Deer Hunting Season

The 180-Class Pending B&C World Record 8-Point Buck!

Dave_Maccar — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 15:46:12 -0500

On December 1, 2011, on the opening day of the second shotgun season in Illinois, Jason Sanders tagged what will likely be the largest 8-point whitetail in the Boone & Crockett record books. Sanders, a 38-year-old farmer and veteran deer hunter, was hunting on his home farm when he set his sights on this world-class buck of a lifetime.

The Best Field & Stream Reader Photos From January 2012

Dave_Maccar — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 12:06:52 -0500

Each month, Field & Stream editors review the hundreds of photos submitted by readers to our Trophy Room. If your photo is chosen to be printed in the Game Faces section of the magazine, you’ll win a Rapala Fish ‘N Fillet knife!

Submit your photos here!

Here are the monthly Best Reader Photo Galleries from last year:

Giant Illinois Buck Is Potential World-Record 8-Pointer

Sarah Smith — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 14:11:41 -0500

by Scott Bestul

The term “world-record whitetail” gets tossed around so much these days that it’s easy to ignore. But the buck pictured at left may well be the real deal.

Shoot Me Down: The Whisker Biscuit is Still the Best Rest for Bowhunting

Sarah Smith — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 14:00:06 -0500

by Dave Hurteau

First, we have a new high-speed video to show you, which is cool on its own merits. It illustrates, like you’ve probably never seen before, the most common complaint about a Whisker Biscuit arrow rest: “Too much fletching contact.” Check it out.

It’s plain to see that there is indeed a mountain of such contact. No one could argue otherwise. So much so that, as I say, it’s just crazy that a Whisker Biscuit can be so accurate.

Yet it is.

Massachusetts Firefighters Save Deer from Well

Sarah Smith — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 10:08:14 -0500

--Chad Love

Here's one from the "Next Time, Let's Just Stick To Kittens In Trees" files. Firefighters in Truro, Mass. spent most of Sunday figuring out how to rescue a deer that had fallen down an abandoned well.

From this story on whdh.com:

Crews rescued a deer stuck in a well on Sunday. Authorities say the deer may have been caught in the Truro well for days. The deer was 12 feet down the dry well, and kicking wildly. “I've gone to many animal complaints; I’ve never seen a wild animal this upset. She tried several times to jump out of the hole and she was just not able to clear the 12 to 14 foot hole,” said Officer Jeremiah Valli of the Truro Police Department. They couldn't shoot the deer with a tranquilizer because he’s a game animal.

The Best Shotguns of 2012

Dave_Maccar — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 14:56:43 -0500

The Tale of a 21-Point, 200-Class, Double-Drop Iowa Monster Buck

Online Editors — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 14:11:41 -0500

Jesse Jans first encountered this dandy Iowa drop-tine from only 10 feet away, then spent a year pinpointing the big buck’s movements. Once he did, the North Liberty accountant told a hunting buddy over lunch one day that he’d have the 21-pointer on the ground that afternoon. Then—like Babe Ruth calling his homer in the 1932 World Series—Jans delivered. Here’s how...

Boy, 10, Tags Louisiana 18-Pointer On Solo Hunt

Sarah Smith — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 10:33:12 -0500

--Chad Love

Here's a story about a ten-year-old Louisiana boy who tagged a massive, 18-point buck earlier this month. On the face of it, it seems to be one of the typical "boy kills monster buck" stories we see every season.

You know, the kind of story that causes you to wail and gnash your teeth as the black bile of envy rises up in your throat. But this one has an unusual twist in that this ten-year-old boy did it all by himself.

From this story on thetowntalk.com:

Ten-year-old Jack Dekeyzer is an accomplished deer hunter, not to mention being mature for his age. Therefore, his father Peter Dekeyzer was OK with letting his son make his first solo hunt on family property in early January. "Jack has been hunting with me for several years now and has already killed four does and little bitty 'hill' deer that had 9 points with a 10-inch spread. So, when he asked if he could hunt by himself, I really didn't give it a second thought," the elder Dekeyzer said.

The Best New Rifles of 2012

Dave_Maccar — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 12:41:18 -0500

There were more exhibitors and more atendees at this year's SHOT Show than ever before. That means more guns than one could ever see, but we did our best to find the best. Here are David E. Petzal and John Snow's picks for the best rifles from the show floor.

Minnesota Sees Decline in Deer Totals for 2011 Season

Sarah Smith — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 10:08:05 -0500

--Chad Love

The final numbers are in, and it looks like Minnesota's 2011 deer season will fall about seven percent from last season's totals.

From this story in the Albert Lea Tribune:

Smaller deer populations and a windy first weekend of the firearms season resulted in Minnesota’s deer harvest dropping 7 percent in 2011, according to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. Minnesota hunters killed 192,300 deer during the 2011 season, a drop of 15,000 from the 207,000 in 2010. In 2011, firearms hunters harvested 164,800 deer, while archery and muzzleloader hunters harvested 20,200 and 7,300 deer, respectively.