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Shot a buck at 7:30 this morning, he came in, worked a scrape then headed past me at 20. I knew the shot was a touch back. Arrow looked and smelled like liver so i gave him seven hours. He went 63 yards, turns out I heard him die. He made some light grunts which Id never heard before as he died Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Got back at 2am from my brothers wedding last night, so I knew going deer hunting today wasn't in the cards. Felt bad for the dog since she was alone for like 16 hours last night, so I took her out bird hunting again. She did great with pointing the first bird and I did a bad job shooting again. I did hit it and it went down, but it ran when it hit the ground. She did a great job tracking it down...but the retrieve on pheasant is something we'll have to work on. The second bird I actually saw flush wild about 70 yards away when we crested the hill in the field. It flew into a dried up creek bed, so I went to the other side and pushed it back to the field edge. Wind switched when I got back in the field, so the dog had no way of finding it, but this time she flushed in range and I shot it. I really need to get into the deer woods. This weekend is looking pretty shitty though

Last two day I saw a few bucks and doe. Jumped a big one bedded with a doe. Shooter for sure. Cool incident yesterday morning. Biggest flock of Turkey Ive seen in a long time. A fisherCat came through and stirred up the Turkeys that were rooted or coming of of roost. He heads my way and sets up in some thick brush. The flock of Turkey start coming my way. Im saying he is going to catch one. The flock was about 25. They get to me and start scratching all around some drifting off too far. This one bird is heading right for the Fisher. Closing the distance the bird is warned by one of the older hens. I see these hens watching out for the group by jumping up on logs and looking around. She must of saw movement and sounded the alarm. The woods lit up with Turkey chatter and the Fisher took off. It was pretty cool. Turkey 1 Fisher 0!

Seeing a lot more activity in past 36 hours. A few day walking checking scrapes. Also seeing signs of bucks starting to really go after a few single does on cam. We tied into one of our target bucks Sat evening but just past shooting/legal light for my partner and he had to wait quite some time for the buck to clear out. This morning was a bust short of three does I saw. We went to the south side of our farm due to a change in wind that didn’t pan out. North was where we wanted to go and glad we didn’t because the smallest of the target bucks was walking around for the first two hours. Hard to turn down a really good buck like that but our regular cams showed that BOTH of the bucks I saw get into a brawl last season and were the 1 and 2 on that farm made it through and showed up this week. Thought both were gone/dead. Super pumped because they blew up even more. Here in NY we had a good buck go by pretty late in AM to hit a scrape in cover. A stand we set is in the background. I’ll likely be there Thursday AM. See what it brings.

Dude, WTF? Go now, you could grab the skull and have it cleaned. Show up with the bunny suit, who could say no, it’s halloween.

So, while I was eating lunch and staring out the window, I noticed this. That buck must have made it this morning. My wife finds it amazing that I can spot a rub from 150 yrds away but can't seem to see the crumbs I left on the counter.

As the owner of a horse farm, I would be glad to know you were successful in taking out a coyote. I would also prefer that you asked for permission to retrieve it to prevent me from finding in 10 days from now in a state of decay that I would prefer not to deal with..

No deer...no blood at the hit site. found half the arrow in a path, no trees around, looks like the buck jumped some downed trees and the arrow snapped. Close enough to his shoulder when he jumped he snapped it...not sure. Hair in that area, 2 pin drop size spots of blood. Theres 14"-16" of arrow in the deer. Left a msg with deer search, we'll see if i get a call back tomorrow.

Wish us luck, son hit a buck little before 6. Shot was liverish area, it spun on the shot but was quartering away on impact. Heading out in an hour to check were i saw it last before it went into thick cover.

3m. Shot 815am hanging with a doe. Wasn't my best shot definitely mixed emotions tracking 300yds Very happy to recover.

If one looks at the guys here who use one, they’re by and large accomplished hunters , probably good shots , with an understanding of anatomy, bullet selection, when to take a shot and when not to . But the masses seem to pick it because “ it’s light and doesn’t kick much” , good for their wives , kids and democratic friends , but don’t factor in all the other factors ,and hence the issues .

Forky rubbing every little sapling he sees. The deerless streak is over!

Cooper has been watching over me . I think he is sorry Sent from my SM-A515U using Tapatalk

Venison tenderloins Sous vide at 131 degrees for a few hours then flash seared in cast iron , sunflower seeds , chi chi beans , crumbled blue , strawberry mint vinaigrette and a very nice cab Sauvignon Happy Halloween!

7mm-08 may just be THE perfect whitetail round. Very little recoil. And will drop them even when off just a bit. Good to go out to 300+ yards. But if the OP has a good deal lined up for a rifle that would fit for his daughter? Go for it! Run a deer weight bullet. Have that youngster spend a "BUNCH" of time shooting that 243. And said youngster will have no problem whatsoever killing their first deer with that 243.

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this season i couldve bagged the entire bow season for the most part and just fished. Then started hunting first weekend of Xbow. Next year i am taking 0 time off til halloween. Then pound it for 3 weeks which are the best anyway

Dry leaves and no wind made paths to five stands and one additional path to lead them passed a stand , a fast job . Found 3 frogs a few old shotgun shells , part of a grunt call and a lens from someone’s glasses !

My phone started exploding just prior to having to leave the stand, so I figured why not, and took a look at the video of the huge suburban buck my buddy filmed in his back yard this morning. Only to look down and see a nice eight point staring up at me, wondering what the commotion was all about. He snuck in through some thick stuff while I was playing on my phone. I think there's a lesson to be learned in there somewhere.

My dad and I are both running multiple cams on our properties and if I'm honest I've had several recent hunts with shooters in range and never on cam. Both our properties have been a little dead lately on cams, but in the woods it's shown otherwise. Just a word of caution to all the cam users out there, to not just rely solely on them for activity indicators.

Looks like a house cat to me Sent from my motorola edge 5G UW (2021) using Tapatalk

I was covered up in deer. Seen three 8pts, and a couple smaller bucks, and probably 15+ does and fawns. Had a nice 8 12yrds to my right, but had 4 does underneath me with one sniffing the ladder, and no way was I going to spin all the way around with all those eyes so close. The 8's were definitely pestering the does a little bit.

Wife's first buck went down in 30 yards with her 243. 25 yard shot though. Doe was shot by me with the crossbow Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk

Up and in for the Halloween hunt! 61 and starting to sprinkle. Cmon big buck I double dog dare ya!! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I'm in 3S - yet another property in the management program. I haven't been here since 2018 but have really enjoyed the "new dirt" hunts this season. 68 and balmy- had to cross a trout stream to get where I am. A fly fisherman kindly showed me the shallowest crossing point after missing a strike(netted a few small ones earlier he said). Much more open than I recalled but we shall see what we see. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I think you are correct and this is exactly why I don't think a .243 is a good choice for the beginning hunter. In my opinion it's more of a caliber for an experienced shooter who will be more likely to place the bullet where it's supposed to be put. You can't always count on a beginner to do that, thus calibers beginning at 7mm-08 and up are much better choices in my opinion. I had my 14 year old son start hunting with a 50 year old Ruger .30-06 that I inherited from a late uncle. I surely wasn't going to spend money on another rifle that I know would do a poorer job. He had no problem learning to shoot it and so far hasn't missed any deer he has shot at with it. Calibers between 7mm-08 and .30-06 don't exactly kick ones brains out.

But a 7mm 08 does all that and better and no more recoil. No advantage for all those with a .243. It doesn't ruin meat cause your shooting 95 grains. And if you read above others state it ruins meat due to speed. Its very light for a whitetail in my opinion. Makes zero sense to me but to each their own. A .22 mag will also kill a deer but why would you buy one for that when there are superior options for the same price, weight, recoil as the .243. Sent from my motorola edge 5G UW (2021) using Tapatalk

I wouldn't sleep on the first week of october if you have plots or food. Unpressured deer and food early on can be instant success if you can pattern them. Also this year we had a good cold snap early and activity was crazy. Now we're getting that warm weather that we usually get in early to mid-october. I remember 2 years ago I think we had crazy rain and wind, we just can't predict the weather and it does affect hunting. I'll stick to my belief thought that hunting or hunting moderate to hard from 10/10-10/20ish is not a great idea. I think you're doing more harm than good with scent and pressure.

Had a good buck cruise past me this morning in predawn, couldn't tell how big he was, camera got him though. Just had another good one at 90 yds searching. Sent from my moto g fast using Tapatalk

Pellets do not allow precise packing . Air gaps, crushed pellets .all effect accuracy and burn. Consistancy is the absolute key to a muzzleloader. Cant get it from pellet loads. Longer range needs same pressure to pack powder and exact weight/ volume of powder. Pellets vary quite a bit alone add to that air gap from rifeling and cracked crushed or damaged in any way and a minute differences show at range.

It's funny you mention that @Robhuntandfish. I was actually thinking the same thing. Going forward, I think I'll hunt that early antlerless season, take most of October off, then pick up around halloween. That'll give me time for other things during the fall that are probably time better spent than sitting in a tree counting squirrels.

Wind, what wind? I hate hunting with it so quite. You can hear them coming but they pick you off at the slightest sound.

Sure am using up the set ups for a south wind this season!!

Live from the home office 2022. I was on a conference call at 7:30 when my wife came in and said there was a buck out in the field. I jumped up grabbed the bino's and head out. It was a nice 8-point that followed a path the doe normally use. I'm glad my camera was off for while I was on the Teams meeting!!

Good luck Zeke. That much arrow should do the trick. Hopefully a dog brings you guys right to it. Positive thoughts.

As others have mentioned: margin for error. You lose bullet weight, penetration, knockdown power and recoil. The only benefit IMO is that the .243 is more shootable for someone who is recoil shy. I have seen instances where a person was more accurate with smaller caliber than one they were afraid of.

Just got this sequence in CT of does and the 10pt (first pic of him since 9/18, and he’s the only Buck I have pics of since July besides 2 resident does with 1 fawn almost daily ). Was going to hunt NY Thursday but maybe I’ll try CT instead Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

A Nosler Partition or a good monolithic such as Barnes X type would certainly have resulted in a kill with that shot placement... I am somewhat surprised that the bullet was 95 grains and did not perform better than that... Most 6MM bullets of 90 + grain are designed for deer sized game, unlike the lighter ones that are designed for varmints... I wonder if a varmint round was inadvertantly loaded, rather than a deer round...??

Old faithful.

I’ve no dog in this fight but found this interesting , this is the is the guy who started leashed tracking dogs, in NYS. At the time he wrote this book, he had tracked nearly 1000 wounded deer .

A high velocity impact from a .243 at close range will ruin plenty of meat, especially if it's a shoulder hit. I always opt for a neck shot with a .243 at close range.

My daughter put two mags of 7mm08 in the center of the target today , hasn’t shot it since this time last year either . She’s not a “ big” girl , I was pretty happy . As far as factory ammo , my basement is well stocked . I’ll buy more after the season and demand drops too .

Anyone want to store piles of apples on my bean field PM me !