Hunters?

Got any hunters out there?

Gun season opens here November 15th and I can't wait!
Plan to be out in the woods every morning for a solid week!

i havent had a chance, but probably next year im gonna try to go deer hunting, see if i can get my first bow kill, what are you using?

I just do firearms hunting whitetails (real bad shot with a bow)
Mossberg 500 Mossy Oak shooting Winchester High Velocity 2 3/4" Hollow Points.

damn lol, that should knock it down real good, i just want to use a bow for my first hunt, but after that im gonna use my Mosin Nagant hopefully, unless i can get a muzzleloader first, i really want a Thompson Center Encore, i love the way they feel

Yeah, I'd love to be able to bow hunt! I might start practicing using one of my buddies bows. It makes sense because I like hunting and bow season is a LOT longer than firearm season. Here we have Nov 15-30th for bucks and the 30th to January first for antlerless for firearms. Bow season is pretty long though.

if you know had to use the wierd sites on them, theyre actually really accurite, if your good, you can get like a 5inch group from 35-40yrds, which isnt bad for being a bow. our bow season is longer too, and before the rest, so you have better chances at getting the good ones, although you might have to wait out there for a week or two lol, ive never heard of antlerless hunting, i'd think it might be difficult to determine wether its a buck or doe

My season starts the 12th and I have 4 vacation days next week so I am really looking forward to it.

I dont hunt yet but my husband does, gun season started a few weeks ago and he got a deer last week right down the street from us.

I prefer bowhunting to gun hunting any day... problem is, it requires a LOT more work to do it properly: bow tuning, bow skills, scouting, tree stands (or ground blinds), concealment, getting with 20 yards of the critters(I have yet to take a shot over 15 yards)... I have even moved into using nothing but a bent stick (traditional), which requires even more & continual prep.
Family, job and current hobbies have moved me from getting in the woods as often as I would like, but I still really enjoy flinging some arrows in the backyard.

Well folks sorry I haven't been on bp.net much lately, but that's because of this thread's topic!

I've never been hunting in my life. My parent's have always sort of been anti-firearm, so the closest thing to hunting I've done is fishing most of my life.

I've been with my girlfriend for 6 years now and I was invited along on a hunt with her uncle, so I jumped at the opportunity for a new experience. Her parents have 120 acres of land north of Minneapolis a ways, and the previous owners had built some stands that are still in good condition, so we figured we'd give that a shot.

This area is also designated as an "intensive harvest" area, so if we purchased enough bonus antlerless tags, our limit is 5 deer per person.

*If you don't want to read about my first hunting experience, stop here. Cleaning deer carcasses is part of hunting, and those with a weak stomach may not want to hear the details.*

I have this entire week off work, so we came up after my evening shift saturday night (opener night) with just enough time to get four hours of sleep before getting dressed for hunting. I got up, had some cereal and coffee, dressed, and headed out into the forest while it was still very dark. I was able to stumble my way to the stand I intended to hunt out of without too much difficulty, and sure enough about an hour later just as the sun was breaking over the horizon, I began to see deer. Throughout the morning I had about a dozen does come well within 15 yards of me, some were literally just below my stand (10ft high?). I decided not to take any of the does that morning, though it was fun to train my crosshairs on a deer for the first time in my life.

Right about 10AM, a medium ~3-4 year old buck with a small rack wandered by. I'm not a trophy hunter, I'm just out for something to put in my chest freezer. I figured this buck would be perfect, big enough to have a good amount of meat but still young enough for it to be good quality. Not once did he look up at me, and he let me take about 5 minutes before definitively deciding to take my shot. I waited until he was far enough away from the stand that I wasn't making a downward shot off his back, aimed, and fired. He dropped five feet away from where I hit him.

Upon field dressing (which is WAY harder than the 7 minute youtube vids make it seem to be), I only found two chunks of his heart, the rest was hamburgered. I was only specifically aiming for the heart/lungs "area", but I sure got lucky. I'm really glad he dropped where he did, because we are RIGHT near a small river (3 feet deep, 15 feet across right now, STEEP banks) and I really didn't want to have to cross it to retrieve my deer.

That evening I saw more does and one more small buck, but it was my first day and I figured the next days would be just as productive, and I didn't want it to end. I only had one bonus tag left that would let me take an antlerless deer anyways, and had no interest in buying a third just because I didn't want hunting to end.

Fast forward two more days. The closest deer I've seen was ~200 yards through forest trees, never even came close to giving me a good shot. It's about time we get home since my hunting buddy doesn't have this whole week off of work. We decided that last night would be the end of this week's hunting. I was hunting a new spot, actually only about three or four hundred yards from the house on this property, perched on a hill in the forest overlooking a valley. I'd decided that if I saw a deer that'd fill my tag, I'd take it

Sure enough, just a half hour before shooting hours would close, a small yearling wanders by, on the same hill ridge I'm on. I'd been specifically asked to possibly take a small one for their DELICIOUS meat, so that along with a bit of urgency to fill the tag made that decision easy. This one however was not going to be as easy a shot. I was not in a stand, it was not close by, it was not below me. I couldn't get a shot while it was on the ridge, since there was too much cover.

All of a sudden, it starts trotting down the hill, away from me, and getting further away by the second. I don't have a shot at its vitals, and I don't want to hit the stomach/intestines area, and I'm thinking this deer is going to get away. At about a hundred yards or a little more, I get desparate and just yell out "HEY DEER!". It spun around, looked in my direction with ears perked, and gave me a nice 45 degree angle if not a perfect broadside. I aimed just below the shoulder, and fired. BTW THIS shot was standing with no rest to steady my aim, and I'm not that great a shot and still new-ish to firearms. This was not only the longest shot I've taken while hunting (not hard, making a grand total of TWO), but the longest shot I've taken with my rifle ever, so I was pretty pleased when I hit my mark.

Down it went, dropped right where it was hit. Entry was a lung hit, exit took out his foreleg. This time, field dressing was much easier, but still not "easy".

We're headed back home today, after we get this place cleaned up a bit. Hunting sure can get messy.

It's been a wonderful experience, and I know I'll be doing this in coming years.

I love hunting, but I really haven't done it since I was like 13-14. I'm now 19. I loved getting up wiked early to go sit in a sketchy plywood treestand for hours waiting for the perfect buck. I alas have never myself shot a deer (mainly small game with my shotgun), but I hope to this year. My girlfriends dad is an avid hunter and has some pretty nice heads around the house. The only problem I am having at the moment is I don't have a rifle, and I'm pretty sure slugs are illegal now for hunting deer with shotguns? So I need to find me one or see if my gf dad will be gracious enough to lend me one when we go out. :cool:

im a hunter but since my kids have been born i have not really had too many days in the woods. last year i only bow hunted and the year before only spent about 4 days in the woods.
this year i have yet to decide if i am going to go gun hunting or not. bow season ends in a little over a week and have not gone yet.
just bought a new bow last week and am getting it all tuned up for spring 3D shoots and next years season. my kids will be old enough next year that my wife can handle them herself a little easier so i should have more time for hunting. in my years of hunting i have never really thought too much about what i am doing. now that i am a little older and have kids my thought process is changing. i enjoy the woods but dont enjoy the killing. i have a good job and dont need the meat any more. i can buy beef by the half if i want. because of this i may end up just buying a good HD video camera and filming my friends hunts. that way i am out there just not killing anything
adam jeffery

Weve been bow hunting hard since october 1st. Muzzleloader just came in saturday and the rut is in full swing. Just got back from the treestand. Temps in the 30s no wind beautiful morning. Saw 5 does and a nice little 6 pointer.

i bow hunt all season,,, even during gun season. havent been as much as id like this year though (only about 60 hours in the stand),,,just got back from ohio but missed the rut by about a week. rut is about to kick in here (s georiga) and ill be devoting alot more time in the next month or so..
spooky

KevinB: I don't know what the rules are in NY but here we can't rifle hunt below m50 and slugs are perfectly legal for shotguns. I'm using 2 3/4" hollow points.

Glad to hear everyone's stories! Didn't know we had a decent sized hunting population here. Very excited for next Tuesday!

My parents property I'm hunting on which has never been hunted on is in the QDM (Quality Deer Management) Zone in our county. Not going to shoot anything less than 4" from the ears but I've seen a couple nice big 4 year old 6 points out there the last few nights. Hope they come around next week! :D

I couldn't get off of work for bow season this year, but I used some vacation for opening weekend of firearms. I am making the 2.5 hour drive down to the 123 acre farm my dad and I lease in southern Indiana Friday. My dad got a buck that scored over 160 Boone and Crockett last season, my brothers scored 119, and I didn't get anything but a sore back from helping drag them out of the woods.:mad: This is MY year. LOL

PS. We also are not trophy hunters, we hunt to get organic meat, although they were pretty stoked to have huge bucks walk out in front of them.:)

i wont be able to make it this year because of school. well actually i can hunt on saturdays during 6 day firearm and muzzleloader, but other than that school is in the way, It sucks this year a spot opened up in my grandfathers group of friends, they hunt every year in upstate ny during the rifle season for 4 days and i can't go :rage:

Not goin deer hunting but I'm headed up to nw kansas for thanksgiving to shoot me some pheasants. Cant wait to fill my freezer with birds. Definitely saves on the grocery bill being a broke college student for the second time. haha

hunting has been open here since last month. I've taken a couple really nice does so far but waiting on the rut for the big bucks to come out. We belong to a hunting lease about 40 mins away - 3000 acres of pristine wilderness. Not many predators to keep the deer population in check. I believe Georgia lets you take 10 does and 2 bucks!

Goin bear huntin saturday. Hope its a good day

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Originally Posted by womsterr

hunting has been open here since last month. I've taken a couple really nice does so far but waiting on the rut for the big bucks to come out. We belong to a hunting lease about 40 mins away - 3000 acres of pristine wilderness. Not many predators to keep the deer population in check. I believe Georgia lets you take 10 does and 2 bucks!

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yes,, thats the limit in ga.. here in south ga, they have made baiting legal (i dont),, but from what people are saying so far,, its overated.. a deer will pass up a pile of corn to get to some acerns:gj:
spooky

Deer gun opened here on the 4th and its the worst year of hunting ever!
Let me put it this way, when the game and fish is offering to refund tag cost if you dont harvest a deer...that about sums it up.

There were 9 of us in our hunting party on opening weekend and we only got to harvest two deer, one buck, and one doe.
We didnt even gets shots at anything else.
The deer are very scarce this year and theres alot of talk about CWD in western ND. One landowner said he found 52 deer carcases on his propety alone just in the last month. Something isnt right...I wouldnt be surprised if next year deer season wont even be opened.
There was no pronghorn season this year and we saw more of those than deer. lol

I'm just excited to get some meat in the freezer. Have made making jerky into a nice little side business for myself.

The rut here is crazy right now. Tons of movement.
Pulling down my road tonight (dirt road, fields on both sides) saw a real nice 8pt with a doe standing off my passengers side. 5 days seems forever away right now! :taz::taz:

In other news my buddy just went out to Montana for 12 days and got a beautiful 4x4 thought the shot wasn't going to keep it down, shot another rounds and missed and hit a 4x5 square in the throat 10yds from his first shot. Needless to say he's a happy guy right now and bringing me tons of meat to jerky up!

Rifle season is Saturday, super excited. I finally get to dust off my crossbow (used it once) now that its legal to use in Ny! Gotta go pick up some bolts and heads today, should be a fun season. :)

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was just at the range yesterday getting ready for the rifle season.

Just order some new bolts and broadheads for my crossbow, should be here next week. Till then ill be using my dads grandmas .30-.30 winchester. ;)

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Great day in the woods this afternoon with my 7yo!

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6240/...5eb693e59b.jpg

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Originally Posted by womsterr

Great day in the woods this afternoon with my 7yo!

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6240/...5eb693e59b.jpg

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Brings back some great memories of when I was that old. I still remember my first hunt. I was soo nervous i could barely sit still

Well unfortunately I missed a 6pt opening morning. Buddy shot at it and missed it too. Haven't seen any since. Back out tomorrow! Today the wind here decided it was going to blow my popup across the field so needless to say ruined my day out... all well. Got 'til the 30th for a buck. Here's to channeling my inner Fred Bear! :banana:

I couldn't go out this morning....will be out tomorrow morn though. I'm quite disappointed that ny only allows 1 buck. :/ ill be checking for some nice size black bears as well. Hope I can get one of each.

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Grew up in TN and fished and hunted my whole life, have yet to take a deer with a bow! I tourny fish and made it the state federation this year and didnt get to bow hunt, I will be able to focus next year on that, cant wait!

@KevinB - Not a big fan of bear meat but good luck brother!

@Carbonsnake - My cousin lives down in TN, said it's been kind of scarce but today saw a 5pt and a nice spike.

Me on the other hand... over 40 hours in the woods. Still 2 tags... back at it tomorrow...

got this fella on picture last week. ill let him walk this year if i see him,,,, but next year, he should be up to size.http://i703.photobucket.com/albums/w.../WP_000277.jpg
spooky

I've never been on a hunting trip but i've shot a few squirrels out of trees, it's pretty good. Also have had venison and black bear. Plenty of black bear in the mountains, some guy shot a black bear in his back yard and gave away a lot of the meat. It's real good as a stew with potatoes and carrots etc.

I've never had bear so I figured id try it if I get one. I'm mainly goong for the pelt....I want a nice rug for the man cave. Whatever meat I dont take ill gove away. Went out this morning and only saw a couple does. My sister bf got a 7 point yesterday. He actually has a stand though..I'm sittin on the ground. :/

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Wow haven't been on in awhile, nice to see some activity on this one.

Been working on sighting in my new bow. Waiting for some nice weather to get setting up some new blinds and some food plots!

I been hunting for 15 years now but not Heavily.

I live off some huge 2300 acres and theres a lot of big mature 10+pt bucks out here, but their smart and no one seems to get them due to the Refugee they hide in.


I still gotta sight in my bow as well with new carbon fiber arrows i got. I use the Pollington red dot scope sight. Its a tricky sight to use since you have to use both eyes otherwise you will be off target. One eye looks though scope other picks up on the deer

This is the beast i use now. Arrows there are just standard alum arrows 26" with 100g Muzzy broad-heads

http://i577.photobucket.com/albums/s...a/100_2922.jpg
http://i577.photobucket.com/albums/s...a/100_2923.jpg
http://i577.photobucket.com/albums/s...a/100_2924.jpg

Fishing, hunting, I love it all. I've used rifles, handguns, and bow. Bare hands once, but that's a story for another time. The deer did get away so it technically doesn't count. :rofl:

Lately I've been hanging around with the local falconers, and am planning to start my apprenticeship next year (after seven years of hoping and dreaming). I'll mainly be hunting avian prey - pheasant, duck, quail, etc. And the odd starling, sparrow, and crow in the nearby industrial areas. I'm convinced there's nothing finer than the sound of a peregrine connecting at the bottom of a stoop.

I'd love to get out Montana way for some mulies!