Any hunters on here?

[pintail_drake2004]

The wife and I don't buy beef. We harvest several deer a year. My best friend raises beef, so we trade often for eggs, chickens, rabbits, honey, and produce.
Muzzleloader buck

Pair taken with a bow. Shot about 15 min apart.

My wife gets in on it too

Got to love the crossbow for women and children.

Waterfowl is my passion.

 

[Carson213]

You will regret every pound of ground beef you've ever bought after eating a 70/30 mix of venison bacon burger. It's that good.... plus fried backstrap or bacon wrapped jap/cheese backstrap rolls..... mmmh, mmmh, good.


Actually I do not agree with that statement but I probably agree with the point I think you were trying to make.

My goal is to kill deer so I can eat them but I do not hunt because I'm going to starve if I don't hunt. I hunt because I enjoy pretty much every aspect involved with "the hunt" (including eating the great tasting meat). Which means I hunt for sport (the thrill of the hunt). I like the scouting in the pre-season. I like managing the property I hunt. I like honing my shooting skills to become a highly proficient marksman so I can make an clean, ethical shot. I enjoy outsmarting the animal I'm after and putting myself in a position to be able to harvest the animal.

When you're hunting a deer (especially a mature buck) you have to get in his world. You have to figure out what his pattern is. Where is he sleeping, where is he eating, what are his routes of travel. You have to plan your hunt based on multiple factors which include wind direction, moon phase, the location of the sun, and where you think the deer is going to be. It's not easy, especially in high hunting pressured areas.

When I fire the fatal shot and watch the deer go down I am overwhelmed with joy and satisfaction. This is what non hunters have a hard time understanding. That joy and satisfaction is not simply because I turned a living animal into a not living animal. That joy is from seeing the fruits of all my labor, my planning, and my scouting paying off with that one shot that seals the deal, mission accomplished.

Like turkey hunting which was mentioned earlier. To kill a turkey you have to convince a wild Tom turkey that you are a lonely, desperate hen turkey looking for a good time, AND you have to convince that Tom turkey (who has binocular vision, by the way) to leave the comfort of his familiar stomping grounds and come within 30yds of you so you can get a shot. You're hiding the best you can, he's looking as hard as he can for a female turkey, and you're trying to bring him in as close as possible without blowing your cover. So when you when you finally take the shot, how can you not be ecstatic and full of satisfaction at the fact that you just convinced a wild animal to come within 20yds of you because he thought you were hot young female turkey? That's the thrill of the hunt....

If what you were saying is you don't like people who hunt just so they can kill something for no other reason than killing something and showing pics to friends (meaning they aren't going to eat it) then I do agree with you.

i do the same with elk. i grind in bacon. i also grind bacon to mix with maple syrup/game meat and herbs for breakfast sausage. i don’t really hunt...i will...but my family supplies me with the meat to make summer sausage, brats, meat sticks,etc.

 

[Carson213]

i do the same with elk. i grind in bacon. i also grind bacon to mix with maple syrup/game meat and herbs for breakfast sausage. i don’t really hunt...i will...but my family supplies me with the meat to make summer sausage, brats, meat sticks,etc.

we make 100 lbs every 3-4 months. 100 lbs is about the practical max for us to do at home...the best batch so far was 70 lbs venison(40lbs elk/30lbs deer) and 30lbs pork...teriyaki seasoning plus cure/SE

 

[Carson213]

we make 100 lbs every 3-4 months. 100 lbs is about the practical max for us to do at home...the best batch so far was 70 lbs venison(40lbs elk/30lbs deer) and 30lbs pork...teriyaki seasoning plus cure/SE

and 8 lbs high temp cheddar

 

[Fallenone05]

I'm new to chickens, with 8 RIR pullets arriving tomorrow! I joined BYC to learn chicken things, but I'm happy to get side tracked by hunting threads, lol. I posted some pics in another thread about hunting and fishing, then found this one, so here are a few more...

2020 crossbow deer. Shot him at dusk on the 2nd last day of the season. The crossbow bolt snapped off (as seen on the mount) the larger portion did not exit, so there was no blood trail, all I had was the shaft with the fletching and a bit of hair, so I decided to leave him overnight rather than potentially spook him while wounded and risk not recovering him. As luck would have it, we got 3" of snow overnight. There was just a trace of the track the next day, but I was able to follow it and recovered the buck about 50 yards from where he was shot.

I have ample hunting gear, but no butchering equipment, so I have that done for me. I would love to get into it some day, but the guy I take it to makes such great pepperettes, summer sausage, and pepperoni, I haven't bothered. View attachment 2618912View attachment 2618921View attachment 2618914View attachment 2618915

I hunt coyotes all winter with a group that also muzzleloader hunts deer. Coyote hunting is one of my favorites. Trying to outwit these guys can be quite a challenge! 2020 was a pretty typical year for us with a total of 25 coyotes. We track without dogs and use a rifle or shotgun depending on the circumstances. The fur is sold at auction. Others have ask, and no, I've never tried the meat! View attachment 2618934View attachment 2618935View attachment 2618937

With turkey season right around the corner, it seems like ages ago, but here's my 2020 tom, a wing bone call, and decoy I made from the tail fan. I'm hoping to call in my 2021 tom with the new call. I've successfully used fans as decoys in the past, but I'm looking forward to using the call, it sounds pretty good! View attachment 2618945View attachment 2618947View attachment 2618950View attachment 2618958

Great to see some other hunters on here!

How much would you charge someone for a pelt? I've always wanted a pelt of either a coyote or a fox. I'd love to learn myself but I don't own any guns and my work schedule keeps me busy 5 days a week. I'm worried I'd mess something up with tanning/making pelts.

 

[itsasmallfarm]

How much would you charge someone for a pelt? I've always wanted a pelt of either a coyote or a fox. I'd love to learn myself but I don't own any guns and my work schedule keeps me busy 5 days a week. I'm worried I'd mess something up with tanning/making pelts.

depends where the pelt was harvested.

where i live we can get well over 100 dollars for a coyote. coyotes out east are worth less then our western ones. (keep in mind that's for a raw pelt, just skinned fleshed and dried)

but i would say give tanning a try, i did my first ever mink i caught and turned out pretty good, just followed the instructions with the kit i got and everything worked great.

 

[Chuckie chicken]

How much would you charge someone for a pelt? I've always wanted a pelt of either a coyote or a fox. I'd love to learn myself but I don't own any guns and my work schedule keeps me busy 5 days a week. I'm worried I'd mess something up with tanning/making pelts.

The last one I had done (the pic on the back of the sofa) got sent to a tannery. It was $200 plus shipping and took 10 months to get it back, so I'm not too keen on the idea.

 

[mowin]

Youth turkey season started today. Call in 5 Jake's and 2 toms. The toms were a little to far for her, but the Jake's weren't. Lila did great. Her first turkey.

 

[turkey girl 0964]

Youth turkey season started today. Call in 5 Jake's and 2 toms. The toms were a little to far for her, but the Jake's weren't. Lila did great. Her first turkey.

Great job! We have never really hunted before but we would like to start. A lot of our friends are active hunters, but we have only hunted 3 or 4 times. Like to learn more from this thread!

 

[Chuckie chicken]

Youth turkey season started today. Call in 5 Jake's and 2 toms. The toms were a little to far for her, but the Jake's weren't. Lila did great. Her first turkey.

Way to go Lila, congrats!

Our season opens tomorrow, but I won't be out till Monday. Found some birds this morning that I'll be after.