A Long Time Coming
Back in 2013, Angus was enjoying his last deer season as a Yute. I had him positioned with his older brother, Moose in a ground blind at Lazy Boy. He was too big for the buddy stand anymore. I was at Campground, about a quarter-mile away. Angus and I both scored bucks that morning. If I remember correctly, that was our first all-buck double-header. I had to stay home. It is Supercore’s birthday today and there is a big party. It gave me some time to catch up on projects. I finally got a chance to get the antlers mounted. … More . . .
Possible new Ohio Record Buck
The forest telegraph just came across with this: https://www.thehuntingnews.com/new-potential-ohio-state-record-buck/BIG BUCK ALERT! New Potential Ohio State Record Typical Buck Views: 0 Related posts: PCR Comes to Ohio KY: Record Harvest for Modern Gun Deer Season New Ohio Deer Rifle Rules Moose’s Buck Buck Fever What’s with this buck growl thing Remnar Gets his Buck The Shaman Gets His Buck
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Post Season Recap
There is a brief window in our yearly hunting schedule where the lessons of the season just past are still fresh. I need to make record of them before my head fills with holiday glurge. My apologies for not doing this sooner. I just started a new day job, and it has been consuming everything. We celebrated our 16th season of Deer Camp. Everybody got a big buck. Everybody got a doe for the freezer. By weight and by antler, we bagged the new #2 and #4 bucks. Supercore’s buck had a bigger rack but was about 5 lbs lighter … More . . .
Hundreds of Deer Poached
Fleming and Mason Counties are just a stone’s throw away from our deer camp. Two brothers were arrested with over a hundred counts of taking deer illegally. Here’s the report from Channel 18 in Lexington . Fleming Co. Brothers Face Over 100 Counts Of Poaching FLEMING COUNTY, Ky (LEX 18) Two Fleming County brothers face more than 100 counts of poaching in a case that State Division of Fish and Wildlife says could have gone on for years. Conservation officers say that they discovered dozens upon dozens of deer antlers in a shed on a plot of land. They said … More . . .
Report from Deer Camp 2016 — Doe Double-Header
The last weekend of season is usually when Deer Camp gets serious. For each hunter, one of two things have happened. Either he has his buck and is just a last tag, or he has not had any luck and is trying to make something happen. For the Shamanic Dream Team, it was freezer filling time. SuperCore and Angus each had one antlerless tag left, and the doe were just not cooperating. The first few days of Kentucky’s Modern Weapon’s season had been a shooting gallery. We had each gotten our bucks Opening Weekend, and then the action turned off. … More . . .
More On The L-E-Vator
I had the GoPro out on Saturday afternoon but did not have a chance to get it out before the doe showed up. I still managed to get some footage of SuperCore’s new L-E-Vator. This is not the perfect deer lifter. You can see that from the video. However, it is the best I’ve found so far, and it beats the homebrew means I’ve been using the past few seasons. It really likes being on level ground and working it solo has its problems. It is heavy, but not too heavy. Think “sturdy.”  This is the best deer hunting gadget … More . . .
The Fastest Doe Hunt
Saturday afternoon was one of those days during season when it is nice just to settle in with a good book and wait for sundown. There was not going to be much moving so long as the wind gusting into the low twenties, but being in the cabin was no good either. We all left for our blinds early in anticipation of a window at sundown when would wind die down a bit and the deer might move out of their beds to feed. It had been blowing like that for 24 hours, and there had been a 4 hour … More . . .
Taking the L-E-Vator
As you know this old shaman does not make very many product recommendations. When I do, you can bet I’m not being compensated for it. Mind you, I’d love to be a complete advertising whore and throw my legs up for compensation, but no one ever offers. This is one of those times that I feel moved to mention the L-E-Vator by Viking Solutions. I have been experimenting with the S10 as a deer recovery vehicle for the past few seasons. It does work well, but getting the deer into the bed has been problematic. My latest attempt has been … More . . .
Report from Deer Camp– Opening Weekend 2016
In a lot of ways, this Opener started out as a replay of last year. By the time Angus pulled out on his way back to town Sunday afternoon, there were two big bucks on the pole, and neither of them were mine. For the second year in a row, the Patriarch of Deer Camp was left running a taxi service. The problem was I was that patriarch. Mind you, I’m not complaining, I’m just saying. However, by the time the walkie-talkie lit up with Supercore’s first call for assistance, I new my hunt was over. It had kind of … More . . .
Morning Scouting Trip
I was up early at Camp this AM to scout in preparation for the KY Rifle Opener tomorrow. Some say I’m lazy for doing my scouting from the Thoughtful Spot, armed with a hot mug of coffee and a pair of astronomical binos, but I respond that I’m saving myself for lugging the big ones out. Just to show you how this can be a successful scouting strategy, I give you this guy: I found him grazing around my 100-yard target stand. He then sauntered over and ate in front of Angus’ stand at Fountain Square. After I took this … More . . .
Should I Stay Out All Day?
I know a lot of writers encourage folks to stay out all day. I don’t. A good reason is that I can come in. Deer Camp is less than a mile from my furthest stand, and I can usually call for a pickup and have a truck out in 15 minutes. My routine is about the same throughout season. I try to be up in the stand a half-hour before legal hunting and I stay until 1030-1100, and then I’m back out in the afternoon with about 3 hours of hunting before end of legal hunting. For the Rifle Opener … More . . .
KY Muzzleloader Season Come and Gone
I only write this to mark the passing of KY’s Early Muzzleloader Season. It’s over; that is about all you need to know. All in all, it was not as lousy as it could have been. It was not the hottest, although we had temperatures in the mid-80’s. It was windy, but it was not as bad as some years. We heard a few shots. Everyone got out safe. It was pretty. If you’re going to bitch about it Shaman, why even go out? That’s a good question. I can tell you there are good reasons, especially now. For starters, … More . . .
Smokepole Season Shake Down
This past weekend, I got my Hawken checked out for deer season. Not much had changed from the previous year. However, I had a wee bit of Hodgdon Triple-7 left over from 2013. The previous week, I had used it in my .54 Hawken and found that it had gotten much hotter than previous years. I suspect that having so little in the bottom of the 1 lb jug caused it to happen.  I brought a 3/4 full jug from 2006 and it performed perfectly. The other problem I encountered was a bad case of hard balls. Muzzleloader bullets for … More . . .
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