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My Adirondack 8

Buckmaster7600

By Buckmaster7600,
in Big Woods Hunting

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Buckmaster7600 Mentor

Buckmaster7600

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I parked my truck at 4am and started up the mountain. I had found a spot with a ton of big buck sign last week and I wanted to be in there at daylight to still hunt the swamp. I got back there around 5:45 and sat and had my candy bar "breakfast" and waited until legal light. Once legal light I started my way down into the swamp. About 150yds into my hunt I was in an old clear cut that had a few islands of brush. About 40yds away a doe stood up but didn't run, I knew she had a buck with her but I couldn't find him in my scope. Thank god it was on 1x because I caught movement in my scope and swung on him as he was getting his legs under him to go. As he was getting up I started shooting. He fell down and I couldn't see him anymore. I sat down put a good chew in and waited about a half hr because I knew I hit him well and didn't want to bump him. I went down to the where he was and found good blood, I started on the track and continued to have good blood for a little over a quarter mile. His track lead me to the edge of a beaver pond the he had clearly went into. I couldn't believe he had made it that far as much as he was bleeding and I was baffled when he swam across the pond. After standing on the shore of the pond for a minute scratching my head I heard a crash and a splash on the other side, I couldn't see him so I moved down the back 20 yds and I could see him trying to claw his was up the bank and I put a couple more in him and he rolled back into the pond and tried swimming again but only made it 10yds and died. I was able to get across the pond in the waste deep water with my boots, pants and gun over my head. I got a rope around his head with a stick and got him to shore. I knew he had a huge body and a decent rack but there was absolutely no ground shrinkage! The drag was the worst I have ever had. After I had him gutted I turned on my gps and had a 4 mile drag around the hill or a little over a mile over the hill. So I started up and over gaining 6" at a time. It was a huge relief when I finally made it over and started down hill. I was very excited to get him on the scale at camp and certainly wasn't disappointed when the scales read 226lb. My 2nd heavies ADK buck! It was an amazing day and an awesome buck. I'm sad I won't be up this week in the snow but I guess I can't complain.

I am still completely baffled by how far he went after I shot him. While gutting him I found 5 entrance holes and 4 exits. He had no liver and only 1 lung, a shot in the neck, a shot high in the shoulders a shot in the guts that came out the hind leg, and a shot in the white patch of his neck that finally turned the lights of, I can't complain at all about the performance of the35cal 225gn Barnes bullets performed very well and left big holes. He had a will to live like nothing I have ever saw before.

All in all it was an awesome experience and I wouldn't trade any of it for the world. Getting an old bruiser still hunting in the big woods is what I live for. An old guy that was in my fathers camp when I was a young kid used to always say "a lot of guys kill bucks in the Adirondacks and a few shoot big ones but very few shoot big ones year after year" this buck was my 4th mature buck in 4 years in the Adirondacks.

I can't wait for next year!7843b3b20e14f9a8113b4cd490db0187.jpg6507d02f8119422f440f5014b5c6e5e7.jpg713cf8cb52d77ec6e666a6fec69dd603.jpg21d5186e0ec36420c3ff86dc1a44d74d.jpg

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rachunter Experienced

rachunter

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Nice congrats!!

after reading some of your post about stalking swap bucks I gave it a shot this morning. All I can say is I'm hooked I found a rub in a valley and followed the run into a swap it felt like something was going to happen any second it didn't   I still have a lot to learn about these big woods deer but it's going to be a blast learning.

hopeing to pick your brain a little on stalking swap donkeys!!

congrats again he's a true beast. 

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Steve D Experienced

Steve D

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17 minutes ago, Deerstalker said:

All I can say is wow been  dying to hunt the adks one of these days  can never find the time to get up there. 

You are the man :drinks:

Just the ADKS alone makes this quite a feat. I am sure there are areas that probably hold deer on a constant basis but for the most part there are few deer for the vast area. It is a very hard area to hunt. One could hunt there all their life and not shoot a deer.

Edited by Steve D
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wolc123 Grand Master

wolc123

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I am heading up to the ADK's for Thanksgiving weekend.  I managed to get thru opening day today in the Southern zone with my buck-tag.  If I can get thru tomorrow afternoon's hunt,  then I hope to score on a bruiser like that up there.   I nailed one up there in 2014, but no such luck last year.   One thing is for sure, killing a big one up there is at least ten times better than doing it on the flat-lands down here.   The scenery makes all of the difference.   

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Buckmaster7600 Mentor

Buckmaster7600

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On average how  many miles you cover tracking , you think to get one of those big boys  in the ADKs ? 


I probably average 6 or 7 miles a day but that depends on sign. If I'm in a spot with a lot of sign it can take me a few hrs to go 300yds. If if not on good sign I'm covering ground.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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