sampotter

Nyantler- the problem is that one guy made the decision that the tine had a common base. Check this video describing why it is not a common base: [media=] [/media] The worst part is how inconsistent the rulings are for whether tines are typical or nontypical. The Lloyd Goad buck is one: http://www.facebook....id=408149770833http://www.northamer...tr_1004vintage/ that got the benefit of the doubt. On both sides there are tines that could go either way. There are countless other examples of bucks that went one way or the other: Zaft Buck (common base) http://www.northamer...a503zaftupdate/ Herbeck Buck (common base) http://www.herbuck.zoomshare.com/ Van Lith Buck (not common-base, Really??!!) http://scottslifelog...-lith-buck.html The problem is that it is left up to personal judgement, and different scorers in different eras make different calls. Everyone is missing the real reason B+C is keeping the King buck from being considered for a possible world record- The Rompola Buck!! Remember- Rompola signed an affadavit stating that he would not enter his buck in the book as long as the Hanson buck was still the world record?.....

There's always a few 150-160" bucks around. They are a lot easier to find in velvet though.

Wish I could say he's near property I can hunt. It's also one thing to find them in velvet and a whole other thing to have him on your property during the season. He could 3 miles away by then... maybe on property I can hunt?

Bought a small video cam the other day. Works pretty well. Not National Geographic quality but good enough for being 150-200 yards away. Note the huge split brow and sticker on the right side. Posted this here because there is not a Hunting Related Videos category. [media=] [/media]

I have not seen Food, Inc., but as a dairy farmer I need to make a few points regarding some earlier comments: 1) The rules, regulations, and restrictions for food quality that American farmers have to follow and adhere to are some of the most strict and heavily enforced in the world. Countries in Central and South America are still able to use pesticides that were long ago banned in the U.S. because of their dangerous nature. When we import fresh produce it is ispected in the U.S., but there are no U.S. regulations on how it was grown. Think about that next time you pop a grape in your mouth grown in Chile. 2) Animals destined for the food chain that are raised in the U.S. are not constantly fed or injected with antibiotics. Antibiotics are used to treat sick animals and have FDA required withdrawal times after treatment ends. They must stay out of the food chain while the anibiotics leave their system. Tissue samples are taken after slaughter by an inspector to ensure that no animals that have antibiotic residues are consumed by humans. 3) Any hormones given to food animals in the U.S. were rigorously tested by the FDA and obviously were not found to be harmful for human consumption. Do you really think bovine somatotropin (growth hormone) is going to have an affect on humans? When you buy milk that says it is "Free of Bovine Growth Hormone" it is actually false advertising- cows produce a heck of a lot more growth hormone naturally than is ever adminstered to them artificially. I have heard the claims that children are reaching puberty earlier than ever. It is a fact that mammals reach puberty based on their body weight. It is a fact that American children have an obesity problem. Fat kids go through puberty at an earlier age! Keep the soda, potato chips, and candy away and give them a glass of milk. 4) The small mom and pop family farms most of you like to think of have been decreasing in numbers, but don't forget that there was also a time when every family had a cow, some chickens, pigs, and a sheep. Farming is constantly progressing- its called EVOLUTION. The larger farms that PETA likes to call FACTORY farms are still family owned and operated. Now instead of one family, a large farm supports several families and provides an opportunity for us to raise our kids in an environment that instills a work ethic in them that too much of America has forgotten. We take pride in the way we raise our animals, till our soil, and feed this country. Every imrpovement made in American agriculture is driven by our nation's need for cheap food! Unfortunately the farmers' inputs keep going up (think fuel, feed fertilizer), while consumers are not willing to pay more for the final product. Therefore farmers have to get bigger, faster, more efficient. The days when a 50 cow dairy herd could support a family of six are over. There is a great quote at the end of this article: http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2012/03/06/148044744/even-dairy-farming-has-a-1-percent "Bob, her grandfather, told me a number of hysterical, unprintable farm jokes during my visit, but he turned pensive when it came to his farm's future. When times were bleak, he said, it used to be possible to work your way out of the problem. "You just stay in the cowshed longer, work harder," he says. Now, he realizes, "if you don't use your head, your hands aren't gonna help you." And even then, you might not make it."- Bob Fulper, 85 year-old retired dairy famer.

Also- saw a group of 7 deer in Ohio along 90 today on the way back- one was a darn nice 8pt- still packing antlers!

The fifth and final day yielded one more 4pt antler, bringing the trip total to 18 and 27 for the year. Sam-20, Ruby- 4, Fleur-3. The dogs really have different styles; Fleur covers a lot of ground and sometimes runs right by an old antler that the slower moving Ruby finds instead. Together they make a pretty good team. I still spot most of the antlers before they get downwind of them, but they found 4 on this trip that I had already walked by at less than 10 feet.

Day 3 was nearly a bust. Covered over 11 miles on 2 different southern MN farms and all I found was a broken off 3 pt antler despite donating blood courtesy of cat's claw, gooseberry, buckthorn, blackberry brambles, and multiflora rose. Day 4 went quite a bit better. Went to one of the Paus family friend's farms and Fleur started it off by finding a nice, fresh 4 pt. Shortly after, Ruby sniffed out another old artifact from many years past. She has quite the nose for old bone. A while later I spotted a huge 4pt antler that was from this year but had been mauled by the squirrels. Even with no brow tine it scores 63" and is one of my best ever. We spent some time looking for the match, but the neighbor had a few hundred acres of CRP ground just over the fence. Later on I found another on a different farm. This was an older forkhorn antler. Unfortunately there were ATV tracks all over that particular farm, so it was picked pretty clean before I got there. If we found antlers like we found ticks yesterday I wouldn't have been able to walk. I know I flattened over 100 of them on my pants with my Leatherman.

Training them is almost as fun as working them in the woods.

Thanks Trophy taker.

Went to one of the girlfriend's friend's farms today. Jumped a buck that had lost his antlers- "BINGO" I thought. Found small a 4pt side w/a sticker shortly after. It was a good 2 hours and several miles later when I spotted an old, chewed 4pt across a ravine. After jumping a group of bucks that had all lost their antlers except for one 6pt that was still packing, Ruby dropped the match to the first antler I found at my heels. I missed the whole thing, but I heard the unmistakable "clink" of an antler hitting a rock and there she stood with a small 4pt at her feet. Her finds have not been as glamorous as Fleur's, but nonetheless are appreciated. An hour or so later we were crawling through some multiflora rose along a steep hillside when I heard Ruby mouthing something right behind me. I told her "drop" thinking it was some dead animal part, but realized it was a remnant of a decent antler dropped many, many years ago. Fleur had a similar find last spring. So far this year: Sam-16, Ruby-3, Fleur-2. Miles today: 11.5

We drove 15.5 hours through the night to get to my girlfriend's parent's in Iowa and arrived at 5am. For her it is a good excuse to visit her them, for me a good excuse to stretch my legs and find some antlers! I was out the door by 9am and headed to a neighbor's farm that gave me permission to look. Unfortunately they also gave another guy permission too and I saw his boot tracks in the mud. Despite this, Fleur, Ruby, and I managed to tie my single day record by finding 8 sheds while covering 12 miles according to my GPS. I suspect the dogs covered even more. We found 2 matched, fresh 8-point sets and 4 singles, 2 of which were old, chewed, and big. I found the first 7 with the dogs helping bring them in and Ruby found #8, HER FIRST (girlfriend is very proud). That antler matched the one I found less than a minute and 20 feet earlier on the same trail. Hot, tired, sunburnt, and raring for day 2.

Yesterday the 16th we searched near my parent's house in Skaneatles. A lond day and lots of mud. I did manage to find 3 different oldie moldies, one of which was buried in the mud. The dogs didn't find any of their own. Most of the time if I am finding antlers before they do its because I see them from a lot farther off before the dogs can get downwind of them and catch their scent. On Monday the 19th we head to my girlfriend's parents farm in Iowa for our 2nd annual shed hunt.

I had not had any luck this year until I went to visit a friend at his property in the Hocking Hills of Ohio the weekend of March 10th. Part of the problem is there are still a lot of bucks wearing their antlers including 2 big guys I saw near Rochester on the way back from Ohio on March 11th. We pulled into his camp and there was a decent 4 point in the yard. I went around the corner and there was the other side along with a 3 pt side from a different deer. I worked my girlfriend's yellow lab pup Ruby on them and she "found" them and retrieved them with glee. I had to hold my black lab Fleur so the pup could get a chance. I'll take the easy ones any day. We started hiking up and down those hills and the dogs found a 10pt 3yrold deadhead. Nuts. A few hours later I found another 4pt which Fleur brought in for me. Towards the end the day Fleur found 2 older chewed antlers down in the hollow about 10 minutes apart. Ruby helped Fleur carry them in. I also found a box turtle shell. All action shots are as they happened.

Erussel- the buck in that article is not the same one at the beginning of the thread. The Canale one was shot in the Geneva area.

Agreed. Likely a moose rub. Adkexp, in what area do you guide?

Was out exploring a piece of property that I secured permission to hunt just this fall. After jumping 2 rabbits I went back to the truck and got my .22. Brought me back to my childhood. Saw 3 others I didn't get a shot at and skimmed hair off one.

I only count the same deer twice if I see it on different days. As I said- deer sightings- not individual deer. No high fence- just lots of stand time, scent-free obsession, and a low impact approach. On one sit I had 17 does/fawns and a yearling 5pt within 30 yards of me all at once while I was 10 feet up a tree in a hedgerow- and the wind was at my back. There's nothing like trying to be absolutely rock-still while several big does are giving you the eye at 5 yards. I never sat there again because I couldn't have shot if I wanted too.

I did quite a bit of hunting this year. Here is what I saw for deer while hunting: 293 Total deer -215 does and fawns -78 antlered bucks -40 yearling bucks -21 2yrold bucks -16 3yrold bucks -1 4yr old buck About 50% of the deer I saw I could have taken a good shot on, but passed including the majority of the bucks. I did shoot 1 3yrold (velvet) and the 4yr old buck in CT on 9/15/11 and I shot one mature doe on the second to last day of ML in NY. 4 of the bucks were seen in CT along with 2 does. All other deer were in NY. I had many days during bow season when I saw 15 or more deer within 30 yards, but things really shut down during gun season like it always does. I can't complain.

There isn't enough of this deer that has been eaten for it to have been coyotes.

Found this 2yr old dead yesterday while pulling stands. Had him alive on a trail cam @5:30 am on 12/12. Late that same afternoon there was a suspicious pickup creeping up and down the road not 100 yards from where I found him. No obvious wounds, but his hindquarters were eaten. A few minutes later I found the skeleton of a yearling buck 50 yards away from the first one. Woulda liked to still have them both around.

Brother's ADK buck J buck 1.bmp

Looks like he's about to crawl in your lap.

Thats a long list. A lot of possession of another hunter's game tags and use of them. Too many guys think its ok to tag a deer with someone else's tag that isn't a DMP.

Heck- I love the early season (sep 15) in CT. Deer are on a bed-feed pattern and bucks are still in bachelor groups. The skeeters, black flies, ticks, and deer keds are a pain though. Thermacell will get some more business.