I just returned from a whirlwind tour of southern Alabama and the 2008 Archery Trade Show in Indianapolis.

In Alabama, D&DH TV Producer Chris Hermans and I had the great fortune to hunt with DDH Northern Field Editor Charles Alsheimer and Steve Scott, Wilson Scott, Wade Atchley and Justin Moore of the Whitetail Institute of North America.

As many of you might know, Alabama's landscape, and latitude, causes the state to have rutting activity all over the board. While Jake Edson was seeing great rutting activity in the western part of the state, the rut had barely started where we were hunting south of Montgomery.

The temps were WARM. We had daytime highs pushing 80 and, hence, we saw few bucks. We did see large numbers of does, however, which allowed us to help the Scotts with their doe management program. In fact, Charlie and Chris got a great doe hunt on film that will be included in our new round of TV shows on Outdoor Channel later this year.

I had the opportunity to hunt several food plots that were planted with lush Pure Attraction, which is a new blend that Whitetail Institute just unveiled for the public last week. The blend is actually a fall forage that provides rapid growth, attraction and abundant food for both the early and late season. The biggest attractants in this blend are a special strain of forage oats and winter peas. I hunted these plots almost exclusively during my trip, and I saw on average 12 deer per sit. I shot this dandy 6-pointer one evening when he came to the plot which was already filled with does and fawns.

We will include more information on this forage blend and all the other great new products from the ATA Show (and SHOT Show) in our upcoming June issue and the Deer Hunters Equipment Annual. The June issue hits newsstands at the end of March.

Our next trip is the the Shooting, Hunting & Outdoor Trade Show, which will be held in Las Vegas over Super Bowl weekend.

--Dan Schmidt
D&DH Editor

The bucks are chasing and hunting is great -- if you can get there

The southern rut is on! I just returned from the P Arrow Plantation in Livingston, Ala. as a guest of Remington's Eddie Stevenson and Linda Powell on an early January hunt to field test Remington's new Accutip slugs and ShurShot 870 slug guns.

The trip itself nearly fell apart due to airport delays that cost me a day of hunting. However, the writers in camp before me reported seeing bucks running does on the first morning and I decided to reschedule the flight and try again.

I was glad I did. Stevenson reported that he and head guide Wes Hurt watched a wide-racked buck chase a doe onto the neighbor's property on their way back from a morning hunt.

I didn't reach P Arrow until 4 p.m., but Hurt insisted I had time to make an evening stand if we hurried. Twenty-minutes later, we were creeping up to a shooting blind along a green field not far from the lodge.

We settled in, and within 15 minutes a doe popped out of the woods -- followed by the wide-racked buck Hurt and Stevenson had watched run onto the neighbor's property that morning.

The buck was running the doe, but Hurt was able to stop the buck for a broadside shot at less than 50 yards using a bleat.



The 385-grain polymer-tipped slug dropped the buck in it's tracks. Later, we found the new Accutip had retained 93 percent of it's mass (96 percent if you don't count the polymer tip -- which Stevenson said fragments on impact, leaving an impressive entry wound).

Despite the 70-degree highs, all of the hunters in camp saw mature bucks and rutting activity. On Wed., the final morning, Stevenson connected on a nice buck that lifted a doe off the ground with its nose as it tried to "convince" the doe to breed.

We all had plenty of chances to harvest does with new slugs and all connected on shots ranging from 60 to more than 100 yards. I was also impressed with the new SureShot stocks teamed with Remington's new SuperCell recoil pads. The new combination was a pleasure to shoot, even with the heavy slugs and their high-velocity loads. Check them out at http://www.remington.com/products/2008_new_products/.

If you are interested in the P Arrow and it's abundant deer and quail you can find them online at www.parrow.net. Owners Drayton and Zina Pruitt are sensational hosts and the plantation is a spectacular property.

Jake Edson
Deer & Deer Hunting Associate Editor

This photo came in with the tag line “happens in Wisconsin.” However, this mule deer buck is likely watching a cat in a more western location.

Here’s the latest buck making the internet circuit. The only information we have so far is that it was reportedly shot in Minnesota during the late archery season.

Check out that killer drop tine!

Today's Internet sensation...This buck was allegedly killed in Oklahoma. It is said to have 41 scorable points. From the picture, it appears that the buck became entangled in some kind of wire. We are not sure if this is what caused its demise.

Mark this one down as the new whitetail Internet wonder. Photos of this buck have been floating around the Web for at least three or four years. I just received it four times in the past week. Someone must have resurrected it and the chain of emails is being passed around once again. The mythical “412-pound buck” made the rounds recently, with the new tag-line of it being killed in northern Michigan. Although we cannot verify the location of this kill, we are certain that this buck did not weigh that much. The location of the wound, intestinal area, seems to indicate that this buck was recovered after suffering from a gastric condition for some time. This condition occurs when a deer is wounded and survives for several days (sometimes weeks). The condition causes a slow leak in the gastro-intestinal system and, hence, causes bloating of the stomach/chest chambers, and, sometimes, a bloating of the skin surfaces. This gives the appearance of a large body when, in fact, the deer is of normal size. I have seen similar cases over the years, including one Nebraska buck that ballooned so large that its head was absolutely dwarfed by its swollen neck.
--Dan Schmidt

The date and origin of this amateur video is also unknown. Thanks to some quick thinking, the good Samaritan saved this doe by using a helicopter to literally blow it off the water and back to land.

How_to_blow_away_a_deer.wmv (1.82 MB)

This is the latest deer-related video to be flying around the Internet. The unfortunate buck found itself in this predicament after apparently sparring with a homemade swing. The landowner apparently captured the video from his backyard.

DumbBuck.wmv (2.62 MB)

D&DH-TV Producer Chris Hermans and I just returned from southern Mississippi where we met loyal D&DH subscriber David Cargill for a hunt with renowned hunter and callmaker Will Primos. Cargill was the winner of our latest sweepstakes hunt and prize package that was publicized throughout the year in the magazine.

The hunt could be described in one word: HOT! When I left home from Wisconsin the morning of December 6th, the temperature gauge in the vehicle read minus 11.

We met Cargill at the Atlanta airport. Needless to say, he was fired up- -- as we were -- to get into the woods that night, but due to some airline issues we didn't arrive in Jackson in time to hunt. We did get a chance to walk though the office and meet a lot of great people, and stock up on the latest Primos calls. We then headed to camp just in time to give us a quick tour and the first food plot that we saw had a number of deer in it, including one nice buck. To say we were excited would be an understatement. But the next morning the warm weather had already arrive. Cargill would be filmed by Chris for a muzzleloader hunt, while I bowhunted. However, with the warm weather, the deer just didn't move.

After the entire first day we had seen a total of six deer, all does and fawns. Maybe our luck would change the next day! Mine didn't, as I got skunked for the second strait sit on stand. However, Cargill faired much better, harvesting the largest buck of his lifetime on film. It was a main frame eight with great mass. It grosses well over 130.

The highlight of the hunt for me was the final 30 minutes when a 3.5 year old 8-point came into range. The place we were hunting is intensely managed and try shooting only 4.5 year olds or better so we abided by the rules and passed him up, and as always once you decide to pass him up he didn't want to leave the area. He stood for the longest time at 20 yards giving us some great behavioral footage.

As we were driving back to the airport the temperature was hovering around 80 degrees and very humid and I found myself wondering what the hunt would have been like had the temperatures been 20 degree's cooler. All and all it was a great trip, and I want to thank the staff at Primos for hosting a great hunt!

--Brad Rucks, Publisher

This monster 20-pointer was allegedly killed in southwestern Wisconsin during the early December muzzleloader season. The buck is said to have 6+ inch bases and an inside spread of nearly 25 inches. It was said to be killed in the state's CWD management area.