[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Deer Hunting (Page 1 of 2)
Posted: 11/3/2009 6:06:28 AM EDT
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Can't wait for the weekend.
Four deer were hit on the roads last night in my area. The rut is on. |
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im getting more excited today about opener, the last few weeks it didnt even feel like the season was close.
as for the "rut" i sure hope it is on. i didnt see any signs a few weeks ago, and havent seen any signs at my brothers property this week. so i put a fake ground scrape where they pass through, ill check tomorrow and see if there are any other tracks or new scrapes there. im a bit discouraged that the forecast is suppose to be in the 60s on opening day. its my experience the deer dont move much during the day when its that warm out, maybe other people have a different opinion. as long as it isnt raining though..... that really makes me miserable. Mat- after that 12 pointer you got on your first year ( beginners luck ) itll be about 8-12 years before you can get another deer like that. so, just stay home, ok bro ? save your time and gas. ill shoot a big one for you. 
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im getting more excited today about opener, the last few weeks it didnt even feel like the season was close. as for the "rut" i sure hope it is on. i didnt see any signs a few weeks ago, and havent seen any signs at my brothers property this week. so i put a fake ground scrape where they pass through, ill check tomorrow and see if there are any other tracks or new scrapes there. im a bit discouraged that the forecast is suppose to be in the 60s on opening day. its my experience the deer dont move much during the day when its that warm out, maybe other people have a different opinion. as long as it isnt raining though..... that really makes me miserable. Mat- after that 12 pointer you got on your first year ( beginners luck ) itll be about 8-12 years before you can get another deer like that. so, just stay home, ok bro ? save your time and gas. ill shoot a big one for you. I've shot plenty of them in the warm weather. The bucks really stink, and you have to get them in the cooler asap. My experience has been that they only really hole up if it's raining or snowing. I've even shot a couple when it was -10 or colder. |
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im getting more excited today about opener, the last few weeks it didnt even feel like the season was close. as for the "rut" i sure hope it is on. i didnt see any signs a few weeks ago, and havent seen any signs at my brothers property this week. so i put a fake ground scrape where they pass through, ill check tomorrow and see if there are any other tracks or new scrapes there. im a bit discouraged that the forecast is suppose to be in the 60s on opening day. its my experience the deer dont move much during the day when its that warm out, maybe other people have a different opinion. as long as it isnt raining though..... that really makes me miserable. Mat- after that 12 pointer you got on your first year ( beginners luck ) itll be about 8-12 years before you can get another deer like that. so, just stay home, ok bro ? save your time and gas. ill shoot a big one for you. I've shot plenty of them in the warm weather. The bucks really stink, and you have to get them in the cooler asap. My experience has been that they only really hole up if it's raining or snowing. I've even shot a couple when it was -10 or colder. what area do you hunt in again ? i think you said you had alot of other hunters around you ??? the last couple years the guys that hunt a little ways from my stand have sent deer my way at 800am opening morning. works perfect for me. the guys dont get into their stands til well after sunup, im in my stand by 615 / 630. heres one they pushed to me Nov. 8th 2008 
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This is what myself and hunting partner were doing today. Rubs and scrapes everywhere. Going to be a good weekend. http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f29/t18jeep/100_0913.jpg wheres that at? glad to hear you saw lots of rubs and scrapes. i hope my area has alot also by now. |
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Well... I WAS excited for opener up until last night... I had done my home work. Got in some scouting and had all my stand locations GPS'd. I get home and pick up my mail... Low and behold, here's a letter from the farmer who I have/had a lease with... The guy sent back this season's check and a long letter... Basically a apology for pulling the plug. He cited personal reasons for his decision... I called him to find out what's up, but he has yet to return my call. I'm not really holding my breath either...
It is his land to do with what he pleases. And I'm not going to beat myelf up trying to "second guess" te reasons behind his decision... BUT... It still kind of sucks that I'm now outta luck on opener. I guess I'll just pass on rifle season and wait for muzzle loader or late season bow and hit some well pounded public land close by.. Maybe I'll get lucky. |
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Went up to fix deer stands 'bout 1.5 weeks ago, and saw plenty of rubs & scrapes too.
I'm hoping to get a decent buck, and maybe a 2nd deer (doe) for a little extra meat in the freezer. We're down to 2 pounds left of meat from last year's deer, and I need to restock. Otherwise spend a bunch of money on buying ground beef or something next year... 
And I'm DAMN SURE going to remember to chamber a round & take it off safe this time so I don't miss a nice buck this year! I don't much like shooting the scrawny little guys - they should be left to grow up & bigger for the next year.
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Well... I WAS excited for opener up until last night.. SNIP wow... what a shitty thing to do, and shitty timing. what area was that at ? Yeah... Shitty it was. VERY shitty!! But what can ya do? The "best" part is that I have yet to hear if I just can't hunt this season, or if I lost my lease completely... I suspect the latter...  At least I got this season's money back... Still no call back from the farmer...
It was just inside 277 which made it less than an hours drive from my front door... |
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im getting more excited today about opener, the last few weeks it didnt even feel like the season was close. as for the "rut" i sure hope it is on. i didnt see any signs a few weeks ago, and havent seen any signs at my brothers property this week. so i put a fake ground scrape where they pass through, ill check tomorrow and see if there are any other tracks or new scrapes there. im a bit discouraged that the forecast is suppose to be in the 60s on opening day. its my experience the deer dont move much during the day when its that warm out, maybe other people have a different opinion. as long as it isnt raining though..... that really makes me miserable. Mat- after that 12 pointer you got on your first year ( beginners luck ) itll be about 8-12 years before you can get another deer like that. so, just stay home, ok bro ? save your time and gas. ill shoot a big one for you. I've shot plenty of them in the warm weather. The bucks really stink, and you have to get them in the cooler asap. My experience has been that they only really hole up if it's raining or snowing. I've even shot a couple when it was -10 or colder. what area do you hunt in again ? i think you said you had alot of other hunters around you ??? the last couple years the guys that hunt a little ways from my stand have sent deer my way at 800am opening morning. works perfect for me. the guys dont get into their stands til well after sunup, im in my stand by 615 / 630. heres one they pushed to me Nov. 8th 2008 http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y249/builttoughf250/hunting2008003.jpg I hunt in 243 (north of Wadena) on 80 acres with my dad. It has started to get pretty crowded around us. I doubt we will see much for sign this year. I talked to my dad last night and he said all the low ground is under water, which would be about 50%-60% of the property. That paired with most of the crops still being out should make for a tough year for us. He's been bow hunting and seeing deer here and there, but that can all change when everyone around us takes to the woods. At least we will hear them coming if they're splashing thru the water 
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I'll be just south of you, Andy, in 240 NW of Parkers Prairie.
Strange thing it's a 'Managed' harvest area this year instead of 'intensive' so I can only get 2 deer max. I know somebody else that's hunting in 270, which is listed as a 'lottery' zone, and 1 deer max. Does anybody know how this 'Lottery' thing works? Can anybody get a 'statewide' permit and then hunt in this zone, or how does that work? The new DNR regs seem to be getting more & more confusing as time goes on... I often wonder if even the DNR knows WTH is going on anymore either. |
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I hunt 240 acres backing up on Pillsbury State Forest in zone 246 . Our camp just got back from grocery shopping and have everything for meals and snacks for the season. We've been seeing more and more wolf sign the last few years, and deer sign has been getting scarcer. Last day of season last year I hooked up my predator caller and we got 3-4 wolves to come in about 140 yards away, staying right inside the tree line.
Its still better than a day at work! Good luck all |
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<...> im a bit discouraged that the forecast is suppose to be in the 60s on opening day. its my experience the deer dont move much during the day when its that warm out, maybe other people have a different opinion. <...> The last couple of times it has been warm and sunny/partially sunny for opener we bang out 4 deer right away. (Our party of 6-8 doesn't usually want to take more than 4.) We don't usually see any after that, mostly because we are out to the store buying bags and bags of ice. |
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I must be one of only a few guy's who goes south for opener. Almost everyone I talk to goes north. I hunt on my grandparents farm and surrounding 10 miles. It's the southwest corner where highway 23 intersects I-90. Beaver creek is the town. I was told today by my dad who is down there now that the corn has not been touched, and there's alot of it.
Good luck everyone |
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I must be one of only a few guy's who goes south for opener. Almost everyone I talk to goes north. I hunt on my grandparents farm and surrounding 10 miles. It's the southwest corner where highway 23 intersects I-90. Beaver creek is the town. I was told today by my dad who is down there now that the corn has not been touched, and there's alot of it. Good luck everyone The corn is still up in a lot of places. I traded my 'A' ticket for a late southeast 'B' ticket today. I couldn't see how any self-respecting deer would ever leave the corn. |
| I can't find anywhere in the handbook where it says legal pistol rounds. It used to say it in the past. But now all it has is .220 and larger centerfire cartridge. That being so, I can take out my xd45!?!?!? Even though I have no intention of using it the dnr obviously didn't word this properly this year. BTW I will also be using my AR this yr, with some 70gr Barnes TSX reloads I made. |
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I can't find anywhere in the handbook where it says legal pistol rounds. It used to say it in the past. But now all it has is .220 and larger centerfire cartridge. That being so, I can take out my xd45!?!?!? Even though I have no intention of using it the dnr obviously didn't word this properly this year. BTW I will also be using my AR this yr, with some 70gr Barnes TSX reloads I made. Sure. I used my 1911 last year, and will again this year. Within 35 yards or so, it's just fine. It might/probably would be good further out as well, but 35 yards is as far as I'm willing to go with it. |
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I can't find anywhere in the handbook where it says legal pistol rounds. It used to say it in the past. But now all it has is .220 and larger centerfire cartridge. That being so, I can take out my xd45!?!?!? Even though I have no intention of using it the dnr obviously didn't word this properly this year. BTW I will also be using my AR this yr, with some 70gr Barnes TSX reloads I made. Sure. I used my 1911 last year, and will again this year. Within 35 yards or so, it's just fine. It might/probably would be good further out as well, but 35 yards is as far as I'm willing to go with it. I brought mine with today as well, was gonna use it if it was a close shot otherwise the AR would have to take over. But no luck..... A younger friend of mine did get his first deer though. Large spike out of 242. 
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I can't find anywhere in the handbook where it says legal pistol rounds. It used to say it in the past. But now all it has is .220 and larger centerfire cartridge. That being so, I can take out my xd45!?!?!? Even though I have no intention of using it the dnr obviously didn't word this properly this year. BTW I will also be using my AR this yr, with some 70gr Barnes TSX reloads I made. Sure. I used my 1911 last year, and will again this year. Within 35 yards or so, it's just fine. It might/probably would be good further out as well, but 35 yards is as far as I'm willing to go with it. I brought mine with today as well, was gonna use it if it was a close shot otherwise the AR would have to take over. But no luck..... A younger friend of mine did get his first deer though. Large spike out of 242.
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This year was great to me...
Got a 11pt buck weighing a shade over 230 lbs (gutted). Shot w federal 64grn power shok 223. One shot to the neck/spine and he dropped straight down dead. Biggest buck many here have seen taken inb the history of this hunting group! Taken with a "Military Rifle!". 
One guy said, "what did U shoot it with?". I said, one shot in the spine from my AR15. "AR15??? What the heck kind of HUMNTING RIFLE is THAT??? Knowing full well what it is... Just protesting the use of it today - especially for this buck. I'm thinging of getting a European Mount & Plaque for this one, so I have to find somebody to do it. I have an idea of one place/person near Anoka though. No idea how much it should cost... Pics later when I get home to a PC Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile |
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This year was great to me... Got a 11pt buck weighing a shade over 230 lbs (gutted). Shot w federal 64grn power shok 223. One shot to the neck/spine and he dropped straight down dead. Biggest buck many here have seen taken inb the history of this hunting group! Taken with a "Military Rifle!".
One guy said, "what did U shoot it with?". I said, one shot in the spine from my AR15. "AR15??? What the heck kind of HUMNTING RIFLE is THAT??? Knowing full well what it is... Just protesting the use of it today - especially for this buck. I'm thinging of getting a European Mount & Plaque for this one, so I have to find somebody to do it. I have an idea of one place/person near Anoka though. No idea how much it should cost... Pics later when I get home to a PC Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile "What kind of hunting rifle is that!" Good Job!
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This year was great to me... Got a 11pt buck weighing a shade over 230 lbs (gutted). Shot w federal 64grn power shok 223. One shot to the neck/spine and he dropped straight down dead. Biggest buck many here have seen taken inb the history of this hunting group! Taken with a "Military Rifle!".
One guy said, "what did U shoot it with?". I said, one shot in the spine from my AR15. "AR15??? What the heck kind of HUMNTING RIFLE is THAT??? Knowing full well what it is... Just protesting the use of it today - especially for this buck. I'm thinging of getting a European Mount & Plaque for this one, so I have to find somebody to do it. I have an idea of one place/person near Anoka though. No idea how much it should cost... Pics later when I get home to a PC Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile Good Shoot! 
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i passed up 7 does, either too small, or a couple were pretty far out and not worth the shot ( 300 yards and running ) and they were going right to my young cousins stand. they got about 5 feet from him, but the doe had a fawn with her so he didnt shoot.
the a-holes behind me took 5 bucks. one of them might have been the small 4-pointer that was 30 feet from my stand opening morning. those guys had a TON of huge scraps right by their campsite so its no wonder they did so well. im SO sick of hunting that spot now. they are too close to me, even when i switched stands i found out one of them is REALLY close to our property line, then he bitched about me being too close to his stand on county land. so i reminded him of the time he was in one of our stands on our property and left his trash all over the place, then he shut up. i either need to find a new spot or move my stand to the other end of the property.... a completely new hunting land sounds better. im going back up this weekend or the next, we have 3 weekends up there. the full moon REALLY pissed me off... seems like they were moving all night and only moving when pushed during the day. this year though is the most sign i have ever seen for the rut, ive never seen this many rubs and scrapes. but out of our whole group we only had one 7 pointer over the weekend. we slayed them heavy last year but now the neighbors got all the deer
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My hunt ended at 6:45am Sat. Get up in my stand, sit down, five minutes later I hear a russeling in the corn. I compare to the wind blowing the corn and I say to myself, "that not natural". I stand up, minute goes by, I hear it again and I see a deer enter the picked bean field. I'm hunting a cross section of fences with corn on three sides and a bean field. there's enough trees for cover and for a stand. I look through my scope, buck. It's starts walking, I get it to stop, and BOOM. runs 50 yards, drops. As I'm gutting it, I kept looking around for other deer. I'm about to drain the blood out and I look down the fenceline and see another, bigger buck walking toward me. I get my gun, lay prone, and watch him. He gets about 50 or so yards away and BOOM. He runs toward my stand, stops and runs in the corn. Follow up, no blood, clean miss.
Seen no other deer until I got to Lake Benton, watched a buck chase 4 does around that were about 1 1/2 mile away. And that's it. |
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Mat- after that 12 pointer you got on your first year ( beginners luck ) itll be about 8-12 years before you can get another deer like that. so, just stay home, ok bro ? save your time and gas. ill shoot a big one for you.
Your gonna freak if he ever posts pick of the new guy. It's even bigger! Lucky lil' SOB 
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i passed up 7 does, either too small, or a couple were pretty far out and not worth the shot ( 300 yards and running ) and they were going right to my young cousins stand. they got about 5 feet from him, but the doe had a fawn with her so he didnt shoot.
How old is your cousin? If hes just a kid, thats impressive that he could hold off shooting the deer that was so close to his stand. |
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i passed up 7 does, either too small, or a couple were pretty far out and not worth the shot ( 300 yards and running ) and they were going right to my young cousins stand. they got about 5 feet from him, but the doe had a fawn with her so he didnt shoot.
How old is your cousin? If hes just a kid, thats impressive that he could hold off shooting the deer that was so close to his stand. hes 15 now? at least 14. he didnt see any to shoot the first year, shot a small 10 pointer and a small 8 pointer last year, with those does so close to him ( well, momma and a yearling ) it is pretty cool that he had the smarts not to smoke the mother knowing the yearling was with her. i realize they are just deer, but i wont shoot a doe that has a fawn with her. that pretty much just means a fawn that wont get a chance to grown up all big and tasty. our neighbors shot and wounded a very small doe, possibly one of the ones i saw. one of our guys saw it running with a foot long piece of hide flapping off its back... yeah, the neighbors shot a 60 pound doe, wounding it, and now its practically skinned and will probably die a slow death. my buddy said he couldnt get a shot at her just to put her down, i watched for her so i could put her out of her misery but didnt see her.
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Here's some pics of the deer I got with my AR-15 this year.
He turned out to have 11 points, and another side 'kicker' that wasn't long enough to count. He weighed in a shade over 230 pounds all dressed out (233 IIRC), and an estimated 270 before that figuring the guts are ~17% of the body weight from what an older guy told me... This is after I dressed him... Sorry I didn't pick his head up much, and it's a crappy cell phone pic. 
Here's one after we got him back to the 'base camp' (wife's grandpa's house)... 
Here's one where you can see his overall size... This was taken outside North Country Taxidermy's shop. 
I noticed my wife is wearing her "Meat is Murder" T-shirt that has a steak on it, and below it says, "Mmmm. Tasty, Tasty Murder..." The taxidermist told me it's likely in the mid to upper 150's in rack scoring, but I don't know how to do that. I was told I'll get a more accurate measurement later once he's done with working on the deer. He guesstimated about 158 or so, and said the body on my buck was likely in the top 15% of the deer bodies he has seen, and probably the top 2% or 3% of white tails he's seen. When we went into his 'showroom' he pointed out how my white tail was even a fair bit larger than a number of mule deer he's worked on too. That made me pretty happy! I took the day off yesterday to skin, quarter, and start butchering my buck, and another spike buck my FIL shot. He was in shotgun territory, and I thought he shot the deer 3 times, but after I started butchering it, I realized he shot it 4 times. A small buck like that, with two shots in his back, ripping up the spine, chewed the backstraps to $#!t, and then one shot in the neck, and a fourth shot in the head! There wasn't much meat left on the thing except what I could get from its legs! So the chest is pretty darn well chewed up. Won't get any meat off the chest or neck from that one. When I was asked if I would shoot in Shotty territory next year, I said I would if I got plenty of time to load my own slugs, and practice... Then I was asked why I reload all my own ammo instead of just buying NEW ammo... I said it was so I can get lots of shooting practice in... "Practice!?!? Who needs to PRACTICE??? I just shoot 3 or 4 shots a year, and that's when I'm shooting at a deer... See, I got this one!" Yup - ya got 'im FOUR TIMES before you hit enough vitals to KILL IT. Yup - who needs to Practice!?!?!? 
I hit mine with one shot to the neck/spine, the Federal ammo just sliced the spine almost surgically when it expanded with that bonded core, and he dropped instantly. Only twitched a tiny bit and died in a matter of seconds. VERY little meat damage, and VERY clean kill shot without any rupturing of intestines or other internal organs which might ruin the meat. |
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Mat- i f'ing hate you. youre a dick !!
is there room for one more hunter up there ?? 
i found a VERY nice rub at my bro's property in East Bethel, but other than doe tracks in the sand, not a whole lot of other sign. the buck may have just been passing through. i decided to challenge him, put a small rub and scrape right by his rub. if that pisses him off enough..... ill get him one of these next few evenings. im going back up to our hunting lease for the final weekend, like the 19th-22nd if i dont take a deer in East Bethel |
Thanks Rob! 
So far I've not been allowed to bring any guests out there with me - not so sure I'll get invited out next year myself after taking TWO big bucks now... The 12 pointer two years ago, and this 11 pointer with a bigger body this year. Last year I didn't get invited back out there until my FIL twisted a couple arms & convinced them to let me back after taking the 12 pointer. Next year they might send me to the 'other' property which has notoriously fewer & smaller deer. 
The Bucks haven't been moving much in the heat lately... I saw another buck there that was at least a 9+ pointer - on my way out of the woods I spooked him while he was laying down behind a bunch of fallen pine tree boughs. When I walked in through the woodline he looked at me, jumped up & ran off. I still think I got the better of the two bigger bucks though.
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