Deer Hunt Big Buck Registry fueled by Rackology.org

Yes, we know this is the Big Buck Registry. But when a 199" composite antlered doe becomes the only Boone & Crockett doe on record, it's worthy. Despite this show airing originally on April 1st, this is not a joke, despite the obvious appearance. During the 2014 Missouri gun season, Doug Laird came within range of what he thought was the biggest buck on his property. Little did he know that his deer would become the only doe entry EVER into the Boone and Crockett record books.

As hunters, we don't consider poachers to be hunters. The obvious difference, is that a hunter does the hunt legally, the poacher illegally. Lt David Gregory of the Vermont State Fish and Game is all too familiar with poachers, but he says that they don't in anyway represent the vast majority of hunters.  David shares some of his epic arrests on this episode and we talk in detail about a family of poachers with a rap sheet dating back to the 1990s that got pinched once again in 2017. 

Bill Vale recently launched a new project called Pressured Deer Pros where he has sought out and hand picked a group experts in different areas of hunting and then brought them to all together in one virtual location. Bill refers to these experts as his Circle of Masters.  Bill's circle of masters show mastery skills from a minerals, to mapping, to a habitat, to fitness, and so on.  We plan to visit with each of Bill's Masters, and first we visit with Greg Skufca, Bill's habitat expert out from Michigan

So let’s say that one day you were told that you only had 2 years left to live. What would you’re plan be? Turns out, this is exactly what happen to Joni Marie, a native Alaskan who enjoys the all fertile terrain that Alaska has to offer as much as anyone. Joni is still fighting a daily battle against the disease and the elements, as her condition can often turn her hands paper white when exposed to cold temperatures. But make no mistake; Joni is far from wrapping up her hunting lifestyle.

If the American Dream is to own your own house, then the American Hunter's dream is to own your own piece of hunting real estate.  But to achieve that dream we are often faced with the burden of financing, credit, and income especially if we're working the 9 to 5 job and living paycheck to paycheck.  According to Sean Asada, despite these perceived challenges, Sean says that you can do it, he did it, and he didn't have 2 nickles to rub together. 

Central Vermont is home to arguably some of the best deer trackers in country, especially when you throw the Benoit Family into the mix. Rodney Elmer is not exception to this.  Rodney can speak intelligently on the hunter's hot topics of today.  He is a steward of the woods, has top notch navigation skills, is a professional taxidermist of 32 years, and is the chief hunter's safety instructor and safety officer in Vermont. 

Jeff Traynor is a professional trapper from New Hampshire. We thought it might be interesting to explore the trapper's world and see how it could be relative to a deer management program. Jeff's mission at Live Free and Trap is to show us the world of modern fur trapping and all associated trades & activities revolving around trapping; such as seasonal fur , biology and data collection, fur handling & usage, wildlife control, animal damage management, and overall wildlife species health and sustainability.

When deer populations get out of control to the point where citizens complain about landscape damage and an over abundance of deer-vehicles collisions, what do you do? You do what Rick Bebout and a group of 80 bowhunters did in West Virginia. Backed by the support of the city, the Morgantown Urban Archers were formed. It brought meat to those in need, effectively knocked down the deer numbers, and gained the trust of the residents of Morgantown, all on a extremely low budget.

Treestand safety is a hot topic. Studies show that treestand accidents are by far the leader in serious injury or death to a hunter. Wayne Borgardus has invented a device that is a game changer and address all the issues.  The device  is lightweight, attaches easily to the tree or to a Life Line, supports an hunter of the larger or smaller variety, works with any harness, can be used over and over, is affordable, and will slowly and safely drop you to the ground should fall. 

The archery industry is certainly flooded with bow manufacturers. So if you are going to get in, you better be great.  So where do you begin?  Enter stage left, Xpedition Archery.  After making parts for well known bow manufacturers, Xpedition started building bows with the same engineering, quality, and  demands that the aircraft industry puts on aircraft manufacturers.  We sat down with Blake Davis, the national sales manager for Xpedition Archery to see what's under the hood.

When asked to be the Master of Ceremonies at a Deer Summit, you say "heck yes"!  Fred Allard, Director of the Rockingham Fishing and Hunting Expo, threw out the idea. On a cold January 2018 day in New Hampshire our own Jay Scott gathered along with Neil Pendleton, Todd Mead, Bobby Sholan, Rodney Elmer, Jim Gallagher, and Dean Vanier to discuss many concepts surrounding deer and deer hunting. 

Henry Moncrief hunts Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Maine. Despite their reputation for holding smaller racked bucks compared to the midwest for example, lower deer densities, and difficult hunting terrain, Henry seems to have found a formula for hunting and killing the bigger, if not the biggest bucks in these woods no matter which state he hunts.  Henry changes his strategies based on the weather, loves to read hunting pressure, and says that smelling like nothing is a key to his success.

Hunting outside of the United States summons the need for a new set of hunting strategies. Ulrik Orskov is passionate big game hunter from Denmark, where he hunts the familiar European deer like fallow, roe, and red but often ventures to the rugged mountains of New Zealand in search of the Bull Tahr and Sambar. We breakdown Ulrik strategies and styles of bow hunting in each country and learn why a walking stick is worth it's weight in gold.

As we approach 2018, we decided to look back on 2017 and discuss some of our favorite moments of the Deer Hunt Podcast.  And, by request from our listenership, we talk more about ourselves- who we are, where we're from, our hunting influences,  our goals, and we answer our own 10 rapid fire questions.  We tend to listen intently to our guests on this show , but rarely dive deep into who we are as the crew of the Big Buck Registry, so we decided to mix it up a bit.

In our rendition of the classic, 'Twas the Night Before Christmas, we bring you a hunter's version- 'Twas the Night Before Rifle Season, as written by Tim Biebel. Thank you for listening to our podcast and subscribing content all year. Your support has been unparalleled. We hope your had a wonderful and prosperous deer season. Special thanks to Cuz Stickland, Robbie Kroger, Heather Jones Shepherd, Hal Blood, Josh Carney, and Michelle Scheuermann for helping with this project.