wolc123

I am in for my last early antlerless hunt, ready for a doe or a bushytail. The rain finally stopped, but the west wind is pretty gusty. Don’t know if anything will be moving. My parents saw deer back here, the last few evenings. I am going to give it till 7:28 (10 min past sunset in this location).

I butchered a doe fawn and a 2.5 year old buck that were both shot by a neighbor with a .243. The fawn was shot thru the lungs and the buck was shot in the hip and the shoulder blade. The fawn produced about 20 pounds of useable meat and so did the buck. I have hit adult deer in the shoulder blade many times with shotgun slugs and lost very little meat in comparison to what that .243 did to that buck’s front end. I also hit one in the hip once with a 12 ga sabot and lost very little meat in comparison. If you can limit yourself to broadside lung shots at deer, then a .243 is adequate. Ask g-man what he thinks of folks using .243’s for deer, when it comes to recovery percentage. I was very thankful that this incident occurred while I was contemplating buying a .243. That was more than enough to take it off my list. First hand experience carries a lot more weight with me that internet heresay. The only way that I would use a .243 for deer is if someone had one pointed at me, and I had no better choice.

Mowin is still mad at me because I don’t like .243’s as a deer rife (too much meat damage from them and that’s my primary concern). Give me a big diameter, heavy bullet and I can still eat the chop that it passes thru sometimes. I ain’t into grape jello.

I average every other year on the babies, so seeing how I killed one in 2021, and another in 2022, I am trying to hold off until 2025 for my next one. I killed 3.5 year old bucks (two of which you say you’d have taken if certain conditions were met) on 4 of the last 5 seasons. I assume you liked the top one and three down the best. What about the 4th one down, if you got it before it broke two points off ? I think it would have had a higher net B & C score, as a symmetric 8-point, than my 9-point from last year. It also had a slightly larger body. I see most of the deer you raise have “lots of junk” on their horns. Do you not appreciate typical racks ? Is it mostly about gross antler score for you and your customers ? Just asking for general knowledge, having no dog in this hunt myself. It really is ALL about the meat for me. Sometimes that meat comes with drag handles, and I like keeping the euros to remember the hunts. That, larger average body size, and much less fat to trim, give me a slight preference of bucks over does. The bulk of the time I spent up till midnight last night was trimming doe-fat. There is nothing worse than that waxy crap sticking to the roof of your mouth while you are trying to enjoy a taco.

Especially if it’s a mature doe. A mature buck, not so much. They are very distracted for roughly two weeks of every year, providing an opening where almost anyone (myself included) can score with a minimal deer hunting skill set.

I blame the OP and chef for more of the vomit/diarrhea. FSW at least has a foot in the game and some valuable (to some) trophy hunting knowledge to offer. Those other two are just trolling, one admittedly so (the OP).

I know how that goes. I gave away a lot of what I had left in the freezer to provide added incentive. That table, and another just like it, was with a bunch of stuff that my sister and brother-in-law stored in one of my old barns, when they moved to their new house. They decided that they didn’t want any of it back. I use the other one, back on the range, for my 100 yard shooting bench. They have heavy iron pedestal bases that are very stable. The porcelain, east-cleanup top has been gone off the one back on the range, for the last 10 years or so. The one in the garage is fully intact. I should have had another doe yesterday morning, but I picked the wrong gun. A big doe was briefly broadside at 175 yards. That shot would have been very doable with my ML or my Marlin 512 slug master, from the shooting sticks, but was 75 yards too far to try with my smooth bore, open sighted 870. I am going to try again tomorrow, over at my parents place, with my Ithaca 16 gauge. That will be it for me, until the October 15, NZ ML opener. I am already getting ready for that. I picked up supplies at Runnings yesterday (scent free soap and deoderant). Scent control is more important up there, where there are not as many people around for the deer to smell. I also need to recheck the zero on my ML, since I dropped it while cleaning Tuesday night. Had I not done that, there likely would be another doe in the deer fridge right now. Hopefully, I can get that checked, and sight in my two crossbows, next Saturday. I will check my 30/30 also, but they still didn’t have any ammo for that at Runnings or Walmart, so I need to conserve what I have. Hopefully, one shot from 5O yards will be good.

These are the ones that I killed the last (6) seasons, which one are you saying is halfway decent ? The third from top (last antlered buck that I killed on our farm in 2019) had a significantly higher scoring rack. The third from the bottom had a crappy rack but made the most meat and had the largest body. Age wise, from the bottom up, I am going with 2.5, 1.5, 3.5, 3.5, 3.5, 2.5, 3.5. Taste wise, they were all about the same. The little one on the dark wood is the only 1.5 yr (remember the Texas heart shot buck from up your way). An Adirondack (6) counts the same as a southern zone (12) to me. My meat supply is good now, so I will be holding out for a buck with at least (4) points on a side, or clearly a 3.5 year old, for the rest of the seasons this year. I will be doing my damnedest to fill my other (4) antlerless tags though. You will be happy to know that I will also be doing my damnedest to avoid button bucks with those remaining tags this year. With one of those killed on New Year’s Day, there’s still plenty of that “special occasion” vacuum sealed meat in the freezer. The main reason I am focusing on mature does this year, is that the deer population is too high in both areas where I hunt (wmu 9F, and 6C). As far as the bucks being easier, maybe that’s not true for you, but it is for me. I have killed just (4) mature does over the last (6) years, and (3) button bucks. I have averaged (1) of those, every other year from the start, so I am right around (20) on the “baby bucks” right now. That is simply the result of my using my antlerless tags on the largest “in range” deer at the earliest opportunity. Any other other practice leads to more unfilled tags. The DEC prefers that hunters fill those tags. The new early September antlerless, and Holiday ML seasons have afforded me the luxury of being more selective with my antlerless tags. Prior to that, filling antlerless tags was tough in my two local spots. The local farmers hit the antlerless deer hard on their nussance permits, prior to October 1, so that by the time bow season opens, the antlered to antlerless ratio has been averaging 4:1 over the last 35 years.

I was up till midnight processing BSM (back strap momma) last night. I named her that, after taking this picture of her in August. Normally, if don’t take me that long. That included all of the packaging and cleanup, which my wife usually does, but she is away. She was my number one target deer, ever since I caught her, red-handed in June, watching over me as I was hoeing my sweetcorn in June, having just finished cultivating it. She and her little friend chewed off quite a bit of that sweetcorn, soon after it sprouted. She was east to identify, because she was accompanied by last years fawn. I am thinking that the coyotes probably got this year’s. Normally, she was out front, with the smaller deer trailing. Fortunately, their order was reversed last Tuesday. The little one came thru first (5 yards from my natural blind), allowing me to raise my gun and get in position. That made it easy for me to painlessly send her to her final resting place, deer heaven (mankind’s food supply), with a quick 10 yard heart shot using my 50 cal ML. Her tenderloins were very tasty , and I trust that the other 60 ish pounds of edible yield will be also. Unfortunately, I had to trim away most of her left ventricle, where the 240 gr xtp passed thru. I will need to come up with a few more hearts for my wife to pickle for me on Valentine’s Day this season. Here are her fillets, cooked rare the way I like them, along with some of the sweetcorn that she didn’t manage to chew off early. I don’t remember killing a doe with longer, better developed back straps. That must be a result of loosing her fawn(s) early this year, and not needing to make so much milk over the summer. I feel very blessed that the Good Lord has allowed me to take my number one target deer on two consecutive seasons. Last year it was also a doe, another big momma up in the Adirondacks. I had been after that one for at least (4) years, missing her once, and having many close calls. I finally caught up with her last October, up near the top of a hardwood covered ridge, and got her with the same ML. I figure that old Adirondack doe was about 6-1/2 years old, based on previous encounters with her and how tough her tenderloins were. She had two fawns at the time, lots of milk in her, and somewhat poorly developed back straps. BLM’s tenderloins tasted like she was about 3.4 years old. No doubt there are trophy hunters who could not fathom how a doe could be someone’s “number one target deer”. That’s the way it goes for a meat hunter, until someone comes up with a good recipe for cooking antlers. I have killed my share of mature bucks over the years, and one thing I am certain of: They are way easier to outsmart and kill than mature does.

It is, but that’s what happens when you plant (2) rows of silver queen (white), next to (2) rows of kandy corn (yellow). It mixes a little. That makes the silver queen just a touch sweeter than purebred. My wife likes it better that way.

My wife is out of town tonight, so I had to fend for myself. Fillet mignon, aged 4-day’s in the fridge, and fresh picked Silver Queen. Yum Yum that was good. I never had a meal that good at Russell’s, and this was “free”.

I am surprised that field corn is still on the top of their preference list, with all the recent rain and plenty of lush clover around. I flushed two bucks out of my little 2 acre corn plot this morning, when I was back looking for a doe. This 2.4 year old 8-point wanted that corn so bad that he came back, an hour after I flushed him walking in from directly down wind, to within 5 yards of my pop-up blind. I’d say they have eaten about 25% of the corn already. At the rate it’s going, there will be nothing left by early November, when I go on my next hunt back there. At least the adjacent turnips, clover, and wheat are looking good. Looks like I will need to count on that stuff for the Holiday ML season this year.

At some places, it’s kind of scary when they throw your still-warm deer on a pile that’s several layers deep. I feel sorry for the folks who showed up early in the morning and their deer were on the bottom of the pile. Then again there’s likely no telling what deer you get back at those joints, especially if you get it ground or make sausage.

So, that means you don’t want any help from me with chef’s hunt ?

Congrats, and thanks for doing your part to help our local resident homeowners, motorists and farmers.

Sounds fun. If you do it during the early NZ ML week, I will volunteer my services as a camera-man, or any other required support tasks (butt-out operation, gutting, etc). I will even bring along that button buck neck roast, and some fresh ground doe or vacuum sealed 3.5 year old buck, if you wish. Maybe you could invite Belo too, for a big party afterwords. We could all sit around around the campfire, smoking the “peace pipe” while enjoying the button buck stew and high fence tenderloins, and oysters (got pepper?). Just pm me with the date and time if it’s a go.

35 or so years ago, I hung one in the cooler at my uncle’s then little produce market, up on the corner of Millersport. Not so sure if I could get away with that today, as that place has got pretty big and fancy now. Good luck at Wilson. Their website claimed that they were taking them till 9pm tomorrow I think. I saw two does well out of range here earlier, and had two bucks, including one 8 pointer practically licking my blind, about 8:00.

The boys are back. I heard some antlers ticking behind me, so I pulled the zipper down a little on that side and saw them sparring about 50 yards away. A 2.4 year old “just outside the ears” 8-point eventually got within 5 yards of my blind. I snapped a picture, at about 20 yards thru the crack, when he turned and walked away. The Texas hart shot would have been a piece of cake right there, even with the 12 ga open-sighted “bazooka” that I am hunting with right now. He would be a sure shooter for me, if I had a legal tag. Where the hell are the girls ? Hopefully, they all get together at the food court before 9:30, when I am pulling the plug on this hunt. This will be my last early antlerless hunt at home this year. My parents want sweetcorn and I have a real good supply of that right now. I am going to take them a bushel to freeze, and do one last hunt over there tomorrow afternoon (if a doe don’t show up in range here over the next hour). They have been seeing deer over there, out on the clover plot behind their house, the last few evenings.

The barns not air conditioned, just the small one-car garage that’s attached to our house. I insulated that a few years ago. I can probably only get it down to about 60, with the house central AC cranked down all the way. I’ll see tonight, when I pull that doe out of the deer fridge, and start processing. Our “new to me” truck camper, that is stored in the barn right now, has a roof-top AC unit that seems to run pretty good on the 20 amp outlet that I plug it into out there. I suppose that I could crank that AC unit down all the way, and use the camper for a meat locker for a short time, as long as my wife don’t find out about it. I might just have to do that, if the pair of mature doe, that I have been watching on and off for the last half hour, get a lot closer this morning. Right now, they are out about 300 yards. I need one under 100, to earn my last dmp tag. I didn’t notice any ticks on the doe from back here, that I skinned on Tuesday night. It would be tough hanging one in that camper, because the ceiling is pretty low. If necessary, I’ll stick with plan A, and hang it in the garage, until I finish processing the first one, and can then get it into the vacated deer fridge.

I just set adjusted and set up the new Bog shooting sticks, that I picked up at Runnings a month ago. They seem pretty nice. They are very light and easy to adjust. My short, open-sighted Remington 870 feels rock-solid on them. There is a mature doe out at 200 yards, down the the gas line right now, but that’s way too far of a poke for this 100 yard max “bazooka”.

I am in position now, in my pop-up blind on the west side foodplot court, about 6 minutes after Legal start shooting time. I had trouble with (3) 4-legged intruders on my walk back, which is why I am a little late. First, as I was walking down the short mowed path along the creek bank on the north edge of the field, I noticed something small and white waddling towards me. I smelled it at the same time. Rather than stay on the path, I yielded to the skunk and cut off of the path, figuring that I already had enough cover scent with my Evercalm. Shortly after I evaded that (thankfully, without getting sprayed), I stopped to apply Evercalm to my boots, about 50 yards from the edge of the corn and 150 from my blind. I suppose the two deer (probably bucks), that were feeding in the corn at the time, heard me then. They could not have smelled me with the SSE wind, but they bolted out across the neighbor’s hayfield, to the exact same place that (3) bucks ran to, when I flushed them out of there a few weeks ago with my field car. Good riddens to them now. They can come back in November, but I have no use for them now. It was too dark to see their antlers, but one was significantly larger than the other. I bet that was the “well outside the ears” buck that I flushed out of there the last time, and the other was one of the two 1.4 yr olds that was with him then. He must not have “played nice” with the other 1.4 year old that he had with him then. That would probably be the “unicorn fork-horn” that I saw over on the east side on Tuesday afternoon. I have my binoculars, to make extra sure of deer identification. Only a mature doe will do, and I am hunting with an open-sighted gun this morning. The whitetail institute “tall tine tubers” are up about 1.5 ft and looking pretty sweet, as is the wheat/clover/alfalfa that I planted back here a couple weeks ago. So far though, it seems to be only that 2 acres of RR corn, that I planted before Memorial day, that is attracting the deer.

Go for it. The townsfolk and local farmers are all depending on us to make the roads safer and reduce landscape and crop damage from the severe deer infestation this year. I can’t wait to get back out there tomorrow, for a little cool morning action on the deer foodplot court. I just called in the harvest report for Tuesday’s doe, and I am hoping to tag another one tomorrow. I am going to hunt my pop up blind in the morning, no matter what direction the wind blows from, mostly because I want to try out the new shooting sticks that I just bought. All my other blinds have nice rests. I can shoot 360 degrees with the shooting sticks from that pop up blind and they got to come from somewhere. I will shower with scent-free soap, wear my scent-lock jacket, and open up my half stick of Evercalm, in attempt to fool those that are downwind. Edit: just checked the forecast: wind is supposed to be 5 mph from southeast. That’s perfect for the pop up blind. I can approach from downwind without alerting any that might be in bedding areas or out feeding.

Thanks for posting that Tacs. It looks like if I get another one in the morning, I will need to crank up the AC and hang it in the garage till I grind and zip lock the first one and free up the deer fridge. I always put the grind from the first deer each season in zip lock bags. It will be gone in a few months, so vacuum sealing would be a waste of time and money. I’ll use that all up before I finish the last (7) packs of vacuum sealed grind from last season’s 9-point. Frozen vacuum-sealed venison is good for at least (4) years with no freezer burn.

Kind of an ugly fish. I winter if they taste good or fight hard. Did you guys get any Muskies, bass, pike, or walleyes ? What were the biggest ?

Not sure, but maybe I’ll call them Saturday and find out.