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My daughters first deer,a great looking,rut crazed 8pt. No words can describe the proud feelings I got from watching the hunt unfold on opening morning of 2013.

Shot her on the last evening of bow season. It was a great end to a long season. Not here to start the shoot or pass conversation. I am one proud and honored hunter to even see a piebald let alone take one with the bow.

Here ya go

It has been a great year for me! I shot my biggest buck (8pt, field dressed 175 lbs) and my son shot his first deer ( a nice spike that got 3 grocery bags of venison & sausage). Two in the freezer is plenty for us without having to be selective as to when to have venison. Saw tons of deer in Redfield up North and Lincklaen down South. I was on a couple of drives that produced multiple deer down. Saw a lot of cool things but most importantly gained a new hunting partner with my 14 yr old son. I have a couple of DMP's & Muzz tags but am happy to call it a year. Best of luck to those still in the woods, it is one of my favorite places to be.

After my half day of work and on my way to the lease Saturday my Brother-in-Law calls and says he hit a deer and is trailing it. I got there and helped him find a nice 8pt. There was still plenty of time so I went and sat in the apple scrub where I had planned on even though they had walked through there earlier in the day. I got in to where I have been sitting and saw all the frozen apples turned up in the snow. I sat a while not seeing anything contemplating if I would. Then I looked over my right shoulder into the field behind me and saw a deer coming from the golden rod into the apple scrub about 150 yards away. I got turned and waited hoping whatever it was would come my way and not go the other. Soon a deer appeared I pulled up my pistol and looked it was a little one. I hoped that with it being there it would be like a live decoy and bring others in. It began looking the direction it came from. I kept watching and nothing was coming up over the hill. I looked beyond and another deer came from high out of the upper corn field. Another little one. Then a nice doe popped over the hill where the deer was looking. I put the cross hairs on her but she kept moving. Then an 8pt just like the one my Brother-in-Law killed came in behind her. I watched all 4 of them for about 15 min at 30 yards from me while sitting on the ground. Finally the buck turned to go back and the doe was getting anxious. I put the crosshairs on her but she was staring right at me stomping I was busted. Then she jumped and ran 10 yards I figured she was outta there, but she stopped. I put the crosshairs behind the shoulder and touched it off. After receiving this gun from my wife the same day I propsed to her on Christmas and hunting 4 years with it I finally put a deer under its belt. Complete pass through and she ran about 30 yards and piled up. Ruger Redhawk 7.5" barrel 225gr Hornady Leverevolution.

I had hunted for a short time down in the area of lower plot ...got back home at 9 :15 ...wet due to ice on stand...saw lots of doe....at 10:30 i decided to go close up chicken widows and feed them...then go to blind and close that up for the winter...took the gun with me...got to blind and climbed up peaking over deck railing...and right where I had shot and missed a 6pt last week stood a big doe and she was with 3 others deer...well learning my lesson I aimed high and she kicked and they all ran down hill but she stopped..she wasn't looking good but I had to wait for another shot ...she finally stepped out from behind a big maple and I dropped her....Well I really wasn't prepared...no gutting bag and the initial hit was 88yrds thankfully she ran in my direction but still a ways out 76 yrds...all said and done I had to drag her up past the blind to hide her...about a 100 yrds...not easy on a steep hill with a bad knee.... Went back to house 1400ft up hill and got gear...removed gear and hauled her out on my trusty little orange sled...I love my new HSS vest that drag was a breeze...Mr B ..not happy from camp that I didn't use the big tractor...but snow was real slick and wet...I was afraid of either getting stuck or sliding on the side hill....

Tracks all over my property. Mostly boot shape. Grrrrrr seriously. What is so hard to comprehend about POSTED. Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk 2

He pushed through about 5 minutes after several deer went by my stand on my right at about 70 yards. I figured it had to be a buck trailing the doe that went through. I never got a glimpse at the top of his head. After a few minutes of not seeing anything I tried grunting and bleating probably way to much but I figured what the heck. After a minute I saw movement again and I was shocked that my terrible calling actually turned a deer around. Saw bone on the top of his head so I let him have it with the .308.

Go turkey hunting in the spring, that's when I usually find them

I can say the biggest factor to me is the close of the season. Ohio has bow open until Feb. 1. It's more of a marathon than a sprint for that state's hunters. Short gun season placed correctly and a lengthy bow season. I don't want to get into what is right or wrong management wise, but the simple logistics of having a long bow season allows for one to "hunt" at one's own pace (if you bowhunt). With a long gun season that can really pressure the deer, and a quickly ending bow season thereafter, I start to get wore out.

Get out as much as you can and walk the bedding/feeding areas covering them all by grid searching areas. I usually walk about 6 miles a day during a normal shed hunt. Also go slow and scan to your left and right slowly not just in front of you. I cant wait for shed season to start!! Here are some i have found over the last 3 years in NY. Good Luck!! Johhn

Hunted pretty hard Wednesday afternoon through Friday last week, taking Thursday afternoon off for Thanksgiving. Saw over 60 deer in total. Wednesday and Thursday I saw about 20 doe while still hunting/pushing for my wife, father and brother. Friday morning things really took off. I still hunted across the top of a steep ridge, The deer were feeding on the flat below the ridge the past few days so i was confident i'd get into them. To this point in the season, i have a nice bow buck and several doe, so i was really just looking for a rack. By 10:30 Friday i had seen 9 doe and a small spike that i let walk. As i came over a small crest in the ridge i looked below and the flood gates seemed to open up. There were deer everywhere. I counted approximately another 30, mostly doe, a few spikes and 4 pointers. Most of them had moved on and then this 9 point stepped out about 130 yards. Double lung shot with the 30-06, he took 3 steps and dropped in his tracks. I've never seen more than a dozen or so deer in a day, much less the roughly 40 i saw Friday. Needless to say im glad i let the doe and small ones walk.

Looks like deer dance party USA was held in here yesterday/ last night. Flipping tracks all over! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Decided to take the day off from work. Heading to my stand now. Should be sitting in 20. Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using Tapatalk

Never give up. It's worth the wait. Didn't get one last year. Went to hunt a new property this year. Saw a couple of does. No shots with the bow. Yesterday a nice 7 pointer came by at 7:30am. Knocked down with shotgun and off to the butcher! Best buck for me so far. Highlight of my year! It is a special person who gets up way before dawn to sit in a tree below freezing and keep coming back for more without even seeing a deer. You have to be in the woods if you are going to succeed. My neighbor always say to me "enjoy it while you can!" Good luck!

Opening weekend the butcher I go to had 90 deer. Of those deer, 52 were 8pts or better. About 10 of the remaining deer were basket 6pts or 8pts and the rest does. Butcher said he had never had that many bigger bucks and the age of most of the bucks taken have been 2.5-3.5. I think it is working. While I understand the issue with putting restrictions, we may all just have to wait another year or two to truly see a difference. We are never going to have Monsters everywhere or 200inch deer taken every season. Fact. In years past, how many bucks small or big had been seen during the season vs this year & last year? Personally, I have seen more bucks while hunting in the past 2 years than the previous 10 yrs combined. Same property-same stands. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

A Bushnell Elite 3200. Its like getting hit with an expensive bottle of wine.

I swore I was not going to go down this road again, but not all who choose not to wear orange are unethical nor thieves trespassers or hunting over your back. Off topic but I love how people dress up in camp paint their faces for bow season but then harp about blaze orange any other time when most people are shot at close ranges and could happen just as easy with a bow.

That smile on your face is why AR's suck...sometimes.... congrats

Good for you. Using one in NY would be illegal this year.

How did hunters ever survive a season before blaze orange. Reminds me of people wanting to be taken care of by the govt. Expect me to be sure you do not shoot anyone. Not my responsibllity Sent from my LGL35G using Tapatalk 2

My thought exactly, I've noticed a lot of guys splitting the pelvis why? All that's going to accomplish is the meat of the hind quarter getting dirty and dried out.

What keeps people from poaching and spot lighting to get into the "lucky buck" contest? Doesn't sound any different to me.

Find out where the deer (more specifically bucks) are feeding during shedding time. A vast majority of my sheds are found in hay/clover/alfalfa fields. My favorite time to look is in mid-late January when all of the fresh feeding activity sign is layed out in the snow...

Well it's gettin to be that time. My son and I been hunting for big horns all season )ow and gun) and have really not seen any. Oh, we've seen our share of bucks, probably a dozen different between us since bow season. Their really has not been much pressure from hunters around here so we plan to let the small bucks grow another year. We been seeng lots of doe but no buck with them, so from here on out the plan is to take a doe each to the fill the 2 DMP's and if the opportunity presents itself for a big horn obviously I'll take it but will wait til ML to fill the other Doe tag... unless Mr Big Horn does show up. Getting less fussy and really hungry for some fresh venison.

So Thanksgiving Day found me working. Pretty much non stop stove fires,a chimney fire and a despondent person barricaded. Your basic Holiday calls. Here is the winner of most over done turkey/ stove fire . See your wife is not that bad of a cook after all.

11/29 Hunted around home for morning bil and I. Nothing going on. My uncle called said he was in town and met us in Tully. It was still cold we went and found some fresh tracks and set up my bil herding and my uncle and I on watches. My bil ended up jumping 2 out beds and shot a real nice 8. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Nerves, basically went dumb when she came in. settled down after a few seconds but then she started watching me. held by bow at full draw for a while (recurve) relaxed for a bit. she was back on me. all the while I was fighting with my harness (was to low and hitting my back arm) and I had my thick fleece neck gaiter on pulled all the way up. was in awe that I missed. was back in the woods today stump shooting before I left, was nailing my shots from the ground/stand. guess it all goes to inexperience. went back to the same spot hoping that doe would walk back in. but didn't see not a one deer all day. go figure, hopefully they are back next week.

I was the youngest of 7 kids with 5 of my siblings being boys. Not one of them hunted and neither did my dad. I didn't start hunting until I was 23 years old. I shot a couple deer with a gun and I liked it but when I started archery hunting and shot my first deer with a bow I was absolutely hooked! I have since taken over 30 whitetail with the bow among many other things. I got so obsessed with hunting that it was all I could think about during the season. Needless to say my obsession with hunting really annoyed my boyfriend. He didn't share the love of hunting that I had so he gave me a lot of grief about going hunting so much. I couldn't take his crap any longer so I broke up with him even after investing over 8 years of my life with him because hunting meant more to me than he meant to me. Now I'm married to a guy who loves hunting as much as I do. He doesn't give me crap when I'm gone everyday during the season and I don't give him crap either when he wants to go. We have a great mutual understanding.

I agree...as does spelling the right words("is" or us?)! Hahaha only kidding

When bird hunting, I am LOUD AND OBNOXIOUS! Constantly talking to my dog, he wears a bell, I am always blowing my whistle...too many buttholes trying to hunt near my dog just in case something bumps in their direction. I have had these guys stalking on the other sides of hedgerows and throw shots over the row and our heads....nimrods,

It's a ball game now. Looks like the redskins are mimicking my bills and letting he g-men back in it.

Call me that and I wouldn't touch you either! Lol

Buddy of mine shot a big six on Saturday morning in Bethel. He said the deer were on the move all day. He sat with his son for the afternoon and they saw a real big buck but his son couldn't get a good shot.

I know no biggie

Anything that turns hunting into a contest detracts from the sport.

I'm older than most of the cougars... That means if they meet up with me, they are not interested in jacking ANYTHING....<<sigh>>...

I'm just not sure how this oldy will like these new bullet's.I have my Dad's old singleshot Steven's model 15 guess I have to try them out

Can you blame the hawk? I bet some of those NYC rats are as big as a chihuahua!

nope, but it was 10:30 at night and we tracked for over 2 hours and glanced the property noting there were no lights on in the place. he wasn't able to get back out there the next day cause he had to go upstate to help someone else. don't think two guys dressed in camo coming up to your door late at night with flashlights asking for permission would have been a welcome thing. now if it was laying in their driveway, that's a different story. but since it seems only the dog could find the trail we called.

And sometimes you just have to be Lucky ...........

That really used to be a rule, that it had to be used up before April? That is crazy....lol NY State at its finest

...and if you look at the difference between the 3'rd and 4'th picture there is a leaning tree missing on the right hand side. Where did it go,lol?

Yes NY has great deer habitat in some areas and horrible deer habitat in others. Like many people here have said it's a big state the whole state is not the same habitat where one person hunts. What I was getting at is if you have bad habitat that's your problem right there. It does not matter what you do to regulate the antlers you still will not have more deer.

As has been stated by a few here, I also opt to still hunt/stalk. The only time i will put any appreciable time in sitting is when the woods are too cruchy to walk. When it comes to the big woods, I have so much more success still hunting. Also, for what its worth, I usually don't still hunt "all the woods". I usually do some fast walking just to get to the spots that I want to still hunt. A lot of the terrain in the big woods can be rather void of deer. Still hunting through these areas is more or less a waste of time in my opinion. What doc said about using the binoculars to scan the woods in front of you is gold. I just started using binocs in this fashion this year. I can't even believe that all these years I've been still hunting without them. NIght and day difference. I won't enter woods without them ever again. Last week was pretty good for us in the catskills. Conditions were pretty good for walking. As a group of 6 we killed 3. two 8 ptrs and a 7ptr, All good deer dressing from 140 to 152. We also were 1 for 1 on Bobs. Long story short, a guy named bob got lost in the woods and had to spend the night out there. The next day we volunteered with the Forest Rangers to go look for him. And we found him at about 10am. So three bucks, and a bob for us.

here are pictures of my buck. Took a while to find out how to place pictures

There is a pretty decent partridge population and lots of squirrels.Some decent amounts of turkey too..Lots of coyotes too...

Because they can't post all the poaching pictures they have of untagged deer.

Regardless of what you think , calling people "morons" is a little extreme imo.