Tag: .450 Bushmaster

Time to Balance the Deer Herd

By Glen Wunderlich

Charter Member Professional Outdoor Media Association (POMA)

“Hunters should take as many deer as they legally can for the good of the deer and the range,” the biologists urged, because deer numbers were far higher than what the habitat could support.  As Yogi Berra would have said, “It’s Deja Vu all over again.”  However, this biologists’ call to action came some 70 years ago.

Back then, the Southern Lower Peninsula (SLP) added 8,445 deer to the total taken – a distant third to the other two regions in the state. It fielded about one-half as many hunters as did the Upper Peninsula.  Today’s geographical shift now pegs the total number of hunters and deer taken in the SLP to exceed the remainder of the state.

The more things change, the more they stay the same.  If we hunters do not step up, we run the risk of intervention by government to hire sharpshooters to lay our precious, renewable deer-herd resource to waste.  As frightening as it may seem to some folks, invited snipers are already piling them up legally via crop damage permits, while the over-abundance prevails.

With this in mind, I have committed my season to do my part to take at least one doe.  I purposely did not use the term “antlerless”, although perfectly acceptable in a broad sense; my focus will be adult, female deer.

Michigan Whitetail Doe

Doing so is a bittersweet proposition, but a necessary evil, if you will, for the future benefit of hunters, land owners, and wildlife.

I may not be subjected to “buck fever” as a result but sometimes an involuntary adrenaline rush makes things difficult for me even when I’m staring down wildlife as low on totem pole as a woodchuck.  At times, I have to talk to myself to settle down in an effort to get those crosshairs to cooperate.

Identifying a big buck is easy when his headgear may as well be a flashing light.  Not a whole lot of thinking is involved, when the biggest brute in the woods is at hand.  Female deer, on the other hand, require careful examination of myriad details to bring home the most venison for the dollar spent on licenses and processing.

I’ll consider the weather-related conditions, as well.  I won’t get involved with tracking in the rain.  If it’s too warm to hang a deer, I’ll wait.  If it’s too cold to hang one without it being subject to freezing, I’ll hunt another day.  After all, there will be over 90 total hunting sessions – mornings and afternoons each day – through the season’s final day, January 1, 2024 and that should suffice to choose ideal conditions.

A perfect shot is still imperative when the time arrives.  My Ruger American rifle in .450 Bushmaster caliber is up for the task and has been sighted in to maximize effectiveness.

Ruger American in .450 Bushmaster with Hydro Dipped Stock and Zeiss optic

Confidence?  You bet!

The anticipation and excitement of November 15th’s opening day is still bottled up with expectations.  That slow walk in the morning darkness will still be the same, as has been the case for decades.  It simply never gets old.

Hunting, Wildlife , ,

Late Season Michigan Whitetail Tracked Down

By Glen Wunderlich

Charter Member Professional Outdoor Media Association (POMA)

The long, familiar walk to position myself for an opportunity at a whitetail deer was different this time.  Typically, I’d wiggle my pack onto my shoulders followed with my loaded firearm over it.  Also, a usually necessary part of the gear was a pair of hearing protectors that were wisely employed during the solitary march in the event my Ruger American rifle were to be employed on the way.  The low-power variable scope would be dialed to 1.5 power to maximize its field of view.  But, this time I needed no hearing protection, because the gun was unloaded for the short journey.

I had passed on numerous bucks during the archery, regular firearms, and most recently the muzzleloader seasons.  All of the excitement and visions of taking an extraordinarily antlered deer were behind me now.  It was our late antlerless season and there would be no quick, off-hand maneuvers to take one; I saw to it by carrying an unloaded gun to my hideout.  I thought that I’d get one under more controlled circumstances and simply enjoyed the December trek.

No doubt that the combined seasons were special.  In fact, I had seen more bucks – even a few good 8-point examples – than any previous hunting season.  And, there with my pal, Joe, in a portable blind just weeks before, was a sizeable 8-point buck a mere 57 yards from the muzzle of my bolt gun.  I’d guess probably 95 percent of Michigan deer hunters would have taken it, but I had seen this brute before and thought ahead to next year and its potential; I passed once again.

With no regrets I was now after some organic meat.  In a matter-of-fact mindset, I waited for the inevitable.  Several does entered the danger zone well before sunset.  However, when a shot rang out nearby, I knew I was not alone and voices later confirmed why the deer scampered out of sight.  When other deer appeared following a quiet spell, they never presented me with the perfect shot I wanted.

The west wind the following day found me in another blind set into a hill where I had a perfect rest for my firearm and the short, mounted bipod.  A group of six bald whitetails materialized and I lined one up for a fatal blast.  Off the group ran but the telltale rear-leg kick of my targeted animal told me I had done my job.

With about an hour of light remaining, I checked where the small group vanished and found fresh blood on the bare ground.

That’s all I needed to see and abruptly ended the search, because Joe’s blue tick hound, Junior, was ready and waiting with him.  On the scene, the dog was leashed according to the regulations for tracking dogs and Joe led him to the trail.  The roles became reversed, as the young hound roared by me and directly to the prize, tugging hard all the way.

It was a fitting end to what had become not only a most memorable year but what the prospects held for the future.

Late-Season Doe

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