Speaker 1: 0:00

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Speaker 1: 1:05

I'm frank mastica you got the squash and guys, we, we are brought with this episode's coming with three people who just all got it done in the last couple of days. You know, um quentin was out in ohio with squash meg on her last day of hunting for the season. And then you know, paul out in Connecticut right, it was in Connecticut, buck, hometown Buck, and everyone just success all around and the woods are hitting up and it's the perfect time. But before we, you know, we get to really the rest of guys, meg, I mean, this was huge, yeah it really was.

Speaker 1: 1:50

I can't, I'm so happy. I mean, and I I speak for all the guys. You know a part of boondocks hunting and and the team and you know the competition that we're doing and everything like that. I mean, we all know how much that that meant to you. But you know, let the listeners out there. Like you know, it must have been like I. I I can't put it into words, so I hope I, I hope you can I hope I can do it.

Speaker 3: 2:15

It still like doesn't feel real because I sat every single ounce of free time that I had, like probably like 24 to 25 sits. Anytime I was off, I like hit the woods, I hit the woods and then like nothing, nothing, nothing. And then, I don't know, just first light yesterday, I just hear like I could see a doe, but I don't know like. And then all of a sudden, like I just hear like a grunt and I was like, oh my god, I'm like don't tell me like this is gonna happen. And I was like either I'm either gonna make or break this. So I was like don't tell me like this is going to happen.

Speaker 3: 2:44

And I was like either I'm either going to make or break this. So I was like let me just throw a grunt at him. And then that doe just like came right to me and then he just like circled downwind to her and I was like the sun like you know it's kind of coming up. I could like see him. Like he was hurt pretty bad, like he was like dragging his back leg. He got hit by a car, definitely like chasing her.

Speaker 3: 3:05

So I felt, like if the opportunity presented what you did, I'm like I have to do like the most humane thing, you know, because this guy is gonna suffer once winter comes. But there are pretty like tough resilient animals, you know, but I don't even know it. Just it still doesn't feel real. I mean, I didn't even know he was broken until, like you know, probably about a half hour later after I shot him, you know, I was like, wow, I'm like looking at binoculars. It's wild. Never in my life did I think of a non-typical New Jersey deer on my last day Like shaking, still thinking about it.

Speaker 1: 3:39

Wild, just a stud yeah.

Speaker 3: 3:45

Yeah, that was a blessing. Right right there, the man upstairs definitely heard me like I'm like. Please send me a good one, please you know, that's a wild rack too. It really was I definitely learned something when I dropped him off at the butcher and taxidermist. He said if a buff like that gets hit, you know he got hit on his uh, he was affected on his left side, the antler growth. So if he gets hit on the right side, he's gonna have a left and I never knew that yeah, yeah yeah, I've heard that yeah yeah, it pulls the.

Speaker 5: 4:18

It pulls the nutrients away from the antlers the nurse, nurse, whatever the injury is. So the next year when they grow it it's all wonky and everything it's so interesting.

Speaker 3: 4:26

I'm probably gonna lose the hind quarter because, like I mean, it was like really squishy, definitely full of like infection back there, I mean. But hopefully I don't miss the rest of the deer but yeah I mean the cavity looks clean inside, but I mean you don't know until the guy gets under yeah yeah, I mean, uh, have you seen?

Speaker 1: 4:46

have you seen that deer before? Was that like a first time, like that? I have not chasing in first time seeing. Okay, I just got very lucky that's awesome it really was on my last day, like I.

Speaker 3: 4:59

Just like I said yeah what a deer, like I just saw like you know like mass on his one side and I'm like, okay, I'm like where's the other side? Because it was still kind of like dark, I couldn't tell fully yet until he like gave me a 20 yard shot and I was like, oh my god, is that a drop time? Like what? Is that crazy?

Speaker 1: 5:20

just a yeah, no, I mean it's, it's just a, a beautiful deer. I mean, yeah, it's uh, just how it went down. I mean, and and that's the cool thing and that's why I love hunting, and you know, I know squash can definitely talk more on this, but that's something I always believe, like I. I always believe that things happen for a reason, especially like you know, any of you know the believers out there and everything like that, like I, I'm a full-hearted, like I've missed there and everything like that, like I, I'm a full hearted, like I've missed deer and stuff like that. And then you know what, like 30 minutes later, like I'm even bigger deer showed up and I was able to capitalize, like on that deer, like so I, I'm a huge believer of things happen for a reason. And it's just like, if you're not killing anything yet or just anything in life, like just be patient, and you know that's a prime example, absolutely yeah, so I mean it's, I, I'm, I'm happy now.

Speaker 1: 6:15

Justin's got some shoes still because you got, you guys gave yourself and, like I said on the last episode, for anyone who doesn't know like we are having a, this will be our second hunting, uh, competition that we're throwing um and we have this whole point system and everything like that and um and meg, just they, they just got a 21 point, 21 points I think in two days with your gear down and it was a buck, 11 point buck and everything like that. I mean just just phenomenal.

Speaker 3: 6:46

So, justin, uh, that one point like doesn't count, because I asked. I mean he does. It's not big enough to like fit a ring on it to me he looks like 11.

Speaker 2: 6:57

Yeah, who cares okay?

Speaker 1: 6:58

all right.

Speaker 1: 6:58

Well, it's all right yeah, I'll leave that up to um, to steve's what. What steve wants to do, um, if he gives you the extra point, he gives you the extra point. I mean I was calling it 11 point this whole entire time, yeah, but yeah, no, justin, uh, justin gets a big buck on the ground. I mean, look out, brad and and the rest of the guys who are in first place. But, um, yeah, oh, from from from that. So we go from from here. Jersey. The. The last you know opportunity, hopefully you know, is is this going to be the last surgery? Like what, what's it looking like for you?

Speaker 3: 7:54

on on that I really hope so, I hope so. Um, they have to go in. My disc is like, because I was in an atv accident so my disc is completely shot, so they have to remove it. And you know know, do like the spinal fusion. I have to miss out on pheasant hunting this year. I miss out on waterfowl and I just got started into that last year. I don't know if I'm going to be able to go turkey hunting, I don't know yet, but I should be like, knock on wood, everything goes well, like, like you know, next, next november, I should be okay to, you know, hit the woods, probably from a ground blind, honestly. So I can't, I don't think I could do that you know.

Speaker 1: 8:34

So they said that this is going to be probably a pretty long um recovery process physical therapy, like, like all these things are gonna so it's going to be a a long process. So we're we're all here praying for you and hoping for a very successful surgery and then also thank you so much recovering, everything like that, um, you know.

Speaker 1: 8:53

So you know we're, we're, we're, yeah, we're, we're praying for you there and you know we're, we're looking forward to when you get back in, back out there and everything like that. And you know it was a a hell of hell of a time for you and you know it's. And then I also, the boyfriend, got it done too.

Speaker 3: 9:11

He did he did his first book and you know he didn't even need my help, because usually I like help him out. I'm like, all right, like we're gonna, we're gonna do this together, and he really blew me out of the water.

Speaker 3: 9:21

I was like, oh my god, good for you I was so happy I went down and got down to go find him and I saw like his, his knock like lit up and I walk over to him like where is he? He's already. Like you know, field dressing got everything going. I was really proud of him. You know, second year, he or no, actually no, this is the third year he took, so good for him, good for him he shot that buck he's deading down and just took off after it.

Speaker 1: 9:48

I told him.

Speaker 3: 9:49

Like you know. If you see him drop, like you know, just give him a few. But I'm like you know, you gotta always like kind of pay attention to your shot, follow through, watch, you gotta kind of figure out the wait times and all that stuff.

Speaker 1: 10:00

You don't never want to push a deer and try to coach him through, but I don't think he needs my help anymore, he's got it also and and everyone can probably agree to this like man, sometimes you want you like you know you have to wait, but in your mind you're the anxiety's just building and you just yeah, I'm a huge believer like I like to go find first blood before I even go back to the truck or anything, like I need to find blood.

Speaker 1: 10:26

Yeah, and if I don't find blood, then I start panicking and I'm like, oh my, and then I keep pushing further. Even I shouldn't, but I feel like I have to. But like I mean I completely understand where, where he's coming from and that excitement, you know. To him as well. Um, now the the boys squatching quitting, you guys headed to ohio. Who wants to? To get on that? Um, and start with that. Uh, to begin with, it doesn't matter.

Speaker 4: 11:03

You want to start squash or you want me to start?

Speaker 4: 11:05

yeah, go ahead, you, you were successful so I left for ohio on the 29th at midnight and I rolled into jason's at nine and I had my hoyt carbon spider needed to be re-paper tuned so we spent like an hour, two hours getting it paper tuned. Well, paper tuned and recited back in and whatnot, and I went hunting immediately shortly after squatch, rolled into camp and I had one of my target bucks come in the first night but I had a branch in my way so I didn't take the shot. And then the next morning I went back to the same tree and I made a phenomenal shot on a doe who had been skirting along the edge of the bottom pretty quick and I found my opening and I sent my arrow and I drilled her at 30 and I didn't range her. I guessed I was like I didn't have time to, you know, sit and range a hole. I'm like I think that's 30. I put my 30 yard pin on her and let her have it. She made it, I don't know 40 to 50 yards, if that like she didn't go very far. And then it got hot, like unbearably hot. It was like 80 degrees. I'm like holy Christ, you know, especially for like end of October going into November. Usually, you know, you're like I don't know what it's like going on the east side of the country, but like here in Wisconsin it's usually like 50s during the day, 30s at night. It just felt warm and I'm like I'm going to hunt tonight.

Speaker 4: 12:43

I got to get my doe cleaned up and whatnot and I hunted then the next morning because I wanted to move my climber and whatnot to my other spot. That was the wrong choice. I should have hunted that night because I had an absolute slob. I mean a slob show up daylight in 80-degree heat, running does, like it was 30 degrees outside. He's running them like all right, well, check the cameras and I'm like, ok, the pictures tell me that I have to hunt all day long. And like, well, I'm, I'm here to hunt, I'm not here to, like, you know, just sit back and wait for something to happen. I got to make it happen and I went and sat all day and I figured it was going to happen right away in the morning because it was cold and rainy. I'm like you know it's going to be a perfect sit. Nothing happened and it was. I had turkeys and then I had texted Squatch. What time did I text you that I was going to start sending arrows at squirrels that afternoon.

Speaker 2: 13:50

You were getting frustrated around three o'clock, I believe.

Speaker 4: 13:53

Yeah, I was getting a little stir crazy in the stand because it's like I sat there all day. Nothing was moving at all, like nothing, nothing, nothing. And I'm like, ok, this was pointless, like bad, bad choice to sit all day. You know like maybe it's too early and it was 545 ish. I heard what sounded like a deer down below me in the bottom and I texted Jason and I'm like I hear a deer and I'm like I want to stand up here in a few minutes just to be ready, just in case if something quick happens. Well, he texted me back. He's like, okay, sounds good. Well, I'm sitting there and I'm like it could be a buck, it could be a dose. I threw out a few doe bleats and I hit the grunt tube like I was chasing her.

Speaker 4: 14:40

Next thing I know this sucker's running up the hill straight at me and I'm like, oh my god, like this is gonna happen. You know like I'm sitting there and he's looking like up the hill at me and I'm like he sees me. He's gonna run like, great, I'm gonna get busted first time I have a buck, that's in, gonna give me a shot. I'm like, great, here it goes and he stops and he's looking around and then he keeps coming and I'm like, okay, he didn't see me. So then he stops again and stares at me. I'm like, oh, that's it, the hunt's me. So then he stops again and stares at me. I'm like, oh, that's it, the hunt's over. Like I was ready to put my bow back in the holder and he didn't see me for some odd reason. And he comes in and he comes around the backside of my camera and I'm like I have to pull back because I'm basically in the wide open and I'm not going to be able to get my bow back when he's at 20 yards.

Speaker 4: 15:35

So he got back around my tree where my camera is and I pulled back and he stopped and he stood quartering to me, hard quartering to me, and I'm like I've made this shot before like let him have it. And I smoked him and he took off running. I'm like, great, he's running towards where he just come from and it's like a hundred foot drop and I'm like he's gonna go to the bottom. Like, oh, don't do that. I'm like, of course. I'm like I'm texting Jason. He's like send me a clip of the video. And I didn't have enough service to send him a clip. Of course. I'm like I'm texting Jason. He's like, send me a clip of the video. And I didn't have enough service to send him a clip. I can't get you a clip. I'm like I'm just going to keep watching it. I'm like, man, I hit higher than I wanted to. And then I'm like, no, I hit too far back. And then I'm like, no, I actually hit him perfect.

Speaker 4: 16:30

I'm like I was going through a bunch of different emotions, cause it's like you know, you have that adrenaline and you're trying to remember what you saw and you're like you're overthinking it and everything like that. So I texted Jason and I'm like, yeah, I'm going to walk out, but I'm going to go slow because he ran the way I have to come out. And he's like, okay, so I walked really slow, looking for a white belly, looking for the glowing eyes you know just anything of that deer laying there, and I looked for first blood. Since I had to walk past it. There wasn't a drop man like where did I actually hit this deer? And so I get past where the edge of the ridge is and I'm like, well, just gonna pick up my pace and meet Jason quicker. And the one spot, a tree had fallen over the path, so I had to go around it. When I come around it and came back around the tree, my buck was actually laying in the center of my trail, dead, and I'm like what is the?

Speaker 4: 17:27

I didn't have to track him I said, I was randomly on my trail and boom, there he's laying right there.

Speaker 5: 17:32

I'm like perfect incredible I love it when it works that way. Yeah, yeah, yeah right, that's.

Speaker 1: 17:43

That's always like I, I swear, every time I'm in the woods and I'm thinking like, okay, the deer runs this way. Yeah, this is going to be miserable. My car is that way. For once, can I shoot a deer that runs towards the car and not the opposite direction, like that has always been my like dream. I heard I had a buddy, um, I think like five or six years ago he shot a doe opening, opening weekend here in New Jersey and it actually ran to about a hundred yards to the where his car was and where it dropped is. He had a video If. He walked all the way back, followed the blood trail, found the deer and then literally picked his phone up and this car was just literally right there. It was the easiest track job ever in in the history, I think. I mean, I don't think you can get anything easier than that. But, um, so we boys uh, quentin, was that your first time in ohio or have you been there? I mean, because I, what's it like? How far are you from ohio?

Speaker 4: 18:45

like, um, and you're gonna be a little different than us yeah, so like for me to go to jason's in ohio was eight, eight and a half hours and I slept for no joke two two hours.

Speaker 4: 19:00

I went to bed at 9 30 and I woke up at 11 30. I kissed my wife goodbye, grabbed my stuff and gone. I was out of the house and yeah, and the type of terrain that we were in is completely different than what I'm hunting in. I'm flat land in a marsh with a few good trees out there. You're in big timber hills and whatnot, so it's like it's different. You have to adjust to it and, taking what I knew and what jason knew, and incorporating both things together, I was able to be successful in a brand new state that I had never hunted in before yeah, yeah, that yeah, no, I agree and real quick, um, you said so.

Speaker 1: 19:47

Your flatland, swampy, few good trees, that's exactly kind of what I'm dealing with. This is the first time where I'm hunting. Usually I'm got the big woods, hills, you know, ridges, everything, benches, you have everything. I'm now not hunting in that and I'm hunting just very flat, like I. I was telling the boys, like I set up the other day and the ridge was literally 15 feet and that was the only elevation difference, was like 15 feet and like, yeah, it's like this is, but this is what I'm dealing with. I've noticed, and here it's very dry, so I don't know, um, in wisconsin, if you guys have gotten much rain, but we've been in a drought for since what? September?

Speaker 3: 20:31

was the last big rain when the hurricane came through.

Speaker 1: 20:36

Yeah, I know, yeah, peyton shot two does the last time in the rain and that was that was it. That's that's the rain and everything is dry. Like every pond, I go to every everything I in these areas I'm not finding scrapes like I would find scrapes in the big woods. Um, in the big woods I've noticed that I'm finding scrapes all over the place, versus here I find a lot more rubs than I do scrapes. Now I and it's been going through my mind is that because of the terrain difference, like have you noticed that over where you are? Like I and I was gonna ask the guys this too, um, you know, and ask around, because this is my first time hunting in a terrain like this, like I'm not five went probably like two miles today and I found one scrape.

Speaker 4: 21:20

So what I have noticed is is they don't actually scrape, they just chew on branches. That's's what I've noticed. So like I'll find like a patch of dirt like this, no bigger than a softball and it'll have like one hoof track in it, but then they won't touch it and they will demolish the licking branch. Like I have a possible 140, 150, I think he's a 10. He doesn't touch the dirt at all, he doesn't rake it, he doesn't do nothing. He will grab the branch the branch is probably three-eighths round he will grab it and he will pull it as far back as he can and he will let that sucker snap and he'll do it like three or four times and he'll rake it. But then they won't work the dirt, they only do licking branches. That's what I've noticed.

Speaker 1: 22:14

So I found like a solid line of just licking branches, chewed up and mangled, and nothing underneath them okay, interesting because, like, I'm starting to notice that, like even the cameras that I've run on, that I have mock scrapes, they don't, they're not really making scrapes.

Speaker 1: 22:35

They, like you said they will do the licking, they'll do the rubbing and everything like that, but they're not. I haven't seen them do anything like they would do up in you know, when I'm hunting up north and everything like that and it's it's just so different that it's it's kind of screwing with my head because I'm so used to like finding this definite sign of scrapes and, hey, this is what you got to look for. And every time I pass a spot where it's like, okay, there's going to be a scrape right there, there's nothing. And it's like, well, what the hell I'd like finding this deer's main territory is? I'm now trying to find rubs, like looking for rubs and like I guess now potentially I piece together, like that deer is, you know, just licking and not not doing anything else yeah they, they chew.

Speaker 4: 23:25

So like where you would have your licking branch and then where they would you, you know scrape the ground and then pee in it. I'm getting them peeing, but I'm not getting them working dirt, I'm just getting them literally shredding the hell out of the branch, chewing it up, peeing, and then they go on their merry way and then they come back and do it all over again, but I think I have eight or nine different bucks doing the exact same thing and all the scrapes they're not scraping, which is weird, and I was confused by it too and like wow, that branch was like demolished, like I went over by it, and I'm like they're scraping, but they're not actually scraping, they're just licking and eating and breaking branches.

Speaker 2: 24:06

So I have. I have the explanation for that, if you want to know what's that.

Speaker 2: 24:13

Well, yes, when the dirt is dry like that, it doesn't hold the scent. When a buck urinates or scrapes his tarsal glands on it, the moisture has to be in the dirt for them to actually it actually holds. If you have ever had a dog, I got beagles. Whenever it's wet outside, they pick up the scent of anything that's been through there super quick. If the air is dry, it dissipates very fast. Moisture holds scent, so bucks won't waste their time when the ground is dry. They kick dirt and make a scrape and piss in it, because it don't make any sense for them to do it. Okay, so that's why you're having those branches chewed. The ground is too dry. That's why you don't have scrapes. End of that story. Uh, when you're, when you're hunting, scrape. When you're hunting a rub line, like mike says, he's hunting a rub line, don't worry about scrapes right now. Anyway, the ruts on, the ruts on.

Speaker 2: 25:11

I drove all the way up from the midwest, all the way back here. I must have counted 55, 60 dead deer and saw one live, one clear, four freaking lanes of traffic right in front of us. Wow, so the rut is on. I've got bucks chasing here. Um I it now's. Now's the time where you just sit and hope and pray, something big walks out from another area. That's, that's in your spot. Don't worry about scrapes right now. Scrapes the scrapes are are done. They may come and open them up after a rain or whatever again, but don't, don't worry about that. Just sit, sit on the main trails, sit near the thickets where the does are bedding. Good, I I'm in their bedrooms right now. Where I am.

Speaker 2: 25:50

I rushed back home because I wasn't doing good in Ohio so I had pictures of bucks running around in here. I said we got to get back home. So we rushed back up. We drove 10 hours back up a day early. The buck that Quentin shot I had in front of me well, in back of me that morning, and I just kind of looked at it and I said, well, maybe it'll go to my son. So I was kind of like moved a little bit and he snorted at me and took off towards my son. I was hoping my son would shoot it and he saw it. It went by him again and the funny story was we had got back out there in the afternoon and, uh, we got on this Ridge that we were hunting where the bowl is and Quentin was down in the bowl where he had went and we wished each other good luck when we got in there and then he said, hey, I shot a buck. And I texted my son and I says how much you want to make a bet? It's that eight pointer, we saw it this morning. And he says you think so. I says yeah, I think it is so. When he drove up at the end of the day I said, son, of a gun, look at that, that's the one you know. And I was so happy for him because he got up.

Speaker 2: 27:06

It was it poured that night for a while and we were in the tent. He was in his tent and I heard him get up super early because he had to walk like 30 minutes past where we were to get to his spot. And I says, yeah, this, this guy man, he's, he's going to do it today. I got a feeling he's going to do it and we talked a little bit back through the afternoon and when he came back with that buck, I says you know, it was meant to be. It was just meant to be that he ended up with that deer and he put his time in and he, you know, had his cameras down in there and stuff, and you know it was well-deserved, it was good to see him get what he was after and he made a great shot on the doe.

Speaker 2: 27:52

Uh, the day before there um was, he came back up, showed us the video. We were like holy cow, you snuck it right past that limb. So he, he did great and you know when you're shooting good products like warhead arrows and wreck broadheads, that's easy to do. So, uh, but anyway, back to what happened with us. We, we got out there. Like I said, we drove out. We were there a little bit after Quentin got there, a little bit longer of a ride. We got 10 hours to get down there. Beautiful country down there, great hospitality. I couldn't have been happier. Jason was a great host. His wife went out of her way to make sure that we had food and you know they said if you don't want to stay in a tent, come on in the house. And you know it was just a nice time, good camaraderie. You know Quentin was all right, he's, he's okay, guy.

Speaker 4: 28:39

Yeah, that's all right, squatch, I'll. I'll keep you on my back for a little bit more. Yeah, you keep you keep.

Speaker 2: 28:45

You keep carrying the old squats here. But, uh, you know, it was a good time. It was a good time we have. We had a lot of fun, we shared a lot of stories and, uh, we actually went out to dinner with the uh, the owner of Warhead arrows, and Jason, who's part owner, and had a nice dinner. We were, you know, thank them for that. It was a nice time and, you know, it was just just a good experience. But, like I said, I and you know it was just a good experience.

Speaker 2: 29:09

But, like I said, I got bucks running around here and you know, the weather was the big dampener on everything. If it had been a lot cooler I think we would have did a little better. We did see a huge buck on a neighbor's front lawn as we were driving over to where we went in. The thing had to be oh my gosh. Jason had pictures of him on his trail camera. It was a big, tall eight, but we saw him. So we were getting hopeful that he'd come up the ridge but never saw him and, like I said, we just beat feet. We wanted to get back home. We knew we had some colder weather up here and we seen deer moving. So we were like hey, let's bug out a day early, and you know see what happens up here.

Speaker 1: 29:51

So you know, first of all, for some reason my Wi-Fi is just awful. Today I only caught part of that squash, so I'm hoping the the what's his face is doing what it's supposed to do and still catching every like. For me, everything is just ridiculous. Even I keep going and circling, I imagine. So I can only imagine what you guys hear from me. Um, but um, from what I heard, that sounds like a, a, a great time. Um, I'm happy for you guys, happy to free for you back and hopefully you can now take one down in in New York, yeah.

Speaker 1: 30:36

Now we're going to, we're going to head into Connecticut and man, another, another beauty down.

Speaker 5: 30:45

Yeah, he was a. He was a good one, he was a buck that I had gotten. So for those of you that don't know, I was in Illinois last year, came back, came back east and so pretty much when I got, when I got right back home, I had a couple of cameras left out at home for my father to check, because my dad, my dad hunts the property as well, and so left a couple cameras up there, went and pulled them at the end of the season and I got pictures of this buck. He was just a big bodied six pointer. You just, I'd seen, I'd seen these genetics before. Um, real long beams, nice twos, decent threes, you know, but no, no real brow times or anything. But I got a picture of that deer on january 18th. There was snow on the ground and uh, so I kind of knew he was in the area, went into the season and, I'll be honest, my prep for the season wasn't very good. Um, I got into competitive bass fishing and ended up fishing for the TBF of Connecticut, the national semifinal up in Champlain, and I ended up winning that. So we've got nationals in March. So my whole early season was kind of eaten up with fishing. So I didn't hit the woods until October, like mid October. I think October 13th or 14th was the first time I sat in a tree, so I was. It was real, really weird.

Speaker 5: 32:19

Um, I only had two cameras out um on this property this entire year, where usually I'm running four or five. And I got a. I got one camera out in the middle of July, went back, checked it in August and had some bucks moving through, and then checked it again in October. On that first set, two days before opener, this buck moved, moved through the valley Valley and I got I got the hard horn picture of him and I said, all right, he's, he's wanting to shoot. Never got another picture of another buck after that. Everything was dry, totally dry. So I was kind of not super optimistic about the season. But I mean, as Squatch said, the, the rut's on, so they're just up and moving.

Speaker 5: 33:11

And uh, it was yesterday I hunted. I hunted yesterday morning. I thought it was going to happen. You know, first thing in the morning it was 28 degrees here and you know, a light wind, everything was perfect. I didn't see a thing. Not a thing was moving. And so 10 o'clock rolled around, the? Um, our neighbor started working with his excavator. So all I could hear was just the excavator going, dropping rocks on everything. Uh.

Speaker 5: 33:39

So I got down, regrouped, grabbed, grabbed a bite to eat and uh, I was actually, you know, going back and forth with myself, hemming and hawing. Should I, should I go out and hunt this afternoon? Because you know there's um, the people in the neighborhoods have got their leaf blowers going, the excavators going, dropping rocks everywhere. So, and in my head, I'm going, you know what, if it is the rut, those bucks are not going to give, they're not going to give a crap whether or not something's going on. That's not. I actively chase them. You know they're, they're not going to pay any mind to, to the noise that's going on, that they're pretty much already used to. You know, hunting, hunting the suburbs.

Speaker 5: 34:18

So I get back up into the tree and I think I got in the tree about 130 and 145. I look up, here comes this half rack right right down the Valley coming, uh, uh, coming at me, and then he veers off, goes up, goes up the ridge where I walked in on. He hits my track and he stops and he just starts licking his nose, just licking. He's trying to, he's trying to moisten his nose to pick up those scent molecules, right like squash, talked about how that uh liquid holds a scent. And he was trying really, really hard to pick up a scent. And he kept kind of looking my direction but couldn't really tell. Nose to the ground and the sun was hitting him just right, I could see that, that, that moisture from his nose just dripping off the nose. He was trying real hard to figure out what I was and eventually he blew. He didn't take off running, he just blew. He blew three or four times, kind of looked around, turned back and went away from me across the ridge. So he didn't go where he wanted to, but he ended up working off.

Speaker 5: 35:23

So I thought, oh, that that might do it for the might do it for the day wasn't really sure, nothing else was going on, it was real quiet. Um, and then I then I could hear something walking and I said, okay, that could be a squirrel, could be a deer, I'm not 100 sure. And then I hear the just a like consistent. I'm like all right, no, that's definitely a deer. So I poke, I'm hunting out, hunting out of the saddle. So I poke my head around the tree and I just see this frame just kind of turn against the tree and I'm like, oh okay, here we go and I get the camera on, turn every turn, the second angle on and everything, grab the bow.

Speaker 5: 36:05

And it was kind of one of those things where, where he was coming from, he was right behind the tree that I was in and so he's kind of coming right at me, decides to go one way, so I'm trying to get myself turned around. Decides he's going to go the other way. So now I got to turn myself back around. The second angle looks hilarious. I look like I'm you know you can put like, uh, some funny music to it and it would just be hilarious spin around in the tree.

Speaker 5: 36:29

But he finally commits to a trail and he's coming down. So it was actually the same trail that I got the picture of him on September 13th. He was walking in the exact same spot, and so he's coming down, coming down. I get probably 10, 15 seconds of footage of him walking through and then I'm like, all right, he's going to end up right in this opening, right here. So I turn, I kind of zoom out the camera a little bit, get it on that spot and then I'm just waiting and he walks through and I gave him the meh right, I just kind of meh'd at him to get him to stop. I think he would have stopped anyway. I think he was going to stop. But you know, it is what it is.

Speaker 5: 37:10

He kind of picked his head up, um, I buried, buried my pin and I shot and I hit him and at first I thought I shoulder hit him, just because the, the penetration I saw didn't look the best. Um, but I mean he, he took off running. I saw the arrow kick out of him and so I'm watching him and I get the camera back on him. He runs probably about 60 yards or so and he literally snow plows into the ground. He snow plows into the ground, picks his head up, kind of looks around, gets back up and then his tail just starts flailing like this back and forth. I said, okay, he's hit good, he's. Can see it on the, you can see it on the video. He starts walking and he's got that limp to it and I mean blood. Every, every time he takes a step, you can just see blood coming out of the side. So I knew he was hit good and he kind of gets lower and lower and lower. And where I ended up finding him he was, his nose was basically right up against a rock wall, like he. He got to the rock wall and he said no, I can't make it over that. He just bedded down right there and he was done. Um.

Speaker 5: 38:20

So when I cleaned, so um, and thank god, thank god for good neighbors, because I text I uh sent a note to the, to the neighbor, and I said hey, you know, shot a buck, he ran, he ran down this way, um, just wanted to let you know if you see, see me down there, like that's what I'm doing. He's like oh, okay. So I sent him a picture of the, the, the deer and everything. He's like oh, I know exactly where you are. Do you want me to bring the, the front loader down? And we'll just put them in there and take them down? I'm like please, please, for the love of God. So I so get them, get them all dressed out, and instead of dragging him 300 yards up a hill and down a hill, I just had to drag them 80 yards to a road and loaded them in the front loader and wheeled them right down to the house.

Speaker 4: 39:06

Nice, it was good it was good.

Speaker 5: 39:08

And I had. I had skin when I skinned him out my broadhead. I had skinned when I skinned him out my broadhead, so it missed the front scapula but it smashed into the backside one. That whole offside shoulder was absolutely torn to shreds because every time he moved that broadhead was just in there cutting everything apart and so it broke off and hit the offside, stuck in it a little bit, broke off and I found the front half of the arrow when I was cleaning them out. But thankfully no cuts on my hands. But yeah, that offside front shoulder was pretty much unsalvageable. I couldn't get anything really off of it because it was just torn to shreds. But it was a good hunt and, uh, a good deer my, my widest deer, according to my record book he was. He was, uh, just a touch, a touch over. What was he? 20 inches wide, he was like 20 and two eighths wide, something like that.

Speaker 2: 40:09

So he was he was a good deer. How much did he weigh that?

Speaker 5: 40:13

deer was 186 pounds dressed, so he was probably 200 plus walking around between 220, 30 to 40 pounds of guts.

Speaker 2: 40:23

Yeah, yeah, he was. He was a, he was a brute. His. I met you, you're a. You're a pretty tall, big guy and I can see the picture right now I'm looking at it you kneeling down behind him. Yeah, that's a stud, that's a nice buck.

Speaker 1: 40:37

Yeah.

Speaker 5: 40:40

His neck was bigger than his chest. I'd never seen a neck that swollen on a buck before he was rutted up.

Speaker 2: 40:49

For sure he didn't smell though, which was interesting, his hocks weren't black. No, yeah, was rotted up for sure. He didn't smell, though, which was interesting, his hocks weren't black. No, yeah, my neighbor, my neighbor up the road here, got a really nice eight pointer, about 18 inch spread, 210 pounder. Yeah, the hocks were dark, dark black stunk that's what I'm saying. They're.

Speaker 5: 41:07

They're in rut, but every place is different, you know, yeah, well, but that was the thing was that he was cruising so I was looking at my um. So I use hunt stand, yeah, and you know how like. So you look at hunt stand or drury outdoors or spartan, for whatever it is. They show you like the peak game activity time. Uh, hunt stand had peak activity at 3 pm. I shot that buck at 305, so they got. They got something right, I don't I don't know what algorithm they use, but rumor

Speaker 2: 41:37

rumor has it that eight pointer you shots, pissed and suing them because he said he was just following what they told him to do.

Speaker 5: 41:46

Not much. Not much Now that he's in my freezer.

Speaker 1: 41:54

Now this is. This is the same place where you shot your last buck, right?

Speaker 5: 41:59

So that was the exact same tree. It was the same tree that I shot Hank out of. So when you see the video, if you pan 20 yards to the left, that would be where I shot Hank two years ago. So it's that. The thing about that property, or this property, after hunting it for 15 years now, is that I can really sit in one of two spots, and that's that's really all I gotta say, because it's just a hub where all these trails funnel together. How the deer come off the opposite ridge or down this valley, they all kind of intersect in this one little area. So that, and that tree is really the best tree that gives me the best shot at multiple trails as they're coming through now. Granted, sometimes they take, you know, trail c, which is 60 yards that way, and I don't get a shot. But the fact that I've got trail a, b, c, f and g right here, it's a higher probability spot. So it's just a matter of time.

Speaker 1: 43:05

Yeah you know if, if connecticut had more public land? I mean, these deer put Connecticut on the map of a sleeper state.

Speaker 5: 43:16

They so we that's. The thing is that we we do have actually a lot of public, it's just not very big. So so I worked, so I worked um work for the state in the wildlife division and I know our land acquisition lady really, really well and what happens is these people you know, loved ones pass away or whatever, and the state buys this property and it's open to hunting, but it's only like 80 90 acres at a time. So unless you have one of those hunting apps or you go on the state's website and looked at the updated map, you would never even know these places existed.

Speaker 3: 43:57

Oh, wow, really yeah.

Speaker 5: 44:00

I have one of the largest state forests in the state. It's like 12,000 acres or something like that, you know, just up the road, but it's funny because it's all different kind of parcels. Now, the trick is, though, is that we have a large population of mountain bikers here that love to make trails everywhere, so you really have to work hard to find those secret little honey hole spots that doesn't have a mountain bike trail in it. That's one of the hard parts. We do have public land. Might any any of you ever want to try? Come try and try.

Speaker 4: 44:38

oh, let me know, because I've got plenty of spots we can try.

Speaker 5: 44:44

It's just a matter of you know. If we see people in blaze, pink walking their dog, don't be surprised. But but they're there.

Speaker 1: 44:55

I mean, listen, it's I'm thinking definitely, you know, taking a trip to Connecticut next year for for sure. I mean it's on the bucket, it's right there, I mean it's, it's so close. For for me, I love, you know I've played hockey there all my life and you know I've always driven, I always drive by and everything like that. So Connecticut is on is a state that I do want to hunt, especially on the east coast. I want to eventually be able to kill a deer, especially everyone on the east coast. I don't know if I'll be able to get to all, you know majority of the states, but definitely east coast. I think that's a that's going to be the the first goal here. And you know, with connecticut right there, like, just like for delaware, delaware is just right down there. It takes me two hours to to get to delaware. I can be in connecticut in about an hour and a half, maybe even less. Honestly, um so, um, definitely, definitely gonna have to to to hit connecticut up, um next year. But, guys, I mean it is, it's on the rut's on, meg.

Speaker 1: 45:55

Congratulations yet again, it was great to see Quinn. Congrats on your first Ohio buck.

Speaker 1: 46:04

Thank you and you know Paul yet again, another stud down for you. And you know, always enjoy when you kill something big and everything like that. Uh, you know this. Uh, I'll say, all three of you guys and you know, of course, with squash and everything like that, like, appreciate. You know the friendship we've all made now at this point and the support that we all show each other and everything like that. I definitely love the hunting community for this big reason. And you know, for anyone out there that's looking to, you know that are trying to find a community, listen, we're, we're, we're pretty cool, we're pretty open and you know we're really supportive people. And oh, quentin, one thing I wanted to ask. So I'm guessing the shoulder is feeling good, because I know when we're talking last time, uh, you're having some shoulder injuries. You used to crossbones beginning of the season. How's it feel now to you know, is the shoulder fully healed?

Speaker 4: 46:57

And I know you got to be pretty happy to be able to use the carbon spider again, it's usually my back that gives me all the issues just with hauling and climbing stands and all my stands and whatnot. So it's usually my back that gives me the most issue. But I've been trying to push through it to use my compound again because I don't know, there's just something about being able to pull back your bow and letting that arrow fly out of your compound is I don't know it's. It's something different, especially just being able to make it all come together and you know whatever else. But I'm not afraid to use a crossbow, like there's been times where I've been out with my crossbow and whatnot. So if I'm able to keep getting in the woods either using my compound or crossbow, I'm I'm gonna use either one, depending on how I feel you know, yeah, listen, I mean, I, I get that.

Speaker 1: 47:53

I I want a whole season using the crossbow and you're right, there's just a different. There's just a different feeling. Um, you know, but getting out there is the most important thing. Get, you know, just go out there, have fun.

Speaker 1: 48:06

Um, you know, I just love hunting, I mean, as much as listen I'm not a gun hunter like I don't really gun hunt like what, like for six day I'm actually. I'm like I've told myself from now on for six days of the year for new jersey I'm gonna go hunt with a gun. When I go to maine I'm most likely gonna bring a gun. I think eventually want to try sick a deer in maryland and best believe I'm bringing a gun because I heard how hard it is hunting sick a deer, like if I'm spending all that time and money and everything that I am going to bring a gun because I want to. You know, make that, make that count. And you know, after I get I said I always tell people after I kill something once then, uh, you know, the bow will start to come in play and that's when I'll probably chase something.

Speaker 1: 48:54

I will not shoot another bear with a gun, a hundred percent will not. I will shoot one with the with the bow. That that's the goal. But if a bear walks out six day, I gotta do my management part as a new jersey hunter, right? So I guess I'm I'm have to, you know, take a shot if anyone. But you know it's just something that just out there, have fun, everyone out there. You know, enjoy what you do, even if you're shooting a spike. Listen, I think if it gets you fired up and I saw a spike the other day that got me fired up and I just wanted to, I wanted to shoot it, I just wanted to shoot it, so exactly. But you know, if it gets you fired up, go for it. You know and you know love what we do and, guys, it was a pleasure to get you on Any last words from you guys.

Speaker 4: 49:54

Like the buck that I harvested in Ohio. I'm going to admit I had some giants on camera moving daylight when I pulled my cameras on Saturday, 20 yards from an absolute stud I mean standing there looking at me. But the deer that I harvested was actually a very, very meaningful deer and at the time it didn't register in my head until I got back on top of the ridge and the first notification that finally posted on my phone was in 2018, I had lost my best friend to suicide and the first deer that come in was just a scraggly looking five pointer and it had significant meaning to me because November 1st 2018, six o'clock at night, I shot that buck. I shot a buck.

Speaker 4: 50:44

November 1st, six o'clock, I shot this eight pointer and if that ain't a sign from upstairs from him like this is your deer, you know, like I told Squatch and Jason that had there been leaves in my tree, there weren't no leaves in my tree. After that deer was shot because I shook my tree, was the only tree shaking and wouldn't trade that feeling for anything else. Like that deer made me super, super proud and I'm not gonna lie. After everybody went to bed, I sat in my tent and I I cried because it it it made me truly happy that I was able to get it done at the same exact time.

Speaker 1: 51:30

It it's just crazy how it works that way things happen for a reason, you know, and you know that that's definitely, definitely a sign. And, you know, before we we get up, you know you got to tell people it wasn't a real tent, it was a nice it was.

Speaker 5: 51:48

You brought your, your ice shack it was really cool, I'm not going to lie. You pitched up in the backyard with a nice ice shack.

Speaker 1: 51:58

No, no, it was a thermal ice shack.

Speaker 4: 52:04

Yeah, a thermal ice shack Six foot by 12 foot long, so I could have fit a bunch of families inside my ice shack.

Speaker 1: 52:11

It looked comfy.

Speaker 4: 52:13

Very, very, very, very comfy did.

Speaker 1: 52:18

Uh. Did it get cold enough for you to put the heater on, or no, you were just good well, I had the heater.

Speaker 4: 52:25

My dumb ass didn't fill the propane tank before I left home, so so I used it the first night and I was warm as hell in the ice shack the first night and when it got cold like 30 degrees I didn't have heat, but I luckily had my Milwaukee heated vest, so I slept with that the first, the second night and then the third night when it was even colder. I'm like nope, I'm going in Jason's house. I slept comfy on a couch.

Speaker 1: 52:59

Oh man, well, on, on that note, we'll. We'll end it here. I mean, guys, thank you so much for coming on. Everyone you know. I hope you guys enjoyed this episode. The rut is on. Good luck to to anyone out there hunting and, you know, hope you guys have tons of success and we'll see you guys next week.

Speaker 1: 53:19

And before we also get off, this is episode 198. We're two away from 200. We're going to be filming for our Field Notes. Next week we will be recording our 200th episode, so it's going to be a big one. Uh, we're going to be doing a bunch of giveaways and and things like that.

Speaker 1: 53:40

This, that one, that one's probably going to be a long episode, um, so anyone who wants to also come on too, the, the invite is going to be open. Uh, you guys can come on, anything like that. It's going to be probably the same time as as today, start time at eight o'clock. But 200 episodes pretty big milestone. So I'm pretty excited and and everything like that. Hopefully we've killed a bunch of big bucks, so we have even more to talk about and I'm trying, I'm hoping the, the guy that um shot Jersey's record black bear is going to be on as well. You know he said that he's pretty free and available, so hopefully, yeah, 777 pounds. Wow, I think we're talking 900 pounds living weight, 900 pounds living weight. And he was. Peyton was in line with him and Peyton saw it in person and I'm pissed. I didn't go to the check-in station because I was going to go to the check-in station, but I decided to not go and go break down camp and I could have saw that monster in person.

Speaker 4: 54:53

That is insane. That bear had to like roll in, like how the hell could it walk? I?

Speaker 1: 55:01

don't know. We are going to find out. I heard, um, that there is another bear the same size, so I believe that that's the rumor on the street. Um, that's the rumor on the street, that's what I've heard, and this will be, I think, the second Black bear that's been. Now this will take, I think, number One, but I think we in New Jersey has Two or three bears that Are like in the top five for biggest, like all time. So now this is going to be the biggest and I think there's. We had one that was the number three or something like that. Um, yeah, new jersey has big blood and so does north carolina. So, like those, those are these, us in north carolina, like, if you want to kill big bears or see a lot of bears, definitely a kind. You know, I know quit and you, you've talked about it and we've talked about it and everything like that um thank you know peyton's bear was was a big bear too.

Speaker 1: 55:58

Um, the last two bears that he's killed have been have been huge and everything like that. Um, so when does your guys on the map?

Speaker 4: 56:06

when does your guys's season open for bear?

Speaker 1: 56:10

I don't, I don't even want to get into that debacle, honestly, because it's only for a week and it's a pain and it's a pain in the butt and then we won't have another one until december 9th it's the same day as 16, six day gun season, um, so we literally have a grand total of 12 days to hunt bears.

Speaker 1: 56:32

Not over bait it's be hundred yards off of bait, which I don't like, which I don't mind, but I do enjoy, like doing the baiting process with bear because I think it's so unique and it's so fun and you get to kind of like you get donuts and you can get all these other things that you're you're not going to do with deer and I think it's kind of fun like you're throwing, like I throw center around, like I'm using all the wackiest scent and syrups and and honey, like I. I think that's so cool and the fact that new jersey, like yeah, you can bait, but listen, I at that point I'm not really going to, I'm not not wasting my time, uh time anymore with baiting. Have you had deer come into?

Speaker 4: 57:20

your bear baits at all or no? Honestly no, no, I don't think I ever have. I'll have deer come into my bear baits and they'll actually grab a full donut and walk away with it. You'll get them off camera, like back behind the bear bait eating the actual donut. I'm like, oh, no longer baiting with donuts.

Speaker 1: 57:42

Yeah, no, I've never seen it. I don't know if anyone else out here in Jersey or anyone else who baits have seen that. I'm wondering maybe it doesn't happen as often in new jersey just because of how densely populated our state is with bears. So you're usually on a bear and you know, probably with you guys too and everything like that, but there's just so many bears on a site and everything like that, like they just straight up just avoid it, while vice versa, when you're baiting for deer, you'll get a bit like I've we've had bear and deer on the camera, but it's one bear, one deer and they kind of like. But bear bear baits usually five, six, seven bears sometimes, and they're always. And once the big boars come in, which is pretty often, you know, um, I just don't know how much do you really want to to take that risk on?

Speaker 1: 58:30

You know, yet again, you look at new jersey's. We're such a smaller state, we're, we're a small state. So you know, I I think, maybe just because of that how compact everything is. Maybe the deer just don't even bother. But yeah, I've seen deer eat chips. I've seen, I think I've seen a video of a deer eating a squirrel or a bird or something like that. I just, yeah, I've seen deer eat a lot of things. Like they're opportunists for for sure when it comes to eating that's. That's what I've heard too. Yeah, so all right, guys. On that note, I know our listeners are always tired of us talking about bears, like, I think, almost every episode we get into to bear talk. But thank you guys yet again and we'll see you guys next time.