Bowhunting Wins, Lessons, And Tough Truths

A clean shot isn’t the only thing that makes a hunt honest. We dig into two bow stories that don’t flinch: a high hit with no blood that turns into a bigger buck days later, and a first-year bowhunter who waits out a feeding buck at 35 yards, makes the shot, then learns what coyotes do overnight. No gloss, no shortcuts—just the choices that matter when the wind swirls, the light fades, and your heart is pounding in a tree.

Lane breaks down how summer scouting and elevated cell cams built a pattern that held through the opener, why wind is the one variable he won’t ignore, and how backing out after a marginal hit saved the season. He shares the moment he heard the diaphragm pop on a heavy-bodied 12 and the quiet relief of finding him within 80 yards. We talk scoring, why tall-tined deer looked smaller from high cameras, and how genetics tied his buck to a known local giant.

Anthony—farmer, lumberjack competitor, and now first-time bowhunter—walks through a field-edge setup between soybeans and a regrowing cut. He explains why he avoided bait to protect a consistent travel pattern, how a steady headwind let him stay invisible, and the patience it took to watch an eight work from 100 to 35 yards. The shot felt perfect. The blood was thin. He backed out, returned at daylight, and recovered the buck despite coyotes. Along the way, he connects lessons from timber sports—razor edges, discipline, and timing—to making good decisions at full draw.

We also get candid about nuisance permits, deer density, and crop damage, laying out how assessments and research guide those tags. If you’re dialing early-season strategy, wondering when to wait versus push a track, or curious how soybeans and cuts shape movement, this one gives you a grounded, real-world blueprint. If it helps, share it with a buddy, subscribe for more hunts that tell the whole story, and leave a review with your toughest recovery lesson—we’ll feature our favorites next week.

Check us out on Facebook Hunts On Outfitting, or myself Ken Marr. Reach out and Tell your hunting buddies about the podcast if you like it, Thanks!

Transcript

Welcome And Episode Setup

SPEAKER_00 0:11

This is Huntson Outfitting Podcast. I'm your host and rookie guide, Ken Maher. I love everything hunting, the outdoors, and all things associated with it. From stories to how-tos, you'll find it here. Welcome to the podcast. Hey, thanks for tuning in. If you're a first-time listener, welcome. If not, welcome back. This week we are talking deer hunting and more specifically, bow hunting for deer. We have two stories from a couple of great fellas, one who has been on lots before, and the other, it's his first time on the podcast. Both deer hunting stories each have their own unique set of downfalls and challenges that I think a lot of you listening will be able to relate to. One of today's guests is also a pretty good lumberjack that we learn about as well. And along with some laughs and chat about two beauty bucks, you're gonna want to stay tuned. Now, for my Canadian audience, it's no secret we don't have a pile of places to choose from for guns, ammo, optics, and more. Well, a lot of the places though that we do, the Canadian access to firearms has put them all together into one convenient print magazine that can be mailed right to your door. It's uh, you know, the internet's fun to go on and look, but there's nothing like just being able to sit down by fire and with your hands physically open up and go through a magazine. And with the Canadian access to firearms, that's exactly what you can get to see what's going on for all the latest gear and new, used, and see what's going on for gun shows, etc. So guys uh highly recommend checking them out. Alright, boys, so happy to have you here. You know, I've I've had some people say that uh they'd like to hear more women on the podcast, right? And I'm I'm always looking and to find more women, and I think you know where this is going. Lane, I'm happy to have you on again. Uh this is Lane's Lane's for the women's side. No, but uh we've got a new guest today, Anthony uh mad dog McLean, and uh we're gonna get to know you in a minute there. But Anthony, you and I met uh well it was like this early spring at a Rack Stacker event. And those who don't know Rackstacker, it is Canadian. It's a Canadian seed and mineral company for deer. And um, I remember you're like looking at me and I was like, what is he looking at? And then you're like, Are you the guy with the coon hounds? And I was like, I don't know, are you DNR? Oh yeah, yes, I am. Um and then uh yeah, we've gone out a few times this year, and uh every time it's it's been good. It's been real good. Well, we get one from the truck, let Greta go on the weekend there. She got one, what'd you say, 80 feet from the truck? Bam, there's one up the tree there and stuff. We've had a couple of gnarly fights, uh, the Coons, some of them came down a little more alive than they should have been. But we and then when we're dead on with that gun, though, we are dead on with it. But no, it's been a lot of fun. But um it was funny though, I was talking about the Rackstacker thing, and uh, like I said, I could I could go up there and just ruin the whole event. You went too late. The food was great, the free food and stuff, the prizes were awesome. But like I said, he's like, Well, you gotta feed this rack stacker to get big deer and everything. And you know, I could go up there and ruin the whole thing by just taking the mic and be like, You guys want to shoot big deer? And I'm like, Yeah! Like, stop shooting little ones and then just drop the mic and leave, and there you go. But you know, it was funny, Anthony, because we were talking and you were saying uh for those that don't know, it was in Sussex, and Sussex is uh was or still is the dairy farm capital of Atlantic Canada, and he's lecturing a bunch of farmers and stuff about how important nutrition is, and all that. It's like, yeah, this crowd knows about nutrition and what animals should be eating and everything. This they're well aware. Um, but uh no, the food was good and the prizes were good. Yeah, it's always a good time. Yeah, so um yeah, it was fun. Fun uh fun event for that part. Um and then yeah, the coon hunting's been really good this year. Come out. Yep, it's been a lot of fun. You didn't know what to expect, huh?

SPEAKER_03 4:09

No, not really, no. It was yeah.

SPEAKER_00 4:11

It's nighttime hunting and it's legal. Yeah, just coons though, nothing else. Yeah, yeah, you've been you're early this year, Lane. Yeah, too. Um so Anthony, I mean we want to get to know you. So you're Anthony McLean. Yes. What do you do for work?

SPEAKER_03 4:25

Uh so I am a farmer, I guess. Uh and then in addition to that, I also work construction with my family.

SPEAKER_00 4:31

Right. You guys have a big uh concrete business, right?

SPEAKER_03 4:34

Yeah, mainly concrete and steel buildings. Right?

SPEAKER_00 4:36

You guys working on a dairy farm right now? Uh yeah, apparently. Yeah. Yeah, not a farm, a whole farm, a barn. Yeah. Yeah. Um and then I want to talk a little bit. You're big into uh the woodsman competitions. Tell us about that a bit.

SPEAKER_03 4:48

Uh yeah, so I guess I compete in uh it's called the Maritime Lumberjack Association in Atlantic, Canada here. So uh yeah, lumberjack competition with uh traditional like chopping, sawing events. So uh yeah, it originated back in the day, I guess, when lumberjacks were in camps and they were done at the end of the day and they wanted to have some fun.

SPEAKER_00 5:08

See who's good, I think.

SPEAKER_03 5:09

Yeah, so it was a competition to see who could do their work the fastest. So it's kind of carried on today and is still a thing around here. Uh and then yeah, I also do uh still timber sports. So that's kind of separate. Yeah, it's it's the same uh same events sort of. Uh so there's six main events that I do uh with timber sports. But yeah, it's the same thing, just uh more professional level, I guess.

SPEAKER_00 5:31

So hats off to still. I like Hus Caverna myself. I don't know where you stand on that. You probably can't say like, oh, I like still. Um but uh I find the old stills are good, the new stills I find are kind of junky, honestly. I like Hus Caverna. Um but good for them for they've completely got that market. Yeah, it's not Hus Gaverna still chainsaw timber sports, it's just still. And it you said that's more of the professional level, right? That's the big circuit.

SPEAKER_03 5:57

So it's uh yeah, it's global. Um all over the world. Uh it's big in Europe right now, it's really growing in the world.

SPEAKER_00 6:04

Oh, yeah, that's where they're from, right? Yeah, but Huskaverna and still at the end of the year.

SPEAKER_03 6:07

Yeah, I actually I think that's still I I should know. So I think they might have originated in this. Yeah, I don't know. I don't know. But they're big. I know they're American now, I'm pretty sure. But um, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 6:20

So they uh so it's global. Okay, I didn't realize global. But I mean, good for them that they were able to, like I said, completely sponsor that just them.

SPEAKER_03 6:28

Yeah, and they also sponsor uh like the Maritime Lumberjack Association I was talking about. They also sponsor that. Um so they're kind of the main sponsor.

SPEAKER_00 6:35

So that's what you have a bunch of guys at uh logging camp in the night, have a couple beers, be like, hey, Shaq, I think I could chop through that tree faster than you. Like, oh yeah. And then it just went from there. That's the guy's competitive spirit. So uh you started it in college. You went to college for agriculture, right?

SPEAKER_03 6:52

Yeah, so I went to uh Dalhousie uh intro at the agriculture campus, uh joined the Woodsman team in my third year. So I didn't do it till the last two years. Yeah, I missed the first two years. Why?

SPEAKER_00 7:05

Um focusing on your studies, a girl.

SPEAKER_03 7:08

Yeah, I guess I was coming home a lot. Um and I just didn't think I wanted to take the time to do it.

SPEAKER_00 7:14

But you must have had a girlfriend then, did you?

SPEAKER_03 7:16

Yeah, I did. Fresh. Yeah. Uh no, it'd been well a year, a year and a half, I guess, by the time I went to the house. Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_00 7:22

All right. I don't got time for chopping logs. I'd gotta hang out with my woman. Um Keep this PG. Uh so then uh so then you get into it. And uh so what what do you specialize in?

SPEAKER_03 7:35

Uh so I really enjoy the chopping.

SPEAKER_00 7:37

Uh is that where you stand on it and you're chopping it's be it's down by your feet?

SPEAKER_03 7:43

Yeah, so that would be the underhand chop. Uh so when you're chopping the log like uh I guess it'd be horizontal log below your feet. And then there's also the standing block chop, which is uh vertically like anchored log, and you're chopping that down. So you're like felling a tree kind of uh simulator. So you do both. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 7:59

Now I saw so they used to have this at the uh they used to do the still uh timber sports at the county fair here. I don't know if they still do. They don't anymore.

SPEAKER_03 8:07

Roger McPhee, he's from Petty. Right. Um, yeah, he used to be big into it, and well, he still is big into it actually, but um yeah, he used to organize it around here.

SPEAKER_00 8:17

But it's a chainsaw carver as well, right? Yeah, yeah, really neat. Um yeah, because I remember watching it when they used to have it at the county fair here, and it was pretty neat, but you'd see the guys chopping the log down by their feet, and then some of them you're like, he must have that there because he's cautious, smart, or he had an accident. Um they'd have like the big steel shin things going up and all over their boot. Like, I'm thinking he missed a swing.

SPEAKER_02 8:41

Like the guy I went to school with he used to do it for UMB, and he was out in BC in a competition, and he actually hit his leg and Brad. Yeah, split it like wide open.

SPEAKER_00 8:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 8:53

Like a bunch of staples and internal stitches, and it was it was bad.

SPEAKER_00 8:57

So do you wear that?

SPEAKER_03 8:59

Uh I do. It's it's a little more discreet now. Like uh, you know, the you're not so big and big and clonky, but uh yeah.

SPEAKER_00 9:06

Or we're flip-flops and short shorts.

SPEAKER_03 9:08

No, it's uh it's chain mail, uh is what they're made of, actually, and it's like a sock that goes over and and comes up to just below your knee.

SPEAKER_00 9:15

Oh, because yeah, the guy that I saw that had it on that time, I noticed it was like big, obnoxious armor knight looking thing. I think he was like sir something from the looks of it. But uh but I I didn't blame him because I was like, all it would yeah, you miss once and you had a light.

SPEAKER_03 9:33

Yeah, it's crazy. People don't realize, but like you can I well I have shaved my arms with it. I'm not brave enough to shave my face with it yet.

SPEAKER_00 9:39

But yeah, the kn the axe is that sharp. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 9:44

My axe is sharper than my hunting knife, actually. Really?

SPEAKER_00 9:47

Do you sharpen it?

SPEAKER_03 9:48

Uh yeah, I do.

SPEAKER_00 9:49

So how what's the secret? Uh so I mean I don't think they're not that sharp.

SPEAKER_03 9:53

Yeah, no, I don't get too too crazy into it. I do like kind of the final touches, so I'll touch up my my axis with a razor hone.

SPEAKER_01 10:00

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 10:01

So it's just a really fine stone. So I'll touch them up with that and I also use diamond stones if there was a little bit of a burr or something to get out of it.

SPEAKER_01 10:07

Yep.

SPEAKER_03 10:07

Um but the big if you make a big uh dent in your in your edge or you know you take a big chunk out of it, then you usually will send it away to somebody to get that fixed. Oh, really? Yeah, they have specialists. Like an actual filing jig um or machines to do it, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 10:23

You call them that a filing jig? Yeah. That's not like a derogatory term. No. It sounds good if you say it quick. Um, okay. That's interesting. Any other things? Do you do you put anything special in the wood of your axe handle or uh no, not so much the axe handle.

SPEAKER_03 10:39

Uh the head of the axe just to keep it from rusting. Uh and just to take care of it, I put uh crown lubricant on it. Nice. Um a lot of people use WD-40 too, but WD-40 has solvents in it.

SPEAKER_00 10:50

WD40, I find it's not what we all used to think it was when we were kids. You know, it it's really not that good. Yeah. Like you said, I I get stuff from work that crown stuff. It's it's really good. Yeah. The WD forty, you hear that a lot. It's it's kind of it's dry, really, if anything.

SPEAKER_02 11:07

It kind of gels up.

SPEAKER_00 11:09

Yeah, I find it it's it's dry when you put on like moving parts and all that. It doesn't work. Like it's not the cat's ass that we all used to think it was, you know. Yeah.

Safety, Axes, And Pro Tips

SPEAKER_03 11:17

Yeah. So the STP, like I said, it doesn't have solvents, so it's it's a little safer for them. And then when you're chopping the wood, uh, we use STP uh like engine oil treatment. So it's like on the wood? Yeah, well on the axe, on the head of the axe. Yeah. So it's like a really heavy oil and it's almost like a gel, really. And uh it helps when you hit the log, your axe will kind of bounce back out of the wood, so it helps it from sticking in the wood. Oh yeah. So your axe is more free and you can swing faster.

SPEAKER_00 11:44

Really?

SPEAKER_03 11:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 11:45

Because I have seen that when guys hit in, they'll try to pull it back out, so they didn't know that trick. Really? You guys do that. That's interesting. Insider secret, or it's well known.

SPEAKER_03 11:55

No, it's yeah, it's pretty well everybody in the in the game around here at least uses it.

SPEAKER_00 12:00

Really? That's interesting. That's smart. Who figured that out?

SPEAKER_03 12:05

I don't know who figured it out, I guess. I mean, guys will use all kinds of stuff. Some people use WD40, some people use use crown or sprays, but yeah, but yeah, I don't know who figured the STP thing out.

SPEAKER_00 12:15

But you uh you did well with the axe thing. What did because I saw this year, what did you get? You can brag, it's okay.

SPEAKER_03 12:22

I won't brag, but yeah, no, I go ahead, brag. Uh it was in the single buck sawing. Yep. Uh so it's like a big one man cross-cut saw. Uh, I got the set the North American rookie record uh in still timber sports.

SPEAKER_00 12:34

That's pretty impressive. Yeah. That is pretty impressive. Really good. Um you set the North American record.

SPEAKER_03 12:44

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 12:45

For rookie.

SPEAKER_03 12:46

Yeah, so for the rookie level. In like in timber sports, there's a rookie league, so that's up to 25 years old. And then after that, you're in the pro division. Yep. That's worth bragging about. Yeah, that's what you can brag about that.

SPEAKER_00 12:57

Yeah. Wow. Any so how'd you get good at that?

SPEAKER_03 13:01

Uh it's at school, actually. It's it's kind of funny, but on the east coast of Canada, there's a lot of really good Sawyers, like that are very good at single box sawing.

SPEAKER_00 13:09

But you call them Sawyers?

SPEAKER_03 13:11

Yeah, so I guess, yeah. Yep. All right. And so yeah, there's a ton of guys, and where I went to school at the agriculture campus, there's well, there's three or four different people uh that have helped coach the team that are are really good Sawyers and and know what they're doing. And like the well, the current world record actually is held by a guy from New Brunswick, uh Ben Cumberland. Really? So he's from Keswick Ridge.

SPEAKER_00 13:33

Yeah, there's a few Cumberlands up that way.

SPEAKER_03 13:36

Yeah, b big in the timber sports world.

SPEAKER_00 13:38

Related to Rod?

SPEAKER_03 13:39

Yeah, so that's that's Rod's son.

SPEAKER_00 13:41

Really? Yeah. And he so those listening probably don't know Rod Cumberland. He used to be the deer biologist here in New Brunswick, really good at it. When I took my bow hunting course years ago, uh he was like one of the guests there and taught us about like blood tracking and all that. And then um there's a certain company here that owns Atlantic Canada, and they spray uh glyphosate on the trees and all that to kill them so they can just have to kill the hardwood so the softwood grows up, and he said the obvious that that was killing deer. Uh he magically got fired from his position, basically, right? That's kind of how it happened.

SPEAKER_03 14:17

Yeah, I I really don't know the story, so I don't want to speak on it. But yeah, I I'm not sure.

SPEAKER_00 14:21

But he but I know that Rod's very big into the uh the still timber sports, right? So that's his son that has that. Oh wow the record. Wow. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 14:30

His other son, Nathan, is is in uh going to Italy, actually. He's over in Europe right now for the world championships on Saturday.

SPEAKER_00 14:37

Jeez, does he have another son that like plays piano and doesn't do any of that?

SPEAKER_03 14:41

Uh no.

SPEAKER_00 14:42

Pretty competitive household. Yeah. That's good. Yeah. And there's uh the other son that no one talks about. No. No, that uh the bar set quite high there. Wow. Yeah. Um so that's what you do. You you you your favorite is the uh the axe?

SPEAKER_03 14:58

Yeah, the axes and the single buck. I really enjoy that as well. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 15:01

So what are they names? So there's the Sawyer, the oh the buck jigger. What then what is it? The guy that sharpens your axe.

SPEAKER_03 15:09

Oh uh well they they use a filing jig. A filing jig. Yeah. So I guess like uh an axe filer or an axe grinder is what you'd call them. But then they use uh some of them use a jig to set the angles.

SPEAKER_00 15:21

Filing jig. Uh what are some other names? Oh what about uh chopper. Chopper, yeah. Do you do that one where they they put the notches in the tree, put the boards in, and climb up, and then you go up to the top and then cut off the top? I always found that was impressive. You see, some guys would like chance it they don't they wouldn't put it in too deep, they'd put the board in thinking they could stand on it. And I've seen some fall. Oh yeah. Oh, I've been there.

SPEAKER_02 15:44

Yeah, I was like watching them tug of war.

SPEAKER_00 15:47

I don't remember seeing that. You do you do that, tug war? No.

SPEAKER_02 15:50

No, that's intense.

SPEAKER_00 15:52

Really?

SPEAKER_02 15:52

You take it very seriously. Oh, you gotta.

SPEAKER_00 15:55

You gotta. When is tug of war not to be taken seriously, Lane? Really?

SPEAKER_03 15:59

That's true.

SPEAKER_00 16:00

Um, you don't do the tug of war?

SPEAKER_03 16:02

No, no, not big into the tug of war thing. No? No.

SPEAKER_00 16:05

You like just relying on yourself and not your team. You only got one person to blame.

SPEAKER_03 16:09

Yeah, pretty much.

SPEAKER_00 16:10

Uh, do you do the team sawing?

SPEAKER_03 16:13

Uh the cross cut in college we did. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, and I got well, I guess in the summertime I did as well.

SPEAKER_00 16:18

Um You got used to see him teammate every time. You guys couldn't work off each other, know how. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 16:22

I have a friend in Nova Scotia who actually was one of my coaches and taught me a lot of of what I know. So yeah, he's my my current partner for you wouldn't partner with anybody else, huh? No, not right now.

Records, Coaching, And Rookie Circuit

SPEAKER_00 16:33

No, you gotta like you it's a big thing. Like when I push, you freaking pull. Yeah. Like, all right. And I'll do the same when you happen to be pushing it this way, and I'll I'll pull it. Um no, that's interesting. Yeah, no, I knew I saw that because this summer you had a thing, like, yes, that's pretty good. The North American thing, that's that's impressive. Very good. And when you're not doing that, you're hunting. And when you're not fireman construction, still timber sports and all that, going coon hunting with me and stuff. You're hunting for deer. Yep. And you got your first first bow kill.

SPEAKER_03 17:01

I did, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 17:02

First bow kill, yeah. So we're excited to talk about that. Uh, and then we've got Lane. Lane is a recurring guest. He works for the city of Moncton, Moncton Hole Watchers, uh proud member of it. And uh, Lane, you were on for the trivia one. You won the buck grunt uh from River's Edge Game Calls, but you didn't even have to use it.

SPEAKER_02 17:21

No, I didn't.

SPEAKER_00 17:22

You were prepared to. I was, but you didn't have to because you got your deer. So, boys, Lane, you got your first book. I'll tell you, Lane, you've definitely No, first bow deer. First bow deer, yeah. Yeah, first bow deer. I'll tell you too, Lane, you've definitely I'll say this, you put in your time. You put in a lot of time for deer.

SPEAKER_02 17:39

Yeah, I've questioned it a couple sits in the tree saying I'm like, what am I doing?

SPEAKER_00 17:45

Um yeah, okay, I'm glad you've questioned that. No, I'll say it now because you put in so much time for bow not for bow season, for you hunt bow last year. I mean, last year and the other years you had to bow season, which is a bit early here in New Brunswick, then you hunt rifle, then muzzle loader, which is next year week. You do a lot. You tagged out this year in bow season. Yep. So I was like, what are you gonna do now? You're gonna take up knitting, crocheting, piano, like something that takes a bit of time to learn because you got it now, because you've just put all that time into deer hunting before, and and you know, you're done, you're tagged out. It's crazy.

SPEAKER_02 18:17

Scout for next year. I still got five weeks off for deer season this year, so I can I wanna help dad.

SPEAKER_00 18:24

You're gonna take it.

SPEAKER_02 18:24

Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_00 18:25

I want to try to find the holes can watch themselves.

SPEAKER_02 18:28

I want to try to find dad a a big one to get on and and scout for next year.

SPEAKER_00 18:32

Yeah. Well, boys, I'm excited. Anthony, you're new. We're gonna let uh Lane go first so uh you can see how he tells his story, and then you just gotta top him. Uh Lane, so right here, I'm looking at your deer. We're gonna have it in the podcast profile picture. It's a nice deer, it's a thick deer. Um tell us the story, Lane. Tell us the story.

SPEAKER_02 18:53

Well, actually, it starts with a different deer.

SPEAKER_00 18:55

Right. And and and here's the thing, too. So I know Anthony, you had a little incident with your deer, and we're gonna get to that, and Lane you did too. But I want people because a lot of podcast hunting podcasts or hunting TV shows, I I find it's gotten better now, but they always show the the you know, everything went great. You know, we sat in the stand, saw the animal, came out, made the perfect shot, dropped on site, it when it fell down, it loaded itself into the bike or whatever, we got it out. Everything was so perfect, right? And I find that the show, the podcast and shows are getting better with showing that like that's not that's not how it always goes. No. And it's okay that it doesn't always go like that because it's not everything's perfect, and not everything can go perfectly, and I think we need to talk about sometimes it doesn't. Yeah, and that's just the way it is. So, Lane, let's start there.

Lane’s Season Setup And Target Buck

SPEAKER_02 19:45

Yeah, well, it was this summer. Uh I wanted to test out some new s new spots, see what was in the area. And I remember years ago when I was running equipment in the woods, we did a a block, and I remember I seen a big deer in there. That would be probably six or seven years ago, and I always wondered what was in that area. So I decided I said, oh, whatever, this year I'll go in, scale it around a round a little bit, put some mineral out, and it was didn't take me very long that I had a big deer starting to hit, and I always have the best luck with trying to find deer in the summer and then get on them early before they switch to their their fall range. Anyways, but he kept coming in and he uh a lot and he stripped velvet and I said, Well, maybe he'll leave. And he kept coming in, like I think it was like twenty-one days out of twenty-eight. He daylighted, and I said, Wow, that's that's pretty good. He the he's killable. And I knew he I had to get on him early because uh there was no dough on that camera, just strictly bucks. And had a couple other deer coming in on camera.

SPEAKER_00 20:56

And so you you only had bucks there. What were you running for on yes? Mineral out. Is that is that it? Yeah, just mineral. What did what did you put out?

SPEAKER_02 21:05

Uh Rackstacker Glory.

SPEAKER_00 21:07

Oh yeah, and that that worked.

SPEAKER_02 21:09

Yeah, I just put it on dead stump and I leave it for the end.

SPEAKER_00 21:13

Alright, no, I was just curious about that. So you just had just bucks, no dose.

SPEAKER_02 21:17

No. I had the big one was hanging around with a little s smaller of an eight-pointer, but that eight-pointer disappeared right around August. And I had a couple four or five points in with him. Anyway, I said so. I went out before the season. I've been baiting, he's been daylighting consistently every day. So I hung the stand up and it was opening day. I didn't we were late coming home from work, so I didn't get a chance to sit, and he was at my stand at 5 30. I said, Well, anyway, so the second day, I took the day off work, said I'm getting in here lots early, and uh sitting in there and terrible wind. Wind was swirling everywhere. If I wouldn't have sat if I knew it was gonna do that. And right around 5 30, 6 o'clock, I had a I had a little spike come in behind me and he worked his way off, and then it was about 20 after six, I look over, and he stand, I can see the nine-pointer standing there looking at me. And he was a lot bigger than I thought he was.

SPEAKER_00 22:26

Oh, yeah, for a nine-pointer.

SPEAKER_02 22:27

Yeah, because I always put my camera long tines on him. Yeah, I put my camera like eight feet in the air facing down. I make brackets for them.

SPEAKER_00 22:34

Just do you do that? I do that because of bear.

SPEAKER_02 22:36

Bear.

SPEAKER_00 22:37

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 22:37

That's the reason.

SPEAKER_00 22:37

And I have a bear box, but still.

SPEAKER_02 22:40

I just got tired of bears ripping cameras off trees, and then ever since I started making those brackets, I haven't had any issue with bear. Yeah. But the downfall is the deer look smaller because you're looking down on them. And the first thing I noticed when he c first thing I seen, I'm like, that is a big bodied deer. And the wind was going right to his face. And the whole time he was coming in, head in the air, licking his nose, oh, he's gonna bust me. And he kept slowly coming in, slowly coming in. He got about 50 yards, and then he started to veer away. I said, Oh, he's not gonna do it. And then he was walking away, and then he cuts right back towards the bait, and he got he was kind of off to like the right hand corner of the bait, just at a camera shot, and he stood there and he knew something was up, and then all of a sudden I could hear walking behind me. And I'm like, oh, just what I need, another nose instead of eyes in here. Anyway, he wouldn't he wouldn't come into the bait, and he kept inching ahead and inching ahead, and I got a window, and I put the rangefinder up, and it's I don't know if I hit the tree that was behind him, but I clicked it and it said 30. So I'm like, well, that's in my range, and then he inched ahead and he put his head in behind a big maple tree. And I drew back and waited and waited, and he he took his shoulder, he wouldn't take a step, opened his shoulder up and uh shot, and instantly I knew I hit him high. And he bolted out of there. I knew I didn't have good penetration, the air was sticking out of him, and anyway, I gave him a little bit and got out of the stand. And oddly enough, uh as soon as I stepped out of the stand, the strap on the tree stand let go.

SPEAKER_00 24:27

What?

SPEAKER_02 24:28

Yeah, and I didn't know that happened. And I wasn't wearing a harness.

SPEAKER_00 24:31

So that's why you look like that right now.

SPEAKER_02 24:32

Yeah. As soon as I took a step off to the onto my climbing stick, it didn't fall, but it it shifted enough that I probably would have fell out if I was standing in it.

SPEAKER_00 24:41

Jeez, like you need another head injury. Yeah, I know.

SPEAKER_02 24:44

Anyway, I got out, walked back to the truck, called, called dad and my brother and a couple of the buddies.

SPEAKER_00 24:49

Well, I remember you called me and I saw that you called, and I was just getting home from work and I did something, and then I called back like, I don't know, a little bit later, and then you're like, you don't answer your phone during deer season.

SPEAKER_02 24:59

I'm like, so I told you, I said when your buddy, you know your buddies are hunting and they call during daylight hours, answer the phone.

SPEAKER_00 25:05

Well, I I never put it all together. I was I was getting home from work, I was cranky. So then that's when I told.

SPEAKER_02 25:12

Anyway, we went in, uh, my dad, brother, and I, and Brody went in and looked. I knew it was a high shot, didn't have a lot of penetration, but I thought maybe I hit top of the lungs, or maybe I nicked that artery that uh runs along their spine. Anyway, we went in, never found the arrow, never found a drop of blood.

SPEAKER_00 25:30

Because I tried calling you after you didn't answer yet, and then I messaged Brody because I knew he was there. I said, Hey, me and Ryan are on standby to come out and help you guys if you need a hand. And Brody's like, well, Lane's on sitting on a log right now saying that he's done hunting for the year.

SPEAKER_02 25:43

So I don't think he's gonna be able to do it. From an all-time high to an all-time low real quick. Uh dad and Denver end up taking Wednesday off. So we went back again at first light. My buddy Connor came up and we met up with us because it was so thick in there. I'm like, if he if he is down, we could walk within 20 yards of him, we'd never see him in this old clear cut. It's so overgrown.

SPEAKER_00 26:06

Anyway, I think we put in Well that your brother's got eagle eyes. Oh, yeah. He's got he's got good.

The High Hit, No Blood, And Hard Lessons

SPEAKER_02 26:13

If there's something dead, Denver and Denver and Dad can find it. Anyway, we looked for probably four or five hours, and it was gonna start to rain. I said, let's just back out. I said, I I don't think he's dead. We'll just wait. Anyway, went back in, went to work Thursday, and I just had a terrible feeling, just got I just felt terrible about it. I said, I just I gotta go back, I gotta go look again. Just I gotta put as much effort into it. Even though I had a pretty good chance he wasn't dead, I just gotta do my due diligence and go look. Anyway, so my buddy Darren came in, we just grid searched, like we grid searched between all of us. It was like a two and a half kilometer radius of the tree standing all directions. We grid searched, and I'm like, as far as I know, like we never found, still never found a drop of blood the whole time. So I'm like, as far as I know, this this deer's not dead. Anyway, while we were looking Thursday, my cameras went off at a different stand, and my number one target deer showed up in daylight, and then like ten minutes later, that one showed up. I said, Well, I said, I better get to the other stand. Anyway, so I went in. I had to stay home with the young fella Friday. So as soon as uh Catherine got home from work, I jumped in the truck, went to my stand, my other stand, got in the stand at 4:30, and it was quite windy going in, but then it died right off, and I ended up having a small bear come right underneath me, and she walked right past the bait, never looked sideways at it, so I just left it, and then I ended up coming back in later that evening, and then right at last light uh I heard a deer coming in behind me, and I knew it was dark, like I didn't even bother picking the bow up, I knew I wouldn't get a shot, and I looked behind me, and I just seen long tines walking about 20 yards behind me, and I'm like, Well, I don't know what deer it is, but it's one of the two target deer I got in here, and I ended up sitting in the stand for 45 minutes after dark because I could just hear him walking around, I didn't want to bust him. So I end up getting out, and they both showed up on camera. I'm like, well, it didn't bust him too bad. So then Saturday I went in at like two o'clock. So I'm going in early. Same thing, windy when I went in, and then dead quiet at last light, and it was quiet set, never had nothing coming in, and then same thing right at last light. That because on Friday that bear came in the same way as that deer did in behind me, and then it was about 20 after six. I could hear walking behind me. I figured it was that bear again. I was looking behind the warden. No, I was looking behind the tree, and I could see I just seen lags. I'm like, wow, it's a deer, and then I got a glimpse of an antler. I said, Well, maybe it's that little basket 10 that's been coming in, then I get a glimpse of the big antler. I'm like, I can't tell which one it is, but regardless, I'm shooting it. And then behind my stand I got a shooting lane for my rifle, but I it would just be too and it was dead quiet. It'd be too much movement to grab the bow and then have to stand up and then turn back to draw. And I said, Well, if he's coming in, he's probably coming to the bait. So we crossed that shooting lane and he realized how big he actually was. And then he came in and there's a bunch of alders just off the bait, and he was standing in there and he was coming out, and it was he I'm sure he could hear my heart bump pumping, it was so quiet. And then he he ended up turning around to leave, so then I positioned myself to get a shot on that shooting lane when he was leaving. And then he ended up turning around again, going to the bait. And he kept inching ahead. And the whole time I could see my camera taking pictures, the infrared lighting up. And I'm like, come on, like, we're running out of daylight. You gotta keep coming, keep coming. He just kept inching ahead and inching ahead. There was a big birch tree blocking his vitals. And anyway, he kept he inched.

SPEAKER_00 30:19

And you're like, you know what? These broadheads are pretty damn good. I'm gonna chance it. Yeah, not quite that.

SPEAKER_02 30:24

Because that's the tree's big enough, like I don't even I couldn't even put my arms around it.

SPEAKER_00 30:27

And you got long arms too.

SPEAKER_02 30:29

I do. And he kept inching ahead and he finally inched up ahead enough that his vitals were open. So then I went to draw back and it was dead quiet. As soon as I started to draw, he looked right up at me. And I'm like, well, I'm at half draw, I gotta keep going. Get full draw, got to my anchor point, and right when I was ready to shoot, I had the pin right on him. He kind of like leaned forward a little bit to get a better look, and he opened that front shoulder up. And when he did, I buried the pin in his front shoulder and squeezed it off, and right away I knew I hit him good.

SPEAKER_00 31:03

You felt more confident about that than the Oh yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 31:06

And then that uh I heard the diaphragm pop. And when he ran, I didn't the arrow didn't pass through, but it went through him because the fletchings were like two inches before his like they're almost touching his hide. So I'm like, the broad head went all the way through him. So anyway, I uh sat there for a second, like five seconds later, heard a big smash, and I'm like, guarantee that's him crashing.

SPEAKER_00 31:30

And your tree stand broke again.

SPEAKER_02 31:32

No, and I was wearing a harness in that stand. Anyway, I called dad, I told him, I said, I I got the 12, I said I know he's he's down, I know he is. I said, I'm I'm gonna wait. I want you guys to be with me when we go look for him. Anyway, got out of the stand, curiosity got the best of me, so I went down to the bait and blood instantly. So I just laid the bow down, I walked out, called a couple of the buddies, told them to hang tight because we're gonna need help dragging them out because it's not a fun spot to get to.

Redemption Buck And Efficient Recovery

SPEAKER_00 32:04

I was real sick that night too, but I knew you got it because I was like well, I call you called me. Yep. And we were talking, and then I'm like, how do you feel about this? When you're like, I feel good. Oh, I knew he was really good. Yeah, because you're like I heard him go down.

SPEAKER_02 32:15

Yeah, yeah. And uh anyway, so dad, I only wanted dad in in Denver in there when we went to look. So I waited for them and we went in, and I'm colorblind, so I'm terrible on blood trails. And I told dad in Denver, I said, All right, this he ran this way.

SPEAKER_00 32:32

Denver's your brother, for those wondering.

SPEAKER_02 32:34

And so Denver was following the blood trails. Okay, I got blood here, blood here, blood here. It wasn't a big blood trail, but I kind of figured that because the arrow was still in him. And so I was just standing like kind of off to him with a flashlight looking and about 80 yards. Denver yellow is the IE, he's like, I got him. He's right here. And uh he uh piled up headfirst into a tree. That's what that crash was. Anyway, then I called uh I called my girlfriend or I FaceTimed her.

SPEAKER_00 33:05

I thought it was your fiance. Oh, you called your girlfriend too.

SPEAKER_02 33:08

Oh yeah, I called her too. Gonna call them both. I guess fiance, yeah. And anyway, I called her and she's like, Yeah, uh Ryan and Logan are sitting in the garage. I'm like, Oh, I didn't know. I called them and told them that I shot one. I said, We're probably gonna need help anyway. So I got off the phone with her and I called Ryan. I said, Yeah, I said, grab uh grab my game sled. I said, It's gonna be a drag out of here. So told them what road to go down. And anyway, dad walked out and met them and took the bid, and we took her pictures and everything, and then uh I like to uh if I shoot something, I don't like to drag it. I said, Well, my job's done, have fun, boys. So they hooked the ratchet straps up to them and it's cold. Anyway, they dragged them out. We gutted them and had a celebratory cigar and beer and finally got them home and weighed them up and threw them in the cooler.

SPEAKER_00 33:57

Yeah, and and here he's in here. The people be able to see it on the podcast profile picture. Real nice deer. Uh, but every year, Lane, you put in your time. How many hours do you figure you put in? Just hunting season, not before hunting season, just hunting season. A lot. A lot. More than a full-time job. Yeah. Because you take off your full-time job work. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 34:16

And normally take every year, now that my job now I'm able to. I took last year I took four and a half weeks off, and this year I have five.

SPEAKER_00 34:23

Yep. Yeah. So you you you put in the time. Anthony, you do the same thing? No, not quite. Yeah, yeah. Wouldn't have a job to go back to if it did that. But um, no, I mean you you put in your time, you definitely earned earned that deer, Lane. That's good.

SPEAKER_02 34:38

Which is weird because I only sat three times this year. Yeah, but before that you've Oh, I've put my fair share of seat time in, and it kind of feels weird now. So I'm like getting home from work. I'm like, now what do I do? I know how a tree stand to go sit into.

SPEAKER_00 34:52

I know, because that's all you do, and you're you're tagged out early.

SPEAKER_02 34:55

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 34:56

So I mean, gun season hasn't even started yet. So that's good.

SPEAKER_02 35:00

Day five, I was done.

SPEAKER_00 35:02

It's really good. Um Anthony beat that story.

SPEAKER_02 35:07

Uh though, but uh that's Oh, and I want to add the nine-pointer that I shot the second day. Right. He is alive and he's been on camera every night.

SPEAKER_00 35:16

We saw a picture of him tonight.

SPEAKER_02 35:17

Yeah, he's on camera right now. My phone's still going off.

SPEAKER_00 35:21

Um I told you to put an airplane.

SPEAKER_02 35:22

He's alive and very well.

SPEAKER_00 35:24

Yes. So that the nine point is alive.

SPEAKER_02 35:26

So I'm hoping uh dad's been sitting for him, so I'm hoping dad can connect with him at some point.

SPEAKER_00 35:32

Obviously, your dad's not there tonight. Uh no. It's pouring right now. Yep. Made a sugar that fella, is he?

SPEAKER_02 35:39

And it's been dark for three hours. And that, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 35:42

Um But no, it's good. The deer, it's amazing how tough they are. But you know, I was saying though, when you hit him, I mean modern broadheads are pretty deadly.

SPEAKER_02 35:50

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 35:51

So yeah, it's amazing he survived. But he did. He's eating, he's back in. That's good. Anthony, your fur this is so this is your first bow kill. That's right. So Lane, so for so what did your Lane is an official, sorry, Anthony. Uh so Lane is an official score for the New Brunswick Big Game Club. You're gonna get certified to score for Boone and Crockett and Pope and Young. It's a green score, obviously, for your deer because it's still fresh, but uh I don't find it changes that much unless you have it hanging over your wood stove.

SPEAKER_02 36:21

Might change it a little bit, but not much.

SPEAKER_00 36:23

What did you get for a score?

SPEAKER_02 36:24

Uh he went 149 uh total gross score and uh 140 uh net because the twelfth point isn't a full inch, so technically his scores is an 11 point.

Scoring, Genetics, And Summer Patterns

SPEAKER_00 36:38

Nice. So um you made it in the new Brunswick record books for Bo?

SPEAKER_02 36:42

Yeah, because it has to be uh 115 for Archery.

SPEAKER_00 36:47

Right.

SPEAKER_02 36:48

And he might he might shrink enough that I might not have made it for uh rifle, it's gonna be 145. 140. And he was 140 and 68s, I think. So he might shrink, he might shrink enough to uh not make it for rifle, but he's not gonna shrink enough. He's definitely in in for archery. And that's all I was going for is I just planned on uh I had some really big deer coming in camera, but after years and years of trying and failing, I was dearly my goal was like 115 and and up. That's all I was a mature deer, like I didn't want to shoot a smaller one, but like three years old and up with my bow. That's what now what's my goal was, and I uh definitely surpassed that because that's probably one of the biggest steal out deer I'll ever shoot.

SPEAKER_00 37:40

Well, and you're pretty young. I think you got lots of time.

SPEAKER_02 37:42

Well, I hope I outdo them, but you're not even 30.

unknown 37:45

Nope.

SPEAKER_00 37:46

Um, you know, it's a really nice deer, it's a good story. Yep, and you know, you you kept going. Because I know that night you felt pretty damn when you wounded that other one. And that's normal. That means he cares.

SPEAKER_02 37:57

And also another cool fact.

SPEAKER_00 37:58

It worked out you got a bigger deer, and the other one's alive.

SPEAKER_02 38:01

I think the nine pointers bigger.

SPEAKER_00 38:02

Really?

SPEAKER_02 38:03

Yeah. After looking at them both. Another cool fact is uh Corey Chase came over when he was hanging in the cooler, and you got to look at him. He's like, You have to bring those antlers over. He's like, I'm almost guaranteed. He said, That's a relation of the deer's brother shot last year. So I brought it over this week. Mind you, Luke's deer's was eight years old, and I'm guessing he's only four or five. But you put them side by side and they're identical. So my and they're only shot a couple kilometers apart. Well, so uh we got to thinking. I'm guessing Luke's deer is the father of him.

SPEAKER_00 38:40

Yeah, very well could be.

SPEAKER_02 38:42

Because there's about there's about five years age difference, four or five years age difference between the two of them, because his was shot last year. And yeah, two kilometers for a deer is nothing.

SPEAKER_00 38:54

No. Well, it's like the it's like that nanny small tent. You gotta be careful who you date because you don't know who's true. How close everyone is really related, you know? So you gotta you gotta watch it a bit. Same thing with deer.

SPEAKER_02 39:06

That's right.

SPEAKER_00 39:07

When you're hunting, I don't think they care as much.

SPEAKER_02 39:09

But uh Well they do because a lot of bucks will uh they'll leave the area they're born in to prevent inbreeding. Inbreeding, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 39:17

Yep. Weird looking bucks.

SPEAKER_02 39:19

So that's what I was telling Corey. I said, well, if he was born over where they got that big one last year, is it two kilometers for him to change home areas is nothing.

SPEAKER_00 39:29

No, no, that's nothing.

SPEAKER_02 39:30

And I've never had I've been hunting in that spot for four or five years, and I've never once had that guy on camera, and he showed up on camera for the first time October 2nd.

SPEAKER_00 39:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 39:41

And he was quite regular.

SPEAKER_00 39:43

Yeah, it it's interesting. I mean, you see two, you you see two when they when they GPS deer and like how far some of them will go, like miles and miles, they'll go across rivers and and everything. Like the Miss There's been one news document, I think it went went across the Mississippi River and stuff like that. Like it's crazy.

SPEAKER_02 39:59

It was a handful of years ago. Um Brody had a really big deer in uh in the velvet, and they had a little bit during bow season, and come to find out that deer was shot 14 kilometers away. He was a very unique rack, so he knew for sure it was him. And the way a crow flies, it was right around 14 kilometers.

SPEAKER_00 40:19

That's a bit of a stroll.

SPEAKER_02 40:20

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 40:21

Yeah, they move like big time. Yeah. Yep. Um it's good. Good story. Can't wait for uh for next year's story. You still gotta do your moose when you lane you had a good moose season. Yep. Uh we'll get to that in other podcast. Anthony, I want just as good of a story, if not better. No, uh so so it how how long have you been bow hunting for, I guess, and what got you into it?

SPEAKER_03 40:44

Uh so this is my first year bow hunting.

SPEAKER_00 40:47

First year? Uh yeah.

SPEAKER_03 40:48

First year. Well, be your last then the way it went. Yeah, no. Uh so yeah, I I got into bow hunting really, honestly. Part of the reason I got into bow hunting is because the deer that I did end up shooting, I kind of watched it uh spring and summer as it was growing and kind of hanging out in the bachelor groups with some other bucks. So there's a few eight-pointers hanging around and a twelve-pointer with it in the same area. Anyways, I I figured that if I waited till gun season, what somebody else would either shoot it or they'd all break up from their bachelor group.

SPEAKER_00 41:18

They're gonna break their their patterns.

SPEAKER_03 41:20

Yeah, and they'd be harder to kill. So so I said, yeah, I really want to kill this deer. So got into bow hunting this summer, uh, started shooting a lot. And yeah.

SPEAKER_00 41:28

Oh, you just you just got into it this summer and everything. Really? What do you Lane? What are you are you shooting an elite? Yep. Yeah, you like envision. Compound bow? Yeah, if anyone listen, these are compound bow hunters. Uh Anthony, what are you shooting?

SPEAKER_03 41:41

Uh Diamond.

SPEAKER_00 41:42

Diamond. Okay. Yeah, nice. You don't see those around as much, but I know they're a good brand.

SPEAKER_03 41:46

Yeah, yeah. I think they're made by BoTech. Um it's like their entry-level brand more affordable, I guess. Uh for cheaper.

Anthony’s First Year With A Bow

SPEAKER_02 41:56

You can get them at like with the whole ready-to-hunt kit, like with the rest and everything. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 42:02

You got that ready to hunt? Yeah. Ready to kick ass, because that's what happened, right? Um, so you you saw the deer, the buck that you want to do in that, so that you got into bow hunting just this summer and all that because yeah, I mean, that was a big part of it.

SPEAKER_03 42:16

I I've always wanted the tri bow hunting. Uh my father got into bow hunting within the last couple years. Um, so yeah.

SPEAKER_00 42:23

It's it I like it. I mean, I got my bear with this spring stuff. It's um well, it I think it brings us back to our more primitive state and it's it's more personal too, right? It's it's just you're you're more connected with the harvest, you know, and I think as uh as humans, that's we kind of go back to our ancestry a little bit, really. I think when we I mean, I don't think they had like compound wicked ass kick ass bows, but it still, you know what I mean? It's it brings us back to that.

SPEAKER_02 42:52

I like the challenge of it.

SPEAKER_00 42:53

Yeah, it's just neat.

SPEAKER_02 42:54

Get bringing a any animal, getting them in within bow range is one thing, but uh finally getting them in to get the shot, and then you still gotta come become full draw, and then it's just it's a challenge, and it's a very addicting challenge.

SPEAKER_00 43:10

I think though, like I said, yeah, the challenge and the fact that like I say it just brings us back to a more primitive state. I mean, that's how humans survive for a long time. We killing with a bow and stuff like that, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 43:19

So and up close and personal is pretty nice. Like I shot my bear at uh 16 yards, and I shot that deer at 16 yards too. Which is uh very close.

SPEAKER_00 43:29

Yeah. Can't throw eyelashes.

SPEAKER_02 43:32

Well, I watched them for long enough, I probably could.

SPEAKER_00 43:34

Yeah. Um, so uh Anthony, so you saw that got into bow hunting just this summer, which is awesome. Yep. Um, all right. And then you did you shoot him in your food plot?

SPEAKER_03 43:45

No.

SPEAKER_00 43:45

Okay, because you guys had a nice food plot this year. We saw when we were coon hunting. Yeah, it's really nice, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 43:50

Yeah. No, it wasn't in the food plot. This was uh kind of on the edge uh in between a soybean field and a cut that was a few years old. Um so yeah, just I kind of watched them throughout the summer, uh, put some cameras up and just kind of tried to pick out their pattern and figure out where they were traveling. Uh, and then I just set up kind of where I knew they would be. Uh didn't mess with the the pattern too much, didn't want to put out apples or you didn't put out any bait at all. No, I was just you know, I was worried about uh whether it's me being naive or not, but I was just kind of worried about messing with something that worked. I mean if it's what you did work. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_02 44:26

So well, if you're around a an old cat, like there's new growth coming up for feed for them, and if there's a soy soybean feed, like they got lots of food.

SPEAKER_03 44:34

Yeah, and and the whole apple thing. I mean, I guess I talked to Tom Byers actually about it, but he was one thing that he said, I mean, there's apples everywhere this year. So if a deer wants apples, they're gonna find them.

SPEAKER_00 44:44

Yeah, um yeah. So the soybean, because I I thought about planting a bit of that in a section near my food plot. Uh you find they hit that pretty good.

SPEAKER_03 44:52

Yeah, they do. I mean, especially this year, it was so dry, so there's not as much feed in the woods. Um, so they definitely I I would say they hit them harder this year than they ever have. Yeah. Um whether they're the best thing for deer, I probably not. Um they like them when they're green and then they like them when they're hardened down, but there definitely is a stage in the middle where on the cameras you know you don't see them very much.

SPEAKER_02 45:16

What was the most activity when they were green or after they turn? Because I've always heard guys have the best luck after the first frost, and then they start to turn is when the deer really pounded the soybeans.

SPEAKER_03 45:26

Yeah. Yeah. I mean, like like I said, all summer they hit them, I think, mostly because it was dry, but but definitely after they dried down, they they were hitting them pretty good.

SPEAKER_00 45:34

But it's just a real select window with soybeans, is it?

SPEAKER_03 45:37

It it's pretty big. It's more like a select window where they're not hitting it. I mean, it's a short period of time when they don't hit it, but most of the most of the year they're easily.

SPEAKER_00 45:45

They are. Yeah. Okay. Yeah, I don't know.

SPEAKER_03 45:46

I thought about messing around with that. Yeah, we in the middle where it's doughy.

SPEAKER_00 45:49

Yeah. Like the grain.

SPEAKER_02 45:51

As they're turning from green to turning over.

SPEAKER_00 45:53

Not around them much, but you know about them because you planted them. Yeah. So yeah. I d I I've never been a randomized. It's just a it's a cash crop, right? No one Yeah, that's all it's for. So I haven't been around it much, but I've I've considered planting it next year or something, just playing around with it for the early season and stuff. Yeah. Uh so you sit up on the deer trail, so you did your homework, you had using cameras and stuff, seeing Yeah, yeah.

Field Setup, Soybeans, And Patterning

SPEAKER_03 46:15

So I using a cell cam so I could watch it, and I you know, I set the camera up and then I didn't go in there for for a month. So um little solar panel set up and self-sufficient. Yep. Um yeah, so I set up and then uh so I put up a ladder stand um kind of in the back corner of the field where I could watch down in the woods and the cut behind me, and then I could also get kind of that back corner of the field. Um yeah, put it put a little climbing stand up there and set in it the first morning and then the second night and was watching the deer, and they were just I had I had an eight-pointer that walked by that I could have killed, you know, it was probably twenty yards away. Um I knew that there were a couple nicer deer, so I held but held off. But uh the thing that I found was that so the second night that I hunted, um, I watched a 12-pointer. So there's two deer. There was the one that I shot, uh, and then there was a 12-pointer that I was watching as well, and and it was out in the back corner of the field, kind of at a different spot that was too far away to get in in uh like with a bow. I could have shot him with a rifle all day long, but like you said, the bow the bow is a whole different ballgame. But um, yeah, so I so the it was Friday night, I guess I went out and sat in underneath a tree, um around the corner from where my stand was so I could see the back corner of the field a little bit better. Just kind of built a little nest under a big spruce tree. Uh sat down in my chair, I went in about quarter to five, and I sat there, I made a pile of noise, cracking brush and and putting sticks in the ground so I can hide under this big spruce tree, and I thought there's no way that anything's gonna come out here tonight. And uh sure enough, half hour later, this thing walks out. I looked up and and here comes this this deer. Uh so he was uh it's an eight-pointer, so he's got five on one side and then three on the other side. Uh it's quite wide, uh, but just whether it was injury or or what happened to him, but he uh he only had that three on one side. So yeah, he he walked out. He was about a hundred yards away when he first came out. So I just sat and watched him. Like I said, I could have shot him with a gun a hundred times, but but uh yeah, sat and watched him for probably a half hour, and uh he kept feeding closer and closer and closer. And uh He started at a hundred, just worked his way in.

SPEAKER_00 48:32

He's like, Well, I've been practicing at 30, so I'm gonna have to aim a little high.

SPEAKER_03 48:36

Yeah. Yeah, a foot over the back. Yeah. No, so yeah, I I watched him for a half hour and it was tough. You know, it takes a lot of patience, and every time, every time something You strike me as a patient guy though, Anthony.

SPEAKER_00 48:50

Are you? You see me.

SPEAKER_03 48:51

Uh yeah, I don't know. I try to be, but yeah, yeah, calm and patient. But yeah, and and another thing was the wind was blowing pretty hard and it was blowing right in my face.

SPEAKER_00 49:02

Oh he was perfect.

SPEAKER_03 49:04

Yeah, he he was up when like he couldn't smell me at all. Yeah, that's perfect. But all I could think about when he was working towards me was if a doe walks out behind me, you know, I'm screwed. There it goes.

SPEAKER_00 49:14

Because you know she'll stand there and stomp and go on for about half an hour just to make sure everyone knows. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 49:21

Yeah. Yeah, exactly. So no, he he kept working his way closer and closer and closer, and then when he got close enough, I I drew on him and uh and shot him. And I felt really good. How how far so it was spoken about 35 yards.

SPEAKER_00 49:36

Okay, yeah. That's it's pretty good with the wind blowing hard in your face and all that.

SPEAKER_03 49:41

Yeah, so that was I I would have liked them to be a little bit closer, but just the way that the wind was going, and uh, you know, I was worried about him spooking and he kind of started to act a little bit funny. You know, he you can tell that something was up a little bit.

SPEAKER_00 49:54

And the wind can make them if it's really windy out too, it can make them just uh act a bit off.

SPEAKER_03 50:00

Yeah, you know, yeah. Yeah, I mean to to watch uh a big buck for a half hour in a field is is quite a while. So you know he's only gonna be out there.

SPEAKER_00 50:09

No, I'd be like, if that was me, because I'm not as patient, I'd be like climbing down for the stage, like I think I can sneak up on him. No, but yeah.

SPEAKER_03 50:15

Yeah, well, funny story, I did try that actually with that yeah, with the with the 12 pointer I was telling you about how uh how he was way too far away. And anyways, yeah, about ten minutes before it got dark, I said, Oh, I I think I can do it. Got down, took my boots off, you know, tried to get real sneaky with it, but they're uh they're a smart animal. He can't sneak up on deer.

SPEAKER_00 50:36

Just Indiana Jones roll right to him there.

SPEAKER_03 50:39

Yeah, yeah. But no, uh yeah. Anyway, so I I shot him, felt really good about the shot, um, you know, hit him behind the shoulder, heard the big thump, and he took off sprinting, uh made a loop of the the back of the field, so kind of on the back corner of the field he went run along the edge of the field, made a 90-degree turn, ran up the the back of the field and then into the cut behind it. Um yeah, so I waited probably about forty-five minutes or so. Um started to get a little bit impatient, so I wanted to see see what I had, so I went up and I found blood. Not a lot of blood right away, actually, in the field. Um as I worked my way towards the edge of the field where he ran into the woods. There was a little bit more blood, and then found a couple big puddles, and I got to the edge of the field and just started into that cutfall in the blood, and I saw two deer jump. One went to the right hand side and one went to the left hand side, and I didn't get a great look at them, but I was pretty sure that one of them was the deer that I had shot. So then I started second guessing, you know, I thought, well, I must not have hit them as well as I thought I did. Uh so I backed out of there, called my father. Um, he came down. We waited probably another hour, hour and a half, and went back in to check again. And by that time it was getting close to being dark. Uh, so we just kind of looked to see where the blood was, tried to find a little bit more blood. Wasn't a ton of blood, and we didn't see anything, so we just backed out and said I'd better wait till morning because I wasn't sure if it was a gut shot or or what, you know, not seeing the deer jump like that. I guess I didn't know. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 52:17

With the bow shot. Any any shot, a rifle if you're not feeling good about it, but uh best especially bows is just just leave them, just wait till the next day. Yeah.

The Stalk That Wasn’t And The Shot

SPEAKER_03 52:27

Yeah. So I didn't want to jump them. I thought I had jumped them from his first bed where he laid down, so I didn't want to jump them from his second bed. So yeah, came back the next morning, went in, picked up where we left off on the blood trail, and the blood trail pretty well went dry right after he went into the woods. So a couple big puddles of dark blood, so I thought maybe thinking the liver shot. Um so we started grid searching because we couldn't find any more blood. So we grid searched for probably about an hour. Um, so I told you when I saw those two deer jump off, one that went to the left, one went to the right. I was I was sure that the one that I had shot at had gone to the right. So I said, well, we might as well start on the right hand side, go in. So we looked for about an hour. There was myself, my father, and my cousin came and my sister helped as well. Really? Your sister helped. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 53:18

She and my sister tell me go pound sand if I have to do something like that.

SPEAKER_03 53:23

No. That's good. Yeah, so we we looked, couldn't find anything. And uh by that time, you know, I was starting to get pretty, pretty discouraged because I thought, well, I must must have hit him bad, and he's gonna go in the woods somewhere and die, or or I'll see him on camera again or something. So, anyways, we went and decided to start looking to the left, and we went probably I would say about 40 yards from where the blood trail ended, and uh there he was laying on the ground. So we're able to find him. Yep. And yeah, when we found him, he had been uh the coyotes had actually gotten into him just from being out there overnight.

SPEAKER_00 54:01

Um yeah, it was probably I know what you're doing this winter. I'll come out with coyote hunting. Yeah, do some coyote hunting for um but yeah, yeah, so but I'm glad he said that because remember when we were when I was asking about coming on the podcast and we were coon hunting on the weekend there, yeah, and then he told me about that, you're like, I don't know about that, but uh no, that that's good to say. I mean that that's part of it. That is part of it. And you guys waiting till the next morning to look for him. Perfect decision. Honestly, perfect decision. And uh the coyote thing, I mean that's yeah, unfortunately, that's just part of it.

SPEAKER_02 54:31

I know a guy a couple years ago, he shot a deer with his bow, waited, backed out, gave him like two hours, and within the two hours the coyotes get into it.

SPEAKER_00 54:40

Oh, they they're bad around here. I mean people no one I'll I'm not that I try and I get a few calling them, but they're hard to hunt, and no one around here I find is really good at it. And everyone here is just an opportunist. If they see them while they're out hunting, they'll shoot 'em, which is good, but no one really targets them. And uh and no one really traps anymore either, because thanks to PETA, fur prices are dead. Well, when Canada Goose jackets were buying coyote pelts, the f the fur prices were way up, so everyone was killing coyotes, right? And it's awesome. And then PETA, you know, got that taken down, the price dropped, and no one seems to be targeting them, but they they need to be managed. But what you guys did, I mean, no, that's that's perfect, really. Just a lot of coyotes ran, unfortunately. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 55:27

Yeah, so they got in and they tore the back end up pretty good. Yeah. And then they got in through where my arrow went, and actually they opened a hole up there in the side and and chewed the ribs down pretty good. And uh and went and pulled the guts apart as well. So the all the the inside of the guts were all inside the deer and everything. So yeah. And like I said, I didn't really want to tell too many people about it, but like you said, people in over thirty countries right now.

SPEAKER_00 55:58

No, but uh but it's yeah, something that happens, I guess, with the hunting and I'm glad you said that because there's there are gonna be people listening from this from all over the world, North America hunting white-tailed deer this year and other years that have lit that have dealt with that, right? I mean it's part of it. It's good that you're good for you for saying you speaking up, you know. Coyote coyote's freaking wreck wreck deer kills, you know. So um it it it is discouraging, but yeah, you guys, I don't think you didn't do anything wrong. Right? You waited because you weren't sure on the shot and the coyotes just kind of beat you to it because they didn't take the night off.

Overnight Track, Coyotes, And Recovery

SPEAKER_03 56:33

Yeah. Yeah, and the the unfortunate part about it is now that I found the deer and I think about it more, I think that the two deer that I saw run in the woods when I got up to the edge of the field, I don't think either one of them was the buck that I killed. Because he was 40 yards away from where I saw him running, and uh he died on the run, like his nose was down in the dirt, just kind of out in the open. So yeah, I think they were two different bucks, and like I said, I just didn't get a great look at the the head on them, so I wasn't sure what deer they were.

SPEAKER_00 57:02

So you're in a good area, is what you're also telling us. Um no, but no, it's good. It may be your first bow season and the fact that you took it all board the summer and that you got a nice buck and everything. Like, no, it's that's good. That's really good. Yeah. And the with the coyote thing, yeah, no, it's tired of it. People deal with that. You know, Lane didn't even know what the hell happened to his deer. I don't know. And then turns out he's alive and as well as it's gonna be.

SPEAKER_02 57:30

Because I mean, I wasn't near as excited when I shot the 12 as I was when I shot the nine, because part of me kind of felt like guilty for shooting the 12. I'm like, do I deserve to shoot this deer after potentially wounding and killing that nine? Like, I didn't have answers.

SPEAKER_00 57:46

I know you're gonna be like, I'm I'm done.

SPEAKER_02 57:48

Oh, I wanted to be done, then everyone's like, oh no, like, you know, that's a part of hunting, unfortunately, it happens, and then once he showed back up on camera, I'm like, oh, good.

SPEAKER_00 57:58

Like it would be a relief.

SPEAKER_02 58:00

Oh, I was laying in bed and I just heard the camera go off, and as soon as I checked it, I'm like, oh thank god. Like he finally showed back up, like he's clearly alive and well, like it definitely made me feel ten times better.

SPEAKER_00 58:13

Yeah. You leave your you leave your cell cam notifications on overnight?

SPEAKER_02 58:19

No. Uh depends if it's a busy night.

SPEAKER_00 58:21

I sometimes I I so I did during bear season. So I left it off because like I was having some big bears come in and all that. So uh now at night I put my phone in airplane mode. Yeah, and if someone needs to get a hold of me, they can wait till I get up. Uh hopefully it's not an emergency. Um, but uh yeah, before though in bear season, I'd just leave it on so I get it, so like my phone would buzz and it'd be like whatever time, one o'clock in the morning, I'd be like, so cam. And I get it, and then I hear my wife, she'd be like, Ken, turn your fucking phone off.

SPEAKER_02 58:51

Oh, I've gotten out like two or three in the morning. I'm like, oh well, I might as well check my camera and I'll scroll through and then go back to bed.

SPEAKER_00 59:00

I know I should hold my excitement and like woo-hoo! In the middle of the night, but um but uh with the deer with deer season I I've put on airplane mode, you know, doing that. But just because uh the deer I don't know, it's they've been it's been uh a weird year. I we get a cold spell, I've got bucks galore, it warms up a bit. Can't get a buck on cam to save my life, whereas bear season with a cell cam, uh it was it was steady. And I'd have some I don't know, the bear pictures were pretty cool with them coming in and all that.

SPEAKER_02 59:35

Yeah, my camera's been pretty steady, but and that's a main thing why I've been focusing on finding big deer in the summer, because I've had in the last two or three years where I've been really focusing on bow season, that's when I've had my bigger deer on camera in the most encounters is during bow season before they switch to their fall range, and I've had people like, Oh, why are you looking for deer in the summer? They're all gonna leave. I'm like, yeah, but only one has to stay. And the last yeah two or three years, like I've had a lot of big deer daylight during bow season. Yep. So that's why I've been focusing a lot of my time on honing in on the big finding big deer in the summer, and then hopefully they they stick around.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:17

Yep. Anthony, you got plans from what are you gonna do the rest of the season now? You're a waterfowl guy a bit and stuff, right? Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:24

Yeah. Yes, we hunt ducks and geese quite a bit. And uh yeah, so I also have uh a couple nuisance permits. Oh, do you yeah, yeah? Yeah, for uh for deer, because in our zone here we have so many deer and they do a ton of damage to to crops. And I know certain people maybe listen to the podcasts in different areas that say that's that's crazy, but it really is an issue. Where I mean I guess where you guys are at.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:49

I know where I'm at. What? Oh, you gotta go to work? I'm just gonna call in to work. Really? Here, one second, just gonna pause it. Okay. Uh alright, so breaking news. Lane just called it got called into work to do something for once. Uh it's flooding in the city.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:11

Yep. My guess is uh the leaves fall and they're covering the manholes. The manholes and they're flooding over.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:18

No, they're unmanned holes. Yep. Um all right, Lane. Well, good luck. Don't freaking drown.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:24

I mean the water's not that deep.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:26

Famous last words. That's true. Famous last words. Um, okay. Thanks for coming out.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:31

Thank you.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:32

So yeah. Yes, with the nuisance tags. So, I mean, yeah, we we've got a lot of deer here. I find that in my area though, this year, the deer numbers are down. But apparently we've had a bit of a poaching problem. Okay. Um that's gotten a bit worse. So I do find the deer numbers down, but in your area the deers are the deer is up, and you are a cash crop farmer. You grew soybeans, corn, and all that. So the deer they do if there's a lot of deer, it does hurt admit. Uh, but we were talking, so you guys get nuisance tags. The nuisance I didn't this is new to me. It's a little bit of a hot topic, you said.

Cell Cams, Wind, And Early Season Strategy

SPEAKER_03 1:02:04

Well, yeah, I don't I don't know. Like how hot a topic is, but um, you know, I guess I've heard some people say that, you know, oh, we shouldn't be killing deer. Um, because in certain parts of the province here, um, like up north, say they they don't have a lot of deer. And uh so yeah, I guess I've heard some people say that it shouldn't be a thing, but I think the science and the research shows that there is a need to to decrease our deer population in certain parts of the province.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:34

Yeah, they're not just tanning out nuisance tags all willy-nilly. No. They're you've got what you've got someone from the agriculture department come in. Yep. That'd be Tom Byers.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:42

Yes, yes, and then will come out and assess assess damage. And DNR. Yeah, right? Yep. And then it goes through DNR. So so you deal with the Department of Agriculture and then they send it off to DNR, and then it comes back through the department to me.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:56

That's DNR's Department of Natural Resources. Sorry. Yep. Yeah. Um, so uh yeah, so they're not just handing them out.

SPEAKER_03 1:03:02

No, and and this you actually we talked about Rod Cumberland about uh through with the timber sports stuff, but he was uh one of the guys that started this. Well, if not, I think he maybe was the guy that started this program in New Brunswick because through their research, um that's what he did. He was a deer biologist, and through the research they found like they proved that there was a need to to adjust the population, I guess, in in certain parts.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:27

Yeah, but yeah, in certain parts it is it is needed.

SPEAKER_03 1:03:29

Yeah, so there there is science behind it. It's not just, you know, here's a few extra tags, go out and shoot some deer. But um yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:37

But and too, I mean, like anyone knows, well, most people should know that any animal population that gets a little too high for its britches, big for its britches in a certain area, that's when you get disease. Yeah. You know, that's when you're gonna have disease breakout. So I find that, yeah, it we've done a good job of keeping that down and keep doing that sort of thing. Except for the coyotes, they get manged or something, you know, or powerful, like get them out of here. But I do hate coyotes. But um, yeah, no, it the nuisance thing. It it there's research behind it.

SPEAKER_03 1:04:08

Yeah, yeah. Yeah. So yeah, I have some some nuisance permits that uh for myself and then for some other people as well, so I can can shoot another doe antlerless deer with my my nuisance permit. So I'm gonna try to do that with my bow again. Are you as well? So it it'll be in rifle season probably when I when I go to try and take one, but but yeah, definitely gonna use my bow.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:31

Yeah, no, that's good. Um, yeah, Anthony, I appreciate you coming to the podcast and uh and telling what it's really like. You know, deer hunting, it's not always perfect. No, it was perfect, but it's good. You got a nice buck at the end of the day, and uh I you know sounds like you did make the right shot and stuff. And yeah, it's good. It showed patience too, which is big. So good. So uh thanks for coming on. We'll be doing some more coon hunting real soon.

SPEAKER_03 1:04:54

Yeah, thanks for having me.