Whitetail Deer Season is Approaching

Dew on the ground
A crisp in the air

It's that time again, where you mistake a squirrel for a monster buck.

I love this time of year. Lost my lease though.

Still love the season.

You mean those slightly overgrown coyotes who seem bent of committing vehicular suicide?

This will be the first year I can hunt my own property (just bought it) and I am looking forward to going out and sitting in the stand for a few hours after work EVERY NIGHT!!!

My wife understands that she doesn't see much of me October through December ... I think she looks forward to the time away too

two weeks until pheasant season too .... the puppy is excited for that

Bow season for does or bucks is already in effect in Georgia. Includes crossbow.

Muley season starts October 17th for me!! Very much looking forward to it plus I have a second, antlerless tag to fill this year besides my buck!

Been watching 5 in my back field for weeks now. There are two nice bucks that have been visiting them too. (6 and 8 point) Feeding them enough to keep them interested in the spot.

Can almost taste them now, only have 3 cans of last years left.

i went to our local owned grocery store last night and bought venison...didn't have to buy camo, a deer stand, deer lease, spray myself in some nasty doe-in-heat stuff, buy a truck, buy a gun, be gone from home for all hours...that's my version of deer hunting

but you will just burn it anyway.

^^^^Metrosexual soccer player

Looking forward to it this year. Taking some vacation time for a big hunt with my brother-in-law. Won't come a moment too soon.

Hunting is an outgrowth of the shooting sports hobby for me. I'm intending to use a Winchester Model 70 .257 Roberts this year so am working up handloads and making trips to the local gun club range to verify the scope settings. The rifle was acquired from a gun club buddy who was 50 years older than I am and who purchased it new in 1947.

So you skipped all of the fun stuff and got substandard venison?

Hah! Guess it all burns the same.

Are you taking about hunting or Saturday nigh in Chicago?

And that is what my husband calls heaven.
The only sound for miles are the stupid squirrels chattering.

Youth season is in a few weeks. Pre-teen daughter is ready.

We already own the guns and the truck and the stands (plural) and the camo and the spray - not to forget the ammo or the non-scented detergent. But there is nothing like the sound of nothing.

at some point, you had to buy this...

But there is nothing like the sound of nothing.

You could always ask a bunch of lenders about the latest in TRID.

why would anyone burn meat?

Well sure, and at some point you had to buy all the gear for your particular hobby.
Hubby doesn't play sports. And works at a level of stress that I can only imagine. We think TRID is tough - at his job, only yesterday he talked a man out of suicide. So he seeks the quiet solitude of a deer stand as much as he possibly can.

We think TRID is tough - at his job, only yesterday he talked a man out of suicide.

Compliance Officer trying to figure out how to get the bank in compliance with TRID?

ed's on a roll this morning.

youth season?!? what state do you live in that allows the hunting of youth? I hope your daughter is ready!

But did that local grocery store allow you to chug beers while you "hunted" your deer?

I still think Snowbird should be a hunting season. I could sit at any gas station near the state line and get the bag limit in one day!

The place we used to hunt in Texas has been in this guy's family for three generations. They are now having to sell it because the mother (elderly) needs the funds for retirement living.

I think I'm sadder than the family member losing it. It's one of the prettiest spots I've ever seen in the Texas Hill-country.

That is a shame, Norman. There are some out-of-the-way beauty spots in the Hill Country and it's teaming with deer. Of course parts of it seem to team with ever more people these days. I hope you had some good seasons enjoying hunting the place with your friends.

I live in one of the big deer hunting counties of Texas and we have a place that's been in the family for five generations two counties away. This region, just north of the Hill Country, is productive for deer but is mostly uninspiring to look at.

Norman, do you have a favored deer rifle/cartridge? An "ol' faithful" that you've toted afield for many years?

I just went and picked a couple of boxes of 12 ga ammo for pheasant and some slugs for deer ... they only wanted one leg, must have been on sale.

I use my Rem 1187 12ga with a rifled Hastings barrel for deer. I got it from my Dad the first year I hunted deer. Fantastic slug gun! Accurate up to 100 yards as long as you compensate for the drop.

The youth season remark made me laugh so hard I had to explain to my fellow employees what was so funny!

Norm - my brother has property in Utopia he uses for hunting...i'm sure he won't mind you using it

I've always shot a 270 Mossberg with a 130 Grain load.

I don't need anything fancy. The 270 is a pretty easy gun, I just make sure it has a Leupold on it and I'm happy. Have never had a misfire.

Utopia...

I heard the weather there is perfect. :}

My son and I have been keeping tabs on nearly a dozen bucks this past spring and summer with game cameras. There is a truly monster 10 point buck with well over a 20 inch spread that we have seen many times. There is also a huge 9 point, an 8 point with a very impressive rack, along with several nice 8 and six points. We are fortunate to be able to hunt the family farm of 110 acres. My son will be using his Youth .243 and I am investing in a Savage model 11 xp in .270 with a Weaver 3x9 scope. Our gun season does not start until the Monday after Thanksgiving.

Since his success last year, it has been easy to get my son out in the woods with me this year. I am hoping everyone has a safe and successful hunt this year as well.

I use an old 550 Mossberg 12 ga. it isn't pretty but it is lethal. If I am not seeing anything, I break out my grandfather's old Ithica 3700 featherlite for luck.

Last year was not a good year for me, but the son, using my grandfather's 3700 brought home the meat.

https://www.google.com/search?q=utopia+t...CFUQ3PgodlXoLVQ

Never know when someone is serious around here. I exercise caution.

Now if I can just get him to send me the address I will print off this thread and show the Warden.

Pheasant season opens on Saturday taking Friday off and only staying long enough on Thursday to deal with meetings. This might not be the best timing but I am completely checked out ... can't wait to be in the middle of a switch grass field with the puppy and family.

checked out ....

Went to check our cameras last night and came across two flocks of turkeys on the way in. My son was pretty excited, this will be his first season hunting turkey.

At least three big 8 and 9 point white tail bucks in addition to the monster 10 point are frequenting our hunting area, can't wait for the first day.

Heading out to do some scouting this weekend since modern rifle deer season opens next Saturday. There were fires in the area we hunt so we want to see what fields will be green and which ones are not. Getting really excited to hunt this year, especially since I can take two deer with the special draw permit I got for this season. There's something about being out there and the smell of the sagebrush that immediately takes me back to being little and hunting with my dad and grandpa.

My dad hasn't hunted in 25 years and he's decided to go out with us this year. I can't tell you how happy that makes me! He always enjoyed hunting with my uncles but stopped going when my parents started a business in 1990. Since my husband hunts and has gotten my son and I into it, Dad has been taking the time to go out bird hunting and now deer. I think it's really special to him to be able to enjoy it with his kids and grandkids!

Late breaking news: I scored a new place yesterday. I've never been out there but may run out tomorrow to look around a bit. It should just be me on the land.

Wouldn't that make for difficult hunting?

Hunting, no. Killing something, probably.

Good for you Norm. Hope you are right about you being the only one. I have been the "Only One" before, only to have someone else who did not have the permission to be on the land come waltzing right infront of me

Hi Norman Paperman;

Great news! Please tell all! At least all you care to reveal here. Size, topography, cover, deer numbers, number of other hunters, proximity to you, and did you feel it was a "real deal" $-wise?

Would love to have a spare minute to "run out" to a place for a hike and a look around. Our old family place of large acreage on a lake is only an hour from me and I've not been out in months. Would love to have time to build a duck blind or scout for deer.

Oh. I'm a bit thick. I thought you meant just you and the land when you go have a look. You mean you'd be the solitary hunter on the place. Wow! Always a good thing.

Native Americans will be able to shine deer off reservation in northern WI. This does not sound like a very safe proposition. How will they be able to verify what is behind their target? Glad I am south of the line.

http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/sports/332594042.html

when does Twins/Vikings fan season open?

Kids didn't see anything this morning. Cold front rolled through about 3 and it was really windy. Maybe Sunday morning...

That article shows what happens when politics gets mixed in where it doesn't belong. Another example of the law of unintended consequences. I would think that legal spot lighting would really increase the incidence of illegal poaching deer at night. Not to mention the huge safety risk.

Legal spotlighting...really?

I'm not sure it ever closed ...

We are fortunate to live in a "non-lottery" state and enjoy bow, black powder or rifle seasons from September to January. Deer hunting is a family event and the week after Thanksgiving (first week of rifle season) is prime vacation for us. White-tail and Sika are abundant on our farm so we not only harvest for food but to also reduce crop damage.

when is too early to sight in your rifle? I was thinking I may do mine about three weeks before hunting

I just go out the week before, shoot some paper plates (50, 100 150 yds) , and say, yep still good.

Ohio uses shotguns, so nothing further than that.

you use a rifled barrel though and slugs, right?

I sighted mine in last week but I'll shoot it several more times prior to the opening day. Since it is a new rifle/caliber for me, I want to be thoroughly familiar with it before opening day. Once it's sighted in it's good unless something happens and the sights/scope get bumped hard or you change ammo. The only way the length of time comes into play is that the longer it is the more time there is for something to bump the sights.

My son shot his first squirrel on Saturday. Ended up getting it with my late brother's old 16 gauge single shot. He was very proud. We'll see how he likes squirrel this evening...

I will run a few slugs through the gun to ensure the scope is still on this weekend. It will probably just take a couple of shots.

My new rifle was supposedly bore sighted at the gun shop. It was shooting about 15 inches low and about a foot to the right when I took it to the range. I had to bore sight it myself at the range to even get it on the paper. Once I did it zeroed in nicely.

No deer for me this weekend Yesterday was so cold and rainy that the deer were all bedded down. We had friends pushing through the sagebrush and that didn't even get the deer moving. I've got Friday off so I'll have three days to try and fill both my buck tag and special draw doe tag.

Had a scary incident yesterday with some hunters that weren't the sharpest knives in the drawer. We were sitting up on a knoll above a field and my dad and son were sitting on the next two knolls over from us. This group of about 6 hunters all started shooting at some skylined deer. Well, they didn't realize that right behind the field where the deer were standing, were 6 people on hills overlooking them. They started shooting right in our direction. Sounded like a war zone with all the shots going off and the whiz of bullets flying past us. My dad actually ducked for cover because he thought for sure he'd be hit by a stray bullet. About 20 minutes later, we saw their truck on a road about 1/2 mile away and heard one of them say, "Oh, look, there's some hunters right where we were shooting!" Man...we could not believe how dumb these guys were. Oh, and they missed the deer!

Years ago I foolishly let a clerk at a local gun shop talk me into allowing him to verify the already sighted-in rifle which I was carrying hunting in a few days with a bore-sighting collimeter he'd just gotten in. I'd never seen one before. He proclaimed my rifle's scope to be way off and proceeded to crank and crank on windage and elevation adjustments.

Skeptical, I ran out to the gun club range on my lunch hour on Friday, the day before the big hunt, and shot the rifle off of the 100-yard bench rest in order to verify his adjustments. The scope was hugely off, similar to your description, thomasj, only it was at 25 yards! I couldn't find the paper at all at distances of 100, then 50 yards. Didn't know an old Weaver K-4 had so much adjustment built into it. Why it'd practically shoot around a corner!

Nope, I have an old 1971 500 Mossberg. I do have a slug barrel, but it is not rifled like the newer barrels.

Mine isn't bad at 150 yards, slight drop, but accurate enough to drop a deer.

Busy Bee, Exactly why we quit hunting in WV. Dad and I were on stand, saw a deer, pulled up to shoot it, then from over our head from the next hill some idiot with a 30.06 blast it from over our heads.

"I just go out the week before, shoot some paper plates (50, 100 150 yds) , and say, yep still good.

Ohio uses shotguns, so nothing further than that."


Hi DD.

I like reading of your consistent results using slugs. Slugs can apparently be usefully accurate at distance with the right equipment.

I usually put out a bowl of beer (a good use for one that has been fruited) and collect the slugs latter

But, do you salt your slugs, Ed?

I thought that salt was for the shells

Only the ones for the watermelon patch.

Tried that when I was a kid, just as a "ballistic experiment." Pried open a shell, poured out the shot, and filled with rock salt.

Was a bust. Upon firing the shell made a white dust cloud with no particles that had any range to speak of.

It is strange, my gun really likes Winchester Super X shells. Can't shoot Remington worth a hoot

Now others I hunt with won't touch a Super X shell. I call the Remington's "green wobblers". Never know where it will hit.

I always thought that bore sighting would get you "on the paper" at 100 yards so you could dial a rifle in but I don't think I believe that anymore! I had to bore sight my new rifle in myself at the range. I removed the bolt and sighted down the barrel at a bulls eye target 50 yards away and adjusted the scope until it was on the bulls eye as well. It got me on the paper at 50 yards so I could start dialing it in. I had to remember that the adjustments I was making at 50 yards required twice the amount of turns on the adjustment screws as I was used to in sighting at 100 yards (1 click=1/4 inch at 100 yards but only 1/8 inch at 50). Once I had it on at 50 it was pretty easy to move out to 100 and finish zeroing it in.

I had never bore sighted a rifle nor knew how it was done, I just learned something. I've bored plenty of people and been bored by plenty of people but that's a different issue.

I use a Remington 770, it was pretty accurate out of the box. Just a couple of adjustments and I was on the bulls eye.

I'll be testing it for this year in a couple of weeks but it shouldn't be difficult to adjust if necessary.

I have a tendency to go to the range and jump right to the 100 yard mark and get frustrated if the gun is not on the paper. It saves a lot of ammo and swearing if you start at 25 or 50 yards when you are sighting in a rifle for the first time or one that you know is way off.

Of course once it is zeroed in from the bench I make sure I shoot as I would in the woods, free hand or with a shooting stick or with what ever rest I will have with me. My son actually shoots more accurately off of a shooting stick than he does from the bench.

I've never used a bore sight on my own guns (my excuse for the Mrs. when I want to go to the range), but I do use them at the gun shop I work at in the evenings (up to 25 yds so it's only a rough sight). But don't really have another means to sight in customer scopes unless they'd let us take them to the range but that could pose some liability issues lol

Hunting is a useful seasonal extension of a passion for shooting sports competition and handloading. I admire rifles and riflery most of all. Love tinkering with accurate rifles and feeding them especially prepared handloads. Every firearm is a law unto itself with regards to the way it will perform with a certain ammunition. Two identical firearms may not (probably won't) have identical ammunition preferences and cannot be expected to produce identical velocities or accuracy when fed the same ammunition.

Have shot scoped rifles and hunted with them since the mid-1970s and have yet to discover one that has materially changed its point of impact from season to season. Before the season, I always go and verify the sights or scope and may give a minor tweak yet, even despite some hard hunting use, have never had a rifle turn up to be wildly off when bench rest testing one. This includes the ones I've had since the mid-1970s.

Daughter got her second deer this past "youth deer-hunting season." (Written in quotes, lest Ed think it's youth season. )

Illinois is shotgun only too, DD. She shoots a Remington 11-87 20 Gauge, and shot beautifully. And since archery season began this week too, we've butchered two deer in the garage so far this season.

I'm jealous of you QCL! I just moved in Illinois and haven't been able to find any places to go deer hunting yet. I do have a few farmers though that said I can use their land for coyote hunting! I guess they have a problem with them killing their chickens and smaller animals.

heading to my friend's place this weekend, he has plenty of tags and if I get the opportunity, I may get to fire his new crossbow

for tags you can get a hundred under 6 "bucks"

http://www.amazon.com/s?ie=UTF8&page=1&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3ATags

Peeps, with a weapon...of any kind...scary.

deer are too big to take down with my talons

Any siting of Peeps in the wood will be reported as a big foot siting.

feed your wild side

got a new tree stand yesterday, I may set it up outside to test it and freak out the neighbors

Have a lot of deer moving through your yard, Peepers?

not since I marked it

Modern rifle deer season closed for us at 6:15 last night. Driving home at 6:30, I fully expected to see the big 5-point buck that's been near our home bounce across the road in front of my car! I was pleased I wasn't taunted by the missed opportunity! I was able to fill my doe tag on Friday morning. It was the first animal I'd harvested and it was a perfectly placed shot that wasted absolutely no meat. Can't be too disappointed about that!

My dad was able to harvest a 3x3 buck on Saturday. First time out hunting in 25 years and he filled his tag! He called my husband this morning to thank him again for getting him back into the hunting after so many years.

All in all, a good season for us!

I doubt the deer stand was needed.

I suppose just taking off my shirt would work too

If you did that in my neighborhood no one would think anything of it.

I need to find that kind of neighborhood

They're probably not too fond of his keg stands either.

Keg stand in a deer stand sounds like a deadly combination.....or a redneck "Hey y'all, watch this" kind of moment!!

I prefer my neighborhood to not have actual neighbors.

Thanks!!! She was lucky. Youth deer season comes 4 weeks before the regular shot gun season, so her grandpa (my dad) let her use his stand. The catch was that she needs to give him 5 pounds of venison for chili So we butchered it and ground the meat and everyone is happy.
Hubby went goose hunting this morning and hopes to be in the stand tonight with his bow to get another deer.

And yes, Catch The Crook, the coyote packs seem to be larger this year. We have a den in the field behind our house.

They sure do! I read online (take it for what its worth) that there has been a surge in Illinois coyote numbers because wolves are making a come back in the northern/western states and they can't compete, so they started heading east.

I normally have four packs around my house. (Four different valleys, I live on top of a big hill). Hadn't heard or seen signs of any all summer, then two nights ago I had the dog's out, bright full moon, and BAM, two of the packs were having a howling competition.

Looked at my dogs and said, They are back

Spoke to my brother-in-law a while ago who is carrying me to a 4-day special brother-in-law deer hunt in a few weeks so am all pumped about it. We're hunting outside of Sheffield, Texas and it ought to be very productive along with much entertaining camaraderie. Nice change from elbowing in every season with cousins on the old family place or else paying through the nose for a hunting lease, something I no longer do as it is so unreasonably expensive that it offends my sensibilities.


Anyone else who goes the deer lease route that feels that lease costs have gotten out of kilter?

I dropped off of a lease a few years back, when it went from $850 per gun to $1100 per gun and the deer population had diminished over the previous five years due to an influx of quantities of wild hogs. Now that $1100 would be considered half-price. This particular lease was $450 per gun the first year my dad and I were on it.

First deer lease I ever paid for was in a primo spot in far southern San Saba County, Texas and cost an astronomical $75 per gun, rising to $165 per gun over 8 years.

I have family in Sheffield noelekal. The deer population down there this year has been pretty big. We were also talking about going down soon to get a few.

$1,100 a gun that's robbery!

We pay $50 a person at the cabins, that gets you Breakfast, lunch and dinner and the right to hunt with the group.

Gotta ask, TXBSA. Did you know Bob and Karen Reese in Sheffield? Bob was a friend of both my brother-in-law and me. He had an air conditioning business. A stroke took him two years ago. We miss him.

The name does not sound familiar, but I only know a few down there. My husbands parents and siblings live down there and more than likely do know the Reeses.

TXBSA, Bob and Karen's son whom I know is named Scott Reese. There are other siblings.

Having his FFL, Bob was the "gun guy" licensed dealer for the area and also a regular exhibitor at the Silver Spur gun shows in the West Texas/New Mexico region. He also taught in high school building trades in the area for some years. Given the size of Sheffield, your husband's folks are bound to have known him. I attended his funeral up the road at Iraan and they could have been there.

Small world anyway.

The exact reason I vowed to never hunt public land during rifle season (or any season really). The sun came up, I saw a sea of orange and before I could get good and nervous I heard a round zip over my head.

Never again.

I'll skip the season before going on public

This wasn't public lands... private property. We had permission to hunt, this guy was on another guys land, but shot a deer on the land we were hunting. Fricken inbread mountaineer! Another reason we quit hunting that state. Like deliverance, if you know what I mean.

I say spice things up a bit, hunt public land in a ground blind

We keep loosing grounds around here. old farms we have hunted for years, the owners are dying, and their heirs won't let us hunt, or they build houses in the worse places (for us).

There are 40 acres behind my place I had a agreement (verbal) with the husband that when they left I could buy.
He came down this summer to say he was moving and he was ready to sell to me. So I went to get financing, when his wife came down and said, He ain't selling, I want our kids to have it so they can build a house

I almost had prime hunting ground What's worse is the previous owners of our house had given them right of way many years ago in the event they ever wanted to build back there. So, now not only will I have a house behind me but I have to give a right of way too.

Woof! That sucks.

I got access to a place that hasn't been maintained at all. I had to rent a walk-behind brush hog to create some paths and clearings. I couldn't get anything on the camera, but all of the corn was gone and I had a few tracks.

Getting excited about getting something. Hopefully I can just setup on the edge of this new trail that I know they are now traveling.

I never thought it would work, but being that the place is so overgrown, I can pretty much make them walk whatever path I create.

Norm, if you want a big buck, you need to get in the worse possible place you would want to get him, set up stand there. Then you are sure to get a big one and cuss the whole time you are dragging him out.

True. He'd probably find a 10' hole in the ground and die there.

Is exciting to think about the season. Just now I was coming back from our Abilene branch, after a day of TRID training, review, discussion, and saw some big does right inside the fence beside the highway grazing after the rain we had this afternoon. Hard to tell when whizzing past at 75 mph but their coats were very gray and I imagined the fur seemed thicker.

that's where you should set up your stand, next to the highway

http://www.msn.com/en-us/video/animals/man-rescues-and-rehabs-injured-fawn/vi-BBmwOe3

Anyone filling the freezer? I finally caught a Doe on camera. Will go sit for the first time this season, come Wednesday.

My son and I have been following This deer since early this spring. His home range includes the 110 acres that we hunt. My son is beside himself that he may actually get a shot at this deer.

That is awesome thomasj!!! I hope he has a successful hunt!

That's a good looking deer. What a memory that would be.

I can't wait until my son is old enough to start going out to the field with me. And then the daughter some day.

Yes it will be, I think I shared last year when I took my son out for the first time with him standing alone with a gun.

He brought home a really nice 6 pt. Would have been 8, but the rear tines were broke off.

I was so happy for him. He will never forget that for the rest of his life.

I enjoyed watching my son take his first buck last year more than any of the deer I have shot over the past 35 years. His excitement and enthusiasm for hunting and fishing are contagious.

awesome that you have something you both love and can pass down from generations...

now, may I humbly suggest that care packages of venison jerky be sent to each of us, so we can also partake in the enjoyment!

I just made 2 pounds of jerky this past weekend in the smoker. Apple wood smoke with whiskey/pepper seasoning. I am enjoying some right now as I type this...

Planning my big deer hunt for the season for next week but can go all season long if I avail myself of the opportunity. Must be getting old. We're off tomorrow and the family land is only an hour away but I'm instead going with my wife to a doctor's appointment and shopping. Might have gone hunting but forecast says it'll be blowing a gale here tomorrow. Never had any luck whatsoever hunting in high wind.

Please hand over your Man-card.

Just kidding. I get it. I always talk big about going hunting, but I sometimes change my mind when it's 4 am and I have to roll out of bed and make a drive to the spot.

Hah! True confessions.

I'm more likely to be diligent to roll out of bed at 4 AM and drive to our place on the lake when duck hunting's on the menu than I am when deer hunting's on the menu. Strange, since deer hunting doesn't entail donning chest waders and wading around in the dark, setting out decoys.

I put a seven point in my freezer and a spike in my brothers (both from MN). Now I have to get ready for WI deer season, hopefully I can get another. Already have my venison pastrami started and through the venison heart in the bean and bacon soup the night I shot 'em. YUMMO!

mmmm, venison summer sausage

indeed!!!

How do you all field dress your deer (without getting too graphic)?

Do you start from the back end, taking care of the bits down there then moving up or start from the top?

Asking as I've seen it down from top down (zipper type knife, don't have to worry about punctures), cut (saw) the ribs, cut (saw) the pelvic area then everything basically falls right out, bits and all.

Top end down, opening everything up with a yellow-handled Case Trapper pocket knife. Sever the esophagus high in the neck, grasp it and start pulling, cutting attaching tissue loose as needed, and just drag it all out. Easy-greasy and very speedy until one reaches the pelvis. The pelvis is a bit of a chore with a pocket knife but it's more a matter of finesse than brute force.

A lock-blade might be better than a folder but I'm a creature of tradition and long habit.

That's awesome! Congrats. I did roll out of bed at 5:30 and go sit in the blind. Didn't see a thing. Apparently the acorns are falling heavy because all of my corn was still on the ground.

I'd do a direct link, but we might get shut down.

Search YouTube for "Peach Orchard Processing". Guy skins the deer in under 2 minutes.

if you don't want to know the answer to peepers question, don't click below.

I've watched some vids on it. A lone guy did it in a couple minutes going top down. Cut a slit in neck, slice straight down, saw through pelvis, saw through breast bone, (then it looked like he yanked up on the tail, I guess to loosen everything down there), then cut esophagus and everything dumped out. No need for much finesse work around the bottom.

Been doing the finesse around the back end area then going up to breast but cutting pelvic bone seems to be a big key in what I've watched.

Some years more and some years less, but I've taken an average of three deer per year since the 1976 deer season. I've always processed the deer taken for the household. I've got the field-dressing down but cannot make a speedy job of skinning the critters.

Gift card from LLBean

How do I field dress? I don't! My son or husband do it for me. Not that I'm not willing to do it, but I'm not allowed! Now...let me explain why...they won't let me have sharp knives! I darn near cut my finger off a little over a year ago when I accidentally hit the safety on a knife and it closed down and cut through the tendon in my finger. Took a whole lotta stitches, a cast for 8 weeks, and physical therapy to finally use it again! Anytime I touch a knife they tell me to put it down and back away slowly. They clean my fish for me too.

They let me use knives when I cook since those don't have a safety on them.

When I got my doe this year, she fell right on the side of the road and they only had to move her a few feet to get her in the truck. I told the guys that it was my compensation for them field dressing! They didn't have to drag her anywhere.

Hidden for the faint of heart:

Sounds like a fair deal for a lifetime of having someone else do the hard work.

[quote=DD Regs]Hidden for the faint of heart: [\quote]

just curious, why did you switch from what you did in the old day? to preserve meat?

I'm thinking of trying that way this year, it looks easier and then you don't have to use the b***out.

I'm sure everyone has their preferred way, I was just curious to hear what those were, thanks

I learned how to do this from my older brother and my sister's husband when I was 13. My son has observed but has so far not attempted to field dress anything. I will say that a good field dress kit with shoulder length gloves and a pair of rubber gloves is a must have item for this chore. The following is not for the faint of heart.

Peeps, I find that the nifty tool is much easier than splitting the pelvis. You have to see it in action to appreciate it.

Oh, and I do just the opposite of TJ, I put the but uphill so the guts are out of the way, don't want to nick the gut sack. Then turn it around when working on the other end.

And like PA, SE Ohio is the foot hills of the Appalachians, so no problem finding a hill to use the gravity.

Can't even imagine leaving the guts in the deer until it is processed.

I'm assuming everyone here has seen the golf-ball/rock (golf ball or a rock and a truck) method for skinning...

It's truly a sight to see and kind of awesome in practice.

Nope, I am assuming there is a youtube.

It's appalling how some people mishandle deer once they are down. Field dressing ASAP is crucial to start cooling down the meat. The game warden that I teach hunter safety with told me he was once a field biologist that went to various deer processors to get data from the deer that were brought in. He said to this day that he can not eat venison. I think that mishandled and improperly processed meat is why some people don't like the taste of wild game. If the meat is properly cared for and prepared, it is delicious.

Yeah, thomasj. So true.

The best beef would taste gamey if it was handled in the manner in which so many hunters treat their game.

friends of mine process their own and seem to do a pretty good job at it with the steaks, roasts and sausages

may need to go to a processor for summer sausage and sticks though

We process our own. Never gamey. We got 15 pounds of ground venison, a 5 pound roast - to make Italian "beef" with, another 2 pound roast, and 8 back-strap steaks, out of the most recent deer. Lately we've been making snack sticks out of goose. It's not half bad.

I sat in a stand for the very first time on Veteran's Day. We saw 3, but could not get them to come in close enough for the bow. It was amazing. I can't wait to go back.

I just want steaks and that which can't be made into steaks, a mix of brats, polish, summer sausage and sticks

I realized this weekend that I've had my stupid camera set about two feet too high. All sorts of tracks and I had nothing on camera. Also spent an hour trying to dig my pop-up blind out of the gnarliest brush you've ever seen. We had one heck of a wind-storm.

Going to pull out the ol' Mossberg this weekend. Late start and a slow season so far.

How long is your gun season? We only get a week.

week here

WI opens this coming weekend, MN just ended. For opening of deer in WI I am going pheasant hunting in MN ... I will have to hunt all thankgiving weekend to make up for it.

Oct. 10-12 - Youth Deer Hunting
Archery - Oct. 1 through Jan. 17 (But closed during 2 seasons of firearm hunting)
Firearm: November 20, 21, & 22 (First Season)
December 3, 4, 5, & 6 (Second Season) [shotgun, muzzleloader or a handgun only]

Late Winter Firearm/Special CWD seasonson December 31, 2015 ‐ January 3, 2016 & January 15 ‐ 17, 2016.

Sat at my spot for 4 mornings, never saw a thing. Guess that's why they call it hunting and not killing.

It's a relatively new habitat, seeing that I had to brush-hog the clearing that had sat overgrown for years.

Hoping they get used to it and come out to eat.

I had a realllllllllllly nice 8 point buck and three does visiting my spot this week. The does were regulars, but yesterday was the first day I saw this big buck. Been also seeing a nice 4 and six pointer for the past month.

I was out there just checking on "things" when the big guy came through. He was clearly in the rutt, his neck was huge.

I "air shot" him perfectly. Now if they just keep coming through.

The guy that owns the land adjacent to our property posted the entire thing last week. He has a "Hunting Club" that has members that pay to hunt that land. I really wouldn't care that it is posted as we never hunt there, but I have been trying to contact him to ask permission to retrieve a deer should we shoot one and it runs onto his property. He has not responded. I am friends with the local game warden and asked if he could help, but seeing as the warden had written him up about 2 years ago I don't think I'll be dropping the game warden's name.

Around here, the rut will be pretty much done by the time rifle season starts next week. The only does that will not already be bred are the yearlings that are old enough to come into season.

You can only hope his "hunters" stay on their land and make so much noise they run everything your way

That is a very likely scenario that I believe happened last year. If I see any of his guys hunting on our land they will be asked to leave - you don't post several hundred acres of land and not cooperate with the neighboring property owners without some consequences.

Took a few days off last week and did the big deer hunt for the season. May go to the family place for a few more days if I can make room in the freezer. Got two bucks and a javelina. Had a big time hunting on a portion of a 24,000 acre ranch. Have hunted in Texas all my life but never have had much opportunity to take a javelina and this was the first one. Was a sow so I cut it up for the freezer. Had javelina gumbo last night that Mrs. noelekal concocted and it was great. Grilled a bit of the back strap too and it was nice.

Have long wanted to try out the little M1 Carbine on deer but the few times I've carried one over the years never saw a good opportunity to take a deer with it until this hunt. Deer was 49 yards (steps) out and bullet placement was perfect so the .30 Carbine round was a success in this instance.

So, basically a wild bore? Taste like pork?

Hah! I'm probably a wild bore and this wasn't a boar but a sow. I hear the boar javelina are stinky to field dress and the meat is strong and retains a bit of javelina boar stink making preparation of the meat for a meal more problematic. This javelina sow was very mild, with texture more like beef, and a unique slightly sweet flavor all its own. The rancher was a bit skeptical of eating the things but it worked out well in this instance. The critter probably went 35 lbs. on the hoof and 12 lbs. of meat was all that could be had off the carcass but we'll have a dab of javalina to enjoy for a few weeks. Mrs. noelekal was considering making most of it up into breakfast sausage using her recipe for the pork sausage she makes from time to time. I'm looking forward to trying it.

My brother in law has gotten a javalina before as well. He said they can be stinky to field dress. When he made it for us at a family gathering, he dipped it in a buffalo type sauce, then coated it in flour and pan fried it. Not my favorite, but not bad either.

I did grill some small pieces of the javelina so as to get an idea of what it tasted like 'unadulterated." I had some many years ago, prepared like Swiss steak and so spiced up that one couldn't really taste the meat. Could have been cat for all I could tell.

It does appear to be a meat that lends itself well to grilling. We live just 45 miles north of the northernmost counties in Texas to host a javelina season and our long time hunting haunts have no javelina. I've only encountered them on visits "down south" and never before had opportunity to take one. I'd probably take advantage of the opportunity to dine on javelina if it were more available to me.

Typical deer rifle calibers certainly aren't needed for javelina and might prove to be wastefully destructive. This one was taken at long range and was well hit so the .30-06 used didn't waste any of the "good bits."

Woo Hoo! I got a call from the land owners who posted the land that borders ours and they said they had no problem with us coming on their land to recover a deer. Takes a load off my mind knowing we can recover an animal if we need to.

Also found out that the 10 point that I posted a picture of made it through archery season and was spotted about 200 yards from our stand this past Saturday. The guy who saw it said that it was the biggest rack he has ever seen on a deer. Can't wait to get out there Monday morning with my son.

Sure would like to hear a good deer story next week that included that 10-point.

I'll do my best

However, local weather forecast is calling for rain, and 50 degrees for the three days I have off

While I hope that my son gets an opportunity at the 10 point, I think he will shoot the first decent buck that comes his way (hoping that a decent buck comes our way!). After he has stocked the freezer, I will likely spend several long days hoping for a shot at the 10 point.

I'm still getting skunked. Saw a really nice 10pt on camera at 3 am.

I'm going to keep trying, but my pop-up blind doubles as a wind-sail so it's gone. I'll have to figure out some kind of a cheap blind before I go out again.

Cold and raining for the next week here. Not sure if I'm tough enough to sit exposed with the rain.

Norm, I think a lot of hunters give deer too much credit. I usually try to find a tree or grove of trees (not hard as we live in the foothills of the Appalachians, plenty of trees) near a path and lean against a tree. You blend in and deer come right my way.

I did post up under a tree yesterday upon finding that my blind blew to another county. I'm game for sitting under the tree, but not when the rain is howling. Our old place in South Texas would spoil you. A 100 yard hike from the hunting cabin (central HVAC) to your completely enclosed box blind (your choice of 5 on the property).

Maybe someday I'll have that again.

Brother told me to buy some doe pee pee and hang that out. May try that method. I just need them to start traveling the new paths I've cut.

In the off season, go back and plant some good grass along those paths you cleared.


I laid out some corn and apple mineral blocks along mine all fall.

I realize baiting deer is not permitted, these were laid out for squirrels and rabbits, any deer caught eating them will be shot

I agree on giving deer too much credit.

Due to being a nitwit, I found myself without my wallet containing hunting license after shooting the javelina early in the afternoon of the first day of my hunt. As there was found to be a gaping hole in the bottom of the hip pocket of the ancient pair of surplus British BDU trousers I was wearing, I spent the remainder of the time afield that afternoon fretting over the loss of the wallet while waiting on the rancher to come the five miles to pick me up at dark. I had walked to a hill and meandered around, picking my way to its top prior to taking the javelina so figured on having a long and ultimately futile search for the wallet while trying to backtrack.

While sitting there in a tower blind, watching a feeder some 50 yards away, with my rifle left on the ground because I was out of deer hunting circulation without the tags on my now-lost license, I thought to call my dad and relate the javelina story to him. We'd talked for some time, very loudly from my end because, at 89 years old, my dad's quite deaf and can scarcely hear on a telephone any more. While doing all this shouting into a cell phone, a decent buck came to the feeder. He knew full well I was there, could see me and could hear me. He'd nose at the ground and then take a few steps toward me to scrutinize me then go back to nosing around beneath the feeder. He never became so alarmed that he left and he presented numerous opportunities for shots. So for all that "being still and quiet" business we hunters fervently adhere to. I've noticed this on other occasions during my hunting career. Sometimes it's amazing how stubbornly deer will ignore the hunter. Even so, I still subscribe to being still and quiet as the best approach to bagging deer.

Found the wallet in a pair of heavy wool trousers in which I hunted that morning. Didn't find my memory though.

My son and I saw a buck a couple of weeks ago while turkey hunting. I never heard or saw it come in, I just noticed it moving around about 75 yards away. He never paid us any attention, just kept his head down and moved on along.

It's been my experience that if a deer can see you but not smell you (the wind is in your favor) they don't usually bolt unless you make big sudden movements. They tend to trust their nose more than their eyes or their ears. That being said, it is very frustrating to get caught by a deer and have them lock their eyes on you if you don't have your weapon ready. It's like an old time Western at that point and you likely are not going to win the gun fight at that point.

I've had them fall dead in their tracks and their buddy never move an inch. Just kept eating corn like nothing happened.

So, I agree that they aren't all that illusive. Once they show up at the party, they usually stick around.

I was standing over my son's 8 point last year getting ready to field dress him when my son said "Dad look!" I looked up and there was another nice buck standing about 50 yards from me. I had the gun in my hand, but I honestly I had all I could handle getting the one he shot out of the woods!

The guy that taught me to hunt used to always say:

"Nothing will screw up a good hunt like shooting a deer."

LOL ain't that the truth. I have been dressing a smaller buck or doe and see a nicer one go right by me.

Well, the adventure begins Monday. Will be out till Thursday.

WI firearm season ended for me with nothing. Had a couple of doe and a buck within sight but there were a lot of branches between me and them. Good thing I filled my freezer from MN deer. Now I can spend the next year overthinking how I will hunt next year.

Taking a break from hunting for a couple of days since it is pouring down rain. The first day we were in the field an hour before daylight and stayed until sunset - only saw 4 deer and no antlers. Driving home we saw another deer standing in the middle of a country road. Of the four deer we saw, all came withing 25 yards (one little button buck was so close I thought it might grab something out of my lunch). Day two it poured most of the morning - we only stayed out for 6 hours and came home to dry out.

Hopefully back out Friday (my son feels a cold coming on so he will have to stay home from school. Since I don't want to leave him home alone he'll have to come hunting with me )

I was a dishonest parent during hunting season and called and said my son had a "fever"....also known as "Buck Fever"

Hey...it's his senior year and he has all A's and super easy classes!!

I continue to see 0. Thinking about it more, the new spot just doesn't have enough heavy woods in close proximity. My continued visits will hinge on what the game camera yields on Friday.

There is very little moving the deer in my area right now. The weather is not cold enough (it felt plenty cold to me, but the deer are fine) and there is no snow that forces them to move about searching for food. There is also a lack of hunter activity that typically will get them moving. I'm convinced that this rain has most of the deer bedded down waiting it out.

Since my son is a junior hunter, it is somewhat difficult to do anything but set up and wait for the deer to come to us. He has not yet developed the stealthy skills required to stalk deer on foot and I have to be within arms reach of him while he is hunting so I can't try to push deer to him. Hopefully we will have better luck this weekend.

A crummy day hunting .... compliance ... hmmm ...

I'll take the crummy day hunting.

Well back from hunting M-W. Nothing like hunting the pouring rain.

The son and I tag teamed on a doe. I missed 3 bucks Although they were running. (So wasn't the doe, but we got her)
Rain was so hard, it was difficult to hear anything until it was right on top of you.

While driving back to the house each night I saw two really nice bucks just standing in the road.

Everyday and twice on Mionday's.

I was walking with my wife back where I was hunting and she couldn't help but comment on how many deer tracks are directly underneath the stand ...

out of the back seat and into the bed with her!

My son put some meat in the freezer on Saturday, no horns on the wall though. After seeing 5 deer Monday, getting soaked for 6 hours on Tuesday and seeing nothing, and sitting all day Friday and seeing only two squirrels I was afraid his interest would fade. We went out Saturday morning and within about an hour about 15 deer exploded into the small patch of woods we were watching. There may have been a small buck in the bunch, but the rest were does. He didn't take a shot because they were moving too much and he didn't have a cleans shot. About 4 hours later two does busted into the woods and they too were running. I whistled loudly and they stopped about 50 yards from us. He was able to shoot one and thankfully it fell about a foot from going down a very steep hill.

I figured out as we were dragging the deer out that deer have been hiding and bedding down in a field that is right next to our little patch of woods. I never would have guessed they would hide in the field, but it is the perfect spot. There is no where that you can see the entire field from. The golden rod has grown up to nearly 5 feet in places and there is plenty of brush to hide in. There were trails and bedding areas in that field that I am sure have been concealing the deer we've been looking for.

I will be going out solo one day this week and for the last day this season with my son on Saturday. I need to come up with a strategy to get eyes on that field and hopefully find one of the big bucks that we have been after.

Good hunting story right there, Thomas. Was the doe a good size? We're used to "dog-deer" down here.

Can't eat horns. I wouldn't be adverse to a nice buck with a rocking chair rack on his head but don't completely understand the modern deer hunter's fixation on antlers. I was raised though with the notion that the meat was the trophy to be appreciated. That's the way it was in our extended family when I was a kid. If horns were the big deal then longhorn cattle would be the top breed. Good thing the longhorn isn't tops as I like good, tender steaks too well.

This has been an enjoyable thread this hunting season.

Good story, indeed.

I wonder how mad the wife is going to be when she realizes that I'm just going out to the field to sit by myself and read a book. I almost....slightly..... hope the deer don't show up so that I can continue to relax.

2 kids in the house, I can't remember the last time I was able to read a book. Wait, that was last season.

Way to go Little TJ jr!. Yeah, I told the son, the doe isn't as thrilling as the buck from last year, but you can't eat the antlers.

Very nice! Glad he was able to fill his tag and the freezer!

The doe he took was decent size, over 100 lbs before it was dressed out. I really don't like taking doe as it is 2 or possibly 3 deer we won't see next year; however, I remember being 13 and how important it was to me to get a deer. I want to keep him interested in the sport and he has shown incredible patience this past week sitting for hours in less than ideal conditions.

We both still have buck tags and I will be very selective before I take anything. I have a doe tag too, but that will likely remain unused unless I see a wounded or injured doe.

He now wants to take up trapping, which I have never had much interest in but will help him with. It is a huge time commitment and a lot of work so we will see how he sticks with it.

I told him that he is getting old enough to learn field dress his own deer and that he will be learning to skin what he catches when he starts trapping.

Good size up there. Few weigh that around these parts.

They'll still sure mess up a car at 75 mph on our long stretches of highway.

My dad always encouraged letting the big does go, since they knew how to survive and raise new babies.

Although, I will let the little ones go. Had three I let go this year, told them to grow up.

If we hadn't seen those 15 deer earlier in the day we would have likely passed on taking this one. Having witnessed that many in a herd and seeing how many we had on the game cameras it's pretty clear we have a good population. I have a great deal of respect for those mama deer having watched them raise and protect their young this past year on the game cameras. I can not even imagine those doe taking care of and keeping track of twin fawns from the time they are born. They are very protective of the little ones.

Saw this sign

Warning
Baiting Deer is Illegal!

This corn pile is intended for squirrels,
chipmunks, and other such animals.

Any deer eating this corn
Will Be Shot!

Yeap Rocky

Does anyone here hunt a private landowners land? If so, how did you go about getting permission?

I'm not sure if I'll have this spot next year or not, but even if I do, my new home will be two counties in the opposite direction by then.

I need to get to work finding a new spot in the new county.

One only has to ask, but this day and age most who own property in deer range in Texas know the value of the hunting all too well. We live in a county of some renown for deer hunting and the local chamber of commerce maintains all sorts of lists. Permission to hunt here is mostly bought.

Me? I either go two counties away and hunt free on the family place which, for quality of deer hunting, is about a "2" on a scale of one to ten, or go on hunts my brother-in-law cooks up. I've not paid for a deer lease in eight years. I have hunted right here in our county and have taken a few deer off fellow church members' or co-workers' properties. The hunting invites remain open for several places close by but I hate to abuse the privilege and take too much advantage.

Also hate to pay market prices for leases here which are too costly in my view.

we've had permission for three generations. so I'm not sure I can help answer the question. However when I ask permission for pheasant I usually bring a young kid (if we have one hunting with us, not one I found in town) and always offer something as a thank you (we offer a bird or two (processed, not still feathered) or some beer).

Check your state requirement. In Ohio the hunter must carry written permission from the land owner to be on their land.

The ODNR used to have a template that the land owner could use. I just take a 3x5 note card and have the landowner state that I have permission to hunt on their land.

Haven't hunted lately, but preferred to find large bucks with messed up racks...keep the big pretty boys to keep on producing!

The Ugly racks are usually older bucks that can no longer produce a nice racks.

Amazingly those Nice Pretty bucks are usually 3 or 4 years old.

The Ugly racks are usually older bucks that can no longer produce a nice racks.

From a city person; No comment

There was a picture of a local nun who shot a beautiful 10 point buck. That's right, even our nuns hunt around here.

http://www.cnsnews.com/blog/mark-judge/benedictine-nun-prays-rosary-while-hunting-deer

that could be a bad habit

hmmmmmmmmmm - never heard of black camo

The theme around here is universal, people are not seeing a lot of deer for the most part. Abnormally high temperatures, no snow, and lack of people in the woods moving the deer seem to be the cause. I don't think it was a coincidence that we saw more deer the first hour on Saturday than we did the entire week because there were many more hunters moving about. I've got two more days - Friday by myself and Saturday with my son - to try to get a nice buck.

We have 2 more days of Gun Season 12/28 and 12/29. They a week of muzzle loader season the 2nd week of January. And Bow season runs through Feb 7.

So, I will place my blind, reload the feeders and hope they settle back into my back field.

Saturday was our last day of firearms season for the year. I was in the woods all day Friday and then on Saturday with my son, 20+ hours in two days, and didn't see one deer. With temps near 60 both days and virtually no one else in the woods the deer were just not moving - they obviously found a safe place and bedded down.

We have meat in the freezer thanks to my son, but no antlers on the wall. There are 2 weeks of archery and flintlock season after Christmas, but we aren't into either of those at this point. We will be setting the game cameras out to see which of the bucks made it through the season and hopefully we'll be hunting for shed antlers this winter.

Next year we will be taking up archery and I will be constructing some comfortable stands next spring/summer.

cross bow

I'm guessing that the cross bow is the option my son will choose. I have a couple of regular compound bows myself, but I don't know if my son has the patience to practice to get good enough to hunt. We will give it a try this spring and see how it goes. Archery season here is in October which is an awesome time to be in the woods here in PA.

can anyone use cross bow by you? they changed it here so now everyone can, basically, a cross bow is treated the same as a compound bow

I was always intrigued with the crossbow. My brother-in-law got a new one this fall and took it out to begin practice with a view to taking a deer with it. It exploded in his face, came unhinged, something punching a hole in the front of his fore head that looked way worse than the injury was. Think it was a Barnett brand (?). Took it back to the dealer in Lubbock and got his money back. It put him off of crossbows.

You used to have to have a special permit due to disability that caused you to not be able to use a regular bow, but a few years ago they changed it to allow anyone to hunt with one.

Bows of any kind are under such extreme tension that a crack or an error on assembly can cause them to fail in spectacular fashion. I intend to take my bows to the local shop to have the strings and cables checked before I try to shoot them since it's been so long.

Crossbows aren't allowed in my state, with the exception of those eligible with certain disabilities. My son wanted to take up archery so we got him a compound bow for his birthday in October. He hasn't gotten it set up yet for his draw length but will do that over Christmas break so he can start practicing. Close to where we live, there is an elk herd and the archery tag used to be for a true spike only. They opened it up this year for spikes and cows so my son is very interested in filling the freezer with an elk next fall.

My daughter has expressed interest in archery too but that's now her Dad's thing and I have no clue. I would end up putting an arrow through the wall.

Late start with a brand new habitat this season. I'm still getting some deer on camera, but they are strictly nocturnal. Haven't seen anything but a Bobcat all season.