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.
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