Hunting a good buck. Here’s how.

Two big Michigan bucks that might put a hunter into the B&C record books.                       

Do you ever dream what many hunters fear is the impossible dream? The one where  a Boone & Crockett record-book buck walks out in front of a ground blind or tree stand, and you take a shot and wind up shooting the buck of a lifetime?

It need not be a dream. It can be done, but one of the little known secrets employed each year by savvy sportsmen, can be used by you or anyone else. It's means using a book. All it takes is time and money.

You think Richey is touting books again. True, one book can change your life.

Read & study the B&C records books can help pinpoint hotspots for all trophy game.
The bottom line is if you can control your nerves, shoot straight, and are committed to the hunt, there are only two things you lack: luck and knowing where to go.

I'm prepared to give you a gift of learning where to hunt. You are on your own about the luck part. Don't forget a big wad of money to get you into some of the deer country in the world.

Here's the scoop. The Boone & Crockett Club, 250 Station Drive, Missoula, MT 59801 has published the 27th Big Game Awards book for the years 2007-2009 for $24.95 plus shipping. This 704-page book can be ordered from < www.boone-crockettclub.org > or  by calling (888) 840-4868. It features 60 color and hundreds of b/w photos and portraits.

So ... how does this magical book work. First, you pick out your preferred state to hunt. We'll use Michigan for example because many of my readers live here. Michigan's typical deer records feature typical and nontypical racks.

There are many deer listings, and full pages offer many individual listings of big bucks. Each listing gives the score for each individual beam or tine length and all other scoring measurements as well as the final score of that rack.

It also tells you other more important information besides the name of the hunter and scorer and the year taken. The best thing each entry offers hunters is the name of the county and the year the deer was taken In this state, a big buck can be found anywhere but over the last two decadesy, many of Michigan's largest bucks have been taken in the southern half of the Lower Peninsula. What many smart hunters do is take a look at the counties that have produced the largest bucks over the past several years, and try to find a place nearby where hunting is allowed.

Big bucks can be found anywhere but more likely in key locations.

If a county can produce a record-book buck once it can do it again. The trick is to find out which four or five counties have produced the most trophy bucks in the past several years. Granted,  Jackson County, as an example, has produced many other bucks in the past.

There are some problems to be solved, and they aren't necessarily easy ones, but knowledge is most important and that is what this book provides for those who are willing to spend time puzzling out the best counties to hunt.

The same thing can be done for people who may wish to hunt whitetails in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Ohio, Montana or wherever.

Learning which counties or specific areas produce the most big bucks is easy. Anyone can do what other big-buck hunters have done. The next thing is to find a place to hunt in those counties, and that can be as tough as finding that elusive buck.

Gaining access to big-buck land in southern Michigan is difficult but it's not impossible. It means talking to landowners, asking permission, being refused the right to hunt, and continue asking. Sooner or later, you may find a person who will let you hunt their farmland. If so, respect their wishes and do as they ask. If possible, obtain permission before hunting season to scout the land.

Many hunters try to find four or five such places, and then they scout the land intensely. They learn where big bucks roam, where they travel, how they move from bedding areas to food sources, and it's important to note that most of southern Michigan counties are heavy agricultural terrain.

Learn the travel routes, scout it thoroughly during the preseason, and early spring is a key time to be knocking on doors for the bow and firearm seasons. Don't wait until after the season has opened.

Get permission, find a buck, keep scouting, and wish for a bit of luck.

It's easy to learn which counties are the best, but it's not as easy gaining permission to hunt. Granted, Michigan has some State Game and State Recreation areas, and many are heavily hunted. Most big bucks will come from private land. That land must have plenty of food, plenty of thick cover or swamps to serve as bedding cover, and a history for producing Boone & Crockett typical and nontypical bucks.

Anyone who undertakes this method of learning where to hunt must be a dedicated hunter, and one committed to passing up young bucks and taking only the older animals. It's not a walk in the park, but hunting any book-buck is never easy.

However difficult it may be, gaining the knowledge of which counties and areas produce the most big bucks is the first and easiest step but it involves using this book. From that point on, it becomes more difficult.

I didn't promise you it would be easier. Don't care to work that hard, pretend you've never hunted before. Borrow a bow or firearm, don't shoot either one, and go out and find a spot that "looks good."

It occasionally works for some lucky first-time deer hunters but don’t count on it.

Posted via email from Dave Richey Outdoors

A lazy Christmas for me

Some very nice bucks like this one are taken in late December.

There were thoughts of bow hunting this evening. They were very brief thoughts, and then the notion quickly passed.

I have hunted a good many Christmas days over the years, and there have been a few bucks taken. Not many though, and frankly, it's become more difficult of late to muster up much energy after chowing down on a big dinner.

Too much food makes me act a bit like an old bird dog curling up before the fire. I turn around in a circle two or three times, slump into an easy chair, and if the chatter isn't too loud and the mood suits me, I might study the insides of my eyelids for an hour or two.

Life is good when such luxuries exist in the afternoon.

Old dogs, especially those lean and long-legged pointers, hit the floor like a sack of old bones, and are about as noisy on a hardwood floor as anything could be. The dogs curl up, make little puppy-like sounds as they follow the heady scent of a grouse, pheasant or woodcock through their dreamy coverts.

The older I get, the more sense it makes to sleep off at least an hour after a big meal. It allows the grub to settle into all the nooks and crannies of my digestive system, but sadly, I didn't get a chance to doze today. Good chats about deer hunting got in the way.

Some basketball game was on, and two or three of the players acted as if they had eaten far too much before the game, but perhaps that was just my lazy attitude this afternoon. It would have been a decent bow-hunting day.

There was just enough people around to keep me indoors. A soft breeze may be fun to listen to but the deer do not move well in deep snow, and in my area, many deer have found the yarding areas already. Hunting such areas is not a wise decision this late in the season.

There is a lot of snow still on the ground, and somehow, heading out for an afternoon of bow hunting in too much deep  snow seemed pointless. It's not that I might not have seen a deer or two, perhaps even taken a shot, but it seemed a far wiser decision to spend time with my family.

Hunting in or near deer yarding areas puts too much pressure and stress on them.

I did kick back, put my feet up on a foot stool in the late afternoon, and remembered two or three past Christmases when I hunted. As I recall, all had snow on the ground and much colder temperatures. Our snow this year is deep, and where I live about 60 inches have fallen since it first arrived six weeks ago.

Years ago, the cold and snow made the deer move, and on one such day, a nice 8-point came walking by and offered an easy shot at 12 yards. The buck ran 45 yards, and fell with a two-bladed hole through his heart. It was an easy shot, and a wonderful Christmas gift.

Now, as a rule, hunting on holidays (especially Christmas) is something I seldom do. It doesn't bother me to hunt Thanksgiving Day or New Years Day, but I usually stay inside on Christmas.

My son-in-law was up early this morning, and as the sky began to lighten in the east, he spotted a 140-class buck bed down with a doe in an open field about 75 yards behind the house. He watched the buck for a half-hour, and as the light grew stronger, both deer got up and moved off into the pines. He felt that was his Christmas present from the deer in his hunting area

And, guess what for me? Missing out on hunting today didn't bother me one bit. I can still hunt through Jan. 1, and expect to do so. Some cold weather would certainly help, and then I'll hang up the bow for a month before starting to practice for next year's bow season and start dreaming about next year's spring turkey hunt.

Merry Christmas from my house and family to yours. May the best of the Christmas season bless and keep you, and while you're at it, say a prayer for the men and women in our Armed Forces, who make such Christmas events possible for us. God bless one and all.

Posted via email from Dave Richey Outdoors