Beasley Brothers 2007 Hunts are brought to you by: |
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Another Piece of the Puzzle! -- By Keith Beasley -- Even when we've been hunting a property for years we're continually learning new things about it. Keith's hunt this year helped us find one of the missing pieces to the big puzzle. Studying the land and never believing you know it all was the key to this November hunt. |
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Having the help of two brothers and a father to do the scouting, planning, trail cameras and all other time-consuming things that hunting requires is a huge help. You see, I have been living in Bracebridge for the past three hunting seasons, which means they get to do all the work. Is it fair? No, but hey, I am the older brother so there has to be some perks. Truth be told, having only a few farms to hunt, and lots of extra bodies wanting to hunt them, forces us to hunt smart and hard. That in fact is a great blessing as all the extra minds work together. Luckily, no one has an agenda that is geared just for them so sharing the wealth is just part of the game. This year was no different. After learning some very valuable lessons last year on properties we have hunted for years, we made mental notes and put new knowledge to work this year. Using our cornerstones of sanctuaries, low pressure, and herd management, we were able to put a few more pieces of the puzzle together. The particular farm this buck was harvested from had some easy-to-read trails leaving the bedding area. Last year we were tricked up a few times and could not figure out why. In the off season we studied the property and found a small, almost-dry creek bed, covered by swale grass leading from a neighbouring property to within 100 yards of our sanctuary. The creek bed ended at a small clover field and there was a large hill in between it and the swampy sanctuary. The creek bed ran right through the middle of the farm with large fields on each side and no woods touching it except where it exited the neighbours. We have walked over the dried-up creek for years but never figured it was a major travel route. This year though, our hunch was that the deer were using the creek to move in and out of our property; never showing their face in the field or in any of the obvious travel routes. With the aid of trail cameras we proved our suspicions and confirmed that as the season progressed and the woods filled with hunters the deer stopped using the main trails and started to focus on the creek bed. A lot of night time movement was discouraging but at least let us know that it was an active route. We were confident that as the intensity of the rut heated up, so too would the number of mistakes made by the bucks. |
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| This is a trail cam picture of Keith's buck just days before he shot him and only 100 yards from the kill site. This picture was taken at 4:30 in the afternoon and the next evening, Paul had him in range at the same spot but by the time he confirmed it was this shooter buck, he couldn't make a clean shot and had to pass. |
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Four days into the hunt we had caught a glimpse of the buck I would end up harvesting with some does just before dark heading from the sanctuary. Paul passed the shot as he struggled to confirm if it was the right deer to harvest or not and once he finally confirmed it, the buck never presented an ethical shot. The next morning we waited for daylight as not to spook anything in the field on our walk in and Paul, Kevin and I covered the three areas into the sanctuary. No sooner had I taken my seat at the crack of dawn when a large mature buck crested the hill coming from the creek bed leading right into the sanctuary. With his nose pinned to the ground and stopping to look up every few seconds I admired the big trophy as he glided into the cover just out of range. Disappointed that he had crossed from the creek bed a bit further then I had anticipated I quickly crept closer to that trail knowing that he appeared to be on a hot trail and another buck may follow. I quietly scurried 50 yards closer and got seated below the page wire fence. As if on a string, just seconds later another mature buck crested the hill. His high rack and narrow spread confirmed it was the shooter 8 point we caught on camera and the same one Paul saw the previous night. He was 90 yards away staring the same direction the other buck had gone. He slowly crested the hill and the line he was taking would bring him broadside in front of me to within 85 yards. The buck cautiously sniffed the trail then continued to trot forward. This was when reality set in that I was going to get my shot. As I found the buck in my scope I knew that I needed to shoot quickly before he started to gain more distance. My heart raced as I anticipated the shot and where to stop him. As he came trotting down the hill I bleated loudly and he paused. His head snapped in my direction and I settled the crosshairs behind his shoulder. Taking a deep breath I slowly squeezed off the shot making sure not to flinch. As the gun fired the buck bolted the direction he was heading and within seconds tumbled down the hill. His rack bounced off the ground as the weight of his body and momentum made him roll. I sat with the gun on him ready to fire if he moved. Minutes later, I was standing over a beautiful buck. Once again, teamwork and brainstorming had landed us another great Ontario whitetail. His high G2's and lengthy brow tines confirmed he was one of the deer we were after. His dark stained tarsal glands and bark-filled antler bases proved he was a buck heavily involved in the rut. A simple mistake on his part proved costly. But for us it was figuring out another piece of the puzzle and catching him crossing a spot we had never hunted, even though it was a farm we have been on for years. |
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One of our biggest keys to success is to always study the properties we hunt. Even though we have been hunting them for years, deer adapt to humans and changes in their environment and we need to adapt to them. Something like a creek bed travel corridor seems so obvious to us now but we missed it for years. Just making simple adjustments to your hunting strategy could put you in Mr. Big's path. Don't be afraid to try a new spot.
Paul ended up getting the first buck I saw that morning the next day and only 200 yards from where I saw him. |
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