Hunting big deer
March 17th, 2006 by Administrator
Hunting big deer with the Benoits
VERMONT If you live for deer hunting season and have attended any of Maine’s major outdoor shows or the bigger out-of-state shows, you have most likely heard about the Benoit brothers. They put on deer hunting seminars, have written two books and recently released their third deer hunting video.
Just what makes this family so successful at hunting trophy bucks? It’s a combination of skill, time spent in big deer country, and four to six weeks of vacation taken during deer season.
The Benoits’ latest video, “Hunt Smarter Not Harder,” is now available to deer hunters. The video, released this year, covers three seasons of hunting by the Benoits.
During the action-packed, 80 minutes of extreme whitetail hunting, brother Shane takes a huge 21 pointer, Landon shoots his best buck, a 16 pointer, Lanny takes a 255 pound, 9 pointer, and Lane connects with a mature 10 pointer.
The brothers, well known for their tracking skills, hunt Ontario, Canada, New Hampshire, Vermont and Maine. Even though they grew up in Vermont and live there today, they claim that Maine and Vermont don’t support big-bodied trophy bucks as they did in the past.
That said, Lanny killed a 218-pound, 7-point buck in Maine during the 2005 season.
The video, produced by Great Northern Productions, offers exciting scenes of big deer, pictures of actual hunting conditions and demonstrations of hunting techniques.
Because they are well-known trackers, the Benoits often spend time driving old logging roads looking for places where deer have crossed the road. They check out the tracks and determine if they were made by a trophy buck. If not, they move on.
If they find a fresh track made by a big deer, they grab their gear and start pursuing the animal. Some deer are tracked for a few minutes, while others are followed for many hours and miles. As happens with any tracking method, the Benoits often jump a deer before they can get off a shot. Sometimes they are lucky and catch a big buck in its bed, walking slowly through the woods or feeding, totally unaware it is being followed by hunters.
If there is a negative aspect to the video, it involves shooting at running deer. There are many scenes where big bucks are running off, sometimes through thick woods, and the Benoits start throwing lead. Apparently they are better-than-average shots, because often there is a dead deer at the end of the pursuit.
One scene highlights this weakness. One of the brothers is on a stand when a big buck walks out from behind some thick cover and stops broadside a few yards away. The hunter says, “It’s too early. This is not a challenge. Let’s wait until it runs.” Moments later, two shots are fired at a running deer and it falls.
Hunter safety instructors have for years been stressing the ethical side of hunting. That instruction includes not shooting at running deer and taking the safest shot for the cleanest kill.
Hunting tips
There are a number of useful tips inserted within the hunting scenes in the video. How-to sections include rattling deer, using deer calls, reading what tracks tell the hunter, hunting in all kinds of weather and what to look for in the woods.
One point the video stresses is the importance of hunting in less than perfect conditions. “Don’t be fussy about the weather,” it says. “Go with what you have.” It points out that during some deer seasons there may only be three of four so-called perfect days.
The Benoits often start a season by heading to spots that contained big deer last hunting season. Scouting soon tells them if the deer are still there.
If you love to hunt the elusive white-tailed deer, you will enjoy viewing the footage contained in this new video by Vermont’s deer hunting legends - the Benoit brothers. The video costs $25, plus shipping and handling, and can be purchased from Great Northern Productions at gnproductions.com or from the Benoits at benoitsbigbucks.com.
By Ken Bailey
Outdoors Editor