Managing the deer population has become an essential part of hunting for our hunt club. Setting up food plots with proper nutrition is key. Check your state’s rules regarding setting food plots and attractants.
Watching the wind will help with patterning your herd and in determining the most advantageous spot at which to enter the hunting property. I'm a fan of the app PredictWind.
Muzzleloader season can add several weeks to your hunting season. Finding the right combination of powder and projectile can do wonders for your chances. Federal’s new Trophy Copper muzzleloader bullet was dead accurate.
For years I’ve enjoyed the extra deer season with a proven muzzleloader/scope combo. My CVA Accura V2 with a Konus Pro scope haven't failed to fill the freezer with meat.
After careful evaluation of trail cam footage from throughout the summer and fall, the club determined that certain older bucks with specific genetic markers should be taken. This strange looking guy was harvested at 50 yards.
At the base of the left antler there was rust from what appeared to be some sort of wire, possibly from the deer going under or through a fence. Our trail cameras have made it clear that there are a few more bucks on the property that probably share this guy's genetics—the abnormal antlers are easy to distinguish.
So, what do you do with a management buck? I decided that crafting a DIY European mount would make a fun project for my son and I. It turned out to be pretty easy, and we shared loads of laughs.
With a little help from our Skull Hooker mount, we had the buck on the wall in no time. He's not our finest trophy, but he'll be a fond memory, nonetheless. Bet he'll eat good, too.
Unless you're a dedicated bowhunter, muzzleloader season is the first crack you get at the local whitetail populations in Virginia. NRA Publications' Tom Rickwalder was itching for the chance to get after the herd that called his hunting club's property home, and wasted no time when the season opened last month. You can get a closer look at his hunt—and see the wild looking buck he harvested—in the gallery embedded above.
