I am in Ohio this week so I thought I would pull up some pictures of some great Ohio deer and Turkey. I need to get out here and start hunting the midwest. WOW what a great set of pictures. Take a look at the Ohio Division of Wildlife page and look at those galleries and you too will want to get to Ohio and get in some great hunting!
Brandon McGuire wrote the following story for a submission into the Virginia Outdoor Writers Association Youth Essay Contest! I could not be more proud of him! 17 years old and more mature then people I know who are going into their 30's! GOOD JOB BUDDY!!!
I remember that hunt very well because that is the day I knew I would be hunting with Brandon for the rest of my life!
Power line Legacy
by Brandon McGuire
Not having a father figure in my life while being raised in a single parent home by my mother made it hard sometimes and I had to learn the qualities of a man from watching other parents and examples in the community. I have been fortunate to have had several men step into my life to be role models. While attending a JAKES day event with my mother we crossed paths with Kevin Paulson. He offered to take me hunting and from then on our relationship grew. He has been able to teach me how to hunt ethically and still have an exciting time.
Two years ago I was able to go hunting with Kevin Paulson. He brought me to a farm where he had permission to hunt. His brother-in- law and nephew came down as well to hunt that day on this farm. We all arrived together, talked about where we should go and spent general time becoming acquainted. Eventually we wished each other luck and parted ways in hopes of discovering a treasured buck. We had set up our position on a long stretch of land parallel with power lines so we would have a good view of any deer crossing our path. After several hours of waiting Kevin was called away to attend to his brother-in-law and nephew. As he left he told me that I could shoot any deer I saw as long as it was not on a nearby adjoining piece of land which we didn’t have permission to hunt. A few minutes after he left a large doe appeared just on the border of the forbidden property. Here I am sitting with the crosshairs on the organs of this beautiful doe just waiting for it to step a little closer. It feels like it is trying to test my character, saying “Shoot me, I dare you.” She stands there, broadside, glancing my way from time to time as if she knows I won’t shoot at her. Although I felt like I was missing a great opportunity, I allowed the deer to pass. When Kevin came back I rushed to tell him of my unfortunate luck. He expressed that he was so proud of me that I had the moral drive to not kill that deer illegally. If I had shot it and it dropped on the other property I would most likely have not been caught but it was a moral victory for me not to do so. I feel good that through many different experiences I am developing a healthy amount of patience and restraint. These characteristics and many others are being learned while hunting.
I know that in order to become successful I need to focus on graduating from college and obtaining a degree that can be used to locate a good job. The medical field has always been fascinating to me; however, I no longer want to become a brain surgeon as I had though when I was much younger, but rather through my wrestling injury and physical therapy rehabilitation experiences, I now hope to consider the sports medicine field. My hunting experiences are helping me mature into a man I feel my family and acquaintances can be proud of.
Last turkey season I spent two days in the woods. One with my good friend Brian Parks and one day with my mom. My heart and soul were not into hunting. The days I spent there I needed the love and support of my family and friends more then I need the meat or the trophy.
This year is different! I am out there to hunt and to kill! That may not sound very politically correct. The correct term in todays world is harvest! I don't hate the word harvest, it just doesn't fit how I feel when I am going out there. I am not farming animals, I am pursuing them, chasing them and choosing to kill them as a part of the hunt! It is not the most important part of the hunt to me, but it is a part of the hunt that I have missed over the past couple of years.
Personally, I am out there to hunt and kill! It is a drive and a passion to get myself into position and to have the opportunity to take the animals that are in on my list. This year my goals are to take a turkey(or two), a bear, an antelope, 4 deer, geese, ducks and at least one coyote! I have not eaten good clean game meat in over 2 years and I want to fill the freezer. I am hunting for memories, trophies and meat! I am not however going to miss the small things on my trips and I will be striving to continue to bring you the stories of my days in the field.
My morning started off with pulling into the parking area and rolling down the windows while I finished off my soda and I just listened to the day coming alive. I looked out the window and a buck was walking right towards me in the truck. He took 10 good minutes and walked right in front of the truck and crossed the road. He was definitely a young buck because he just seemed to strut by the front of the truck oblivious to anything else going on in the world.
It is amazing to me how quickly I can get turned around in the woods. I have never hunted this particular area in Quantico and in fact I have not hunted in Quantico since 2004. I walk into the woods in the dark and bam, I get turned around. I did not know I was walking in a giant circle but I was. Luckily, I finally heard a cackle and started to call. This was my first time hunting spring gobblers with a bow and my set up was all to hell and the turkey came in directly behind me and then ran off like a shot when I tried to turn. I never heard a gobble, just some hens cackling and the sound of the gobbler behind me and the sound of him running away!
My next find was this old Esso Oil can as I realized I was 100 yards from the truck. I dug out the map and decided to explore the area. I hunted in 6C and I found a ton of treasures. The area looks to be a deer heaven with a ton of great areas to explore for archery season. There are a lot of great stand areas and it looks promising for deer season! I took some pictures of some of the treasures I found!
The Dragon Tree!
Some things just crawl out of nature! This dragon needed to come out of the tree and show himself to the world.
It is the small things that are sometimes the most interesting!
The little designs of nature can be just as interesting as a painting in an art gallery!
The Rabbit knot!
Knots
The Bass Knot!
A matching pair!
Spring is coming!!!! Though not this weekend. The rain was not far behind the end of my hunt! The last 20 minutes of my walk out of the woods was drizzling and the rest of the weekend got worse and worse! We need the rain but WOW!
The Trophies that I took home for my garden! It seems that no matter where I go in Virginia I find these blue metal buckets! They must of been very popular at one time because they are spread all over the area in the woods near old dump sites!
Below are listed the tags that will be available for sale (or in a drawing) at Colorado-area banquets this year, SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE. Please contact Scott Hampel at 303-659-2088 or e-mail shampel@muledeer.org for final confirmation.
For the fourth year in a row the Mule Deer Foundation (MDF) is assisting the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish with the auction and raffle of the New Mexico Lt. Governor’s Deer Enhancement Licenses. We recently conducted the auction for a license at our annual convention in Salt Lake City, UT where the license brought $50,000.
The Riudoso, NM chapter of MDF is assisting with the raffle of a license. Raffle tickets cost $20 each. The drawing for the lucky winner will take place at the Game and Fish Commission meeting in July. Now it is your chance to get one of these special licenses for as little as $20. The more you buy the better the chances of winning.
Proceeds from the auction and raffle will be used for deer management and propagation in New Mexico. The licenses will be authorized for use from September 1 through January 31 with any legal sporting arm. These licenses will be valid statewide only on public land where hunting is allowed, including Department owned WMAs and private land with prior written permission. The bag limit for these hunts is one antler-point restricted deer.
Print out the form and mail it in today!
Below are listed the Utah Conservation Permits/Tags that will be available for sale (or in a drawing) at Utah-area banquets this year, SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE. Please contact Tony Abbott or Mike Laughter for final confirmation.
Please address Permit Questions to: TONY ABBOTT, 2178 South Bridger Drive, Springville, UT 84663, Phone: 801-885-1274 , E-mail: tabbott@muledeer.org.
Please address Banquet Questions to: MIKE LAUGHTER, 5322 W. 4325 S., Hooper, UT 84315, Phone: 801-391-0567, E-mail: mlaughter@muledeer.org.
03/24/07, Wayne County
03/30/07, Davis County
03/31/07, Salt Lake
Please Note: The Wasatch West bear tag was moved from N. Utah County to Salt Lake because the hunt starts prior to the new N. Utah County banquet date.
04/14/07, Logan BOC
04/21/07, Heber City, Wasatch Chapter
04/20/07, S. Utah County
04/28/07, Ogden
05/05/07, Box Elder County
05/11/07, N. Utah County
Please Note: The Wasatch West bear tag was moved from N. Utah County to Salt Lake because the hunt starts prior to the new N. Utah County banquet date.
05/12/07, Uintah Basin-Vernal
05/19/07, Tooele County
06/02/07, St. George, Red Rock Chapter
TBA, Kanab
Spring 2007, San Pete-Manti
The following events have been successfully completed:
02/17/07, Logan, UT, Bear River Chapter
02/24/07, Cedar City, Cedar Breaks Chapter
A very impressive set of bucks out of Missouri! Please check out their website at Old Deer Hunters Association.
They have a nice website and some good reading!
These two pictures came from the Northeast Big Buck Club.
The top buck is from New Hampshire and was taken by John Klucky and will score around 200. The second buck was taken in Massachusetts and was taken with a recurve bow from the ground and should score between 185 & 195.
There truly are some great bucks in the east!
ANNAPOLIS — Deer hunters had a good start to the firearm season this year with an opening weekend harvest on par with last year and one hunter taking home the biggest non-typical whitetail ever harvested in Maryland.
Hunters unofficially harvested 17,231 deer during the opening weekend of the firearms season, 80 more than the unofficial number of 17,151 reported last year during the same period. The reported antlered harvest increased from 7,956 deer last year to 8,019 this year, while the antlerless harvest increased slightly from 9,195 to 9,212.
Sika deer comprised 143 of the antlered and 147 of the antlerless deer during opening weekend, making it comparable to the 133 antlered and 164 antlerless sika deer reported during last year’s opener.
Hunters tolerated fog and warm temperatures to harvest 2,529 deer on Sunday in the 14 counties that permit Sunday hunting, representing an increase of about 3% over last year’s Sunday total of 2,462. This year, Anne Arundel and Montgomery were added to the list of counties that permit Sunday hunting. Both of these counties experienced a significant increase (more than 15 percent) in the opening weekend deer harvest over last year.
“Sunday hunting is gradually catching on with our hunters,” said Doug Hotton, Department of Natural Resources’ Deer Project Leader. “This day is proving to be a viable option to increase harvest and balance our deer population with its environment and human neighbors.”
A new state record buck was taken by Bill Crutchfield, Jr. of Charles County near his home in Newburg, Maryland. Crutchfield watched the buck for approximately two hours mid-day Monday before finding an opportunity to take the massive deer with a single shotgun round.
Maryland DNR Wildlife & Heritage Service and Natural Resources Police personnel examined the buck on Tuesday. DNR staff confirmed that the buck has 26 scoreable points (13 per side) and a preliminary antler score of 268 5/8 inches. If approved by national scoring organizations, the buck will eclipse the current Maryland non-typical record by 40 inches, becoming the number one non-typical buck ever taken on the entire East Coast, and ranking among the top 20 all-time largest non-typical deer in the world.
Bob Beyer, associate director for game management, preliminarily scored the buck but official confirmation will not be possible until the antlers have met the minimum 60-day ‘drying’ period and an official score is taken. A deer’s antlers are classified as being typical when they are symmetrical and regular in shape. Non-typical antlers are those that have uneven or unusual tines, irregular points or outgrowths.
“For its size, Maryland has always been one of the top-producing trophy whitetail states,” said Paul Peditto, director of DNR’s Wildlife and Heritage Service. “Our hunters have kept our trophy status a well-guarded secret; I expect that will change now.”
Crutchfield’s buck weighed 150 pounds after field dressing and had a 22-inch inside spread and massive 25-inch main beams sporting more than 5 inches of circumference mass along each beam-length. The former non-typical record was taken in November 1987 by Jack Poole in Montgomery County during the firearms season and scored 228 4/8 inches.
Beyer, who measured the former non-typical record nearly 20 years ago added, “This new record buck is truly remarkable and is a perfect testament to the superb potential of Maryland’s deer management program and the quality of our state’s deer herd and habitat.”
Deer firearms season continues through December 9
