With Deer hunting season coming to an end and old man winter starting to act up we can all look forward to spring and the summer months. The Connecticut Archery Association has posted their 2008 shooting schedule.

The CAA is the Connecticut chapter of the National Field Archery Association. Many 3-D field and indoor archery tournaments are held throughout the year at some of the most challenging and beautiful archery courses around the country.

January
20- 450 Vegas Round Warm-Up (10AM & 1PM) Center Sports
26- (Sat) 450 Vegas Round Warm-Up (1PM Only) Harwinton R&G

February
9- (Sat) CAA State Open Championship - 450 Round 1PM Center Sports
10- (Sun) CAA State Open Championship - 450 Round 10AM & 1PM Center Sports
17- NFAA 300 Round Warm-Up (10AM & 1PM) Center Sports
23- (Sat) NFAA 300 Round Warm-Up (1PM Only) Harwinton R&G

March
2- 30 - 3D Bristol F&G
8- (Sat) NFAA/CAA State Championship* - 300 Round 1PM Harwinton R&G
9- (Sun) NFAA/CAA State Championship* - 300 Round 10AM & 2PM Harwinton R&G
16- 30 - 3D Algonquin Archers
28 & 30- New England Indoor Sectionals Lunenburg, MA
30- 30 - 3D Harwinton R&G

April
6- 30 - 3D New England Archers
6- 30 - 3D New Haven Raccoon
13- 35 - 3D Fairfield County F&G
19 & 20- Stan Open Hartford Convention Center
20- 30 - 3D Guilford Sportsmen
27- 300 Field Round Hamden Bowmen
27- 30 - 3D Cos Cob Archers
27- 30 - 3D Traditional Pootatuck Archers

May
4 -30 - 3D New Haven Raccoon
18- International Target Round Pootatuck Archers
18- 30 - 3D Newgate Coon Club

June
1- 35 - 3D Fairfield County F&G
7 & 8- Traditional Only & Primitive Skills Workshop Algonquin Archers
8- 30 - 3D Harwinton R&G
8- 30 - 3D New Haven Raccoon
15- 28 Field Round Hamden Bowmen
21 & 22- New England Outdoor Sectionals Lunenburg, MA
22- 30 - 3D Guilford Sportsmen
22- 30 - 3D Torrington F&G
29- 30 - 3D Pootatuck Archers

July
12- (Sat) CAA State Open Target Championship 600 Round (1PM) New Haven Raccoon
1-3 (Sun) CAA State Open Target Championship 600 Round (10AM) New Haven Raccoon
13- 30 - 3D New Haven Raccoon
20- 30 - 3D Torrington F&G
27- 30 - 3D Pootatuck Archers

August
3- 30 - 3D Guilford Sportsmen
3- Knock-A-Block (8AM) Hamden Bowmen
3- 30 - 3D Newgate Coon Club
10- NFAA/CAA State Field Championship* 14F,14H,14A (9AM
Shotgun Start) Pootatuck Archers
10- 30 - 3D New Haven Raccoon
17- CAA State 3D Championship Fairfield County F&G
23 & 24- 30 - 3D (both days) Bristol F&G
30 & 31- NESFAA New England Shoot Lunenburg, MA
30- 30 - 3D Torrington F&G

September
7- 30 - 3D Harwinton R&G
7- 30 - 3D New Haven Raccoon
14- 30 - 3D Algonquin Archers
28- 30 - 3D Cos Cob Archers

Food served at all shoots
*NFAA/CAA membership required to compete for awards in the NFAA/CAA State Indoor Championship & the NFAA/CAA State Field Championship.

The CAA State Field Championship is a one-day shoot. Start Time is at 9AM sharp.
Assigned targets with 14 Field, 14 Hunter, 14 Animal.

CAA State Target Championship - July 13 & 14.
Shooting times are at 1PM on the 13th and 10AM on the 14th.
Registration - one hour earlier.

This was a interesting story that I wanted to share, it talks about a piebald deer that has been sort of put on the protected list and also goes into some detail to tell you about piebald deer. Very informative and a real nice story.

By JIM WRIGHT
STAFF WRITER North Jersey Media Group

Think of her as Jane Doe.

The white and nameless female deer, rescued as a fawn last year, has become a prominent attraction at Bergen County’s nature center in Wyckoff.

The doe is mostly white because she is “piebald,” a fairly rare genetic condition that affects skin pigmentation and causes other abnormalities. The deer shall remain nameless for a very simple reason.

“Names depict pets,” says Peter Both, the director of the McFaul Environmental Center. “Our animals are not pets. They are in captivity for a reason.”

The deer came to the 80-acre sanctuary from a wildlife rehabilitator in the Wanaque area, who had repaired the fawn’s misshapen hoof.

State law prohibits a wild animal that has been in captivity from being released into the natural environment, where it would be vulnerable to predators.

Piebald deer are particularly vulnerable because their white color makes them conspicuous most times of the year.

( This is not Jane Doe but an example of a piebald deer )

Other typical abnormalities such as shorter legs, poor hearing, a poor sense of smell and an overbite also make their chances of survival in the wild much lower.

The placid doe, which has tan skin around her eyes and on her ears, lives in a large enclosure behind the center, along with standard-issue white-tailed deer. She also has a job at the center — as a teaching tool.

“She helps get people to think about the fact just like people come in a variety of colors, so do animals,” says Both. “Not all white-tailed deer are tan.”

The deer has been such an attention-getter, the staff has put up a special display about her in the lobby.

The display points out that what people are seeing in the pen is not a goat — a common misperception — but rather a piebald deer.

It explains: “Piebald” is a term that is used to describe an animal with at least one extra white patch; “pie” means “mixed up” and “bald” denotes a “white spot.” (Think “bald eagle,” which has a white head and a white tail.)

Both says he expects the McFaul piebald to live seven or eight years, or about half the life expectancy of the other white-tailed deer on exhibit at the center.

The arrival of the piebald has probably extended the stay of all the captive whitetails at the center. According to Both, wild deer have been seen so regularly on the property in the past six years that “we wondered if we really needed to have a captive population. The piebald kind of changed that dynamic a little bit.”

“They’re a curiosity,” says Larry Herrighty, assistant director of the state Division of Fish and Wildlife. “People like to see them and talk about them.”

Herrighty says that his agency gets several reported sightings every year, and one or two are felled by hunters each year, who typically have the deerskins preserved because they’re rare.

“Some states don’t allow hunters to shoot white deer because they want to keep them going,” Herrighty says. “But we make no such distinction in New Jersey.”

That may explain why the piebald at McFaul looks so contented — she’s anonymous and out of firing range.

It is good to see our youth of today getting out and enjoying the outdoors and also doing great in school as well.

Willard teen shoots and scores with basketball, hunting bow
By ROB MCCURDY
News Journal

Willard High School freshman Elizabeth Fried, a hoops standout, shot a 10-point buck that topped the youth bow-hunting field in the News Journal and Sportsman’s Den North Central Ohio Big Buck Contest.

WILLARD — Elizabeth Fried is a sharpshooter on the basketball court. The Willard freshman is also a dead-eye in the woods.

The duel sport threat had her finest night Dec. 18, when she rang up three 3-pointers in a varsity basketball game while the deer she took during bow season was judged to be the best in the youth archery portion of the North Central Ohio Big Buck Contest.

“I was surprised. My dad told me I’d have a good chance at winning. I was shocked when I came home and he told me I won,” Fried said.

It was a 21-point night, the 11 she scored against Ashland and the 10 points of her deer’s antlers. The buck green scored a 158 3/8 from Buckeye Big Buck Club judges to easily win the $600 gift certificate from the News Journal and Sportsman’s Den.”She loves hunting and being outside,” her father Randy said. “She hunted all year and passed up a lot of bucks for this one.”

Fried admitted she’s the only player on Willard’s varsity roster who hunts.

“They know I hunt and I shot a deer and they asked me to bring in some pictures of it,” she said.

Willard coach Barry Pfahl said she’s the first girl he’s coached who hunted, but added he wouldn’t mind a team full of archers.

“She’s an incredible athlete and the family has an athletic and hunting background. I knew she was a hunter,” Pfahl said. “She’s one of those kids who is a tremendous athlete, worker and disciplined kid.”

Besides the hand-eye coordination that’s needed to succeed in both, Pfahl sees another benefit to hunting as it applies to his brand of shooting.

“You need some patience in bow hunting in particular. To sit there and wait, she’s obviously coachable. She’s one of those kids where the little things are important to her,” he said.

Fried took up hunting three years ago.

“My dad and my brother (22-year-old Cory) always deer hunted and I thought it would be cool to try. I liked it,” she said.

Randy said that in the fall, his son and daughter hit the woods, many times without him. It’s something the siblings have bonded over.

In fact, Fried wanted to thank her brother for helping her on the Nov. 3 hunt where she bagged her buck. He drove the deer toward her. She also wanted to thank Sportsman’s Den owner Gregg Griffeth for having the contest.

“During bow season before we get into heavy practice, I can go then,” she said of dividing her time between sports.

Before Tuesday’s game, Fried was shooting 43 percent from 3-point range. She’s averaging 4.4 points per game after making the jump from junior high basketball.

“It’s a big challenge. When you’re in eighth grade, you dominate. The next year you’re at the bottom and it’s like you’re starting over again. You’re really nervous, but it’s getting better,” she said.

Her next challenge will be deciding what to do with her gift certificate.

“I’ll probably get more ladder stands. The other area we hunt doesn’t have any, and I don’t like sitting on the ground to hunt. I’ll probably get some new hunting clothes and boots, too. There’s so many things I can get,” she said.

Coming home from work tonight I came across 5 deer that appeared to have just crossed the road. When I slowed to a stop they just casually strolled off the side and through a break in a stone wall. I saw 5 but, I have a feeling that there was actually more than that. It was nice to see them for a change, it had been awhile.

temp - 36 degrees

wind - west/northwest @ 2 mph

barometer - 30.16 and rising

sky - partly cloudy

After careful consideration of the events of this past deer season which I will briefly explain I have decided to buy another tool that should help me. It is called the,

Cabela’s Magnum Game Carrier

Overall Customer Rating:

4.6 out of 5

Product Description:

This trophy-sized cart will help you easily get your game out of the field without breaking your back in the process. The innovative zero-weight-on-the-handle design and low-profile axle assure maximum, non-tip stability and help take the weight off the hunter to make transporting big animals easier. The tough welded steel construction, coupled with the durable, 16″ puncture-proof tires, will give you years of hard use hauling your trophies over rough terrain.

After spending most of deer season sick I realized that I am not getting any younger and that my older son is not always going to be around to help me so I decided to get something that should help me if I do happen to tag a deer and I am alone. I plan to keep hunting whitetails for as long as I humanly can so this should help.

First hunts are always memorable for youngsters especially if the harvest a trophy their first time out.

Boy’s first Big-Game Hunt turns into Dream come true.

By BRENT FRAZEE

The Kansas City Star

Little hunter, big deer. That was the story when Patrick Landolfi, 9, from St. Marys, Kan., took a trophy buck on his first deer hunt in early December.

For two weeks, little Patrick Landolfi dreamed about the way things would go on his first deer hunt.But not even in his dreams was the deer this big.

Sitting in a blind near the Jeffrey Energy Center with his dad, Mike, and volunteer helper Bruce Hight, the 9-year-old watched as the buck of a lifetime suddenly appeared in front of him.

The 12-point buck paused, Patrick fired — and that dream got even better.

“I had been dreaming about going hunting for a couple of weeks,” said Landolfi, who lives in St. Marys, Kan. “I was so excited, that’s all I could think about.

“But I didn’t think I would take a deer like this. I didn’t care if it was a doe or how big it was.

“I just wanted to get a shot.”

Landolfi got a shot all right — at a buck that would make many adult hunters’ knees wobble.

Participating in a youth hunt sponsored by Westar Energy — an event designed to introduce youngsters and their parents to deer hunting —Landolfi enjoyed the type of hunt that adults many times his age never experience.

“A lot of hunters go their whole lives and never shoot anything like this,” Mike Landolfi said. “I’m still a wannabe myself.

“I’ve hunted for three years and I’ve never shot a deer. Patrick goes out and takes a huge buck his first time out.

“I’m just thrilled for him. I’ll never forget the smile that came across his face after he shot that deer.”

For Brad Loveless, coordinator of the youth hunt, such experiences are what the event is all about.

Westar Energy and its Green Team, employees who do environmental projects across the state, had a simple goal in mind when they established the hunt 10 years ago. They wanted to take kids who had never hunted deer before and their parents, who had to be inexperienced as well, and introduce them to the sport the right way.

Box blinds were build on the Jeffrey Energy Center grounds in northeast Kansas, Green Team volunteers signed up to guide, and kids were given seminars on what to expect.

From the start, the hunts were a big success. And they remain so today.

The hunts annually attract 15 to 20 kids, and the success rate has been high. The hunt targets does, an effort to keep the area’s deer herd in balance. But hunt coordinators allow kids to shoot a buck if it has a rack that’s 8 points or bigger.

Landolfi was one of the lucky hunters. In fact, some observers said it was the biggest buck they had ever seen in the area.

Though the rack still hasn’t been scored, it probably won’t make the record books. Still, it was one of the biggest ever taken during the Westar Energy youth hunts.

But it doesn’t take a big buck to excite many of the youngsters who participate. Even the kids who shoot a doe go away feeling like they’ve accomplished something special, Loveless said.

“We see a lot of excited kids,” he said with a laugh. “They don’t really know what to expect when they show up. But by the time they’re done, a lot of them can’t wait to hunt again.”

Landolfi certainly fits into that category. After he found out that his father had signed him up for the early-December hunt, he decorated his room in blaze orange and camouflage — the colors often worn by deer hunters when they take to the woods.

He also did two weeks of target practice with his father, learning to use a rifle. By the end of that session, his father was confident Patrick could hit a deer if the opportunity presented itself.

Now the buck is at the taxidermist shop and the meat has been processed. And father and son are still excited about a memorable December afternoon.

“Another season has come and gone for me, and still no deer,” Mike Landolfi said. “But this is a deer season Patrick and I will never forget.

“He might go years and never shoot another buck like this one.”

This has been kind of a debate for as long as I can remember. The color of antler’s, why are some dark and why are some light?

Antler color

Written by Bill Miller

Any hunter no doubt would agree that no two bucks are the same, and the color of their antlers add to their diversity.

Yet camp fire debates swirl over why some antlers are lighter, or darker, than others.

Does it have to do with deer nutrition, or the actual density of the antlers? Maybe it’s both, according to some whitetail deer experts in Texas.

They’re quick to note, however, that nobody seems to know for sure, at least for now.

“Of all the things that you could potentially study, this is not high on the list,” said Dr. David Hewitt of the Caesar Kleberg Wildlife Research Institute at Texas A&M University-Kingsville.

But antler density – or lack of it – seems to make the most sense to Hewitt, who chairs the whitetail deer research program at the institute.

Other experts agree. “I’ve always been interested in that,” said Dr. Dale Rollins, a Texas Cooperative Extension wildlife specialist in San Angelo. “It could be that the softer, more porous antler soaks up more stain.”

And blood is likely the ultimate staining agent that thoroughly covers antlers when bucks rub out of their velvet.

Larry Weishuhn, whitetail deer expert from Uvalde, has noted that tree sap also stains antlers during the rubs.

Weishuhn, an author and television show host, offered his comments in an online chat on the Web site for the Los Cazadores deer contest.

He added that a buck on a really good diet will produce very dense antlers that resist staining.

Rollins noted that dense antlers polish up nicely in the rubbing and they can appear almost marble white.

He recalled how he began exploring this mystery in the late 1980s.

“There was a real rash of broken antlers in the Concho Valley and around Sterling City in particular,” he said. “I had a student look at it, and in the course of that, we’d take core samples out of antlers.

“Well, on the very dark antlers it was like sticking a hot knife through butter.”

Additional tests on density, however, distracted from the main research on the broken antlers.

So the density theory and other issues related to antler colors were never fully explored.

And as far as Rollins and Hewitt can recall, no researchers have ever done that.

Rollins agreed with Hewitt that the color of antlers is not a pressing health issue for deer, so it doesn’t impress organizations that award research funds.

He added, however, that the causes of antler density could become part of a larger project that addresses human bone density and osteoporosis.

Don’t laugh.

According to Hewitt, there have been numerous medical studies for humans that have looked at deer antlers.

“Antlers grow so fast, I’ve heard them compared to tumors,” he said. “So, yes, there are potential ties to human medicine.”

Meanwhile, until the issue is put to rest, deer camps throughout Texas have retained a debate topic.

They say some fella’s wait a lifetime to tag a trophy like this, they might be right. I have to say one thing though and that is it might take me a lifetime but, I am going to have fun doing it.

By Tony Robinson - morganton.com

Millions of whitetail deer hunters throughout North America will go their lifetime without ever bagging a buck like the one pictured here. This one was taken on this year’s opening day by Norman Presnell in the high country of McDowell County.

Tony Robinson (The News Herald)

At 71, avid deer hunter Norman “Bud” Presnell, of Marion, has taken his share of bucks. Last year he bagged the type of deer that most young hunters only dream about, a 21-pointer.
As this years opening day neared, Presnell had picked out and prepared a spot for his wife to hunt. She had decided a couple years back to finally join her husband of many years on his deer hunting adventures.
Some last-minute events would prevent her from being in the woods as he had planned. Keeping with his love and tradition of the sport, Presnell finds himself positioned in his wife’s stand as the sun breaks the eastern horizon on opening day.
With feet dangling only a couple of feet off the ground, the veteran hunter sits back in his lounge stand and enjoys the clear, warmer than normal weather of the mountains of McDowell County.
Presnell has spent many hours in deer stands over the years and is usually there from daylight to dark. However, this day would not find him watching the sunset from a tree stand.
The first few hours of the new season were quiet and motionless as Presnell basked in the noon sun. Suddenly the familiar sound of walking in the leaves brings a slow turn of his head to the left. To his delight, the biggest racked buck he had ever seen was headed his way and only 100 feet away. To his disappointment, the deer was coming from his left. This would have been fine had Presnell been a right-handed shooter. Today, lady luck was his companion.
At 75 feet away, the deer suddenly took a turn in Presnell’s favor and slowly walked into a small dip that would momentarily conceal him from the deer’s view. This was all that the experienced hands of Presnell needed. A few seconds later the big buck appeared from the little creek dip and presented a perfect shot. The crack of Presnell’s Browning 7mm mag filled the air for another season. Before the echo had faded from the mountain peaks, the giant buck lay on the ground. Preliminary and unofficial scoring has put the deer in the 170s.
Eight days later and north of McDowell in Mitchell County, 43-year-old Mike Rathbone steps out on his porch at around 5 a.m. The temperature and other weather conditions tell him that he needs to go deer hunting. A few minutes later, his truck is maneuvering the curvy mountain roads on its one-hour trip to his favorite hunting grounds in the backcountry mountains of Yancey County.
Closing the trucks door, Rathbone knew that the fun was now beginning as he started the hour and a half walk into the state’s high country. Rathbone is one of those hunters that is willing to pay the price to get one of the growing numbers of trophy deer that are coming from the mountain counties.
For Presnell, it was having the ability to use an ATV to get back into the mountains on private land. Rathbone would be hunting public lands and have to walk. In both cases they would be hunting areas that get little pressure due to low numbers of deer and the difficulty of getting there. They would also be willing to invest the time and stay the course.
Rathbone makes his way to the backcountry he knows well just as the sun’s light hits the highest peaks. At midmorning his efforts are rewarded with one of those rare moments for man in nature. A sow bear has brought her three cubs into his view. He watches intently as the trio’s mom scoops and racks back the fresh layer of leaves to expose a thick harvest of new acorns. This would help insure the much-needed fat that the young bruins would require to get them through the cold mountain winters. After about 10 minutes they move on in search of food.
At 1 p.m. Rathbone decides to come down and walk to another well used trail nearby. By now the wind is beginning to whip the leaves and limbs into a chorus of sounds and motions. Rathbone pauses near the crest of a ridge and turns to scan the surrounding woods. To his amazement and delight, he spots a big buck only 75 feet away and seemingly oblivious to his presence due to the wind canceling out his noise and being downwind to the deer. Instinctively, Rathbone raises his gun, takes aim and fires. His aim is true and the big buck is down. It is only after Rathbone is standing over his trophy can he truly appreciate the fruit of his labor. Over three hours later, Rathbone arrives back at his vehicle with his deer. He had to skin and quarter up the deer in the woods and then backpack it out. While not official, Rathbone’s trophy has been scored in the 150s.

This time of year we are all thinking about it at some point and that is to roll over and go back to bed. Well I found this tip from the Buckmasters website that makes a lot of sense and wanted to share it with you. Like the tip meant you can’t harvest a trophy whitetail from the comfort and warmth of your bed.

It’s 3:30 a.m. and the alarm goes off. You’re tired, but visions of a big buck help you sit up and rub your eyes. Then you hear it — howling winds and maybe even the dreaded patter of rain on the roof.

Many of us at this point decide it’s not worth the trouble and lay back down to blissful slumber. But that could be a big mistake.

Deer are just like us when it comes to bad weather — they avoid it as much as possible. If you have hunted the same area for any length of time, you probably know of several sheltered depressions, benches or thickets — these can be deer hotspots in bad weather.

While going out and sitting on your favorite stand in pouring rain all day is miserable and probably unproductive, consider making stalks to your property’s natural weather shelters. You can make a short day of your hunt since you’ll probably be cold and wet, but your odds of seeing deer are good — especially when you compare them to the odds of taking your trophy buck from your bed!

With the holiday’s upon us I just wanted to take a minute to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year at Skinny Moose Media and U.S. Hunting Today.

May we all be safe and happy and healthy through the holidays and the coming year. May we all prosper and continue to enjoy what we do.

From Rick, Heidi, Adam & Tyler at Tails and Trails,

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!