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| This Was A Fine Buck!!! |
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| A Real Nice 9 Pointer |
It Was Shotgun Season 1988
Myself and my 2 brothers Bob & George had scouted an area
in the southern tier in NY it was in Stueban county . There was about 1000 acres of state land there give or take. We knew
it was an awesome area to hunt as well. The deer were VERY plentiful there. It was The 3rd week of November. The shotgun season
was upon us we had previously scouted out various spots in this state forest area weeks pryor to the gun opener. The
night before the opener we had gotten pounded by snow in access of a foot & 1/2 Were we had decided to park my Brothers
camper wasn't the best place in the state forest to be parked when the storm hit . We ended up snowed in for about 3 day's
though we had been equipped to stay about 4 day's Thank GOD because we were not going anywhere soon for at least a few
day's We figured as the town did not plow the roads in this state forest, and we were in one of the far reaching ends of the
forest where the road came to a dead end. Anyhow on Opening Morning we still managed to get out hunting as the tempatures
were bearable at the time . However getting through the snow was difficult to say the least .Within an hour of entering the
woods , around 7:00 am we started hearing quite a bit of shooting below the ridge we were huntin. We were at the very top
of a ridge that the main highway was on below. As the shooting became closer I was watching two adjoining ridges that were
across from my location. I was situated between three ridges & had a very good view of all of them , Around 7:30 I seen
about 20 Doe's comming down from the other side of my location it was obvious it was very difficult for them to travel
as well , I Heard shots ring out again a couple minutes later My brother George called me on our two way radio's &
told me he had bagged a nice button buck!!, again more shots rang out from several spots all around the adjoining ridges and
from below near the main highway that had a parking area for the state forest campers / hunters below, I really hadn't expected
to hear all this shooting from this area due to to deep snow that hit the night pryor to the opener , However that thought
proved to be wrong . In fact it was unreal !!! all the shooting I heard through out the morning hunt, I had started to spot &
stalk as to warm up somewhat , Not 5 minutes into my stalk I heard more shots ring out not more than 50 yards away from
my location. Within a couple minutes I saw another huge herd of deer comming up from the lower ridge , So I quickly positioned
myself according to the direction they were comming up at , Again !!! shots rang out from below across the street & on
another series of ridges that were state forest property as well, I looked to my left & saw that a whole different herd
of deer were heading right towards my location . The first group of deer got to within 50 yards of me heading back up &
over the ridge I took aim at a nice Doe there were approx 20 - 25 deer all together in that group. I fired & down went
the doe I aimed at almost right in her tracks, All this time it was like a shooting range, with everyone target practicing all
around the whole area , Then the second herd of deer, comming from the otherside of the ridge I was on, there appeared to
be several nice bucks in this group I radioed my brother Bob to let him know they looked to be heading right across his
location . As the 25 or 35 deer approached me down about 75 yards away , Bam yet another series of 4 shots rang out sending
these deer on a direct route right at me!!! as they came within 35 yards & gaining I raised my winchester model 200, Took
aim & fired at a nice Buck he ran about ten yards and fell. I was ecstatic My adreanilan was off the planet !!! If I had
been cold at all pryor to that moment I sure didn't have that problem any longer!!! I went over to the buck first. Then radioed
my Brother Bob to let him know I had 2 deer down & the doe I had shot wasn't far from his location . He said he had seen
the herds comming down the ridge , However he just wasn't able to get a clear shot at any of them saftely so decided
to wait & see if they would come back down towards him , as there was alot of shooting non- stop all around
the area below us & from the other two ridges across from were we had been camped out. I was amazed at all the
deer I had seen & it wan't 3- hrs into the opener yet. I dragged the buck a real decent 9- pointer back to where
we were camped out, I field dressed him there & went back to get the doe after warming up a few minutes. The doe was a
nice sized animal as well , after returning to camp I met up with my two brothers . It was about 11:00 am by the time I
went & dragged both my deer back to camp. George had already gotten back he shot his button buck at about 70 yards away
from our campsite setup. We were All pretty stunned by all the deer we had seen so far. We had no idea it was going to
be like that. We knew the area held quite a few deer , But never imagined it would be this populated with deer!!! Nor did
we expect even close to the amount of shooting we heard from other hunters which I might add were out in droves!!! considering
all the snow we were pounded with the night before the opener. Well that night after an awseome opening day . We sat down
back at the camper. I had cut us some fresh venison steak & shared my tenderloins & Brother George added
his as well, we had a great feast of a very memorable opening day . That area was just infested with deer. I personally had
never seen herds as large as we did there in stueban County. And these sightings went on for the next 4 day's . The weather
broke some with tempatures rising into the low to mid 30's which felt alot better than it did on the first couple day's. I
had been told by some fellow hunting buddies that stueban County had lots of deer, But we had come to
find out first hand, That this area if your looking to bag a nice buck was one of the best counties in all western NY
to do so. The Buck Doe ratio is awseome here in this co. and there are alot of Bucks & deer overall. I think it is one
of if not THE BEST hunting Location we've ever hunted!!! Located in a fairly good hilly region with vast woods &
farms / cornfields etc. State forest lands open to hunting / camping etc. And Not far from the pennsilvania border. We
Have since through the years taken several nice deer from this beautifully landscaped area, However this county is not alone
any longer, as there are several area's in this region that hold a very abundant whitetail deer population through great Hunter
/ Conservation efforts & deer management programs . In Ny our Deer herd is just over a million animals along with
good forage to sustain & Manage a herd of this size. So If you want Deer NY may be someplace you may want to investigate
in your never ending quest for the Whitetail Deer. And if your looking for trophy Bucks the Northern region as well as Western
& Southern ends of NY which border PA. offers hunting to meet all your Whitetail needs be it Trophy Bucks
, a very Plentiful doe population & just a very healthy Herd of deer overall in access of a million animals.
Well I hope you enjoyed this story, as I did writing and re-living
it again along the way. And feel free to come again anytime as I will be updating often with hunts, and various tips, &
tricks Iv'e learned along the way as well as pass them along to all of you hunters Veterans & young up comming
hunters alike .
So
Until Next Time May You Have A Great Safe Hunt
And Enjoy The Great
Outdoors & all It Has To Offer!!!
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