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by SetterGuy |
SetterGuy |
Hopefully I picked the correct forum area to post this. My apologies if it’s in the wrong spot. We bought this place to build a pond, but we also decided to take up deer hunting. I’ve been a bird (quail) hunter for 45 years. Took up deer hunting six years ago when quail numbers dropped so low bird hunts were pointless. Last two years have produced biggest bucks. Actually liking deer hunting. Latest buck (from Nov 2019) is on the left. I know, these are small racks compared to those Texas freaks. Ha!
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by RAH |
RAH |
I took a lot of small ones in my 30s when I started out hunting. Hard to believe that was almost 30 years ago... I did hunt exclusively with a bow back then. Had to sit out regular gun season this year as I filled my tags during early archery and knew that I had some surgery scheduled that would keep me out of the woods. I did get to fill my muzzle loader tag though. Trophies are in fact in the eyes of the beholder. I now pass on bucks that would have left me shaking years ago. I am just glad that I am still healthy enough to get out there! Deer are regrowing their antlers right now.
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1 member likes this |
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by RAH |
RAH |
Nice mature deer! We eat every scrap of meat (what is not fit for us, the dogs eat along with a lot of bones), but I don't hunt for meat. For most, venison is the most expensive meat we eat per pound. Could work at McDonald's and by prime beef if one spent as much time working there as hunting, even if not considering the cot of gear:)
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by TGW1 |
TGW1 |
It's about the food in my opinion when it comes to big bucks and or quail numbers. Much like growing large fish. Habitat is also a strong influence in size and numbers. Same with fish. Many blame poor racks on genetics but it has been proven (to me) that if the food is there, along with the right habitat you can raise larger numbers of good bucks per acre. Whether it be quail or better bucks on a given piece of land, an excess of food makes a difference. I have seen the same with quail and the number of coveys per acre. Rah, I am not saying doe numbers don't have an influence, they do, because I have seen where a buck/doe ratio of one to one defiantly made for easier hunts because there were more bucks per acre to hunt. Especially, if the food is there. And, I have seen a 120 pt buck where it was a trophy to the one that shot it. I have also seen where a Doe was a trophy.
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by John Fitzgerald |
John Fitzgerald |
My Dad was an avid quail hunter from the 1940's through the 1970's. I hunted with him from the mid 60's through 1974. When quail became scarce, he became an avid deer and turkey hunter. In 1992, he bagged a NW Arkansas whitetail that had a 22 inch spread, 17 points, and small shovels. Field dressed, weighed 200 pounds. He was going for that one's nearly identical "brother" when, a couple days after a missed opportunity, that second deer was killed on Arkansas Hwy 265.
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by RAH |
RAH |
My late father-in-law once cleaned all of the connective tissue out of the thawed meat from several deer. It took him a complete day. The result was the best meat that we ever had. It could be ground and made into fantastic hamburgers with no additives. I simply do not have the patience for this. I believe that the refrigerator thawing was the perfect aging process, but his meticulous removal of connective tissue was the reason it was so good.
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