Charlie Reade

Disclaimer: Any advice given in this blog is strictly based on my experience in the field and is my opinion only. I have a lot to learn still but enjoy sharing what I have so far.

Part way through January 2020, and no sign of Double D. I’m confident he is safe and sound somewhere in an evergreen thicket, far away from humans and hopefully any predators. But I must be prepared for the worst. It’s currently -40c outside and there is substantial snow cover.

Last season I was lucky enough to knock a few things off of my goal list. Most importantly, I self filmed my first ever bow kill. That said, I still have so many goals left to accomplish as a bow hunter, too many to list them all. But, below are my main goals for next season.

This past year I had the pleasure of watching a few nice deer, both on camera and in person. I really hit the lottery with this new 1600-acre property I’d acquired permission on. It has almost everything I feel a property needs to grow high quality mature whitetails, year after year. I do, however notice that as the snow cover built up, the main food source became abandoned. The clover that had been a staple food all summer and fall had been snow covered. Then frozen. Then covered again. Making it almost impossible for the deer to dig up and feed on. So, this spring I’ll hopefully plant a couple acres of soybeans or alfalfa and let it stand all season. That way, 6 inches of snow won’t stop the deer from feeding as much as they need for the winter, ultimately increasing the health of the herd on this particular property.

Like I mentioned before, I’m not a professional bowhunter. I don’t have the same standards or expectations as someone who has been bow hunting for 10, 20 or 30 years. In fact, I likely even have lower standards than some of you reading this article. To me that’s the beauty of bowhunting. I can push myself with higher standards and expectations every year, while gaining the same thing from the hunt as someone trying to achieve totally different goals.

I believe my next legitimately achievable goal is shooting a pope and young buck on film. And although this article is called “Search for 170 inches”, I’ll be putting all my focus on achieving just that. And I plan on taking the first opportunity I get. No matter which buck it is that shows!

Here are a few of the deer on that list!

This buck which I named Bruce, was an absolute regular throughout summer and into early October. As snow accumulated his appearances proportionally dropped off. I feel that I have a legitimate chance at shooting this buck early in the season next year due to the amount of time I have seen him active in daylight hours on camera or in person. I’ve captured more pictures of this buck than any other buck last season and he will be on my radar next year without question. It looks like he would definitely make the Pope and Young 125” requirement and knock another goal off my list!

Another buck that could get me that Pope and Young certificate, but will never be a Booner, is this young deer that was also an early season regular. My father and I saw this deer in early November. He certainly considered him a shooter. But minus 20c temperatures, blowing snow and 300-yard shot weren’t something he wanted to risk. As much as it would have been a great hunt and harvest, we both agreed that he was a young deer and if he had a good winter, he would make a great trophy down the road.

The below buck showed up very late in the season, well after the rut but looking surprisingly healthy. I have never laid eyes on this deer in person or in a trail camera picture until just today. I had no idea he even existed. But now that I know about him, I’m very hopeful. He looks to be only a 3.5 or 4.5-year-old buck with a great frame. He has good main beam length and width; he also has great length on his G2’s for a young deer. He is one I will want to keep an eye on. And by the looks of things, he has found the food I have left out for him!

Now that a good portion of deer are dropping their antlers, I will be switching gears out of trail camera mode, and into shed hunting and scouting mode. You can see below; the deer are herding up a bit and appearing in cold open spaces less and less. I like to use this time of year to optimize my stand placements. I may not move them right now, but the tracks in the snow really shine light on where the bulk of the travel takes place later in the season. This is very valuable information for next year when the rut is coming to an end, if I’m still holding a tag.

As much as I love deer hunting and seeing big bucks show up on my trail cameras, I think I love sharing it all with my little guy the most. He is just as pumped to go check them as I am.

Check in next week as I gear up to do some predator control and do the other part of growing big white tails. All of which hopefully leads me to 170”