Deer Weapon and Style Survey

[Five Seasons]

Hopefully we can get some good participation. This site is a small sample size I know, but I'd be interested to see how this goes.

 

If I'm missing something let me know.

[G-Man]

Should be ,vertical,crossbow and rifle shotgun muzzleloader option.

[dbHunterNY]

looks like I'm first up.... answered with the best choice.

 

I use bow, rifle, and ML though.  I have no preference.  in the past I used muzzleloader during late season alone to fill the freezer and in recent years most are with a bow during early season.  any antlerless tag carrying into regular season would be a DMP or DMAP and that gets filled asap.  usually fill 1 or 2 at most with the rifle that way.

 

 

[jjb4900]

#1- I hunt with all weapons except crossbow, start in archery and continue through the seasons as needed.

#2- No preference as to when or what I shoot a doe with.

#2- I don't care of the sex or age of the deer (although won't shoot fawns in most cases).

[thphm]

Should be ,vertical,crossbow and rifle shotgun muzzleloader option.

 

X2 I hunt with them all .

[Pygmy]

Sorry, but I don't fit into any of your categories...

I shoot deer with rifles and muzzleloaders..Since rifles have been legalized in my unit, I use shotguns for birds and small game only..

I shoot does with rifles or muzzleloaders.

I shoot only adult ( 1.5 years or older) deer of either sex..I don't shoot fawns because I don't think they have as much flavor as adult deer and you don't get much meat from them..

[Five Seasons]

Pygmy I left mz off the list to try and not muck it up. This is for deer only. Sounds like you're a gun guy.

[Lawdwaz]

I can't answer fully either.

 

Vertical bow, rifle & ML'er.

 

I shoot a doe/fawn when I want UNLESS I stumble onto a blood trail like I did last year during gun season.  A 165gr 30 cal bullet (from the 300WSM) to the back of a suffering button buck's head was the least I could do for the little guy.  The bastard that didn't track him out should have his nuts twisted off........but I digress.

 

Ultimately filling the freezer is the goal, toss in a decent (or not) buck and I'm fat & happy.

 

 

[Lawdwaz]

Oh as I've mentioned in the past, I've hunted with and killed deer with compound, recurve, longbow, shotgun, smokeless ML, Inline ML, flintlock, CF rifle and handgun.

 

I didn't see a box to check for all them?

 

These days it is only smokeless ML, bow and rifle.

[Five Seasons]

Bump

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[Buckstopshere]

I hunt with a compound bow now, though in the past I used a recurve and a long bow. I used to hunt with a shotgun, but now I use a rifle. I used to hunt with my flintlock, but now it is a scoped inline.

 

I shoot the first lone doe I see during archery to get one in the freezer. Then as the rut starts to heat up, I do not want to screw up the rut dynamics so I hold off on my second doe and take her during rifle season. Usually I get a buck during bow season. So that is two in the freezer. Then I shoot a buck during rifle and a doe during rifle...so that is my normal four...and then I hunt the muzzleloader/bow late season and if I am lucky have five deer in the freezer. We rarely buy beef and have enough venison to make lots of jerky for the kids and grandkids and loins for great cookouts.

[monkeyman2269]

I only shoot mature does to fill the freezer usally 2 or 3. I won't shoot any buck under 100 inches unless it has a real cool rack. This year I plan on shooting any doe fill my freezer then drop the rest off at the dec

[wolc123]

We consume 4-5 average size deer per season and have not bought beef in more than 15 years as a result. Fortunately our whole family prefers venison over beef.  Since I do all the work, and bucks are easier to butcher due to less fat to trim, I prefer them over does.   The perfect deer for me in terms of quantity and quality is a 2.5 year old buck.   We were blessed to have a friend give us one of them last season, and to have a hit-and run driver knock the wind out of a button buck at the end of our driveway last winter.   I finished that one off with my knife, plus killed a 1.5 year buck with my crossbow and a 4.5+ year buck with my rifle. 

 

With a legal bag limit of 2 bucks, that was the first year ever that all our venison came from bucks.  The 2.5 and 4.5 bucks were steer-like monsters, as far as body size, so our overall meat quantity also was the highest ever last year.  That was fortunate because my kids are getting bigger appetites as they get older.   Hopefully they can help me with the freezer filling task in the next few years.   On a normal season, most of our venison comes from antlerless deer due to the more liberal bag limit (4) in our home zone.  There have been a few years when I limited on those but I average about (2) antlerless deer per season, 25% of which have been button bucks.  Whenever a group is in range, I target the largest first as long as I have tags and freezer space.  With a repeating shotgun or rifle,  If I see a doe with one or two fawns, I will anchor the doe first with a shoulder blade shot, then proceed to the fawns in order of body size with center-lung shots.  I like to send them to "deer heaven" (our families food supply) together if I am able.     

 

I stopped hunting with a vertical bow last season when they made crossbows legal and am 1/1 on bucks with that far more effective deer-killing weapon (I would rate it as at least 10X more effective in my hands).   It would be nice if this poll had a Crossbow/Shotgun/Rifle/ML category as I have used all but the crossbow to kill does and will take every opportunity I am presented with to kill one if there is still room in the freezer and I have tags.   The only "passes" I hand out are to small 1.5 year bucks and that may stop this year during x-bow and gun seasons now that they are no longer allowing bucks to be harvested during ML season in our home zone.  All of the areas I hunt in the Southern and Northern zones have above optimum deer populations and could stand a higher doe harvest even after the tough winter we had last season. 

[cityboy]

Before the children all went off to college they would eat 3 deer a year.

 

[DirtTime]

My preference isn't in the options either. If I was bow hunting this season and had the time, I might let a doe pass for a week or two if I knew there was a large buck in the area. But, for me, the big picture is meat in the freezer. I won't shoot a doe with a fawn or a fawn, but a spike buck, each and every time it was legal.

Also, I am not sure I will apply for a DMP this year, as I am not sure I will be hunting the SZ for sure yet. So, I only get one deer, and it has to be a buck, for my area I can shoot a spike as long as the horns are 3" from the base of the burr. Will I pass that on opening day? Probably not. My tummy is rumbling for venison.

[Nomad]

Id like to hunt naked from a stand with a spear and I'm not kidding, but it's not yet an option .

But I use V bow, rifle and sometimes ML. In years past I've used a .44 mag handgun too.

I take a doe or two for the meat and pass younger bucks, so some years tag soup on bucks. With our kids out of the house two deer is plenty for us. Some years I take another for a friend if it comes at the right time.

When do I take does? Who knows it changes often, sometimes early bow like the first or second day, other years I've passed all doe in bow.

[Jaeger]

I also could not answer the survey as designed.  The implement choices are not complete, perhaps "all of the above"?

 

I hunt with true bows (longbows and recurves),  Mecc bows (mechanically assisted compound and crossbows), rifle, pistol and muzzleloaders (percussion cap and in-line).  In any given year it's some combination of these.

 

I shoot my doe at any time I feel I have a good freezer doe in front of me.

 

I don't know about bucks/freezer, never got one.  But I do not hunt/hold out for a brusier.  If I get a legal buck in front of me, I'll take it.

[SCbklyn]

Bow/ rifle / MZ

Legal brown is down.

[chiefbkt]

Primarily bow during all seasons. If I sit a stand on a field edge I'll bring gun (when it's in season) just in case.

[jjb4900]

Primarily bow during all seasons. If I sit a stand on a field edge I'll bring gun (when it's in season) just in case.

both at the same time?

[chiefbkt]

both at the same time?

Yes.

[jjb4900]

Yes.

oh, I was under the impression you couldn't do that.

[chiefbkt]

I asked my local ENCON and he said it was fine...

[Pygmy]

No problem as long as gun season is open..

 

You just can't carry a firearm of any kind while bowhunting during the special bow season..

[jjb4900]

No problem as long as gun season is open..

 

You just can't carry a firearm of any kind while bowhunting during the special bow season..

yeah, for some reason I remember being told you couldn't do that in NY........but I can't find anything stating otherwise.