Any day now I’m expecting to see a little spindly legged, polka dotted fawn staggering around one of my fields, followed closely by its ever watchful mother. Tiny tail twitching and knees shaking, that little fawn will be taking it’s first steps into a big new world. Much to my delight, it’s that time of year that new birth hits the woods and the newest members of our deer herd will grace this earth for the first time. To me, there are few things that are more fun to see than a young fawn or two learning to run and play with it’s buddies. So as we’re preparing for the newest additions to our deer herds, I thought it would be appropriate to share a few interesting facts about fawns that I recently found in the 2010 QDMA Whitetail Report.

Aware of any of other whitetail fawn trivia? Share it with the Wired To Hunt Nation in the comments!

TwistedX from the Deer & Deer Hunting forums shared this great story of his cousins harvesting of a monster Ohio buck. Here’s a story we all wish we could have been a part of.

On Oct. 1st 2009 My cousin Nick got home from a stressful day at work and decided he wanted to go hunting to cool off. He grabbed his Horton Yukon SL cross bow and headed for his stand. He lives in SW Ohio and hunts just 300 yards from his back door. He had purchased the property eight years ago and built a house on the rectangular ten acres that has two hundred foot of road frontage and two hundred and 50 foot of property that backs up to the Little Miami River. He had put out corn and a salt block for four years now and that is the place he spends the majority of his hunting time on. He built a stand out of wood that is large enough for two and has a rail all the way around. The stand was built in a large sycamore with plenty of cover all around. He  cut two good shooting lanes based on the property line and the area the deer have generally spent most of their time. His quad path and Property line pass within 10 feet from the base of the tree. The stand is situated to face toward the corn and salt which is further inward on the property than the stand is.

Nick had seen two nice bucks running together for a couple months now but never seen them on his property. In the past he has harvested a few nice buck off the property using various techniques like calling and decoying. On Oct. 1st he chose to leave everything at home and to just sit, besides the weather wasn’t all that great it was windy and the on and off rain was not making this evening very enjoyable. He even thought about getting down and going into the house three seperate times. As the deer began to move and things started to liven up a bit he chose to stay. A decision he will never forget and value. At approximately 6:50 he noticed movement on the quad path and then noticed the large 8pt buck under his stand. His blood pressure rose, his heart was pounding, adrenaline rushed through his body and he began to prepare for a shot when the bruiser walked into his lane,  but then he noticed the other buck that was following the 8pt. He couldn’t seem to make out the exact number of points he just knew he is larger than the 8pt that he first saw. Now flipping out thinking to himself how far is that,  how big is he, right behind the shoulder, right behing the shoulder.

He took his shot and the deer jumps, takes off like a bullet and runs for the back property line. Nick sat in his stand for a while trying to figure out what just happened. A monster buck just walked under his stand and he was able to get a shot off and a good one at that. After half an hour he got down and slowly made his way to the house. Once he got there he decided to eat some dinner and discuss the events with his wife and family. It was  more like yell and gasp for air while he  screamed, ” I just shot a monster”. After dinner he took out his favorite tracking light, his family and a couple friends and went looking for the deer. Together they tracked him two hundred yards with a substantial blood trail when it dried up. Beginning to get worried he may have lamed the deer or may not find the super large buck he shot earlier that evening. Feeling sick to his stomach he was frantically searching the creek banks hoping he didn’t float down the river.

Suspiciously he shined a log at the bottom of the bank, looked away and then shined it two or three more times again until he was close enough to get a good look at the leg. Estatic,  he rushed down the bank grabbed the deer and proceeded to ask for help to pull him out of the creek. As you’ll notice the deer was huge not just in the rack or antler he also had tons of weight and body mass.
They dragged the deer up the hill and he began to gather pictures and thoughts, while attempting to speak. The deer was a total 216 in rough score, 21 inches wide and 19 pts. The one, the only, “THE MONSTER”

Awesome deer TwistedX. As you all start bagging your own bucks, we would love to feature them on Wired To Hunt. Email your stories and pics to wiredtohunt(at)gmail.com

Good luck out there! May you do as well as “Cousin Nick”!

“Shooting a RAGE is like throwing an axe at an animal”- Chuck Adams, World-Class Hunter

So whats with all the hype? I feel like everyone and there kid brother is using Rage broadheads these days or atleast talking about them. I’m curious, I admit, to see if these things really do blow 2 inch holes through a deer and create blood trails so huge that even your half blind great aunt could follow it. Before I drop my hard earned cash on these things I’ve had to delve into them a little bit more and it only seems fair to share my findings with all of you.

So first lets look at what the manufacturer says in their own words…Here is the description of how the much acclaimed “SlipCam” works and why it makes the Rage so deadly.

“Upon impact, the SlipCam™ initiates and the blades slide back and deploy from the rear. By the time the blades impact, they are fully deployed.

Once the “shoulders” of the blades catch, they slip down shaft. Each blade cams out, deploying from the rear while the cut-on-impact tip penetrates the hide. Before the blades reach the hide, they are fully deployed, even hyper extended… giving you a maximum cutting diameter.

3 Advantages! The revolutionary SlipCam™ Rear Blade Deployment System gives you…

1. Guaranteed fully deployed Blades

High-speed footage of over-the-top heads show the blades do not fully open until after they enter. RAGE’s rear-deploying blades are guaranteed to be fully deployed before they enter which means you’ll get the benefit of the heads full cutting diameter!

2. No loss of kinetic energy

Because RAGE’s blades are fully deployed on impact they penetrate like a fixed-blade head. Over-the-top expandables lose kinetic energy due to deployment during entry and deflection.

3. Eliminate deflection

An angled hit with an over-the-top expandable can result in the leading blade grabbing first and throwing the head off line… RAGE’s rear deploying blades follow the cut-on-impact tip and will not grab or deflect and give you full cutting diameter on impact!”

This all sounds good, but it is straight from the guys making money on this one. So I wanted to see what other people had to say. After checking out forums and product reviews on Cabelas the consensus was still pretty popular. Lots of talk about the massive holes and awesome blood trails. Seems that penetration is really great for the most part as well. But there were also mentions of issues with the o-rings and some peoples front tips were bending upon impact. So there were some concerns I want to check on.

For the most part I like what I hear, but seeing is believing, so here are some pictures and videos that really tell the story.

Due to the graphic nature of almost all the videos and pictures that really show what the Rage can do, I have decided not to post them directly on the main page. But follow these links to check out some gnarly images of the damage the Rage can cause. Warning these are GRAPHIC. Please don’t visit these links unless you are truly comfortable with seeing dead deer. These images are not to celebrate gore, but rather to show how effective and humane of a killing tool these broadheads can be.

Wound Pictures From the 2 blade Rage broadhead

More Wound Pics

Uncensored footage from Rage website – watching these videos put me over the edge

These things are nasty. But they work and it seems like they are the most devastating broadheads out there. What this means in the end  is that the deer will perish as quickly as is possible, ensuring a swift, humane and responsible kill. And that is what’s most important to me.

All this being said, I plan on picking up some Rage broadheads soon. Once I return to Michigan and give them a try, I’ll let you know what I think.

More importantly, I’d really like to hear what you have to say! How do you guys like the Rage broadheads?

UPDATE 11/11/09: Check out my thoughts on the Rage after using one to bring down a buck this past weekend.

The arrow is released,  the follow through is solid and your mark is true. What could possibly go wrong at this point? Well a lot of things, but in many cases your arrow sails over the back of your buck as he crouches and then springs away. Most of you have probably experienced or heard of a scenario similar to the the one I have just described. This phenomenon is commonly referred to as “jumping the string.”  For those of you unfamiliar with this idea, here is a quick video of a buck jumping the string.

So what is actually happening here? The deer is not consciously dodging the arrow, rather it is instinctively reacting to a stimuli. The moment the deer hears an unknown surprising sound it’s “fight or flight” reaction kicks in gear and it immediately drops and loads up to bounce away. Unfortunately this often also helps them by ducking underneath many unfortunate hunters arrows.

So how drastic of an effect can this have on your chances of sticking a buck this year? Well lets consider how much a deer can move once you release your arrow. According to secondary data I’ve found, a deer can drop about 1 in in .1 seconds. So that being given and assuming you are are using a newer bow shooting about 300 fps, your arrow would take about .2 seconds to reach a deer at 20 yards. That would give the deer enough time to hypothetically drop 2 feet, but given the time it would take for the deer to initially hear the bow, you can estimate that a deer could still drop as much as a foot. This math seems to back up what many people have seen in real life or on shows. All of this being said, what is there that we hunters can do to reduce the chances of a deer ducking our arrow?

It seems that solutions to this problem are varied and much debated in hunting circles. There seems to be three general options or steps you can take.

• Shoot a faster bow
• Shoot a quieter bow
• Compensate and aim low
• Do not shoot at alerted or “jumpy” deer

1. First lets talk about shooting a faster bow. I can see the benefits of shooting a faster bow for increasing accuracy or range, but when it comes to trying to out run sound, its not going to happen. The fastest bows today travel at around 340 fps, thats fast but sound travels at nearly 1100 fps, so lets assume no matter how fast your bow is, the sound will reach the deer much faster than your arrow.

2. On the other hand the act of silencing your bow can have better results. Dampening the noise of your bow can help decrease the chances of a deer jumping the string and it can be achieved in a plethora of ways. Silencing your bow is a whole story for another time, but in short you can buy a variety of silencers and dampeners that can be attached to your bow or strings that can reduce the noise produced. The quieter you can get your bow, the better.

3. The idea of compensating for this “jump” is possibly the most debated aspect of dealing with this. Should you aim low or shouldn’t you?

In my opinion it makes sense to try to compensate for this to a certain extent. I would not want to aim outside of the kill zone, but it definitely makes sense to me that you should aim at the lower third of the vitals. If the deer doesn’t coil I hit the bottom of the lungs and heart. If the deer does coil, I hit the top of the lungs and still have a dead deer down. This compensation won’t always be enough, but it seems to be a safe way to balance the probability of either situation occuring.

4. Last you must consider whether the deer is spooked or not. Ideally you want to be shooting at a deer that is completely oblivious to your existence, but thats not always how it goes down. These “oblivious” deer still can jump your string, but it seems that it doesn’t happen as often. A deer that has tensed up and is on the alert is much more likely to quickly react to a strange noise and book it out of there. If you can try to take your shots at unspooked deer, if you aren’t so lucky it is definitely a good idea to assume the deer will coil and aim a little bit low.

Hopefully being aware of the phenomenon of “jumping the string” and being able to prepare for it will help increase your chances of bagging a buck this fall. For more info check out these resources

North American Hunter clip, Bowsite.com Article, DIY Hunting article

Watch this video to see what Chuck Adams, possibly the worlds most accomplished archer, has to say about jumping the string.

Have any other thoughts or ideas on the topic? Let us know! I know there are a lot of opinions out there, so lets hear em!

Da Turdy Point Buck

“Did you see Da Turdy Pointer!?” was a phrase I remember fondly from one of my favorite hunting songs, “Da Turdy Point Buck.” Growing up I always thought that a thirty point buck was only the figment of wild imagination, but it looks like things have changed. Wayne Schumacher of Wisconsin downed a 4-5 year old 30 point buck with his bow and arrow. Speculation has flown and the buzz is that this buck could become the state’s new record buck. Plenty of additional information can be found all over the web. The Post Crescent reported that Wayne made his shot at 15 yards and that the monster ran no more than 70 yards before falling.

Here’s a nice little youtube video someone shot of an interview with Wayne Schumaker as he explains this once in a lifetime deer. The interviewer kind of loses some credibility with me at the end when he asks Wayne, “Would this be a regular rack or is this…?” Nontypical buddy, this is obviously a nontypical. But nonetheless the video has some pretty interesting tidbits of info, not to mention amazing footage of this stud buck.

Even CNN covered the story!

This story was talked about so much that on Sep 24th it was the #9 most searched term on the internet and the 30 point buck even made it on a website entitled “Stupid Celebrities Gossip.” Unbelievable. Congrats to Wayne.

And to anyone that has any hunting ideas in Northern California, I’d love to hear!

Should crossbows be allowed during archery season?

I recently read an article in Outdoor Life magazine, entitled The Crossbow Controversy, discussing the current controversy surrounding the spread of crossbow use in America. Seems that crossbows are increasing in popularity and are being legalized in many states during their bowhunting seasons. One side believes that crossbows are a great new tool for hunters, increase accuracy and the amount of ethical kills and they bring more hunters into the woods. On the opposite side, traditionalists claim that crossbows take away the spirit of the hunt. Being that they are too easy and technically similar to guns rather than bows.

In this article, Ed Wentzler, the legislative director for United Bowhunters of Pennsylvania explained his issue with crossbows by saying,  “Archery equipment should be defined as implements that are held by hand, drawn by hand and released by the motion of the hand in the presence of game,” he says. “If you are shooting a crossbow, you are not drawing the string in the presence of game. That alone gives crossbow shooters an unfair advantage. It is not bowhunting.”

On the side for crossbows, Ohio’s wildlife management chief supported crossbow use,  explaining, “ Crossbows allow hunters to get out in the woods more often, and allow them to be more successful hunters,” says Risley. “For wildlife managers trying to kill as many deer as possible, crossbows have become a necessary tool.”

In my opinion I would have to agree with Wentzler, I feel that bowhunting is so special because it is so darn difficult. The key attribute of a bow is that you must pull back and hold the bow string when your target moves into range. This is the greatest challenge of hunting during archery season and it is part of what preserves this traditional way of hunting. I don’t have an issue with hunters using a crossbow, but I don’t believe they should be categorized or used during archery season. Instead they could be used during the firearm season, muzzleloader season or possibly in their own short period.

What are your thoughts? Should crossbows be allowed during bow season or do they pose an unfair advantage?

A great image from Gerber's homepage

I get asked very frequently why it is that I like to hunt. In the past I’ve had a very long winded answer which covered everything from my love for the outdoors, to the sound of a deer’s steps on frost covered leaves to the taste of freshly cooked venison. But recently I’ve found a way to describe that almost religious experience I feel every time I step into the woods with a gun or bow in hand.

When I head into the outdoors to go hiking or canoeing I get to be in the outdoors and see nature, but when I go hunting I actually become a part of nature. I, for a small time, enter into the circle of life and work to establish my position in the food chain. I am no longer an intruder into the world of wild creatures, I instead become something much more primal and real. It is in these moments that I feel the most alive and it’s why I will forever cherish the hunt. Why do you?

As I strolled the aisles I came upon a booth for one of my favorite hunting shows online. The Slunger Hollow Productions booth really got me excited, as I am a huge fan of “Buckeye Cam Presents Fair Chase Encounters”. Two years ago I watched an episode of this show every morning before going to class in the fall and I really believe it helped me bag my buck that year. What I like about this series is that they really highlight important steps and tips throughout the episode, rather than just showing quick kills of huge deer. It just seems very real and very insightful. I also really liked the fact that they use primarily archery equipment in the Midwest, which is very similar to what I do. If you want to check out Fair Chase Encounters you can check out their website or search for them on MyOutdoorTV.com.