2014 Adirondack Buck (Tracking)

Share and Showcase your hunting success stories.
  • Advertisement

HB Store


User avatar
SamPotter
500 Club
Posts: 1233
Joined: Thu Oct 25, 2012 1:01 am
Location: CT, NY, now IA
Status: Offline

2014 Adirondack Buck (Tracking)

Unread postby SamPotter » Thu Dec 11, 2014 6:16 am

I shot this buck on 11/30/14 in the Adirondacks (Hamilton County) after tracking him for 4 hours 23 minutes (I originally claimed 5.5 hours in a FB post, I was incorrect according to my GPS) and covering 5.2 miles. I missed (deflected bullet) him once about halfway through the journey, but was able to connect when he got distracted by a doe and followed her across an opening in front of me. After shooting him I realized I had trail cam pictures of him last year over 2 miles from where I took up his track this year. These big woods bucks have large ranges! This was probably the most memorable hunt I've ever had, and boy did I have to work for it!

Based on last year's trail cam pics and his tooth wear, which was at least as much as the 5 year-old 8pt (cementum annuli aged) I shot about a mile from there in 2012, I estimate this buck to be at least that old as well, perhaps even one year older. I will send his teeth in too to confirm. Gross green score of 131 and change. Brows are over 5 and 7" and bases are just shy of 5".

The picture(s) I posted on FB last week generated a lot of comical comments about practicing shooting more, aiming better, and only taking ethical shots. Those folks don't realize that tracking is not blood trailing. They don't go 5.2 miles after a heart shot either. With tracking, you follow the buck BEFORE you shoot it... Also, tracking isn't simply "running them down". Sometimes you do indeed need to run to stay in the same zip code, but you also need to know when to slow down based on the sign you are seeing and pick the woods apart. I'm not fat but there's no way I have more endurance than a Whitetail buck!

Although this is not the typical "Beast" style normally described on this site, I still think there is plenty of "Beast" in tracking!

P.S.
I wrote a much more detailed story of this hunt but I am going to see if I can get a magazine to buy it. They require it be unpublished material, which unfortunately includes posting it on an internet forum. If things go well, hopefully I will be able to post the story at a later date.

Image

Image

Not something I normally look at, but an interesting graph of my ground speed from my GPS:

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

2013 Trail cam pics:

Making a mock scrape:

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image
Last edited by SamPotter on Thu Dec 11, 2014 6:24 am, edited 1 time in total.


Robert
Posts: 359
Joined: Thu Oct 24, 2013 2:47 pm
Location: Wisconsin
Status: Offline

Re: 2014 Adirondack Buck (Tracking)

Unread postby Robert » Thu Dec 11, 2014 6:18 am

Congrats! Nice buck.
User avatar
john1984
Posts: 4708
Joined: Mon Aug 01, 2011 8:08 am
Location: Wisconsin
Status: Offline

Re: 2014 Adirondack Buck (Tracking)

Unread postby john1984 » Thu Dec 11, 2014 6:23 am

Wow ! That's awesome.

[ Post made via iPhone ] Image
wiscbowhntr
500 Club
Posts: 725
Joined: Fri Mar 19, 2010 4:47 am
Status: Offline

Re: 2014 Adirondack Buck (Tracking)

Unread postby wiscbowhntr » Thu Dec 11, 2014 6:31 am

Super cool! One you wont forget soon!
User avatar
Dewey
Moderator
Posts: 36727
Joined: Thu Mar 11, 2010 7:57 pm
Location: Wisconsin
Status: Offline

Re: 2014 Adirondack Buck (Tracking)

Unread postby Dewey » Thu Dec 11, 2014 6:41 am

Great job on a nice buck! 8-)

[ Post made via iPhone ] Image
Longbow
Posts: 229
Joined: Tue Jan 07, 2014 12:59 pm
Status: Offline

Re: 2014 Adirondack Buck (Tracking)

Unread postby Longbow » Thu Dec 11, 2014 6:45 am

Nice!!

[ Post made via iPhone ] Image
User avatar
JakeJD
500 Club
Posts: 633
Joined: Tue Nov 08, 2011 11:06 am
Status: Offline

Re: 2014 Adirondack Buck (Tracking)

Unread postby JakeJD » Thu Dec 11, 2014 6:56 am

Great buck and story.
"In the deed, the glory"
User avatar
Jackson Marsh
Moderator
Posts: 19547
Joined: Tue Aug 17, 2010 3:11 am
Location: SE WI
Status: Offline

Re: 2014 Adirondack Buck (Tracking)

Unread postby Jackson Marsh » Thu Dec 11, 2014 7:39 am

That is an awesome buck! Heck of a track! Well earned buck! I would love to read the full story.

[ Post made via Android ] Image
User avatar
Milk Weed Seed
500 Club
Posts: 1822
Joined: Thu Oct 13, 2011 2:17 pm
Location: Northern NJ
Status: Offline

Re: 2014 Adirondack Buck (Tracking)

Unread postby Milk Weed Seed » Thu Dec 11, 2014 7:46 am

Congrats on that Awesome big woods buck! :clap:
[glow=red]Happiness is only a gut pile away[/glow]
User avatar
SamPotter
500 Club
Posts: 1233
Joined: Thu Oct 25, 2012 1:01 am
Location: CT, NY, now IA
Status: Offline

Re: 2014 Adirondack Buck (Tracking)

Unread postby SamPotter » Thu Dec 11, 2014 9:16 am

Jackson Marsh wrote:That is an awesome buck! Heck of a track! Well earned buck! I would love to read the full story.

[ Post made via Android ] Image


PM story sent.

If anyone else would like to read the full story, send me a PM and I'll send it back. From what I read I just can't post it in an open forum, but a personal communication like a PM or email is not considered "published".
User avatar
Jackson Marsh
Moderator
Posts: 19547
Joined: Tue Aug 17, 2010 3:11 am
Location: SE WI
Status: Offline

Re: 2014 Adirondack Buck (Tracking)

Unread postby Jackson Marsh » Thu Dec 11, 2014 9:45 am

Very well written story Sam, I felt like I was on the track with you. Congrats again, I hope you are able to publish the story.

Well done :clap:

[ Post made via Android ] Image
JoeRE
500 Club
Posts: 4576
Joined: Thu Oct 18, 2012 5:26 am
Location: IA
Status: Offline

Re: 2014 Adirondack Buck (Tracking)

Unread postby JoeRE » Thu Dec 11, 2014 9:49 am

Awesome man! That looks like a great hunt!
User avatar
PK_
500 Club
Posts: 6894
Joined: Tue Nov 20, 2012 5:10 am
Location: Just Off
Status: Offline

Re: 2014 Adirondack Buck (Tracking)

Unread postby PK_ » Thu Dec 11, 2014 10:54 am

Looks like he watched you walk by before you jumped him the first time?

This has quickly become my dream hunt. Read the Benoit and Blood and a few other big woods books a couple years ago and just fell in love with this hunting style.

Kudos, great buck, great hunt.
No Shortcuts. No Excuses. No Regrets.
Everybody's selling dreams. I'm too cheap to buy one.
Rich M wrote:Typically, hunting FL has been like getting a root canal
User avatar
SamPotter
500 Club
Posts: 1233
Joined: Thu Oct 25, 2012 1:01 am
Location: CT, NY, now IA
Status: Offline

Re: 2014 Adirondack Buck (Tracking)

Unread postby SamPotter » Thu Dec 11, 2014 11:14 am

PalmettoKid wrote:Looks like he watched you walk by before you jumped him the first time?

This has quickly become my dream hunt. Read the Benoit and Blood and a few other big woods books a couple years ago and just fell in love with this hunting style.

Kudos, great buck, great hunt.


Thanks! I wondered the same thing about the buck watching me walk by...

I was given a Benoit book when I was in college (12 years ago) and I've been trying ever since! Probably one of the most exciting was to hunt. That buck could be around any corner....
User avatar
Spysar
500 Club
Posts: 3974
Joined: Sat Feb 20, 2010 11:23 pm
Status: Offline

Re: 2014 Adirondack Buck (Tracking)

Unread postby Spysar » Thu Dec 11, 2014 11:42 am

Awesome.
A buck will see you three times, and hear you twice, but he's only gonna smell you once.


  • Advertisement

Return to “Kill Zone”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 25 guests