John Corrao and John Geist from the Westchester/Putnam Branch of the Quality Deer Management Association doubled up on these two fine bucks on November 21st. The deer were taken about an hour apart.

Geist's 8 pointer will probably age 3 1/2 years old and Corrao's 7 pointer is at least 5 1/2 years old. Corrao has trail cam pics of this buck over the past three years and has his sheds from last season when he passed the buck up.

Congrats to John and John on some great mature Putnam County bucks.

It was Tim's last night to hunt and he had missed a nice 8 pointer the week before. Time was running out when Tim saw the buck he was after 80 yards away. He hit the grunt tube and watched as the buck came in on a string to 20 yards. The arrow hit its mark, but Tim decided it was best to back out and let him go overnight since it was getting dark fast. The next morning Tim found his buck piled up 70 yards from his stand. Congrats to Tim for sticking with it until the end!

On November 14th, 2009 Dan Bedell was hunting in the town of Barre, New York. Little did he know the events that were about to unfold.

Dan used a bottle of Northern Whitetails Scents "Intruder Buck" to lay a scent trail to his stand. The week before it brought in a nice 10 pointer that one of his friends ended up shooting. This day would be Dan's turn.

The monster 17 point buck came into 42 yards when Dan drew back on the deer. As the arrow flew it hit a branch of a thorn bush which deflected the arrow causing it to hit the buck in the neck.

About 400 yards later they found the buck piled up against a tree. As Dan went to grab the buck's antlers the deer tried to stand up and he had to hold the buck down so his friend could finish the deer.

The 5 1/2 year old buck scored 194 1/8" as a non-tpical and netted 182 2/8".

This is one incredible buck and will be right up there as one of the best bucks taken this season with a bow. There have been a lot of giant bucks falling this season so far!

After two weeks in the stand with no shooter bucks walking through Jeff was starting to wonder what was going on. Then on November 14th a monster appeared and Jeff arrowed the biggest buck of his life. The mainframe 10 pointer had a 2 inch kicker off its left brow tine and grossed 160 inches. Congrats to Jeff on a giant New York buck.

On November 15th Rick was in Candor, New York bowhunting when he spotted a nice 8 pointer 120 yards away. He gave the buck a snort wheeze and the deer turned and started coming in. At 35 yards Rick drew back his PSE Dream Season and let the arrow fly. The buck piled up within 50 yards. Congrats to Rick on a nice buck!

It was the last week of bowseason when this 8 pointer came through around 9:30 in the morning. Earlier that day she had seen two monsters chasing does behind her, but they never came closer than 40 yards. With the 8 pointer at 25 yards she picked her spot and released the arrow. The buck took off and crashed only 50 yards away.

Adam's brother was hunting his 93 acre farm this season when this monster 10 pointer gave him a shot opportunity he just couldn't pass up. Quality deer management is practiced on their farm and this is the second buck of this caliber taken off the farm this season - what a brute!

Chuck took this beautiful 149" Pope & Young buck in the Allegany State Park during the second week of November. With 65,000 acres to cover it's not easy finding bucks of this caliber, but with dedication and year round scouting it's possible. Congrats to Chuck on a great buck!

On the evening of November 2nd Mike was in his stand hoping to see one of the bucks he had been watching all summer long. Around 4:30 p.m. one of the big 8 pointers Mike had been watching came in and offered him a 50 yard shot.


Mike ranged the deer and sent the arrow on its way. The arrow passed through both lungs and watched the deer run off and pile up. Congrats to Mike on a very nice 8 pointer with great mass.

If the weekend of the 7th had bucks “actively engaged” with the does, the weekend of the 14th found “married”. While Craig spent most of the week riding around the country in an airplane, Neil was busy checking out the deer activity. What he found was less intensity in the buck movement category (compared to earlier weeks) with fewer chases and more “partnering up” between bucks and does in isolated pockets of cover.

Cameras showed very late food plot feeding and doe family groups beginning to re-assemble. The warm temps undoubtedly contributed to the late evening food plot use. Morning (cooler) sits were more productive than evenings with deer still on the acorns. Unfortunately they didn’t have to cover much ground to find them. So there wasn’t a lot of moving around. Our best sits were in acorn areas when bucks came by to check on feeding does and fawns, unfortunately most of the bucks were young ones. We predicted this week would be one of our most frustrating and it was. Just couldn’t seem to get in the middle of that mature buck-doe activity and most of the buck sightings were young bucks.

Let us know what you are seeing. One of the NCW families has already reported a great Veteran’s Day weekend so all of you can’t be in slow down mode like us. It is important to hear from as many of you as possible (a sentence or two is sufficient). Also, check out our cameras and blog at www.wonation.org for some cool pics and Neil’s analysis. A new blog will be up late today or tomorrow.

If the weekend of the 7th had bucks “actively engaged” with the does, the weekend of the 14th found “married”

This week we logged 51 deer in 35 hrs. of sitting, for an average of 1.45 deer per hr. (almost identical to last week). A total of 8 bucks were sighted. The big difference being the number of 2.5 yr. old bucks or better being lower than past weeks; 15% vs. almost 30%. This is a very low number for our property but the data don’t lie.

We have not reported “unique” buck sightings in a couple of weeks due to the sheer volume of photos to go through. We know we are seeing new bucks weekly but the process is time consuming what with hunting two shifts per day, time is short. But, we are storing the pics. and will be analyzing them as soon as more time is available. Be sure to save your “unique buck” pics as they are an important part of the picture and we will be needing this data at season’s end.

Neil hunted another farm one day this week that allowed him to keep an eye on hundreds of acres of deer habitat at a time. He watched does feeding peacefully on food plots with older aged bucks working not too far away. The bucks never came by to check out the does. His take away----does on food plots are not necessarily, or at least not always, the “main attraction”. You would expect to see these roving bucks “all over those does” but they took a pass and never worked the plots. Guess nothing is for sure in the deer woods this time of year.

Last week we encountered a perfect storm in the form of a huge acorn crop blanketing the area, warm temps, and mature bucks in “lockdown” with receptive does. This perfect storm wasn’t a total bust but it sure slowed things down here at Kindred Spirits.

Our success here at Kindred Spirits has in no small way been driven by setting a better table than the neighbors. This year Mother Nature created a “welfare state” by delivering a bumper crop of acorns throughout the neighborhood. The “food playing field” was leveled this fall with the adjoining land owners not so much as buying a bag of fertilizer or a gallon on chainsaw gas.

Combine the parity in available food with our continuous hunting pressure since Oct. 15 (in spite of our low impact hunting approaches) and the fact that many neighboring properties have yet to see a boot track and you begin to get the picture of our situation.

With gun season just around the corner we are concerned about the initial neighborhood kill with the deer spread throughout the woods. That will change after two days of gun season as the pressure mounts and the deer seek out the safe havens of our sanctuary areas. If we can keep the pressure to a minimum we will see a migration of good deer home to Kindred Spirits and we will have a good chance of seeing some pretty good deer in the gun season.

However, deer are slaves to their stomachs, and as soon as the pressure drops on the outside they will head for the acorns once again and be once again vulnerable to neighborhood ambush. We sure hate seeing all those young bucks picked off. Especially with an over abundance of does that need to be taken. Oh, by the way, our corn crop failed this summer and our late season food source (other than acorns) will be a late summer catch crop of brassica put in after the corn drowned. Whaaaaa!

We share this as a means of helping all better understand how the dynamics of property management operate. We have preached “food, cover, security” as the keys to property management for years. This year our food advantage has been marginalized, but we are still looking at a positive situation as “high impact” neighborhood hunters put pressure on mature deer. Our enhanced cover and security might be our “ace in the hole”.

But, bow season is still with us all week and we will stay after them hoping to catch breeding bucks moving from one doe to another. We’ll hunt the acorns hard at the traditional feeding times and won’t be afraid to put in a midday shift or two in some core areas. When a buck is done he is done and there is no rule as to when he moves again. Mild temps will keep movement to a minimum but to quote Woody Allen “80% of success is showing up”.

If you are experiencing the same bowhunting frustration take heart. Heavy acorn crops combined with mild falls and winters (yet to come) typically result in great deer the following year. How’s that for a silver lining? And, there is always the chaos of gun season.

Next week we will report on the first weekend of gun season and tell you how you can get your hands on a few hundred thousand acorn producing oaks, free for the digging.

Best regards,
NorthCountry Whitetails

Sam was out on November 11th in Orleans County bowhunting for whitetail deer when this tall tined monster started coming his way. At 25 yards Sam sent the Magnus Stinger on its way and watched the buck crash less than 50 yards away.

Not much info on this buck other than it was taken in Chautauqua County on November 2nd. This is an incredible New York archery deer. We've been seeing a lot of great bucks so far this season.

UPDATE:

This buck was taken by Steve Sheffield in Dunkirk, New York on November 1st. Steve first came across this buck's sheds during the early spring and hoped to get a chance at him during the upcoming deer season.

While hunting on November 1st Steve spotted the deer at 150 yards heading into the brush. About 10 minutes later the brute came chasing a doe just 40 yards away from Steve. Steve had just enough time to grab the bow as the two deer came down the trail in front of him.

The buck was hit a little far back so Steve backed out and came back 6 hours later. Although he couldn't find any blood, Steve found his buck piled up just 50 yards away. Congrats to Steve on an awesome buck!

This beautiful split brow buck was killed in Steuben County on November 11th during a morning hunt on the family farm. One of the neighbors had two years worth of trailcam pictures of this buck and a set of sheds. This is one impressive New York buck that should score between 140" and 150". Congrats to the hunter on an unique trophy.

In DEC's Region 5 (Clinton, Essex, Franklin, Fulton, Hamilton, Saratoga, Warren and Washington counties) alone, 225 volunteer instructors taught more than 100 classes this year, training more than 3,000 enrollees. Region 5 has 15 new certified instructors, with 30 apprentices continuing to work toward their certification and 40 new volunteers applying to become instructors.

All first-time hunters, bow hunters and trappers must pass one or more Sportsman Education courses before they can obtain a hunting or trapping license in New York State. In addition, DEC Environmental Education camps offer hunter education classes and bow hunter education classes. Participants in the Becoming an Outdoors-Woman fall workshop held in Lake George also had the opportunity to take hunter education.

"DEC's Sportsman Education classes are more popular than ever, reaching about 25,000 people across New York State this year." 

Students receive hands-on instruction in skills, equipment, responsibilities and ethics.
These courses help to develop skills and attitudes that result in better hunters. Participants learn to respect people, wildlife, nature and public and private property; practice safe and ethical behavior; appreciate humans as part of nature; support conservation efforts, and serve as examples for responsible hunting and trapping.

An improvement to the program has been an increase in home-study classes. The classes in both gun and bow hunting were designed to better reach military personnel on leave and students active in after-school programs. Students complete part of the class online or in a workbook prior to receiving hands-on instruction in skills, equipment, responsibilities and ethics. This allows instructors to educate students in less time, while still ensuring their complete education.

If you are interested in signing up for a free Sportsman Education course, please see the list of the classes.

On November 9th Billy Lester was in Long Island, New York trying to rattle in a big buck. Little did he know how big of a buck would come strolling in. Billy ended up arrowing this monster typical 10 pointer with kickers going everywhere including matching kickers off of its brow tines. The buck scored 145". Congrats to Billy on a fine buck!

On November 6th Fred's nephew was on his way to his stand when a monster buck jumped up not more than 10 yards in front of him. Dropping to one knee he nocked an arrow, stood up and the buck was looking right at the hunter. Fred's nephew drew back and released an arrow hitting the buck right behind the shoulder. The buck took off and crashed 100 yards away. With a 20 inch inside spread, 10 points on one side and 8 on the other, this buck scored a whopping 180"!

It was opening day of the 2009 bowhunting season in Westchester County when this giant 8 pointer materialized in front of Mike's stand and started working a scrape. With the buck just 20 yards away, Mike settled the pin and watched as his buck went down in sight. The bruiser scored 123" P&Y. Congrats to Mike on an awesome buck!

This nice 10 pointer was arrowed in Chautauqua County on November 12th. It was the third time the hunter had seen this buck during the archery season. At 15 yards the hunter drew back on a doe and then noticed the buck while at full draw. The buck stared down the hunter as he slowly swung the bow towards the buck. This brute tipped the scales at 194 pounds!

Medina headed out to the field on a Saturday afternoon. The temperature was in the mid-40s with a 10 mile per hour wind coming out of the South South-East. Getting back into the thicket there weren't many big trees so it was hard to find that just right tree to put a stand in. Medina picked a spot with several trails crossing and a spot that deer would get pushed to as other hunters entered the woods.

As the sun began to set leaves started crunching and branches breaking in the thicket. It was way too thick to see anything, but Medina stayed focused as the sound got closer. After about 5 minutes Medina could see the top of the bucks antlers as it made its way through the thicket and knew this was a shooter buck.

The buck made its way down one of the only shooting lanes and offered Medina a 17 yard shot. Just as the arrow was on its way the buck took a step and the shot was a bit far back. Medina did the right thing and left the woods to return in the morning and find his deer. After hours of searching the next day the blood trail ended after 180 yards. Remembering that deer tend to head for water when hit, he made his way to the only nearby water source and found his buck piled up in the creek.

The buck was a lot bigger than Medina though and the brute netted 147" Pope & Young. Congrats to Medina on a fine buck!

Jim Serra of Baldwin, Long Island traveled to Westchester County on November 8, 2009 for an early morning deer hunt.

Jim has been bow hunting for 40 years and finally had a opportunity at a fall gobbler, which he says is "harder to harvest than a deer."

On the morning of November 8th, Jim watched a flock of about 30 turkeys 60 yards away when three gobblers broke away and headed towards Jim's stand.

Jim arrowed the gobbler at 25 yards with a Rage broadhead - three flops and it was over. w

The longbeard weighed 19 pounds, had a 7 1/4 inch beard and 1/2 inch spurs. Congrats to Jim on his first fall longbeard with a bow!

There are still a few more days left of turkey season which Closes in Westchester on November 20th. Hunters can take two birds of either sex during this season.

This buck was arrowed in Allegany County on November 2nd. He was extremely rutted up and doing buck growls all morning (not grunts). The hunter had watched this guy and two other big boys most of the summer. Congrats on an awesome Allegany buck!

Here's an update on our giant Long Island buck. I got an email from the hunter, Bjorn Holubar, the other morning with these great photos of the deer and a little more on what happened.

It was Monday, October 26th when Bjorn entered the woods. He made his way through a briar patch making a racket and using his rattle bag to sounds like a big buck fight. About an hour and a  half later a nice buck came into the area Bjorn had just had the mock fight in.


Bjorn reached for his grunt tube and gave a few grunts to bring the deer closer. When the deer was at 35 yards he let the arrow fly and watched as the arrow hit its mark and the buck spun and ran off. Bjorn was so excited that he got out of his stand and ran to the buck just 25 yards from where he was shot.


This monster buck was aged at 6 1/2 years old, has 20 scorable points, weighted 205 pounds dressed and has unofficially scores 209" - what a monster buck! This will definitely be one of the largest bucks ever taken in New York. Congrats to Bjorn and his amazing buck.

Wayne took this awesome 9 pointer on November 6th during an evening hunt. The buck was traveling a hillside 150 yards away when Wayne first spotted the monster. He let out a few grunts and brought the buck right in. At 30 yards Wayne let his arrow fly and the buck found its final resting place. Congrats to Wayne on an awesome Westchester County buck!

This year we'll be doing a weekly Rut Report here on NYBowhunter.com. I'll let you know what I'm seeing and what some of the guys in the area are seeing while out in the stand.

Over the last 10 days I've been hunting hard every day in Westchester County, NY and in Fairfield County, CT. In both areas the bucks have been wandering around with their noses to the ground like beagles hot on the trail of a rabbit.

I have witnessed several bucks chasing does, but it seems to be mainly 1 1/2 and 2 1/2 year olds. 

On my 10 day hunt I only saw one deer that was definitely a 3 1/2 year old. He was a big 8 pointer and locked on a doe that probably came into heat early as I saw the same buck with the same doe two days in a row.

We had a drop in temperature one morning and that really helped with the deer movement. The most intense rut activity I witnessed was last Thursday the 5th. As I sat in my stand on a ridge the deer like to travel through I saw a doe making her way across the top of the ridge with a nice 8 pointer. I threw every call I had at this buck and he didn't have any interest in me at all - why should he though, he had the real thing right in front of him!

There was only one thing that could bring that buck in and that would be another doe. As luck would have it - I wouldn't believe this if I didn't see it myself - another doe appears out of nowhere and is headed directly for my stand. The 8 pointer sees this new doe, puts his head to the ground and charges as her. The doe runs towards me then puts the brakes on at 15 yards and cuts to her left hard running down the mountain. The buck was right behind her, but I had to think if he was a shooter or not and having that thought was enough to make me pass on this buck. He was a really nice 8 pointer out to his ears with decent tine length and small brows - a good buck, but I know there are better ones where I'm hunting and I am okay with eating my buck tag if I don't see one of the 3 1/2 or 4 1/2 year old bucks I want to take.

So the buck and doe disappeared, but the first doe was still up on the ridge feeding on acorns and waiting for the buck to come back. A few minutes later he was walking back up to his first doe - guess the second lady wasn't ready yet. I watched the buck through my rangefinder to get a closer look at  his rack and see if I made the right call by passing on him when I heard something below me. I looked down to see a doe and fawn under my stand.

I wanted to see if I could bring the big 8 back for a second look so I blew on the grunt call not really caring if I scared the doe and fawn away. Well oddly enough, I let out a few grunts and then out from under my stand run the doe and her fawn along with a 4 pointer and a spike. Now the 8 pointer is angry and charges as these two bucks chasing them off. After that he got back with his lady and wandered off over the mountain top. Here's some video from the trip:



It was a very exciting 10 days with lots of chasing going on. The chasing is not being done by the bigger bucks yet though. I think the big guys are staying in the thick cover with some of the does that have come into estrus early and they won't be out chasing until they're done with their ladies and the younger bucks have tired themselves out.

The warm weather on the last two days of my hunt really slowed things down for me. On Wednesday, November 11th it is supposed to rain which will probably keep down deer movement a bit. However, Thursday will bring back the cooler temps and the weather should be perfect the remainder of the week to get those bigger bucks up and moving. I expect to hear more stories of big bucks on the move in the next few days as well as some more photos coming in of big rutting bucks down.

Get out there and get ready for all day sits! Good luck and be safe!

-Marc Alberto
NYBowhunter.com

This big 7 pointer was anchored on November 2nd at 8:30 a.m. in Monroe County. He came right into a rattling and grunting sequence and gave the hunter a perfect 20 yard broadside shot.  The buck had a live weight between 225 to 230 pounds and will score in the low 120's.

Here is the latest from our friends at NorthCountry Whitetails:

A quiet week and an “interesting weekend” would pretty much sum up last weeks activity. Once again we hunted oak woods and food plots all week. Of the two the oak woods were the most productive sits. The plots remained relatively quiet through most of the week with just a few sightings late in the evening on plots.

This week we logged 19 bucks and 60 does with 38.5 hrs. of sitting. This nets out to a little over 2 deer per hr. This is down some from past weeks but we generally experience a ‘lull” just before things begin to pick up. Our camera pics are also off from past weeks as were the three live cams at our other farm. Check them out at www.wonation.org. Last week was definitely the calm before the storm but the storm clouds began to gather over the weekend.

We observed a few noteworthy events this weekend. First, we passed our first “almost mature” buck of the year. We have photographed some nice “shooters” but as most of you can attest, a scouting cam pic. taken at 3 a.m. is a far cry from a point blank bow shot. Our hunting partner Steve had a nice 3.5 yr. old at 15 yds. Saturday morning and decided to take a pass. A true “catch and release” as we have this fellow full framed on camera for him to put on the wall. Next year the 9 pointer will be a “man” but…

We also observed much more aggression and posturing by younger bucks, especially in the 2.5 yr. old range. We watched a few bushes getting torn up, saw some tough guy attitudes, heard some grunting and even some snort wheezing. We also saw some interesting doe behavior including a shortage of does on their old familiar haunts in favor of doe groups hanging out in out of the way places like thick brush and steep ledges. Clearly they are feeling some buck pressure and trying to make themselves hard to find.

Craig watched 12 does and fawns moving steadily through the woods single file on their way to a food plot for a late (almost dark) brief feeding frenzy. They were crossing an oak flat after leaving a brushy clear cut area. Occasionally we see doe-fawn groups moving like this during gun season when the are “coveyed up” trying to stay alive, but this early? Usually the does move around in family units of 3, 4 and occasionally 5.

Our neighbor Barry shed some light on this when he reported a spike “guarding” a food plot for an entire evening. The spike took up a position at the top edge of a 1 acre plot located on a side hill. Each time does came into the plot he rushed them and ran them off only to return a few minutes later to take up the same position and rush the next group of does who showed up. Kinda like that dog that chases every car that comes by the farm house. No wonder the does are staying off the plots (at least ours) with the yearlings out there patrolling all the familiar places.

As expected, we saw a number of bucks “on the march” just moving through, not really sure where they are going or for that matter why. But we definitely photographed fewer bucks this week than the last two. Any ideas out there? We had been pulling film every week so they may have gotten camera shy. Most likely, many of our does have pulled off the plots and the bucks have followed. Any ideas?

We expect the switch to be thrown sometime this week. This can get pretty “site specific” as the does start to come into heat so many of you may already be seeing great activity. We have seen plenty of “rush and flushes” to date but have yet to see our first “tongue out, hot and heavy, run or be gored” chases. Those are the ones we wait for, when older age bucks truly are stupid. We have also not yet seen the “age turn over” when older age bucks begin replacing younger bucks in the overall mix of numbers and show up in observable locations during daylight hours. These are the markers we always look for.

This week we will concentrate on hunting travel areas to intercept cruising bucks. We will begin moving into our core areas (have been staying out of them) to try to get in the middle of a real chase or even a “breeding party”. We’ll hunt mornings and evenings and when we see the critical markers kick in we will hunt pretty much all day. It should be an interesting 10 days.

Note; A number of classrooms and young hunters and outdoorpersons have started monitoring our remote scouting cameras at www.wonation.org and reading Neil’s blog. Are you checking them out with your kids and grandkids? If not, don’t complain when they want to go to the mall or listen to CD’s with their friends next time you ask them to go to the woods with you. This is a great way to get kids and the whole family into watching deer and other cool outdoor stuff; all in real time with the click of a mouse from the comfort of your home.

Be safe,
NorthCountry Whitetails

This buck was shot on October 27th in Herkimer County by Shared Obsession TV's John Valenta. This is an awesome New York 9 pointer that has great mass and tine length. Congrats to John!

A combination of grunting and doe bleats brought this big Steuben County buck in on October 29th. The buck was first spotted in a food plot about 150 yards from the hunter and he was heading away. After a doe bleat with the can and several grunts the buck came within 30 yards, but in thick cover. The monster buck was lip curling and trying to find the makers of the noise.

Once the deer turned broadside at 22 yards the archer let his arrow fly and watched as the buck piled up 40 yards from the tree. The buck was a 6 pointer (no brow tines) and had an 18.5" spread.

This giant was killed in Tioga County on the morning of November 5, 2009. The monster buck rough scored 176". Greg called the buck in across a field and was able to put an arrow in him at 30 yards. Congrats to Greg on a dandy buck!

On Saturday, October 31st Mark was deer hunting the Limestone Run area on the border of New York and Pennsylvania when he noticed something odd from his treestand. The hunter got down and stalked closer to see what it was and then realized it was a hog. Mark was able to stalk within 30 yards of the pig and put it down.

There were apparently a few more with this one. Hopefully they don't settle down in New York otherwise we're going to have a real problem. Feral swine are a harmful evasive species and would be detrimental to other wildlife in New York if their numbers increased.

According to page 20 of the 2009-10 Hunting & Trapping Guide, hunters with small game hunting privileges may shoot and keep feral swine at any time and in any number. If you shoot or see a feral swine, the NYS DEC asks that you please report it at fwwildlf@gw.dec.state.ny.us.

Alvin Austin was hunting in the Northwestern Adirondacks with his hunting group when this deep woods bruiser showed up. What a giant buck! Congrats to Alvin.

This monster buck was apparently taken in Long Island a few days ago. It looks like a New York State tag on this deer. I've never seen a buck quite like this one - lots of mass, double main beam, drop tine with sticker points. This buck has it all! If anyone has any info on this buck drop us a line.

UPDATE: This buck was taken in Brookhaven by Bjorn Holubar on the afternoon of October 26, 2009. Holubar rattled and grunted to lure in the buck around 4:45 p.m. The buck had 20 points and a third main beam. The buck unofficially scores 209" and will likely rank as one of the largest deer ever arrowed in New York State.

On October 30th Jeff was in Westchester County bowhunting whitetails. He had passed up several does and a few small bucks when he saw a nice 8 pointer. The deer never offered Jeff a shot and he watched as the big buck walked off. A little while later Jeff noticed a buck walking in on the scent trail he had laid on the way to his stand. This buck was huge! The big 9 pointer came in and offered Jeff a 25 yard shot. The buck piled up within 40 yards and grossed 131" Pope & Young.

Last weekend my cousin Ken made it out to one of his new properties in Dutchess County that is just loaded with deer. After seeing six does in a group make their way down the ridge and cross just out of range Ken turned just in time to see this big old doe sneaking in behind him. The doe was just at 20 yards when he drew back his Hoyt Katera and let the arrow fly. The Rage broadhead did its damage and the doe crashed within sight. Ken was pumped! Congrats to Ken and his first bowkill with his new bow.

This monster 8 pointer was taken recently in Wyoming County, NY. I don't have any other details on this buck right now, but it's definitely a monster!

It was a great night when this giant 3.5 year old New York 10 pointer came into two yearling bucks sparring. The big 10 pointer showed his dominance by rubbing a nearby tree and then posturing as he walked towards the two younger deer.

He chased one of the little bucks off and proceeded to follow him and then snort wheeze. Reaching for his grunt tube the hunter gave a deep grunt and after the third grunt from his call the buck starting coming in.

At 25 yards the hunter let the arrow fly and watched as the arrow hit its mark. The buck took off running and stopped at about 100 yards before crashing.