and Urne Saturday morning.

Then, at 9:30 a.m., Decker heard it, the telltale "snap" of a whitetail stepping on a twig as it walked nearby.

Startled, he looked down from his tree stand and saw a large buck just 40 yards away. Decker eyed the animal's large antlers and immediately decided it was a "shooter buck." A few seconds later, adrenaline surging through his veins, he grabbed his bow and zeroed in on the animal's body.

Thwap! The arrow struck its mark just 6 or 7 yards below Decker. The buck bolted for about 50 yards through the woods, then collapsed. It struggled to its feet after a few seconds, then staggered another 50 yards or so to its death.

"I knew it was a nice deer. I figured I'd shot a good-sized 10-pointer," Decker said.

Decker climbed down from his tree stand and went to meet Olson before going to find his deer. As his friend approached, Olson noticed Decker's hands shaking with excitement.

"I shot a monster, but it wasn't the Field and Stream buck," Decker told Olson, referencing the huge buck that has caused a craze among deer hunters this fall after a video filmed about a half mile from Decker's hunting spot was posted on the Web site of the outdoor magazine.

The video prompted deer experts to speculate that the animal, with its stunningly large 16-point rack, could challenge Milo Hansen's 1993 world-record buck. The much-discussed buck is pictured on the cover of the November edition of the magazine.

Olson and Decker approached the buck, which had died on a bed of grass and leaves and was lying on its side. At first glance, Decker figured the animal was smaller than he had thought. He soon discovered otherwise.

Olson reached the buck first and yelled in disbelief to Decker.

"It's the Field and Stream buck!" Olson shouted to his friend. "This is unbelievable! It's the Field and Stream buck!"
Love of the hunt

Hunting deer is in Decker's blood. He learned to hunt from his father, Gene Decker, as a youngster. He shot his first buck at age 18 and became enamored with the sport, spending hours upon hours learning every detail he could about how to successfully hunt whitetails.

Decker's hunting interest is fueled by the challenge of hunting some of nature's wariest animals and the enjoyment of spending time outdoors.

"Hunting is something I've always loved," he said.

Decker and Olson have shared a lot of good times together tracking deer. The duo has hunted in tandem for 15 years and complement each other well, good-naturedly teasing each other while sharing hunting knowledge. Decker said it's not a coincidence that Olson was in the woods when he shot the deer experts believe is the Field and Stream buck.

"He's every bit the hunter I am and then some because of his attention to detail," Decker said of Olson. "You couldn't find a better hunting partner."
'Absolutely incredible'

Decker is no stranger to bagging big bucks. Six deer heads adorn the basement wall of Decker's rural Eau Claire home, evidence of successful past hunts.

On Sunday Decker smiled as he recounted stories of harvesting those deer. He laughed as he showed visitors a tiny four-point rack from a buck he killed last year during a hunt in Minnesota.

While Decker concedes he invests a lot of time and effort into hunting, he believes luck has everything to do with his impressive large buck haul. Like the buck he took Saturday, those animals were killed in the woods of Buffalo County, considered a deer-hunting mecca that attracts hunting enthusiasts from around the U.S.

Decker wasn't the only one marveling at his good fortune. Visitors flocked to his home Saturday night and Sunday to catch a glimpse of the magestic whitetail made famous by Field and Stream. Utterances like "awesome" and "incredible" were commonplace. One man kissed the buck's antlers in appreciation.

A Sunday afternoon visit to Jack Dodge's Elk Lake taxidermy shop prompted similar responses from a group of stunned onlookers.

"My God, look at the antlers on this thing," said Dodge, who has shot numerous trophy animals himself. "It's absolutely incredible. You're not going to see another buck like this for a long time."

In between phone calls from well-wishers Sunday night, Decker humbly reflected on his good fortune.

"I'm not a better hunter after shooting this buck than I was before," he said. "I'm just a very lucky person."

Click Here To See Video Of The Buck That I Posted In September

What We Know About Scrapes

By: Kip Adams, QDMA

Another hunting season has come and gone, and I’ve received a new wave of questions about deer behaviors and sign that hunters witnessed in the woods. A friend recently remarked that even though he saw multiple active scrapes in the area he hunted this past season, he never saw a buck at any of them. Aren’t scrapes supposed to be good places to hunt near? Mike Tonkovich, another friend and deer biologist for the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, asked about scrape use by does. Specifically, do does make scrapes and use licking branches? Even though you aren’t likely to see much scraping activity in your area at this time of year, deer hunters and managers enjoy talking about and learning about the rut at any time. While these questions are fresh on the mind, let’s consider what we know about scrapes to help you better understand this important whitetail behavior.
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Creating a Scrape
Scrapes are a visual and scent “signpost” for deer, and they involve a sequence of three steps. A buck will first mark an overhanging branch about 3 to 6 feet above the ground by licking and/or mouthing it, hence the name “licking branch.” If a suitable branch doesn’t exist at this height, bucks may stand on their hind legs to reach taller ones, and they frequently break the branch in this process. Bucks may also rub their preorbital glands (found in the front corner of each eye) and/or their forehead gland on the branch. This is not an indiscriminate marking; bucks will work the branch, smell it, and possibly work it some more until they get the right “concoction” of their scent on it. The forehead gland becomes more active during the breeding season and research suggests scent from it may persist on an object for several days. Next, bucks paw and scrape away the litter below the overhanging branch and create a shallow depression in the exposed soil. Finally, bucks urinate in the scrape. This urination may be directly into the soil or over the buck’s tarsal glands.

Rub-urination
When bucks urinate on their tarsal glands it is called rub-urination, and rutting bucks use this behavior to advertise their dominance status and breeding condition to does and other bucks. Rub-urinations are not limited to bucks or to the breeding season. Bucks, does and even fawns will rub-urinate during any season of the year. While this is an interesting behavior to observe, recent research estimates only 5 percent of urinations at scrapes are rub-urinations.

Who’s Scraping?
Mature bucks obviously engage in scraping behavior, and bucks may assert their dominance by making a scrape in the presence of a subordinate buck. The old adage that mature bucks prevent young bucks from scraping is not true. Yearling and 21⁄2-year-old bucks routinely engage in scraping behaviors, even at the same scrapes used by mature bucks. Does also use scrapes, and they use them on a regular basis. While I’ve never observed a doe making a scrape, they frequently visit them, occasionally mark the overhanging branch, and may even urinate in them. These activities suggest that does obtain breeding information about bucks as well as advertise their availability at these signposts. I’m sure many QDMA members who use scouting cameras have taken photos of does visiting and marking scrapes.

When are they Scraping?
Scraping activity typically peaks just before the peak of the rut, but active scrapes may be found over the course of several months, even in northern latitudes. However, most bucks almost completely stop visiting scrapes after the peak of the rut. Most scraping activity (85 percent) occurs at night, and this is probably why my friend didn’t see any bucks at the scrapes he hunted over.

Scraping Activity
Scraping activity can be divided into creating/marking and visiting/checking. Creating a scrape is self explanatory and marking entails working the overhanging branch and/or urinating in an existing scrape. Hunters typically refer to this as bucks “freshening” a scrape, and it’s what we do when we “doctor” a scrape for hunting or photography purposes. Research in Georgia by Dr. Karen Alexy (who is now director of the wildlife division of the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources) showed the most frequent marking behavior performed by all age classes of bucks was marking the overhanging branch with their forehead, antlers or mouth (saliva). Pawing the ground and urination occurred in less than half of the visits that included some type of marking behavior during her study.
Deer that visit or check a scrape are obtaining information about other deer that visited the scrape without leaving any initial or new information of their own. Remarkably, bucks may visit scrapes on a regular basis, but they mark them infrequently. This suggests their scent may persist for several days and make frequent marking unnecessary. This also identifies the possibility for bucks to collect information downwind from scrapes without actually visiting them, and may partially explain why some mature bucks are never photographed at scrapes (or anywhere else) but are seen and/or harvested by hunters. Unfortunately the opposite is generally true. It’s more common for hunters to photograph bucks but never see them during the hunting season. Karen’s research also showed some scrapes are used more than others. She video-monitored two scrapes less than 300 yards apart and recorded two completely different groups of bucks using them. Only one buck was monitored at both scrapes. This makes you wonder about the validity of the term “scrapeline,” which suggests a chain of scrapes belonging to the same buck.

Unique Scraping Activity
Recent research by Josh Braun at Missouri State University, who was conducting his research under the guidance of Dr. Grant Woods of Woods & Associates, identified a unique activity at scrapes. Josh video-monitored bucks from a buck-dominated deer herd at scrapes, and he and Grant coined the term “auto-stimulation” to describe what appeared to be bucks emitting semen into scrapes. The activity involved bucks approaching a scrape, raising their tail, waving it up and down while pulling their hind legs together, thrusting their pelvis and walking away. This was a subtle behavior and not all encounters included the full sequence of steps. This may be another method of marking or something else that we don’t yet understand. QDMA members who attended last year’s National Convention in Chattanooga, Tennessee, were fortunate to hear Josh present some of these findings, including video clips of numerous scrape behaviors.

Two things we do know about scrapes though is that most visits occur at night, and bucks and does use them to communicate, primarily during the breeding season. Since most scraping activity is at night their immediate vicinity may not be the best place to hunt, but trails leading to and from them can be effective locations in early morning and late afternoon. If you are successful at hunting scrapes then by all means keep hunting them. However, if you’ve been unsuccessful with this technique hopefully you can use this information to improve your odds next season.

The Buck of a Lifetime

This is a pretty cool article/ pictures. The author/photographer followed and photographed this buck for 8 years. It is very interesting to make note of the body changes and antler changes from year to year. I came across this article on the Field and Stream website.

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America's Largest and Most Radical Hunting-Ban Group Endorses Barack Obama

A must read for American sportsmen before the upcoming election. I do not think that this is the only anti-hunting group that is helping to fund his campaign. I got this article from the NRA website.

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America's Largest and Most Radical Hunting-Ban Group Endorses Barack Obama--It's Just One More Association With Radicals That He Can't Run From: While Barack Obama lies to America's gun owners and hunters about his longstanding public record in support of legislation stripping Americans of essential liberties, his so-called friends are thwarting his campaign of deception. The Humane Society Legislative Fund, the political arm of the radical Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), is the most recent to foil Obama's best laid plans after giving him the organization's unequivocal endorsement. This should be a resounding wake-up call to America's millions of hunters.

Wayne Pacelle, President of HSUS has made no secret of his organization's desire to ban all hunting. Hunters would be well advised to keep in mind the following quotes from Pacelle that expose the true agenda of HSUS:

"If we could shut down all sport hunting in a moment, we would." – as quoted by the Associated Press in Impassioned Agitator, December 30, 1991

"Our goal is to get sport hunting in the same category as cock fighting and dog fighting. Our opponents say hunting is a tradition. We say traditions can change." – Bozeman Daily Chronicle, October 8, 1991

Pacelle knows that he has a proven friend in Obama after his support of Senator Ted Kennedy's legislation that would have banned virtually all rifle ammunition used by America's hunters. If successful, the legislation would have ended the vast majority of all hunting – a fact not lost on HSUS.

In Congress and state legislatures and city councils around the country, HSUS lobbies to defeat every measure that expands hunting opportunities for the country's sportsmen. It says it opposes only the most "barbaric and inhumane" hunting practices. What it doesn't say publicly is that HSUS believes that all sport hunting is "barbaric and inhumane."

There's never been a hunting ban or restriction that HSUS hasn't actively supported. It routinely lobbies to:

- Prohibit the use of traditional lead bullets and shot for all hunting;

- Prohibit urban and suburban archery deer hunting programs;

- Prohibit bear hunting in a number of states including New Jersey, Colorado and Alaska;

- Replace traditional hunting as a wildlife management tool, with expensive and unproven contraception programs;

- Retain Sunday hunting bans in states like Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia;

- Ban the hunting of doves, the most widely hunted game bird in America; and

- Ensure that emotion, not science, dictates wildlife management practices

In addition to its anti-hunting efforts in the public policy realm, HSUS uses its enormous financial resources to regularly file lawsuits to stop hunting and the scientific wildlife management practices that recognize hunting as an essential tool. A recent example of this came when HSUS filed lawsuits that successfully closed millions of acres of wildlife refuges to hunting. This is despite the fact that Congress has determined that hunting is one of the traditional activities that should specifically be encouraged in refuges.

HSUS is also the group most responsible for preventing the removal of the Rocky Mountain gray wolf from the endangered species list despite the finding by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that wolf populations have exceeded original delisting goals by more than 400%. Delisting would have allowed states to implement hunting to control the now healthy and sustainable wolf populations. The overpopulated and unmanaged wolves are taking an unacceptably high toll on game populations, such as elk and moose. This significantly reduces hunting opportunities and endangers the long-term viability of these species. HSUS will stop management through hunting at all costs. It's more evidence that the group could not care less about the consequences of its actions on wildlife, as long as Americans are prohibited from hunting.

In addition to all of this, Pacelle's endorsement of Obama is proof positive that the anti-hunting, anti-gun front group American Hunting and Shooting Association (AHSA) is no friend to the country's sportsmen. AHSA had already endorsed Obama. HSUS and AHSA are now working hand-in-hand to elect the most anti-freedom presidential ticket in the country's history.
Sportsmen must now ask themselves what will happen to America's proud hunting heritage with an Obama administration that is beholden to radical groups like HSUS. We know from his own words that Wayne Pacelle's goal is to end all hunting, so the answer should be self-evident.

Father's bow shot kills grizzly attacking his son

This is a pretty scary story that I am sure everyone has thought about before.

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Father's bow shot kills grizzly attacking his son

By Carole Cloudwalker

This document was published online on Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Printable E-mail Archives 68 comment(s) Comments
A bloodied Ron J. Leming, 37, bends over the 11-year old grizzly bear (No. 1029) that attacked him twice Friday along Castle Creek on the South Fork while he and his father, Ron G. Leming, 62, were on their annual bowhunt in search of elk. The elder Leming managed a tough shot with an arrow that killed the bear and saved his son’s life. (Photo by Ron G. Leming)

A Cody bowhunter in search of an elk found a grizzly bear instead in a Sept. 12 mauling incident on the South Fork.

And Ron J. Leming, 37, attributes his father's lifetime of bowhunting for saving his life.

“There are not many people who could stand their ground like that, especially with a bow and arrow,” Leming said Wednesday.

“I would have been mauled way worse, if not killed, if Dad hadn't had the nerve to stand his ground and shoot that bear with his bow. There's not many people who could have done that.”

Leming said his father's shot with a compound bow severed a major artery in the bear and hit his heart. The bear then moved about 80 yards down hill after being shot before falling dead over a log.

Leming's father, Ron G. Leming, 62, rushed to his son after the grizzly's initial attack, and managed the compound bow shot as both his son and the bear were running down the hill.

“Dad had missed two shots at elk” earlier in the several-day hunting trip to the family's favorite spot, Leming said.

“The night before, Dad said a prayer for God to guide his arrow.”

Leming added that while his father had elk, not bears, in mind as he prayed, he's glad the right arrow found divine intervention.

“If my Dad hadn't been there, who knows?” Leming said. “The look the bear had, the way he was doing ... I could have done absolutely nothing.”

Leming and his father had taken their gear 15 miles up the trail from the Boulder Basin trailhead for their annual bowhunting outing. Though they had spotted a black bear and her cubs, there had been no sign of grizzlies, which Leming said was unusual.

On Friday morning they headed out from camp, located at about 9,500 feet in elevation, and spotted a good elk.

The elder Leming was standing about 30 yards down the hill when his son heard a noise behind him and turned to see the bear standing there.

“He was king of the woods,” Leming said. “He thought there was an elk in there and he would bring it down.”

Leming yelled at the bear, but it charged him.

Trying to pull the trigger release string on his bow, Leming realized there was no time to shoot the bear himself, so he moved behind a tree and began running around it to buy time. Then he ran down hill, figuring he could move faster in that direction.

“I passed my dad and I saw an arrow fly right by my leg, about two feet away,” Ron said. He realized his father had shot at the bear, but he was unsure if the arrow went home.

“I took three or four more steps and I fell,” he said, “The bear was on top of me.”

Leming was kicking at the grizzly and possibly put his hands out defensively.

“It's kind of blurry,” he said.

The bear grabbed Leming's arm and, “I felt like I was in a vice, with the power that thing had,” he said.

He managed to rise and head for a forked tree, where the bear again jumped on his back.

“It was pretty scary,” the long-time hunter said.

The bear attacked again and Leming was hitting him with his bow as well as struggling with the animal, who suddenly moved away.

“He took a few steps toward Dad, then he started walking down the hill. I told Dad to kill him, but he (bear) was already starting to check out,” Leming said.

The bear soon fell on a log, dead.

“I got super cold - I think I was in shock,” Leming said.

His father kept asking how badly he was hurt, and he said he felt OK, considering what he'd been through.

“Things got blurry and I lay there for about 45 minutes. I thought I was going to pass out.”

The two men finally were able to get back to camp - Leming walked because he was unable to mount his horse.

They made sure the camp was clean and Leming “stood on the bear box” to get on his paint mare, Josie, which his father led over.

They took their other horses and got to the trailhead, then loaded the horses and even stopped by the Leming home to drop them off before going to West Park Hospital.

Leming was admitted overnight. He received stitches for wounds to his hands and arm, and the bites on his back were patched up as well.

Dennie Hammer, information specialist for the Game and Fish Department in Cody, said the men spotted a bull elk and were about to take aim when the elk spooked, probably because he spied the bear.

“They were trying to call in the elk when he spooked,” Hammer said.

Leming stood up and so did the grizzly, an 11-year-old male that was about 15 feet from the hunters.

“The bear charged and bit (Leming) on the right arm,” Hammer said.

“His father shot the bear with an arrow,” Hammer said.

The bear, though mortally wounded, charged the younger Leming again, this time biting his left hand and arm, as Hammer described the 9 a.m. incident.

By the time a game warden could reach the spot where the attack took place, the bear's body was badly decomposed because of high temperatures during the weekend, Hammer said.

For that reason, the bear's carcass was left where it fell. Hammer said it appears the grizzly was known to game officials, though he did not know whether the bear had worn a tag or radio collar.

He was captured in 2003 after he broke into a shed at Brown Thomas Meadows on the upper South Fork, Hammer said, and was relocated to the Jackson area.

The Friday incident remains under investigation, but Hammer said it appears to be a case of self-defense.

In such instances, it's legal to kill a grizzly bear, he added.

He said while grizzlies are no longer considered a threatened species, no hunting season for them has been established. They are under G&F management and eventually a season will be set, Hammer added.