Their father, Larry Benoit, never accepted a rifle from Remington or a wool coat from Woolrich or anybody else. He did write a few magazine articles and books for education and income, and he makes knives that are a little pricey. His three sons have turned hunting into a business...who can blame them. They have the resume to back up what they say. Plus, everybody else is doing it.

 

I think the Benoits are the real deal!

 

They are the real deal, however the tracking techniques do not apply to areas that are not huge, since on alot of private pieces if you are following a track for 3 hours, you have tresspassed 27 times.

 

Over the years I have talked with two people who know the Benoit's very well. Both felt they were exceptional hunters with the determination to get big deer. They felt there was nothing fake about their hunting styles.

 

Have never heard anything negative about them even with a few people in the past who have tried to discredit them. They hunt hard for what they get. Now granted when they go to camp I think it's for something like a month! I wish I had a month to hunt!

 

An outfitter friend of mine in maine is acquainted with them and is also good friends with Dick Bernier, another legendary tracker, all these guys hunt long and hard and one theme you'll hear from them is "never give up on a buck until you absolutely have to". Not many hunters have the physical and, maybe more importantly, the mental stamina to hunt the way they do, and as stated already you need vast amounts of real estate to access. IMO they are the real deal whether or not you agree with their methods. They don't strike me as the kind who hunt to "cash in" on hunters enthusiasm, more like they got drawn in by hunters who wanted to know more about their methods and how they kill big deer. If they make some money doing it, hey great for them I think that's ok when hard work and success pays off in a way you never intended or expected. But that's just me.

 

Seems in this day and age of hunting, no one can be a hero anymore, without someone trying to make a buck.

As a second week of rifle stillhunter, I will hold on to my heros from the era in life I most needed them as a deer hunter, from my Pap, to my Dad to the old Benoit writings that inspired me to stick it out at an early age that I found in the pages of those old tattered camp magazines ..Aall i need is a track, the rest is up to me.

I won't buy the products mentioned, but i will thank them for always making me think my dream was bedded over that next rise.

 

Been doing some snooping around reading on the infamous Benoit family. The master big buck trackers of Vermont. I'm just wondering if their skills are truly legendary, or if their hype has made them legendary. Anybody have any dealings with them ? Do they outfit, or do all their hunting alone ? I guess I'm just a bit leery since they have a website selling hats, shirts, and outlandishly priced rifles with their signatures engraved in them.

You've got to be kidding. You will not find commercial/television hunters more authentic than the Benoits. They are as real as you can get.

Do yourself a favor and start out by reading the book that started it all for them, "How to bag the biggest buck of your life" by the Patriarch himself Larry, and then go from there. I have several of their books and a couple videos as well.

They track whitetails in some of the most vast and wild country you could ever imagine, particularly when they hunt Canada. The follow the tracks for miles in sub-zero temperatures and often go so far back they have to come back the next day to start where they left off.

No other hunters on TV can hold a candle to the Benoits. They're showing their age a little lately, but still kill some montser bucks.

 

All i need is a track, the rest is up to me.

It sounds so easy, find a buck track & follow it to you see the deer and shoot it. It ain't that easy.

Yes the Benoits are masters, they are masters at tracking. Other hunters my be masters and just as good at there method of hunting deer, whether that is still hunting, stand hunting or organize drives. All take a different skills and knowledge to be consistent.
I have every book that the Benoits, I believe, have ever published, including a signed paperback of Larry's first, along with their videos. If nothing else they will educate you along with entertaining you on deer hunting.
I would also say that Dick Bernier is in the same class along with a lesser known tracker from Main by the name of Hal Blood. His Book Hunting Big Woods Bucks, Secrets of tracking and stalking whitetails is a good read.

 

All i need is a track, the rest is up to me.




It sounds so easy, find a buck track & follow it to you see the deer and shoot it. It ain't that easy.

CDB, don't misunderstand me...IT AIN'T EASY...and when I think it is not going to happen and it is smarter to just hike down and try elsewhere, I think of those stories of their (benoit's) long hunts for the leaver of the track. I also think of my Dad's saying..."It only takes a second"...I love it all cause it ain't easy when the hills don't stop. Wish I had the RE those boys do to hunt, but I will settle for southern Potter County, it is endless enough for the time I have..

 

Should of worded that a little different, I knew you knew it's not that easy.
This is what I love about the big woods, especially the second week, if there's snow I know I can again try and track the antler one with out much fear of running him into another hunter or onto posted ground.
As Larry Benoit likes to say, getting him out is the easy part, find him is the hard part.

 

"To outwit the Whitetail you must know how to locate
him, how to track him, and how to down him. It takes
stamina, woods lore, deer lore, and experience to win
this fight. It takes dedication of will, the mind, the
senses, and the body. You must put 100% of everything
you have into the hunt for the trophy buck, or you won't
win. This is one of the reasons I love to hunt the
Whitetail..."
Larry Benoit "How to Bag the Biggest Buck of Your Life"

Larry Benoit is the "master", everybody else can line
up behind him!

 

I have enjoyed some of their stories, if I recall a 3006 Rem 760 Pump is the rifle of choice for the family.....

 

They do all use Rem pumps, but I beleive Lanny's is a 270.

 

i believe that they r the real deal

 

I can't believe anyone questioning their ability! They are true hunters. I think the ones that should be questioned are the ones that are on t.v. and sit in a tree stand and wait for the buck to walk within 20 yds and they shoot it. Then they try and tell you how hard of a hunt it was. But thats what people want to see. Don't get me wrong.. I sit in a tree also but that is just waiting to shoot to me , not hunting.

 

These guys are the real deal. Any of these guys on the outdoor channel can't hold their underwear when it comes to deer hunting.

 

Don't get me wrong.. I sit in a tree also but that is just waiting to shoot to me , not hunting.

Gotta disagree- from the time spent scouting, finding trails, feeding, bedding areas, escape routes, travell routes, scrape lines time spent mulling over maps, and the sign you've found and what it means to what your planning, time spent finding the right set up in the right spot, scent control, to the final moments leading up to the shot and shot placement itself. It's every bit entitled to be called hunting as any other method. Keystonepaul

 

If I could have my pick to hunt with any well known deer hunter it would be either Larry or Lanny. Just the knowledge I would receive would be worth it.
Although Lanny is my own age ,I would probably choose to hunt with 80 something year old Larry. That way I wouldn't hold anyone up, might even be able to keep up with Pop, but I wouldn't bet money on it.

 

I spent an evening with them doing an interview for an article while drinking cold ones and breaking bread this year when they were at the Harrisburg show.
Just my opinion for what its worth...they are straight up no BS hunters who have developed a style of hunting over the years that is second to none. "In their environment" As was said here prior the system works very well.
Honest questions were asked and honest answers were given by them, "never" once did they ask us to hawk their products either verbally or in any written articles.
Yes, I was impressed with them and most importantly how they feel about deer hunting personally. Honestly I don't think there's a person on this forum who would not like these guys if they spent any time talking to them.
Their answer to why they sell the products could not have been more sincere. "We do it so we can afford to go hunting".

Lanny making a point that evening.

http://

Griz

 

I have enjoyed reading and learning of the Benoits.I too enjoy a nice long still hunt or tracking a deer in fresh powder.The only thing that I have ever found that involves the Benoits,actually has nothing to do with them personally.I can not stand that bonehead writer Bryce Towsley,he has made a carrer riding thier coattails,writing about them and generally being a leach.I haven't read any of his suck up stories lately,Hmmm,maybe the Benoits got sick of him too.
I lost my 2 books by Larry during a flash flood when the basement took water.I had almost gotten over that,well Til now anyway,lol

 

I regularly hunted an area in northern Maine where the Benoits often hunted. You have to spend time in this remote, roadless country to realize how knowledgable and dedicated a hunter has to be to regularly harvest deer under these conditions. I feel fortunate to have hunted through the campsite where the Benoits had parked their bus/camp.

These guys are the real deal because the forests they hunt are the real deal. No deer trails, no food sources, just endless miles of browse. A deer can just randomly roam browsing across the landscape and never visit the same spot twice.

After years of trying I finally harvested my Maine buck. I credit the Benoit's books and videos for making it possible.

 

I lost my 2 books by Larry during a flash flood when the basement took water.I had almost gotten over that,well Til now anyway,lol

Sorry to hear about your lost. But if you want to replace them, Amazon .com have some for sale. Reprints of the first one from around $11.00 up to $500.00 for a original.

 

I know these guys well and trust me they are the real deal. Now that they are hunting in Ontario they have a new motto, "Hunt smarter, not harder" they will still get on a track when they can , but they also spend some time sitting up a tree waiting for there buck to show up. Oh yeah and if you ever have the pleasure of meeting them make sure you have some cold beer and an afternoon to waste because they will talk to ya for hours about hunting and snowmobile racing.

 

I am much like rooster...grew up in camp reading about them and have my own version of a benoit rifle....35 rem gamemaster pump with peep sight. I pull it out late in the season when the chips are down and its time to cover some ground. Something about carrying that rifle that gives me that extra kick coming over the ridge top.