Don and Daniel Cloeter: Overdue post of big bucks from 2011
I am working on a piece on late-season hunting opportunities so decided to dig through my old email looking for some hero shots from last December.
Well, I found some — that I didn’t remember. I have a strange memory. I’m not going to say it’s photographic, but I can look at a hero shot once and it’s almost a sure thing I will remember seeing it even if I don’t see it again for five years. Unfortunately, my memory about completing tasks is not quite as good. I will get an email, move it into my Hero Shots folder and think, “I’ll go check that out in a bit and post on my blog.” Then 11 months later…
D’oh!
Sorry about that, guys.
If you sent me shots last year and they didn’t get up, standby for a couple more days. I’m going to go back through my emails and see how many I missed. (Matt Vess — you are next!)
Anyway, these three shots are from Don Cloeter. He didn’t say what county these deer came from. Here’s the story Don provided:
“My son and I had a pretty good season this last fall. He thought we should send in a couple of our pics, so here they are.
Daniel’s was killed the last Saturday evening of general firearms season, in a clover field, all alone (he’s the young nice looking young man). He made a great shot with my old Marlin 35.
I had a rather slow season, until the day after Christmas, when I got the 8 pointer thats shown on the back of the UTV. He was the 5th deer to come down that trail that evening (the 3rd buck).
The last one, was shot the 30th of Dec., chasing a doe. I heard a load grunt, and some crashing on the next ridge, and thought it was my imagination. Fifteen to- 20 minutes later the same thing. Then I knew I wasn’t dreaming. Then minutes later hear they came.”
Wow! Those are fantastic deer! Sorry, again, for making you wait 11 months to get them posted!
December 13, 2012 - 10:53 AM
Great looking bucks. Looking forward to the piece on late season opportunities. I haven’t had much luck in the late season, hoping that will change this year.
Very impressive bucks! Still plenty of season left for this year, as well. Congrats!
Great bucks! Congrats!
Don just let me know that these were all from Roanoke County.
Great deer! Still some big ones left in the late season! Several years ago, I was blessed with a State Big Game contest winner in the 8 point class with a muzzleloader, the day after Christmas. Good luck all!
Great looking bucks, congrats!
Congratulations Don and Daniel on your great 2011 late season bucks!!!
I love late season Hunting ! I usually always take a deer or two in December. I know a lot of guys put away the hunting gear after the rut but there is still some great “tag filling opportunity” out there! I consider the late season my “Back-up plan”…..Usually through November I hold off on shooting deer as I Wait/Hope for a big buck during the prime-time rutting period. But as most of you know the Big Buck quite often doesn’t show up. So when late season rolls around I lower the trophy standards and get down to some serious meat hunting. And of course that doesn’t mean a trophy buck is out of the question…. It just means that in the waning days of the season I won’t be as picky.
Late season hunting can get brutal due to colder temperatures but for this same reason it can also be productive. Bedding sights will be easier to pinpoint in extreme cold……Pick Morning stands on sunny slopes. Also calorie requirements for the deer increase and they will hit food sources on predicable schedules. There’s also the added bonus that maybe a doe in your area that did not get bred will come back into estrous in December….. she could bring a buck right by your stand!
Good Luck wildlifers in your late season pursuits !
And wishing all of you a blessed and joyous Holiday season !