Hows the Hunting Going?

Early bow here starts mid-october. It was about 52 deg when we were out and we have had some good frosts already so the bugs have been cut way down. I usually don't get out much with the bow we are still busy on the farm. I probably wouldn't have gone out but my best friend drove 4 hours to get to my place to hunt a few days, boy I was glad I went!

Hunted the last three days and saw 5 deer last night. One was a nice 8 point that hung up near the edge of the swamp.

This buck was more interested in the does than the few apples I left out for bait... The rut is on!

I put together a video of some of the wildlife recordings saw during the hunt. I included a story telling feature. Be sure to follow the directions to turn up the volume at the end to hear the noise of something coming in:

Thats the way it use to be here.Now this buck wouldn't be Legal.





big rockpile

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I love being married.Its so great to find that one person you want to annoy for the rest of your life.



If I need a Shelter
If I need a Friend
I go to the Rock!

Gotta brag on DS13....... He killed his first deer Saturday on the juvenile hunt. YEAH!!! I told him and DH that somebody better bring some meat home 'cause I want jerky!! He bagged a LARGE doe and was thrilled. We hung it and let it drain Saturday night, and we worked it up after church yesterday. We got about done, and a neighbor man pulled up and says "Hey, you want a deer? I just don't feel like working it up". (He was not the shooter...another "boy" had killed it, and gave it to him. He is elderly and sickly, but he took it cause he didn't want to see it wasted) I said "Sure". So, that is 2 so far! Yeah!! Jerky is in the marinade as we speak. WE LOVE JERKY!!! The rest ends up as burger or canned!

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Stephanie

Wife, Mom to 4 ( 2 in Tn, 2 in Gloryland), caretaker of chickens, rabbits, kittys, 2 dogs, 2 milk goats, 2 jersey cows, and 1 messy house

Ohio gun season (still going on). I hunted Monday and Tuesday...rain came down in buckets. Got pretty cold on Tuesday. Didn't see one. Cold and snowy on Wednesday. I did see two does (just their heads) about 70 yards and maybe 5 seconds before they dipped down over the horizon (no shot). Thursday was beautiful. I had been sitting on a ridge for an hour and a half and hadn't seen anything, and I decide to move north along the ridge maybe 40 or 50 yards. I no sooner took five quiet slow steps when about 20 yards ahead I see a big flag waving goodbye, and a big bodied deer (couldn't tell you if it was a buck or a doe) went bounding away. I was cursing a little under my breath, when all of a sudden I see four does below the ridge trotting off in the opposite direction. I picked out the biggest one and got her. Hunted all day yesterday too, but never saw one. Happy with one. Good luck all!

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"Those who hammer their guns into plows will plow the fields of those who don't."-Thomas Jefferson

There's no acorns here this year, makes me worry about what their going to eat over the winter. DH has been going out on our property all this last week, has not seen or heard anything. He feels that the deer are busy in the corn fields eating whatever they can find. However he went over to a friends property today, wasn't in the tree stand for 15 minutes, saw 4 does and then shot the ten point buck that was chasing them. Not too shabby. PA law allows you to take one buck in rifle season, you have to send in for a doe tag and your lucky if you get one. This is the first year that we managed to get one of those doe tags so I'm hoping our good luck will hold and he'll get a nice doe too.

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"I don’t know half of you half as well as I should like; and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve." Bilbo Baggins

DS 20, shot a really nice 8 point buck today, 16 inch inside spread, approximately 200 lbs.

In our part of the state, (Pa) doe tags are numerous. Between DH and DS they have 20 doe tags. DH and DS so far have used 8 of those doe tags.

We are thankful for the bounty of meat this hunting season has provided so far.

DH got his first archery buck a few weeks ago, an 8 pointer. DS#1 got a 250 lb. black bear on the second day of the season. I made him buy his own small freezer, because mine was full & I didn't want to take everything out to get something. Sooo.............DS#2 had to stay at State College instead of going to hunting camp & shot a beautiful 12 pointer on opening day of buck. Now my son's freezer is full of bear meat, deer meat & his bear hide and I had to move 3/4 of my stuff to the two frig/freezers & store DS#2's deer head & hide in my large freezer. The darn thing is so tall it almost didn't work. Now I will have to move things every time I need something out of the freezer!! Wish someone would have told me NOT to get a half of grass fed beef this year!!

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Cindy in PA

I helped several friends on elk and deer hunts this year, some successful and some not. Finally my turn came. I shot a fat young cow elk yesterday morning with my 30-06. It was snowing, foggy, cold, and wet. I climbed up on a big ridge where I could see a huge area (when the snow and fog cleared occasionally), and watched for a while. Finally I heard some noise down below, and saw a herd of about 30 cows and a few spike bulls streaming along thru the juniper trees about 150 yards away. I laid down in the snow and used my pack as a rest. My scope was wet and I couldn't see very well thru it, but when one cow stopped and there weren't any others behind her I took a shot. The bullet whacked her and she stopped and stood there while the others took off. I shot her again and she dropped. Both shots went thru the lungs, but elk are pretty tough. A friend and I were able to get a 4 wheeler right to her. It was all we could do to get 1/2 at a time on the 4 wheeler and back to the truck. Then the rest of the day skinning and bagging and getting it ready to take to the butcher. Lots of work, but lots of good eating, and what a great end for a great season!

There are only two of us, but the deer here in SC are not very big. Not like the northern or mid-western deer. My daughter and her family take the shoulders and we process the rest of it. Some of it is shared with people too. My son and his family use a little of it but not much since his wife does not care for venison. None of the bones make it to the freezer....we filet all the meat from the bone and just freeze it as roasts or ground. The bones (sans usable meat) and most of the organs are given to my dogs so nothing is wasted other than the digestive tract. One deer (not counting shoulders) gives us around 25 meals. We are up to 3 now, as of yesterday. Looks like they are beginning to move a little better so we should be able to get at least a couple more before the season ends.

Could have shot a doe Saturday night with the muzzleloader. But waited to see if there was a buck around and just like that it was to dark too shoot.

19 rabbits, 35 squirrels, & 6 coyotes.

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HBCH CH Gotta Go Freakin Deacon
CH Andrea`s Crybaby Emma
CCH Mtn Views Art of Deception
LPRCH LPCH Big Country MoJo

hunting season has been good to our family this year.
My 11 yr old shot his first squirrel (and several more after that one).
13yr old shot his first deer (10 point buck). and I got a big 8pt during archery season, an 8pt with my truck(not planned), and a large 12 pointer yesterday during shotgun deer season. Have 2 more land owner tags I will use for does.
We have been very blessed this season.

So Far, 3 Bucks and 3 Does. The does were all nice and fat, but every one of the bucks had already depleted their body fat. We actually had apples and beech mast this year, but the acorn crop was small, scattered, and gone by October.

Not going well for me.