Rockspek

A good suggestion given to me was to broaden out the ways I expect to attract deer. ----What techniques did you use to attract deer this year? ----How did it work out or not work out for you? I personally like my grunt calls but also rattled some plastic antlers. Pretty sure the calling worked but don't know about the antlers. I do know that the company that made the call and the antlers made me think I would get a great buck and I did. May be a coincidence. Early in the season I would sit for a bit then walk around as quiet as possible. Have to work on that cause anything I bumped ran far far away. Next thing I did was nothing more than getting out extra early sitting still for as long as possible. This seemed to work well some of the time.

Again I haven't taken anything negatively. I am having fun checking this thread whenever I get a chance. And that is a good point. I had some deer in my area this year. Other years to come may not work out so well. I should learn about other techniques (sounds like a new thread) I will continue to read all of your experiences and try to apply.

Maybe next year I'll get a go pro. Would be cool to be able to review what you did and learn from what you don't exactly remember.

Ah nevermind, I appreciated all comments and took nothing negatively. I didn't post the topic to get people riled up.

I didn't take any comments as negative. Belo- I did think you questioned how affective my calling was. I have no doubt that using a call effected my hunting in a positive way. It will take me a long time to lose faith in my call. I know it worked.

Lol. I didn't go out and buy the tractor just to haul him out. I bought the tractor to benefit everyone this year. I figured if I got it to move snow that it would never snow this year. To all the snow haters, you're welcome. Isn't that how it usually works. Hauling out the deer was only the third time I've used it yet and the second time was when I got the doe. I felt it was a good way to start getting it dirty.

as everyone now knows i'm new to this but I have to say I would consider losing my venison more of a loss than anything bought at the store. Way more. I would thaw some and smell it then test a little out on myself. With that being said nothing is worth your own health or your family's. I wonder if someone that processes deer meat regularly would be willing to give any good advice?

Just not something I'm used to. I probably shouldn't use the word violent because that sounds like a crime or something. I'm still kinda surprised that I did it. I don't regret it at all. And yes I'm hooked and very appreciative of my experience and hearing everyones congrats. I'll Probably come down from this rush by next season.

I didn't mind the gun hitting my shoulder. I really barely felt it and I don't even remember the sound that much. You can call me what you want but firing a gun just feels violent to me. I'm sure I will get used to it the more I do it and I will spend a lot of time learning how to use a bow. What do you mean by "wondering if you're correlating it incorrectly"? And I enjoyed almost every minute of it. Even the days when I saw nothing. I was out every day of gun season except 2 I think. Morning and afternoons. I really enjoy getting out around 6 am and watching the woods wake up.

Didn't plan on getting a deer like this but yes I am. My kids have a clubhouse in my barn and they want it on the wall above the entrance. I get to see it in my barn and they get a really cool addition to their clubhouse. It will be mounted in the same position it was when I shot it. Looking straight ahead at the doe to remind me of that moment. I have a very old growth oak board that is almost 2' wide to put it on.

Well i guess you do. I don't know how to make this story short 33 years old and never hunted until this season. No one in my family has ever been into hunting so it never really appealed to me. in the last 10 years I've always thought I may enjoy hunting but never had time to take the safety course. Recently my 5 year old has been so interested in hunting that I decided I needed to learn so he could have his dad be his mentor even though one of my closest friends is an avid hunter. My friend weather he knew it or not was going to mentor me. I managed to get a safety course finished the day before opening of gun and bought a crossbow so I could practice quietly for a few days. I got accurate enough that I decided to go out sunday am of opening weekend. Spent every morning and afternoon I could sitting quietly after that. Saw lots of doe. 11 walked through one day but I didn't have the range. Even had a small doe walk almost right up to me on two separate occasions but didn't feel right about shooting such small deer. Finally my friend tells me I have to sight in the shotgun I bought, practice and get up off the ground in a stand. Okay so he sights the 12 gauge in for me. I take a shot at a target at 50yards and hit close enough that I'm comfortable. I don't really like firing the gun so I leave it at that. One practice shot. Please don't judge me or my friend for the lack of practice. I get in a stand on my property with only a small area that I can hunt legally but I feel comfortable with. I begin using a new trick of rattling fake antlers and using calls. 10 minutes before sunset I wipe my nose and sniffle from the sinus infection and bronchitis I happened to get and decide to climb down when I realized my calling was working because all I saw were white tails running. I stop, call a doe noise and they all stop. I waited 5 minutes and did it again and they started back. One nice doe makes it on my property. She looks up at me, kicks her front hooves at the ground a few time. I stayed very still at the ready. She put her head down and turned. I shoot. I do all the safe things you're supposed to do next and go to the spot where she was. No blood, no fur and dark now. I call my friend and get a flashlight. Found tiny bit of blood 25 or so ft away and start tracking. not much blood but I did find a little frag of bone so I knew I must of hit her somewhere decent. Finally found her with the help of my friend and come to find out it was a high hit through the lung so she had to fill with blood before letting much out. 2nd bullet ever shot besides a .22. My 5 year old came out to the barn while it was hanging and saw it after warning him it was bloody and dead. His reaction surprised me. "awww cool....This is a nice deer daddy. Nice size. good job." what 5 year old is so calm and collected like this. Family liked how it taste so I went back out for Sunday the last day for gun. No rattling but just calling because I figure with all this talk about no deer around I would just try for another doe. As I'm about to leave my stand and call it a morning I hear something in the woods so I hang out and call like a doe. I see antlers for the first time in my life as a hunter. Heart pumps very differently than when I shot the doe and this thing is still deep in the woods I can barely even see him. He heads away so I call the best I can. He turns and I finally get to hear how a buck really grunts. He cautiously heads towards me. Shots go off way in the distance. A large doe comes booking across the field from where the shots fired and right at me in my stand. I call again to stop her. She stands 5 yards from the tree I'm in and the buck now sees her. All of a sudden my sounds were very real to him. He head straight at me and I have to shoot before he gets too too close. He jumps into the brush and only makes it maybe 20 yards away. Shot through the shoulder a little and got a lung. Third bullet ever shot. My friend and his dad come over to help me out. This time my 5 year old comes out to see the entire gutting process. Again very calm and a little excited he said because this one had horns and again was a good size. I gutted both deer myself due to the responsibility I felt in killing these two animals. With the coaching of my friend of course. Apparently this is a big buck. They told me I need to mount it so I guess I will even though that is not really what I did this for. That is also why you won't see me in a picture with the animal. I did it for my son who has such an interest in hunting and to have good quality meat for my family. Wegmans is right down the street but this meet came from our backyard. How's that for a carbon footprint. Thanks for reading