Joe Kurz Report, 10/27-30 hunt (14pt pic)

We had a great time at Kurz.
We were there from 10/26 - 10/30. Met some nice folks there, two fellas from Rome in particular. The area managers were great as well. They never bothered us in the woods, nor did they check our cards which surprised me. They did set up a 10pt decoy and gave tickets to an unlucky hunter and the driver for shooting accross a road and accessory.

Neither me nor my dad took a deer. Unfortunately dad only saw one deer the entire hunt.
I had a decent spot in the woods and never ever had a person come in on me the whole time. It took me 17 minutes to walk to that location, which may have been one reason I had it to myself? I hung in the same tree for the entire hunt and saw 5 bucks and 2 does. One button, a spike, 3pt, 6pt and an 8pt that had me clicking my safety on and off. He was marginal and I just couldn't make the shot for fear of him not making the grade. The 3pt was very close to meeting the 16" beam requirement too. One buck in the camp (a 7pt) came in short and it cost the hunter his buck and a fine.

All of the bucks taken were in rut. Swollen necks and dark hocks. BUT, not one person in the camp reported seeing any bucks chasing does. When we left Sat at 12:30pm the check-in stats were:

7 bucks & 5 does

• 6pt

• 7pt

• 7pt (didn't make the requirements)

• 8pt

• 10pt

• 10pt

• 14pt (pictured below)

Deer were taken in all areas of the WMA with the "Pup Rd." area being the hottest for bucks and does. The 14pt was taken in area 1. If everyone was honest about the details of the kills, NONE of the bucks were taken in fields.

Both 10's were very nice bucks and the 14pt was and exceptional buck. The 14 was fairly small in body weight at 140# field dressed, but made up for it's weight in bone! You should see this one in GON for the wildcard pick. I know he'll enter it because he borrowed my application. And get this, the lucky hunter was from Tennesee! He was lucky for more then one reason. The buck was ran into veiw by a couple beagles, and that hole you see in his neck was the only shot that he was able to get on the buck. 300 yds later he lay dead in a swamp.

The picture doesn't do the bucks rack justice.
GOOD LUCK to any hunter that has been drawn for the next Kurz hunt. You should have a great one! I would suspect you'll be seeing bucks chasing does all over the fields.

Hes a tall rascal.I'm proud you saw some deer.7 bucks killed is pretty good being the weather is like it is HOT.I would not have thought Pup rd would have been the hottest spot.Now if we were talking turkeys thats were I'd be,but not deer.I guess you just never know!

sounds good Lakota! my brother and myself will be there next hunt. btw was the six pt. legal he would have to have 4 of those on one side just to be county legal much less a 15" spread? area 1 has been my honey spot. sounds like it hasn't lost it's savor. now it's gonna be tough to sleep till hunt time.

MJ,

The 6pt was legal. On Kurz the regs are 15" outside spread or 16" main beams. They don't require minimun point/side. He had beams over 16" long which made him legal. G-2's were about 6" long. The spread was near 15". A nice buck with only six points.

GOOD LUCK on your hunt. You should see plenty of action. The older bucks were all were swollen, smelly, and ready to go. The younger bucks seemed to be a bit behind. I saw 3 young bucks still traveling together. The 6pt and 3pt got in a scuffle for about 6 seconds. You talk about noisy, they were not concerned with how much noise they made. That was exciting to see! They left just as them came in, together. I thought that was odd this late in the season. :

Area 1 was probably the least crowded out of any area. Lots of corn planted around most of the areas this year. The 14pt came from the back side of a field near White Oak creek.

We found lots of sign in every area we scouted. Scrapes are everywhere you look, but I believe that most of them are Doe scrapes. I saw an old doe late Friday evening make 2 new scrapes 25yds in front of me. There was already 8-10 more within a 70yd circumference around me. She thrashed her head around in overhanging limbs and nibbled on them just like a buck would do. I used to think that the bucks were the only one to make scrapes and does only checked them, but over the past 3 yrs I've learned that's not true. This wasn't the first doe I've seen make a scrape.