2023 deer hunt

[JackstrawIII]

2 hours ago, gimruis said:

Button bucks aren’t legally classified as a buck here in MN. They would be considered an antlerless deer, which is in the same category as any other antlerless deer (like a doe).

Same here, which is why so many of them are shot with no recourse. Even though it’s legal to harvest them, I think most hunters try to avoid them if possible. 

[Functional]

Anyone hitting urban archery season? I think ours ends Feb 12th in the area I'll be in. I waited too long in the normal season for a good deer and I'm left meatless so far. Going to be even harder now just going for bucks. After November wont shoot a doe and certainly not in Jan/Feb. Not interested in gutting a partially developed fetus. Personal choice, no judgement otherwise. 

[gimruis]

39 minutes ago, Functional said:

Going to be even harder now just going for bucks.

Not to mention that they will be dropping their antlers soon so there's no way to ensure its a legal buck without checking the plumbing.

[Functional]

15 hours ago, gimruis said:

Not to mention that they will be dropping their antlers soon so there's no way to ensure its a legal buck without checking the plumbing.

Yup, I'm hoping something comes across with antlers otherwise I'm not risking it. Historically though Urban Archery season has been extremely slow for me in terms of deer movement so I'm not holding my breath for anything. 

[casts_by_fly]

 

I guess technically we are 'urban' archery here in this zone.  We're right on the border of mountains, farms, and suburban here.  The farms are all high fenced though for crops so not a lot of food sources there.  The mountains just have woody browse this time of year.  Backyards have all of the green stuff that the deer might browse.  That said, all of mine have disappeared.  I passed a button buck last week.  I have a grainy picture in the rain at 1 AM of (i think) a doe passing from this week.  Otherwise nothing is showing on camera.  When we had snow on the ground I drove around watching for tracks and found a single set (I think a spike because I've seen him there before and I think he's a home body).  In the mile radius of the house here its sparse which is surprising.  In past years the neighborhood deer will still be around munching on landscaping but not this year.  I've physically seen 1 in the past 2 weeks.  I was/am planning to go this afternoon but I'm torn where to go.  With nothing on camera and nothing visible anywhere locally I feel like I just need to go for a long walk  in a new place until I cut some sign.

[Functional]

42 minutes ago, casts_by_fly said:

 

I guess technically we are 'urban' archery here in this zone.  We're right on the border of mountains, farms, and suburban here.  The farms are all high fenced though for crops so not a lot of food sources there.  The mountains just have woody browse this time of year.  Backyards have all of the green stuff that the deer might browse.  That said, all of mine have disappeared.  I passed a button buck last week.  I have a grainy picture in the rain at 1 AM of (i think) a doe passing from this week.  Otherwise nothing is showing on camera.  When we had snow on the ground I drove around watching for tracks and found a single set (I think a spike because I've seen him there before and I think he's a home body).  In the mile radius of the house here its sparse which is surprising.  In past years the neighborhood deer will still be around munching on landscaping but not this year.  I've physically seen 1 in the past 2 weeks.  I was/am planning to go this afternoon but I'm torn where to go.  With nothing on camera and nothing visible anywhere locally I feel like I just need to go for a long walk  in a new place until I cut some sign.

We actually have a specific season called Urban Archery down here and it has to be in a City that allows it and within city limits. I'm not sure if you are the same but its more than just in a more developed area for this specific season.

 

Agreed on the deer movement though. Whats odd is the deer seem to disappear only in the urban areas that allow urban archery 😅. The equestrian center we hunt in another city is jam packed with deer. Right next door I'm lucky to see a squirrel after December. 

 

I'm not sure if its practical for you but you might want to try a quickly packable ground blind and try a few areas in one day. I'd try the same but our approved urban areas are so small I'd have to load up in the truck and drive to another city. 

[casts_by_fly]

1 hour ago, Functional said:

We actually have a specific season called Urban Archery down here and it has to be in a City that allows it and within city limits. I'm not sure if you are the same but its more than just in a more developed area for this specific season.

 

Agreed on the deer movement though. Whats odd is the deer seem to disappear only in the urban areas that allow urban archery 😅. The equestrian center we hunt in another city is jam packed with deer. Right next door I'm lucky to see a squirrel after December. 

 

I'm not sure if its practical for you but you might want to try a quickly packable ground blind and try a few areas in one day. I'd try the same but our approved urban areas are so small I'd have to load up in the truck and drive to another city. 

 

No, we're not the same for a true uban season.  We have something like 50 different numbered zones across the state (and NJ is small) and each is under a different group of regulations (9 groups).  The group that I'm in is probably the most permissible and also encompasses most of the urban areas on the east side of the state towards the city.  Its unlimited does and the season is basically open from the middle of sept to the middle of Feb.

 

I hunt from a tree saddle so lightweight and mobile is no problem for me.  This time of year I carry a long rope and a short rope.  The long rope is my top tether and also is my rappeling rope to get down.  The short rope is a bottom tether with a foot loop.  I can climb most trees with it and get up to 30' pretty effectively if I need to.  I also can climb single stick or multi stick depending on the tree.  Two tether is super light though and as long as the tree doesn't have too many branches to pass on the way up its pretty efficient.  Early season I tend to pick lower trees with lots of small branches and leaves to get better back cover.  The leaves are gone now though so I try to pick trees that 'Y' a time or two around hunting height.

 

You do have me thinking though about picking a random small WMA and going for it.  Better go gab my stuff though if I'm going to make it in time.

[casts_by_fly]

Well, I’m up in a tree and I jumped at least five on the way in. That’s 5x as many as I’ve seen in the past two weeks. It’s early enough I’m hopeful they will browse their way back over here. 

[casts_by_fly]

Didn’t manage one the last trip I posted about nor the trip after that but tonight went well. The friendly spike was under my tree and I crept within 40 yards but of

course I wasn’t going to shoot him. He left and about an hour later I saw three creeping a ways off in the distance. They took their sweet time to get there but eventually they made it to me. Just as the big doe was coming in I drew but she decided to stand facing me for what felt like forever. She eventually decided she didn’t like what was hanging in the tree and stomped twice as she turned 90 degrees. That was enough and I cut one loose. She ran off about 100 yards with the other two and they all stood there for five or ten minutes. I figured she must have dropped and the others were just hanging there. After ten minutes the other two came back to me and got to about 20 yards but I didn’t have a shot or else I’d have two tonight. 
 

im going out with a buddy Saturday afternoon and might shoot another doe. If that’s the case then I’m probably done hunting ‘hard’ for the year. I’ll go a few times for hang and hunts in some spots I want to scout but it will be time to focus on being ready for fishing season. 
 

 

[casts_by_fly]

Just got in a little bit ago.  We sat the afternoon from about 130 in a blind my buddy has on a little property. He’d had a bunch of deer coming through and sure enough they were there when we pulled in. They spooked off and about an hour later the two small ones came back.  I wasn’t shooting little ones so we let them walk. Around 4:45 some more came back with two big does. The first big one came straight in and didn’t give a shot but the other came in a couple minutes later.  She eventually turned broadside and gave me a shot. I put it right behind the shoulder, in-line with the leg and about 1/3 up the body. My buddy was filming from his phone and I grabbed a snap from the video. This is the frame as the arrow disappeared in the shoulder and the white spot is my fletching. Surprisingly, she ran 50 yards and stood there for 5 minutes. We thought she’d fall over but after five minutes she walked off. We looked at the video and decided to give her a half hour just in case. She ended up going about 125 yards with a hole across her heart. I didn’t touch lung that I could find while gutting her but it was clear that I hit the back of the heart with two broad head imprints on the sides. From the hit site I wouldn’t have thought that but that’s where we were. Either way, she’s in the bed of the truck. Probably my last this year but who knows.