grampy

I had a very similar experience a few years back.I will not say here what I did or did not do. What I will say, I slept very well that night.

Being part Native American, owls are held in great respect as a spirit bird, in Native culture. As a boy, I was told stories of the owl spirit birds, from my grandmother, great grandfather and great uncles, who were all full bloods.

From what I see, the longer the season goes , the less hunters are out there on state lands. During the late ML/ Bow season, you may not even see another hunter. On lands that were packed with hunters on opening weekend. The deer will be there! But again these will be educated deer and no pushovers.

Just my opinion . But common sense tells me if you shoot all the young bucks, eventually you will have very few older bucks! Or am I missing something here?

A warm and Happy Thanksgiving to all of you! Good hunting to all who are in the woods today. And go ahead , this is the one day where it's ok to have that second piece of pie!

After this week, most state lands will be seeing a dramatic drop in hunters. The deer will calm down and move back in. Though they will be a bit spooky. They will be there. In recent years, this is how it's played out after Thanksgiving, on the state land in my area. The last two weeks of the season, is almost void of hunters. This is when most of the state lands bigger bucks are taken. This is the time for the experienced, persistent hunter to shine!

I still have great "deer" vision. And I like to think that I don't miss much. But there is no question, that I have been duped many more times, by deer than I know. And I think that's pretty cool!

Congrats to your buddy. Nice buck!

Sorry to hear about the bad shoulders. I have some shoulder issues as well, so I do know where you are coming from. I shoot a 7mm/08 and recoil is substantially less than the 30-06. And there is no arguing with the dead right there, results, I've had with two bucks, using the 7mm/08!

You got another "good luck" from this hunter, as well.

Congratulations! Beautiful buck! Persistence payed off nicely! Way to go!

Want me to take a little walk on the other side of the ridge, and maybe push one down to you?

After getting a buck yesterday, I've been thinking of doing something similar, filling my DMP. Since I didn't get one with my bow earlier, I may go with that. The crossbow is still looking to go out. And my old TC Thunderhawk Shadow hasn't barked in a while. Also, my 12 year old grandson still has his Jr. Archery tag. So maybe I can get him to fill that too, if the weather will cooperate . But the rifle is done for this year. And I will be carrying my new "dream rifle" next year!

With the snow and wind, I decided to head to a ground blind, on a south facing slope. Where my grandson and I had seen a couple shooter bucks fighting during bow season. It was a half mile hike in through drifted snow, as the logging road was impassable for my ATV. When I got to my spot, I could see where the deer had been digging for acorns and there was a ton of fresh sign. Got in about 12:30 and didn't see a deer until 3:00. Two spike horns came in below me and started to feed. I watched them for a bit, before a big doe came out of the thick stuff below and started to feed as well. I thought about taking her, but decided to wait until my grandson was with me tomorrow. Then up above me I hear a buck grunt, look up the hill and a shooter buck is coming down to check the doe! She runs to within ten feet of my blind, stops, and is looking at the buck. She takes off behind me and the buck starts chasing! I mouth a baaa, he keeps running. So I almost shout, BAAA!!! He skids to a stop at 20 yards and a 140 gr. Nosler BT from my 7mm/08 Savage Axis, drops him in his tracks! 8 points, 170 dressed and scarred and broken, with split ears from fighting. This is one of the bucks my grandson and I watched fighting! I'm so happy to get him as this has been a up and down season for me. Till today.

Nice 8pt. down ! It's been a kind of tough season for me this year. I've been doing a lot of zigging and the deer have been doing a lot of zagging. But was very happy to meet up with this buck today! Will post story in harvest thread.

About a foot in the hills above Albany. Drifts are three feet or more in places. Bare ground in the wind scoured places.

I truly admire your determination to go the distance and recover your deer. Your words here and on the phone tell me you are a very caring hunter. We need more like you in our ranks. Congratulations on your well deserved buck!

Seems like you are well prepared . Now just get out there, take a slow look around, a deep breath and enjoy every minute ! Best of luck to you.

Welcome! Glad you found us!

Yup, did it exactly like that for years! Them I saw someone use a foot long piece of string with a loop on the end. Run end of string through the loop, slip it over the BH, pull tight and push all back where it came from. When finishing the gutting, grab string with all the rest and front and back is all out clean and slick!

Pinch, cut around, pull out slightly and tie off with a piece of pre cut string! Takes about a minute. Never saw a need for anything else.

My heart tells me "it's deer season, get out there"! My head says "don't be stupid ". Think I'll listen to my head this time. The deer will still be there when conditions improve.

Did you try a shot of starter fluid in the carb with choke on when pulling? Wish you were closer as there are a couple very good small engine repair guys in this area. Hope you find someone close. And those old beat up looking machines, are usually much better than these new shiny ones.

Took a walk out back this morning and have tons of branches and a few trees down. Due to heavy, wet snow freezing in the trees and then the 40+ mph winds. Not at all safe in our woods right now, until this wind subsidies a bit. About 10 to 12 inches of snow and thigh deep drifts. A few scattered tracks, but the deer seem hunkered down for the most part. May try to still hunt some sheltered spots later on. Got some clean up around the house to do first. Getting back to some of the out of the way set ups, on the back of the properties, will now be much more difficult .

Congratulations !