End of season...
 

Well my first rifle season's over, and our freezer is empty.

I saw just one buck this year, 200-250 yards out in a field, eating off a lone fir. It was a distance farther than anything I had practiced, but I had a perfect broadside presentation. I was pretty sure I could make it - I had a stable rest, I'm a good shot, and the angle was ideal. But I passed; I couldn't stand the thought of a creating a cripple. And I thought hey, if I saw this one, maybe there'll be another.

Wrong.

Then husband had two chances at a huge 8 pointer. Got down on one knee and went to fire - trigger wouldn't pull! Cussed himself and made sure the safety was off - it was. Tried again - nothing! Deer ran off. He waited a few minutes and tracked it, jumped it about 200 yards away. Pulled his scope up and went to take a shot again - still the trigger wouldn't budge. Cussed again and ejected the round. Tried to go after the buck but this time it went for the thick nasty stuff and he gave up.

We later realized he hadn't had the bolt quite all the way down... Shoulda listened to me when I told him to practice with his dang rifle!!! Boy did he hear about that one aaalllll night. ;)

So we'll both have practicing to do for next year - me on long shots, him on making the shot, LOL.

Luckily my FIL got a nice 231 lb-er so at least we'll get some tenderloin and sausage.

our gun season ended last night and this morning muzzle stuffer season opened , I doubt I will get out except maybe a bit Friday morninng

this is the first year in I think 15 years I haven't gotten a deer , it happens , just not usually to me

then again I had my son with for the first time his idea of sitting still isn't so still and he walks like a hole heard of elephants no matter how many times I tell him to pick up his feet then set them down gentle and with the crew getting older I also walked all but one drive . he was 11 this year and we had to share a gun next year he gets his own gun , and I can put him to good use with those feet that sound like a heard of elephants

with time he will figure out how to sit still and not walk like an elephant , we all started there

I did figure out the best way to explain how still to sit , every one came back from sitting opening morning talking about the squirrel that kept going just 4-5 feet from them, so I asked my son and how far was our squirrel , about 15 yards , yup and that was the closes when you were the most still. he almost could not believe me when I told him if you sit still enough the little birds will land on your barrel some times and the wood pecker will be just a few feet away, he believed me when everyone else said it was so.

congrads
 

congrads you had a good safe season and learned lots....hopefully enjoyed the days or time spent.
did you say what caliber you shoot.....

if your gun allows you to dry fire it is a great way to practice long range...

both of you should be so familar with your gun that you can load, unload,your gun blind folded....of course carefully....

it shouldn't come to easy that first deer... peace

I'd have to know my gun was sighted in perfectly before I'd consider a 250 yard shot... Heck I wish around here I had that kinda distance.. I got my doe at about the longest range I had where I was sitting.. I got her at 80 yards, and could have only gotten about 25 more in that spot if she was at the edge of the woods.

Um.. I don't get why he kept trying to pull the trigger with the same results? I would have pulled the bolt back at least... or emptied the gun and tried dry firing it..

I got all this week for rifle.. Rained ALL DAY today, so I didn't go out... Two weeks from now I got a week of muzzle loader... Then I get two more three day sessions for antlerless..

I still have the chance at three bucks, and two more antlerless.. So far I've gotten one nice doe..

Driftwood, yes, I learned a ton - way more than I would have thought. I also learned how much I don't know - very humbling. My rifle was easy to load - a 4 shell clip, and I'm shooting 7mm-08. I'll be in the market for something else though, this is a loaner and I'm too small for it.

Simi, he wasn't thinking clearly, plain and simple. It's his first time hunting since he was a kid, so his nerves were all over the place and he hadn't practiced enough - his mistake through and through, and he knows it. It'll be haunting him all the way to next November.

Normally I don't have any opportunity for such long range shots, but I happened to be hunting an old agricultural field. There's no other spot where you can see that far around here - everything else is woods hunting, under 100 yards.

We do have one more week of muzzle loader, but I'm not participating in that. It's a separate license.

So you can take 6 total?? Dang, that's downright luxurious.

People do dumb crap all the time. I have.You have. That being said it seems like a lot of it is in the deer woods.Now understand I'm just not a very social critter.It's hard enough to put up with myself let alone everybody else. So I don't get out much or talk to too many people but already this year I've heard 2 head shakers!

One guy ran out and bought a brand new rifled slug gun the night before season and went on stand opening day without ever firing the gun.Now he's trying to figure out how he missed a deer TWICE ar 20 yards! Well,DUH !!! You idiot!

I have a neighbor that busted a 180 class deer (so he says) and can't find him.He pulled the trigger on a 15 yard " QUARTERING TO " shot! Absolutely the WORST shot presentation! That's just dumb! If you have a presentation like that the only way it can change is a better presentation! If he's 15 yards "to' you in 15 yards it has to change!

I'm starting to wonder what kind of chemicals are in these "cover" scents!!Oh,and BTW the ONLY cover scent you need is ammonia period! That's it! It's all over in nature! Can't beat it!


Wade

Ah.. This is a perfect example why you should shoot all you can and get to know your guns. They should be an extension of you... I was actually hunting with a newer t me gun that I don' know real well. I think that's part of the reason why when I got mine I got a real high spin shot... I had one hand off the gun right before I fired...

Being a resident land owner and hunting my own land I can get 6... I don't even have to buy a hunting license to hunt my own land. Two bucks during gun season, the third has to be during muzzle loader, or bow season... All 3 anterless can be during gun season, or any combination of all the seasons..

If I wasn't a resident land owner, I could still get 6 total, but with all the extra tags to get those, it would cost a small fortune to do it...

Well I killed two Does with my Crossbow. Firearms Season has been a bust but have another Month and Half of Season to go.

Next year I'll just fill my Freezer in September and October.

big rockpile

Bucks only by us for both gun and bow. And very few deer at that due to over harvesting in recent years and a record harsh winter. But I got a spike buck with my bow. No blood trail but by the grace of God found it in heavy cover. Did not go out with the gun as there was virtually nothing on my land in Nov - I heard 1 shot all of gun season as I was outside a number of times from in the last hour before dark! Almost like there was no gun season here. Instead of gun hunting, I got my elevated box stand ready for next season - that probably did not help keep the deer around with all the noise I made, but after about 4 weekends it is all done. 15 ft shooting height with a 6 ft high deck that has a ladder on it that leads up to the box that is enclosed with roof. All set up for some crossbow hunting next year - my bow tag for this year is filled or I would get out in the late season.

I take it you have a lot of deer in WV if you can get so many - here in PA you can get 1 buck and if you have an antlerless license you can get one of those - I been hunting for over 65 years - yes 65 - and I'll tell you something - I'm still learning - this year after missing 2 doe with my crossbow I learned to make sure the bolts holding the bow together are tight - I had 2 easy shots and didn't hit any of them in a killing spot - One I missed completely and hit the other but the arrow had no blood on it and couldn't find the deer after looking that night and the next day - I shot at a target and found the arrows going all over the target - then found out some of the bolts on the crossbow were loose - now I know I have to check them each year -

It's nothing to look out my window most any day and see 5-10 does standing in my field..

Like I said.. first two days of opening season I saw around 60 deer... Didn't shoot my first until the third day...

OH, here in WV, we can also bait deer on private property. I've got cracked corn out in my field, and a .308 sitting by the window..

I hunted 7 days out of our 15 day season, nearly sun-up to sun-down, both on stand and walking. All I saw was a little 70lb milk sucker opening day. The herd is severely depleted around here.

Been tellin myself this for a couple years, but - next year I'm not buying any deer licences and do fun stuff during deer season.

Here we can kill 3 Bucks 4 Points on one side and if worked out right unlimited Does.

Does this mean we have a lot of Deer not really. General Firearms Season I didn't see a Deer and all I had was Doe Tags. Still have several days I can fill them but not justified buying Gas.

big rockpile

7-08 is a fine caliber as a deer rifle. I own a Remington model 7 chambered for it.

Here in Michigan we can buy a combo buck tags 4 points on one side and for the second any buck with at least 3 inch spikes.
Also in my zone you can buy 5 doe permits a day over the counter.

:D Al

Boy - sure sounds like you got it made - I'm sure you have venison on the plate quite a bit -

Hunted hard here...managed to bag a nice 8 pointer and a 4 1/2 year old doe....the DNR was aging deer at the registration station...I guessed the doe to be 3 1/2...it was easy to skin and very tender to cut up. Both were nice deer and the freezer is happy as well as the wife. Glad every one had a safe hunt.

I'm picky about what I shoot.. If I gotta do all the work, it needs to have a lotta meat on it... and it has to be worth the effort to drag off the side of my hills too...

I would have been interested to know how old mine was.. Here you don't take your deer to check it.. all you have to do is go down the the little local gas shop and give the clerk the details of what you shot and where.

You may not think so now, but you made a good decision by not shooting.


PA is back down to one doe per year again? That bites!!! It was three does per year when I was last there.


North Carolina is really different. My N.C. "Big Game Harvest Report Card" has tags for two "Antlered/Antlerless" and four "Antlerless Only". I have three of the tags filled out and called in. If I were to fill out all of the tags and wished to continue hunting I need only go to a local Game Commission Office and request and pay for more tags. I am not sure what the limit is nor if there even is a limit.

But the deer here are real small. I saw a guy the other day grab his harvested deer by the ears and fling it over his shoulder by the ears to carry it his truck. I had never seen that done before nor have I ever shot something that small.

The running joke amongst the locals here is that "a deer is not too small if you can make at least one sandwich out of it". And yet they constantly lament that they do not see as many deer these days. :facepalm:

They also become quite upset with me when I let small ones go by unscathed.

I really need to find a private piece of property to bow hunt next year.

TRellis

Early muzzleloader and rifle season are finished here in VA. Had my best and worst season ever all at once.

After seven years of hunting I now know what it's like to shoot one and never find it. Really makes me feel bad to have, most likely, killed one but not being able to utilize the meat. We looked for hours and still no luck.

On the upside, I got my largest buck ever!

One thing I have to tell myself when I'm hunting, is that every time I'm in the woods a deer could be only minutes/seconds away. As a not-so-patient person and one that always has to be doing something, sitting and waiting can be difficult. Every animal encounter while out hunting deer is a welcome and enjoyable moment and there are quite a few of those each year.

Late muzzleloader comes back in for three weeks, so we'll see how the season ends.

A large deer here comes in at 130 to 150 lbs. We wont see any of those 200 #ers you have in Maine. TRellis, we also pass on small bucks and smaller does if we can tell how small they are. I'm not very good at sizing a deer yet if it doesn't have antlers. I can count antlers though and less than 8 points gets a pass. I'd much rather eat does anyhow.

So tell us about the one you couldn't find. It's happened to all of us so maybe you can share something that will help us too !

Wade

How about I start a new thread on that, so we don't hijack this one and we'll see how much we can all learn. I'm sure I made more than one mistake and others can learn from mine and I can learn from you all.