THAT`S AN ODD LOOKING BUCK

THAT’S
AN ODD
LOOKING
BUCK
BY CY WEICHERT
TRAVELING THROUGHOUT
THE VAST STATES and provinces
of North America, we see deer in fields
that, from afar, appear much the same.
However, hunters enjoy hunting bucks
partially for the simple reason that
deer antlers display uniqueness and
individuality born from the habitat,
nutrition, genetics and sometimes
the mishaps of each buck. No two
bucks are the same, but in the words
an old Adirondack camp guide who
mentored me as a boy, “I never met a
single buck I didn’t like.”
This past spring, I was visiting my
boyhood friend Eric who now lives in
Philadelphia. He has a modest trophy
room filled with deer mounts. He
brought me there to see the buck he had
shot in New York the previous year, but
as he pointed to that buck and began to
tell the story, I was completely distracted
by a short haired, short nosed, silverhaired 8-pointer that looked completely
different from the other bucks.
“Where’d you get that odd looking
buck?” I asked.
“Montana,” he said. “Up in the little
snowy mountains while I was elk hunting. Isn’t he cool looking?”
I asked if Eric thought the buck was
part mule deer or some sort of beautiful
mutant.
“You know, it is weird,” Eric replied.
“There were a lot of whitetails on the
ranch. “On the hoof, they all seemed to
be
the same deer I hunt
back here. Even
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87 | J a n u a r t y
after I killed him, he seemed just like
every other whitetail I had ever fielddressed. But he sure sticks out like a
sore thumb among these long-nosed,
long-haired brown bucks from back
East, doesn’t he?”
“He sure does, and he sure is beautiful and unique,” I
replied.
So is a whitetail just a whitetail
wherever he might
grow?
This is the question the Whitetail
Slam experience will
answer for every
adventurous hunter.
The
habitat,
terrain and genetic
adaptations of bucks
in different lands
create a whole new
adventure and a
whole new specimen from we can get
in our Back 40.
I have an impressive collection of
buck mounts from
New York and Georgia, but I plan to
Hunt Swap my way
around the continent during the next
few seasons and
harvest a buck from
each of the eight
Whitetail Slam territories.
Even if I don’t get the Ultimate Slam,
I can’t wait for Eric to come and visit
and see the next one of my bucks on the
wall. I’m hoping he’ll say, “Isn’t that an
odd looking buck!”
Summer 2012
| 87
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BY TOM MIRANDA
Membership
has its Privileges
THE MISSION OF
WHITETAIL SLAM is to
enable all hunters to have
a big game slam they can
pursue, and to feature their
accomplishments and love
of hunting in many ways —
online, on television and in
our magazines. Enabling,
educating, and entertaining
hunters, and making them
better in the field, is a
major part of our mission.
The WhitetailSlam.com
website was built to be
the home-base for all hunters who are
interested in pursuing a Whitetail Slam
or Ultimate Whitetail Slam. It’s also
designed for whitetail hunters who just
want to join the community to learn,
interact, use our tools or perhaps win a
dream hunt and be filmed for our television show.
There are two ways to join Whitetail
Slam. First, you can join the Whitetail
Slam community even if you don’t have
a buck to register. Sign up for free by
entering only your email address, and
get the Whitetail Slam weekly newsletter full of tips, techniques and hunting reports from all eight Slam Zones.
88 | J a n u a r y
You’ll also gain online access to the
forums and our weekly gear giveaways.
Second, if you have ever harvested
at least one buck of any size, you can
register that buck and begin your
quest for a Whitetail Slam or Ultimate
Whitetail Slam.
Registration of your first buck is
FREE (for a limited time), and other
bucks can be registered for a one-time
administrative processing fee of $24.95.
Your buck registration is immediate
and has many benefits.
Here’s how it works:
1. Harvest a buck or enter bucks
from years past, from any or all eight
Whitetail Slam sub-groups. (Any legal
buck qualifies.)
Register any four buck subgroups
and earn a Whitetail Slam. Register all
eight buck subgroups for the Ultimate
Whitetail Slam.
Hunters achieving a Whitetail Slam
or Ultimate Whitetail Slam will be
honored with a framed certificate
of achievement and entered into the
Whitetail Slam archive and annual
publication in the year they register
their Slam. They will receive an official “Slammer” achievement pack-
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age commemorating their successful
completion of the Whitetail Slam or
Ultimate Whitetail Slam. These successful hunters may also be recognized on
Whitetail Slam TV, in the magazine, on
the website, or in other Whitetail Slam
features for their accomplishments and
dedication to mastering the skills of the
hunt.
2. Enter details and a photo of your
buck(s) online. You will appear in the
rotator on the homepage, so please use
a good, clear photo. (We will honor and
reward the best photos of each year, so
if you are taking photos, try to get some
in the field rather than in the truck or
meatpole.)
3. Set up your personal Slam Page
featuring one or more buck from any
subcategory to personalize with photos,
stories, strategies, gear and tactics
used. Your Slam page is all about you,
so customize it any way you like and
feature all the gear or other stuff you
love about hunting. Connect with other
Slammers using our internal Slammer
mail system, right from their Slam page
photo.
4. Enter online to win our monthly
www.deeranddeerhunting.com
free hunt giveaway. Each month,
you can enter your email address on
our contest page for a chance to win
hunts for any of the eight Slam Bucks.
Winners might be selected to be filmed
by Tom Miranda Outdoors for WhitetailSlam TV on NBC Sports and Sportsman Channel.
5. Each week, you can view our giveaway on the contest page, and enter
online for a chance to win. Only those
who enter to win will be included in the
drawing, so be sure to visit the contest
page weekly to enter. Odds will be
excellent, because we will draw from
only those who enter the contest for
that week.
6. Use our free classified section to
sell anything you want. Anyone can
buy from the classifieds, but only hunters who have registered a buck can post
ads.
7. Use Hunt Swap. Hunt Swap is a
free service in our classifieds section
where you can post your land for a swap
with Slammers from another area. It’s a
great, low-cost way to travel to hunt.
When you post a detailed description
of your land, list the Slam buck areas
you want to trade for, specify states of
choice (some tags are guaranteed) and
all other preferences. You can connect
privately with other Slammers to work
out dates and details of your own swaps.
Hunt Swap is a free service that will
help enable like-minded folks to be able
to hunt distant places that they have
had the chance to learn about through
connecting with other Slammers.
Access is difficult to get these days, and
being able to hunt on private land is in
many ways sometimes better than even
hunting with an outfitter. The pressure
is lower, and many landowners manage
land very well for quality herds. Verifying with the owner that he manages
and hunts it the way you want is all part
of the fun and the adventure.
Any time a HuntSwap occurs, The
Whitetail Slam TV team will screen both
parties in hopes of filming both hunts
for the same episode on NBC Sports
Network and Sportsman Channel.
As you can see, there is something in
Whitetail Slam for everyone. So go to
whitetailSlam.com now and go for the
Slam!
January 2013
| 89
WATCH
Whitetail Slam TV
Watch Whitetail Slam TV, by
award winning producer Tom
Miranda, and experience the stunning imagery and action, featuring
hunters who have registered their
bucks onWhitetail Slam while traveling the country in pursuit of the
Whitetail Slam!
This fall, Whitetail Slam is filming 2013 shows, with some hunters
who have registered their bucks
on whitetailslam.com and won
our monthly hunt giveaways being
featured on the show. Thousands
of hunters who have seen Whitetail Slam TV have immediately
gone to the website and regis-
90 | J a n u a r y
tered their buck(s), and entered
the monthly hunt giveaways
with world class outfitters. Hunt
winners will be screened for filming for Whitetail Slam TV! There
are also weekly gear giveaways
for Mathews bows, Cuddeback
cameras and more. All drawings are completely free. All you
have to do is register on the site
and return each week or month to
enter, using your email address.
Tune in to Whitetail Slam TV
to learn strategies for all eight
subgroups of bucks, and also visit
www.whitetailslam.com to register
your bucks today for a chance to be
featured on the show!
Be a part of the ultimate deer
hunting challenge! Create your
personal Slam Page to showcase
your favorite bucks, hunting methods or products. Post a Classified
ad for a HuntSwap and trade for
hunts with Slammers from other
regions.
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