It’s hard to believe we’re already halfway through the month of August. The days truly fly by at this time of year as we close in on the arrival of hunting season. In this week’s Chasing Velvet Blog Series we’re taking a look at the latest updates on our pursuit of a velvet buck here in Tennessee as well as checking in with a couple of our Bowhunt or Die guys to see what they’re chasing in the weeks ahead.
Things have continued to be slim for big bucks on my home property here in west Tennessee as well as a couple of the farms I hunt, so I got out this past week to take inventory on some of my public land ground . I threw a camera up over a salt lick a week ago and was excited to find 5 bucks on it in the last 6 days. One of the bucks was a big eight-pointer that is more than worthy of wearing my buck tag this season.
Unfortunately we’ll have to wait on the regular archery season for these bucks since the velvet buck hunt in TN is just open to private land. Our bucks will likely be out of velvet by the time our regular season opens – we’ll have to wait and see.
A big main frame 8-point with some cool character. Would you shoot him?
Check out the video below for a closer look at what we found this last week…
East Tennessee Velvet Buck
Bowhunt or Die prostaffer, Josh Sturgill, is anxiously looking forward to the opportunity to punch a buck tag during Tennessee’s velvet buck hunt in a few weeks. Josh lives in east Tennessee and admits finding a big buck in his part of the state can be tough. Thanks to his Stealth Cam, however, he has managed to key in on a buck that he’ll be going after this season. And to kill this buck in velvet would be all the better.
Josh’s buck is obviously running the night shift, but hopefully that will change in the weeks ahead and the daylight photos will start showing up as well.
North Carolina Velvet Buck
Another buck that we’re excited about following this season comes from North Carolina. Bowhunting.com Ambassador, Dwayne Jones, has been hunting the buck the last 4 years. Dwayne says the buck is 6 1/2 years old this year and is unfortunately on the decline for antler growth. He’s a beast of a buck that has continued to play hardball with Dwayne at every opportunity.
Dwayne Jones has named this buck, FullHouse.
Dwayne says that these velvet buck images will be the last he shares with the world. The next photo he posts will be of him kneeling behind this North Carolina giant. At least that’s the plan for now, according to Jones.
Here’s a look at the growth FullHouse put on from mid-July to the first week of August.
Best of luck to both of these guys in the weeks ahead as they continue to hone in on several great velvet bucks in their home states. Be sure to check back next week as we share updates in the final week before the velvet buck hunt in Tennessee.
