Hey Country

[BUCKSHOT]

You had some really good posts here for a while!
Are you hibernating with those bears of yours?
Come on back for a visit!

If somebody was bothering you about O/T posts, let it shed, I found your stuff pretty neat and I am sure some other folks did as well!

[Country]

Hello Buckshot. Im not hibernating just trying to think of something else to talk about. I posted something recently about preparedness and survival in the event of a national emergency that seemed to go over like a lead balloon. On another subject - I was wondering if you folks with all the snow manage to track big bucks in it like this fellow I was reading about in Vermont. His name might have been something like Benoit. He used I think a 30/30 with no scope and would just latch onto a good set of tracks and follow them until the deer made a mistake. He carried a back pack and would sometimes even spend the night out rather then abandon the tracks. He had a impressive collection of antlers. I tried his method but never had any luck with it. Maybe I was moving too fast as the deer would just lie down looking at its back track and bolt as soon as I came into view.

[Doe Master]

If it is the same gentleman I`m thinking his brothers are famous for the same thing . And yes they have quite an impressive collection of bones . I just found a website for them .
www.benoitbigbucks.com

[Country]

I didn't get anywhere with the benoitbigbucks. I typed in benoit brothers in my search engine however and got into their site. Those are some impressive bucks. They definately have a sucessful hunting strategy. Of course it helps to have endless tracks of land to hunt. I can't go more then a mile or so in any direction without hitting a No Trespassing sign. Maybe I should try Virginia's wilderness areas but then there is the problem of how to get a deer out. Those areas are all mountainous. I once killed a nice buck on the other side of a mountain. It took me all of two days plus some to get him back out. Dragging a 200lb deer up 4500 feet of elevation plus down the other side and then through 2 miles of heavely forested rolling valley can be a bit*h.

[A.W]

I once killed a nice buck on the other side of a mountain. It took me all of two days plus some to get him back out. Dragging a 200lb deer up 4500 feet of elevation plus down the other side and then through 2 miles of heavely forested rolling valley can be a bit*h.

I think I'd have sat on the side of the road near one of those "deer crossing" signs and waited for him to cross. Waaaaay too much work for me.

That aint hunting. That's boot camp.

[Country]

I went back to that spot a few times afterwards. It would turn into a big racked deer convention once hunting season kicked in. If there is anything as a honey hole for big bucks that was it. Too much work for me though even if I had a deer cart which would probably be useless anyway. I range pretty far when hunting and don't mind carrying a bivi sack and what ever I need to spend the night up on the ridge. I'd like to show it to my son before I get too old for the trek. It might be possible to quarter an animal and carry him out but I don't think the game department allows that. I'll have to check. It would still take two days but maybe it wouldn't be such a killer if I could.

[Country]

One thing about the Benoit brother's stratagy that is more or less alien to me is that they don't wait for the perfect shot. Any shot they get is ok with them. Trailing a deer with bullet holes in them is easier then trailing one that is totally untouched. I don't want to get into that Texas heart shot thing again but any impact wound will do them. Legs, gut or whatever. I was brought up different and have passed on some fine animals cause I couldn't make a clean kill. I don't want to cast dispersions on anyones hunting style or ethics but my respect for the animals I hunt won't allow me to cause them unnecessary pain and suffering on purpose.

[Grizzly Adam]

Here in dear old Carolina, we don't have to physically check in a deer, or tag it. All we have to do is get an authorization number, which you can call for with a cell phone, if you can get a signal. 1-800-I-GOT-ONE.

In many sections of remote land, you can call in for your # and bone the critter out in the woods ... just carry the meat back, and cape/antlers if it's a "trophy." Pretty cool. Two tenderloins, two backstraps, two hams and two foreshoulders weigh a lot less than a whole deer, especially with our little bucks and does.

I've always thought check-in requirements were stupid, anyway. No problem for folks who live close to stuff, but a royal pain for those of us who live an hour from the nearest check-point. The call-in program is much more sensible for Carolina's rural counties.

[Country]

Our state just recently instituted that call in procedure for deer. It is a lot easier now and might just be the solution to the problem. Kind of miss that opening night at the check in station though. It was nice seeing what was out there. If the only ones that came in were scrawny little spindly spikes and fork horns, you knew it was time to try another place.

[BUCKSHOT]

I remember the post about survival now,Country!
Interesting in it's own way, personally I am way too optimistic to prepare for the worst!
Sorry I forgot about that post, but I am glad to drag you out for a chat!

As far as the Benoit Bro's go!
I believe in taking the cleanest most efficient harvest possible!
I think it would be cool to track a healthy Buck for an overnighter, just to prove to myself that I could.
On the same token though, I could just as well pull an R.J and end up with just as much excitement and happiness knowing "what could have been"!
Catching up to a nice buck after all the hard work of tracking him and learning his habits would be very satisfying, whether it took a couple of hours or a whole season to catch up to him!
At that point for me, the hunt would be fulfilled!

Good to have you out!

[Country]

I credit a great deal of my hunting skill to one monster 10 point. I spent three years hunting him almost non stop. I had several opportunities to stick him but it was always in the rut when he threw caution to the wind. I just didn't have the heart to kill him when he came by with his nose up some does butt. I even had the pleasure once of seeing him mate. Outside the rut however, that deer was as allusive as can be. The way he used the thermals and mountain laural thickets for cover, his choice of bedding sites, etc. was a real education and many bucks have fallen since then from what he taught me. Unfortunately a 400 lb hunter finally got him. He had driven his truck past the "No vehicles beyond this point sign" on the forest service road and shot him from the window of his truck. He drove the deer around town for two days afterwards showing him off. I certainly have an opinion on this guy but am actually glad it wasn't me who killed him. That deer and I had developed a very strong bond. I think he might have enjoyed outsmarting me day after day.

[Grizzly Adam]

A 400 lb. hunter killed him?

What's that got to do with it? You got something against little guys?

On the "shooting from the window of the truck" issue, you may be glad to know that I have recently spearheaded an effort to enact regulation prohibiting the practice of hunting from public roads and right-of-ways here in this county, which is one of the last places in the universe where it's still legal to hunt and shoot from the road. As you can imagine, this lack of regulation is custom made for slob hunters and poachers.

Looks like we're going to get something done about it. The issue has gone to a public hearing, which I spoke at the other night, along with others on both sides. Wish us well, if you agree that driving around in a truck looking for something to shoot or sitting on the shoulder of the road waiting for something to shoot isn't the type of hunting you want to see in your neck of the woods.

Go easy on the little fellers, though ... they can't help being puny.

[Country]

I was grumbleing about his size in that he didn't deserve to tag that deer. He was too heavy and out of shape to have earned it. He didn't have to hike up the mountain for it or drag it out. Come to think of it - I've seen some nice deer taged by novices. Dumb luck can beat out skill and knowledge every now and then. A fellow I know got a 20+ pointer hunting from his truck. He was inside drinking coffee when he heard some dogs barking and coming his way. He got out of the truck just as the deer came by. Shot it at 35 yards. Another time a women on her first hunting trip shot a 14 pointer with drop down tines that I had been hunting for all season. Oh well - I have got my share of nice ones.
Good for you in your quest to end road hunting in your county. Road hunting is not only unfair but possibly dangerous. Road hunting is NOT fair chase.