Whitetail Deer Show features Keith Beasley on how to bag big bucks

MANITOWANING—The Township of Assiginack hosted a successful Whitetail Deer Show on Saturday with hundreds of visitors flocking to the Manitowaning arena to hear a lecture from Canada in the Rough’s Keith Beasley and take part in all things deer hunt.

The daylong event began with Mr. Beasley, television personality and co-host of the hit Canada-wide hunting show Canada in the Rough and co-publisher of Ontario Monster Whitetails magazine. He premised his presentation by noting that he was pleased to see his show airing in the General Store in Manitowaning that morning while he ate his breakfast—a good start to the day.

Mr. Beasley, one of three brothers who direct and star on the program, spoke about the show’s success as Canada’s foremost hunting show (not bad for three boys from Peterborough) and explained that “the world is dying for Canadian content from the Great White North.”

On top of producing the 13-episode season of Canada in the Rough, the brothers also publish the magazine and maintain the Big Game Records for Ontario.

Mr. Beasley began his presentation on strategies for “consistently harvesting big bucks,” premising it for southern Ontario terrain, as he did not class Manitoulin as the North, which is largely timber and requires completely different strategies.

There are five segments to the fall hunting season, he explained: the October lull, pre-rut, rut, post-rut and late season.

The October lull, the first three weeks of October, is the worst time to shoot big bucks, he explained, and is also the time of year when hunters make all the mistakes that will affect the remainder of the hunt.

He asked the over 120 people assembled for the 9 am start whether anyone there had ever harvested a big buck during this “lull” time. Not one hand was raised. Big bucks live in a small core area during this time and only travel about 200 and 300 yards each day. Chances of seeing them will either be at their bedding place or when they are travelling between the buck’s bedding and their food supply. But doing this without being noted is next to impossible, he said.

Strategies for hunting the October lull are to scout, move during low light, hunt from bed to food or on food sources. Entry and exit strategies are also key.

“I killed a buck once in the October lull, but never again as it ruined the rest of the season,” Mr. Beasley shared, recommending that hunters go after does during this time.

During the pre-rut, the week before Halloween and the week following, a buck’s testosterone levels are peaking. They are establishing territory and dominance, with less focus on food. This is when hunters will begin to find scrapes (trees that have been rubbed by antlers) and “licking branches” above those scrapes.

“This is where your aggressive tactics are key,” he said. “Rattle and grunt as much as you want, crash the bush, break branches and use your horn—basically act like a 250-pound buck.”

During the rut, the second to fourth week of November when Manitoulin’s rifle season is on, bucks are solely focused on breeding. “They are on their feet until they find a doe,” Mr. Beasley said.

A buck’s “scrape and rub” activity decreases and their range increases to between three and five kilometers, making them unpatternable.

Strategies for Manitoulin’s rifle season are to hunt all day, if possible (he said he realized this was “a mental marathon”), hunt the does and travel routes, use aggressive tactics and choose stand sites with good visibility.

During the post-rut, the end of November to December 10 (when Manitoulin’s deer season ends), he recommends baiting with corn—the deer’s food of choice this time of year as “the feed bags are on” in that last chance to fatten up before the snow flies.

Strategies for the post-rut are similar to the October lull, and scouting is key.

Mr. Beasley also spoke to the group of hunting enthusiasts about the importance of ‘sanctuaries.’ These are segments of land, two to three acres, on hunting properties that “never, ever get touched. If you can do this, it will help you get the big bucks. These deer live by their ears, eyes and nose—if you’ve been there, they know about it.”

Mr. Beasley opened the floor up to questions with one audience member asking whether he preferred deer blinds or tree stands. While both have their purpose, tree stands are generally better when it comes to wind (carrying one’s scent away) and view. If you do use a tree stand, “always use a harness,” he urged.

On the topic of using scents, Mr. Beasley said that he 100 percent supports it, but has also killed many deer without using it. “I won’t stand here and tell you how to use it, but I do use it all the time, he responded.

“What colours do whitetails see?” someone asked. “I’m not a biologist,” Mr. Beasley responded, “but I believe they see black and white.”

Another asked how the Beasley brothers get their tags in each province and territory. “We do it the same way everyone else does it—the draw,” he said.

[pullquote]“The Whitetail Deer Show was a huge success,” Ms. White said. “It surpassed all the estimates we had made. Over 250 people came and participated in the lecture, the contests, and toured the displays.”[/pullquote]

Another hunter asked when he and his brothers would be making the trip to Manitoulin to film an episode of Canada in the Rough. While he would love to hunt on Manitoulin, Mr. Beasley said there is a short window to make 13 episodes and it has to be worth their while, with a guarantee of a big buck, to come. People don’t watch Bob Izumi to see him catch a one-pound bass, he said, and likewise, people don’t watch Canada in the Rough to see a small buck harvested. In a gentle way, Mr. Beasley shared his thoughts with the Island hunting community that hunters may be a little too eager on Manitoulin and instead of letting them mature, hunters are harvesting bucks when they are only one, two or three years of age. There has not been a large buck taken from the Island in some time, and this is likely why. Throughout the lecture Mr. Beasley repeated the importance of harvesting mature, and not young, bucks. “I’ll shoot a broken rack over a three-year-old buck,” he said.

When asked about the tag system, Mr. Beasley was not shy in sharing his displeasure, calling the system “broken. A buck tag should never be over the counter, a doe tag should,” he said. “And unless the hunters do something about it, there’s no hope.”

The Whitetail Deer Show included vendors selling guns, bows and ammunition, camo and hunter orange clothing, taxidermy displays, as well as booths from local outdoors organizations, including Manitoulin Streams.

Prize mounts adorned the Plexiglas of the arena, showcasing some of Manitoulin’s finest trophies. In the shed antler contest, Dave Groleau of Fox Lake, a certified Foundation for the Recognition of Ontario Wildlife (FROW), was busy measuring over 50 entries, almost all of which came from Manitoulin. Buck Phillips of Manitowaning won the shed antler contest (they were found in the Green Bush), Mike Cardinal won the best trail camera contest and the best hunting photo award went to Nick Holmes.

Outside on the ball diamond national champion archer Sheila Madahbee and a few of her students were showing their skills with the bow and even gave hunters a few shots at the targets too.

In the youth BB gun target contest, age 7-11, Jake Robinson and Aaron Leeson tied for first place with five out of 10 hits while Scott Case and Trish Leeson also tied for first in the 12+ category with five hits out of 10. Mr. Beasley also gave it a go, getting seven out of 10 shots!

The event was a real community initiative, with Reeve Brad Ham working diligently in the background to help organize the event alongside events coordinator Jackie White (who came up with the idea for the show), roads super Ron Cooper helping with the displays and Councillors Paul Moffat, Les Fields, Bob Case and Brenda Reid manning the door.

“The Whitetail Deer Show was a huge success,” Ms. White said. “It surpassed all the estimates we had made. Over 250 people came and participated in the lecture, the contests, and toured the displays.”

“A huge thank you goes out to the volunteers who made it happen,” she continued. “The dedicated group of sportsmen of Mike Sprack, Paul Methner, Ron Cooper, Steve Wood and Brad Ham put in hours before and during the show to make it the great event it was, the vendors and exhibitors who came and were kept busy by all the deer enthusiasts throughout the day. And lastly, but certainly not least, is a very grateful thank you from the Township to the Island community that supported this event by bringing in deer mounts and antlers to fill the arena up. We are very excited by this wonderful outcome and have already started planning next year’s show.”