MikeHanback.com

Kevin Moore: Jui-Jitsu, Whitetails and Women

While I was in MT last week I met Kevin Moore, a Jiu-Jitsu and mixed martial arts competitor, trainer and coach who owns 2 Ultimate Submission Academies in the state, and who knows everybody who is somebody in that kind of fighting world, Chuck Liddell, etc. (Photo: Cameramen John and Steven Tyler-look-a-like Randy are to Kevin’s right.) Nice guy Kev, soft-spoken, wiry, brims with confidence. I thought, Man, this guy could kick some ass. (Bottom photo: Kevin stretching it out at one of his academies; what would happen if you tried that?)

“I have 3 passions in life, martial arts, whitetail deer and women,” Kevin said. Numbers one and three intrigued me, but I was there to interview him for a TV segment on big sheds, so I stuck to the script.

A hard-core trad bowhunter--we had to wait for him to come in from the hunt that evening and wash off his camo paint—Kevin is also is fanatical shed hunter/collector who has amassed thousands of antlers and an impressive array of huge, world-class ones. Giant non-typicals like those on the table especially excite him (and me). What do you notice about the one I picked up? LOL.

Cool story behind that set in the middle. Hunting in Alberta, Kevin found the hard, brown side. He happened into a bar and saw the other side stuck on the wall. He paid the guy $50 for it and mounted them together--230 inches plus, baby!

We wrapped the interview in 20 minutes and had to scram. It was Saturday night, and Kevin had some buddies and chicks coming over to watch some ultimate fighting bouts on TV. Bet that was a party. Next morning at 6:00 Kevin was back out on his ranch again, hunting a 160-class buck he’d videoed (might go 170). He’d built a hay blind for an ambush where the deer was hanging out, and he thought it might happen. Damn, we’re a cool, crazy bunch.

Maine Mystery Antlers: What the Heck are They?

While hunting last year in Maine where I live, I found these 2 antlers, whatever they are. They are not palmated like a moose, they look similar to an elk (but there are no elk in Maine); maybe they have the look of a giant typical buck. They weight just about 1 pound each and are not made out of wood. They are cut flat at the bottom and look like the bottom of a decayed antler. The longest tine on each is 15 1/2 and 13 inches. The circumference between 2nd and 3rd point is 6 inches. What kind of animal dropped this? David B.

More Milk River Sheds

Just when we were feeling bad for Luke Strommen for having to sell 600 pounds of his 1,123 Milk River sheds to pay some bills and save some space for moving into his new house (see yesterday’s post) he reluctantly sent this photo. “Tara made me take this picture of my keepers to show all the bloggers,” he said. She makes her point to not feel too sorry for Luke cause they’ve still got sheds coming out their ears! There will be plenty of antlers for display in Luke’s man room in their new digs.

This is Luke’s stash of big, special and until-now secret sheds. “Mike, you should recognize the pair up front on your left, beautiful,” he says. Yes, the Hanback Buck. A few years ago I plunked a mechanical broadhead squarely off his left scapula and got about a half-inch penetration before the arrow popped a foot back out (hence the deer's name). Ya, 2 inches back, would have been a perfect double-lung--no consolation. Luke saw the stunningly symmetrical 10-pointer running around like nothing ever happened for the rest of the season, but nobody got him then or ever so far as he knows.

On a brighter note, Luke is glassing the fields along the Milk River and is seeing some big deer. They had rain this spring, and it is a good horn year. Rumor has it a double-drop has been spotted, though Luke won’t confirm it to me. I’ll be out there September 21, filming a brand-new series for VERSUS, so we’ll see.

For Sale: 600 Lbs. of Milk River Sheds

Hi Mike: Even though gas prices are starting to dip we are still feeling the effects of the last several months and are still paying $4.01 a gallon. It is eating my lunch. I need to pay some bills, plus my wife tells me that we aren't moving my shed collection into our new house (we're moving closer to her work, mainly because of gas). So I guess I am selling the majority of them.

I used to build candelabras, chandeliers, etc. out of sheds, but I just don't have the time anymore. So, here they are. I dare say this is the largest intact shed collection from the Milk River in Montana. With the exception of a few that were given to me by locals, I found every shed right here on the Milk, mostly in one 6-mile stretch. They were all shed from totally free-ranging deer, or from bucks that died of natural causes.

I weighed them at the Dehy today--600 lbs. total. 1,123 sheds by my count, which includes 87 pairs! The pairs are matched and tied together. The majority of the antlers are good, hard browns or whites, most with wax rings. There are some cut-offs and broken, chalky, or sawed horns, but maybe only 3% to 5% or so. They range from spikes to 5 points.

I really don't want to part with them, as each shed represents about an hour in the woods looking for it. But I am looking for someone who may want to purchase them for his collection or otherwise.  A collection this strong is certainly worth more than poundage I would think. I don't have the time to list them in groups on eBay, so maybe there is someone out there interested in them? I would consider delivery within a state or so for the right price. I could develop a relationship with a buyer and add to the collection over the next several years if they so desired. Can you help me out? Thanks, Luke

Over the years I have spotted and hunted some of the bucks that dropped some of those horns, including a 150-inch 5x5 we named the "Hanback Buck." I missed a couple of those deer with my bow (including the Hanback buck) LOL.

This is truly an amazing collection of wild buck antlers. If you know anybody who might be interested in purchasing these sheds help a bow brother out and email Luke at [email protected]. Spread the word, but serious inquiries only please.   

238" Iowa Giant Found on Sandbar

Thanks to Steve for digging up this monster, which just popped up at www.kisky.com. Some guy found it on a river sandbar. The incredible rack purportedly has 25 points, grosses 238 and nets 233. There are giants like that prowling out there. If that does not get you fired up for this season I don't know what will :)

527 Shed Antlers (and other good stuff from this week)

Awesome week on the blog, to recap:

I added up all your shed comments and emails, and the BIG DEER bloggers have found 527 bones so far. Chris in Iowa found this 6-point beauty. Can you say 12-point monster typical this fall? Chris reports that he is excited :)

Velvet bucks were out in force across the nation, guys were spotting records numbers in places. Wonder if the full moon on June 18th and/or the Summer Solstice (20th) had anything to do with it? Always looking for deer-movement theories, man. Antler growth seems to be good to great in most areas.

SCOTUS did the right thing and affirmed our INDIVIDUAL right to own guns for self-defense and hunting. The whining, sniveling antis on TV keep pointing out that Justice Scalia is a hunter--right on!

I was most impressed with the archery advice you guys passed on to Delvin as he searches for a new bow. I must warn you that Delvin will soon be in discussions with Luke Strommen about traditional gear. Luke is, well, a traditional nut. He grew up hunting Milk River bucks with recurves, longbows and wooden arrows--that is all his dad, Eliot, and his brothers shoot to this day. As a kid (hell, he's still a kid, look at the picture) he even hung with the Wensel brothers for some years. When Luke is done with him there is a good shot Delvin will be hunting with a recurve this October. Not that there is anything wrong with that.

Have a good weekend, thanks as always for your support.

90 Antlers & a New Shed-Hunting Dog

Robert, a.k.a. SHEDHEAD, sent this great report from northwest Missouri:

Howdy Mike: This year’s shed season turned out to be pretty good. I found a total of 90 sheds, 18 dead antlered bucks and 3 dead shed bucks (love those shed buck skulls).

The season was one of the oddest I've ever encountered. It started off slowly. We saw many antlered deer well into March. I really didn't start finding any until mid-March. By March 1 last year I had 77 sheds (this year only 20 by that date). We never found anything of any real size (big for us is a 70" plus shed) but we did find several in the mid to upper 60s.

Last August we got a Labrador pup and I started working with her and a shed antler. First we would just play fetch. Then I started hiding them and let her find them. Then I would take about 7 sheds into the pasture near the house, hide them and let them lay for several days to get my scent off them. I would tell her to "hunt 'em up" and she would start bird-dogging till she found one. She’d bring it back and then go looking again.

The training definitely worked. She found 19 sheds unassisted this spring. The ones I found, I had her find “assisted.” There's no better feeling than seeing your dog pop out in front of you with an antler in her mouth.

She also found 3 dead bucks but would not retrieve them. She would stand or sit by them till I came over and acknowledged her. I think she wouldn't retrieve because once I scolded her for chewing on a dead deer. She’s a house dog and doesn’t smell too good after eating rotten deer :)

Keep up the awesome work, always look forward to your blog. Robert

I doubt many of you found 90, but tell us how many sheds you did find and in what state. It will be interesting to see how many total antlers the BIG DEER bloggers picked up—300, 500, 1,000, more? And run across any dead antlered bucks? The 18 that Robert found sounds like a lot.

Anybody else got a shed-hunting dog? How cool is that.

Biggest NT Elk Sheds Ever?

Got this picture w/the message: What do 550" plus---maybe 560, 570---non-typical American elk sheds look like? Check these out. I am 5' 10" and 200 lbs., not a elf. These things were heavy and BIG. Absolute minimum 550". Found a couple miles from my shop, LOL.

I don't know a lot about scoring elk antlers, but those are huge. BTW for reference, the top NT American elk antlers in the B&C book score 465.

6-Year Hunt for a Ghost Buck (Giant 8)

Great story behind these giant sheds, which are darn near as big as Chaeli is. Thanks to dad, Cliff, for the guest blog, I've posted it pretty much verbatim. I admire the way Cliff and his brother think and hunt:

This buck was hunted by Cliff and Mike, brothers.
No one else knew of this deer and we weren't talking.
We hunted the big 8 for 6 1/2 years with bow, rifle and muzzleloader.
Scouting was non-stop.
He had 2 core areas, depending on crop rotation.
He was seen maybe a dozen times in 6 1/2 years, always alone.
He never did the same thing twice.
He was never seen rutting.
He had one thing on his mind and he was good at it--SURVIVAL!!
If deer are smart, he was a genius.
He was last seen in December 2005.
Score estimated to be mid to upper 180s.
He had great mass and 18” G2 and G3s at times.
He was never harvested and no other sheds were found.
The last set of sheds we found, he was 4 1/2 years old in 2003. These are the sheds Chaeli is holding. The G2s and G3s on those sheds are 15”.
He was truly a world-class 4 X 4; Mike and I feel very fortunate to have hunted him.
The memories of this deer are long and plentiful, but the dream was short.
To us he will always live in the sheds he was kind enough to let us find.
Thanks, Chaeli's dad, Cliff. 

How Bucks Fight (after they've dropped antlers)

Got this 10 minutes ago from Jim and thought it was cool:

Mike: Ever wonder how deer fight and box once they have lost their antlers? Check these out! They are both young bucks; the does fight like this also. Sometimes they really go at it this time of year!