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The deer camp discussion reminded me of...
jimdeere
Member, Moderator Posts: 26,147 ******
...The Benoit family. I read about them years ago.
Comments
Yes, either Outdoor Life or Sports Afield ran a series of articles on them. It was a very interesting way to hunt deer but only worked where you had miles of uninterrupted woods to track in.
They used the Remington 760 in 30-06. Don
I thought you were going to say jimdeere...
Very interesting story. I will have to share this with my father. He loves to read about this stuff. He was a great outdoorsman and tracker. I never got his knack for tracking a deer like him. He always killed a monster buck, even if it took him a season or two.
Not putting down their abilities but do wonder how they'd do tracking deer down in our Southern swamps and brambles. I'm not a deer hunter but my 2 little dachshunds are loaned out a lot to do some serious deer tracking for friends who wound / lose deer and they're real good with earned reputations but I don't think they'd make 55 miles of it....😀.
"Never do wrong to make a friend----or to keep one".....Robert E. Lee
I have tracked multiple wounded deer thru a variety of swamps I eastern nc . Found about 85% of them .Can't get thru the undergrowth with this darn arthritis now .
Thanks for the memories. The guys would laugh at my uncle (RIP) when he showed up at the south/central Arkansas deer camps with his dachshunds. However, they always changed their tune when they saw them perform.
I believe I read a story about these guys, or their father, in Outdoor Life 50 years ago. The reporter tagged along as the hunter tracked the buck through the snow of Vermont, and he shot the buck with a semi-auto 30-06.
Most impressive. Nobody in Georgia hunted like that, of course, we didn't have any snow.
In all the years I have been deer hunting ,40 plus , I have only had snow maybe 10 times. Or at least enough snow to attempt to follow a track. Too many deer and too spotty snow coverage for any success.
I lived and hunted in Northern Illinois for over 30 years before retiring and moving to Missouri. Hunting up there was cold and there was snow most seasons. One of the few things I miss about Illinois is the hunting season...(I liked the fishing there too 🙃)
Hunting in the snow is a lot different than hunting down here. The good news, it is not so cold down here.. But it was much easier to spot deer in the snow and figure out where they are holed up. Sitting in a tree stand here is usually not an issue. Up North when it was single digits and a 20 to 30 mph wind made it pretty miserable at times...
I still get a kick out of some of the guys I hunt around. If the temp drops under 40, they go on and on about how cold it is. I used to be happy if it got up to near freezing up North...
I hunted Bethel Missouri twice, and it was darn cold up there. It is in the Northwest corner of the state near Nebraska. Snow and ice both times and about 10 degrees. Still nowhere near as cold as PA in December. I prefer hunting in the cold too.
I hunt late season muzzleloader in Iowa. Colder the better.
If above freezing, the deer might show up 30 seconds before shooting light.
If below zero with a stout wind, they'll be out multiple times a day because they have to eat to stay warm.
I'm fat enough to stay warm tucked in out of the wind behind a terrace.