Paul Varley of Saratoga Springs used a Remington Model 788 6mm caliber rifle he bought for $98 in 1968 to collect his north country buck this year.
He and his friend, 88-year-old Jim Smith of Greenfield, were watching a recently harvested corn field when the buck walked out. The buck carried a seven-point rack and dressed at 160 pounds.
This spring, Varley bagged a black bear that dressed out at 425 pounds in Lac Wetetnagami, Quebec. He shot the bear a with a 30-06 Ruger Model 77 at 30 yards from a tree stand. And now, he’s headed for Otsego County to try to fill his DMP.
The area boys and girls that hunt with the Good Guys Hunting Club in Allegany County took some nice whitetails during the bow season.
Skip Clark of Queensbury was in his tree stand overlooking a large green field when the eight-pointer came in escorting several doe. The shot, taken with a PSE compound, was at a distance of about 35 yards. The buck field dressed at 115 pounds.
Lorraine LaRue of Fort Edward was also in a tree stand when she shot her eight-pointer late in the afternoon. Like most conscientious bowhunters do, she waited about an hour before picking up the trail and by that time it was dark.
When the trail became difficult to follow, she solicited the aid of Deer Search, a private organization of volunteers who track wounded deer and bear with leashed tracking dogs. Many of these handlers are hunters and their goal is to reduce crippling losses during the hunting season. There are no personal fees charged, but hunters may make contributions to Deer Search Inc. In our area, the Deer Search telephone number to call is, 872-1779.
And yes, they found Lorraine’s buck, and it field-dressed at 134 pounds.
Jamey Guy of South Glens Falls waited until the last hour of the Southern Zone bow season in Allegany County to get his buck.
For several afternoons prior to the last day, Guy watched this buck escorting doe to and from the other side of the field, but it never within range. On this particular night, however, the buck for some reason entered the field just 50 yards from his tree stand and headed toward it. At about 20 yards, his 82nd Airborne BowTech compound ended the hunt. The buck carried seven points and dressed at 140 pounds.
Glens Falls brothers Dan and Ted Meade both scored bow and arrow bucks in Allegany this year. Dan shot a six-point and a DMP doe while Ted bagged a four-pointer.
The remainder of the club members that filled DMP tags with bow and arrow was the father and son team of Mike and Joe Egelston of Hudson Falls.
Local hunters who took rifle-DMP deer in Allegany County included Ed Degnan of Clifton Park and Joel Clark of Queensbury (does); Fred Kaiser of Queensbury, four-pointer; and Jim Magarah of Fort Edward, three-pointer.
Josh Priest of Victory Mills was sitting on his afternoon watch in the town of Day when he saw a buck moving slowly through the woods. A few grunts on his call got the deer’s attention, and it turned and headed in. When it turned broadside, one shot with his BAR Browning 270 caliber rewarded him with an eight-pointer that dressed at 160 pounds.
Don Dennis of Warners Lake has spent most of the deer hunting season in tree stands throughout the bow-only Pine Bush area and recently had a big doe get a little too close to his stand and he decided it was time to put a little venison in the freezer. One shot at about 25 yards with a Matthews compound bow downed the 120-pound doe.
FIRST DEER
In the first deer category, 16-year-old Alex Lempka of Queensbury started off his deer-hunting career with a real bang. Hunting in Orange County, the youngster shot a 10-point non-typical buck that tipped the scales at 200 pounds. He was using a Browning 270 caliber rifle. You can see a picture of this buck on the www.adkhun-
ter.com Web site.
Speaking of first deer, Whitetails Unlimited has a unique way of congratulating successful deer hunters. It asks them to share their once-in-a-lifetime experience with others.
All you have to do is submit a photo and short narrative (250 words maximum) about your hunt.
All participants will receive a personalized color certificate, custom Whitetail Unlimited hat, entry in the 2008 My First Deer drawing, which if selected, has a chance for being published in WU magazine or on their Web site. The drawing will be held on Jan. 5, 2009. For further details, go to whitetailsunlimited.com and click on “My First Deer Program.”
BEAR
There were two black bear taken recently by area hunters, one in Essex County and the other in Albany County.
A 166-pound North Hudson bear was taken by Suzy Schofield of Tupper Lake with one shot from a 243-caliber rifle.
Paul Roman of Schenectady was sitting in his treestand in the Albany County deer woods when the bear appeared and headed toward his position. Paul shot the bear, a 125-pound, 2-year-old male, with an Ithaca 12-gauge Deer Slayer.
The final tale of the week is about a bobcat. Vince Hill of Saratoga Springs was sitting in his tree stand in Washington County during the last week of the bow season in the Southern Zone when he saw movement that at first he thought was a deer. But it turned out to be a bobcat, and at 25 yards, he was right on target.
Good hunting, and keep those buck tales coming to [email protected].
Categories: -Sports-
