The Hunting Public from Youtube is deer hunting in New York this year

[land 1]

If you track deer u will find most of your shots are far from perfect, its one of the many things that makes tracking the hardest way of hunting imo and the most fair chase you can have now im not a tracker but talked to a few that do it in the daks and these guys get all my respect some go 5-6miles plus take cloths of to cross a  creek drag deer out for miles...i dont have that dedication... so if they are willing to go all through that they better take the shot that is offered i would think

[wolc123]

 

I can only recall one time when I successfully tracked a buck.  I listened to 3 hours of Laney Benoit’s tracking stories the other night, and I think I may have topped his shortest ever track.
 

  A buddy of mine had read about Larry Benoit (Laney’s father) about 30 years ago, and he talked me into trying it. About a week into gun season that year, we got some perfect snow overnight, maybe 4” of fresh powder. 
 

I arrived at the trailhead (grandma’s barn parking lot in wmu 9F) with my truck right at sunrise.  Another buddy, who hunts down the road, beeped at me when he saw me getting out of my truck.  I waved at him, loaded up my Ithaca 16 gauge, and walked down the lane behind the barn.

I hadn’t walked 30 yards, when I cut my first track.  It was a single deer, with relatively large hoofs.  I got down and looked close and I could literally see steam rising up from those tracks.  The ground was not froze below the snow, and the tracks had pushed into the soft mud.  
 

Before I followed the tracks, I very carefully studied the direction they headed (One of the Benoit’s tricks my buddy told me about). They led into a small patch of thick goldenrod and brush.  After staring at that cover patch for a while, the unmistakeable shape of an antler suddenly appeared above the thick goldenrod.  
 

The range was about 50 yards, and the buck’s body was completely hidden by the goldenrod.  I could only see part of the rack and head, but that was enough to tell me where the front shoulder ought to be.  
 

My thought was to take a quick shot at that shoulder, then take up to (4) more, as it flushed across the open hayfield behind.  I shot and it never flushed, struck clean thru the shoulders.  
 

To this day, that remains my only “drop-tine” buck and the only one that I ever killed by tracking.  Technically, I never followed those tracks with my feet, but I did with my eyes, so I can still call it “tracking”.  
 

That particular buck was very well known in the area.  My cousin and his buddies had chased it thru all of archery season.   He had got real close to it in a cornfield one time.

 It had a broken back leg tendon from the prior year, on the opposite side of the funky “drop-tine” antler.  I was kind of pissed off about that, because the ham was small on that side, and it has always been “all about the meat” for me.  I always did think drop tines were cool though, so it was nice to finally check that box.  
 

That buck had been bedded in the thick brush on the left side of our lane.  My buddy’s truck horn that morning had likely spooked it up.  It would have been quite safe, in the little patch of golden rod on the right, were it not for those steaming tracks that it left across the lane. 
 

1 hour ago, ncountry said:

I can see how this is OK  in the snow , as long as it doesn't carry  through  the snowless part of the season. ( you wouldn't be tracking then anyways) .

 

Imo. There are not many who should be taking these shots. 

 

Edited January 10, 2022 by wolc123

[Buckmaster7600]

I can see how this is OK  in the snow , as long as it doesn't carry  through  the snowless part of the season. ( you wouldn't be tracking then anyways) .
 
Imo. There are not many who should be taking these shots. 

Although not ideal as a tracker you should be setting up your gear for the less than ideal shots. If you can track them without blood with blood feels like you’re cheating. I’m sure I will one day but I’ve recovered every buck I’ve hit while tracking. I wish I had those odds with the bow or gun when not tracking.


I like my 35’s “rem, whelen or 358win” because they’ll go hooter to tooter or tooter to hooter and everything in between with 2 holes and I never have to worry about angles, just aim in the middle and they’ll find they’re way into the good stuff.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Northcountryman]

Just saw this thread - love these guys !! Do they ever hunt the Catskills to any one’s knowledge ? I think they’ve done Adirondacks before , but not sure about the ‘Cats . 

[fasteddie]

I haven't watched any of the Canned Hunt Videos on TV in several years . I enjoyed the videos from these guys as the were more down to earth and fun videos without all of the lame sponsored product videos that you get on the TV shows . Plus , they even showed a MISS shot from one of them . I give their videos " 5 Stars " .