2012 Season Recap

2012 Season Recap

Well it has been a great season with a lot of great bucks killed.  It appears we have a winner, Angelo Infantino won for the second year in a row.  This year he killed a 142" buck with the bow in Wyoming, NY.  QDMA does work and it only takes a few years.  Great work Angelo!  

Saturday 12-15-12 Mark Shiner got s big Doe in Cuba, NY.  Mark have really stocked the freezer this year, that means more chops on the grill for us at camp in the summer!  Mare also scored a great buck with the bow on 11-9.  

Sunday 12-9-12 Bret Grape killed a 10 pointer in Wayland NY.  Bret was on stand in the morning, it was very quiet in the woods.  At about 8:40 he heard 3 deer coming and it sounded like a mack truck coming through the woods.  This buck came in with two smaller ones.  When the buck gave hom a shot Bret took it.  The shot the buck in the neck and dropped him in his tracks.  This buck measured 103".

Angelo Infantino killed a doe and two foxes at his place in Wyoming, NY

Thursday 12-6-12 Steve Giannetto Killed tow does one in the morning and one in the afternoon.

Tuesday 12-4-12 Jeff Ames nailed a killer buck on our lease Clover Hill Hunt Club in Springwater, NY.  This buck measures 134".  This deer is "Holy Moly" We have all passed a lot of smaller bucks this year for true shooter bucks like this one.  It was a warm day and deer movement was slow.  At the end of the night Jeff decides to sneak around and try to find them.  He slowly creeped into a hidden field that has received very little hunting pressure this year and he saw a couple of deer deep in the field feeding, at closer look he saw one was a shooter buck.  Jeff had to belly crawl into the field to get close enough.  He was able to get in range set his rifle on his shooting sticks and nail this buck right in the heart.  He dropped right there.  Great late season Hunt and a great shot.  Nice work Jeff!

Sunday 12-2-12 Dick Broza killed a great, late season, 2.5 year old 9 pointer in Auburn, NY.  Dick and his son Josh had a great hunt together.  Dick was on stand first thing in the morning and his son Josh was in a ground blind he made.  Josh spotted some deer go into a thick patch and told his Dad he could push them out to him.  They sat tight for a little longer then set up the one man push.  Dick moved to a different stand and Josh pushed the thick patch.  The deer did not come out of the patch but this big 9 pointer did.  They both saw the buck run through the cut bean field but they could not get a shot.  They changed the plan quickly and Josh went in one end of the wood block and Dick move into the other end.  right after Dick got into the woods he caught little movement out of the corner of his eye and the buck was 20 yards away standing still and looking away.  Dick raise his 30/06 found him in the scope and fired, the buck took off.  Josh called his Dad right away and asked, did you get him?  Dick said I don't know, he took off.   Josh wanted his Dad to wait for him for the track job and Dick waited for Josh then they started tracking him.  There was no blood at first then the found a little, then a little more.  Dick looked up and saw some intestine against the tree and was worried it was a gut shot.  Josh was a bloodhound and found more and more blood.  When the got to the open hard woods Dick looked up and saw the deer bedded down, his big rack was up and down, he was dying.  They got close enough and Dick finished him off.  When Dick told me the story today, the highlight was not the kill but a great hunt with his son.   Great team work guys, great story and great Hunt!!!

Sunday 11-25-12 I had a great mid day hunt with my 8 year old daughter Emma. Nothing died but it was our first hunt together.  She told me she wanted me to take her so I did.  I really didn't think she was interested but I am glad she is. We didn't see any deer but we had a blast.  She was a trooper, she didn't complain a bit.  She said she wants to be aprofessional hunter someday.  Definitely a great day!   

Sunday 11-25-12 Doug Sholette shot a nice big doe at Clover Hill Hunt Club in Springwater, NY. I enjoyed spending a little time with Doug at camp this weekend.  He was enjoying well deserved "Doug Days", this guy cracks me up!  He made an amazing pan fried goose dish for lunch with is famous pickled hot peppers and vegetables.  Great work Doug!

Saturday 11-24-12 Joe Shiner killed a nice doe in Cuba, NY.  They were pushing deer all over the hill all day.  Joe was headed down to the ravine looked into the woods and a nice doe was looking at him 30 yards away.  he raised his new 308 and pounded her.  The round destroyed her chest, she didn't go far. Noce work. 

Thursday 11-22-12 Thanksgiving Morning Jeff Ames did a little predator hunting from the stand and squeked this fox into 20 yards.  The SST slug blew out his entier stomach.   Nice shooting.

Monday 11-19-12 Stephen Ames shot "Dagger" at Clover Hill Hunt Club in Springwater, NY.  "Dagger" is a great 9 pointer.  Mr. Ames spends a lot of time at our CHHC and does a ton of the work.  Great job and a great Buck Mr. Ames!

                                     Lefty and Dagger 

Sunday 11-18-12 Steve Wysocki shot a nice big doe in Cuba, NY

Opening Weekend Tim O'Neill shot 3 does.

Sunday 11-18-12 Steve Ames Jr.  Shot "Lefty" in the after noon at Clover Hill Hunt Club in Springwater, NY.  This is a great buck that the guys have pictures of.  "Lefty" came into the field following a doe and that was his big mistake. This is a 129.5" buck and  a great buck for the wall. Nice Shooting Steve.

Opening day Saturday 11-17-12 Jeff Ames killed a doe at Clover Hill Hunt Club in Springwater, NY.

Opening day Saturday 11-17-12 Brett Grape killed a doe at Clover Hill Hunt Club in Springwater, NY.

Opening day Saturday 11-17-12 RJ Booth shot a great 10 point in Lima, NY.  at 4:35 in the afternoon.

he is RJ's story.

Hunted the "Point Stand", this is a stand my Uncle Tom Booth & I hunt, We catch the deer going to "the sanctuary" A large portion of our land that we DO NOT TOUCH.  in the Past 5 years between my uncle & I, we have taken 5 "shooters".  Well anyway... The day was agonizing slow, normally you at least SEE deer... enough to keep you warm..I was texting my uncle complaining that it is so slow.. As is normally happens, 4:35pm.. just as I am ready to give up and I see a Doe bust out of the 5-6ft high gloden rod (and there is a TON of  golden rod) and right behind it was this guy.. Shot was around 80yards, no tracking necessary. 

My Uncle is very happy that I am done in that stand, especially after we have seen a couple bruts on our trail cams..

Opening day Saturday 11-17-12 Mark Shiner killed a buck that he though was a doe in Cuba, NY.  Mark was on the Polish Penthouse and saw the big dear moving through at 3:15-ish.  He wiay=ted for his shot and took it.  When he got up to it he saw small deformed palmations at the base. the longest one was less than 3 inches so it was tagged as a doe.  During that hunt my son David and I wer playing Cribbage in a bling whaile hunting, we were having a ball.  We herd the shot then got the call from Mark.  We played our last hand and David won then he went to help Uncle Mark.  Gret Opening weekend at camp with family.  

The last week of Archery Season Steve Giannetto had a busy week, he shot two does and a nice 7 pointer at Clover Hill Hunt Club in Springwater, NY.

Friday 7-16-12 The last day of the early Archery season Bret Grape killed a small buck

Tuesday 11-13-12 RJ Booth shot this buck in Mendon, NY.  I bet RJ would like to get a crack at the one that broke his rack off.  Nice job! Much better than Tag Soup! 

Friday 11-09-12 Mark Shiner killed a nice buck in Lancaster NY.  This buck came in following a doe, the doe passed by a scrape and was headed down wind of Mark.  The buck stood near the scrape and Mark found a lane and tucked and arrow right behind his shoulder.  After a short track Mark found his Buck. This may be Mark's best buck with the bow.  Mark went out in the afternoon also and was able to take a nice doe.  Busy day. Nice work!

Thursday 11-08-12 and Friday 11-09-12 Keith Schnetzer (not in our contest) down in Delaware has had a busy couple of days.  He killed a spike horn with his bow on the afternoon of the 8th.  He was hunting the edge of a cur bean field when about 25 deer filtered into the other sode of it.  After bunch of grunting and bleating the deer worked their way to his side. Just before dark Keith picked out the bigest body and let his arrow fly. The buck didn't go far.  Then the morning of the 9th Shotgun opens in Delaware for bucks and does. Keith was Grunting a lot then he saw a mature doe come in the open hardwoods below him and the pounded her, she dropped within site. Right behind her was a mature 8 pointer. He steeped into an open lane and Keith pounded him.  After a short track he recovered this buck.  On a property about 10 miles away Keith's son Kyle shot a spike horn.  Later in the day Keith's hunting partner Alan shot a doe and then shot another, the second one went over 500 yards and Keith finished her off.  They now have 5 deer hanging in the garage and a lot of butchering to do.  Nice job guys! 

Tuesday 11-07-12 Big Boss in Town!. Angelo Infantino killed a BRUTE on his property in Wyoming, NY. This buck is 141.875" gross, he is a 9 pointer (main frame 8 with a kicker at the left base). Angelo was at the "Trailer Stand", the buck stepped into a lane about 25 yards away. Angelo gave him a mouth grunt and he stopped and Angelo let the arrow fly.  His hunting partner Craig was in the "thorn apple" stand and saw most of this happen.  After a while Angelo and Craig got the lights out and started looking they followed slow blood trail for about 40 yards and they marked the last blood.  This morning Angelo resumed the search and didn't get any further.  I joined him on the search around 10am and we coud not find any more blood so we body searched for nearly two hours through some thick stuff.  It started opening up a little more, as we criss crossed therough it Angelo started yelling, YES! YES! YES!.  He saw his horns and found his buck.  It was great t be there with him for this tremendous find.  Congrats Buddy! Angelo has taken the lead in the Contest. 

Tuesday 11-06-12 Boss for a day. Dan D'Ettorre Killed a 9 point 130.375" STUD in Brockport!  Dan had action this morning in his honey-hole   First he saw a 2.5 year old nice buck pushing a doe about 70 yards out. Around 8:45 he heard something behind him, dead down wind.  This stud had his nose in the air and was likely to bolt.  Dan drew his bow and took aim at this buck that was standing 50 yards behind him.  He had a small view of the back of this bucks vitals.  Dan thought, its now or never and he let it fly.  The arrow entered high at a downward angle and the buck ran off with the arrow sticking out of him.  Dan watched the buck run over 100 yards through the woods and disappeared.  After a short wait dan got down and found a couple of tufts of hair but no blood.  Dan did the right thing and backed out for about 6 hours.  He returned around 2PM with Tommy Reina. They could not find any blood.  They decided to take advantage of the day light and body search.  after searching for over 300 yards past where he shot the buck Dan looked up and saw horns.  The buck was dead with Dan's arrow still in his back.  What an incredible find and a tremendous effort by Dan and Tommy.   Dan killed a great Buck and it's Dan's best buck to date.  Congrats Dan!

Tuesday 11-06-12 John Sweeney shot an 8 pointer with his recurve. Here is his story, "He was an 8 pt., the end of his right antler was broken and his ear was split in half. Obviously he'd been in a scrap or two. The bucks were on the move early. I nearly had a crack  at a much larger 8 but he turned away before presenting a shot. As he was leaving I started grunting and doe calling in hopes of turning him but no luck. A button buck appeared  to my left and then this 8 pt. came from the north. The 8 walked south past the BB just out of my range and down the hill out of site. The BB then started to work a mock scrape I had made about 6 yds. in front of my stand. A few minutes later the 8 reappeared and proceeded to run the BB off the scrape. The 8 had his head in the scrape quartering away when I shot him at 6 yds. He ran about 100 yds. in the open slowed down and then tipped over within site.  A nice 6 pt. came up the hill while I was on the phone telling my buddy about it. This all happened before 6:45 AM. I used that Fedora recurve you borrowed a few years ago with a 175 grain Woodsman broadhead. It took out one lung and lodged in the opposite shoulder.

Great morning :)"  Great story John! Congrats!

Tuesday 10-30-12 Me, Dave D'Ettorre Killed a nice big doe in Ogden, NY.  The story starts on Sunday 10-28, My hunting partner Tom Farrarro had been seeing a ton of deer in the winter wheat field.  Tom was dying to get a stand near the dry creek bed on the south end of the field.  After our morning hunt in the rain and cold on Sunday we went over the the area by the dry creek bed and found a perfect tree for a ladder stand.  While we were standing the stand up in hit a dead branch and it fell and clocked me on the head.  It gashed my head open pretty good.  We went to my truck and patched it up with the first aid kit then we went back and finished the stand.  When I got home my wife dressed it as best as she could but she told me to go to the Hospital.  After a couple of hours of procrastination I went in to get it looked at and I'm glad I did.  It needed 10 staples to close the wound so it can heal properly.  I hunted that stand Sunday night for revenge, saw some in the field but no shots.  I told Tom they have to hit me harder than that to keep me out of that stand.  Went in there Tuesday night, some were feeding in the field then I saw this lone doe seeking through the thick stuff.  She took three bounds through one of my lanes and stopped.  By the time she stopped I was at full draw and I settled in and let it fly.  I hit her perfectly in the boiler room.  She bounded across the dry creek bed, ran about 60 yards and dropped.  About 4 minutes later a 4 point buck followed her same trail.  I told Tom we were staying until dark and waiting for the Big Boy but he never showed up.  After the hunt I brought the deer to my son David's Boy Scout meeting.  I talked to the boys about Commitment, being prepared and SAFETY especially tree stand safety.  The boys had a lot of questions I think they learned a few things.  After the Scout meeting I brought her to Creekwood Archery http://www.creekwoodarchery.com/ in Brockport and had her weighed, I am in a contest there and this doe is in the lead for biggest doe at 126lbs.  Ben and Marcia Adams at Creekwood Archery run camps and leagues for kids and my son and daughter have learned the basics on Archery there and my son continued on to a league, he is doing great and he loves it.  Thanks to Tom Farrarro's Pro Guide Services and a well placed shot I have a nice big 126 Lbs. Doe in the freezer. 

Monday 10-22-12 Keith Schnetzer, my good buddy skewered a nice Delaware Doe with a shotgun on Delaware Doe Days.

Monday 10-22-12 Dan D'Ettorre killed Two big Does in his honey hole in Brockport, NY.  

Saturday 10-20-12 Craig Coburn killed a 6 pointer in Wyoming, NY. This is Craig's first Buck with the bow. Great job!

Friday 10-19-12 Joe Shiner Killed a nice big Doe in Chili, NY.

Thursday 10-18-12 Tom Farraro killed a 6 pointer in Ogden, NY.  We put up a new ladder stand on the edge of a winter wheat field this summer.   He sat in that stand for the first time in the afternoon and saw does coming into the field   Cars were stopping at the road and watching the does. One car started beeping its horn and the does cam running past Tom, he counted 14 in total. After that he saw a buck on his right one the edge of the field. Little by little the buck headed his way.  He waited until the buck passed his stand then he let the arrow fly.  The shot was a little far back so he backed off and called me to give him a hand.  My son David and I showed up and started tracking the blood.  David did a great job tracking then he said " I see eyes"   We walked up a little more and the buck was in its bed wounded pretty bad.  Tom put a kill arrow through his neck and we dragged him out.  Nice tracking job David!  Meat in the Freezer!

Saturday 10-13-12 Pat Duggan killed a nice 10 point buck at his place "The Farm" in Naples, NY.   113.5" Buck.  Here is Pat's Story.

    I went down to camp Friday night in Naples and got up about 6 a.m., showered with the scent free soap, geared up, and sprayed down with Essence of Fall Cover Scent. It was 27 degrees with a hard frost, the air was crisp, sky was clear. It was one of those perfect Fall mornings. By the time I got to my stand, it was already getting light, and I decided not to worry about being a little behind schedule.

    As I sat in my stand, I thought about how tired I was, but the coffee I drank earlier did help. There were a few coyotes howling outside the night before, and they had my dog irritated, so I didn't get a great night's sleep. After an hour, the sun started coming up over the hills, and the first deer showed up. A doe and three little ones. They were a bit out of range, but it was good to finally see something moving. 15 minutes later (about 8a.m.), a few more deer came in, right in front of my stand. Two doe and three yearlings. One doe was really big, and I contemplated taking the 20 yard shot. Then I asked myself, "Do I really want to get all bloody for a doe this morning?". I know that sounds lame, but my wife was driving down to help me split firewood by noon, and besides, it was only my second time out, and it was still early in the season. I decided to let them pass. I would sit another hour then go in for a quick nap before the firewood chores started.

    About 10 minutes later, I noticed a rack at about 80 yards, through the woods. There was still a lot of cover, but I could see it was a nice buck. As I watched him munching leaves, a second rack appeared from behind him. It was a noticeably bigger rack that dwarfed the first deer. Although I couldn't count tines yet, I knew right away that this was a shooter. Within minutes the 2 deer made their way toward me. I could see bits and pieces of them through the cover as they closed in. Luckily, the bigger deer came in first, and as he stepped into my area of the woods, I drew my Mathews Bow and held it. I saw he was big, and tried to focus on the setup, and not look at his rack. My knee was twitching hard, but I was steady from the waist up.

I held the bow back for over a minute, before he stepped in front of my stand. Broadside, at 20 yards, I looked through the peep sight, released, and thud.

I hit him behind the shoulder, but he didn't run, he went down slowly, and I could tell it was a lethal hit. It was a nice 10 point buck. I took in a deep breath and offered up a thanks, my head swimming full of emotions. The 8 pointer was still standing 25 yards away, but finally trotted off. I could hardly believe it. What a great day in my life. I will never forget this morning. It's why I climb the tree and wait. Cold, tired, whatever, it's all worth it!

Saturday 10-13-12 Doug Sholette shot a nice doe up in the Northern zone. 

Saturday 10-6-12 Mark Shiner got a Doe on our land in Cuba, NY.  Mark was in his climber in one of his favorite spots. He was about to quit and was raising the rope up when he saw a fawn.  Mark dropped the hoist rope, he was facing the tree and had to grab his bow and turn completely around.  As he was turning around he could see the doe and fawn under his stand.  He was able to rais his bow without being detected.  By that time the doe and fawn were past him he had to make a difficult quartering away shot.  He placed the arrow perfectly.  He heard her crash and there was a easy blood trail to follow. Way to keep your cool Mark.

Friday 10-5-12 Gavin Vogt Jr. (not in our contest) got his first deer, a doe in Clarkson, NY.  Gavin is 12 years old, he saved up money to purchase his bow, its a Matthews Craze.  Gavin showed commitment to the sport by buying his bow practicing and getting out in the woods.  Gavin and his Dad have a couple of stands on their property.  Gavin Jr.  went out hunting on his own and choose the stand near the pear tree.  The doe came in and presented a shot, Gavin took aim but he missed.  Gavin stayed calm knocked another arrow and let it fly, this one was placed perfectly, lung shot.  Gavin ran up to the house to get his Dad, they grabbed the flashlights and got on her trail.  She went about 80 yards and went down.  I'm sure that was a proud moment for big Gavin.  After they gut her out Gavin went up to the house with her heart in his hand covered in blood, he was very excited.   Gavin Jr. and my son David are in the same Boy Scout Troop 111 in Brockport, NY.  The whole troop is proud of his achievement.  As a hunter you know harvesting deer is not "easy".  Great job Gavin!

Wednesday 10-2-12 Keith Schnetzer, my good buddy skewered a nice Delaware Doe. Keith and his hunting partner Allan went in for an afternoon hunt.  After Allan drooped Keith off and was headed to his spot he saw a nice doe on the hill side.  Allan called Keith and let him know and they set up a good old schnizzle.  Keith got in position and Allan did a slow push towards Keith.  He pushed the doe into a lane 20 yards in front of Keith and Keith placed the arrow nicely.  Keith gave her some time and he recovered his bloody arrow.  He followed a good blood trail and decided to go back in the morning.  Allan and Keith's oldest son Kyle went in this morning and found her after a short track.  Nice shot!  Your ahead of your New York Brothers in the body count.