2014 Adirondack Buck (Tracking)
- SamPotter
- 500 Club
- Posts: 1233
- Joined: Thu Oct 25, 2012 1:01 am
- Location: CT, NY, now IA
- Status: Offline
2014 Adirondack Buck (Tracking)
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 They require it be unpublished material, which unfortunately includes posting it on an internet forum.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.
Not something I normally look at, but an interesting graph of my ground speed from my GPS:
2013 Trail cam pics:
Making a mock scrape:
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.
Not something I normally look at, but an interesting graph of my ground speed from my GPS:
2013 Trail cam pics:
Making a mock scrape:
Last edited by SamPotter on Thu Dec 11, 2014 6:24 am, edited 1 time in total.
-
- Posts: 359
- Joined: Thu Oct 24, 2013 2:47 pm
- Location: Wisconsin
- Status: Offline
Re: 2014 Adirondack Buck (Tracking)
Congrats! Nice buck.
- john1984
- Posts: 4708
- Joined: Mon Aug 01, 2011 8:08 am
- Location: Wisconsin
- Status: Offline
Re: 2014 Adirondack Buck (Tracking)
Wow ! That's awesome.
[ Post made via iPhone ]
[ Post made via iPhone ]
-
- 500 Club
- Posts: 725
- Joined: Fri Mar 19, 2010 4:47 am
- Status: Offline
Re: 2014 Adirondack Buck (Tracking)
Super cool! One you wont forget soon!
- Dewey
- Moderator
- Posts: 36727
- Joined: Thu Mar 11, 2010 7:57 pm
- Location: Wisconsin
- Status: Offline
Re: 2014 Adirondack Buck (Tracking)
Great job on a nice buck!
[ Post made via iPhone ]
[ Post made via iPhone ]
-
- Posts: 229
- Joined: Tue Jan 07, 2014 12:59 pm
- Status: Offline
Re: 2014 Adirondack Buck (Tracking)
Nice!!
[ Post made via iPhone ]
[ Post made via iPhone ]
- JakeJD
- 500 Club
- Posts: 633
- Joined: Tue Nov 08, 2011 11:06 am
- Status: Offline
- Jackson Marsh
- Moderator
- Posts: 19547
- Joined: Tue Aug 17, 2010 3:11 am
- Location: SE WI
- Status: Offline
Re: 2014 Adirondack Buck (Tracking)
That is an awesome buck! Heck of a track! Well earned buck! I would love to read the full story.
[ Post made via Android ]
[ Post made via Android ]
- 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)
Congrats on that Awesome big woods buck!
[glow=red]Happiness is only a gut pile away[/glow]
- 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)
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 ]
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".
- Jackson Marsh
- Moderator
- Posts: 19547
- Joined: Tue Aug 17, 2010 3:11 am
- Location: SE WI
- Status: Offline
Re: 2014 Adirondack Buck (Tracking)
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
[ Post made via Android ]
Well done
[ Post made via Android ]
-
- 500 Club
- Posts: 4576
- Joined: Thu Oct 18, 2012 5:26 am
- Location: IA
- Status: Offline
Re: 2014 Adirondack Buck (Tracking)
Awesome man! That looks like a great hunt!
- PK_
- 500 Club
- Posts: 6894
- Joined: Tue Nov 20, 2012 5:10 am
- Location: Just Off
- Status: Offline
Re: 2014 Adirondack Buck (Tracking)
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.
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.
Everybody's selling dreams. I'm too cheap to buy one.
Rich M wrote:Typically, hunting FL has been like getting a root canal
- 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)
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....
- Spysar
- 500 Club
- Posts: 3974
- Joined: Sat Feb 20, 2010 11:23 pm
- Status: Offline
Re: 2014 Adirondack Buck (Tracking)
Awesome.
A buck will see you three times, and hear you twice, but he's only gonna smell you once.
-
- Advertisement
Who is online
Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 25 guests