Hunting Discussion Thread-Hunters Unite!!!!!

[PotatoChicken]

Were I live, its rut for deer right now so I decided to make thread for hunters! Share your hunting (and fishing) stories, this years trophy's, last years trophy, tips and tricks and any other things relative to hunting.


A NOTE TO ANTI HUNTERS: For many of us, hunting is purely a way for providing meat for the family. BUT, If I had a choice (or any other hunter for that matter) between a doe or a buck with 10 points, I would choose the buck. Not because of the antlers only, that's just icing on the cake. It's like getting sprinkles on your ice cream. Hunting is hard. I archery hunt so it's probably a little harder than regular gun hunting. I have to 1) find a spot to hunt 2) get my tree stand and put it up 3) sit on my butt for sometimes hours at a time 4) when I get the animal, drag it out of the mountains 5) clean it out 6) fillet it and grind it, and only then can I enjoy the meat God has blessed me with. Their are a few hunters that give other hunters a bad name like hunting on unauthorized property, without a license or just for hide or antlers. I, representing the hunters of the world, apologize for this. In ending, I'm sorry if it bothers you or even appalls you, but that is not our problem.

-Potato

P.S. I don't want this to be a political thread, so
please, if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say it. (Thank You)

 

[Cold Canadian]

I'll give a Canadian experiance for you .The rut has started here as well ,although it's a bit slow right now .I have had a lot of chances to shoot smaller animals ( bucks ) but choose not to .I have set a goal for myself and continue to follow it .Last year I shot a desent five by five in muzzle season ,but nothing in rifle season ( we get up to five tags tags if you want ,archery ,muzzle loader ,rifle ,speacial areas that require the doe population to be brought down ,and there is a area that they give out a certain amount of free tags to help reduce the herd ( to many people refused to allow hunting in the area and now the deer are eating up shrubs etc in a small town ,and there are a LOT of them ) .So we have had lot's of oppertunities in the previous years .This year we can only purchase one tag for three of the seasons ( archery ,muzzle ,rifle ) due to heavy loss's according to the C/O's from the last winter and the amount of snowfall.Today was the last day for this year and I still have my tag ,but I have seen lot's so I feel it was successful .Today I crept within fifty feet of a doe and her two fawns which I love doing and watched them for over half a hour till some other hunters came by and spooked them .I have five mounts that I have of the best that i have taken over the years and my shed has enough bleached heads of the ones that I didn't mount .

 

[cracked egg]

Been hunting the lava here in Southeast Idaho,extremely difficult with the bow. I mostly spot and stalk and can't wait for some snow. Nothing as satisfying as getting a nice muley with a longbow while stalking.
I have noticed the last few years that the deer in the lava beds have been declining.

 

[MommyMagpie]

awesome idea for a thread!

I got a really nice big doe on the second day of rifle season, and the very next afternoon DS15 got his first deer ever. that was an awesome experience.....hubs, son and I were up in our double tree stand on our property, son between our feet on the lower platform. I had the rifle in hopes that a buck would come in (we have some gorgeous rubs and a couple of nice scrapes very near this stand) but when we could see that the deer coming in was a doe I handed the gun down so my son could take the shot if she came in close enough.

We have one more week of rifle season, and then a week of muzzleloader which is also bear season but we had a pretty cold spell with some snow and wind so we're not too confident about seeing any bears; there's a good possibility they are already denned up.

We hunt for meat (and yes we eat bear meat, IMO it makes the most awesome chili). I'm looking forward to waterfowl hunting after the first of the year.....never been but I dated a guy once who introduced me to trap and skeet shooting and I got so I was pretty good at that.

 

[Mattemma]

Ds just tried venison jerky at school last week and loved it.Hunting is a great way to get some extra food for the winter. I used to think it was weird for people to hunt squirrels,but those little critters have a decent amount of meat on them! Have no idea what a rut is,so I gotta go look that up right now.Ah, the mating season!

 

[33yardbirds]

My wife and I bow hunt only. if neither of us gets one I will muzzle load and shot gun if need be. In the past 8 yrs there has been no need to gun hunt. We each have personal restrictions. I only take 6 pts or better and she will take any buck. NO DOES! We realize that the does have to be thinned out but the younger hunters pretty much take care of that.. When I was young I subscribed to the ol' " if it's brown it's down" axiom. but as I hunted over the yrs letting them go was usually rewarded with a nice buck. We only kill one a yr (not harvest, thats for fruits and vegetables). A couple of yrs we have gotten two only because the other didn't know that the other had one down. My wife will gut and drag her own deer leaving me basically alone. Her drag is about 50 yds to the shed, mine is twice or more.

 

[PotatoChicken]

I'll give a Canadian experiance for you .The rut has started here as well ,although it's a bit slow right now .I have had a lot of chances to shoot smaller animals ( bucks ) but choose not to .I have set a goal for myself and continue to follow it .Last year I shot a desent five by five in muzzle season ,but nothing in rifle season ( we get up to five tags tags if you want ,archery ,muzzle loader ,rifle ,speacial areas that require the doe population to be brought down ,and there is a area that they give out a certain amount of free tags to help reduce the herd ( to many people refused to allow hunting in the area and now the deer are eating up shrubs etc in a small town ,and there are a LOT of them ) .So we have had lot's of oppertunities in the previous years .This year we can only purchase one tag for three of the seasons ( archery ,muzzle ,rifle ) due to heavy loss's according to the C/O's from the last winter and the amount of snowfall.Today was the last day for this year and I still have my tag ,but I have seen lot's so I feel it was successful .Today I crept within fifty feet of a doe and her two fawns which I love doing and watched them for over half a hour till some other hunters came by and spooked them .I have five mounts that I have of the best that i have taken over the years and my shed has enough bleached heads of the ones that I didn't mount .

The rut is kinda' slow here too. I think it's because we're like a month or so behind, change of seasons wise. Which, I think, would impact the rut times. Also down here we are only aloud to get cows in elk. It's because of the wolves that released. Great idea F&G! Now what they need to do is release wild boars to relieve the pressure on elk. Yum, wild pork. The good thing about boars is that they will fight the wolves for territory and be matched, and they will thrive here. Cracked egg, are the deer in southern Idaho big? Up here there the size of Labradors. Also, nice doe MommyMagpie! Let's see some more trophy pics!!!!

 

[niallsblueeyes6]

Hii
I have to get my hunters safety, THEN I will be hunting, I'm soo excited.

 

[shamblescross]

It was the first day of deer season in Pennsylvania (rifle) today. With snow on the ground- first time in my area in a couple of years- I was amazed at the amount of various wildlife prints I saw while out in the woods. Coyote, bobcat and fox, along with the many deer tracks we followed.

 

[Kaitie09]

Stepfather got a 120lb doe today. My uncle got a 7pt buck at dawn. my cousins got 2 doe too.