ApexerER

Who are we to decide what another hunter does as long as it is legal? This was a quick humane death to a deer...Isn't that what we all look for in our shots? 5 or 6 years ago when the biggest deer I had ever killed was a small 4 pt. I had, on the last day of the season, a buck come out of a ravine and walk straight away from me. I was down on one knee with a steady rest and my cross hair right on the backside. His rack was much wider and taller than his ears. I waited and waited for that deer to take one step to the side and turn but he never did. He walked right out of view. I still play that incident over and over. Some days I wish I pulled the trigger. Other days I wish I whistled or yelled and tried to make him turn. Some days I am glad I did the "right thing" and let him walk away. Other days it feels like I did everything but the "right thing". If I had made the shot and dropped him in his tracks I wouldn't have had one regret about it. On the other hand if I wounded him, and never found him...I would still be sick over it today. We all make choices as hunters...some work out. Some don't. I don't want to get into a religion debate, but I really hope nobody in the woods is making choices that they know are bad, and assuming God will make them ok. That would scare the crap out of me! So wolc123, congrats on your harvest. I hope you made that shot because you knew it could be made and was within your ability and not because God was guiding your bullets path or something crazy like that. I wouldn't want people thinking that way anytime I am on in the woods and double that when my daughter is out there with me...

I do not think we need more laws...we need more common sense....Accidents are just that....Accidents. Sometimes accidents are unfortunately tragic. We are all human, whether we want to admit it or not we all have momentary lapses in judgment. I had a lapse in judgment on opening day this year. I never wear my coat into my stand. I put it in my backpack. I put on an orange vest over my base layer and vest. When I get to my treestand I take off the orange vest and wrap it around the tree and put my coat on. When I leave I take my coat off and put my orange vest on. I have been doing that for years. When I shot my deer in my haste I got down with my camo coat on never even thinking about the vest. I stayed with my downed deer as other hunters came to help me not even thinking about the fact that I am in 100% camo. None of the guys said anything to me. I took numerous pictures...etc. So excited in the moment I never even thought about it. You know who mentioned it....My dad, when I showed him the pics of the biggest buck I have ever killed and may ever kill the first thing he said to me wasn't nice deer. It was a glare followed by where is your orange! Now...god forbid if something happened that day...A law wouldn't have made a difference.....the story would have been hunter shot wearing no orange...but that would have been half the story.

Everyone is speculating as to what happened....Unless this is outright murder...the facts are accidents happen...Tragic accidents happen...Most accidents are the result of a momentary lapse in judgment. There is a 24 year old that shot his father on Thanksgiving. Can you imagine the grief of that kid and the family. My prayers go out to them.

That's awesome! I too took forever to kill my first buck....a lot longer than you. Once I got that first one under my belt they seemed to keep coming...like a curse was lifted. Congrats!

I am not going to speculate on what happened. It doesn't matter, to the family involved it is tragic and my thoughts and prayers go out to them. Be safe everyone...

Sunday 11/27 - Up in the stand and setup at 6:15. Wind supposed to be WNW but it is very slight SE and seems like it is swirling. I have a very hard time trying to decide what to do with the Ozonics in these conditions. I point it SE about 8 o'clock which seems the most constant. After an hour or two it seems the wind is WNW like it was supposed to be so I swing it around. I believe the rut is over. No action at all this am..Not even a squirrel. That's two morning sits in a row with no deer seen. Nobody saw deer today. My guess is the guys will want to push the property next weekend.

At least 4 times now...since before first light. I have heard 3 or 4 grunts followed by what sounds exactly like a can call. Shouldn't be a hunter close enough to me with only 3 guys on the lease today. Can't help but wonder if it is a tresspasser.

Thanksgiving 11/24 - Up in the stand a little late about 6:10. Its pretty cold about 28 degrees and a very light wind. Wind is supposed to be SSE so I have the ozonics set up that direction (about 8 oclock). I feel like the wind keeps changing and I felt like I was continuously messing with its direction. Seems like a perfect morning. About 9am I catch movement and realize I have a coyote crossing from my right to left about 100 yds out through the timber. I get my rifle up on my shooting rail and I am following him in the scope. Not really expecting a clear shot unless it comes closer but all of a sudden he stopped in what seemed like a clear lane and without even thinking I squeezed the trigger. Never saw him run or leave, thought I dropped him right there but I couldn't see him. Climbed down at 10am and worked my way over where I shot him. I didn't find him or any blood but I really didn't spend a whole lot of time looking since I had to get home for Thanksgiving. Obviously I would have made a much greater attempt had it been a deer. The ozonics played no roll in my hunt this am...

In the stand waiting on sunrise. Perfect morning...Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Sitting till 10...then home for turkey day!

Assuming there is a second tine on the right side that you can't see in the pic (just like the left side) then that is a 6 all day long in my book. Doesn't matter though...5 or 6, great first buck, congrats.....

The 45 is a 1911...are you sure it is less than 8"...I always thought there was a minimum length requirement but like I said, I have never read the regs on it...Its never really been a thought

I don't, I have a .22, .380, 9mm and a .45....I have never looked at the regs but I don't believe any of them would be legal to harvest a deer with. Isn't there a minimum barrel length?

Saturday 11/19/16...My best hunting day ever....I added the story from the harvest thread and the only thing I will add is that I had a rare SE wind...Ozonics was pointed at about my 8 O'clock and played no role what so ever in the harvest of the biggest buck of my life or ever on our lease! All the deer were directly upwind. I will take that everytime! I will also ad, I went back out for the afternoon, stretched out in the afternoon sun, replayed the morning in my head and never even took the Ozonics out of the bag...and didn't see any deer and I was totally fine with that! Well...what a day...I am still on cloud 9..Got in my stand early. About 5:45. Heard the first shot at roughly 6:15..I can't imagine how they were shooting because I can't see squat. One of my Hunting buddies is across the ravine from me about 300 yds away. It doesn't take him long to text me that he saw 2 doe. Not long after sunrise two guys on the lease had deer down. A beautiful 6 with nubs for browtines and a nice 8 Pt. I see movement to the right behind me and get excited...then quickly realized they were turkey and watched 8 Longbeards slowly work through. At 8:34 am I text my buddy telling him I swore I heard a deer grunt. I can't hear or see anything. Just as I decide it must have been my imagination a doe rips in at full speed and stops 10 feet in front of me panting. I am scanning where she came from and catch movement. I shoulder my rifle...see a nice rack..settle the cross hair and tell myself to squeeze the trigger and fire. The deer disappears and I don't see it. I am shaking like a leaf...see the deer again look...wait..it's another doe..another deer another doe..Bring the gun down and scan..see another deer at least 30 yds from where I first shot..shoulder the rifle..it's him...shaking like a leaf I try to settle myself down and breath..settle my crosshair..tell myself to squeeze the trigger..bang...shot two..the deer doesn't even flinch..again..shot 3..just behind the shoulder..the deer doesn't move...this is crazy...again shot 4...the deer drops right where he is standing..but he is getting back up...shot 5...my gun is empty...I attach my rifle to my pull up rope and practically throw it out of the stand..down the ladder like a fireman pole..grab the rifle..throw 5 more rounds in the rifle...I can't see the deer from the ground. I head slowly toward the deer when blow blow blow...all the doe..I believe there were 6 book out of there. I close the distance and can see the deer trying to get up..I shoulder the rifle again..shot 6..I know I missed on this shot. I get up to the deer and I decide I am going to put him down when he expires...then I see just how big he is I start shaking so bad I have to get down on one knee. I quickly thank God (even though I am not very religious) Then tears just stream down my face. I am overcome with emotion..I gather myself enough to see i hit him behind the shoulder 3 times and once was a spine shot. I look at my phone and my buddy sent like 10 texts along with other guys on the lease. My buddies texts from across the ravine were funny....what did you kill? Wtf? What are you doing? How can you miss that many times? What is it? Was it big? So I text him and a few other guys that I have a giant 9 down and just sit and take it all in while I wait for the two guys that already have their deer down and my buddy on the opposite ridge...lots of high fives and hugs...I still can't believe it...a deer of a lifetime...I am extremely disappointed with the Hornady ballistic tips I picked up..three shots through the lungs...three tiny entry holes and three just as tiny exits. Definitely going back to the fusion I was shooting...

So with a BBD on opening morning and only having a doe tag left I am seriously considering hunting with the crossbow for the rest of the season. Can anyone give me a reason as to why I shouldn't do this? Even if I have the biggest buck ever out of range I couldn't do anything about it anyway with no tag. I have killed deer with my Bow, Rifle and Shotgun but never with a crossbow. Thinking if I bring the crossbow and get a doe down with it, it would be a lot more exciting than just shooting one with the rifle. Anybody see any reason not to do this? I know the guys on the lease will think I am nuts....

A light crunchy coating in Saratoga....No idea what it looks like where I hunt right now...

Hornady ballistic tip 165 gr .308 WIN. Very little internal damage. I believe the only round that expanded was the spine shot. The three behind the shoulder look like I shot him with FMJ. Next time out I will be shooting the Federal Fusion 165 gr. Never had an issue with those.

Can anyone give me an estimate on age, weight, score? Butcher thought 185lbs. I am guessing 3 1/2. No idea on score. Story for anyone that wants to read it and pictures below. I believe I missed him on the .fifth and sixth shot. I am surprised I hit him at all with the buck fever I was experiencing. Well...what a day...I am still on cloud 9..Got in my stand early. About 5:45. Heard the first shot at roughly 6:15..I can't imagine how they were shooting because I can't see squat. One of my Hunting buddies is across the ravine from me about 300 yds away. It doesn't take him long to text me that he saw 2 doe. Not long after sunrise two guys on the lease had deer down. A beautiful 6 with nubs for browtines and a nice 8 Pt. I see movement to the right behind me and get excited...then quickly realized they were turkey and watched 8 Longbeards slowly work through. At 8:34 am I text my buddy telling him I swore I heard a deer grunt. I can't hear or see anything. Just as I decide it must have been my imagination a doe rips in at full speed and stops 10 feet in front of me panting. I am scanning where she came from and catch movement. I shoulder my rifle...see a nice rack..settle the cross hair and tell myself to squeeze the trigger and fire. The deer disappears and I don't see it. I am shaking like a leaf...see the deer again look...wait..it's another doe..another deer another doe..Bring the gun down and scan..see another deer at least 30 yds from where I first shot..shoulder the rifle..it's him...shaking like a leaf I try to settle myself down and breath..settle my crosshair..tell myself to squeeze the trigger..bang...shot two..the deer doesn't even flinch..again..shot 3..just behind the shoulder..the deer doesn't move...this is crazy...again shot 4...the deer drops right where he is standing..but he is getting back up...shot 5...my gun is empty...I attach my rifle to my pull up rope and practically throw it out of the stand..down the ladder like a fireman pole..grab the rifle..throw 5 more rounds in the rifle...I can't see the deer from the ground. I head slowly toward the deer when blow blow blow...all the doe..I believe there were 6 book out of there. I close the distance and can see the deer trying to get up..I shoulder the rifle again..shot 6..I know I missed on this shot. I get up to the deer and I decide I am going to put him down when he expires...then I see just how big he is I start shaking so bad I have to get down on one knee. I quickly thank God (even though I am not very religious) Then tears just stream down my face. I am overcome with emotion..I gather myself enough to see i hit him behind the shoulder 3 times and once was a spine shot. I look at my phone and my buddy sent like 10 texts along with other guys on the lease. My buddies texts from across the ravine were funny....what did you kill? Wtf? What are you doing? How can you miss that many times? What is it? Was it big? So I text him and a few other guys that I have a giant 9 down and just sit and take it all in while I wait for the two guys that already have their deer down and my buddy on the opposite ridge...lots of high fives and hugs...I still can't believe it...a deer of a lifetime...I am extremely disappointed with the Hornady ballistic tips I picked up..three shots through the lungs...three tiny entry holes and three just as tiny exits. Definitely going back to the fusion I was shooting...

Good luck to everyone today...for up at 3am and heard the pooring rain. Shut my alarm off. Just got up and there is a light coating of snow and it's still coming down...now I am kicking myself.

Thank you Grampy...still out of likes...I realized after I posted this people were going to think my dad is gone. He is still very much with us, just no longer hunts. In the 10 years or so that we hunted together I never got a buck that we could celebrate together. When I get a deer he is the first person I think of and wish he could be there for that special moment in the woods. I talked to him last night and sent him some pictures. I think I make him feel bad when I tell him how much I wish he was there with me. At least I still get to tell him all about it over the phone...and trust me...he will hear the story again when I see him...

Well...what a day...I am still on cloud 9..Got in my stand early. About 5:45. Heard the first shot at roughly 6:15..I can't imagine how they were shooting because I can't see squat. One of my Hunting buddies is across the ravine from me about 300 yds away. It doesn't take him long to text me that he saw 2 doe. Not long after sunrise two guys on the lease had deer down. A beautiful 6 with nubs for browtines and a nice 8 Pt. I see movement to the right behind me and get excited...then quickly realized they were turkey and watched 8 Longbeards slowly work through. At 8:34 am I text my buddy telling him I swore I heard a deer grunt. I can't hear or see anything. Just as I decide it must have been my imagination a doe rips in at full speed and stops 10 feet in front of me panting. I am scanning where she came from and catch movement. I shoulder my rifle...see a nice rack..settle the cross hair and tell myself to squeeze the trigger. The deer disappears and I don't see it. I am shaking like a leaf...see the deer again look...wait..it's another doe..another deer another doe..Bring the gun down and scan..see another deer at least 30 yds from where I first shot..shoulder the rifle..it's him...shaking like a leaf I try to settle myself down and breath..settle my crosshair..tell myself to squeeze the trigger..bang...shot two..the deer doesn't even flinch..again..shot 3..just behind the shoulder..the deer doesn't move...this is crazy...again time again...shot 4...the deer drops right where he is standing..but he is getting back up...shot 5...my gun is empty...I attach my rifle to my pull up rope and practically throw it out of the stand..down the ladder like a fireman pole..grab the rifle..throw 5 more rounds in the rifle...I can't see the deer from the ground. I head slowly toward the deer when blow blow blow...all the doe..I believe there were 6 book out of there. I close the distance and can see the deer trying to get up..I shoulder the rifle again..shot 6..I know I missed on this shot. I get up to the deer and I decide I am going to put him down when he expires...then I see just how big he is and I start shaking so bad I have to get down on one knee. I quickly thank God (even though I am not very religious) Then tears just stream down my face. I am overcome with emotion..I gather myself enough to see i hit him behind the shoulder 3 times and once was a spine shot. I look at my phone and my buddy sent like 10 texts along with other guys on the lease. My buddies texts from across the ravine were funny....what did you kill? Wtf? What are you doing? How can you miss that many times? What is it? Was it big? So I text him and a few other guys that I have a giant 9 down and just sit and take it all in while I wait for the two guys that already have their deer down and my buddy on the opposite ridge...lots of high fives and hugs...I still can't believe it...a deer of a lifetime...I am extremely disappointed with the Hornady ballistic tips I picked up..three shots through the lungs...three tiny entry holes and three just as tiny exits. Definitely going back to the fusion I was shooting...

Buckmaster...I am all out of likes...beautiful deer...great story...a job well done

Like...like...like...thank you everyone...I am all out of likes...back in the stand for the afternoon and don't care if I don't see a thing. Don't want to burn my doe tag and be done.

Out of likes...great job!

I am out of likes...great job!

Thank you thank you thank you...I can't believe it...sitting here with tears streaming down my face...wish my dad was here ..