2022 Deer hunt

[bigbassin']

Saw a bobcat yesterday which was neat.

 

Seen plenty in suburban settings, but first time seeing one back in the woods.

[TnRiver46]

33 minutes ago, bigbassin' said:

Saw a bobcat yesterday which was neat.

 

Seen plenty in suburban settings, but first time seeing one back in the woods.

Would have looked good up on the mantle piece ! 

On 11/15/2022 at 3:09 PM, Functional said:

after all them bucks i dont even want to post my little doe! Only got into hunting this year and after 3 sits in a tree stand I had a shot at this doe 20 yards away. Double lunged her and she ran towards where our truck was so overall I've had it very easy. I've shot competitive long range rifle (PRS) for about a decade before the PRS was even an organization so felt like a gun was cheating and took a bow. I'm now fairly addicted and having some pretty big internal struggles if I'm hitting fall fishing or hunting now on the weekends now.

 

 

Now that’s a fine shot 

[gimruis]

5 hours ago, bigbassin' said:

Saw a bobcat yesterday which was neat.

 

I saw one about 5 years ago on the second day of the season.  I heard a blue jay making an alarm call through the timber as it was flying closer.  Then I spotted that cat coming along right towards me.  It was trying to avoid walking on the ground at all - just walking and hopping on fallen logs instead, making almost no noise.  It jumped from one to another with ease that had about a 15 foot gap too.  When it got about 20 yards from the base of my stand, it stopped, sat, and looked up right at me.  It had almost yellow eyes too.  Then it just went on its way.  Really nice pelt on it.

 

I've also seen fisher, mink, and weasel sitting in my stand.  These are rare critters that most people only see in a zoo.

[12poundbass]

On 11/24/2022 at 3:25 PM, bigbassin' said:

Saw a bobcat yesterday which was neat

 

On 11/24/2022 at 8:54 PM, gimruis said:

 

I saw one about 5 years ago on the second day of the season.  I heard a blue jay making an alarm call through the timber as it was flying closer.  Then I spotted that cat coming along right towards me.  It was trying to avoid walking on the ground at all - just walking and hopping on fallen logs instead, making almost no noise.  It jumped from one to another with ease that had about a 15 foot gap too.  When it got about 20 yards from the base of my stand, it stopped, sat, and looked up right at me.  It had almost yellow eyes too.  Then it just went on its way.  Really nice pelt on it.

 

I've also seen fisher, mink, and weasel sitting in my stand.  These are rare critters that most people only see in a zoo.

My friend got video of a bobcat in October during bow season in one of the food plots my son and I have been hunting the past couple weeks. I saw a bobcat crossing the road about 1000 yds south of the location my friend saw one this past October, so I’m assuming there’s a well established family of them around the area. My friend is a trapper and traps his property so it’s surprising he’s never caught one out there. There’s a short trapping season for bobcat in our area now.

 

He also got a bear on trail cam last year which is rare as well for our area.

[LrgmouthShad]

Bagged this 8pt this AM in NC. Not a real mature buck, probably had a lot of potential next year, but he was nice enough for me now, and I don’t know when I’ll be here back in NC. Plus beats the only other buck I’ve ever shot, a small 6pt. 
 

So without further ado, here’s the beaut. The way he was leaning up against the tree with those dreaming eyes was a little heart-wrenching. 
 

We gonna get working on the meat!

[12poundbass]

28 minutes ago, LrgmouthShad said:

Bagged this 8pt this AM in NC. Not a real mature buck, probably had a lot of potential next year, but he was nice enough for me now, and I don’t know when I’ll be here back in NC. Plus beats the only other buck I’ve ever shot, a small 6pt. 
 

So without further ado, here’s the beaut. The way he was leaning up against the tree with those dreaming eyes was a little heart-wrenching. 
 

We gonna get working on the meat!

In the eyes of the hardcore QDM guys he’d be mature in about year or two, but if he’d walk in front of me I’d drop him too.

 

I see blood on the ground but no blood on that side of the deer. Did you drop him in his tracks, or is there no exit hole? 

[LrgmouthShad]

42 minutes ago, 12poundbass said:

In the eyes of the hardcore QDM guys he’d be mature in about year or two, but if he’d walk in front of me I’d drop him too.

 

I see blood on the ground but no blood on that side of the deer. Did you drop him in his tracks, or is there no exit hole? 

I agree, was good enough for me!

 

As for entrance/exit, there is both. The side facing camera is the entrance 

[Bird]

4 hours ago, LrgmouthShad said:

I agree, was good enough for me!

 

As for entrance/exit, there is both. The side facing camera is the entrance 

Been deer hunting for close to 50 years and have been quite particular the last 20 and would take that buck.......nice simetrical rack.

Nice shot and congrats.

[TnRiver46]

14 hours ago, LrgmouthShad said:

Bagged this 8pt this AM in NC. Not a real mature buck, probably had a lot of potential next year, but he was nice enough for me now, and I don’t know when I’ll be here back in NC. Plus beats the only other buck I’ve ever shot, a small 6pt. 
 

So without further ado, here’s the beaut. The way he was leaning up against the tree with those dreaming eyes was a little heart-wrenching. 
 

We gonna get working on the meat!

Might have gotten hit by a car before next year, now it’s yours . Excellent buck 

[GaryH]

On 11/26/2022 at 8:26 AM, LrgmouthShad said:

Bagged this 8pt this AM in NC. Not a real mature buck, probably had a lot of potential next year, but he was nice enough for me now, and I don’t know when I’ll be here back in NC. Plus beats the only other buck I’ve ever shot, a small 6pt. 
 

So without further ado, here’s the beaut. The way he was leaning up against the tree with those dreaming eyes was a little heart-wrenching. 
 

We gonna get working on the meat!

Nice buck. Congrats 

[The Baron]

Our two week rifle season is over (I’m in E. Ontario).  We do drives and I saw a couple deer, but none offered a decent shot so I did not dent a single primer this season - first time in a few I haven’t accounted for one.  But, our group hung 8 deer for 10 hunters so there’s fresh venison in my freezer.

 

We're all a busy crew so we hunt the first few days, then just the Saturdays and cut all our own meat on the Sunday.  The landscape sure changed from 1st week of December to the second though.  These pics were taken in almost the same location, 10 days apart.  For the gun guys I was using a Ruger RSI .308 the first week, then my Ruger American Compact Stainless 7mm-08 on the last Saturday in the snow.  I was excited about the fresh tracking snow, but we only moved two does off the last drive and there were no other fresh tracks.

[gimruis]

10 minutes ago, The Baron said:

The landscape sure changed from 1st week of December to the second though.

I'll say.  You can see right into that timber with the snow and without it you just see a wall of trees.

[TOXIC]

So is there as much controversy in Canada about driving deer as here in the lower states?  Do you use 4 wheelers or dogs? 

[gimruis]

14 minutes ago, TOXIC said:

So is there as much controversy in Canada about driving deer as here in the lower states?  Do you use 4 wheelers or dogs? 

I've never heard of anyone using either dogs or wheelers on a deer drive.  Can't use either one here in MN.  Deer "drives" consist of a group of hunters walking methodically through a piece of timber or standing corn to push deer out through designated escape routes where posted hunters are waiting.  I don't know of any dog that is specifically trained to actually track a deer either.

 

We used to do it towards the end of the season to get the deer moving and always established safe shooting procedures/directions prior to starting, for both the drivers and posters.  It was extremely effective to move deer...but usually only anterless deer.  Bucks seemed to escape the piece by either double backing on us or running out where no one was posted.  We even had one swim across a lake once.  They were simply smarter than the other deer.

 

Haven't done one in years now though because we don't have enough hunters.  Its basically just me and my Father.  When we did them regularly years ago, we had 8 - 12 hunters.  I miss doing them.  Now all I can do is sit and wait in a stand which does tend to get old after a while.

 

 

[The Baron]

3 hours ago, TOXIC said:

So is there as much controversy in Canada about driving deer as here in the lower states?  Do you use 4 wheelers or dogs? 

 

Deer drives are still a fairly popular way of hunting in southern/central/eastern Ontario.  Not so much in the north, as there's just too much unbroken bush to do a controlled push.

 

We do our pushes on foot, lots of times blockers and drivers are dropped off with a truck as we can drive around most of the blocks we push using farm fields for access.  I've never heard of anyone using 4-wheelers, other than as transportation around the hunting area.  There are still some gangs who use dogs, but that has dwindled a lot in popularity over the years.  Not for controversy, I don't think, but more to do with the cost and the work involved in having a pack of hounds and the fact that the large runs of interconnected farms/bush have been broken up by so many houses and anti-hunting hobby farmers,that finding a place to run hounds effectively has become very difficult.  Not to mention the decline in hunter numbers and the disappearance of the big deer camps.  Groups of 20+ hunters used to be relatively common.  Now, our gang of 10-12 is considered quite large.

 

There has been some controversy on using dogs - I seem to recall PITA making a stink about outlawing it up here a few years back.  I think someone countered by bringing up the evidence on how many dogs PITA euthanizes each year, and they slunk away pretty quick. lol

[12poundbass]

Deer drives were always fun. We’d do them in Nebraska on our last day or second to last day if someone hadn’t harvested a buck yet. The ranch we hunted had a ton of dry creek beds and some corn. It was usually effective. The last one I’ve done was about 6-7 years ago on the property I hunt now, which resulted in my friend getting his first buck on his property. He was pretty geeked that day. 

[TOXIC]

On 11/29/2022 at 10:03 AM, gimruis said:

I've never heard of anyone using either dogs or wheelers on a deer drive.  Can't use either one here in MN.  Deer "drives" consist of a group of hunters walking methodically through a piece of timber or standing corn to push deer out through designated escape routes where posted hunters are waiting.  I don't know of any dog that is specifically trained to actually track a deer either.

 

We used to do it towards the end of the season to get the deer moving and always established safe shooting procedures/directions prior to starting, for both the drivers and posters.  It was extremely effective to move deer...but usually only anterless deer.  Bucks seemed to escape the piece by either double backing on us or running out where no one was posted.  We even had one swim across a lake once.  They were simply smarter than the other deer.

 

Haven't done one in years now though because we don't have enough hunters.  Its basically just me and my Father.  When we did them regularly years ago, we had 8 - 12 hunters.  I miss doing them.  Now all I can do is sit and wait in a stand which does tend to get old after a while.

 

 

It’s a tradition here in Virginia.  Per a VDGIF study:

 

The Virginia Deer Management Plan directs VDGIF to preserve the heritage and tradition of hunting deer (including with dogs), for both management and recreational benefits, while ensuring that hunting methods are consistent with and respect the rights of private property owners and other citizens (VDGIF 2015). Deer hunting with dogs is an important tradition and deer population management tool in eastern Virginia, but it can generate concerns from other hunters and landowners regarding “trespassing” dogs, trespassing hunters, and hunting from or near roads (VDGIF 2015).

 

I do know it’s controversial and so is fox hunting even though the fox isn’t killed.  I’ve been on hunts in Kansas for pheasant and quail where we set up and had dogs and other hunters drive the birds out.  I knew they did the same here for deer.  

[gimruis]

10 minutes ago, TOXIC said:

It’s a tradition here in Virginia.  Per a VDGIF study:

 

The Virginia Deer Management Plan directs VDGIF to preserve the heritage and tradition of hunting deer (including with dogs), for both management and recreational benefits, while ensuring that hunting methods are consistent with and respect the rights of private property owners and other citizens (VDGIF 2015). Deer hunting with dogs is an important tradition and deer population management tool in eastern Virginia, but it can generate concerns from other hunters and landowners regarding “trespassing” dogs, trespassing hunters, and hunting from or near roads (VDGIF 2015).

 

I do know it’s controversial and so is fox hunting even though the fox isn’t killed.  I’ve been on hunts in Kansas for pheasant and quail where we set up and had dogs and other hunters drive the birds out.  I knew they did the same here for deer.  

 

I would worry about my dog getting shot, trespassing, or getting hit by car.  Deer can run long distances and don't know boundaries.  When I pheasant hunt (which I'm doing about once a week right now), I won't hunt near a busy road.  No bird is worth losing my dog to a car.

 

In Wisconsin, they still use hounds to hunt bears.  Hounds tree the bear, and then the hunter shoots it.  Shooting a bear out of a tree isn't real sporty IMO.  If you see a dog chasing deer here between Jan 1 - July 1, you can legally shoot the dog.  I would personally never shoot a stray dog, but I would be pretty upset if I was stand hunting for deer and there was a dog out there roaming the countryside.

 

Wisconsin also allowed the use of hounds to hunt wolves when they had a very limited, lottery drawn season on them (right now they are back on the endangered species list, so there's no season).  I'm not quite sure what kind of dog is used to hunt a wolf, but that has to be one TOUGH ass dog.

[TnRiver46]

16 minutes ago, gimruis said:

 

I would worry about my dog getting shot, trespassing, or getting hit by car.  Deer can run long distances and don't know boundaries.  When I pheasant hunt (which I'm doing about once a week right now), I won't hunt near a busy road.  No bird is worth losing my dog to a car.

 

In Wisconsin, they still use hounds to hunt bears.  Hounds tree the bear, and then the hunter shoots it.  Shooting a bear out of a tree isn't real sporty IMO.  If you see a dog chasing deer here between Jan 1 - July 1, you can legally shoot the dog.  I would personally never shoot a stray dog, but I would be pretty upset if I was stand hunting for deer and there was a dog out there roaming the countryside.

 

Wisconsin also allowed the use of hounds to hunt wolves when they had a very limited, lottery drawn season on them (right now they are back on the endangered species list, so there's no season).  I'm not quite sure what kind of dog is used to hunt a wolf, but that has to be one TOUGH ass dog.

The answer will shock you: a wolf hound. 
 

my 3 dogs track and go after deer in my yard like crazy but they are starting to calm down a little bit (one of them is part wolf hound) 

 

dog hunting for deer was a tradition in TN just like VA, but has now been outlawed for several years 

[gimruis]

1 minute ago, TnRiver46 said:

wolf hound

Until about 5 minutes ago, I didn't know this breed even existed.  It looks half wolf lol

 

[TOXIC]

Seems the most used hound hunts here around me are pack hunts for rabbits and fox.  The fox hunting thing isn’t really a hunt in my estimation.  My daughter “competed” in fox hunts where they are graded on performance and per position, first flight, second flight, hill topper, etc.  If they do flush a fox it’s a bonus, the hounds and Huntsman are also part of the festivities.  She is still a member of some of the local hunt clubs (they usually group by county) but she uses it to market and sell horses more than competition.  

[GaryH]

Took 5 years but a friend finally got his prize.

[gimruis]

Dear god that is a true freak @GaryH.

 

Not a big fan of the European mount though.  Shoulda got a full shoulder/head mount.

[GaryH]

1 hour ago, gimruis said:

Dear god that is a true freak @GaryH.

 

Not a big fan of the European mount though.  Shoulda got a full shoulder/head mount.

He’s doing a full shoulder mount. The taxidermist caped it and cut the skull out. When the form comes in he’ll take it back to the taxidermist. I thought the same thing you did.

[casts_by_fly]

My plan for this year was a year of redemption.  Last year I hit two deer and didn’t recover them and made some other mistakes that limited my options and cost me opportunities. The year before I killed a buck and lost a buck, but even the one I killed I got lucky as I tweaked the shot left but caught the liver arteries.  So one out of four over two years isn’t a good run rate.

 

part of the plan this year was really tuning my bow to me.  I was shooting my dads browning and it was okay, but it was older and never was quite right for me.  Instead of working on that bow, I came across a great used bowtech and got it set up for me.  Turns out I was shooting 2” longer draw than I should have been. After dialing it in, I was managing respectable groups at 50 yards so a 35 yard shot in the woods was well in range now. 
 

 

 I hunt a combination of public land and our 3 acre block right behind my house. We have a ton of does and young deer in the neighborhood year round, but during the rut the bucks pour in for the does. We live on the end of a cul de sac that backs up to my 3 acres and woods.  Most of the houses on our street have fenced yards so the deer get funneled right through our yard.  Where the does go, the bucks follow.  I don’t shoot does here so I scouted some WMA land last February and I also hunt two township parks on a permit. 
 

i managed an early doe on the WMA in September (see thread below).  It was a good shot and the deer crashed quickly and in sight, but not getting a pass through combined with the high entry (11 yard shot) meant a small blood trail.

right before thanksgiving my wife was out for a girls night so I hopped into my saddle on the WMA hoping for a buck passing through but willing to shoot most anything. Just before dark three does came through at 25 yards, but as thick as the cover was, I couldn’t get a shot. Finally the big doe split off and came down to me.  She was quartering hard towards so I waited until she would turn broadside on the trail.  She must have caught a whiff because she did a 180 and gave me a hard quartering away.  On the shot I knew it was pretty good because I could see the blood gushing as she ran, but I only had about 10” of arrow inside her and again not a pass through so I was a little worried. I needn’t worry. Because of the angle and a freak occurrence, the broadhead didn’t enter at my aiming point and instead entered about 4” further forward and stopped on the breastbone.  Since it was a cut on contact though, it was cutting the whole way and cut two ribs completely across before slicing through the top third of the heart.

 

I put out a camera for the first time this year and had a couple really nice ones that were just about starting to come during daylight here at the house. I saw one in the distance one sit and saw one under my stand while I was on a call, but alas they eluded me. We were then traveling a lot during the prime rut and sure enough this guy was under my stand as I was getting in a cab to the airport at first light. 

 

 

Now with time winding away and the deer disappeared here at the house, I started into the township property. I thought I might get lucky with a doe and the weather broke last night from the cold and wind we’ve had the past week. First sit, best sit, right?  It was last night. I’d never sat in this tree before but it’s on a major trail and I can see a lot from it. I planned to sit it and see, then make a plan for next week. Just after the sun dropped over the hills I heard some rustling so grabbed my bow.  A couple seconds later he popped out at 60 yards and I could see the rack, but I didn’t think he was coming to me.  Sure enough, he made a beeline for my stand. He was even nice enough to stop behind a pair of big trees so I could draw without him seeing me.  All I needed was for him to take a couple steps into my lane.  After what felt like 5 minutes at full draw (it was probably 1 minute) he took the steps I needed and I finally got the double lung pass through I’d been looking for.  He didn’t know he was hit and only reacted to the sound, so he bounded a couple jumps, walked 10 yards and fell over. Perfect ending to a memorable hunt and a little bit of redemption for last year’s missteps.