5 for 5! (no lie)

Write up coming

4 for 4

Okay so I am on a hot streak of sorts in that I am finding shed antlers every time I am hitting the woods. When I get up today I knew I got some things I have got to do, like put a new battery in my truck so we will not get stranded out in the out back again( long story for a different day) so before I into the big town I do a recon through the neighborhood to find where the deer had been. A quarter of the way through my tour I hit pay dirt and notice that an orchard I have permission to hunt is just destroyed with sign. Well mission control we have acquired a target for this afternoons hunt.

After my horrible Walmart morning(also another story for another time) I had lunch ,packed my gear and headed into the woods. On my short drive I knew I would be successful, call it positive thinking or cockiness or what have you I just knew. Upon reaching the orchard I was just blown away with all the big buck tracks I was seeing. I don't mean big tracks I am talking splayed foot dew claw gouging 200 lb + mature monster tracks. Those of you who are in the know, know what I am talking about. As long as a 30.06. shell and almost as wide.

Okay now I am just wound tighter than a ten day clock. big buck = big rack (mostly). I first work the upper orchard with the persistence and skill knowing the big Ol' stickers buck is still kicking around with that massive non-typical rack. The upper level has nothing that I can see but there is some snow covering potential small sheds, however big ones should still poke up.

I work into the lower section and immediately find its just as tracked up and that the deer had been bedded only fifty yards from the road. Not only is it more tracked up but there are more paths between sections. I kick around every tree and move gradually to the East then follow a trail to another section. I am walking stooped over because of the under brush and stopping and scanning the ground every few feet side to side up and down. and then as I scan just to right of my foot I see just a few inches of tine popping up out of the snow. I reach down and pop out a nice 3 point side .

A basic clean six with no brow tines. Fairly good size off a 2 and one half year old. I spend until dark thirty looking for the match. To much to cover and the bedding area is a way off so I will have to come back. Just 10 minutes from my house so I can even stop by after work. notice the size of the pedicle base huge, huh! he has some growing to do. well stay tuned, the streak will continue

3 For 3 ("Seed Antler")

So we finally got out to do some moose antler hunting in my little spot over in Croydon today.
James met me at my place bright and early and we were welcomed by a brisk 10 degrees and no wind. after a short ride and a whole lot of anticipation we were under way.

I was surprised at the lack of sign at first but the snow had only been on the ground a short time so the animals had probably been there just the snow had erased their signature. We got on some good deer tracks and followed them for a ways up a ridge to a crossing on the stream to get down to a moose yard. We went quite a ways and finally picked up some fresh moose sign and started to follow. We jumped them and followed some distance back in to the big moose yard. I was seeing little bull sign ( the two we tracked were either small yearling bulls or a cow and a calf) but once again the snow probably covered it up. after another 100 yards or so I spotted a curious site, something red and yellow and quite large. I called over to James and told him I saw something "An antler?" he asked ."Nope, a half a canoe!"

Yes a half a canoe in the outback of Croydon at least 2 miles from any navigable water way.

I still am at a loss.

We continued on into the depth of the area and started to find rubs and fresh chews on the trees. We worked an edge of some feeding areas and I started getting that vibe. We started to go down along a small bog and came out in another feeding cluster and I noticed a tree stand. How in the hell did they get that out here? I took another step and bam ! sticking up out of the snow Not three steps from the base of the tree stand was a meaty tine. GOT ONE ! And this was James response," Your kidding!" I detected a bit of envy in that statement. Sometimes being an antler addict can get me in trouble.

Anyways, it was a non typical shed with a whitetail style brow tine and a kicker off the back. The bases are really large like a mature bull but the antler itself has short beams like a five year old. Maybe a bull on the decline I am not sure. Well after a few pics and a grid search we did not find the match at this spot so we began looking in the surroundings to no avail. After James so kindly strapped my treasure to his pack we were off.

We came across a ton more rut rubs on trees closer to the stream .

We then laced our way back to the road following rubs and tracks. At one point we sat for a bit on a blowdown and James asked if I would sell him the antler. I told him no. (I did not plan on selling him that antler, my plan was to make him sweat carrying it back to the truck and then give it to him.) But I let him know then that it was his. I think he was shocked. I honestly thought he was gonna fall off the log! "You see, sometimes you need a seed antler." I told him. James asked, "What is a seed antler?" It is a antler you give some one that they put in their trophy room and it mysteriously starts adding more to the collection.

We made our way back to the truck me with another find in the books and James with the start of his moose antler collection and another push towards complete antler obsession.

Two for two

After a few unsuccessful outings , I finally broke the ice! You know it just feels good just to put your hands on some antler again!

So James and I head out on Saturday to his favorite hunting spot and tromp around for a bit. It's a very good spot he has taken some nice deer in there and found quite a few sheds, but this trip was to no avail. So we decided to head to another spot that he has been getting some nice pictures on his trail cam. One is a buck with a real nice typical NH 4 point antler on one side and the other antler looks like he had some pedicle damage because it looks as if it melted down his face.
My first impression of this spot is that it is a typical deer yard in a residential/rural area , and the deer sign is insane! We have all seen these spots (Chris Holmes I mean you) where a giant deer is seen by the desperate housewives while the hubby is 30 miles away hunting the big North Woods seeing moose and squirrels.

We moved up and along various shelves and ridges finding nothing but tons of sign. As the day waned on we worked down into planted rows of red pine and started meandering around only 200 yards from someone's back porch. As I stopped and leaned against one of said pines, I looked down at the forest floor at my feet and I saw what appeared to be a couple of chewed sticks, I knew in a instant what it was. I bent over and picked up shed # 1 of 2012, a nice big 5 point side, a little chewed but enough left to get a idea of what kind of bucks were wandering these hills . I humbly relinquished my find to the master of this hunting ground like I customarily do when shed hunting as a guest. then I headed home to recharge for day 2



Day two went like this: I trekked out to the back side of our fifty acre piece and worked into the big cut. I wandered for hours crossing all over open woods ,hemlock swamps, open clearings and nothing. I was still coming down from the high of breaking the ice yesterday so it was just great learning the routes and bedding areas I had over looked this hunting season. At just about dark I had made it just about back to the house and took a deer run that runs just 40 yards behind my big double stand and at the base of a rub for all to see out in the barren ground was my first freshie of the year! It was not the Unity Mt. swamp monster but the smaller 2 and a half year old 8 point that had been seen eating my apples not just a few days before. I looked around pretty hard for the match but since we are having some logging done I fear it is buried under dirt and debris from the machinery. Well the swamp monster's rack is still out there either on his head or on the ground and I will find them!