Gene Shenk

Congrats!!

I have seen were guys would pour doe sent on the tires to lay a scent trail on the way to there stand. I guess you would have to ride past your stand for it to be effective.

I put them on my trophy 1802 and it helped a lot with getting the boat on plane and keeping it there at lower speeds. The down side to them is it is difficult to control the direction of the boat when backing up.

Congrats to all the successful hunters on this thread! As always this is the best read on the internet thanks to all that have contributed. Last night was my first sit i had a great encounter with a real nice 2.5 year old 8 point and some does he was bumping around the woods in front of me. My son Cam has been putting in a lot more time and effort than me but other than 1 real nice 140+ inch buck on camera he has not seen anything he wants to shoot yet. He is 17 now and he is holding tight to wanting a nice buck this year and I really hope he gets it done! Good luck to all Hunt Hard and above all hunt safe! Always look around and appreciate the things we have been blessed with!

So lets see if we can make a long story even longer… Two seasons ago I accidentally fell into a great late season deer setup as I bumped a dozen deer including a shooter buck on my way out one night. The very next night I built a makeshift ground blind and setup on the field edge and had a train of does come by. They fed in the field and I gave them a pass hoping to see antlers. On the second night I missed a big buck due to the disturbing fact that I clipped a tree branch. It just happen to also be the last day of the muzzleloader season. It was a tough year and an even tougher way to end the season. I knew the setup, I just needed the right conditions to fall into place. Last year the DEC wouldn’t allow us to shoot bucks during the muzzleloader season so I never had a chance at redemption. Bummer. Almost two years but the setup for this season was beyond perfect. My plan was to hunt this spot every night of the muzzleloader season. Every single damn night. Yesterday was the first day of the season and in my first sit I saw 5 does and fawns along with one unknown deer that hung in the woods and never made its way to the field. Today was day 2 of the season and this afternoon I showed up at 3:00 and there were already deer in the field. I bumped a Doe, fawn, and a buck (never got a great look at it) back into the woods on my way in. I climbed in my poor excuse for a ground blind and did some more trimming. Honestly it’s not a ground blind, it’s a bush or maybe three bushes and I’m sitting in the middle of that mess. I always expect deer to enter the field from my left. At four o’clock I slide my phone into my pocket, told myself to stay away from it, and I began to stare in that direction. A few moments later, I catch movement in my peripheral vision and it takes me a moment to a stud buck entering the field on my far right. 90 yards maybe? I fumble for my binocs and by the time I get my head back up he’s gone. I figure he’s just blending into the background really well but after a couple of scans with the binoculars, he disappeared. My guess is he cut into the woods and he will pop out in the middle and make his way a crossed. I stand up and glass all of it. Nope. I can’t find him. I put the binocs down and out of thin air, there’s a buck standing to my right 50 yards. I’m not sure if it’s the same buck or not but it’s a shooter. I’m hoping that he continues in the direction that he’s facing so I can slowly get into position to shoot. After a handful of steps, a mouth grunt stops him in his tracks at about 50 yards and with the cross hairs center mass the muzzleloader ignites. After the smoke cleared I can see the buck turned 90 degrees and is trotting towards the woods. He stops just inside the woods and I see him go down! I was pretty confident in the shot. It felt good. After a bunch of LOU members suggested shooting TC shockwaves, the gun was shooting the best it ever has. I give it time. Probably not enough but my thought is to leave and let him die. Unfortunately I have to go that direction in order to leave. I grab my gear and head to the point of impact. No blood. I get on his tracks and walk it to the tractor path (which is my way in) and still no blood. I began second guessing everything. Maybe I hit a branch, maybe I rushed the shot, maybe I never saw him go down. As I’m drowning in a pool of my own disappointment, he stands up, and runs deeper in the woods. He looked to be hurting and I thought I saw him go down again. 65 yards or so in the woods. I look to my feet and there it is… blood! I stuck a stick into the ground to mark the spot and walked out. I wasn’t planning on putting anything on LOU. I was picking my kid up and while I was waiting I was surfing LOU and I decided to put the text we all love to see “BBDâ€. It was great to see lots of supportive texts from friends looking to help if needed. My mind was made up to go first thing in the morning until JakeyBaby texts me “Let’s go get it†and that’s all the encouragement I needed. The snow tells the story and thanks to Mother Nature for putting that snow on the ground because otherwise we would probably still be looking for it. He was bedded just inside the face of the woods before I bumped him. From that bed he made it at least another 100 yards. He stumbled a few times, he bedded a few times, he went left then he went right. He crossed the creek and ended up dead in the thick mess on the other side of the ravine. Not a whole lot of blood until the last half of the trailing. Shot was back but still double lung (lower part of the lobes) and the esophagus. Amazing he made it that far. Overall 150 yards or so. Thanks to JakeyBaby and my kid Hunter with all the help tracking, retrieving, and picture taking. Pictures might not show me smiling but I am. Zero hour 10 point! First deer with the muzzleloader! He’s a buck I have on camera, he may be the buck that I had two encounters with bow season and he may also be the buck that was responsible for me moving a stand during the last week of bow season. He's a great buck and I am glad to share the stories of my season with all of you. No doubt the season has been a long emotional roller coaster and a there’s a lot of you that have followed the thread and witnessed it. You have also lived it and shared it yourselves. Doesn’t get much better than the pursuit of the Whitetail!

 

 

 

 

 

Great Job Rob nobody deserves it more than you, you have worked your butt off for that one Congrats!!

Congrats to Pap and DJ great stories and great memories!!

Great Buck Woodsnwater!

Wow awesome season! That Gun buck is a stud!

Wow that is nice! That is a Great price! Good, Fast and Cheap I always say pick two nobody can give all three but I think you got all of them!

Thanks for the positive comments! It has been a great season and since I haven't shot a deer in 4 years let alone over 10 years since I shot a buck with a gun, has made it even sweeter. I am fortunate to have solid property to hunt on the last 8 years and a great group to hunt with, So much to be thankful for especially time spent with family and friends.

It was a slow morning until this guy showed up around 8 am. He was all buy himself and I dropped him in his tracks with my 270. I have killed a few nice deer with my bow but this is my best buck so far with a gun. It also was my first rifle kill in NY! Our group has done real well this year so I have to say thanks to my Friend Tom (land Owner) and to God for this awesome world he created for us! Good Luck guys we are still seeing good deer on trail cameras so hunt hard there are plenty of deer left out there.

Great job! My sons first deer was a very exciting time as well!

Awesome job hunter those are both great kills!

That's a beauty!!

Awesome story Congrats to you and Mom!!!

Gene Shank how much property are you managing to hunt?

Sent from my iPhone using Lake Ontario United

  We hunt 3 small property's all are under 35 acres. The surrounding locations are the key they are thick and swampy. Our food plots help a lot also.  

Gene

Shank how many acres are you managing to hunt on?

Sent from my iPhone using Lake Ontario United

We hunt 3 small property's all are under 35 acres. The surrounding locations are the key they are thick and swampy. Our food plots help a lot also.  

Pap,

We hunt WNY farm land as well and we plant a bunch of food plots which are our main kill areas. We let the kids shoot 2.5 year old bucks until they get a couple and than we hold everybody to 3.5 year old or better deer. We run a bunch of cameras so we know what we have for target bucks and that helps everybody to have patience because they know their are good deer in the area. I think western NY has gotten better quality of deer due to more hunters are passing 1.5 yr olds, there is a lot of food as far as agriculture  and I think the last few winters have been mild as far as snow depth which has helped. Even with all these things on our side I only shoot a buck every 3 to 5 years and that is okay with me.

Quinn said to say thank you guys for all the positive comments! She passed up a couple of 2.5 year old 8 points that I don't think many would to shoot this deer. Their family and ours works hard at the food plot game and we stay out of bedding areas heck more than half of the property we don't ever walk on.

 Her dad and I had a bunch of trail Cam pics of this deer and we were hunting him hard but I could not be happier that she was the one who shot him! We love seeing the kids have success and keeping their interest in the sport is very important to both of us. Now that gun season opens and I have been out of the woods for a few weeks I am excited to get back in a tree stand Saturday! I hope my son can score on a nice one or my buddies son who is coming back from college can have some success as well it has been tough on him missing the archery season while away at school. This game of deer hunting has turned into a real team sport for us and we all celebrate each others success which makes it way more fun for all of us!

My Friends daughter shot a very nice buck tonight on our hunting grounds with a cross bow! It was chasing does all night but she waited him out and got it done! She is 16 and she shot a nice 2.5 yr old buck with a muzz last year and now this one, she is one great huntress!

Great Buck Mach Congrats!

Good Job Longspurs! That's a real nice buck!!

Congrats to your Dad Rob! I love it when the old guys score, it gives me hope that I might be doing this for awhile longer!

Not a single deer so far this morning in 8g Monroe county! Report is from my 16 year old son who is still in the woods. He passed a basket rack 8 last night, he really wants to shoot a nice 2.5 or better this year! I am pretty sure any mature doe that goes by him would get one as well.

Congrats Salmonite nice buck!!