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Muzzleloader Monster Whitetail 2007

Check out this muzzleloader monster buck a lucky deer hunter managed to harvest this year! I received these buck photos in an email without any information, so I’m not sure which region or even the state that this big boy was taken from. The best I can tell, it looks to be the southern mid-west.

These photos show an abundance of browse available to deer in the area, so it’s no wonder this white-tailed buck got this big! High quality food helped this deer maintain a high nutritional plane and put on some mass, on both body and antlers. Good habitat means good bucks.

Obviously, the buck had great potential for antler growth, too. It’s awesome that this buck was allowed to complete skeletal growth, mature and really put some energy/minerals into antler growth. A very healthy deer, great trophy for this deer hunter!

If you have any information about this big whitetail buck, contact me or leave a message in the comments section below! Until I have more information, just enjoy the photos of this great buck!

VIDEO: Another Nice Muzzleloader Buck

Georgetown Hunter Bags First Buck at Five

Five-year old Steven of Georgeton, Texas, bagged his first buck ever on Saturday morning while hunting with his father near Winchester, Texas. Steven managed to hit the mature buck, an 11-point white-tailed deer with a 16 3/8″ inside spread, with a single shot from his .222 caliber rifle from 115-yards.

Although Steven was fortunate enough to bag his first buck on the morning of his very first day of hunting, he also managed to bag his second buck ever on the very same day! He harvested a 3-point buck that evening. Congratulations to Steven and kudos to his father!

Rattling Up Big Whitetail Bucks

You have seen it on TV. You read about it in the hunting magazines. And you have even tried it once or twice. But the question still remains, “will it work for me?” Can I really expect to bang these antlers together and blow on this deer grunt call and have a buck come running? Yes!

I too was very sceptical about rattling at first. But pay attention, because I am not going to give you a story about the herds of white-tailed bucks that are now running my way. Why? Because I have not had that problem. Bucks don’t always come to rattling antlers, but sometimes they will.

Rattling has both advantages and limitations. Hopefully, after reading this article you will be able to see the tool of rattling for what it truely is, a tool.

Rattling in bucks works on the principle that upon hearing two fighting bucks, any buck hearing the fight will assume the deer are fighting over a doe that is ready to breed. What buck wouldn’t come running to that situation?

Different bucks may come to rattling for different reasons, but antler rattling has something to offer bucks of all ages. Mature bucks are most likely to approach with the mindset to whip the bucks that are in his territory trying to breed “his” does. An inmature buck may come to try and sneak away with the doe while the two fighting bucks are too distracted to notice.

During the rut, as seasoned hunters have learned, white-tailed bucks loose a good bit of caution. In fact, they just do stupid things that they would not normally do. Whatever the reason, and there are more than a couple, there are good reasons to believe that rattling in a deer should be a good method to use to harvest your next buck.

Now, keep two things in mind: 1) rattling has something to offer all age classes of bucks, and 2)the rut is one of the urges that bucks have a hard time controlling. These two factors are what make rattling so effective. It is also very exciting when it works!

So we have talked about why rattling will work, but anyone that has rattled knows that failure is much more common that success. Why? There is a flip-side to antler rattling that you rarely hear more than a comment or two about on the outdoor shows. Just like there are reasons that it will work, there are numerous reasons as to why rattling will not. In fact there are man more reasons that it won’t work.

Let’s start with the obvious. It’s not the rut. Rattling for bucks should only be done during and around the rut. It will not be very productive to rattle if the bucks aren’t interested in the does. Pay attention in the field and learn when the rut usually occurs in your area. Because if its not the right time of year, deer will likely move away from the sound instead of towards it. They know something is wrong.

Next, a buck that is already with a doe will not leave her to come to your mock fight. What incentive would a buck have to go fight over a doe when he’s already won one. When a bull elk hears another bull elk bugle, he will often take his herd and move them in the other direction, further from rival bulls. I am not sure on whether or not deer do this, but I can imagine a whitetail buck moving himself and his doe away from the fighting bucks.

Also, when the buck to doe ratio is near even, say 1:1, rattling is much more effective.This has the effect of raising the competition for the does to a much higher level. If there are 10 does for every buck, there just will not be many fights between bucks. However, fewer does per buck means a lower chance that any particular buck will get to breed any particular doe. This will make bucks more desperate to find a doe to breed. Apon hearing a fight (that’s you and your antlers) they will be many times more likely to come running.

Now, let’s discuss education. Not yours, but the buck’s that you are hunting. I believe bucks get rattled in more times than we even think, but live through the experience. Most people I know have tried rattling at some time, yet few have ever had it work. Since I know that the method does work, I believe that most of these hunters are either set up wrong (get busted without even knowing it) or quit hunting early, never giving the buck a chance to work within range. Either way, the buck learns that not all rattling is necessarily other bucks fighting.

Remember, bucks are not likely to come straight to the sound of rattling on a dead run. They will most likely sneak in to the location. Often, bucks will circle down wind. If they catch the hunter’s scent before the hunter sees the buck, or if they see the hunter get up and leave, then the buck will be even more cautious in the future.

Another very important reason that a buck may avoid your antler rattling is the fear of getting whipped by bigger bucks. Although the buck in the distance listening to your rattling may be a good-sized deer, he may have recently got his butt kicked and is not be looking for more.

Ok, so we discussed why rattling will and will not work. No, antler rattling is not a cure-all for getting your buck this season. And it’s not something that only works in Texas. The reality of rattling is found somewhere in the middle. Now that you know this information, if you find yourself in the right place at the right time, and you’ve got a handle on the deer herd, it’s time to put rattling to work for you.

Finding Whitetail Buck Scrapes

Scouting and finding the scrape or scrape line of a white-tailed buck is a definite plus when gearing up for the hunting season. And truth be known, it’s better to find a scrape or two than a rub-line. Many times it seems that a rub-line is the result of pent up aggression due to growing testosterone in the buck while the scrapes are a definite sign that a buck likes what he has seen in the area.

Scrapes are normally found on higher ground that is dry enough to hold scent and wont be washed out, even if it rains heavily. Areas that repeatedly encounter boggy or swamp-like conditions tend to hold less scrapes than the edges of that same area where the ground is slightly elevated.

Any edge of a field, especially those that contain row crops or food plots are high-percentage areas to find scrapes. Main trails entering swamps, low-lands, creeks, rivers, and draws are also likely places for a scrape or scrape-line. But is finding a scrape reason enough to set up a deer stand and start hunting? Not exactly.

The percentage of scrapes that actually get re-worked is low in most places, but there are a few tactics for increasing the odds and finding out just what scrapes are still active. Trail cameras are great for monitoring scrapes, but be careful not to leave any scent in the area. In addition, you can freshen scrapes with doe or buck urine and see if that causes deer, hopefully the dominant buck in the area, to return. If you detect signs of activity, it may well be time to spend a little time in the stand.

Hunting Whitetails Using Game Cameras

You know the big boy is out there. You have seen the signs that a mature white-tailed buck leaves behind: large tracks, rubs on trees the size of your leg, scrapes the size of a bath tub. Yet the buck has repeatedly managed to give you the slip despite hours on stand. Frustration and doubt are creeping in and you need an advantage.

In the past, you might have resorted to placing string across a trail as a way of monitoring that area. Or maybe you raked the dirt in an attempt to monitor animals walking through the area. But we’ve come a long way and improved, affordable technology is at your disposal. The tools of deer scouting have changed the game.

Enter the trail camera, game camera, or whatever you want to call them. I call them very helpful. Trail cameras are equipped with infrared motion sensors that trigger the camera to take pictures any time an animal crosses the sensor’s beam.

The use of trail cams by deer hunters has grown exponentially during the last few years. Game cameras are no longer reserved for very wealthy or whitetail addicts. Today, the use of game cameras has become almost the norm rather than the exception. I visit a lot of hunting forums and hunters share trail camera photos as easy as they trade opinions. As technology becomes more user-friendly and even less expensive, expect trail camera usage and sales to increase. That’s good news for the manufacturers. Deer hunters love them, too, so it works out.

Through the use of trail cameras, hunters often received a boost in confidence and a surge of determination after discovering that there are more bucks roaming the woods than they had even realized.

Any one that has used a game camera will tell you that they invariably see more bucks in their area thanks to the camera. They will also tell you that bucks, especially big mature bucks, do most of their feeding and moving around at night. Despite the nocturnal nature of whitetail deer, hunters know those deer are out go into hyperdrive in an attempt to lure those bucks out.

Now, if you are considering taking the plunge and purchasing a trail camera, I will let you know that the choices available are numerous so you need to narrow down your options. Your first decision is to choose between film and digital cameras. However, I will save you the choice. Go digital. You will save money on film processing and get your images much faster. If you have a laptop computer, you can download the images instantly in the field and place the blank data storage card right back in the camera. Also, for those pictures that need “tweaking” to see deer in the background, digital images and computers allow you to enhance photos easily.

Hunters will be lured into buying traditional film cameras because the cost of such cameras is less expensive than the digital equivalents, but don’t do it! The short-term gain will soon be lost through the cost of processing film (time+gas+film developing). If you know a game camera is what you need to take your deer hunting to the next level, get all the options concerning digital game cameras before you buy.