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Hunting and fishing action picked up recently

Submitted Photo James Shutt tagged a nice 10-point buck Sunday.

This columnist got a phone call on Sunday morning from an excited young bow hunter. James Shut, the son of my good friend Jimmy Shutt, called to tell me he got a monster buck that his dad would be proud of. James was hunting on his grandfather’s property and knew in advance that a monster buck had been hanging around that area. The family had seen the buck on several occasions on the trail cameras, but you never know.

The day was unseasonably warm, and James had seen a lot of deer activity, including two smaller bucks, a few does and a young 8-point. James was dressed from head to toe in Real Tree scent-lock camo. For an attractant James used a product called Raw Frozen scent which is delivered still frozen. He was 22 feet in the air on a climbing treestand when he spied the buck coming in. At 20 yards, with the buck quartering in, he put the sight pin on the pump house and the Hoyt Axios compound bow delivered a lethal arrow tipped with a two-blade mechanical broadhead. The buck took off after a solid hit and traveled about 125 yards, eventually heading for the golden rod. James waited a short eternity before calling a friend, Todd Diaed, to help track the deer. Once they got into the golden rod, they found good trace and found the prize in short order.

The 10-point buck weighed more than 200 pounds before field dressing and the head mount will be done by Rich Becker. The entire process was filmed by the hunter on his camera. Nice job!

On Monday, I was able to contact 19-year-old Dante Ardillo who informed us that on Nov. 4, he also had harvested a monster buck in the DMU 9K, Fredonia area. The day was sunny and warm at 4:30 p.m., and Dante was 20 feet up in his treestand when the buck came in down wind and behind the hunter, probably attracted to the deer estrus scent. Dante did not have much time to react and using a Hoyt 2020 Torrex compound bow, sent the arrow tipped with a two-blade Grim Reaper mechanical broadhead , four yards on a quartering away shot. The buck took off, and piled up 40 yards from the hunter. After climbing down, Dante finally had time to inspect his prize, which he found to his amazement had a huge 14-point rack. Dante had to call in his buddy, Caleb Martinez, to help with a tough 300-yard deer drag. The trophy will be mounted by Todd Capitano from Farnham, New York. Both successful hunters will also enjoy some fine dining that their venison provides. Congradulations.

Anglers have been connecting with some trout action off the City of Dunkirk pier. In addition, a few yellow perch and silver bass have been taken on bait. Offshore anglers have been getting good numbers of yellow perch in 52 feet of water around Sturgeon Point, launching at Cattaraugus Creek or the Buffalo Small Boat Harbor.

Submitted Photo 19-year-old Dante Ardillo tagged a monster 14-point buck Nov. 4.

Captain Larry Jones reports that the Lower Niagara River has been on fire lately with anglers drifting the Art Park section having 25-fish-per-day hook-ups, using chartreuse beads. At the upper end of the river, muskie anglers have been hitting active fish in the 48- to-52 inch range trolling crank baits at night. Note that the City of Dunkirk docks were pulled at the Chadwick bay marina boat launch.

CALENDAR

≤ Cross bow season opened up on Nov. 7 and will run until Nov. 20. Regular firearm season opens up on Nov. 21 and runs through Dec. 13.

≤ Duck season ended Nov. 8 with a split season re-opening Nov. 28 and running through Jan. 3.

≤ Gun Shows: Harbor Creek, Pennsylvania, Dec. 12-13 at the Harborcreek Fire Dept. Social Hall, 7275 Buffalo Road- US Route 20 . Saturday 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. and Sunday 9 a.m. until 3 p.m.

≤ Conneaut Lake, Pennsylvania, Jan. 23-24, 2021. Located at 11861 Sportsman Road (off Route 18). Saturday 9 a.m.-until 4 p.m. and Sunday 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. For information, contact Larry Spicer at (716) 792-9972 or go to LRgunshows@gmail.com Tables are available.

If you have a story or a photo you would like to share, call 366-1772, 785-3659 or 366-3000, extension 3 after 6 p.m. Leave a name and number and a time you can be reached.

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