2008.11.24
Check out the brow tines on Gary Creasy's 10-pointer
Gary Creasy of Roanoke shot this great 10-pointer in Montgomery County on Nov. 19. The brow tines were an impressive 8 inches.
Brian Patrick with a big Fauquier County 9-pointer
Brian Patrick shot this great nine-pointer on Oct. 25 in Fauquier County. Patrick reported that the buck was 18 1/2 inches wide and dressed out close to 200 pounds. He said the range was just 3 yards, so Patrick must have been hunting in an elevated stand.Based on the reports and pictures I received last week, hunting was pretty good. I also have some personal observations -- with pictures and stories to appear here soon.
The only downside was the windy weather toward the end of the week. I braved it for a few hours on Friday and it was brutal.
I've got to catch up on picture submissions. So if you've sent one and haven't seen it up here yet, be patient. They'll be up in the next couple of days. If you still don't see it by Wednesday, send it again.
2008.11.21
Tim Dunkleman's 19-point Montgomery County beauty
Jeff Stanley sent in some shots of this awesome buck killed by his friend Tim Dunkleman, the head baseball coach at Christiansburg High School. Dunkleman shot the buck on Nov. 12 in Montgomery County.
Stanley said Dunkleman "is the luckiest guy I know. I am starting to dislike him. I am sure Tim will send you the buck's stats. He loves to talk about it." The picture files were named "Lucky Bastard!1.jpg" and so on. Pretty funny. You gotta love jealous friends!
Dunkleman said the buck has 13 main points with six additional stickers. He is going to wait until the 90-day drying period is over before he has it scored.
Great double for McGuire and Brugh
My friends David Brugh (left) and Freddy McGuire pulled off this great double on a pair of seven pointers on Monday evening. David's buck is great, and Freddy's has the kind of mass you rarely see in these parts.
Freddy's posted a detailed story of the hunt on his Vaturkey.com Web site.
The wind is sure howling out there today but I'm going to brave it for a few hours this afternoon.
2008.11.20
Yet another Veterans Day buck: Chris Vaughn 7-pointer
Is it just me, or was Veterans Day a really good day for hunting?
Here's another nice Veterans Day buck, this one from Chris Vaughn. Vaughn said he was hunting a piece of new ground in Craig County when the buck zig-zagging down the mountain hollow scent-checking for does.
2008.11.19
Dwayne Robertson with two trophy bucks
Most hunters would be ecstatic with either one of these great bucks killed by Dwayne Robertson this year.
Robertson said he shot the huge 10-pointer with a bow on Oct. 25 in Bedford County. The shot hit only one lung and the deer went a half-mile. Robertson said it wasn't recovered until three days later.
The seven-pointer was a killed on Nov. 12 in Franklin County with a muzzleloader.
Check out the mass on Larry Chandler's eight
Larry Chandler was hunting in Montgomery County during the early muzzleloader season when he dropped this impressive eight-pointer. The mass is these antlers is really impressive, as was the buck's weight. Chandler said it dressed out at 221 pounds. They don't get much bigger in these parts.
2008.11.18
Hunter Grubb with a massive Carroll County buck
Hunter Grubb killed this awesome buck on the opening day of the early muzzleloader season in Carroll County. It's a mainframe 11-pointer with several stickers. What a buck!
Note added on Dec. 4: Keith Grubb said he recently had the Hunters' buck green scored and the Boone and Crockett gross was about 165, with the net about 160.
Only a matter of time: J.R. Mitchell gets his first deer
Regular readers of this blog probably recognize the name J.R. Mitchell. He regularly congratulates other hunters on their deer and has let us know that he's been working on getting his first -- while hunting only with a bow.
Well, I was happy to get this picture from J.R. on Saturday. I knew that if he stuck this out he was going to get a deer, and sooner rather than later. I think his smile in this picture says it all. And I'm pretty sure this is just the first of many for this guy...
I can't tell the story of J.R.'s Saturday hunt near as well as he can, so here it is in his words:
Ralph Barton worked hard for this National Forest buck
Ralph Barton said he spent seven full days in the woods during the early muzzleloader and didn't see much. But he finally had this buck walk by and took him.
It's a mainframe eight with two broken tines, and it took Barton four hours to get him back to the road from the national forest spot deep in the Botetourt County. Talk about hard-earned!
I have a bunch more shots in the hopper that arrived yesterday and will try to post them as I can throughout the day.
About this blog
While growing up in rural Southern Oregon, Mark Taylor developed a passion for the outdoors while he and his younger brother tagged along with their father on fishing, hunting and camping adventures.
Graduating from Northwestern University in 1988, Taylor spent four years as an officer in the U.S. Navy based in Norfolk before moving into journalism.
After five years writing about the military for a Norfolk-based publishing company, he became the outdoors editor at The Roanoke Times in 1998. He lives in Roanoke with his wife and twin daughters.
