Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting Hoorah! Maine Patch Buck!

Terrific buck!!! Nicely done, patch well deserved!

Congrats Bob.

Maine is a place I would like to hunt someday. I always wanted to kill a deer in the big timber.

Dink

Fantastic Bob! what a brute.

Bob, nice work.. Great buck!! Never hunted deer in Maine.. Nice country but toooooooo much brush for this guy!!!
Hope to see you back in God's country soon!!

Gorgeous buck, Bob. Ima get up to Maine hunting one of these days.

Well done Bob and good shooting also.

A couple of really nice pics. That's a heck of a buck pole there!

gonna take a LOT of Blantons to get that one in the Dink-a-thon!

Very nice. Congrats.

U R welcome Bob, it's a pleasure, no problem. It's simple to do.


Jerry

elk, didn't read all this, congats. on your buck also.. Isn't the 7x57 one step below a Hawkins??? I think ingwe was around AND retired when that caliber was first brought out!!

ingwe Retired when? When the 7x57 was brought out or the Hawkin??

Guys thanks to one and all! I figured folks would get a kick out of the meat pole pictures...

It's funny to watch...everyone can be cold, wet,and tired but when a big buck comes in they will leave dinner and go back outside to help or watch with the weigh-in.

It's festive having lots of other hunters around.

powdr yes that is some of the Maine country the Benoits have hunted.There and over west to Rangely. You see that country with mountains and miles of unbroken timber,gives you an appreciation for how good those boys are to ferret a big buck from that country.

battue: Thanks and the shot is typical for that country (as you know). You have to shoot them right now because they will be gone and will not offer a better chance.

WCH: Thanks! It's a sharp contrast to Wyoming....you can't see as far! But both are great in their own ways.

Dink/1911: Everyone who loves to hunt deer deserves a Maine hunt! It is tough but it is some place special with great tradition. It's fun.

Charlie Fox trot: I think I'm gonna sew my patches on. Never did before, but at my age I figure I earned them now.


7mm/keystone/moosemike: Thanks!

Mike the problem with having too many rifles is you can only hunt with one at a time! I'm sure i could have made that shot with the 280.

I got curious about this so googled up some kill statistics published by the Maine Sportsman. Near as I could tell,there were 342 bucks killed that qualified for the patch in 2013.Out of a total estimated harvest of some 22,000 deer.

This is not to say the number could have been much higher(maybe double?) because 200 pound bucks could have been killed but not registered in the program by the hunters (you fill out a card and submit it, Some hunters might not care).

Highest number I saw was 772 bucks out of a harvest of some 36,000 animals.Seems the number of 200# bucks taken each year comprises about 1.5% to 2.5% of the total harvest,according to stats that I saw.

Hey Bob,
Just saw this. That's a dandy! Way to go! We have one in camp so far. My buddy shot a tender 118lb spike on the Pittsburg/Clarksville town line Tuesday afternoon. I missed a size medium the same morning. Headed out the door in a few minutes to get in front of the rain this morning.

Hope the cold is better and the trip to KS as fruitful as the one to Maine.

Rob

Thanks Rob. Good luck up there!

I didn't realize how few deer were killed in Maine. Compared to the opening two days in Missouri where 97K+ deer were killed 22K doesn't sound like many for a entire season.

Dink

Dink: The state has a population estimated at 203,000 (last numbers I heard). Typical of northern New England we have severe winter weather and deer depend on winter yarding areas for survival in deep snow conditions. Winter mortality is not unusual.

Mix in the predators and the hunting,and a Maine deer has a pretty tough existence.But these same conditions are what gives the deer their size.

Plus, this is not farm country in the same sense as Missouri and the mid west. The deer are primarily forest animals.

It all adds up to very tough hunting conditions...low deer density in many areas, huge unbroken expanses of forest (except for logging activity),and very smart animals who know how to avoid hunters and are swallowed up in wilderness conditions.

This equals low harvest, low success rates, and tough hunting.Not like the deer-rich environments of the south and mid west.

I've seen guys from those areas show up here and quit after 2 days because they didn't see a deer behind every bush. If that's what a guy wants, he should not come to Maine. It's big woods hunting.

You will work a week to 10 days for one crack at a buck...if you even get that.

Congrats on another great year! I always enjoy seeing your hunting pics from Maine!

TN: Thanks!

Nice deer Bob.

Lots of 200+ slobs hitting the dirt this year. Had a customer at work get one 277 dressed.

The patch still eludes me.