I didn't look hard to see if one was started, but if it was, let me know and I will merge them both.

The local State Park had it's deer reduction hunt yesterday and today. 6 of us were signed up, one guy couldn't make it today and he was skunked yesterday. So, 5 of us ended up with 11 deer.

I ended up shooting Bambi yesterday AND his mom, and his Dad today.

sounds like a productive day esshup. how big was the buck?

here is my buck from this year. shot him on 11-08. he left a doe after they came out of standing corn. I grunted him in first time by but he ran by too fast for a shot. ended grunting, doe can calling and finally the snort wheeze brought him back by for the shot at less than 15 yards. crazy hunt. my best buck yet.
anybody else get one yet? always like seeing other peoples deer pics.

nice one

I have seen a few places where deer were to many. Parks and neighborhoods. And not enough food to go around. Scott sound like a good freezer hunt and XT that is a nice buck. grunting, wheezing and such is something lot of deer shooters don't see. Just deer hunters mostly.

Got one Sunday. I wasn't paying attention, and looked up as a big ten point went into the woods in front of me. He had just crossed the alfalfa field. If I'd only been looking at the right time. Oh well, I few minutes later this eight point came out. I was ready this time. Not a trophy, but the best buck I've taken in my short four years as a deer hunter.
We have more deer/bucks than we've had in four years since we bought our place.

Nice! What time is supper?





/c

Congrats guys! xraytrapper, my 8 point is a small one, the rack is no bigger than his ears. BUT, the park has too many deer, so while I wouldn't have shot this one on private land, I am there at the state park "working" for them, so it went down.

Some guys will not shoot a doe there at the park and only want to shoot a large buck. That's not what this hunt is about, and if the biologists think that is happening, they will confiscate ALL antlers when the deer is checked in.

They really want you to shoot 3 does, but the hunt regulations say 3 deer, only one can be an antlered buck. So, I shoot the first 3 legal deer that I see.

I heard that there were 2 bucks taken in the 150 class, but one was recovered the next morning. Coyotes had eaten most of it during the night.

We live next to a state park here in Missouri. They started controlled hunts a few years ago. They made hunters take two does before they could harvest a buck. I haven't been drawn for it yet, maybe someday.. Lots of big deer in there.
Got out yesterday with Kate, my new Setter. She did alright. Pointed and retrieved 10 quail in 70+ degree weather with some strong winds..

Preserve shoot. Going to take her out for wild birds (quail) next weekend.

Thanks for posting that picture. I really miss all that. If you only knew how active I was in all that during my earlier days. Your pic reminds me of an electrician I met when he was doing some work on my father in laws cabin in SE Okla. After he saw my pointers, he invited me to hunt with his father in law "Doc" that old doctor could cover some land. We all wound up hunting together for years. They had Setters and with my pointers we shot many a quail together.
At that time I was running a 7,500 acre quail lease in West Texas hunting bob's on one half and Blues on the other half. So hunting SE Okla was way different hunting type land. where it was all walk hunting. Ha! I bet some days we walked 6 to 10 miles per day lol and shot a lot of birds over those setters. But of course, they did a lot of backing the pointers

I've been hunting quail for 40+ years here in Missouri. My father in law got me started. It's an addiction for sure. I ended up getting my two brothers and a two good buddies into it. We always had six to eight setters between us. All foot hunting, through some wicked stuff. I can't tell you how many pairs of boots I've been through. The tops would be shredded, but the bottom treads would still be like new.
Hunted for many years on a lease near Big Spring TX. My gosh those were amazing hunts! We always went after our season closed up here. We were concerned our dogs would get screwed up. The birds ran so bad down there. They were conditioned to the sounds of the jeeps. When our dogs would go on point, we'd pull up behind them, boil out of the jeep, and start running. Had to run on past the dogs a ways to get the birds to start flying. Blues and bob whites both, then the singles would hold. I had one big Setter that would run out front of the jeeps all day. Third gear (in four low)
Some years we hardly hunted singles, because we'd be into the next covey before we got to the singles from the last covey. I do love quail hunting in Texas.
Quail hunting anywhere is pretty fun..

Yes, Texas has amazing quail hunting, a sportsman's paradise. All types of quail hunting depending on what part of Texas you are hunting.
And My son was born in Big Springs in 78. Just north of there near Snyder and even more so at Aspermont, it was all walk hunting and when you hit I-20 it was jeep hunting. A good dog will adjust his hunt to do either. And not every dog I had learned that lol. The best I have ever found was at Hebbronville (may be misspelled). Never hunted singles there just covey after covey. It was all walk hunting, to many birds to jeep hunt. I gun shied a young dog there once, I always hated that because she was doing so well. I learned from that but it still sucked. And the Browning feather weight boots would last about 3 yrs if I was lucky or unlucky some years during lower bird numbers where we did a lot of walking. Can u tell from this I was an addict and still would be if I could walk any distance. Back pain sucks

I used to have a lot of bobs at Bowie. Then, they all went.

I remember hunting blue quail as a kid on the plains. They didn't cooperate by flushing.

How many of you guys have to deal with Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) in your deer herds? I think it is driving at least some people around these parts to give up deer hunting. My vet told me a year or so ago that it would be inadvisable in his opinion to eat deer from around here. The neighboring county east is a no transport county. You cannot transport deer meat out of there unless completely deboned.

Not in my part of North Texas yet

From TPWD.

It's in some counties in Missouri, but it hasn't shown up in mine. Apparently, a buck got out of a pen in north central Missouri, he had CWD. It was one of those trophy hunt places, where they have some big bucks penned up. He started it in Missouri. The Mo Dept of Conservation has gone in and spotlighted and killed as many deer as they can find in the effected areas. They have really wiped the deer herds. Now I'm hearing that's what they tried in Wisconsin, and it didn't work. Of course, that was seen on the internet, so it has to be true.
They were testing deer in other "suspected" counties in Missouri. It's getting closer to me. Our deer numbers were up this year. At least to my untrained eye. More deer, especially legal bucks, than I've seen in the four years we've had our place.
Quail numbers are up too! I think the drought is helping the quail somehow.

Ohio's 2017 Deer Gun Season opened yesterday. My daughter and I didn't see one deer.

Today was a little better.

Steve, that’s a nice one

My daughter got this big bodied fellow this afternoon:

Excellent!

Nice buck that's forsure, Congrats

Steve, convey some congrats

A friend took an old, declining, toothless, 10 point off my place yesterday.

Neighbors have taken four off me thus far. A couple good deer, no great deer.

270 Win Weatherby Vanguard (all weather). Have decided to upgrade on my Ruger 77/44 all weather considering new rules on private land for deer hunting. Have decided on 270 Win and am considering the Weatherby Vanguard. Does anyone have experience with this gun (even in other calibers)? Any downside to its performance and durability?

Lots of folks love the .270...... I'm a .25-06 fan... for deer and hogs around here. It's done everything asked of it.. weatherby makes good stuff. Just make sure the gun fit to you is comfortable .

What is wrong with the .44? Other than range

Just looking for some feedback from those who have shot the Vanguard.

I am not much of a target shooter. Just make sure I can reliably put a good shot at the distance I plan to hunt. I have put a lot of deer in the freezer with the 44 but limit myself to 100 yards. It will shoot 3" groups with LeverEvolution ammo at that range, but I want to see what I can do up to 200 yards (have a few places where this might be handy if a bruiser showed up). Also, pistol ammo just does not penetrate like rifle ammo. I have had 44 bullets not come out of a coyote although it lays them down fine. I would like more reliability with front shots on deer and flatter travel at distance.

Kinda want your bullet to deposit energy inside critter..... you can reload the .44 and get a little better performance out of it than factory

I do not reload. I only bought the 44 because that was what was allowed at the time in Indiana vs. shotguns.

RAH, We have a 30-06 and 270. I like the 270 better for distance and knock down power. Still can take a moose with the 270 or even the 243. The 30-06 is cheaper for each shot.

If your looking at distance shots with knock down power the 270 will do the trick very nicely.

We can only hunt in our area with shot guns. We all have Mossbergs. The 2 boys have 12 gauge 500's one boy has 20 gauge 500 and I have a 930. We like the thumb safety. We all have rifled barrels and use Hornady SST in the 12 gauge and 3" federal sabots in the 20 gauge.

This is my youngest sons first buck. It had a wide 5point rack but had a nice thick body. He got him with his second shot on a full run.

Cheers Don.

RAH I have an older 270 Vangard(60s or 70s). It shoots OK. Probably 1.25-1.5 MOA. Probably the worst of all my guns, but I have killed more deer with it than any gun I own. My son has a 270 Ruger 77 skeleton stock, that stock touches the barrel all the way down the stock. In theory it should shoot terrible, but shoots .5 MOA.

I think the 270 is the best round for speed/bullet weight/recoil there is. MOst animals I have shot with the 270 never take another step.

Don, pass along congratulations to your son on his first buck, and excellent shot on a run!!!

Thank you all for the feedback. I may end going with a Remington 700 mountain in 270. This seems like a tried and true gun with great accuracy. Anybody out there with that gun?

Are you buying a new gun?

Yes - Also looking at the tikka t3x

Don't own one, but heard good things about Tikka.

Can't go wrong with a 700 in whatever caliber you choose. I have a 700 classic in .243 and .25-06 and love them both . If toting or walking a lot the short actions are lot more tote friendly. 243,7mm-08, .260, .308 all good choices for deer

Folks seem to think that Remington quality has gone down in recent years. Hard to find anything bad about the Tikka except recoil (physics on a light gun), but a LimbSaver recoil pad seems to be a fix if it bothers me. Cant be worse than a 12-gauge shooting slugs.

Oops mine are over 20yrs old

If I was getting a Remington 700, I would be looking for a pre 2005. QC has had some issues of late. I have 3 700s and they are GREAT guns, but all are older versions. The newset 700 SPS not nearly as happy with.

Any Tikka owners out there?

Concur on the older Rem. 700's...have them in .270 and 30-06...solid firearm.

A neighbor shot the big buck we have been seeing for a month and a half.

Good looking buck Chris. DId your neighbor age him?

Not sure. I’d say he is 4.5-5.5. We had a lot of pictures of him. Happy for the neighbor but disappointed to say the least that we didn’t get him.

D you have more pictures of him from different angles. Nice and wide and plenty of points!

Yeah we have probably a 100 pictures of him. He was a regular since mid October. Only 1 picture during the day. The rest were at night. The cold weather we are having had the deer moving during the day.

Looks like a 12 point. 20.5” wide.

Rah, I have a vanguard 243. It appears to be smooth and well made. It shoots well with a middle of the road scope

Some question the safety on the Vanguard. What do you think?

I own a Tikka T3 in 30-06. It is easily the most accurate rifle I own. You're right on adding the limbsaver recoil pad. Another thing I would recommend if you go with a Tikka is buying Warne permanent rings. They make them specifically for the Sako/Tikka dovetail on top of the receiver. They're a little pricey ($60) but they give the rifle a cleaner look than attaching a weaver rail and then rings to the rail. As for accuracy, I've shot three shot groups with that gun that can be completely covered with a penny. I don't reload for 30-06 and am only shooting Hornady American whitetail 150 grain ammunition. I can attempt to post some pictures when I get home.

Thank you so much for the info! I just sent an email to the gun shop where I will by the gun to see what both of those accessories would cost (installation of the new pad as the unknown).

Pertaining to the Remington 700 discussion, I have 6-8 and they are a good solid action. I have done a pillar bedding job on each stock to enhance accuracy and I believe all calibers I have are under 1.33" 5 shot groups at 100 yards. I'm in the process of rebarreling my 700 in .17 Remington, this one wears a HS Precision stock. It shot .7-.8" groups prior to the barrel job. It will be getting a new Shilen barrel. We toured the Shilen factory on the way down to the Pond Boss conference, great people with a great product.

The picture below is our son Grant with his first buck this year on our place, a small 8 point. Thanks.

Bryan

Good job .... how do y'all like the Thompson?

Never had a Vanguard safety problem that I am aware of.

Hey Pat,

We like the TC, I can't remember what the stock is though. Thanks.

Bryan

Picked up the Tikka T3X and ordered rings, scope, and Limbsaver recoil pad. It seems like it shoulders high, but it is hard to tell without a scope on it. It is very light so I am glad to have the replacement recoil pad ordered.

What caliber did you end up with? Let us know how you like it after you get it all setup and broke in.

270 Win. Will let everyone know once I get it scoped and zeroed.

Too cold to sight in (for me).



Pups think so too! Dark guy on the couch is almost 10 months old (Sherman - the tank).

A successful 500 yd shot is tremendous! Tell us more about the deer and gun please.

what type collars are those? i have gsd's also.

We picked up the collars at Menards. They hold up well (seem to be made of the same material as old army belts). I grew up with German Shepherds and my wife and I have had them for over 30 years. These 3 are some of the best we have ever had. The young male is just under a year old and we are hoping his size does not come with any orthopedic problems. He is the stockiest shepherd we have been around. We named him right "Sherman" - "The Tank"! The best part of this pack is that we can let them out on the farm and they never go far from the house unless we do. We got them in sequence and the older one trained the rest. Heaven help anyone raising a hand to my wife!

Maybe this collar? Not sure on size.

https://www.menards.com/main/pet-wildlif...184&ipos=18

Called him in yesterday morning..
Well, I got a nice turkey, but can’t get a picture to post.
(Yes I can.. It won’t post through SmugMug but will link from Photobucket.. That’s weird.)

Excellent! Some day if the population picks up, I'd like to try that with a bow.

This one would have been possible with a bow. He was working over a Jake decoy for a long time, kicking and pecking it.
I had it out about 30 yards, I think if I had the bow I might have had the decoy a little closer. Probably wouldn’t have effected the turkey, he was oblivious to anything but the Jake. Never even saw the hen..

I blame the high predator population on the low numbers in my area. They are here, but not many. Did see a big one displaying for a hen a few years back that paid no attention to me. I also saw a hen with just one chick running around which speaks to the predator density. My neighbor commented that every predator in the area is attracted to my place due to all the habitat holding prey. Coyotes are thick. Had to send a beaver to the big lodge in the sky this week due to it damming the exit pipe on my oldest pond. Was originally going to see how well he thinned some trees near the pond where he was working, but clogging the exit pipe was a show stopper. I need to put some stone around the hog panel trash guard to prevent this in the future.

Not sure if I ever posted on sighting in the 270 Tikka T3X that I bought. Actually, a good buddy came over and did the break-in, cleaning, and sighting in with 14 shots. After he was done, I took 6 shots at 100 yards with non-premium ammo. I pulled on one shot which was off 4" to the right, but the other 5 had a maximum spread of 1.125 inches which is probably better than I can normally shoot with any gun off of a not-so-perfect rest. Still need to check out other ammo and get er' 1.5" high at 100 yards (raised it 6 clicks after I was done, so hopefully it is there). My take is that this gun performed as advertised. Will also need to see if I can place shots at 200 yards in case a trophy buck appears at that extended (for me) range. The Limbsaver pad also tames the kick very well on this light gun.

Some pictures of the turkey harvest, first time I ever hunted for them. At age 15 Grant is already like 7 birds ahead of me in his career and I probably won't ever catch up. He got his on the opening Monday morning at 6:57 AM, 10.5" beard and 1.375" spurs. He guided me on the only morning I could hunt, this past Saturday. I could only hunt to about 7:30 AM so fortunate that we got it at 6:38 AM. Mine was 8.5" beard with 1" spurs. We saw at least 6 different toms out the living room window so there are several left to carry on the local herd. Thanks.

Bryan

Big birds!

Nice! Sure is fun isn’t it?