Nice buck Gary! It's been a weird year here. If not for having that other property to hunt on, I'd really be scrambling. My trail cams behind the house are getting on an average one deer picture every 3 days, and that's at night. A buddy of mine is having his worst year ever seeing deer as well. The rut is completely different this year as well. There was signs of chasing 2 weeks ago, nothing last week, then some chasing going on this week while at the same time I've seen 6 bucks feeding together and 2 bucks and 6 does feeding together.
A friend told me they were coming to horns 3 weeks ago but I didn't get a chance to try then. I've tried rattling a couple of times since with no results. I did see a nice 7 point on my camera one night. He also dropped by the next night but had one snapped off almost down to the base. That's what I call a fight.
It's not about the fish. It's about the pond. Take care of the pond and the fish will be fine. PB subscriber since before it was in color.
Without a sense of urgency, Nothing ever gets done.
Boy, if I say "sic em", you'd better look for something to bite. Sam Shelley Rancher and Farmer Muleshoe Texas 1892-1985 RIP
Agree on comments about Rut and seeing deer. Worst yr ever for bucks for me continues with abotu 4 hunts around Thanksgiving with one 6 pt passed. I passed a few good bucks while in IL but not what I drove to IL for. I hunt big buck area around Atlanta and been to KY, IL and OH and nothing to show for it. I can blame it on my hunting I guess but like to think otherwise. If folks want prices on cams and feeders let me know and I can price some items for you if interested. GL out there.
I saw several small bucks on opening weekend (Nov 6 -7 here in North Texas) that were running around harrassing the does... the young bucks always seem to start rutting first in my areas. This seven point was the first buck that I had seen since then. All I knew was that he was "outside the ears", and I had to make a quick decision on whether to shoot or not.
The stand where I shot him is at the junction of two natural gas pipelines that cross.... I call it the X stand, and it has shots out to 300 yards in 4 directions. You have to be quick, because the pipeline clearings are only about 40 feet across, and the deer cross very quickly. Unless the deer are walking down the pipeline, you don't have much time to judge their size / quality. I'm happy with him, but there are bigger deer that I have on camera. Maybe next year...
When I was looking for the blood trail, I was working a pattern up and down the pipeline clearing for about 40 yards, back and forth, trying to find the point of impact and the start of the blood trail. I kept noticing at the same place that I smelled a strong musky odor, so I just went into the woods at that spot and started looking. I found him almost immediately, just inside the woods. He didn't go more than 20 yards from where I shot him.
Without the smell, I might have never found him... he bled out completely internally. I loaded him in the truck to take him to my field dressing spot... didn't leave a drop of blood in the truck or on me until after I opened him up. Interesting, as I hit him where I wanted, not too high. I shoot a 30-06 with 150 grain core-lockt bullets.... only the one entry hole, the bullet shattered on the opposite shoulder blade and did not exit the deer.
Saw 2 does each with a fawn last night. I just have not seen the full rut this year. I shot at one of the does with my muzzleloader but could not find any blood and there were so many tracks that I could not track it in the snow. I follwed where I saw the other 3 deer run, but ran out of light and my flashlight failed after a little while. This morning I went to the same stand and after light I saw a very small grapevine with 1/2 inch missing in my line of fire, but I could not believe that that was enough to throw off a 25-yard shot. I later saw what appeared to be the remaining 3 deer moving about 500 yards off. I went to the spot where I shot at the doe the previuos night and tried going in another direction staight away from me and perpendicular to wher the other deer had run last night. I found it within 30 yards. Its guts had already blown up. I hit it just forward of the shoulder, but had aimed just behind the shoulder. The guts also must have burst when I drug it out (so I could gut it at the barn). What a mess.
Saw some snipe the last time I went duck hunting so I decided to go see if I could get some. This was the first time I have ever been snipe hunting and I ended up getting three. Probably could have gotten a couple more if I stayed out there a few more hours.
So our farm is on a 180 acre parcel that was subdivided into 7 tracts. A couple of us have 30 acres and the other 3 owners have from 14 to 25 acres. The very first house as you come off the main road into our "neighborhood" is owned by a great guy who is a partner in a local engineering firm. His family does very little outside most of the year, but he does enjoy getting out to hunt for a day or two each buck season. Yesterday, just before dark and the close of our gun buck season, Clay managed to bag this beautiful looking guy.
I don't yet know the full story or any real details, but one of our neighbors took this pic and forwarded it to me last night. If I find out anything interesting, I'll post it. My wife saw what was probably this buck last Wednesday night after I had shot my doe. As she was leaving, she said she saw a beautiful buck with a great rack and really nice body shape sniffing after a couple of does in Clay's field. Evidently, Clay was aware of him, too! I'm happy for him to have been able to get such a nice buck, but, man, it does sting a little that I never saw a single rack during the time I hunted those two weeks and he nabs this bad boy right at the close of the season!
Anyway, this is one of the nicest WV bucks I've ever seen and it's exciting that it was right by our farm. Just gonna take a little patience on my part, I guess!
Well my monster made it through another shotgun season.. Had him bedded down last night at 80 yards, still to far for a bow kill.. Also seen a big 10 bedded down behind my house about 20 yards on nieghbors property after dark. So hopefully something big still pans out this season. It's been a tough season for me.
I believe in catch and release. I catch then release to the grease..
I only saw 2 deer in passing when I was walking out of the woods today. 15-20 mph winds, temp was 16°F on the car thermometer. It was a tad chilly sitting out there for almost 3 hours. The place that I'm hunting is about 15 minutes South of me and it had about 4" of snow on the ground while I have about 10". Durn Lake Effect snow!
It was 6°F this morning. I'll bet Dwight thinks that it's time to be putting on a coat at that temp, or at least a sweater.
We've deer hunted in Northern Wi. in -30° temps, I don't know what the wind chill was, but the trees were splitting apart like rifle shots due to freezing. You couldn't sit still for more than an hour, so we rotated drivers and standers. When you have only 9 days to hunt, and no bait is allowed, you can't sit inside on bad days if you want to kill a deer. There's no agriculture around that area, just big woods. Few deer per sq. mile so you've got to cover a LOT of ground to get them.
It was 6°F this morning. I'll bet Dwight thinks that it's time to be putting on a coat at that temp, or at least a sweater.
I'm not too sure about this - I suspect he'd still be okay with a long-sleeve t-shirt.
Originally Posted By: esshup
We've deer hunted in Northern Wi. in -30° temps, I don't know what the wind chill was, but the trees were splitting apart like rifle shots due to freezing. You couldn't sit still for more than an hour, so we rotated drivers and standers. When you have only 9 days to hunt, and no bait is allowed, you can't sit inside on bad days if you want to kill a deer. There's no agriculture around that area, just big woods. Few deer per sq. mile so you've got to cover a LOT of ground to get them.
I don't know. Call me crazy, but with low deer numbers and directly proportional low temp numbers, I'm thinking you DON'T have to cover a lot of ground, I'm thinking you actually just go somewhere else to hunt!
She was at 105 Yds. The 250g SST bullet went thru the front leg, the bottom of the heart and out the other side of the brisket. It shoved a piece of the left front leg bone thru the right front leg, breaking that one as well.
Todd, I'll get a weight on her for you. She might be a tad bigger than what the Savage was eating out in WVa.
My nephew is going to process it and he'll give me the weight. Since the camoflage pattern in the woods has changed, I changed the camo pattern on the gun as well. I have a set of white snow camo hunting clothes too and I blend in pretty good - a doe walked within 13 yds of me sitting on the ground a few days ago.
I'm off to see about whacking a few ducks with a buddy, then it's back to the woods for deer this evening.
Dave, there's another doe out there that makes that one look small. I don't think that one will be tender, but she'll make a lot of sausage if I get her.
Todd, I'll get a weight on her for you. She might be a tad bigger than what the Savage was eating out in WVa.
Har har har! Nice doe, Scott. That's pretty good weight. My afternoon cleared up so I'm going to drive out to the farm and see if I stumble across any does. Saw 7 yesterday when I drove through on the way to pick up the babysitter. Wouldn't have gone over well for me to skip dinner with my wife or to show up bloody, so they got a pass!
Todd, I'll get a weight on her for you. She might be a tad bigger than what the Savage was eating out in WVa.
Har har har! Nice doe, Scott. That's pretty good weight. My afternoon cleared up so I'm going to drive out to the farm and see if I stumble across any does. Saw 7 yesterday when I drove through on the way to pick up the babysitter. Wouldn't have gone over well for me to skip dinner with my wife or to show up bloody, so they got a pass!
Just another "Doe From Today" shot picture:
Why do these silly things not understand normal reasoning? I hate it when I have to knock sense into them with the butt end of my pellet pistol, and they still don't understand.
Oh well, more pastrami, sausage, snack-sticks, jerky, chili, and incredibly wonderful pot-roast in sour cream and mushroom sauce, with late-season baby potatoes and early-season vacuum-packed asparagus.
Perfect weather today, and through next week for hanging a deer in the barn -- as I won't have time to butcher this critter for at least a week. It's about 33 now. The cold room in the barn is 37.
I'm guessing this one was three years old, about and about 120 lbs., field-dressed.
Shawn, that's a really, really nice deer. Congrats!
Ken, you must have tapped her pretty hard to make her go to sleep!
Todd, you can always leave them lay until you are done with dinner.
That's sorta like saying "My wife won't leave me have stuffed animals in the house, that's why I didn't shoot that 200 class 12 point buck that I saw 20 yds away yesterday."
Opening weekend of deer season was preempted by a men’s cancer retreat that took priority. I did not want to attend but was coerced and shanghaied! Bitter sweet experience but maybe helped others in small group by example of a double dipper cancer survivor.
Sons reported amazing growth on bucks since TP&W imposed the “13 inch rule”. They put together a ~700 acre conservation unit with our acreage and cousins from my grandpa’s 1907 “ranch” (Cotton farms in those days). Opening morning they reported observing some 17 deer in one pasture - one ~three year old 10 pointer and a ~4 year old eleven pointer – all heavy and in good shape. Next morning observed another 10 pointer.
No bucks taken – waiting another year for a 5 year old trophy– doe permits for the youngsters. Missed all the good food and tall tales around the campfire but I’ll be there next year!
Thanks for all the hunting stories and photos posted! George
N.E. Texas 2 acre and 1/4 acre ponds Original george #173 (22 June 2002)
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