# Big Game Season 2010



## *Andi

Deer season with a bow came in the the day ... no luck as of yet. My brother did get a doe while hunting with my dad. (I think muzzleloader in WV.) 

So anyone else have any luck as of yet?


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## NaeKid

Hunting season opens for me shortly - I am itchin' right now and need to find a way to scratch it ... :gaah:


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## gypsysue

We're in bow season here too, but we've been too busy with harvesting the garden and cutting firewood. Hope to get out soon.


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## UncleJoe

Archery opened last Saturday for us. Like gypse, I've got too much going on right now. I'll wait for November. I'm thinking I'll try out the "new-to-me" Mauser I acquired back in May.


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## *Andi

Season starting off a little slow this year. My son is counting down the days to muzzleloader ... He said something like the heck with sticks ...


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## The_Blob

*Ford Pickup* season started last week & last night I got my *second* one :gaah: 

so far, I'm the best hunter in my family this year :lolsmash:

I think those _deer whistle deterrents_ should be reclassified


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## Lonewufcry

got to realocate my gear and try next season, Been a rough one for me. But my brother said I could hop on over and hunt with him which means I hold the spotting scope and range finder. LOL


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## GroovyMike

Saturday opened the regular deer season in NY's southern zone.

I was up at 5, out at 6 and settled into my stand by 7. At 9 a shot went off fairly close to me and two deer rocketed past at Mach 10. At 11 a doe and fawn went past. At 1 PM a decent buck surprised me by popping over the ridge 30 yards behind me. I snapped a shot but my scope on its lowest setting at 3.5X magnification was full of deer and I muffed the shot. He ran down hill and I fired twice more. The blood trail and bits of bone tell me that I broke a leg - probably a front leg with my first shot. I trailed him for the next 4 hours as the blood trail diminished to a drop every yard or so into a swamp with high grass, thick scrub brush and hummocks dotting foot deep water. I lost him despite pulling in the help of another hunter and gave up as darkness settled in.

Henry Ford said "If you think you can or you think you can't, you are right." It is only failure when you quit trying so Sunday I was back looking for him. I was hoping to find if not a dead deer at least a fresh blood trail. I didn't find either. By noon I was pooped from pushing through that bog. My knees ached and I was just too tired to walk much more. Since I didn't know where that wounded buck was I figured looking anywhere was as good as anywhere else. I began to work my way back toward my original stand where I had left the majority of my gear the day before. I slowly made my way uphill stopping to rest frequently and got back to my portable chair and thermos of ice cold 2 day old coffee at about 1 PM. I sat down and drank the coffee. There wasn't much hope of a deer coming in to this stand now. The deer that had been here were scared away yesterday. The scent lure was put out the day before and would be cold. I had crisscrossed the whole area. There was a blood trail from yesterday running right through it. Just a few minutes before I had come up the hill through the noisy leaves leaving yet again another human scent trail. No deer in his right mind would be anywhere near here. But I just couldn't give up. Our God is the God of second chances. I have screwed up so much in the past I am surprised if I get something right the first time. God blessed me again.

After sitting about 5 minutes I saw movement. It was a big bodied deer feeding on acorns and coming toward me at about 120 yards. I settled myself. There would be no hasty shot this time. I got my Winchester model 70 in position, settled the cross hairs on his chest. I could see antlers as he came within 100 yards. At 80 yards I pulled the trigger. The buck trotted a few steps and went out of sight behind a rock ledge. I couldn't believe it. He acted like he hadn't been touched! I was in position when he came out from behind the ledge quartering toward me. I was not about to lose another deer if I could help it. At 40 yards I put a bullet through his spine at the base of his skull and he went down like deer are supposed to! I thanked God and went to tag him. When I field dressed him I saw that my first shot clipped the top of his heart. I have no idea how he kept walking!

He is a 5 point (2x3) and probably the heaviest white tail I have ever taken. I don't have a scale to weigh him on but I could only drag him about 10 yards at a time and Rob and I together couldn't lift him on the 4 wheeler. I'm guessing he is well over 150 on the hoof.

I am glad to have him, but I will still be looking for a buck going on three legs when I go out again next weekend.


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## Asatrur

We are currently prepping for our bow trip to Nebraska for some doe hunting in December.


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## HozayBuck

*I went out Opening day*

in MT, the first Saturday opening ever.. fired one shot at a White tail buck... too far and missed.. went home with 6 does.. 

My friends had a stack of Muley doe tags and they got 6 filled in about an hour.. I didn't have any of those tags so my one shot was my season, we spent Sunday processing 6 deer! 3 of us! made all of it into bulk sausage, Sweet , mild and hot Italian , well except for a couple of roasts and the back straps.. I brought most of it back to TX with me.. the Fam is very happy!.. I had too much going on and no time to stay, spent all day Monday packing up my life and loading the Bronco on a trailer I bought for that purpose , the one ton was sagging , Tues headed for TX..

Next year I will be there only to hunt, and if it takes two weeks then so be it... is it worth it money wise to do it this way? no.. but I can get in more hunting and more meat then most folks get in 5 years..

Now if they will just open season on them GD wolves maybe there will be an Elk left in MT.. that ain't in a zoo.... baring that we could hunt the tree huggers.. add enough seasoning and you'd never know you was eating A**hole


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## *Andi

The_Blob said:


> *Ford Pickup* season started last week & last night I got my *second* one :gaah:
> 
> so far, I'm the best hunter in my family this year :lolsmash:
> 
> I think those _deer whistle deterrents_ should be reclassified


I try and stay out of the Ford Pickup season (knock on wood) - But I have been there and done that.:gaah:

I didn't bother putting the whistle deterrents on my new truck ... like you said they should be reclassfied.


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## The_Blob

I wish *almost* wish I had a newer phone to upload the pics onto the internet of the deer that have "become a menace"... in certain areas they are letting *some* hunters take as many as they want, unfortunately the geographical area is so limited to do that that the deer have figured out where the 'kill zones' are & have fled them for the 'safe zones' becoming a bigger threat to drivers' safety and running onto airport runways :gaah: 
I could've literally taken out five or six 150-200 lb (to me that is *big* for whitetail) critters with ONE swipe Saturday night there were so many (20+) on just one area of the road... I must've passed 4 visible carcasses on the 200 yards of highway on-ramp in that area


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## NaeKid

The_Blob said:


> I could've literally taken out five or six 150-200 lb (to me that is *big* for whitetail) critters with ONE swipe Saturday night there were so many (20+) on just one area of the road... I must've passed 4 visible carcasses on the 200 yards of highway on-ramp in that area


My buddy just took his deer to the butcher, completely dressed out and it weigh'd in at 181 pounds. They figured that when it was still breathing it was in the 300 pounder range. My friend described his "loading" as being block-n-tackle and the ropes snapped once ...


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## Clarice

Between us we are allowed 10 deer this year, but been to busy to even go to the woods. I plan to can as many as we can get. Went fishing Saturday, yep we actually took an afternoon off. Croppie we biting so good we couldn't bait our hooks fast enough. Hubby had 4 lines in the water and I had 2. Caught about fifty but only kept 16 of the large one. That was some good eating.


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## GroovyMike

Clarice said:


> Between us we are allowed 10 deer this year, ...Caught about fifty but only kept 16 of the large one. That was some good eating.


Sounds like paradise.


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## The_Blob

Clarice said:


> Crappie we biting so good we couldn't bait our hooks fast enough. Hubby had 4 lines in the water and I had 2. Caught about fifty but only kept 16 of the large one. That was some good eating.


white crappie or black? all crappie *are* a darn nice eatin' fish, that's for sure :beercheer:


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## GroovyMike

I had just enough time to settle into my stand Thanksgiving morning to thank God for the ability to hunt, the land to hunt on, and the deer on it when this girl showed up to fill my antlerless tag:










God is good.


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## Jason

Sounds like everyone is having a good time. Our rifle/shotgun season opened yesterday (Monday). I went to work, did not hunt, but my wife got a nice 13 point buck. It's a small basket-just lots of points. Today she and her dad cut it up, along with the goat that we decided to butcher at the same time. She didn't weigh the deer but it's a nice size-not small but no monster. She's 36 years old and that makes her 38th deer.


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## mosquitomountainman

Got mine last week. Kinda' envy Groovy Mike. It was about 6 below zero (F) when I got mine. Rifle misfired four times before it fired on the fifth try. (I think the oil around the firing pin was jelled.) It only holds four so I had to refill the magazine once. Every time he ran off I'd give a couple of grunts on the grunt tube and he'd come back for another look.


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## NaeKid

Yesterday was the end of our rifle season and I failed.

First weekend hunting nothing was seen by me and my partner, but, our other two buddies found a wolf patrolling the area.

Second weekend hunting it was -18°C (-1°F) and snowing. Only one deer was spotted and I didn't have a tag for it. My rifle was frozen solid - couldn't eject the magazine when I got back to the Jeep. Had to thaw it out for a while before I could "safe-it".

Third weekend hunting was warmish (and snowing again), I hunker'd down and watched a red-fox working the gully heading south. It disappeared and mulies came out (no tags for them). Watched the mulies for a while and the fox came back ... making the mulies disappear. Fox went out of sight and the mulies came back. Watched the mulies for a while and then I noticed that there were two white-tails that mixed in with them!?!? I kept watching and waiting for the white-tails to move to a clear shot, rifle was ready and then the flags went up and the white-tail and mulies ran off. 30 seconds later a coyote walks up the gully ... :gaah:

I was totally camo'd out - even had a bird land on a branch just over my left shoulder and it didn't notice me. :2thumb:

So - this year I am a failure


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## mosquitomountainman

Sounds like you did well finding game. It was just the tag limitations that made for problems. Well, if TSHTF then hunting "seasons" will be a little more liberal. At least until everything is dead.


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## GroovyMike

mosquitomountainman said:


> Got mine last week. Kinda' envy Groovy Mike. It was about 6 below zero (F) when I got mine. Rifle misfired four times before it fired on the fifth try. (I think the oil around the firing pin was jelled.) It only holds four so I had to refill the magazine once. Every time he ran off I'd give a couple of grunts on the grunt tube and he'd come back for another look.


WOW! that's a buck worth getting cold for!


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## mosquitomountainman

GroovyMike said:


> WOW! that's a buck worth getting cold for!


Thanks. I usually just shoot the first legal full size animal I've got a tag for. This time it just happened to be this guy. And the fact that he was dumb enough to keep coming back was in my favor too.


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## *Andi

Well my son got a big doe late yesterday ... and he has gone out again today. He is looking for that 10 point buck his dad missed yesterday.


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## mosquitomountainman

*Andi said:


> Well my son got a big doe late yesterday ... and he has gone out again today. He is looking for that 10 point buck his dad missed yesterday.


Cool! Hope he gets the big guy too. That'll be lots of good eating!


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## GroovyMike

good luck out there. Be safe and stay warm!


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## HozayBuck

NaeKid said:


> Yesterday was the end of our rifle season and I failed.
> 
> First weekend hunting nothing was seen by me and my partner, but, our other two buddies found a wolf patrolling the area.
> 
> Second weekend hunting it was -18°C (-1°F) and snowing. Only one deer was spotted and I didn't have a tag for it. My rifle was frozen solid - couldn't eject the magazine when I got back to the Jeep. Had to thaw it out for a while before I could "safe-it".
> 
> Third weekend hunting was warmish (and snowing again), I hunker'd down and watched a red-fox working the gully heading south. It disappeared and mulies came out (no tags for them). Watched the mulies for a while and the fox came back ... making the mulies disappear. Fox went out of sight and the mulies came back. Watched the mulies for a while and then I noticed that there were two white-tails that mixed in with them!?!? I kept watching and waiting for the white-tails to move to a clear shot, rifle was ready and then the flags went up and the white-tail and mulies ran off. 30 seconds later a coyote walks up the gully ... :gaah:
> 
> I was totally camo'd out - even had a bird land on a branch just over my left shoulder and it didn't notice me. :2thumb:
> 
> So - this year I am a failure


Hey NK you didn't fail.. you had the time of your life, you saw more then most do and while you didn't get one your not going hungry... just being out there was worth it.. and the bird was a bonus!!.. life is good..

I was bow hunting years ago before the knees gave out and moving real slow and quiet, playing tag with a Wht tail buck with no points..just two fist size knots on his rack.. I really wanted him.. anyway I had stopped and was 40 yards from the buck when I just "felt" eyes on me.. AH HHH thinks I.. and slowly, twig but leaf by tiny bush , moving only my eyes I searched for the "eye's" just couldn't see it.. so I slowly turned my head to my left.. and not a foot from my head, and at eyeball level was a Great Horned Owl !!!!!...his eyes were the size of silver dollars!! and for about 20 seconds we just stared at each other.. then he spread his wings and with hardly a ripple of feathers just rose up and glided away to a tall tree top... it was the most beautiful thing I ever saw..

I decided that getting the deer wasn't important anymore so i headed for my truck.. what a wonderful memory... your bird brought it back.... it's been 19 years and is still a beautiful memory of a very "successful hunt"...


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## GroovyMike

HozayBuck said:


> Hey NK you didn't fail.. you had the time of your life, you saw more then most do and while you didn't get one your not going hungry... just being out there was worth it.. and the bird was a bonus!!.. life is good..
> 
> I was bow hunting years ago before the knees gave out and moving real slow and quiet, playing tag with a Wht tail buck with no points..just two fist size knots on his rack.. I really wanted him.. anyway I had stopped and was 40 yards from the buck when I just "felt" eyes on me.. AH HHH thinks I.. and slowly, twig but leaf by tiny bush , moving only my eyes I searched for the "eye's" just couldn't see it.. so I slowly turned my head to my left.. and not a foot from my head, and at eyeball level was a Great Horned Owl !!!!!...his eyes were the size of silver dollars!! and for about 20 seconds we just stared at each other.. then he spread his wings and with hardly a ripple of feathers just rose up and glided away to a tall tree top... it was the most beautiful thing I ever saw..
> 
> I decided that getting the deer wasn't important anymore so i headed for my truck.. what a wonderful memory... your bird brought it back.... it's been 19 years and is still a beautiful memory of a very "successful hunt"...


That's cool


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## kyfarmer

Just seen a doe walking through the creek in front of the property, dang it, drew a big zero so far this season and my bow was put up. Still have blackpowder starting sat. Might get lucky yet. Congrats to all who have scored some fine eating.


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## *Andi

Well my son got two more yesterday, both spikes and good size. :2thumb: One in the canner now, the other one in the morning.


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## mosquitomountainman

*Andi said:


> Well my son got two more yesterday, both spikes and good size. :2thumb: One in the canner now, the other one in the morning.


Congrats!!!! :2thumb:


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