I know a few of you have asked me for updates on the hunting I do up north in the big woods of the Adirondacks. While I still prefer bowhunting, hunting miles deep in the big woods with a good crew of friends and family has truly captured my heart. There is something special about hunting opening day and never hearing another gunshot that isn't from our guys, from the moose sightings, knowing there isn't a road or another human being for many miles, and of course the small chance that we might get a crack at one of the Adirondack giants that show up every few years up there. I know the general perception on these forums is that gang hunting and deer drives are unsportsmanlike, but when we are in areas with populations of less than 5 deer per square mile, no defined food sources, and rough terrain I can tell you it's the toughest and least productive hunting I've ever done. When you consider the cumulative miles covered between all the guys involved in our group for a buck like this one, it's easily many hundreds of miles between deer like this. In short, the story with Crab Claw started during the summer of 2011 when we started getting pictures of him on a couple of our game cameras. We got a couple dozen pics all in a general area about 800 or so acres. We hunted hard for him last year, doing everything right every time. We would literally setup drives that took miles of hiking for each guy to setup, and miles long to execute for the drivers.........and break it all down because the wind wasn't perfect and then set the whold thing up all over again. We had a few drives where we had snow and found tracks we believed to be his where he slipped the drive too. He was a smart old boy though and we never saw a glimpse of him last year despite 7 weekends of hunting and a gang of 10-14 guys each weekend. I'm guessing in the pics below from last summer he was a 4 year old at least, and I believe he could easily be much older than that. Anyhow, here are the pics from 2011....... After not seeing anything of him last year, we were all worried that he either left the area, was killed elsewhere, or winter kill. We lose a lot of deer in these areas due to tough winters and yotes, so it's never a given that deer like this make it to the next year. This past summer, we started running cameras again all over the property with hopes that we could get a few more shots of Crab Claw. We ran a bunch of cameras this time over about a 1200 acre area, and never got a shot of him until roughly middle of September. He started showing up in the same exact areas as we were getting pics last year. I don't have the pics from this year, but he looked like he gained tine length on the G4's and a bit of mass. Fast forward to yesterday. We started with what is most likely our post productive drive on the property. My good buddy Chris ended up killing a nice 90" or so buck on our first drive of the morning. After 6 years hunting in our camp, Chris finally tagged his first buck in our camp, and his first rack buck ever. That's an awesome opening weekend alone, little did we know at that point what would occur later in the day. After several hours of recovery and dragging with Chris's buck, we decided to get setup on another drive and then pack it in for the day. I started driving again on the second hunt of the day. I was the deepest driver and had the longest hike, but I was also to cover the best part of the property to potentially see a good buck. We are almost 50/50 between drivers and watchers for seeing bucks, so I usually don't mind driving. I had about a mile to cover during this drive from start to finish, and I'd say about a quarter mile into it, I heard a single shot fired by Larry, the watcher I was headed towards. Everyone stayed put and we finished the drive, and when we got to Larry he showed us where the deer was when he shot. Apparently the deer came through full tilt. I covered the area pretty thoroughly and never saw hair or blood or anything. Only a clearly defined running track in the wet leaves that I followed for a good 50 yards with nothing to indicate the deer was hit. We decided to regroup at the location Larry shot from to build a game plan as a team. As we were standing there, out of the corner of my eye I saw a deer trotting, just about 50 yards away from where I stopped on the track. One of our other guys guys saw him too and got a glimpse of antler. We decided that we would have a group of three guys go after the deer, with the rest staying behind so we could be as quiet as possible. The guy in the middle would be loaded, and the other two would be unloaded for safety and would flank the middle guy. We followed the track in the leaves another 100 yards or so including the spot where we saw him jump, and still never saw a spot of blood or anything that would indicate that he was hit. With that said, for a deer to bed that close to a spot where he was shot at with a rifle was unusual. We had all said on the radio that we were done on the track and he must not be hit, and as we said that we just all three stood there in a line thinking about what could have been. We all knew it was a good buck, Larry had a very good look at it when he shot and the tracks I was on were about as wide as a 30-06 shell. After about 30 seconds of us standing there in silence, no one really wanting to admit that we lost the deer.....about 50 yards in front of me the deer hopped up and started tearing off through an open knee high briar filled clear cut. I had a magazine in my rifle, but no shell chambered. I managed to rack one in quickly and get a nice clear swing on him. He was at about 80 yards and quartering away full tilt when I picked an opening I knew he would come through, when I saw his shoulder enter the spot I let the .270 bark. I knew I hit him square and he disappeared at the shot. I wasn't sure if he dropped or got into the timber, but he was headed to a swamp about 100 yards away that is about the thickest nastiest spot on the property. The three of us walked slowly up to where he was when I shot when I found him with his head up and finished the story with a single slug from the .45. At our camp, the first person to hit a deer claims it and tags it. I'm fairly certain Larry hit the buck first, and after 30 years of hunting with no bucks and missing a monster from the same exact watch the year before........no one deserved to tag this one more than Larry. With that said, every buck we kill in the big woods is a team deer, and this one is certainly that. I'm thrilled to have gotten the chance to share the hunt with these guys, and also thrilled that I was able to help ensure this buck was tagged for Larry. Anyhow.....here are some pics to enjoy. Sorry for the tongue pic, but it's the one pic that really shows the bucks better side off. Also, for the record this buck dressed out at a hair over 190lbs and I did a rough score job with him last night with just a tape measure and got 139 and change. Not a giant for many part of the country, but certainly the buck of a lifetime in the Adirondacks.
Awesome close to a great buck, you are a true sportsman for honoring the camp code. Bucks like that often tear people apart
Nice work! If I'm still buckless this Dec, I'm gong to do some 2 man pushes with my dad. Plus then I get to scout at the same time
Just wanted to take a second to tell everyone thank you! It was a great day and one of the most exciting hunts I've ever been part of. Tony - To be honest I don't even want to know how many bullets are in it and I didn't spend any time really looking........I did this on purpose. I really think it's better off that way. We also have a third party butcher doing this one too so we will likely never know. At this point, it's his deer and I'm thrilled to see him tag it after 30 years without a buck. I'm young and hunt in a lot of spots where it's very likely I'll end up with my buck of a lifetime someday. Being part of the story on this one is good enough for me. Besides if you saw pics of the bucks from a few different spots I'm hunting this year....you would realize that getting to keep my tag is a good thing.
Good thinking .... my nephew was hunting with me his first hunt ... opening day ... we hear shots ... here comes a great NY buck and a doe ....he didn't shoot! I shot at the buck broadside and then dropped the the doe ... the buck ran right at us and he shot it at 10 feet (i think more out of protection than anything :D) and hit it in the chest and it fell at our feet dead.... When I skinned it, I found my shot had taken out the heart and lungs ... perfect broadside shot .... entrance and exit hole .... but he got the deer ... he was so excited ... I don't regret it at all ...
Just wanted to say another thanks to everyone. It was a great day and due to a bunch of things we have going on personally at home right now, my hunting days are going to be few and far between this year, it's pretty amazing that I got to be part of this on the first day I got to spend in the woods this year and I'll never forget it. Scott - You have PM. I'm not posting them here.
