Shotgun & Muzzle Loader 09

My brother Andrew was the first of us to make a kill with the guns this season. He shot this seven pointer in the heart on Tuesday morning, the second day of early muzzle loader with an 80 yd. shot

I hosted deer camp officially for the second year in 2009 during six day firearm. The first day we met up at a little after nine o'clock after a morning sit. We hit the woods hard all day and pushed quite a few deer around but nothing with antlers.

Tuesday we hit the woods hard again and got an early start at daybreak. As soon as we got out of the trucks we heard a shot. A hunter in a stand shot a decent six or seven pointer that we didn't get a chance to get a picture of. We lined up and pushed the piece chasing out 5 does. On the second drive, my cousin Mark a.k.a. Pepe, took a shot at a Y buck but there was only a small amount of blood and we surmised that he didn't hit the deer that good. Zach had a red fox break toward him but he decided to pass up the shot. In the evening Dave scored a kill on a nice big Y buck on an stalk. This buck dressed out at 140 lbs. and was the heaviest deer of all seven that we killed during buck week.

On Tuesday of buck week at around 4:00 pm Mike Bess dispatched this six pointer with a slug right between the eyes.

Thursday was the best day for us. On a morning sit, Frank killed what would have been a an 8 pointer but due to a broken main beam ended up being a five pointer. Just as I had received the text about franks deer, I had a buck and a doe come into me while sitting in a swamp stand on the second drive of the day. I hit the buck with a slug in the liver, a little farther back than I would have liked. When the drivers caught up to me we tracked the deer about 50 yards to a nursery field and my cousin La Ray put a little more lead in him. This buck, our third kill for the week was a one-horned four pointer or what I call "half an eight".

When I was at the check station checking in my half an eight, we ran into this fellow named Adam that had just killed this beautiful 10 pointer. This was his first deer ever.

After the checking station, we took a ride out to some newly acquired hunting grounds in Cedarville. Being a new piece the first drive ended up being a little botched. The day before, Wednesday, it had poured down rain in the amount of 5 inches. The woods were flooded and one guy, Smithman, fell into the swamp up to his balls and had to go swimming for his boots. On the second drive however, Frank's sidekick Jimmy put down this decent sized spike with one round of buckshot at 10 yards. On account of the wetness of the woods we improvised a shoulder pole to take this deer out through the deep water in the swamp.

Frank's 5 point; My 4 point; Dave's 4 point; Jimmy's spike

Here is a picture of Muckett holding the "playbook", a collection of aerial maps laminated and bound.

Saturday was another good day. We started off early in the day with a nice eight point tagged in by my cousin Petey. This was the nicest rack of the week. On another drive in Rosenhayn, 2 more bucks got passed the standers with one being missed twice along with a coyote that got away after being shot several times. On the last drive of the day Smithman shot this crooked horned spike which was his first buck ever. Later that night, Bill a.k.a. Broncosbp, rolled into camp with a Y buck that he had gotten on a sit that evening. That brought the total tally of deer camp up to seven bucks (3) 4's (2) spikes (1) eight & (1) five.

Gary shot this 9 pointer out of his stand during six day firearm.

Just after shotgun week was over and muzzle loader came back in, Jack, a former neighbor from Iona, Killed this beautiful 10 pointer in Winslow on December 16th.

Out of State 09

Dave began the out-of state killing for 09 with a nice 8 pointer taken with the bow in Kansas. He left NJ with his hunting party the day before Halloween, a Friday, and took this deer on Thursday evening. Dave had said to me, in the strictest of confidence, that the first shot he took at this deer missed at 18 yds. but the second connected hitting him in the liver at 35 yds. This buck is the second trophy taken by Dave in less than one month. He has really been connecting with the bow this year.

Dave's Kansas buck has long points and should score into the 130's. This deer is exceptionally impressive from behind as seen in the picture below.

This is a shot taken in the field that Dave had sent me via blackberry on the night of the hunt.

Next to score a kill on a hunt abroad was Andy with a heavy horned 8 pointer taken in Ontario Canada. He shot this buck on Wednesday November 4th at 8:20 a.m. Killing it with a 138 yards lung shot. The deer went 50yards. Live weight was 258lbs.

The second week of November in Ontario proved fruitful for 2 more South Jersey hunters taking these two big bodied bucks over 200lbs.

Gary's deer field dressed at 259lbs. This buck was a main frame 9 pointer with 3 sticker points, making it a twelve.

Chucky's deer weighed in at 220 lbs. This buck was visibly thinner in his hind quarters as he had been partaking in a good amount of breeding.

The second week in Canada this year was unseasonably warn for the north woods with temperatures reaching into the 50's. This resulted in restricted deer movement and a substantial decline in rut activity. Despite the conditions, Chucky was able to connect with this HUGE 15 point monster with double kickstand drop tines. The rack on this deer has mass, width and tine length.

Gary's deer had a huge head and neck as seen below.

Extended Bow 09

Extended Bow season started off this year on Halloween October 31st. Uncle Roy wasted no time filling his tag with this split brow six pointer(making it a seven). Roy said that this deer came in with four other bucks. There was a bigger 8 or 10 off in the distance and this deer was second biggest. When the buck gave him the opportunity after walking behind a double oak tree, he drew hitting him directly in the heart. There was a lot of blood and the buck was recovered 70 yds. from the shot location.

The next day, November 1st, my buddy Matt Killed this sizable 8 pointer on the evening hunt. Matt heard this deer grunting as he came in close to sun down. He had only seen one side of the rack and didn't realize just how big the deer actually was. He let an arrow fly at nearly 40 yds and nailed in directly in the heart, a textbook shot. Matt was hunting in a swamp, and with the copious amounts of rain that have been falling in SJ, he had his work cut out for him recovering the deer in the swamp. This buck only went 50 yds after the shot, but Matt needed to wear chest waders to drag him out. It took him over an hour to get him to the truck which was only 60 yds away. This deer dressed 169 pound and is the nicest deer ever taken by Matt.

The rut is clearly on and I expect lots of updates in the coming weeks.