KEN'S LAST MINUTE BUCK

The 2008 deer season is now over and the projected kill was pretty much right on the money. The DNR had predicted a kill of around eight thousand deer and the tally is around seven thousand eight hundred,with two stations yet to turn in their numbers. The accuracy of the projected numbers means that the DNR has a good handle on what is happening with our deer herd and this translates into better management of the herd. We were blessed with a snow-fall the last day of the season and many hunters across the province hit the trail hard and were rewarded with some nice bucks for their efforts. As you can see from the photo in this post,Ken was amongst those lucky hunters to harvest a buck on the last day,actually in the final minutes of the season.Now many of you are probably thinking Kenny tracked this deer in the snow and bagged him on the trail. Not so. In the previous post I said the best way to get one of these Big Woods bucks is to wait for him to cross when he gets running around and thats just how Ken got him.Now if you know Ken at all,you know he has trouble sitting.But he played himself out the two weeks prior to the final day,so he decided to sit on a crossing where this buck had been travelling with some consistency during the season.I had told Ken that this buck would be killable when he got running and sure enough,Ken had only been there for about ten minutes and he blew his deer call and the buck walked out about ten yards from where he was standing.What a great way to end the season! The other photo is of Jamies buck he got this year.Now both of these bucks were the same age and weight,but Ken's had a little bit bigger rack,but they both were nice bucks. The biggest buck entered in the local big buck contest was two hundred and twenty -four lbs. Although this is not huge by New Brunswick standards,it is still a pretty nice buck. I'd like to congratulate all the successful deer hunters and hopefully this year our winter will be kinder to the deer and us two legged critters,too!

2008 Deer Season Winds Down

The 2008 deer season is slowly winding down and it has been a real roller-coaster of a season.The season so far this year has been a constant mix of warm,rainy weather mixed in with the odd cool frosty day.This constant fluctuation in the weather conditions did not help to get the deer moving and for the most part,up until the last couple of days,the deer have been in a regular pattern of feeding in the choppings and fields by night and bedding in the heavy woods and on the ridges next to the brooks during the day-light hours. A full moon last week did not help the hunting much either. Ken and I both agree that under conditions like these,a big bait pile will take a buck as easily as any other method of hunting. The photos in this post are of the Tolosky group from New York State and a picture of Glen Tucker,local meat shop owner,with a nice eleven point buck brought into the shop on Nov.15. Mike Tolosky and his extended family were up to New Brunswick for a deer hunt with us last week and it was very tough hunting. Their group managed to tag two small bucks,with `Pick`Tolosky,the family patriarch,getting his first deer in eleven years,as well as grand-son Josh getting a small buck also.Now these fine sportsmen came up here to hunt big North Woods bucks and Ken and the other guides put them on these big bucks but it just didn`t happen for them.I could go on at length about weather,the moon, last years winter and so on,but the bottom line is these big woods bucks are hard to get under ANY conditions. We have found the best way to get one of these old bucks is to sit and wait for him to make his rounds.If he`s not rutting,that could be a long wait. Unfortunately,the third week of the season was not a good week for the big bucks to be running. Now many paying Sports would have been very disappointed in the hunting last week because of the lack of movement and no doubt the Tolosky`s were also,but the difference with the Tolosky`s is they didn`t take their frustration out on the guides or the outfitters and tried to enjoy their hunt under the given conditions. Ken and I both agree that this group are not only true sportsmen and hunters,but a very nice family to boot! So I would like to take this opportunity to thank Mike and his family for choosing to hunt with us and we would certainly like to hunt or fish with you boy`s again some time in the future. There has been a few nice bucks killed this week locally and I`m sure there will be some more nice one`s taken before the season ends on Saturday.The predicted deer kill is just about on the mark for this year,according to the DNR.Of course the kill is down from last year because of the brutal winter we had,but that was to be expected.It`s funny how Nature changes and can provide either feast or famine conditions according to her whims.This year was the best I have ever seen for bright Atlantic Salmon,while the spring fishery for salmon was the worst in recent memory.Next spring promises to be an excellent spring for black salmon because of the large runs of salmon in 2008,IF the weather co-operates. So as it stands right now deer,grouse and rabbits are down a bit right now and moose,bear and salmon are up in numbers.Whatever species you are after or if you would like a soft eco-field trip,please contact me and I will arrange to get you out there in our great North Woods and experience the beauty of this great province we live in.

Up-and-Comer Buck and Little Doe

The first week of the rifle deer season is done and by all accounts the tally was down a bit from last year,but there were still a few nice bucks taken.One meat shop in Fredericton reported a very slow start to the season,but at the same time a shop record was broken for the heaviest buck,at two hundred and seventy-three lbs.Ken and I have been really travelling the bush and although we are seeing enough huntable bucks,there is a definite shortage of younger age deer.Most of the sign we are seeing is of larger animals and this falls in line with what I had predicted earlier this spring,that our brutal winter last year took a toll on the younger deer.They are just not as strong and they cannot forage well with the bigger animals.It's just natures way of ensuring the stronger breeders perpetuate the species.Ken and I flagged a couple of deer just as we were locking our guns up last nite on our way home and I bumped a monster buck first thing this morning,just as I was leaving the truck.This buck wasn't spooked bad because the wind was with me and I wasn't making a lot of noise.He just trotted away from me.He didn't blow or flag me,so he wasn't spooked.I tried my darndest to spot him,but I just couldn't pick him out of the stuff he was in.I had found this deer's track earlier in the week,after not noticing his track at first.The reason I never noticed was because I thought it was a calf moose track! This buck was crossing in the same spot as a bunch of moose and I thought he was one of them.That's how big this buck is! I told Kenny that this is the biggest deer track I have ever seen in my life and Ken said he had to agree,as he said he had only seen one other track that compared to this buck.When bucks get to this size,they are very hard to kill.The hunter must do everything exactly right or you will miss your opportunity.These big bucks are not like their younger counter-parts.They just don't make the mistakes that a younger deer does.But when they get running,they will make mistakes and the hunter must be ready to capitalize on the opportunity when it is presented.Ken and I are also seeing a lot of moose,including some real trophies.I saw two cows this week and Ken saw four,including a bull with about eighteen or twenty points.There seems to be about the same amount of hunters out in the woods,with maybe a few more migrant hunters from the northern part of the province.Last year we had a pretty good crop of deer,so naturally we have a few more hunters in our area looking to take a deer.Many times these hunters come under strong criticism,but they don't have a huntable herd in their home territories and these Frenchmen love to hunt.So until our government figures out what to do with this situation,we all have to learn to share the crown land so we can all enjoy this great sport of deer hunting.I'll be making more posts as the season progresses,so Good Luck to all the hunters out there and hunt safely.