2014 Adirondack Buck (Tracking)

[sampotter]

I shot this buck on 11/30/14 in the Adirondacks (Hamilton County) after tracking him for 4 hours 23 minutes (I originally claimed 5.5 hours in a FB post, I was incorrect according to my GPS) and covering 5.2 miles. I missed (deflected bullet) him once about halfway through the journey, but was able to connect when he got distracted by a doe and followed her across an opening in front of me. After shooting him I realized I had trail cam pictures of him last year over 2 miles from where I took up his track this year. These big woods bucks have large ranges! This was probably the most memorable hunt I've ever had, and boy did I have to work for it!

 

Based on last year's trail cam pics and his tooth wear, which was at least as much as the 5 year-old 8pt (cementum annuli aged) I shot about a mile from there in 2012, I estimate this buck to be at least that old as well, perhaps even one year older. I will send his teeth in too to confirm. Gross green score of 131 and change. Brows are over 5 and 7" and bases are just shy of 5".

 

The picture(s) I posted on FB last week generated a lot of comical comments about practicing shooting more, aiming better, and only taking ethical shots. Those folks don't realize that tracking is not blood trailing. They don't go 5.2 miles after a heart shot either. With tracking, you follow the buck BEFORE you shoot it...

 

P.S.

I wrote a much more detailed story of this hunt but I am going to see if I can get a magazine to buy it. They require it be unpublished material, which unfortunately includes posting it on an internet forum. If things go well, hopefully I will be able to post the story at a later date. (Sorry NYantler)

 

 

 

Not something I normally look at, I thought this graph of my walking speed was interesting. (From GPS)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Trail cam pics from 2013:

 

Making a mock scrape:

 

 

 

 

 

 

[adkbuck]

Wow.  You really deserve that buck.  He is a beauty!  To my mind there is nothing like a big ADK buck.  I really appreciate you sharing some of the photos.  I have had some luck with mock scrapes.  It is really neat that you have photos of him using your mock scrape.  I am throwback and haven't used trail cams yet.  Job well done!   Congratulations! 

[upstate]

Great job. I remember when I could run them down like you did.

 

There's nothing like hunting the vast woods of the Adirondacks, swamps of the Tug Hill, etc. You can sit there all hunting season and not see a buck like that (or even a deer in some cases). Hunters like you are few and far between. 

 

 

[BizCT]

Cool stuff and congrats on a great buck.

[wooly]

Great buck Sam, and congrats on a hard earned trophy!

You're in a different category than most guys, so take no offence in my saying I don't understand the whoring out of the story if you really want to get it out there without financial gain. Honestly, how much do you stand to gain from it?

That's just something I don't agree deer hunting should be about, but that's what it is, and I don't always get "my way",lol

With all due respect though, great buck and hunt! You know you're a sneaky dude to stay on his trail that long and finally connect the final dot.

[Terry]

Great job! Any buck killed by tracking is a buck well earned. Congrats

[First-light]

Amazing hunt, congrats!

[Bow Addict]

Great hunt! Great Buck!Congrats.

[moog5050]

Amazing job Sam.  I would like to try that once but doubt I could pull it off.  Quite the earned trophy.

[sampotter]

Great buck Sam, and congrats on a hard earned trophy!

You're in a different category than most guys, so take no offence in my saying I don't understand the whoring out of the story if you really want to get it out there without financial gain. Honestly, how much do you stand to gain from it?

That's just something I don't agree deer hunting should be about, but that's what it is, and I don't always get "my way",lol

With all due respect though, great buck and hunt! You know you're a sneaky dude to stay on his trail that long and finally connect the final dot.

 

No offense taken. If I can get a hunting story published I could join both my Uncle, Granddad, and Great-Granddad as members of my family that have hunting stories published and that would be pretty cool. Financially, I probably wouldn't quit my day job to become a freelance writer, but I'll admit; I have spent a LOT of money on hunting one way or another. If there was a way to get a little kick back now and again, I wouldn't be ashamed to take it. I certainly won't sell my sheds and don't aspire to be a TV star either.

[NFA-ADK]

Very very nice buck, congratulations sounds like you had a awesome adventure! 

[Culvercreek hunt club]

Very nice job Sam. how much snow was on the ground up there? Looks like a couple inches?

Edited December 10, 2014 by Culvercreek hunt club

[sampotter]

Very nice job Sam. how much snow was on the ground up there? Looks like a couple inches?

 

The first 2 days there was 4-5 inches of fluffy stuff, temps in the 20s. The day I killed, temps were in the upper 30s and the snow had settled down to a 2-3". The warmer temps actually made for great tracking conditions because the tracks aged very rapidly, making it hard to confuse one set with another.

[BizCT]

I understand if you can't say, but just curious how this began? Did you start tracking the deer based on the size of the track? Knowing that it would be a decent sized body buck?

[bisceglia]

that is awesome, i dream of one day putting down a big ADK ghost buck myself in the same manor. congrats

Edited December 10, 2014 by bisceglia

[sampotter]

I understand if you can't say, but just curious how this began? Did you start tracking the deer based on the size of the track? Knowing that it would be a decent sized body buck?

 

 

His track looked really good (it had melted a little bit) when I first found it where he crossed a logging road, but didn't seem terribly big once I jumped him the first thing.

 

I had a decent idea that his rack would be outside his ears after observing where he was following doe tracks; when they passed between 2 saplings that were barely wider than their body, he would swing wide to avoid getting his rack caught. Where I jumped him the first time he had been digging and feeding in the snow and here I could see along the edges where the tips of his main beams had been digging into the snow.

 

Here is an example of that (marks on either side of the ferns):

 

[buckmaster88]

Great story! Congrats on a great buck!

[jim335]

I would like to know how you got him out of the woods, how far of a drag, etc.?

[Cabin Fever]

Very nice and a well earned trophy Sam!!

Sent from my VS980 4G

[sampotter]

I would like to know how you got him out of the woods, how far of a drag, etc.?

 

At times were more like a couple of miles from a road, which is why I carry a food-grade contractor's type garbage bag and a nylon feed sack rolled up in the game pocket of my coat. As it was he died 1/4 mile from a road, so I sledded him out.

 

[WingNut]

At times were more like a couple of miles from a road, which is why I carry a food-grade contractor's type garbage bag and a nylon feed sack rolled up in the game pocket of my coat. As it was he died 1/4 mile from a road, so I sledded him out.

 

IMG_4771.1.jpg

is there a bullet hole in his ear?

[sampotter]

is there a bullet hole in his ear?

 

Not a hole... Above when I said I missed him (deflected bullet) it appears I didn't miss completely. This mark was on the surface of his ear. It is shaped like and about the size of a dime. Inside his ear there was a small paper-cut looking scratch corresponding with the spot on the outside. I am pretty sure this was from when I shot at him earlier, but the shape and characteristics of the ear wound don't match up with a 280 bullet unless it hit a branch that altered the shape of the bullet.

 

At least that's my best guess. It may not have been from me at all. It didn't look anything like any grazing bullet wounds I've even seen in the past.

[NFA-ADK]

Could have been from a recent fight?  Again really nice buck Sampotter, Congratulations!!!

[d-bone20917]

Nice Adirondack buck.  Great job!!!

[Culvercreek hunt club]

Not a hole... Above when I said I missed him (deflected bullet) it appears I didn't miss completely. This mark was on the surface of his ear. It is shaped like and about the size of a dime. Inside his ear there was a small paper-cut looking scratch corresponding with the spot on the outside. I am pretty sure this was from when I shot at him earlier, but the shape and characteristics of the ear wound don't match up with a 280 bullet unless it hit a branch that altered the shape of the bullet.

 

At least that's my best guess. It may not have been from me at all. It didn't look anything like any grazing bullet wounds I've even seen in the past.

Might want to check it as NFA ADK said. Could have been from a fight. The buck I took a few years back had what I would have swore was a bullet hole in it's ear but the taxidermist moved the ear around and it lined up perfectly with a contact point on his own antlers. He was certain it was pinched in between his antlers and another's during a fight.