South Jersey Deer Hunt

Extended Bow 2012

2013-11-07T15:48:00.000-05:00

Extended Bow kicked off in 2012 with substantial rut activity. The day before, the last day of regular bow season, I had an encounter with 2 shooter bucks chasing a hot doe all around me in the woods for over an hour. I was able to get a pretty good look at both deer but neither provided me with a shot.
The very next morning, October 27 2012, first day of extended bow season just at sun up, I hit the grunt tube with two short grunts and a ten pointer come right into me and provide me with a shot at 27 yds. After wiating an hour I texted my cousin and we got underway with the recovery. He went 80 yds.

Here is a pic of where i found him.

This buck dressed out at 140 lbs.

I killed My buck on a Saturday. Friday of that same week, I got a text of a big 10 pointer that had been killed at 3:30 in the afternoon so I made arrangements to do a photo shoot. From the text I could tell that Drew had killed a substantial buck, but I was blown away upon seeing the deer in person. Drew had this buck on his trail camera during Hurricane Sandy and quite a few people had seen this Slammer in his area. After checking an astro table that said peak deer movement would start at 2:19 he made sure he was in the stand by 2:00. He killed this buck with his compound bow at 3:30 pm.

Drew's deer dressed in at 190 lbs

This deer had an official net non typical score of 159 2/8 "

Next to record a kill was my dad. He shot this seven pointer quartering away hard with a 125 grain vortex broad head at 40 yards using Stryker 380 crossbow. The bolt entered just behind the shoulder and exited through the front of the chest. The buck went a mere 20 yds. when we field dressed this deer it was completely devoid of blood.

This deer also weighed in at 140 lbs.

The following morning November tenth, I received a call form a friend whose nephew had killed a nice ten pointer with the bow. I asked them to bring it by. Jason's deer dressed in at 145 lbs and had a 20" spread.

The Evening of November 13th my phone rang and Muddy called to say he was bring one by. He killed this eight pointer with a broken g-2 and a kicker with his 10 point crossbow. Muddy's buck dressed 140 lbs. which seemed to be the average weight of the bucks killed in the 2012 season.

Next was GV who downed this wide racked nine pointer on the morning of November 23rd with his compound bow.

This deer had a very unique right antler.

Gary's buck dressed in at 120 lbs.

The same morning that GV killed his 9 point buck, Dave was able to connect with a wide 7.

Dave's deer dressed 125 lbs.

Early Bow 2012

2012-09-17T22:10:00.000-04:00

New Jersey's Early bow season started off strong this year. The first Sunday of the season my Dad received a phone call requesting green scoring of two bucks that were shot by twin brothers. The brother that contacted him, Matt, said that he had killed a fourteen pointer and his Twin brother Nick killed an Eleven the same evening. Needless to say we were excited to get a close up look at these two bucks.

After killing his EAB doe on Saturday morning and getting rained out that evening Matt found himself in his most productive stand location Sunday afternoon hunting over a food plot that he closely manages throughout the summer. His target buck arrived on the scene and Matt executed a text book shot with his Mathews bow equipped with Rage Titanium broad heads. After the impact, Matt watched his buck go down right in the bean field going only 40 yards.

Matt had his deer on the ground by 6:00 on the second day.

Matt's buck green scored 163 gross and 147 5/8 net non-typical

The same evening over 30 miles away Matt's twin brother Nick arrowed this slammer 11 pointer with his compound bow. Nick had this deer repeatedly on his trail camera as this deer too was his target buck. Nick saw his buck coming his way through the dense thicket where he has his stand located. He told me his stand is in a maple that affords him a lot of cover but the downside is he doesn't have wide field of view. Before he even knew it his buck was right on top of his position and had a split second to shoot this deer as its vital area passed into a small window in the thick brush. Nick executed his shot perfectly and he watched his buck run and slam head on right into a cherry tree and then he heard him breath his last breath.

Nicks buck weighed in at an amazing 213 pounds dressed on a certified scale.

Nicks buck green scored 155 5/8 gross and 149 4/8 net non typical

Nick got it done with a Mathew's Z7 extreme compound bow using

carbon arrows tipped with Grim Reaper broad heads.

Here is a Picture of Nicks buck on trail camera he told me to take note that the date was off by a month.

Here is another picture of Nicks buck 2 days before the kill.

On the very same Sunday Anthony filled his buck tag killing this velvet 11 pointer that he had been watching on his trail camera for a month prior. After killing his EAB doe on Saturday morning and then getting washed out during the evening hunt, he continued his pursuit Sunday evening. Anthony told me on the way into his stand that afternoon he spooked a doe and a small buck before reaching the spot. He saw a couple of deer through out the course of the evening and then he spotted a six pointer that he recognized as the big buck traveling companion. Little did he know, the buck was only 40 yards from him and proceeded to emerge from the laurels. The deer got within 25 yards and sensed that something was up. Just as he turned around to leave Anthony let loose.

Anthony got his work done with a Hoyt Alpha Burner Compound shooting Beaman MFX arrows tipped with 100 grain Spitfire Maxx broad heads.

This buck was shot at 27 yards quartering away and only traveled 30 yards before hitting the ground.

Anthony's buck on trail camera.

Muzzle Loader 2011

2012-08-26T12:54:00.000-04:00

Monday November 29th, was the start of New Jersey's muzzle loader season. Dave and Bill were the first to fill their tags on opening morning each killing a 5 pointer. The temperatures were unseasonably high and after christening the new game pole they were off to the butcher shop after letting their deer hang for all of about 20 minutes.

Dave and Bill with their bucks.

The next morning Charlie arrived after his morning sit with this nice 8 point buck in the back of his pickup. We hoisted him up on the scale and he weighed out at 122 pounds.

Charlie with his Deer

On the way back from the check station we saw a big buck hanging at our buddy farm and pulled in for a closer look. Jimbo had killed this 20" wide eight pointer on a 2 man push late in the morning.

This buck was bedded with a doe in a small wooded piece between farm fields. Jimmy's cousin Al did a soft push through the piece jumping the buck with his doe and the both ran right to Jimbo's position. Jimmy killed this buck with a perfect shot to the heart from his Thompson Center Encore muzzle loader as he was at full stride breaking out of the wood line into open ground.

Jimmy's deer dressed out at 162 pounds.

Jimmy with his Buck

Here are a few trail camera photos of Jimbo's buck from a couple of mile's away earlier in the season.

Here is another picture of the same deer from a year earlier.

Later that evening on the same day November 30th, I got a call from my friend Rob who told me to meet him at the check station because he got one. I showed up and Rob had this eight pointer hanging on the scale upside down so I took it down and hung it right side up for better picture angles.

Robs buck tipped the scales at 161 pounds.

Rob with his buck.

The early muzzle loader season in New Jersey is an exciting time because the rut is usually still strong and there is a lot of potential for killing nice bucks that haven't heard the sounds of gunshots and started running for their lives. Every year we see some beautiful buck taken during the early season.

Steve killed this six pointer Christmas eve. This buck didn't have a huge rack but he was a stout deer weighing in at 136 pounds.

Steve with his Muzzle loader buck.

Extended Bow 2011

2012-02-17T00:29:00.001-05:00

Extended bow season is believed by many to be the most exciting time to hunt whitetails in New Jersey. The 2011 season proved it to be quite true. New Jersey bow hunters were blessed with nearly ideal conditions for deer hunting. A few cold snaps really kicked the rut into full swing and the buck were moving steady and frequently.

Jay was the first this year to fill his extended bow tag putting the smack down on this long tined 8 pointer the evening of Sunday, November 13th. This buck was coming straight into Jay while he was hunting a field edge. The deer, sensing that something was amiss, quartered away hard and prepared to vacate the premises. Jay knew that it was now or never and let his arrow loose from his Mathews Switchback on a 30 yard shot. The Crimson Talon broad heads did a number on this buck slicing through four ribs upon entry and eventually making an exit through his chest.

This buck weighed in at 129 pounds respectively.

Jay with his buck

Jays deer had nice long tines and a nearly a 16 inch inside spread. The buck green scored 125 7/8" and hopefully after the 60 day waiting period retains enough inches to qualify for The New Jersey Outstanding Deer Program.

Two night later, on Tuesday, November 15th, my cousin Nicky scored his first buck when he arrowed this 3 pointer from his back yard ladder stand set up. Nick had been watching several different buck coming into his corn pile on his trail camera but was having a hard time getting them to show up during shooting time.

Nick enjoyed a clean kill and recovered his buck after a 100 yd tracking session.

Nicky's deer weighed in at 103 pounds.

Two more nights later Andy managed to take his first buck of the season. Andy is an accomplished bow hunter who has managed to tag out early in the last two consecutive years during the earn a buck program. This year during early bow he filled his earn a buck tag on the first morning. The next shot opportunity he was presented with was on what appeared to be a huge y buck with a double throat patch. On account that he couldn't clearly see the brows on that buck and the institution of the three point rule in many zones this year, Andy fore went taking the shot. Little did he know that he wouldn't see much more than spikes and button bucks for the next six weeks.

When this 109 pound seven pointer came into bow range on the evening of November 17th, he seized the opportunity to fill his extended bow buck tag. Andy made it happen with his Mathews LX compound bow and Rage 3 blade broad heads.

Andy's deer had a distinctive split g-2 on its left antler.

Here is a trail camera photo from my dads camera of Andy's buck a month prior to him killing it.

Gary killed this nice 2 1/2 year old 8 pointer Thursday November 24th on a mid day spot-and-stalk. It was a rainy afternoon when Gary spotted this buck bedded in tall grass tending a hot doe. He stalked up to the buck to withing 20 yards and upon him standing up Gary let loose a bolt from his Excalibur Phoenix tipped with a Vortex Pro Extreme 125 grain broad head. The bolt hit its mark and the buck expired after a 20 yard run.

Garys buck dressed 121 pounds. I assisted him in skinning and quartering his deer. Upon skinning him out we discovered extensive gouging and bruising on his back and right side that we speculated was sustained from another buck while most likely fighting for the doe that he was tending.

This deer was Gary's first with a crossbow.

Just as extended bow season was wrapping up for the year Carl killed this wide nine pointer with a crossbow on the morning of Thursday December 29th. This buck came into Carl's set up traveling with a spike.

Carl's buck had an impressive outside spread of 21 inches.

He survived late into the season and surely bread many does.

Here are a few trail camera pics that my dad captured over the course of this season of Carl's buck.

Out of State 2011

2011-11-25T23:14:00.001-05:00

November proved to be a good month for out of state hunting trips in 2011. We had three mature bucks killed, 2 from Ohio and a third from Virginia.

First to Score in the out of state category was my cousin Joe with this 150 pound eight pointer. Joe killed his buck during the last 20 minutes of a seven day bow trip to Ohio. Out of the four guys in his hunting party, Joe was the only hunter to fill his tag. This deer was harvested on public land with an Excalibur Vortex crossbow outfitted with Spitfire broad heads.

On account of nightfall approaching Joe opted to wait until the following morning to recover his deer. This buck only ran 40 yards before he ran out of blood.

When Joe returned from his trip we took the deer to our local check station to have him weighed For some reason the deer are not weighed in Ohio. This deer dressed out at 150 pounds even.

This big nine pointer was the next deer to be taken and it too is also an Ohio bow season kill. Elmer Killed this 130 class 9 pointer on a bow hunt Wednesday November 9th on private ground. Elmer shot this 170 pound buck as it was preparing to cross a stream. He took a 60 yd shot with his Stryker crossbow hitting the buck in the spine and paralyzing it. The deer then rolled down the embankment and landed in the stream where Elmer shot him again and then tied him to a fallen tree so as to keep him from floating down river.

Elmer's buck wieghed in at 170 pounds even.

Next to make a kill was my cousin Bill with this long tine eight pointer. Bill took this Virginia buck during a morning hunt on 11-11-11 with his muzzle loader.

Here is a cell phone pic of the buck as it lay where he shot it.

Bow Season 2011

2011-10-29T20:09:00.009-04:00

Bow season started off this year extremely slow. Everyone had good activity on the trail cameras, but warm weather and an abundance of acorns made seeing and patterning the bucks difficult.

Uncle Roy killed this high racked seven pointer on an evening hunt on the the last day of regular bow season. He set up in the swamp where he was able to pattern regular buck movement. Roy was seeing 3 to five different bucks in this area regularly where he was set up on a crossroad of deer runs. This buck came right down the trail to him and he hammered him at point blank range strait down through the middle of the deer's sholder blades. His deer was real easy to track as it was spurting blood six feet into the air.

This deer had fairly decent heft to him and I would estimate he weighed in the 120 to 130 pound range.

Roy killed his buck with a Mathews Reezen compound bow in conjunction with Wasp Jak-Hammer three blade expandable broad heads.

My brother Andrew was next to chalk up a kill tagging this nice eight pointer on October 20th. After work Andrew decided to take his climber out on a windy afternoon. After watching this buck make a scrape, he was presented with a 40 yd broadside shot. Andrew got it done with his trusty Barnett Jackal crossbow and Vortex 125 grain expandable broadheads.

Andrew's buck weighed in at 122 pounds.

My son John was the first to tag a buck this year when he killed this 100 lb spike. John killed his buck with a Parker Bushwhacker Crossbow and Rage 100 grain broad heads. The deer came to him chasing two does and he shot the spike while quartering towards him at 5 yds. The bolt passed through the deer but left very little blood to track. With the limited blood trail we were not able to recover the deer until the next day.

Early Bow 2011

2011-09-23T11:47:00.004-04:00

The early season started off this year with warm temperatures and wet humid conditions. making it a chore for NJ hunters to take to the woods to fill their first tags. After the first morning hunt on September 10th there was a mad rush at every local retail store of hunters trying to buy a thermocell machine. I know I wasted at least 4 hours driving around trying to get one. A few days later the weather cooled down and the bugs subsided. By the following weekend many hunters were able to fill thier Earn-A-Buck doe tag and begin hunting for a buck.

After tagging out on his EAB on the evening of September 17th, Steve went out the following evening (9-18) and killed this 2 year old 8 pointer. After sitting in the stand for about an hour, Steve decided to let out a few bleats and a couple of immature buck grunts. Shortly after, in came this deer which steve put a nice pass through shot with his crossbow just missing the heart and crushing through the opposite shoulder blade.

Steve got it done using a Horton and 100 grain Swhacker broadheads.

This buck was on the ground within 20 yards of the shot.

Steve's deer dressed out at 104 lbs.

Pre-Season 11

2011-09-10T15:00:00.004-04:00

Today is the opening day of deer hunting for NJ. Hunters in most zones in south jersey are able to hunt an early season with the bow and/or crossbow with the stipulation that you "earn a buck" by killing and antler less deer first. With all of the rainfall we've had in the last few weeks (nearly30 inches), it feels more like you are the hunted and the mosquitoes are taking advantage of the early season.

Chances are its gonna be at least a few days before we have any bow kill posts. So in the mean time, I am posting up some August trail camera pictures of a real nice 10 pointer that my dad had captured locally.

Usually through the course of the summer I will run across a nice buck or two that gets clobbered by a motor vehicle an I will do a roadkill post. I prefer to use all original content but due to extenuating circumstances I plucked this thread from New Jersey Hunter. Reportedly this slammer was killed via automobile in August of 2011 in Sparta, NJ.

Extended Shotgun 2011

2011-08-12T00:02:00.006-04:00

We put on some drives during doe season for the first time in a long time this past January. I am usually not into shooting does but we had a few hunters that were new to the sport and wanted to give them some shot opportunities. A few of us did have the foresight to purchase buck tags and it ended up paying off.

Bill killed this pal-mated 8 pointer on an evening drive January 8th 2011. He dropped it with one shot using 3" 00 buckshot in his Franchi Automatic. The deer weighed in at the checkstation 140 lbs.

Steve scored the other buck kill, the three pointer pictured above.

All in all we killed 2 bucks and seven does. It was nice having the snow to hunt in for a change.

Shotgun 2010

2010-12-17T23:59:00.000-05:00

New Jersey Shotgun season started off with low temperatures and high winds, conditions that made getting deer particularly challenging. Monday of deer season we had a 17 man hunting party assembled by 10 am. We drove a local state piece and an flushed all of the deer out to the standers but as it turned out they were all antlerless, 5 does. We managed to get up 20 some deer that day but none of them had any horns to speak of.

Day two we switched gears a little and decided to do a push on private ground at daybreak. Bobby decided to drive his personal reserve that he has been managing for 8 years and had only been driven one other time in that eight year time span. Deer were running all over the place. One nice buck broke up behind some houses, a few does were seen by the first standers and then the shooting started. When the smoke cleared this 165 pound nine pointer was laying on the ground. Zach put 5 shots of 3 1/2 inch buck shot into him at 30 yards. Jake fired a couple of follow up shots and i put one into him for good measure.

As Zach gutted his buck I received a text from my cousin Pete who had just shot another nine pointer from a tree stand that he had hung a few days earlier. Pete nailed this buck with buckshot at 15 yards.

After running only 15 yards, Pete's deer died standing up in this bush. Pete's buck dressed out a 140 pounds.

Zach's buck at the check station. He weighed in at 165 lbs. Would have won the big buck contest if Zach had entered.

On Saturday we managed to kill this five pointer. My cousin Ray shot it first and then Frank put it down. The deer dressed 115 pounds.

Saturday night a friend of mine brought by this seven pointer. He was only able to make it out on Saturday and got this nice buck on his first attempt.

We warned him about the blood staining the horns and got him some wipes to clean off the blood.

This buck dressed out at 127 pounds.

Extended Bow 2010

2010-11-25T14:49:00.000-05:00

On thanksgiving day, after a marginally successful rabbit hunt, my associates and myself spotted this long tined seven pointer in the back of a pickup truck. Needless to say we followed for a photo shoot.

Josh B. of Pittsgrove arrowed this seven point buck on the evening of November 24th and recovered the deer on Thanksgiving morning November 25th. We were able to take pictures of his deer as he checked it in at The Buck Stop Butcher Shop.

This afternoon I got a call about a big buck sitting on a trailer just down the street from my house. I did a drive by and sure enough it was a big buck. I had to scramble because both of my cameras were in my wifes car and she was at work. I borrowed my Mom's Sony.

My neighbor Jessie arrowed this 175 pound technical 5 pointer (was a seven before loosing both brow tines) with his crossbow using 100 grain Shwacker Broadheads at 22 yds. this morning November 24th 2010. The buck came into the bait and fed for 30 minutes before he presented the shot opportunity. This deer ran for 40 yards before it fell.

The rack on this buck measured 20 inches greatest spread(outside).

Here is a trailcam pic taken from another hunters camera that hunts in the same vicinity. The photo was taken two weeks ago . The body size matches as well as tine length, the brows are missing. Also the tines are switched in this picture with three on the left instead of the right. This could be caused by a parallax or it could be two different deer all together.

At approximately quarter to five on the evening of Tuesday November 16th Gary V. arrowed this 3 1/2 year old 8 pointer with his compound bow. Gary watched this buck work his way in making rubs along a rub line all the way to his stand.

Gary killed this buck with an 8 yard shot that passed through the right lung and went straight through the heart.

Exit wound of a fixed 2 blade 170 grain broadhead.

Maasai Broadheads by Alaska Bowhunting Supply.

On Monday, November 15th, my brother Andrew killed this 10 pointer at 7:37 am. with a 40 yd shot from his Barnett Jackal crossbow using Vortex 125 grain expandable broadheads. The deer only went 10 feet before he dropped dead with a severed spine.

As the story goes Andrew awoke to a foggy morning and just knew it would be a good outing on account of his past successes in foggy weather. He had watched 2 does browsing the bait for about 20 minutes. Just as the two does left the pile this buck cruised in and got stuck with a bolt and thats all she wrote.

Prior to this encounter, this particular buck was never seen in the woods on on trail camera pictures.

It is plainly visible that this buck has a broken right G2 but we are maintaining to refer to it as ten pointer as nature intended.

While hunting a field edge on the evening of Friday November 12th, Todd arrowed this 8 pointer with a 60 yd shot from his compound bow. This buck was hot on a does trail and was making a bee line in the opposite direction of his stand. Todd grunted and the buck made a slight turn giving him an opportunity for the shot. The arrow just missed the spine going through the left side of the deer as he was quartering to and completely shattered the bucks back right leg.

The deer ran around 100 yds before he ran out of blood as Todd watched him fall at the opposite edge of the alfalfa field.

As you may see this bucks left antler is noticeably larger than his right with five points on his left antler and three points on the right antler. He had an overall spread of 17 inches and field dressed in at 156 lbs.

Frank killed this 137lbs. six pointer on the morning of November 1st out his tree stand between a cornfield and a swamp. He had seen the deer walking the edge of the field and hit his grunt call. The buck circled back and came into range at about quarter to seven with his better side facing Frank for a broadside shot. Frank killed this deer with a Quad 400 Barnett Crossbow. The deer ran 60 yds. and died in the cornfield.

This deer was wet up to its knees from running the swamp and the stink of the rut was permeating from him.

The buck had a real nice 4 point right antler but only grew a Y on its left side.

Out of State 2010

2010-11-10T22:00:00.000-05:00

My father and my Uncle Roy made their annual trip to Ontario this November and brought my Uncle Ray along for his first Ontario Whitetail Hunt. The weather was warm for this time of year with temperatures reaching into the sixties for some days. Needless to say, not the best weather for big woods whitetails. Despite the conditions the first timer, Uncle Ray was able to score on this 205 pound eleven pointer.

My dad killed this six pointer on the second from

the last day of the ten day hunt.

Uncle Rays buck had a 17 1/2 inch outside to outside spread.

Below Are a few nice buck that were killed by other hunters and hung in camp.

It is hard to tell with the trash bag but the buck above is a 170

class 10 pointer with g2's and g3's over 12 inches and 6 inch brows.

This shed antler, found by one of the guys in camp has 16 points over 1" long.

Regular Bow 2010.

2010-10-24T23:31:00.000-04:00

On Sunday October 24th Dave Z. of SJ Fowl Addictions killed this magnificent main frame 10 pointer during his morning stand. He could hear this buck from a ways off freshening up his scrape line and tangling his rack in his licking branches. Brian grunted this deer in and smoked him at close range. This deer also had 2 sticker points making it a 12 pointer all together. He killed this buck during the heatwave weekend of the 23rd thru 24th when many hunters were seeing very little deer movement.

This buck has a 20 inch inside spread and should make the book. This buck was not weighed in due to some renovations occurring at our local check station, it was estimated to weigh in the 180 lbs. range.

On the evening of of Tuesday October 26th Steve P. killed this 114 lbs. Y buck. The deer came into a mock scrape and Steve shot him at 20 yds. with a bank shot off of a tree. The arrow hit a branch and ricocheted hitting the deer in the vitals and leaving a gaping wound from the Rage mechanical broad heads. This deer ran 50 yds before expiring.

Here is a pick of the rage exit wound

Cousin Petey also was able to fill his buck tag for regular bow season with this 100lbs. spike buck. Petey shot this deer out of his brothers stahd on the evening of October 23rd.

I called this post Regular Bow because today marked the start of traditional bow season statewide in NJ. However, there are a few new policies introduced in 2009 by Fish and Game that make the title "Regular Bow" seem not so regular at all.

First off is the sanctioning of Crossbows. Now in the NJ Fish and Wildlife Digest the crossbow has added to the long bow, recurve bow and compound bow as legal for hunting during all archery seasons. Second is the EAB (earn-a-buck) policy, which is an early hunting season offered for killing a doe before taking a buck.

Many bow hunters in the South Jersey area harvested their EAB antlerless deer to to earn the right for an early season chance at a possible trophy buck in velvet. Some hunters were even were able to fill their buck tag within that early season. Statewide starting today open season was declared in New Jersey in both EAB territories as well as zones that did not offer the earn-a-buck early season.

This symmetrical 8 was taken just minutes before 7:00 am on October 2nd with a crossbow straight through both lungs. He ran only thirty yards before succumbing to his wound and piling up. He dressed out a a formidable 141 pounds.

Wesley was able to place a clean kill shot on target just a few seconds after this buck came moving quickly into his range. The action happened so fast that Wes didn't have much time to make an assessment on the deer. In fact he was a little surprised at just how nice this buck was when he came upon it at the moment of recovery.

With this bucks symmetry there should be very few deductions side to side but it might just fall short of the 125" mark needed to be recorded in the record book.

Early Bow 2010

2010-09-06T20:35:00.000-04:00

My buddy Andy ended his regular bow season early when he killed this substantial 9 pointer early this morning. After killing his earn-a-buck doe just last evening (9-12), this buck walked into his range around 7:00 this morning. Andy told me that this deer was traveling with another buck, a tall racked 8 pointer with short brow tines that I believe my father had just caught on a trail cam the day before.

The deer presented him with a quartering toward shot, which is not ideal, but Andy made the shot count slicing him wide open with an expanding head. Although his shot did hit vital organs he also penetrated the entrails so he decided to leave the woods for a few hours to give ample time for the buck to expire. There was a limited blood trail which made the tracking a challenge but he found his deer not one hundred yards away.

Road Kill 2010

2010-08-17T11:46:00.000-04:00

In anticipation of the 2010 bow season I've decided to post up a couple of extraordinary South Jersey Road Kill bucks. The first was found dead by the side of the road in Salem county in January. All in all this deer had a total of 22 points and reportedly scored over 180" non-typical.

Next is a big eight pointer that hit by a automoblie just last week, august 30th. This deer grossed 148 5/8 and netted 144 3/8.

This 8 pointer has an inside spread of just over 21 inches.

Shotgun & Muzzle Loader 09

2009-12-25T19:08:00.000-05:00

My brother Andrew was the first of us to make a kill with the guns this season. He shot this seven pointer in the heart on Tuesday morning, the second day of early muzzle loader with an 80 yd. shot

I hosted deer camp officially for the second year in 2009 during six day firearm. The first day we met up at a little after nine o'clock after a morning sit. We hit the woods hard all day and pushed quite a few deer around but nothing with antlers.

Tuesday we hit the woods hard again and got an early start at daybreak. As soon as we got out of the trucks we heard a shot. A hunter in a stand shot a decent six or seven pointer that we didn't get a chance to get a picture of. We lined up and pushed the piece chasing out 5 does. On the second drive, my cousin Mark a.k.a. Pepe, took a shot at a Y buck but there was only a small amount of blood and we surmised that he didn't hit the deer that good. Zach had a red fox break toward him but he decided to pass up the shot. In the evening Dave scored a kill on a nice big Y buck on an stalk. This buck dressed out at 140 lbs. and was the heaviest deer of all seven that we killed during buck week.

On Tuesday of buck week at around 4:00 pm Mike Bess dispatched this six pointer with a slug right between the eyes.

Thursday was the best day for us. On a morning sit, Frank killed what would have been a an 8 pointer but due to a broken main beam ended up being a five pointer. Just as I had received the text about franks deer, I had a buck and a doe come into me while sitting in a swamp stand on the second drive of the day. I hit the buck with a slug in the liver, a little farther back than I would have liked. When the drivers caught up to me we tracked the deer about 50 yards to a nursery field and my cousin La Ray put a little more lead in him. This buck, our third kill for the week was a one-horned four pointer or what I call "half an eight".

When I was at the check station checking in my half an eight, we ran into this fellow named Adam that had just killed this beautiful 10 pointer. This was his first deer ever.

After the checking station, we took a ride out to some newly acquired hunting grounds in Cedarville. Being a new piece the first drive ended up being a little botched. The day before, Wednesday, it had poured down rain in the amount of 5 inches. The woods were flooded and one guy, Smithman, fell into the swamp up to his balls and had to go swimming for his boots. On the second drive however, Frank's sidekick Jimmy put down this decent sized spike with one round of buckshot at 10 yards. On account of the wetness of the woods we improvised a shoulder pole to take this deer out through the deep water in the swamp.

Frank's 5 point; My 4 point; Dave's 4 point; Jimmy's spike

Here is a picture of Muckett holding the "playbook", a collection of aerial maps laminated and bound.

Saturday was another good day. We started off early in the day with a nice eight point tagged in by my cousin Petey. This was the nicest rack of the week. On another drive in Rosenhayn, 2 more bucks got passed the standers with one being missed twice along with a coyote that got away after being shot several times. On the last drive of the day Smithman shot this crooked horned spike which was his first buck ever. Later that night, Bill a.k.a. Broncosbp, rolled into camp with a Y buck that he had gotten on a sit that evening. That brought the total tally of deer camp up to seven bucks (3) 4's (2) spikes (1) eight & (1) five.

Gary shot this 9 pointer out of his stand during six day firearm.

Just after shotgun week was over and muzzle loader came back in, Jack, a former neighbor from Iona, Killed this beautiful 10 pointer in Winslow on December 16th.

Out of State 09

2009-11-19T12:07:00.008-05:00

Dave began the out-of state killing for 09 with a nice 8 pointer taken with the bow in Kansas. He left NJ with his hunting party the day before Halloween, a Friday, and took this deer on Thursday evening. Dave had said to me, in the strictest of confidence, that the first shot he took at this deer missed at 18 yds. but the second connected hitting him in the liver at 35 yds. This buck is the second trophy taken by Dave in less than one month. He has really been connecting with the bow this year.

Dave's Kansas buck has long points and should score into the 130's. This deer is exceptionally impressive from behind as seen in the picture below.

This is a shot taken in the field that Dave had sent me via blackberry on the night of the hunt.

Next to score a kill on a hunt abroad was Andy with a heavy horned 8 pointer taken in Ontario Canada. He shot this buck on Wednesday November 4th at 8:20 a.m. Killing it with a 138 yards lung shot. The deer went 50yards. Live weight was 258lbs.

The second week of November in Ontario proved fruitful for 2 more South Jersey hunters taking these two big bodied bucks over 200lbs.

Gary's deer field dressed at 259lbs. This buck was a main frame 9 pointer with 3 sticker points, making it a twelve.

Chucky's deer weighed in at 220 lbs. This buck was visibly thinner in his hind quarters as he had been partaking in a good amount of breeding.

The second week in Canada this year was unseasonably warn for the north woods with temperatures reaching into the 50's. This resulted in restricted deer movement and a substantial decline in rut activity. Despite the conditions, Chucky was able to connect with this HUGE 15 point monster with double kickstand drop tines. The rack on this deer has mass, width and tine length.

Gary's deer had a huge head and neck as seen below.

Extended Bow 09

2009-11-02T09:48:00.006-05:00

Extended Bow season started off this year on Halloween October 31st. Uncle Roy wasted no time filling his tag with this split brow six pointer(making it a seven). Roy said that this deer came in with four other bucks. There was a bigger 8 or 10 off in the distance and this deer was second biggest. When the buck gave him the opportunity after walking behind a double oak tree, he drew hitting him directly in the heart. There was a lot of blood and the buck was recovered 70 yds. from the shot location.

The next day, November 1st, my buddy Matt Killed this sizable 8 pointer on the evening hunt. Matt heard this deer grunting as he came in close to sun down. He had only seen one side of the rack and didn't realize just how big the deer actually was. He let an arrow fly at nearly 40 yds and nailed in directly in the heart, a textbook shot. Matt was hunting in a swamp, and with the copious amounts of rain that have been falling in SJ, he had his work cut out for him recovering the deer in the swamp. This buck only went 50 yds after the shot, but Matt needed to wear chest waders to drag him out. It took him over an hour to get him to the truck which was only 60 yds away. This deer dressed 169 pound and is the nicest deer ever taken by Matt.

The rut is clearly on and I expect lots of updates in the coming weeks.

Bow Season 09

2009-10-11T17:49:00.013-04:00

Last year in New Jersey there was an early bow season offered in september called "earn-a-buck". This allowed hunters to start bow hunting for whitetails the first Saturday in September as opposed to the first Saturday in October. The primary stipulation being that you needed to tag an antlerless deer before you could hunt for a buck. This year, they instituted Sunday hunting for bow hunters as well as usage of cross bows.

On the first day of early bow, a Saturday, my buddy Andy filled his doe tag right away. This made him eligible to take a buck, which he did on the following day, the first day of Sunday hunting in NJ ever. Andy managed to shoot this wide six pointer Sunday evening.

He estimates the weight of this deer in the 135 - 140- lbs range.

Next in our group to confirm a kill was my Uncle Roy who took this wide nine pointer on the first Sunday of Regular bow season, October 4th. This deer has a 21 in. spread. Same as in the case of Andy's deer, Roy didn't weigh his buck either. Him and my dad estimated it to weigh in the 150 to 160 lbs. range. It looked more like 140 lbs. class to me.

None the less, a great trophy for NJ.

Roy had seen this deer six different times before he was able to take a shot at it. He made a perfect double lung shot quartering away on this deer. In the heat of the moment he shot it again when it was down, slitting its throat with mechanical broad heads. Roy told me this buck was running with a bigger buck that wasn't as wide but had longer tines. He'll have to wait for extended bow to get a shot at that one.

Jim from Sweedsboro arrowed this sizable 9 pointer on October 21st. 2009. This buck came into the bait following a hot doe. Jim shot this deer with a Browning Mirage bow using Razor Back 5 broad heads missing the heart by one inch. The buck ran 50 yds. before expiring.

On October, 23 of regular bow season My buddy Dave managed to kill this massive Nine pointer that dressed out at 184 lbs. This deer was killed on State Game Land in Salem County.

Due to the late hour of recovery combined with the 60 degree weather, I, myself was not able to photograph this deer in person. Dave iced this deer down overnight and took it directly to the meat cutter,s in the morning. Preferably I like to snap the pictures myself to avoid obscured faces by antlers, but overall these pics aren't bad.

This deer has an 18 1/2" spread and we estimate it to be 4 1/2 years old minimum.

A great kill for regular bow season, and any season in NJ for that matter.

Shotgun and Muzzle Loader 08

2009-10-11T11:05:00.020-04:00

I decided to combine both shotgun and muzzle loader this year on account that only one of us got a muzzle loader buck and it was during the early black powder season.

This is Ryan's early muzzle loader buck. He killed this deer over sweet potatoes on the first evening of the early season. Earlier that day his gun had misfired and missed this same deer.

Three days later, Ryan went out with the bow and filled another buck tag. He killed this spike in the Willaimstown area on December 4th.

So Ryan had 2 deer hanging before we even started off buck week.

On Monday of deer season (Buck Week) I shot this five pointer at 7:20 am right out back of my house. My wife had just recently completed her education in nursing and jokingly I said along as she was working by deer season I would be happy. Wouldn't you know, she started her lob on the first day of shotgun week. As a result i had to be out of the stand by 7:30 to get the kids on the bus. I shot this deer at 7:20. Just in time.

That evening Mike Bess killed this six pointer behind the factory at 3:15 pm. He said the shot was 80 yds.

The first two days of deer camp were cold. In the 20's. On the meeting Sunday night, Cousin Nicky (Meat Wagon), got wasted and ended up sleeping by the woodstove out in the shack.

On the third day, Wednesday, it started raining lightly. It rained for the rest of the week. We hunted in the rain. We got deer up at Harrisonville, but they were all does. We got deer up at Holly Hills Golf Course but they didn't break toward the standers, so we never found out what they were.

Jules killed this nice ten pointer from a stand Wednesday evening. He was sitting in the tree when the deer walked in at around 65yds. The buck was moving through the area at a constant pace and Jules shot him while he was on the move. He said it was under thirty seconds from when the deer came into view to the shot. He dropped him in his tracks.

On Thursday, it poured. Despite the rain, we ended up getting a nice 7 pointer shot by my buddy Dave.

This deer weighed in at 112 lbs. I thought it was bigger initially, but the scale doesn't lie.

That was it for our club. Two deer hanging by the end of the week.

But check out this deer killed by my cousins buddy in Virginia

Bow Season 08

2008-12-26T21:45:00.009-05:00

My Dad started off the 08 bow season for our hunting party with this six pointer on Oct. 28. The rack is fairly typical of a bloodline that has existed in our hunting grounds for quite some time. In the late 90's he killed a 3.5 year old deer with a double main beam that dressed out a 170lbs. I figure that this deer is 1.5 years old. Buck tag filled for bow just before the opening of extended bow season.

My Uncle Roy Killed this six with the bow 2 day later. I only have one picture of this one which i appropriated from my dads camera.

That wrapped it up for regular bow season.

Extended Bow 08

Extended bow season in NJ is, for most hunters, the prime time to hunt. This is when the rut comes into full swing and bucks throw caution to the wind. This usually translates into your highest chances to kill a nice trophy.

My buddy Andy Killed this really nice six on either the 4th or 5th of November. I myself am a big proponent of fresh kill photography. My cousin had given me a call on the same day that Andy had killed this deer and I rushed right over to get some pictures of it. Little did I know he had already caped out and butchered the same day that he had killed it. I myself like to hang a deer for a few days and admire it. Show it off a little, have a few photo sessions etc. This was a really nice buck, and the only picture that I was able to get of it are in a trash bag like it is about to be thrown in the trash.

After reading this post Andy sent me this picture....
This is a trophy six in my opinion. I know that Andy is giving alot of consideration to having this one mounted.

Next up was my Cousin Mark, a.k.a. Pepe. He killed this nice 9 pointer on Thursday evening November 27. He made the shot close to dark and opted to track the deer the next morning.

Next up with a bow kill was Ryan, a.k.a Budday. Just two days after killing his first buck with the muzzleloader on the first day of muzzleloader season none the less, he goes out and shoots this trophy spike and fills his exstended bow buck tag.

This deer dressed out at 87 lbs and was Ryan's first buck with the bow. He did however kill an antlerless deer on the first day of early bow season of 08, which was his first deer kill ever.

Ontario Canada, Early November 08

2008-11-20T21:22:00.000-05:00

My dad and My uncle have been traveling to Ontario now for about 6 years hunting for whitetails. For the past two years they've opted to drive instead of fly to cut out the hassle and bring their deer back whole. This year was an exceptionally good year for my dad, and Uncle Roy came back with a trophy as well.

Above is the 10 pointer that my dad shot. Following is the 8 pointer that Roy had killed.

My Dad's deer dressed out at 243 lbs. It was his all time biggest whitetail. Needless to say I photographed it excessively.

Pre-Season 08

2008-11-09T15:52:00.012-05:00

In anticapation of the 08 hunting season, and repeated sightings of substantial bucks in my area, I aquired a Telephoto lense for my Sony Cybershot DSC-H3. In conjunction with the lense, I also purchased a window clamp tripod mount to steady aim for those long shots into the back of fields.

With this new equiptment I managed to pull off a few desent pictures of some nice sized buck this pre season.

On the deep fields resolution suffers slightly when i have to zoom in digitally rather than optically. But overall I am fairly satisfied with the results considering the pictures that I used to try and capture using digital imaging.

Road Kill 08

2008-10-09T22:32:00.000-04:00

Doesn't it always seem like some of the nicest deer you come across are killed by automobiles?

This deer was found on the road dead in the Rosenhayn area during mid rut.

This one was a suspected casualty of the infamous "blue tongue" My buddy, Real Trespasser, found this deer dead under his old tree stand location. It was just a pile of bones, with no arrow in it.

This Eight pointer was another suspected fatality caused by disease......

This high nine was killed by way of automobile on buck rd.

Shotgun Season 07

2007-12-29T17:26:00.000-05:00

Shotgun season 07 proved to be a difficult hunt. We had Limited succuss in the stands on Monday morning. My buddy Mikey Bess did happen to put down this basket seven at around quarter to 8.

We hunted hard Monday and Tuesday both sitting and in the stands. There was alot of talk among hunters about the devastation of blue tongue and I was starting to buy into the hype.We hadn't seen a deer.

Wednesday, Mother Nature provided us with a treat....Snow.

My Cousin...MEAT-WAGON

It started snowing a little past mid-day and managed to free up people schedules whom were otherwise obligated to work. We rallied and set up a few drives in Franklinville where we have had past success. On the first drive, I caught a flash of what looked to be a big deer through heavily falling snow. Upon inspection of the tracks, I knew that I had missed out on the opportunity of the season. On the next drive i got 2 deer up and My cousin pepe put three shots into this 4 pointer.

It broke to the field and just as it was about to fall Johnny Wengert finished it off with a slug from a ladder stand center field.

Friday, after a fruitless week of sitting in the mornings and evenings in a new spot I was trying out, I opted to hunt my dad's piece to increase my chances of succuss. Early on I saw three does come in close. They milled around for a while and then passed through. About half an hour before dark I had a descent Y buck come through. He presented me with a 50 yd broadside opportunity and I took it. He ran another 50 yds. before dying here.

I took him to the Checking station and he weighed in at just under 100lbs.

While I was checking him in, we ran into this bruiser at the scale....

The last day, Saturday, was a bust. It was drizzling, the guys were disorganized, and i decided not to go out.

Not long after, in regular muzzle loader, Pepe's uncle Punch killed a nice Y buck.

All in all, 2007 turned out to be the year of the 4 pointer. We confirmed a few kills with more points than four, but out of the seven deer taken, 4 were 4 pointers. I can live with that.

As a footnote, this was a considerable buck that was dispatched by an automobile.