Author Topic: 2012 Deer season thread (Read 6573 times)

bkoenig · « **on:** November 13, 2012, 11:25:07 AM »

Ok, let's hear your stories and see some pics!

I'll start. Got a pretty big buck this weekend, his rack was decent sized but he had broken off several points from fighting. Probably would have been a 5x5 if he had all of them. You can't really see it from the pics but he also had a deformed ear that looked like it had been injured a long time ago in an encounter with another buck. He was the heaviest deer I've ever shot - I would guess around 200lbs before field dressing. I also got a little doe that allowed me to take the distinction of smallest deer away from my nephew, last year's reigning champion. One of the guys I hunt with got a really nice non-typical 5x4. He had really weird antlers that actually got thicker towards the end. The rack on that one was a little wider than mine.

This was my first year hunting with a suppressor and it was really nice. I was shooting down inside a ravine that really amplifies sound, so I appreciated not having to choose between wearing hearing protection and damaging my ears. Both of my shots were close, less than 50 yards, but my 300 Blackout performed nicely regardless. The heart and lungs on both deer were destroyed without excessive meat damage. I wasn't totally sure about the terminal performance of a cast lead subsonic load, so I stuck to supersonic this year. It's still pretty quiet but you get a crack from the bullet.

My daughter had been messing with my phone and it took me a while to figure out she had changed the camera settings, so the first pic looks weird.

bk09 · « **Reply #1 on:** November 13, 2012, 06:26:46 PM »

Got my first deer! EVER!

Saturday morning on public land near Columbus I was the magical day. I had been in the woods about 2 hours, and at about 8:45 this guy came into view. I was focused on the countless squirrels making a ruckus and heard something that sounded like it was trying to be stealthy. 15 yards away he came out from behind a pine tree and gave me a stare down for about 45 seconds before walking away to my right. As soon as he turned his back to me I swung my gun around and at the sound of my safety going off he turned broadside and at roughly 30 yards I pumped a 150gr .308 pill into him. As soon as I shot him I looked behind me and saw another deer, an even smaller sickly looking buck, staring at me and left shortly after I called my mom. He went about 30 yards where I saw him bedded down and was able to get within 5 yards before he took off again, (I would have given him some space but there was some guy who didn't speak english walking towards my deer and I was trying to shoo him away). After another 30-40 yards of tracking an impressive blood trail I found him bedded down again and waited a couple minutes for him to expire. Thought my shot was at the rear of the lung but it turns out it was right through the stomach, which made field dressing a whole lot of fun.

I then proceeded to hike my climber treestand and gun to the truck (just estimated it was .95 miles...) and get my knives to field dress it. Then after probably 30-45 minutes of field dressing I managed to not mess too much up, (started skinning the ribcage not thinking of it, and left a chunk of intestine in the pelvis). Then the REAL FUN began... Didn't have a deer cart or anything to assist in dragging. Got a couple hundred yards dragging by the hooves after stopping every 10 feet to get a new grip and catch my breath. Then I managed to find a stick small enough but sturdy enough to stick in between the tendons and bone in the hind legs to get a better hold while dragging. After 3 hours of dragging I made it back to the truck with the roughly 125lb field dressed deer.

As I'm writing this I'm waiting for some backstrap steaks to finish thawing so I can get to grilling!

Note to self: get a deer cart, get a bag to protect the deer from dirt/flies while getting it to the truck, and don't shoot the stomach.

bkoenig · « **Reply #2 on:** November 13, 2012, 06:30:50 PM »

Good job! If you gut shoot them make sure you wash them out really well. It also helps to use a small hatchet to split the pelvic bone. That makes it a lot easier to get the intestines and bunghole out.

It's funny how they can just sneak up on you out of nowhere. I couldn't count all the times I've been looking one way for just a minute or two, and turn my head to see a deer just standing there a few yards away.

JimP · « **Reply #3 on:** November 13, 2012, 09:37:03 PM »

Congrats, Brad!

We took 4, for four hunters.

The kids teamed up on a big bodied buck on Saturday morning, with Eldest knocking it down with a shot through both front legs just below the shoulder, but he got up and ran another 100 yards..... Jac got a shot (missed) and my nephew put him on the ground with a shot through the lower shoulders...... he was not quite expired and we usually have a .22 to shoot them in the head ...... Eldest used her 30/30 ..... and shattered his skull and broke the rack........ 5 minutes later, my nephew took a shot at a fawn and did not grip the gun properly ..... scope hit him in the bridge of the nose and broke it. Had to make a 35 mile trip to the hospital ...... he took his deer and went home to take some anti-biotics and painkillers.

I got a forkhorm buck Saturday evening ..... nothing unusual about him other than when I shot him through the top of the heart with a .270 at 35 yards, he reared up on his hind legs an turned 3 circles before falling over backwards ....weird, that.

On Sunday, Eldest did a textbook spot-and-stalk on a fawn in the middle of a stubble field .... used terrain masking and distraction to get within 125 yards and then put a bullet in it's chest when it stood up .... she did not think she hit it, as it took off running ..... went running about 100 yards or so and stopped ..... she shot it again ......and it ran again ....... and stopped again ..... and she shot it again. 3rd times the charm, and it laid down. It had 3 holes in it ...... two apparently fatal shots through the chest, and on in the back leg above the hock......

The next day, we ran a 4x4 buck (2 1/2 y.o.) out of the same thicket ..... and Eldest was waiting when it ran over the hill right towards her.... 100 yard shot on a dead run broke both back legs just above the hocks .... and she ran it down and put him out......

The early mornings were brutally cold (12 degrees on Monday AM!!!).... the kids were troopers and hung with it pretty well.

I have two cut and wrapped, and the other two ready for tomorrow .....

JimP · « **Reply #4 on:** November 13, 2012, 09:41:50 PM »

Quote

It also helps to use a small hatchet to split the pelvic bone.

We usually use a small hatchet to drive a knife throught the seam of the pelvic bone ..... but Eldest's knife (4-H project made from a file and a deer antler) was not up to the beating. ..... ended up chopping through w/ the hatchet ....messy.

bk09 · « **Reply #5 on:** November 13, 2012, 10:05:29 PM »

I started going at the pelvis with a bone saw but decided against it since I didn't want to risk cutting open any intestines.

JimP · « **Reply #6 on:** November 14, 2012, 05:20:38 PM »

Nobody else has a story?

maanbr · « **Reply #7 on:** November 14, 2012, 06:48:24 PM »

I shot a nice doe opening morning a few minutes after shooting time and stayed put in the stand to see if I would have anything else come by. Sure enough a little bit later a nice 4x4 came though and I put him down. Rifle season was over in less than 45 minutes with 2 nice deer on the ground!

bkoenig, was that the vax bullet you were talking about with the 300 blackout? How was the penetration, did you get a pass through?

I have a small handheld bone saw that is about 4" long with a plastic end I bought at scheels a few years ago. These work perfect for splitting the pelvic bone and the rib cage. I used to use a folding camp saw that worked well too until it broke. On the pelvic bone make sure you have everything out of the way and go slow and you won't get into any trouble! Used a hatchet a long time ago once. Not good results! Hacked meat and sharp bone slivers. Go with a small handsaw, less than $15 and it will last for years and are trouble free.

RobertH · « **Reply #8 on:** November 14, 2012, 07:28:58 PM »

today was my first full day of deer hunting, but you wouldn't have known it. i saw zero deer, actually i saw a dead one from EHD. i did see four turkeys, about 12 rooster pheasants and four hen pheasants and a squirrel. i have also failed to trap anything. this might be a long week.

rempe · « **Reply #9 on:** November 14, 2012, 08:33:08 PM »

Quote from: RobertH on November 14, 2012, 07:28:58 PM

about 12 rooster pheasants

are you sure you were in nebraska???

JimP · « **Reply #10 on:** November 14, 2012, 09:17:24 PM »

Sometimes it's tough, and then sometimes you have more deer to deal with than you can deal with ..... I was beginning to think the deer were allergic to me- every time I left the kids* alone on stand, the shooting would start .......

Last year, I spent far more time cutting up deer than I did hunting them ......

.... we did OK this year. Eldest, in particular, had a great time ..... telling her da that she was going to sneak up on that doe sitting smack in the middle of that giant stubble field on the next ridge, and shoot it ..... and then proceeded to do just that, despite me telling her she was wasting her time, going on a long walk to spook a deer long before she was anywhere close to being in range.....

* I say "kids", but my nephew is 21 .....

Wildgoose · « **Reply #11 on:** November 15, 2012, 06:12:23 AM »

Nice one Brian!

Wildgoose · « **Reply #12 on:** November 15, 2012, 06:30:12 AM »

Saturday morning opener was way to warm and windy. We did have good luck though. My son in law shot a nice sized but small rack buck right off at 6:45 and about a half hour later my grand daughter shot very similiar one. His shot was thrity yards with a .300 WM and hers was 170 yards with a .300 Savage.
We spent the rest of the morning taking care of the down deer. My first shot came right a dark that evening. I was looking at what I thought was a shadow when it started walking. Made about a 160 yard shot with a .300 Savage. I hate cleaning deer in the head lights. Very tired old man that night.
Sunday I took it easy and my grand daughter and I went out on Monday in much more seasonal weather to fill our doe tags. Didnt see anything until two deer came across the field in front of us moving at a fast walk abut 8:30. She put the lead one down with one shot and I wound up with the trailing one but had to take a second shot into her from the stand. The first hit spined her and she was trying to get up so a second was needed to make sure she stayed put. First pic is my buck from Saturday night and the second is from Monday morning.

bkoenig · « **Reply #13 on:** November 15, 2012, 07:23:58 AM »

Quote from: maanbr on November 14, 2012, 06:48:24 PM

bkoenig, was that the vax bullet you were talking about with the 300 blackout? How was the penetration, did you get a pass through?

Yeah, it was the 110 gr vmax. It worked fine. On the buck I just barely clipped the back of his shoulder blade which slowed it down a little. The bullet passed through the opposite ribcage but didn't exit the hide on the opposite side. On the doe it passed all the way through. I think this bullet is ok at lower velocities like the 300 puts out, but using it with a faster cartridge would probably result in a wounded deer or a ton of wasted meat. Next year I plan to try the new Barnes TSX made especially for this caliber.

JimP · « **Reply #14 on:** November 15, 2012, 07:57:52 AM »

Nice deer, 'Goose! And good shootin' by the G'daughter, too!

Quote

Then the REAL FUN began... Didn't have a deer cart or anything to assist in dragging. Got a couple hundred yards dragging by the hooves after stopping every 10 feet to get a new grip and catch my breath. Then I managed to find a stick small enough but sturdy enough to stick in between the tendons and bone in the hind legs to get a better hold while dragging. After 3 hours of dragging I made it back to the truck with the roughly 125lb field dressed deer.

Some tips on dragging:

Drag the deer forwards/from the front end, as hair has a whole lot less friction with the ground if the friction is going with the direction of the hair than against it.

With that in mind, antlers make good handles. A person on each antler makes long distance drags a breeze.

Hands get tired before the rest of you. Switch hands- If two are dragging, switch sides.

Better than grabbing an antler is having a 12-15 foot rope. Put a loop around the head or antlers and leave enough of a tag end to tie the forefeet and upper jaw together and to the working end of the rope ..... there will be enough rope to bring it over your shoulder, and away you go. An improvement on that is to tie the end of the rope to the center of a 3 or 4 foot branch about 1 1/2" or 2" in diameter to use as a yoke. Two people with a yoke in front of their shoulders can almost run with a field dressed deer. A thick rope is easier to grip, but takes up more space. If you use a yoke, you can get away with 550 cord.

Game carts are for sissies and gear geeks.

. Rope weighs little, fits in a pack, and skills weigh nothing.

gsd · « **Reply #15 on:** November 15, 2012, 07:59:55 AM »

I'm heading down tomorrow to the family land, we apparently have a monster hanging around. Gamecam capture shows a potential spread estimated at nearly 30 inches.

JimP · « **Reply #16 on:** November 15, 2012, 08:05:02 AM »

Good Hunting, gsd!

Oh, and a pic......

JimP · « **Reply #17 on:** November 15, 2012, 08:10:44 AM »

I did note that all three of our bucks had broken antlers, even the fork ...... lotsa scrappin' going on out there......

RobertH · « **Reply #18 on:** November 15, 2012, 10:01:02 AM »

another morning of no deer. i had hundreds of photos on my trail cameras with deer. they were there consistently all year and were there the night before i started hunting. since then no deer.

but the coyotes were howling a lot this morning. i might try and shoot them if i don't see anything tonight and tomorrow morning. i missed 3 more chances at beavers last night. and all of my coon traps were untouched. im the worst hunter in the world. if the world ends, i would die from starvation.

sparky · « **Reply #19 on:** November 15, 2012, 10:09:40 AM »

Well it has been a pretty successful deer season so far. First off the most important thing, I got to see my nephew take his first ever deer out of my stand on Saturday. He put an awesome shot on this young buck at about 70 yards with open sights and hit this deer right in the blood pump. Here is a pic of his.

First thing Saturday morning it was so foggy up around Clearwater that I could barely find my way to my hunting ground, but around 8:30 when the fog was finally starting to burn off this buck came running at me appearing out of the fog. Got my rifle up and ready and my scope was so fogged over I couldn't see a thing. Finally found him in my scope and double lunged him at about 80 yards with my Benelli R1 300 win mag. He was a 4x3 but a big boddied deer weighing in at 189 lbs. before we field dressed him. He looked a lot like yours Wildgoose Here is a pic of mine.