Antlerless opener coming up - you hunting it ?

[Northcountryman]

Hey Guys,

The Antlerless  early season starts next weekend , right ? Anybody plan on hunting it ? I was goin to last year , then never got around to doing it . To be honest , I don’t even have my tags yet!! Camping now , but when I get back , would love to try to give it a go this year? Do you like this concept of an early season mini hunt ?

[wolc123]

I love it.  Putting does in my freezer in September beats the hell out of farmers whacking them with their nuisance permits and feeding coyotes with the carcasses.  I’ll be out every chance I get until both of my wmu 9F tags are filled.

I am going to use my ML because I have lots of ammo for it and there is only room for one deer at a time on my deer fridge .  The September 10 opener can’t get here soon enough.  I am down to just 7 packs of grind left from last year.

Edited September 3, 2022 by wolc123

[land 1]

nope one not open in my area plus dont care to hunt in the heat/ warm temp like it 40 degrees or cooler , rarely do i even go out before mid october

[mowin]

I'm with land on this.  Hate deer hunting when it's warm out.  I'm still on the old Oct 15th opening day schedule. 

[Nytracker]

Way to warm . Not open here in 8y anyhow. I dont want to hunt unless I can see my breath.

[BowmanMike]

Not open in my area and I have no interest to drive to Albany to hunt...I can wait a few more weeks.

[NYRturkeycall]

Yessir I'll be out in 1C next Sunday with my stand and my bow and my Jack...family time Saturday but it's not the real opener so all good. Hope to put a decent doe in the freezer.

 

[wolc123]

I will only have a couple hours at home to hunt, on the morning of September 10, and the last hour of daylight, plus the extra half hour after.  
 

If I don’t have one in the fridge after that, I will squeeze in a couple more hours at home, in the morning before church, then I will hit my parents place that afternoon.  

I will probably hunt the weeknight evenings at home also, if I don’t have one in the fridge.  If I do get one the first weekend, I will take it out of the fridge and process it on Friday night, to clear space for another one taken the second weekend.  That one will also stay in the fridge a week and get cut up the following weekend.

Ideally,  I will end up with (2) doe in the freezer, all of which will be ground, except for the tenderloins, back straps, and neck roasts.

 

 

 

[steve863]

This early hunt is only allowed in a handful of WMU's, so it doesn't effect the majority of hunters in NYS.  I guess some of these units have extreme overpopulations of deer, but I surely wouldn't like to see an early hunt like this implemented everywhere.  I don't think it would benefit the overall quality of deer hunting in this state at all.

 

 

[corydd7]

Temps in the high 70s when the early season starts will keep me out of the woods but I may sit on a field and pack the freezer if there is a temp drop into the 60s. 

Processing the deer is the tricky part.

[Lawdwaz]

I doubt I'll participate in it. 

[wolc123]

I love the warm weather deer hunting.  To say that I am looking forward to it would be an understatement.  Being set up to handle the carcasses is an important part of it.  For me, that means a deer fridge and an insulated, air-conditioned processing area - my garage.  

I am looking forward to next Saturday more than any of the other (6) opening days that I plan on hunting in NY this year (early nz ML, nz rifle, sz crossbow, sz gun, late nz ML, and Holiday ML), mainly because it comes first.  I miss deer hunting, having now went over 8 months since my last one on January 1, of this year:

I am going thru some very serious withdrawal.  I can’t wait to smell that powder burning again, and to start dropping chunks of red meat into my great great grandfathers old grinder.  I only put one 3.5 year old buck thru it last year, after replacing the knife and screen (I had an old doe processed up north and it would have been a sin to grind the two button bucks).  It worked better than ever on that big 9-point buck:

Antlers mean very little to me.  It is ALL about the delicious red MEAT. 

Warm weather hunting is great, you just have to dress appropriately.  I do need to pick up one of them thermocell gizmos, because I recall the skeeters being an issue on a few hunts last year.  I don’t think they will be as bad this year, because it has been very dry.  

 

 

 

Edited September 3, 2022 by wolc123

[The_Real_TCIII]

If we get some cool mornings I will try and get a doe in the freezer


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[Robhuntandfish]

I have a spot to hunt in the DMU that gives out the most doe tags and can get more Nov 1 but they don't have an early season. Makes sense

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[Steuben Jerry]

5 hours ago, wolc123 said:

Ideally,  I will end up with (2) doe in the freezer, all of which will be ground, except for the tenderloins, back straps, and neck roasts.

And hearts. 

[wolc123]

10 minutes ago, Steuben Jerry said:

And hearts. 

Forgot about that.  I need to save those for my wife to pickle on Valentine’s Day.   I am only keeping the livers, if I get one that is 1.4 years old.  Those are too tough on older deer.   
 

I am also running low on 1/8 oz jigs, so I will use the tails to make some more, prior to the nz early ML week.  That’s when I go they the most of them because the bass are all along shore where there is lots of snags. 
 

 

Edited September 3, 2022 by wolc123

[Judoka95]

I will definitely be out. A chance to fill the freezer and spend some time in the stand with my son before bow season.

[Northcountryman]

20 hours ago, wolc123 said:

I love it.  Putting does in my freezer in September beats the hell out of farmers whacking them with their nuisance permits and feeding coyotes with the carcasses.  I’ll be out every chance I get until both of my wmu 9F tags are filled.

I am going to use my ML because I have lots of ammo for it and there is only room for one deer at a time on my deer fridge .  The September 10 opener can’t get here soon enough.  I am down to just 7 packs of grind left from last year.

You can use ML for then?

[Northcountryman]

20 hours ago, mowin said:

I'm with land on this.  Hate deer hunting when it's warm out.  I'm still on the old Oct 15th opening day schedule. 

When if you was huntin in Georgia or Florida? 

[wolc123]

29 minutes ago, Northcountryman said:

You can use ML for then?

Yes, and that’s what I am leaning towards, unless it’s raining.  I just scored 7 boxes of 12 gauge foster slugs, so if there is so much as a drizzle, any of those 9 days, then that’s what’s I am using.  
 

It has been a while, since I killed one with my open sighted 870, but it has never failed me on a deer.  Now that I got plenty of ammo for it, I am itching to try it again.

Edited September 4, 2022 by wolc123

[JJBat150]

If temps are cool, I may sit on a field edge or two; biggest concern is I don't have a deer fridge, so if I do harvest something, will have to de-bone break it down pretty quickly and get it into the 2nd family fridge to age for a few days.

8J hunter - Early season allows firearms, bow and crossbow; most likely will carry the bow or muzzleloader can't see changing anything up from how I normally hunt.

Edited September 4, 2022 by JJBat150

[mowin]

4 hours ago, Northcountryman said:

When if you was huntin in Georgia or Florida? 

But I'm not. 

I get your point though.  I'll find out in a couple years if our plans to move to Tennessee happen. 

On a side note, I went on a combo deer/hog hunt in SC few yrs ago. Temps were in the 70-80's. Had a good time, but definitely didn't enjoy the temps. 

[wolc123]

Two days to go.  My first three hunts (Sat morning, Sat evening, and Sun morning) are going to be at home.  I will be using my T/C Omega 50 cal ML.  I need to play those smart to avoid spooking the deer out of bedding areas.  

They are calling for clear weather, high of 83 deg, and a light SW wind.  With that wind, my first hunt will be from this “Polar-tree”, blind which I put up last season, but have yet to take a shot at a deer from.

 Hopefully, that will happen Saturday morning.  I fixed up a new swivel chair for that blind and got it in place recently.  There is a big field of clover within range of that stand, a few rows of late sweetcorn, and acre and half of just sprouted wheat/clover/alfalfa.  

Saturday evening, if the wind holds, and I don’t have one in the fridge yet, I will try my center “natural” blind.  That one will give me a good shot at 4 good looking foodplots, one of which has been getting hit hard by the deer for the last month (2 acres of RR corn).  
 

Now that the drought has ended, I don’t expect such heavy deer pressure on that, but the adjacent old but trimmed clover, tall tine tubers, or fresh wheat/clover/alfalfa might pick up a little action.  We shall see.
 

I am definitely heading over to my parents place, on the opposite diagonal corner of   wmu 9F on Sunday afternoon.  If they report any deer activity in the clover plot behind their house, I will hunt my stand in the woods on the edge of that, from which I killed (3) deer last season.  

If they report no recent deer sightings there, then I will hunt my center-woods two-story blind, from the upper deck (unless it’s raining).  I’ll be using my Ithaca 16 gauge slug gun on that hunt.  Before that late afternoon hunt, I am going to fire up my chainsaw and cut a truckload of firewood from ash trees that have fallen on trails thru the woods over there.  That noise sometimes gets the deer curious and moving around to investigate.  
 

I will be very thankful, if I can kill one mature doe on the first weekend.  That’s all that will fit in my deer fridge, and our supply of ground venison is getting low.  Both morning hunts are going to be short.  Last year, the deer action was way better in the afternoons on September hunts.  I didn’t even see a deer on a morning hunt. 
 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited September 9, 2022 by wolc123

[johnplav]

Ill be out this weekend.  I've got no problem taking a fat doe early in the morning, then putting her right in the deer fridge.  None of my normal spots are open for the early season, so Ill be out on state land.  Probably using a gun too... talk about changing things up! 

[Bolt action]

I was on the fence about it, but now I'm definitely going to be out on Sunday (maybe Saturday too). My 8 year old has been waffling back and forth with his hunting enthusiasm. Lately though he really wants to go. I'll take every opportunity I get to spend quality time outdoors with him. The early season warmer temps will help with him to since he won't be as cold as if this were later in the season. I'll bring a gun along, but told him that it'll be his call if I shoot anything (assuming deer cooperate).