Moose Droppings

The signs sure seem to point to it where I’ve been hunting this seems to be the time to try to catch that buck who is cruising for a doe. I should back up a bit first and talk about the rut and how it relates to the secondary rut.

The rut is the breeding time for the whitetail deer when the majority of the does are ready to be bred. This happens in the fall and is triggered by the amount of day light among other factors. Countless articles have been written on the triggers of the rut so I won’t go much into that now. For our discussion today I’ll simply break the rut into these three stages; Pre Rut, Peak Rut and Post Rut. The pre rut is the time that the bucks are ready to breed but the does for the most part are not ready so the bucks spend most of their time looking for does and defending their territory from other bucks. As the does come into heat the bucks will find them and breed them in the ideal situation most of the herd will come in to heat about the same time and is known as the Peak Rut. These are often a few intense days or so when this activity is taken place as the time wanes less and less does are ready so the cycle goes into the post rut stage. In the post rut the bucks are still looking but most of the does are no longer ready or have already been bred.

Hunters will debate which part of the cycle is the best to hunt but in my experience the pre and the post is when you see the most buck movement. After the initial cycle there will be a little bit of a lull but not for long because any does that were not successfully bred they will go back into heat 28 days latter. This will kick off the secondary rut and will keep repeating itself every 28 days till the does are bred.

I can’t tell you why but this year we are seeing, or at least it seems to be, a very defined rut cycle in the area we hunt. Often times in the past we have seen what many refer to as a trickle rut where the cycle is very less defined and hard to read the signs and determine what is happening. This year we are seeing a lot more scrapes and signs that deer are using these a lot more to communicate. This past weekend we found that many of these scrapes were being cleaned out and tendered to leading us to believe the secondary rut cycle is kicking off. I’m hearing from other hunters in the Piedmont that are experiencing similar situations so now it seems is the time to be in the woods.
Of course I took off during the initial rut so I’ve got work responsibilities keeping me out of the woods but come this weekend I plan to be sitting in a tree somewhere.

If you’re like me and haven’t gotten your buck yet keep the faith there is still time. Hunt whenever you can focus on areas that have or attract does and watch for that cruising buck. We’ve got a little less then a month to go in the season.

Story & Photos by Dan McLaughlin AKA Moose

A Lewis County deputy assisting Tennessee Game Warden in attempting to arrest two poaching suspects shot one as he tried to level a long gun on the officers.

According to a news release from the Lewis County Sheriff’s Dept., Tuesday night (Nov. 25) around 8:30 pm, Lewis County deputies were called to assist a Lewis County TWRA Wildlife Officer.

The un-named oficer said he had seen a vehcile spotlighting for deer and attempted a stop. The vehicle howwever fled at high speed.

Lewis County deputies caught up to the chase on Natchez Trace Parkway. At one point the suspect vehicle forced a deputy’s car off the road.

The suspect’s vehicle began smoking and slowed to a stop.

According to the sheriff’s dept. release, “The Driver exited the driver side with his hands in his coat. Lewis County Deputies and the T.W.R.A officer exited their vehicles.
The driver was given verbal command by Lewis County Deputies to get down on the ground. When the Lewis County Deputy put his hands on the driver, the driver resisted restraint. The driver was identified as Robert “Bob” Allan Szostek.

At the same time, the passenger exited the passenger side with a long gun in hand and ran east up an embankment. Lewis County Deputies gave verbal command for the fleeing subject to get down on the ground. The passenger turned toward the three Lewis County Deputies and the T.W.R.A officer and pointed the long gun toward them.

One Lewis County Deputy fireed his service weapon at the passenger and the passenger fell to the ground. The passenger immediately got back up and ran again. The deputy fired a total of four shots.

The Chattanoogan
Hours latter the alleged suspect contacted the Lewis County Sheriff’s Department requesting assistance because he had been shot. Thomas J. Szostek was airlifted to a hospital where he remains in critical condition.

Multiple charges for both men are being filed;

The driver, Robert “Bob” Allan Szostek was taken into custody and charged:
by T.W.R.A officer with:
Hunting from a Public Road;
Spotlighting;
Hunting from a motor vehicle;
Hunting big game in closed season;
Felony Evading; and
Reckless Endangerment

by Lewis County Deputy officer with:
Possession drug paraphernalia
Reckless endangerment
Reckless endangerment
Reckless endangerment
Resisting arrest
Felony Evading

Thomas J Szostek is charged with two counts of First Degree Attempted Murder by the Lewis County Sheriff’s Department. Charged by T.W.R.A officer with Hunting from a Public Road; Spotlighting; Hunting from a motor vehicle; and Hunting big game in closed season.

Once again this shows us how dangerous the job our law enforcement community does every day especially the game wardens who face armed suspects in remote areas often. When ever you get a chance thank them for the job they do for us.

The North Carolina Bow Hunters Association has launched a web based matching service to help hunters give deer & feral hogs to families that could use the meat. In tough economic times like we face now I’m sure there are a lot of people that could use the help and with deer populations needing to be thinned this seems like a win win situation for sure.

“I don’t have any more space,” said Ramon Bell of Stokesdale. “I’ve got deer and wild game in two freezers. I don’t have space for it, but I wouldn’t mind shooting an extra doe.”

That’s what inspired Bell, who heads the N.C. Bowhunters Association, to create an online deer-donation registry. It pairs hunters who want to donate deer carcasses with people who want to feed their families venison.

The bowhunters association started the new program online this week.

North Carolina’s population of white-tailed deer is at 1.1 million, and there were about 18,000 deer collisions reported last year. As a way to control the population, there is no limit on the number of does a hunter can kill in deer season. Hunters in the western part of the state are allowed to kill two bucks.

This is a great idea and hopefully will help a lot of people in these tough economic times.

What a hoss of a buck and I’m afraid I have none of the details. These images were posted up on NC Hunt & Fish and I’m pretty sure this is an actual NC Deer and not an internet rumor. One of the regular posters over there has posted his own game camera shots of this buck and it was taken within a 1/2 a mile of where he hunts. I hope this deer shows up at the Dixie Deer Classic this year and I’m sure we’ll hear more about it and who the lucky hunter is.

Seems like we are seeing more and more big bucks in North Carolina these days and I attributed it to the two buck limit as well as more and more hunters willing to let small bucks walk.

Post by Dan McLaughlin AKA Moose

Congratulations to Gabriel From Outdoor Smorgasbord for taking a nice Alamance County Buck. Check out the story and additional photos he has posted.

Well as I promised I’d tell you all about my muzzleloader hunt. I had planned to take the entire week off and just hunt but my best-laid plans did not work out. I had work as well as other commitments that forced me to return home for part of the time. I know weather wise I missed some of the best hunting time that week but what are you going to do? I saw deer mostly a couple of little bucks that kept me entertained the whole time because they were pretty unpredictable when and where they would show up. One in particular was pretty oblivious to most things around him and was living on the edge with the risks he seemed to be taking. Check out my post about Educating a Young Buck.
The Bad
My intention was to get some meat for the freezer so I was hoping some does would show up and give me the opportunity to drop one or two of them. I saw some does but for the most part they stayed outside the reach of my muzzleloader. It was fairly warm and the end of the week rain and high winds set in making the hunting difficult.

The season ended on Friday and I had not even burned any powder but Saturday the rifle season opened and all these does I’d been seeing at 150+ yards would now be reachable with my rifle.
The Ugly
I guess the final kicker on the season was during lunch on Saturday I decided I’d better shoot my muzzleloader so I could clean it at home and put it away. I had two caps go off with out setting the charge and on the third time it was a hang fire but it did go off. I had tried hard to keep my powder dry despite the wet conditions and really thought I had but obviously not. I guess I’m glad Mr. Big Buck didn’t step out on Friday cause I’d of been mad if my gun had malfunctioned.
The Good
Although I was disappointed I didn’t get to shoot a deer that week I did enjoy a number of sunrises and sets along with a bunch of other things. The turkeys were spectacular and fun to watch. They are all flocked up for the winter and it is deafening the noise they make coming through the woods.

No deer with the muzzleloader lets hope the rifle season I have a bit of success.

Post & Photos by Dan McLaughlin AKA Moose

Muzzleloader season for the centeral zone of North Carolina has ended and rifle season has begun. I spent a lot of time last week with a muzzleloader in my hand but never got the chance to shoot at a deer. Well I should clarify that statement; the does stayed out of range, big bucks never appeared and the little bucks taunted me almost daily. I have a couple of small bucks that have been around my stands and for the most part pretty bold. One of these bucks I’ve been seeing 3 or 4 times a day. On Saturday the opening of rifle season I saw both bucks and had an encounter with one that will hopefully make him a bit more cautious. The weather was rough, but I’ll do another post about that latter, that at one point I decided for my own safety I needed to get out of my stand.
Once on the ground I decided to check out my game feeder and see how low it was. I was just about to it when I noticed beyond it on the field’s edge an antler in the brush. My initial thought was it was a dead deer but I wanted to check for sure. I was about 30 yards away and I brought up my rifle up and almost immediately realized it was the small buck and he was napping with his back to me. I decided to sneak up on him and give him a bit of a scare. I got within about 10 yards of him when the wind switched and carried my scent right to him. I saw him spin his head around and he about jumped out of his skin when he saw me. He jumped up and crashed off into the brush and I hope he is a bit smarter.

While on our lease we try to take older bucks other neighboring lands may not be as friendly to the younger bucks.

Hopefully I’ll see his daddy or granddaddy real soon.

I’ll post some more stories from last week soon.

Story by Dan McLaughlin aka Moose

This past Saturday was the opener of Muzzleloader started with a big mistake on my part. As everyone knows I had trouble with my breech plug and once I got it unstuck last week I had to go sight the gun in for the season. Friday evening with the gun all sighted in I cleaned it to get ready for the morning opener. After cleaning it I decided to wait and load it in the morning which is not normally what I do. (For non muzzleloader’s a bit of information, you put two pellets of black powder substitute and then with your ram rod you push a bullet down the barrel and sit it tightly on the pellets. The gun is loaded but safe because it needs a primer to set off the load. Once a muzzle loader is loaded it stays that way the entire season with only the primer being removed to technically make it unloaded when not in a hunting situation.)

The alarm goes off at 330 am so I can get going to make it to my hunting stand before daylight. I get into my stand and with my head lamp I start looking for my stuff to load my gun. Reality hits hard when you realize your black powder pellets are 90 minutes away in your garage. How did I forget them I ask myself as I dump my pack out knowing that have to be here I’m just over looking them. Nope not here now what. None of the other guys I hunt with are planning to hunt here this morning. A Wal Mart is 15 minutes away but I’m not sure they carry black powder supplies. My only hope is that I left some in the back of my truck this past week when I was sighting in so I climb down out of my stand and head back to the truck. If I can’t find any my plan is to just return to the stand armed with my camera and observe what happens. As I’m cutting across the upper field in the still semi darkness before legal light I see something moving. It turns out to be Rick one of the guys that hunts with us he had changed his mind and decided to hunt here this morning. He gives me two of his loads and I thank him and head back to the stand getting there about the time it is braking day. I load my gun and sit and wait enjoying the show of a new day arriving.

It be great to say that I got something after that but that’s not how it played out. A warm day not much moving, I heard a coyote howl about 75 yards from my stand and the turkeys and other critters kept me entertained. I saw my first deer at the end of the day with the light fading fast two does and a fork horn buck popped out at the far end of the field. Much to far for my muzzleloader but a good sign that there are some deer around.

I have most of the week of muzzleloader off so hopefully I have some chances to get some meat for the freezer. My posts this week will be a bit intermittent as I spend a lot of time in the woods. The photos are some I shot on Saturday I hope you enjoy them.

Views from my stand

Turkeys (Hens)

” I know something is over there”

Post and Photos by Dan McLaughlin AKA Moose

This Field & Stream Video took the net by storm this past summer it now appears this buck has been tagged by Bob Decker.

Then, at 9:30 a.m., Decker heard it, the telltale “snap” of a whitetail stepping on a twig as it walked nearby.

Startled, he looked down from his tree stand and saw a large buck just 40 yards away. Decker eyed the animal’s large antlers and immediately decided it was a “shooter buck.” A few seconds later, adrenaline surging through his veins, he grabbed his bow and zeroed in on the animal’s body.

Thwap! The arrow struck its mark just 6 or 7 yards below Decker. The buck bolted for about 50 yards through the woods, then collapsed. It struggled to its feet after a few seconds, then staggered another 50 yards or so to its death.

“I knew it was a nice deer. I figured I’d shot a good-sized 10-pointer,” Decker said.

Decker climbed down from his tree stand and went to meet Olson before going to find his deer. As his friend approached, Olson noticed Decker’s hands shaking with excitement.

“I shot a monster, but it wasn’t the Field and Stream buck,” Decker told Olson, referencing the huge buck that has caused a craze among deer hunters this fall after a video filmed about a half mile from Decker’s hunting spot was posted on the Web site of the outdoor magazine.

The video prompted deer experts to speculate that the animal, with its stunningly large 16-point rack, could challenge Milo Hansen’s 1993 world-record buck. The much-discussed buck is pictured on the cover of the November edition of the magazine.

Olson and Decker approached the buck, which had died on a bed of grass and leaves and was lying on its side. At first glance, Decker figured the animal was smaller than he had thought. He soon discovered otherwise.

Olson reached the buck first and yelled in disbelief to Decker.

“It’s the Field and Stream buck!” Olson shouted to his friend. “This is unbelievable! It’s the Field and Stream buck!”

Twin Cities

This is one awesome buck but where will it fall in the record books? I’m not sure we’ll have to wait and see. I’m sure more info will be coming out on this story soon.

Today’s edition of the News & Observer had a great story about the success some young folks are having in the North Carolina Woods.

Ean Karpinski with his buck

Ean’s 150-grain Remington Cor-Lokt bullet found its mark, and the pair celebrated. The buck was rough-scored using the Boone & Crockett method by David Clark of Clark’s Taxidermy in Garner. It tallied 140 6/8 B & C, an impressive buck by any standard.

Tyler Hickman with his buck

The two waited 10 minutes for the buck to turn broadside. When the buck turned, Tyler squeezed the trigger on his Marlin 336 .30-30, and 65 yards away, the deer fell.

“He stood up and started hollerin’, ” said David Hickman of Tyler’s reaction. “I told him to take it easy. He was running top speed across the soybean field. I walked up to it and made sure it was dead. I counted 23 points.”

the Hickmans took it to Russell Avery of Avery’s Taxidermy in Clayton. Hickman said the rack had been rough-scored by two different people and they had gotten 185 and 187.

Avery, is Pope & Young Club’s certified scorer.

What a couple of nice bucks Congratulations to these young hunters. Do go and read the full story out at the N&O. Also a tip of the hat to the N&O to the commitment of reporting outdoor news and stories like these about young folks in a day and age when many newspapers have long ago abandoned the outdoors.

One only needs to listen to the morning traffic reports to realize the deer are on the move and on occasion they run into traffic. With the mating season (rut) taking place in the deer herd they are really on the move this time of the year. Drivers should be aware especially when traveling areas where deer are often seen. Studies have shown that the deer whistles that people mount on their cars have little effect on avoiding run ins with deer. Slow down, in the dark look for the reflection of their eyes, if you have one deer cross in front of you expect more to cross behind the one you just saw. Even with the best precautions a collision with a deer maybe unavoidable, don’t try to swerve to miss it you may hit another car deer or object. You also have a greater potential to lose control of your vehicle causing it to flip or leave the road surface.

This past weekend a Holly Springs Police Officer had a collision with a deer causing extensive damage to the cruiser but not much injuries to himself. Seat belts & Air bags work.
I hope everyone gets their deer this year lets just do it with a gun or bow and not our cars.

Story by Dan McLaughlin AKA Moose

Michael Burkley downed the potential state-record archery buck in Mississippi during early October with a 56-yard shot in a harvested bean field.

I saw this story on the NC Sportsman website.

“I got a game-cam shot of him (on Sept. 18), and also saw him several times with a spotting scope from about a thousand yards away,” he said.

As Burkley would soon discover, the behemoth sported a tangle of antlers that would greenscore 193 2/8.

The deer was about 56 yards away, but Burkley had painstakingly prepared himself for this situation.

“I had ranged several spots in the field, so I had a good idea of the distance he was away from me,” he said. “I had one of my pins set for 40 yards, so I held it about 10 inches over his back, and let the arrow go.”

When it connected, Burkley could tell he had made a good shot.

“I knew I had whacked him, but I was a little unsure of the penetration at that distance,” he said.

Unbelievable Go read the whole story at NC Sportsman.