2017 HuntingNY Gun Harvest Thread

[WNYBuckHunter]

Post up pics of your 2017 gun season deer here!

Only pictures with the associated story will be allowed in this thread. If you want to congratulate someone, please do it by clicking on the "like this" button for the post. There will be no exceptions.

Feel free to start a new thread if you wish to have comments in addition to posting the photo / story here.

[DaveJr.]

Well I guess I'll be the first to post. My dad shot the biggest deer of his life this morning at 7:22. He christened the new hunting rifle I gave him a couple years ago. Deer dressed out at 170 lbs. Clean heart shot.

 

 

[GreeneHunter]

8 Pointer in 4H , he was traveling alone ! Hope he scored with the ladies !

 

[Chef]

So it’s actually been a long season for me so far... I bow hunted my ass off passed on this buck a few times during bow, I had some nice 8’s I’ve been after. So any way I was away in mass for work the past few days. At yesterday’s meeting I found out I was going to be traveling the next 2.5 weeks and wasn’t really going to get a chance to hunt. Between that and my 4 month old. My hunting season was shot. So any way I got in the car yesterday at 4:30 and made the almost 7 hour drive up to camp. In my head I thought I was crazy driving 7 hours to hunt opening morning. I have to be home tonight to spend time with the wife and kid before I travel. Any way at around this guy showed up and just kinda milled around for a while. Needing meat and having a very limited season this year I said screw it, and heart punched him at 80 yards. Also this little guy is the first deer taken at our new camp, so even though he’s small I caped him out and he’s going front and center about the fireplace here, never to be replaced by his bigger friends to follow


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[Gencountyzeek]

Got in a stand i just moved and cleared around on tuesday. 10 after 7 i see a deer moving straight towards me on my right hand side. He was traveling through a young beech tree forest and pines. Got a glimpse of his rack through the scope and watched his stop and work a scrape i peeded in the day before lol. It was real this with the young beech but i found a small window and when his shoulder enter it bang! He ran maybe 40 yards and flopped over. Climbed down after a hour and half and got to see hes a wierd racked buck. Left side main beam is short and rounded off, had a good sized point coming off straight back thats busted off along with both his brow tines. Shot was maybe 40 yards, took the top of his heart off and blew up the lungs. This has to go down as one of my best seasons ever.

[BowmanMike]

I got my gun season done and over with at 7.10 this morning. The buck came by at 6.55. After 10 minutes i went to make sure he was where i thought he was,and as I am standing above him two does come walking up

 They were maybe 50 to 60 yds out. I picked the bigger one and an open spot,she stepped in it but turned away from me,so she was quartering. She dropped in sight. I am very excited.

[Jmp209]

Lots of firsts for me this year. First deer ever on opening day and first with a handgun. I can't believe how incredibly lucky and blessed I've been this season. The weather was cold and rainy all morning but that didn't stop this guy from showing up at 10 a.m.

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[PREDATE]

Had a heartwrenching encounter with the buck of my dreams yesterday afternoon. I had him at 20yds. All I needed was for him to take 5 steps so I could put a bolt through his heart, but a scrub buck pulled him the other way. Luck shone on me today though!

 

Took my father in-law to a different spot today and I saw this buck heading right for him, but when the buck turned the other way I took a 120yd shot. .243 clipped his heart. His death dash was only 60yds.

Dragging him out was the pits, but well worth it.

9 point.

 

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[Swamp_bucks]

So went to a piece of stateland ive only pushed on but decided i was going to sit it at least once this year. So during the summer i found a blowdown and decided that would be my spot.  So my goal this year was another nice buck, but sitting there waiting for it to get light i realized. Im not a trophy hunter i'm a meat hunter. And between 3 kids now and my disabled father wants to get out this year i figured filling my tag to spend time with the kids and help my dad took priority.

So at 7:30 i hear one walking in and at 25 yards he popped out of the thicket past a tree and took him through the heart. He maybe went 45 yards. Decent body i would guess 120ish. Ended up being a broken up little wanna be 5.

[JALA RUT]

Well I was packed in with lunch and rain gear if needed to do an all day sit. Made it too stand extra early hoping to not spook anuthing on my way in, in stand at 5:35. The day started off interesting as i was getting mysrlf situated in my stand with a red light, a turkey flew off roost anout 40 yds from my tree. So the turkeys were roosted i my area, which is cool, i love all the turkey talk and seeing them come out of roost. As it turned out, the flock was roosted about 70 yds from my tree. At about 8:15 I passed on a group of 5 doe that came by...about 20 yrs. Tgen at about 10:20 a doe and a yearling came by. It was cool watching the doe clean the yearling licking the fawn all over it's face and ears for about 15 minutes. Then they grazed for about 10 minutes before bedding down about 40 yrs from my stand. I had hoped that a buck buck would cruise through to check the doe and the bedding area. Well about 1155 I notice one of the bedded deer intently look to her left and staring in that direction. After about 20 seconds, I see a deer approaching from the left and then I see antlers. As the buck started approaching the bedded doe, she got up and walked a little to the right. The buck walked tight over to the area she was laying and sniffed her bed for a few seconds. It was thick in this area and at this point I thought the buck was a medium 6Pt so I decided to pass on him. Then after he was done sniffing the does bed he moved to the right towards the doe. She bounded my way a little bit and started walking out in front of me. The buck followed but when he reached s clearing at about 27 yrs, I saw that he was a decent 8Pt and leveled the cross hairs on his chest. At the shot he mule kicked bounded away for about 20 yds and then walked slowly dropping about 40 yds from where he was hit. 

[Cattcounty]

[chrisw]

After a tough archery season, I wasn't seeing many does and I passed on 5 different bucks on stateland, I decided I wasn't holding out for anything too special this gun season, the last 4 years I haven't pulled the trigger on a deer with my rifle because I was waiting for a real good one, well, I got sick of waiting and at 7AM I shot this buck, he's not big by any means but sometimes you get too wrapped up in "big buck" mode that it takes the fun out of hunting. Hunting only public land can be frustrating enough but when you're waiting on a 3 year old buck it gets super tough. 30 yd shot, hit him directly through the heart, he ran 30 yds straight into a tree and down. The bloody blob is what a heart looks like after a 180gr soft point hits it...

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[Steuben Jerry]

Got this guy after a stupid interruption to the morning. My wife and I were about 400 yds apart on our own property when shots rang out between us. No one else has permission except for family that was not here today. Got down from my stand to catch the trespassers, but they took off before I got to the spot. Blood trail and gut pile all on my property, a couple of hundred yards deep. Then I heard their truck drive through the field up toward a house down the road.

So now on opening morning of rifle, I'm stomping all through my spots instead of hunting for a buck. Hiked back to my stand and figured it was a blown morning so I was going to have a sandwich and some coffee, head back to the house and go out later for an afternoon sit.

Well as I've heard many here say "it all changes in a minute". So with a sandwich in one hand, a coffee in the other, I see a doe a couple of hundred yards out across the field. Get the glass on her and see the buck dogging her. 

192 yard poke (ranged it after the shot). My heaviest deer to date, 195 lbs on the scale with his nose touching the ground. Was a 10 point, but broke off one brow tine, so a 9 point for the tag. Big neck, all rutted up. 

It all changes in a minute. 

At lunch time I drove over to meet the new tenants in the rental house down the road. We had an amicable conversation, and I believe he is now very clear about my borders and is very aware of my presence.

[Polarnut]

we had two encounters with this guy during bow season, but he eluded a shot. Today at 9:25AM he came back to his rub line and an old scrape he was making early on. Watched him rub a tree down and he turned to the old scrape as freshened up the scrape and with his head in the overhanging pine limbs he game me this 25yd neck shot. 

[132 eight pointer]

Letchworth doe opening morning 9ish. 35 yds as I sat on the very convenient tree seat (love my tree seat). 1 shot and off she ran. Checked for sign of a hit and what the ..... no hair no blood no blood trail. Must have hit a branch and somehow missed I thought. Sat back down. Got back up and checked again. How could I miss ? Better look down hill just in case. 100 yds. or less hey that looks like a deer on it's side. Had cell phone issue but that is another story, finally sent buddy a text and he showed up and helped cart her up hill on the oh so fun muddy trail for about 500 yds. The rain held off, I filled an antlerless tag and am splitting the venison with another hunter friend who hasn't had any good luck this season. Wish I had a better picture but we were trying to get back to the car in case it started raining.A good day for me.( don't know how to rotate picture).

[Lawdwaz]

Killed a 9pt (basic 8pt with a sticker) yesterday at 10:30am...........just a few minutes before I had a doe come trotting up and skidded to a halt 30 yards away.  She was breathing hard and alone so I thought for sure a buck would be along shortly.  She spotted me at the same time I spotted her and she trotted up and around me.  I stared intently in the westerly direction she came from and all of a sudden in front of me this buck comes out of the brush, walking at a fast clip.  I quickly spun the gun in his direction and got on him.  He stepped into a "window" and I touched off the 7mm-08 120gr Nosler BT and lo & behold down he went.  Turned out it was a perfect shot at about 60-70 yards.

Pulled my umbrella down and shimmied down the tree in my climber, crept over to him ready for a charge but nope, he was done. 

Like the archery buck from last Saturday, this one was small bodied.  He went on the scale (I didn't weigh last weeks buck) and only pulled it to 98lbs.  Odd, very odd for a 2.5 year old.  (assumed age)

So that's it for my buck tags in NYS........Pennsylvania is next Monday and the Good Lord willing, I'll get down there for that.  

Another picture of the buck with a pair of Charlie May knives.  The story on the knives is pretty cool........A couple years ago while at deer camp on Friday night before OD, my buddies ex son in law (they are still close even after the divorce) and I got into a discussion about something and I politely said,  "ahh, NFW David".   He said (politely) GFY Larry.

Well a bet ensued and I forget what I would have to pay but he said if he was wrong, he'd buy me a custom knife.  He called his father after the shouting had ceased and his father said to him, yea, you F'd up, Larry is right. 

We were into the sauce kind of heavy and it was all in good fun as I love him like a brother and we laughed about it.  He said he'd make square with me and I of course told him to pound salt, I don't need anymore damned knives! 

OK, two years later he presents me with a Charlie May Wammer set in a pocket sheath the night before OD.  I packed it with me yesterday morning and here they are...........

And I DID use one of the knives....

 

Edited November 19, 2017 by Lawdwaz

[Steuben Jerry]

Our daughter gets it done again. She travels here every year from out of state for what has become a family tradition for the rifle opener. She's taken bucks for each of the last four years.

This year is a little different in that she and her husband had their first daughter (and our fourth grandchild) just seven weeks ago, and precious Evelyn came along for the trip for the first time. 

It was hard for her to get out, but Grandma babysat for the day, and we got out  together for this afternoon's hunt. She sat in the same stand as I did for my 9-pointer yesterday, and dropped this 6-pointer who showed up at about 4:15.

Now it's Grandma's turn, and we have the rest of the week off!

[The_Real_TCIII]

I shot this doe at 11:00 Saturday, .270 through the scapula on the passenger side. She went about 50 yards with an excellent blood trail

[BuckFever21]

Shot this nice 8 Saturday morning at 9:45 in Clermont with my Remington 700, 30-06. This buck has special meaning to me since this is my first opener without my dad who passed away 6 months ago. I truly believe he sent this buck to me.

[stubborn1VT]

Finally got it done here in Vermont on a "half rack" 4 pointer.  Long shot with the 7mm Rem Mag.  I'm awfully glad to have him.  Now I have to wait for our muzzleloader season.  Guess I will do some work between now and then...

[Nomad]

Well.... A 400 hundred yard  walk in through a frozen muddy field, not the quietest walk in ! Can't cross the drainage  ditch , find a spot I can and get a soaker walking through flooded brush / woods.

Up in a little cheap ladderstand used once in bow . A doe comes through I thought of taking her but hear a ba ba ba behind her, a young bucks stops broadside , I pass as we have rules the farm and so do I on what I want to take . He keeps looking back more ba ba ba , must be a bigger one right ?

He stays somewhat hidden but I see part of the rack it looks bigger then first , find an opening bang ! Little pink 7mm08 drops it right there.

Stay on stand a few minutes see coyote moving around , seems he thinks that should be his meal . Bang drop him .

Get down opps , ground shrinkage !!

Text pics to farmer tell him I messed up on buck , he's ok with it as we have a fair number of big ones can afford to take a couple young ones.

About and hour and 15 minute drag through the mud to my car .

Hunting after work around 9:30 with my daughter tomorrow, she gets to use pink gun , seems to shoot ok .

 

Edited November 20, 2017 by Stay at home Nomad

[Don_C]

Dropped the Hammer on this guy at 10:30 this morning. He was tending a doe, they circled in front me three times before I had a shot opportunity. 8 pt with split brow, 24” spread. My biggest to date.




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[First-light]

75 yards took her right through the brisket. Nice mature doe. 1187 autoloader. 

[Steuben Jerry]

I posted yesterday that it was my wife's turn to get a buck today, and she got some pretty good reward for her effort. 

We all stayed up a bit too late last night, and it would have been pretty easy to just sleep in. But she was up and at 'em and out the door by 6:00. It was a pretty slow morning here, and she saw only one small doe by 11:00. She had a doe tag, but it was her turn for a buck today after all, so that doe was left alone.

Back out for the afternoon sit by 1:30, and after about a half hour this guy trotted out from the pines she was in and went trotting out into the field 40 yards in front of her. She said it took only two more steps right into the ground, courtesy of her Ruger 7mm-08.

Her best ever deer, a handsome, symmetrical 8 pointer, with not a bit of damage on his rack.

It's destined for the living room wall, and after waffling on whether to mount my 9-pointer, we'll get our first ever husband and wife mounts from the same season.

I an more happier for her than any deer I've ever shot. She's all calm and relaxed, and I'm still stoked.

This is rounding up to be our best season ever hunting on the homestead. Her 8, my 9, and our daughter's 6.

I'm picking up our 10 year old grandson from Rochester on Friday to hopefully go fill my doe tag with him along for the hunt. Did that last year for the first time. 

Friday's his turn.

[Team Hoyt]

8 point savage .308