MikeHanback.com

KS: Great Father/Son Muzzleloader Buck!

Remember Greg B.'s gnarly 07 KS giant (218") I posted last week? Well, Greg got back from KS at 5 this morning and, in his words, "had an excellent trip. I guided my dad to his best buck ever!" Story and photos:

My dad is pretty pumped. The buck's not a giant but had a really nice 73" right antler. Too bad he didn't match on the other side! Anyway here is the short story.

I went up to Kansas last Friday (9-19) to do a little scouting before I got out there and chased bucks around. I hunted in the same area where I got the big one last year, but I hunted walk-in public land this time because I didn't want to step on my friend's toes, as he is running an outfitting business this year. I hadn't seen any bucks over 140" until Sunday night when I found a bachelor group with a GIANT 170" plus buck running with them (see grainy photo below taken at 400 yards); there was also another nice buck with 6 tines on his left side. Well, I decided to hunt this field where they were (go figure).

I hunted hard and kept seeing the smaller of the bucks and had a really close encounter with the giant, but I couldn't close the deal. My dad came down Friday and could only hunt the weekend due to his busy work schedule. On the last night of the hunt, I decided to take him to this field and let him shoot this buck because he had done this for me so many times growing up. I figured I owe him a good deer or two! I had this deer's pattern down so I told Dad where to point the gun and what time the deer would show up. Sure enough like clockwork the buck came by and my dad dropped him on the spot! The buck went 260 lbs. live weight and has 12 score-able points. Thanks, Greg B.

Another cool story and more inspiration when you get out there in the coming weeks, thanks Greg!

NJ Double Drop Buck!

While I was gone Jeff sent this: All I know is this “Medusa” was taken in NJ here in zone 36 and what is on the picture.

I'm convinced more than ever that the Garden State is a sleeper, some smoker bucks coming out of those cities and suburbs. Heck, on to Jersey for my drop maybe??

Blogging MT: Last-Day Big 8-Pointer!

Shot this great buck two hours ago...thirty yard shot...PSE Dream Season Bow...two-blade Rage, awesome broadhead...buck went three yards and died (yes, three yards, no typo)...John got great footage for the new Versus Show...Luke and I are very happy:) Home Monday, talk then; big party in Glasgow tonight, lol.

2007 Kansas Blackpowder Monster (218" Gross!)

From Greg: Last year I met a guy who had a bunch of land up in Kansas (I live in Oklahoma) and got the invite to come hunt his place. He sold me a transferable landowner tag for blackpowder so I went up in September to try my luck. I saw a ton of nice bucks, one probably pushing 150" as a 10-point, but I decided not to shoot anything. He extended the invitation for me to come back up and hunt during rifle season, which I gladly accepted.

About the 15th of November I got a call from him saying he had seen a giant non-typical near the stand where I spent most of my time earlier. He figured it may gross in the high 180s or even low 190s. He was nice enough to let me hunt the stand where they saw the big deer, so I wasn't going to settle for anything less than this buck, at least for the first few days.

Morning one 1 saw 7 bucks and a few does, including one giant in the distance that looked to be pushing Boone, but hard to tell. After lunch I hurried out to the stand again; the bucks still seemed to be chasing pretty hard so I figured I would see at least some deer movement earlier than normal. About 3:45 a 140-inch 9-point came out of a tree line 100 yards away and headed up into the CRP to bed down. As I was watched him out the corner of my eye, a doe came from the same tree line and turned her head back. I thought, "Oh boy, this is it!" I glassed and saw a young buck with one antler coming toward the doe. As I scanned back with my binos, I came across an ENORMOUS rack sticking up in the grass and about fell out of the stand!

I started to get excited, I knew this was the deer I was after, but quickly calmed myself. If I thought about it too hard, I could screw this thing up. Well, he started toward the doe, but when he got about 150 yards from me he stopped and just looked around real slow, almost like he knew something wasn't right. He never did look at me, but whether he sensed something wasn't right or not he turned back toward the trees and I knew it was now or never.

I had practiced out to 200 yards so I was pretty confident at 150 with my muzzleloader. At the shot he tiptoed into the trees. I knew he was hit but I did not see him fall. The excitement started to overcome me; I got out of the tripod and sat underneath it for 30 minutes to regain my composure. When I walked to where I had shot him, I found no blood. I started to get a little worried, but looked up and there he was, not 20 yards away inside the treeline! I dont know if I will ever top this deer but I know the moment was enough to stay with me for many seasons. Attached is a photo of the buck where he lay, and one of him mounted (the mount is almost finished). Thanks, Greg B.

Wow, 3 comments:

• Greg must be a great guy to not only get invited back, but also to hunt the stand where they had been seeing that hoss. Like your mama said, if you act right and treat people well, good things happen.
• Super job reading that buck's body language and nervous demearnor and shooting him before he got away. That is a critical but misunderstood key to killing big deer.
• Great that Greg had practiced shooting to 200 and was confident at 150, fine shot with a muzzleloader. Heck of a hunt, hell of a buck.

Will an Orange Box Make You Buy Ammo?

This article in Businessweek says that defense contractor Alliant Techsystems (parent of Federal ammunition) hedges against a wind-down of the Iraq war by courting weekend warrior hunters:

The goal for…the $4.6 billion defense contractor Alliant Techsystems (ATK) is to coax more dollars out of the shrinking ranks of hunters using brightly colored boxes, loud ads, and promises of premium-grade ammo made better by "lethal science." What ATK is trying to sell is, in short, a deadlier shot… ATK is all about buzz. Federal Premium boxes show pictures of the type of animal each round is designed to kill, from squirrels to mule deer. The box for ATK's Fusion brand is bright orange with flames encircling the brand name.

Will that make you buy it? Maybe, because their sales are up.

IMO Federal does not need a marketing gimmick. I have shot a lot of Premium over the years, it's kick-ass for deer.

"getting a clear mind before deer season"

Matt (aka Flatlander) had been missing in action awhile, here's why:

Mike: With all the busyness of working 2 jobs, getting food plots in this summer and having a baby I was no where near ready to sit 3 hours in a tree stand. I needed something to get me in a whole new frame of mind for the fall season ahead. Nothing does this better than a week in the Boundary Waters of Ontario and Minnesota. But no matter how much I tried to get my mind off deer hunting and keep it on fishing, I still watched the shore for deer crossings and places to hang a stand...even had this little doe (below) swim the lake past our boat one day. I am back and officially ready for the season now with a renewed outlook. Glad to be back and check the blog, missed it greatly. Thx, Matt

Matt is onto something. Sometimes we get so hyped for deer season, not to mention the stress of juggling life (kids, gas, cost of food, crumbling house values, Wall Street crooks, is your bank going under, what's left of your 401K, this never-to-end-it seems election...), that you need to step back and take a deep breath. This is the best time of year to spend a few days fishing, camping, hiking, playing golf, walking on a beach, jogging, whatever rejuvenates your mind and revs your motor. Come back relaxed and with a clear head, grab bow or gun and then go hunt like a wild man; you'll have more fun, hunt better and make fewer mistakes. The mental part of hunting is just as important as the physical, maybe more so don't you think?

 

Weird Science: Do Deer Have a Built-In Compass?

From Scientific American: Researchers have found that when grazing or resting, cattle and deer tend to point their bodies toward Earth's magnetic poles, which suggests they are able to sense magnetic fields… researchers studied body alignment in 2,974 red and roe deer in the Czech Republic, either by photographing the animals or checking the impressions they left in snow. The team reports in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA that the animals tended to point north or south but not in other directions. When the researchers were able to examine the position of the head in the case of red and roe deer, they found the animals tended to point north.

The group ruled out…wind or sun for why grazing animals might orient themselves that way. There was no consistent wind pattern among the different locations… Evidence for a magnetic sense in cattle and deer suggests…it may be a more basic tool for mentally mapping their everyday surroundings and learning new landmarks.

It is not a leap that this ability to sense magnetic fields is present in our whitetails also. So when we see does and bucks with their heads pointed north, what does it mean? Can we use that to hunting advantage? I rack my brain to see how. Theories anyone? 

Anyhow, it will make for fun field research this fall. When you see a large group of deer feeding in a field, pull out your compass and check to see if 80 percent or more of them are pointed due north.

Blogging MT: Longbow Success!

A couple of hours ago--Luke Strommen killed this awesome Milk River 10-pointer on camera for a new show I'm filming for VERSUS. After many recurve kills, this was Luke's second longbow buck in as many years.  We found Luke's buck about two hundred yards from the location where I killed one of my first bucks years ago on the Milk. 

It's drizzly and cold out now, we're planning where I will hunt this afternoon.  I want to shoot one too!!

I'll blog back at you when I can.

Tennessee Drop-Tine

From Cory: Hey Mike: I know your love and addiction for the drop-tines. I pulled this pic off our www.tndeer.com forum, enjoy my friend!! FYI, the date on the camera is off, should be 8-14-08.

Love the photo and esp. the cam owner's sense of humor (bottom right :)

VA’s New Earn-A-Buck System

My home state of VA has instituted Earn-A-Buck for 2008 in certain counties where there are too many does, and I am happy and proud to report that the game department and biologist Matt Knox got it right! 

EAB is now mandatory on private lands during all archery, muzzleloading and firearms seasons in Bedford, Fairfax, Fauquier, Franklin, Loudoun, Patrick, Prince William and Roanoke counties (mostly suburban to urban counties). The first deer you shoot can be a buck or a doe. After the first buck you will be required to shoot at least one antlerless deer (if you mess up and shoot a button that is legal, but try not to) before you can kill your second buck. On EAB lands east of the Blue Ridge Mountains where the season is longer (too long IMO but another story) and more tags are available, you will be required to kill a second doe before you could kill a third buck. If you meet all those requirements you might want to stop hunting, you’ve killed enough deer for the year, man.

This progressive system is simple and reasonable. Nobody can bitch about not being able to kill a buck right out of the gate. Whether you choose to bust a 4-pointer or wait for a mature 8 is up to you. Then you have to drop a doe or 2 before you can shoot another buck or another one. Furthermore, I understand you can shoot a doe first and be “pre-qualified” to then shoot 2 bucks. All of it makes perfect sense to me, what about you?

Hey, just hit me that with yesterday's post and now this one, we're having "doe week" here on the BIG DEER blog. That's cool, like your granddaddy said, "Better eating."