2021-2022 Hunting Season

Bustedknees

Bustedknees

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Kent Goldings said:
Morning found me back in the woods. This time in a favorite squirreling spot in WMU 3M. Last weeks take had a low yield because of poor marksmanship. I was looking to add to my freezer with a modest deer between 70 and 100 pounds. Any larger and I would have trouble dragging it out.

I had packed up for the day and was taking a scout around. This 3-point buck presented itself. 3M has no antler restrictions. Still, I considered letting it go. But, the size was right and getting up into the sub-freezing weather is getting harder. This might be my last opportunity to add to the meat supply.

I stood still and watched the buck tiptoe leisurely through the woods about 40 yards off. It turned broadside utterly unaware of my presence. I counted up the points , one-two-three. Finally, I decided to shoot.

Early last year a bought the Ruger American 7.62x39 and spent most of the summer working up a hunting load. The rifle failed to deliver last season. But, this season it fulfilled the promise.

40 yards, off-hand, the deer was dropped in it’s tracks with a shot through the chest. Seconds later, I was on the scene watching the deer expire. I put second shot through through the brain to put the lights out.

I think I’m done for the regular season. I may try for a third during muzzleloader season. But, I will probably donate the meat.

That is a 1.5-4x28 Nikon P-Tactical scope. It’s a perfect scope for the close-up hunting in this spot.

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I let my daughter take my Ruger American .450 Bushmaster last weekend. She never saw anything to shoot. But she did request that I leave her the gun when my time comes.
 
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redtail said:
To be a successful hunter you have to enjoy being on the hunt.
Not seeing, not shooting, not tracking , not gutting or dragging.
Being in pursuit is the joy.
Don’t get me wrong, sitting forever and not seeing anything sucks balls, but the perspective of enjoyment is lost in the present.
.02
Old man rant over.
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I agree. Every time I'm on a hunt. I kick back and enjoy the scenery and the hunt. no wife asking to do something, no kids asking me order something online. Just peace and quite. I do sometimes get annoyed with the squirrels that cause me to jump thinking it's a deer. lol

There's an old phrase.. That's why they call it hunting and not killing.
 
Saltwater60

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Kent Goldings said:
Morning found me back in the woods. This time in a favorite squirreling spot in WMU 3M. Last weeks take had a low yield because of poor marksmanship. I was looking to add to my freezer with a modest deer between 70 and 100 pounds. Any larger and I would have trouble dragging it out.

I had packed up for the day and was taking a scout around. This 3-point buck presented itself. 3M has no antler restrictions. Still, I considered letting it go. But, the size was right and getting up into the sub-freezing weather is getting harder. This might be my last opportunity to add to the meat supply.

I stood still and watched the buck tiptoe leisurely through the woods about 40 yards off. It turned broadside utterly unaware of my presence. I counted up the points , one-two-three. Finally, I decided to shoot.

Early last year a bought the Ruger American 7.62x39 and spent most of the summer working up a hunting load. The rifle failed to deliver last season. But, this season it fulfilled the promise.

40 yards, off-hand, the deer was dropped in it’s tracks with a shot through the chest. Seconds later, I was on the scene watching the deer expire. I put second shot through through the brain to put the lights out.

I think I’m done for the regular season. I may try for a third during muzzleloader season. But, I will probably donate the meat.

That is a 1.5-4x28 Nikon P-Tactical scope. It’s a perfect scope for the close-up hunting in this spot.

View attachment 136576
Click to expand...
Good for you. I’ll take anything with antlers at this point.
 
redtail

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Had an old farmer tell me he would shoot the young bucks before the does, his logic was not to shoot the factories.. lol.
He really had NO love for deer due to the damage they do on his trees.
Made no sense ..
 
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1075tech

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My brother has been too busy trying to get work done on his house before winter sets in to get out and hunt.

His ex-wife's uncle knows a guy who shoots on a nuisance permit and gives the deer away. My brother got this nice doe from him. Fat on the hind quarters was an inch thick

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Back straps

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Yeah, he cut it up on the kitchen counter. Had it quartered and the mess cleaned up before his wife got home
 
Bustedknees

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Carlos Hathcock

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1075tech said:
My brother has been too busy trying to get work done on his house before winter sets in to get out and hunt.

His ex-wife's uncle knows a guy who shoots on a nuisance permit and gives the deer away. My brother got this nice doe from him. Fat on the hind quarters was an inch thick

View attachment 136617

View attachment 136618

Back straps

View attachment 136619

Yeah, he cut it up on the kitchen counter. Had it quartered and the mess cleaned up before his wife got home
Click to expand...
Baby got BACK.
 
1075tech

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Bustedknees said:
Is that hair and hide stuck to the carcass I'm seeing ?
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He got it just field dressed. He hung it from a tree in the yard and skinned it and cut the head off. Brought it inside to the kitchen counter to cut it up and de-bone it so.... probably a little
 
Saltwater60

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1075tech said:
My brother has been too busy trying to get work done on his house before winter sets in to get out and hunt.

His ex-wife's uncle knows a guy who shoots on a nuisance permit and gives the deer away. My brother got this nice doe from him. Fat on the hind quarters was an inch thick

View attachment 136617

View attachment 136618

Back straps

View attachment 136619

Yeah, he cut it up on the kitchen counter. Had it quartered and the mess cleaned up before his wife got home
Click to expand...
He’s got balls. My wife doesn’t even want me processing mine in my garage. I told her I want to do it and I want to learn how so I will be doing it.
I have a friend coming to help me if I get one. I’m going to keep it simple. Cut the back straps out for slow cooking, do the legs for roasts, and then much of the rest will be for deer jerky on my traeger.
 
Xae289

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I like the butchering process. I tend not to know what I want when I talk to a butcher. When I do it myself, I figure out what kind of cuts I want as I break it down. This year I had to take it to a butcher since I'm in the process of moving, but next year it's back to doing my own.

Also learned how to dress a pheasant a couple days ago. After deer hunting, met with a buddy who was out pheasant hunting. He gave me one of the birds he took and showed me a quick video on how to break it down. Took it home, pulled it apart and cooked it up. Delicious.
 
Carlos Hathcock

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Kent Goldings said:
WTF do you do with all that meat?

I pay a local taxidermist to butcher deer for me. It adds to the expense. But, divorce is more expensive.
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It's a hunt / share arrangement. Everyone in camp gets an equal share so those who come up empty don't go home empty handed.

The "group" prefers to do themselves. I agree. We take our time to trim nicely and control our product instead of trusting others.
 
Kent Goldings

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Carlos Hathcock said:
It's a hunt / share arrangement. Everyone in camp gets an equal share so those who come up empty don't go home empty handed.

The "group" prefers to do themselves. I agree. We take our time to trim nicely and control our product instead of trusting others.
Click to expand...
That’s a nice arrangement. Dudes will be a little more mellow because they’re going to get meat in the freezer.
 
Saltwater60

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Carlos Hathcock said:
It's a hunt / share arrangement. Everyone in camp gets an equal share so those who come up empty don't go home empty handed.

The "group" prefers to do themselves. I agree. We take our time to trim nicely and control our product instead of trusting others.
Click to expand...
That’s the arrangement I have with my hunting buddy while hunting at my property. We split it. Partly because I do t have the freezer room and if he shoots a deer on my property I’d like some of it.
 
Bustedknees

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Found something useful today. I'm not a bowhunter so I do not own a rangefinder, but I've been curious as to the range I took my deer at. I used Bing's interactive aerial maps. It lets you add pins then allows measurements between those pins. This year was my biggest deer and longest shot at a whitetail. missed at 220 yards but at 200 yards I got em.
 
Kent Goldings

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Bustedknees said:
Found something useful today. I'm not a bowhunter so I do not own a rangefinder, but I've been curious as to the range I took my deer at. I used Bing's interactive aerial maps. It lets you add pins then allows measurements between those pins. This year was my biggest deer and longest shot at a whitetail. missed at 220 yards but at 200 yards I got em.
Click to expand...
For bow hunting, I’ll typically find the range of reference objects nearby the set. I find that the GPS on my phone isn‘t precise enough for this. I actually have multiple subscriptions to GPS apps that include Avenza, Gia GPS, and ON-X. I use these apps to plan hikes and blaze virtual trails.

For rifle hunting, I’ll compute a maximum-point-blank-range for the particular load. Given a ballistic calculator and chronograph, it is an easy calculation. In antler restricted WMUs, it often better to engage the game at ranges closer than 100 yards anyway.

My 243 Winchester has pretty standard ballistics. It’s MPBR is 300 yards. The rifle is zeroed 3 inches high at 100 yards. The energy drops down below 1000 ft-lbs after 300 yards yards. I tested this setting at range. You can hit any 8-inch target within 300 yards without taking the distance.
 
Carlos Hathcock

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Bustedknees said:
Found something useful today. I'm not a bowhunter so I do not own a rangefinder, but I've been curious as to the range I took my deer at. I used Bing's interactive aerial maps. It lets you add pins then allows measurements between those pins. This year was my biggest deer and longest shot at a whitetail. missed at 220 yards but at 200 yards I got em.
Click to expand...
I use spray paint, color matched to my pin distances, for trees in my hunting location. No need to range find each time.
20211106_082507.jpg
 
Saltwater60

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Kent Goldings said:
Nice. Wherever did you find 5-round mags? I’d love to hunt with mine.
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Plug it. Find removable base plate mags just put a piece of wood to make it 5 rounds. I just cut and filed a .223 kind to plug a Maggie for hunting because a friend wanted to use one of my riffles.
 
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