Fox T-Bird/Cougar Forums

Well, it was a cold windy morning, but I sat out long enough, and saw 5 does at different times, one of which had a good sized fawn.
I also saw a smallish buck, but he was moving too fast for me to attempt a shot.

So anyway, I'd been out on my stand for about 3 hours, and was getting cold, and had decided to head for the house when 3 large does came walking past the stand.
They came from the northwest, I was facing southeast, had my gun leaning in a fork of the tree and was IN the process of climbing down, when I saw 'em.
I froze, and two of them looked due south into the wind, while the third was nibbling something on the ground, and I got my rifle, sighted in on the one eating, and  took my shot, and made a good hit.

She went down instantly, bleated and died, as I slid another shot home and watched the other two start to run off.
All in all, it was a very good morning. :shakeass:

Anybody else have any luck this morning?? :D

SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST  (not me)

I have about 20 bedded down in my back yard as I type, the closest about 30 ft from the glass doors. I was going to "cull" the herd this fall, but  if 5 or 6 don't come when they're called. We put out corn for them, and old apples. One big doe will come look in the window and bob her head at us if the corn is gone.
And the freezer is empty.....

Here is my deer:
(http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l110/fordtruckfreeek/Beau%20pics/DSCF5229-1.jpg)

and one of me with it:
(http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l110/fordtruckfreeek/Beau%20pics/DSCF5231-1.jpg)

(extra points for picking out the Tbird :D )

Awesome job hun!  You are the mighty hunter/gatherer, lol.  She looks like a good size doe, and I know ya done good!

And...I'D know that Bird ANYWHERE!  Now...what kinda points do I get? :D

;)

Ya gotta love when they drop in their tracks. The one I shot (http://"http://www.foxtbirdcougarforums.com/showthread.php?t=16655") did so as well - I shot him on an old logging road and was able to drive right up to him.

The only thing that sucks about shooting one so early (I got mine the second day of the season) is that the season you look forward to all year is over just like that. I didn't even get a chance to really hunt this year. Of course it's nice to be able to poke fun at the other guys as they head out into shiznitty weather (we're having our first snow of the season tonight)...

I think we can shoot 11 this year in Georgia during regular gun season.  Runs until after the first of the year. The does in my yard would all dress out under 100lbs, closer to 75lbs. Less than 40lbs of meat.
Just small deer here. Sometimes a bigger doe will be around, and bucks are about double the weight.
Good luck with your hunts.

I've got an Any deer tag, and 2 antlerless only, in addition I can also get as many more anterless tags for 7 bucks each...the deer are thick here. Conservation Dept. really encourages people to take more does.

And I've heard the deer in the southern states don't get as big as the ones in the midwest. Dunno about the Canadian deer, I've not read a lot about them.
This one I've got was so heavy that I couldn't lift it in the truck by myself, in fact, the older fella that hunts on my place across had to help me, and we still had a helluva job...but in his defense he's older and has a bad back.
I had it hanging in my maple tree, and it broke a branch bigger  around than my arm. Came home from eating lunch with my dad, and the  deer was on the ground, tree branch on top of it :hick:
Anyway, deer is in the locker now, round steaks, tenderloins, and the rest to be ground so it can be made into jerky.
Yummy!

i gotta go this year

It was actually the first time since 2003 I'd been hunting, what with my general.."depression" and everything...seems like it's been an ace week, got my divorce papers Tuesday, and a decent deer Saturday, today is gonna be a day to unwind, the pressure is off of me in a way it hasn't been for a long time, and I think i'm just gonna enjoy the hell outta the fact that my dad didn't get a deer, and the other 2 guys that hunt here on my place didn't get their first-day deer either. THAT gives me no-end of satisfaction...this place..if you can't take a deer on opening day...you can't take one anywhere.
Normally I always hunted over on my dad's place, with him on side of the bean field, and me on the other, so that anything that would come across the property either he or I would have a chance to take.
This year, I wanted to try something different, (more to prove to myself I still had it in me) and it look like I've got what it takes still.

I got one about 8 on opening day.  7 point (barely) buck, the largest I've ever got.  First time out with my own rifle too, which is a big deal since I shoot left.  Almost filled both my tags.  3 does came walking by, and I took a shot at one, but must have missed.  Then the buck came by 20 seconds later, and got him.  I'm lucky it's a 7 pointer, cause we have a "4-on-one-side" rule where I was.

Yeah, the 4 point rule sucks, but then again, i think it'll make for more bucks later on to shoot at.
The three does came by me, I was trying to get another round in, the one was dying, the other 2 were milling around, watching me, so finally I slammed the bolt home, and they hauled ass. :hick:
Congrats man.

Yeah, well, you guys and your multi-deer bag limits SUCK.

The first few years I hunted we were allowed two (and always got two), then they restricted it to one, then they restricted it to "antlered only" ("antlered" meaning at least 3" of horn). Eventually they started a draw, where you called a 1-900 number and put your name in for an "antlerless" stamp. It cost you $6 to enter the draw. If you get a stamp you're STILL only allowed one deer per year. I don't know what happened with the deer population around here, but it crashed in the late 80's and has not come back since.

As for the size of the deer - we have deer with large bodies, but small antlers. That little 3-pointer I shot weighed 110 lbs at the butcher shop - that's without skin or head, so I figure 135-140 "dressed" weight. My father shot one a few years ago that dressed out at 218 pounds but only had 5 points. My largest deer, a 9 pointer, weighed 190. Does usually weigh about 110-120 for an "average" adult.

The 3-pointer this year makes it so that I've shot deer with 0 (does), 1/2 (a small "bumphorn" buck - each "horn" was about 1/2" tall, I thought it a doe when I shot it), 1 (a "spike" that was missing a horn), 2 (spike on both sides), 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 points...

I feel for ya...they are so  thick here...you literally can not drive 5 miles down a gravel road and not see deer.
Unless you're Stevie Wonder.
Our's aren't quite as big as your deer for the most part, but i'd have to guess that several weigh in about that much.
The Conservation Dept. in Missouri is really encouraging hunters to take does, and leave the spike bucks and anything like that to grow up into bigger, nicer-antlered animals.
I think it works pretty well, as more and more hunters talking about big-racked bucks strutting around.
Opening day, I saw 3 other deer before I saw the group of three that I took mine from.

i wanna go hunting, but i refuse to do black powder, and as far as gutting goes, i wouldnt be able to... and its a family thing at my dads, you shoot it you clean it.

Black powder is a form of propellant, has no bearing whatsoever on the hunt itself.
You're thinking of a muzzleloader, which can use either black powder, or smokeless powder.
Muzzle loading season here is different than firearms or bow season.
For example, I can use black powder in my old .303 British, but I don't wanna clean the barrel all the time, so I have my shells reloaded with smokeless. In fact, when .303 ammo was first used, it was with black powder.
The old buffalo hunters used black powder, and about every 3rd shot, they'd have to pour boiling water down the barrel to clean it of the residue, then run a grease-coated patch through it.
And gutting it is a lot easier than you think. Ya just gotta get used to the bloody stink :evilgrin:

Truth be told I'd rather shoot a nice doe than a small buck - about the same amount of meat, but it's better eating. Unfortunately with an "Antlered only" tag I had to shoot a buck. For some reason I haven't been able to snag a doe stamp in about  4 years. 

I generally see does all over the place (including two does and three fawns that frequent my yard) - it's almost as though they can sense that I ain't allowed to shoot 'em. Last year, for example, had I had a doe tag I could have filled my tag each and every time I went hunting. Even this year I watched a parade of does on the first day of the season but couldn't shoot. It's nice to see does though, because you know that sooner or later a buck's gonna come following. That happened last year, when I shot and wounded an enormous (as in "Field and Stream") buck during a snowstorm. Unfortunately I lost its blood trail and tracks in the snow, and the following day, after a full 8 hours searching (and putting 24 kilometers on my GPS) I had to give up. That deer still haunts my dreams.


You shoot it, you gut it is pretty much how it works. Like Beau says, it's not difficult. It's exactlyl like gutting a fish, only bigger. Take your time, breathe through your mouth, and try (for the love of god, try) to not cut the actual stomach wall. You WILL throw up if you do. In the same vein, hope like hell that you don't "Gut shot" the deer, or you're in for a messy cleaning.

If you've never hunted before but want to, I'd strongly suggest you do so with some friends who are already into hunting, so they can show you the ropes. Just remember, though - as soon as the bullet leaves the muzzle of the gun the fun stops. If you're lucky enough to drop it in its tracks you've still got to gut it, drag it, hang it, skin it, butcher it, etc. If it DOESN'T drop in its tracks you can add "search for it" and "drag it even further from the deepest, most miserable thicket in the woods" to that list.


We have the special muzzle loader season as well, and also a special bowhunting season. I'm IBEP certified and actually tried bowhunting a few years, but I just couldn't get into it. The bowhunting season is in September, and I'm just not thinking deer hunting in September - actually, I'm thinking deer hunting, but more along the lines of scouting, finding trails and building blinds. Having mosquitos and horse flies buzzing about when trying to remain perfectly still is not fun. Besides, if you shoot a deer with a bow that's it for the season as well - you're only allowed one deer no matter how or when you shoot it.

This year since I got one so early I've been occasionally tagging along with my father - I can't carry a gun, but I've got better eyes and ears than him, and it lets me get into the woods with no pressure. He actually got a shot off at a nice 10-or-so pointer a few days ago, but missed. I heard it coming to our right, caught a glimpse of it as it went from the woods into a thicket, then heard it coming through the thicket. When it emerged I told my father "There it is, and it's a big one". He couldn't see it (it was only 50 yards away!). It continued walking down along the edge of the woods, then turned left and walked directly in front of us and stopped, broadside. I was just about to say "If you can't see that God-ed deer, give me the gun" but he finally shot it. He fired, and missed. Worse, he missed with a witness (me) :evilgrin:

Fourwheelers is how we get the deer out! and im gonna say hell no to black powder, i want a nice .378? ruger like my dads. Id have that thing sighted perfect, cause i would be shooting all the time I love shooting. I would get my shot the first time!

I've got 5 questions..
Are you sure it's a .378 RUGER? and not a Wetherby?
WHAT the hell are you gonna shoot at with a .378!!? (horses? cattle? elephants? blue whales?)
how much are the shells for it? (when you gotta pay 5 bucks+ for one round, I'll bet you don't shoot it much)
have you ever even shot one in the first place? (I've shot a .338Mag, NOT what you'd really want to use for a smallish deer...)
how tall and heavy are ya? (I'm 5'10" and 170...and said .338Mag shook me pretty good....)


There's no such thing as "perfect sighting in...you sight in at a certain range, and shoot effectively at that distance, or you learn the trajectory of the bullet, the amount of drop, and the other important stuff etc etc..I'd suggest reading about it...then when you've learned everything you can from a book, go back and read it all again. Then...practice. A LOT.
I can  well guarantee you ain't gonna load up a gun of any caliber, and kill a deer at a good distance unless you "know" the gun/cartridge combo...

And last...if I was you, i'd find something like a 30-30, or maybe a .30-06 at the biggest. Unless you're gonna kill elk, water buffalo, or an elephant (which is illegal, and kinda hard to do in this country) there's is absofvckinlutely no need for a cannon like THAT lmao.
I know, i went through the same phase..bigger is NOT better, no matter what the hunting mags or the girls say..ohh, wrong gun there...:hick:
Not trying to bust your nuts very much, but to make a statement like that about a .378...well....:flame: lol

I think thats what hes got, i have horrid memory, and when you put things that way, i think I'm jumping into things(im 16, know nothing bout hunting). o and im 5'3" 140...

just remember to hold it tight against your shoulder and squeeeeze the trigger, don't yank it. :D

Yea, unless you want a black & blue shoulder!

While I've never harbored an interest in hunting, and I never will, I've always been mildly interested in the mechanical workings of a gun. I could never be a gun nut, and I would likely never own a gun, but I was able to fire a 9mm Ruger and an AR-15 within the past month or so. It was at a range, so I could more-or-less record my accuracy. I'm not a bad shot, I must say.
I honestly don't see the point in driving one of those bullets into an animal, though.

I like hunting because it gives me time to think without any distractions.  It is amazing what you can hear early in the morning.  I heard my cousin fire up his truck at his house and drive all the way to my grandma's.

Also, deer sausage is the bomb!