Missouri hunter Randy Goodman shot a 240-pound buck twice with his Remington .270 and walked up to claim his prize. The dead buck sprung to its feet knocked him down and drew blood. Goodman pumped two more shots into the 9-pointer and finally killed it. He is okay after a trip to the emergency room, where it took seven staples to sew up his scalp. "It was 15 minutes of hell," Goodman told the Sedelia Democrat. "I learned a valuable lesson, if you don’t think they’re dead, you might want to shoot them again.” 

   I have found that a deer rifle zeroed in hot, steamy September sometimes shoots a few inches off in December (generally not enough to cause you to miss a buck, but you always want your rifle dead-on). Leave your gun outside for eight hours or so on a cold day, and then fire a couple of test shots. Check the bullets’ point of impact; tweak scope if necessary before hunting. After a cold day in the woods, don’t bring your rifle or especially your muzzleloader into a 70-degree house. Store the gun in a vehicle or on a porch where it will warm up gradually with little or no metal/barrel condensation.

Mike: Do you know if a full-time college student from out-of-state still has to purchase a non-resident hunting permit? What constitutes "resident" status? If I could qualify for a resident hunting license while attending college in Colorado, Wyoming, etc., it would weigh heavily on where I choose to go to school.  --Thanks, Matt from Maryland
 
Matt: It varies from state to state; for example, if you're a full-time student in Colorado, New York or Mississippi you qualify for a resident license. But I don’t think that’s the case in Montana, Wyoming and some others. A good place to start: Google “College Student Hunting Licenses.” Also go to each state’s DNR website and type "residency hunting license requirements" in the search window.

BTW, I saw a survey awhile back about the top colleges for nearby deer-hunting opportunities. Not surprisingly, Penn State (photo) is one of them. Also on the list were Auburn and Virginia Tech.  If you want to minor in big bucks you might want to apply.

4 million: Miles of roads in the U.S.
226 million: Number of vehicles registered in the U.S.
23 trillion: Vehicle miles traveled in the United States (average year)
6.3 million: Number of automobile accidents annually in the United States
253,000: Number of animal-vehicle accidents annually
50: Estimated percentage of vehicle-large animal collisions that go unreported
90: Percentage of animal-vehicle collisions that involve deer
$2,000: Average minimum cost for repairing a vehicle after a collision with a deer
1 million: Number of vertebrates run over each day in the U.S.
200: Number of human deaths annually resulting from vehicle-wildlife collisions (Source: U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration)

   On October 4th 2008 my son and grandson took off to hunt in the mountains of Ashland, Oregon. My son was  in a hurry to get into the woods. I told him to go ahead. He told me to follow a trail that he was on. Five minutes later I headed in the same direction as my son. I have hunted deer for over 50 years and know the mountains like a guy who knows certain rivers for steelhead. I know that blacktail bucks, especially the mature ones with big racks, are the hardest of all the deer species to find. I started down the trail and took a different route up the mountains. I came into a large opening with lots of bushes. I took my binocular out and was looking the area over, when two guys came up behind me and started out in front of me. I took off back to where I had started out, and went down the trail that my son and grandson were on. I walked about 400 yards and noticed a white spot in the bushes. I glassed the spot and it began moving. Then the white spot became a deer face. I watched the deer for about 20 seconds, until I noticed the rack above its face. I put the scope about where its heart was and pulled the trigger. The buck dropped in its tracks. I had no clue how big this rack was until I got right up to it. WOW! It will definitely make the record book for blacktail bucks. --Louie Dix

   If a grunt or whistle fails to stop a walking or running buck for a shot--oftentimes it will not--yell, "Hey!" Holler it as many times and as loudly as you have to to make the deer stop, but make sure you’ve drawn your bow or aimed your gun at the deer before you do. The moment he slams on the brakes, take him.

   Scott Burton sent us this photo and story:

   "I harvested this 13-point buck on 11-01-08 on my 5-acre property in the city limits of Beavercreek,Ohio. I shot him one week earlier but shot too high and my arrow went just under his hide and over his spine. I luckily got a second chance and made a double lung shot. It green scored 196 5/8 Boone and Crockett."

   His story proves perserverance can pay off if you're willing to hunt hard and smart.