Maine Expedition: Hunt Allagash Trophy Whitetails

Allagash Logging Road

It was 7AM when Oliver & Mary Ford and I left Chester, NH Sunday November 14th, 2021 for our Trophy Buck Hunt in Allagash Maine. It was a 7 1/2 hour drive and 360 miles to our destination using RT 95, RT 11 and Rt 161 as our route. Oliver had a new Chevy Pick-up and I had a  new Toyota Tacoma both with 4wd. We arrived at around 3:30 PM. 

A trophy is defined as a memento, a remembrance of your experience or encounter says Dan Wagner, Owner and Registered Master Maine Guide of Great Northern Outfitters.

https://www.greatnorthernoutfitters.com/

After having spent a week hunting trophy whitetail bucks with Dan, I can say that it is the remembrance of this rugged and wild hunt that lives large in my mind. I can’t speak for Oliver and Mary as the hunt was certainly hard on vehicles and bodies.

The bucks up here grow very old and very large he says, citing Bergmann’s Rule which says that deer get bigger in body, the further north you go in latitude. We were at the northern most edge of whitetail habitat. 

Dan’s Allagash buck below is a testament to large and old. I’ve never seen brow tines like that… till now! 

An Expedition better explains our trophy hunt as we would be exploring distant haunts of these whitetail giants in our 4WD Trucks on the myriad of old logging roads that crisscross the Allagash area for hundreds of miles.

The further we traveled away from civilization, the roads  narrowed severely – and the more treacherous they became.

As you might have guessed, this trophy hunt is for those who have the temerity, aka audacity and craziness to really want to have a rugged wilderness hunting experience yet have a “chance” to hunt these magnificent monarch bucks’ on their own terms.

My Apple phone alarm goes off at 3:15 AM. 

Time to hunt. Oliver and Mary are in the attached cabin and rise. Both are veteran hunters and ready!

Here in my own rustic cabin like room, equipped with stove, fridge, microwave, bath and shower. I’m  up, showered, coffee in hand and suit up and ready to verify my hunt checklist for license, rifle, ammo, knife, food, water, head lamp safety gear, and warm clothing and orange vest and hat etc.

And my Garmin Satellite communication device to talk to Dan while perched in my ladder stand. Dan uses his also for his bear dogs. 

It uses an App on my phone to map and communicate in near real time.  I found it essential!

At 4AM Dan has already made us an egg-bacon or sausage breakfast sandwich and has prepared a lunch sandwich and snacks for out day afield. We bring out own liquids like coffee, water and soda.

To the trucks we go.  I am shooting my Weatherby Vanguard 6.5 Creedmoor with my own hand-loaded 124 grain “Hammer Hunter” copper bullets, and my Leupold VX-3 scope with pop-up scope covers. A super combination! 

The lumber trail entrances are not far away. Soon we are bumping along up and down hills and valleys in 4WD leaving civilization in the dust.

You know your far off the beaten path when you are on a one car path, with whips and branches brushing my truck and few places to turn around. 

Since we had three vehicles, Dan’s, Mine and Oliver and Mary’s truck, Dan would take one of us to a stand or crossing, in turn, where we would park and walk to our tree stand or ground stand.

Birch Trees from my first ladder stand 20 feet off the ground

On this past Tuesday morning during our hunt at 8:30AM November 16th one of Dan’s camera’s hit pay dirt;  A dandy mature 10 point below!

So we hunted this chocolate racked 10 point buck at crossings for “hours-on-end” but he was never to be seen by us. 

During the hunt week, we saw and passed up legal spike bucks, and fork horns. And observed several moose. We passed on the deer shot opportunities for the chance to see and take one like this mature buck.

Patience was something that I ran short on while looking at the same bushes and trail, for 5 hours at one time and see nothing but a red squirrel and chickadee’s. 

Weather was wild! It snowed and rained several times that week but only 3 inches snow here and there. Great to see tracks, what came by, and to plan. 

On the last day of the hunt, I convinced myself to take a lesser buck, if it stepped out. I had a Doe-Bleat- In-A-Can and used it to try and draw some curiosity. Well, I did that for sure when a large momma moose cow stepped into my path to see what was making those bleats. She was annoyed as she passed in front of me at 25 yards. Finally, she trotted off. None of us pulled the trigger but could have on lesser deer. We chose to wait!

Note: Dan is the chef as well.  His evening meals consisted of Lobster, Salad and hot butter, Steak and salad, Spaghetti dinner, boiled corned beef dinner, salad and pie for desert. The food was spectacular! Wow!

Thanks again Dan! 

Sorry we did not get Mary in the photo with husband Oliver below!

No we did not shoot a big buck but the trophy perhaps in this case, is the remembrance of the hunt! We came close! Next time perhaps!

Maybe I’ll be back for another chance at a big buck or a large black bear!

Good Hunting!

© Copyright 2021

The peak of the Whitetail Rut is when most adult does are in estrous and can mate. Bucks will mate for a day and move on in search of the next doe. The peak window is only 7 or 8 days long when the majority of mating occurs, then tapers off till the end of the month.

Accordingly, it is a week of madness in the north woods.

November Northeast Peak Rut Start Window by State/Province based on 2018 state data in the North American Whitetail article below. Vermont, Maine and New Brunswick peak start is 15^th to 17^th and runs peak till the 24^th and tapers off by 29^th. New Hampshire data not available here, should mimic Vermont. Maine and New Brunswick peak start is the 17^th.  That is two days later than Vermont (15^th) and 6 days later than Massachusetts (11^th).

Maine and New Brunswick are Identical peak starts on the 17^th.

The further south you go, it appears the onset of peak rut is early November and conversely the further north you go, the onset of peak is like a week or so later.

What does this mean for the hunter? I would be in the woods and hunting hard for the week before the peak and the week during the start of the peak. Rubs and buck scrapes should be seen in areas where does live. Bucks will go nuts and some will begin cruising even in daylight as the 15th-17th window approaches.

And hope for snow!

Good Hunting!

https://www.northamericanwhitetail.com/editorial/peak-rut-times-for-2018/262020

Quoted below from the article

“Northeast

• Maine — November 17-23 for mature does, followed a week later by yearling does.
• New Brunswick — Onset around November 8-10, followed by a surge around November 17-19, and peak breeding from November 26-29.
• Vermont — Third week of November.
• Massachusetts — Latter half of the second week of November.
• New Jersey — November 3-23 for adult deer; November 17 – December 7 for fawns.
• New York — Mid-November.
• Delaware — November 10-20.
• Pennsylvania — A few days on either side of November 14.
• Maryland — November 1-15.
• Virginia — Just after mid-November.
• West Virginia — November 8-14.

end quote

Here in New Hampshire November 2nd the rut hasn’t really kicked in yet because the does are just beginning estrous. But the bucks are aggressive and cruising at night. This is not a random pattern. The older bucks get out of bed near dark and begin to take a cruise pattern based on where he may encounter a receptive doe. Then, make ground scrapes, urinate over his hock tarsal gland in it, and will leave scent from his hoof interdigital gland and from his forehead preorbital gland saying just who he is. Other bucks beware!

A very glandular affair telling the doe that he will soon revisit it.

As of November 2nd, I have observed few scrapes, however as each day passes, soon a shift will occur when enough does enter estrous that the rut is in full swing and scrapes and rubs will abound. This could be just a week away.

Some of these scrapes are considered primary scrapes where the does urinate and signal receptiveness. Other scrapes are often what some call a secondary scrape. These secondary scrapes are active by the buck but some experts say, they have not been visited (peed in) by a doe.

How does the hunter take advantage? Build a mock scrape, as a competitive buck might do. This kind of mock scrape can cause the buck to hang out closer to his scrapes and to “ward off” other bucks. And do it in daylight!

Or use scents to add to his scrape as if a doe peed in it. This, many say, is now a primary scrape which he will check more often. Of course we are not deer but collecting info from veteran hunters help verify these beliefs.

This warding off can also be done by buck “tree rubs”. These are signpost rubs. The size and damage of these signpost type rubs can be seen by other bucks. I have seen trees from saplings rubbed and seen trees that are 5 or 6 inches in diameter rubbed enough to kill the tree. Big rubs often mean big antlered deer, often leaving tine marks in the tree. A lesser buck may be intimidated by a big rub not far from an active scrape.

I like to participate by making mock scrapes and rubs in hopes of getting Mr. Big to show up in daylight!

I’ll be waiting…

Good Hunting!

Some thoughts: Deer are largely crepuscular animals, meaning early morning and late afternoon they are up and feeding etc. Bucks are more nocturnal except during the rut.

But in heavy wind and rain, they are likely to bed early and feed in darkness because both their eyesight and hearing are compromised. With bushes swaying, and wind howling and rain pelting, I would stay in bed too. 

In the case of light rain or drizzle and little wind, deer will venture to feed and rut in late October. You will have a slight advantage as your leaf crunching footsteps will not be heard. Watch the wind always. Walk into or quarter into the wind to “still hunt”.  

Watch the weather for a lull. If the rain and wind subsides, be ready to hunt. I like to hunt in the afternoon when a front pushes through. This is because I can see better and, at least, be more careful as I enter the woods.

Be prepared to stay till dark. It is the first and last 1//2 hour of light when that buck may step out. Does and yearlings will be first. 

I have a plan to increase my vigilance and body preparedness like standing “at the ready” in the last hour of light. Keep movement to a minimum, if you have to move, scratch your nose etc., do it in slow motion.  I wear a face mask to keep the squirrels and chipmunks from detecting my face. Once detected, you may be chattered as an alarm to other wildlife. Then, if early morning,  you should either move away, but then again, perhaps mimic a deer encounter with grunts and  antler rattling so wildlife get the idea that it is just another rutting deer. A nearby buck may decide to come into the ruckus… so be ready. I have done this successfully and took a dandy eight pointer in southern New Hampshire 

I like to use my grunt or bleat call in both morning and near dusk. If a buck is in hearing range, he may come and investigate. Deer have uncanny hearing and can pinpoint you so use the grunt or deer bleat sparingly, unless you are staging a buck fight.  Then break and smash twigs and bushes to mimic a fight for a full minute. Watch and listen! You may have a buck rushing or stomping in. The more you know about what buck sign is visible such as rubs and scrapes the more you can plan and stage a fight.

Bucks do not bed with does, they bed where hidden and can smell the does from his bedding area. Be aware though that during the rut, bucks are not very far away from the does and like to bed higher on the surrounding landscape.

Really big bucks do not  make very many mistakes and are only stupid during the heavy part of the rut in early November. 

Watch that wind!

Good Hunting!

©Copyright 2021