2014 Off Season Support Group Deer Season Thread

[anhle]

Whitwell, TN.  25F overnight, max daytime temp was 38F.  Will be 27F again tonight.  10-15mph breeze throughout the day.

 

Got on the field at 11am; first time on this 60acrs private land that has not been hunt for many years.  Owner showed us the boundaries with his dog.  Got permission from owner to scout with one AR rifle for both father & son.  Owner left us at the edge of his outermost boundary, 3/4 miles from our car, but took us 45min to climb the hill and over all the fallen trees, and thorn bushes.  As owner start walking away from us, we both were thankful for the gift he gave us.

 

Max distance before striking a branch....15yds.  Max visibility of 30yds in most places.  In rare place, 50yds.

 

15min later, two does bounce toward my son and I.  Both would have run us over, but did a 90degree turn at the last second 10yds from us.  One follow 10 sec after the first.

 

This was an unexpected gift, just to see deer!

 

This is my son first still hunting, and first with a 16in AR/rifle.  He was not ready, and was not comfortable shooting at a running deer.  Large does, at least 150lbs.  He shot a deer on a stand with a crossbow two years ago.  This is his first true hunt, on the ground, and still hunting, on unfamiliar territory.  I gave him the rifle, and taught him the rules of the hunting, and serve as his safety observer.

 

Son wanted to move 2min after the does ran away from us.  Told him no, and to be patience.  Sure enough, a spike followed the does 5min later. Spike just wandering around, eating this and that, but no good angle, and all the branches are covering him.  Son gave me the thumb up, asking permission to shoot, I gave him the thumb up, seeing his gun wavered.

 

Spike started to walkaway from us.  I rustled the leaves.  Spike turn around looking directly at us.  Gun barrel now steady.  Son took a shot, but shot under spike and throwing dirt on him.  Spike jumped straight up and disappear.  No blood.  Can't find anything.

 

Son got angry at me for rustling the leaves.  I explained.  He understood.

 

This was an unexpected 2nd gift, son got a chance at pulling a trigger at deer!

 

Couldn't see anything for the next two hours.  Son got cold.  He now learned to listened to dad when I told him to bring the heavy jacket with him, but didn't.  I didn't want to argue, and figure he will learn from experience.  He did.

 

3rd gift, son learn the value of dad's experience.  Still gave me some lips though.  What do you expect from a teenager?

 

Later on, saw a does bouncing away, 50yds from us.  Next four hours, heard alot of squirrel which son later make fun of dad for thinking it was deer.

 

Saw a 10lbs owl 10ft from us on the way back...for 30sec.  That was one brave owl!

 

Got back to the car, which sat on an open hay field.  Son was burnt, went to sleep inside the car.  I decided to hunt till the end of legal hour, sitting on the cold ground a leaning against the car.  Wait an hour.  Heard noise; anticipate a deer from one quadrant. Wait another hour in 29F temperature, after spending 6 hrs in the open on a cold and blustery day.  

 

Saw ears, then eyes, then head, no antler.  Doe then saw me.  Took off running until 10ft from the treeline then stop.  While doe was running I have the cross hair on her.  When she stopped, I put a 223 55g hp round on her neck.  I was looking at her butt.  Wait 45sec.  15min left of legal hour.  Look inside the car, figure son has woke up or would open the door and ask "what's up".  He was sound asleep!  Left him alone, and hope for the best. Why wake him if I miss.   Walk toward the spot where I last saw the deer before the concussion and the ringing noise now in my ear.

 

Don't know if I can find blood in this low light, don't know if I have to track her or not if my shot connect.  Walk toward the spot where I pull the trigger.  40yds away, saw deer skin.  Got excited.  Did 180 and get back to the car to wake up son, and load the doe before everything turn dark.  Told son I got a deer. He thought I was kidding.  Safety the rifle, and unchamber the round.  Put rifle in the car.  Empty my pocket for the ardous work ahead.

 

80yds away.   Drop dead on the spot where I last saw her.  Bullet enter the back of the neck and exit the front.  It was an instantaneous death.  (Thx Lord.)  Fourth gift.

 

Son and dad drag the ~150lbs doe to the car.  I touch the doe's head, and say a thankful prayer, and wish doe a safe journey back to our maker.

 

Last deer I shot was in 1989.  It has been a long time.  It was a good & memmorable ride back home for father and son, fifth gift.

 

Altogether, it has been an exciting day for my teenage son and I.  We were lucky to see deer.  Lucky for both father & son to spend a memorable day together in the field.

 

Since it is going to be 27F overnight.  I decided to field dress the deer tomorrow.  Neck shot, no organ was damage.  We both were tire, except for the adrenaline rush.   Son, and now his middle brother and younger sister, wants to do it again.

 

Gun:  The DPMS Sweet 16 bull barrel AR put 3/4" 3 rounds group at 100yd, and 1.5" 7 rounds group by dad with plain Fed AE 55g fmj.  Son can do 4in group at 100yd.  3-9x40mm Leupold Rifleman.

[rugerla1]

anhle, that was an awesome story and glad y'all got to enjoy it together!!! Hard to believe he slept through a .223 round going off outside the car! LOL

[Guest Bonedaddy]

Very cool!

[Sidinman]

Cool story and a great experience for the both of of you.Congrats to you.

[Slappy]

I got lazy earlier.  Its been a long weekend.  Here is my story though:

 

Woke up saturday morning at 3am and took my scent free shower.  Made my way to my dads house and met him there and loaded up.  Dad taught me how to hunt so it is always special getting to share the outdoors with my dad.  So we left at 3:40am to go to our hunting property that my father in law owns.  He has 425 acres with a mix of 70% mature hardwoods and 30% food plots and bedding areas.  FIL just got the property a little over a year ago and my dad had not hunted it but once before and he didnt feel comfortable being on it yet, especially walking to a stand he has never been in when its pitch black dark.  So I decided to hunt with my dad in the blind.  These blinds are 5x6 and 10ft off the ground so there is plenty of room for us both.  

 

We walked to our deer stand overlooking 20 acres of standing soybeans with our high percentage shots around the 150yrd range or less.  The wind was stiff from the north but we were very comfortable in our blind.  We got in our blind at 5:30am and hunted until 11:30am and only saw 1 deer!!  That doe was cruising too, she was only in the field a few seconds and not enough time for us to open the window, put on hearing protection and get the gun up.  

 

We really had high hopes.  This property has a crap ton of deer and they were no where to be seen. 

 

We also had 3 other family members with us that were hunting in other spots of the property.  2 of the 3 had the same experience dad and I did.  If they saw something, it wasn't for long!  My FIL was able to get a doe though hunting over a wheat/clover field not too far from where my dad and I were hunting.  

 

So at 11:30am we decide to go into "town" and get lunch.  So we grab lunch and I thought everyone was going to go back to hunt afterwords.  Well they all flaked out.  They were tired and ready to go home.  I told them, these deer havnt hardly moved all morning, when they start moving, you don't want to miss it!  Of course, the cold front kept coming in all Saturday so deer movement was looking more and more likely.  

 

So dad and I are both a little crippled at the moment.  I had pretty invasive knee surgery 4 months ago and I am at 50%, dad is just old and needs new joints.  So we decide we will drive to the stand my FIL got his deer out of.  On the way to go to his stand, we come out on the field where another family member was hunted that morning and didn't see anything.  Well right there at the edge of the woods, 152 yards away from our vehicle were 2 doe standing there, frozen, looking at us!  So I took a picture of one and decided it was time to make a shot.  So I get out of the truck, put my blaze orange on, get my gun out of my case, load my gun, put my hearing protection on and rest the gun on the hood of my dads truck.  I squeezed one off and she only ran about 40 yards before she succumbed to the 130gr .270 round.  

 

So I quickly sent texts and photos to all the "fair weather hunters" that left after lunch instead of coming back to hunt.  So we throw the deer back in the truck and continue to head on to the stand we were planning on hunting out of.  

 

When we get to that box stand, my dads college was playing so we turned on the iphone radio and listened to his team for a few hours and not seeing much in the way of deer movement.  But by about the start of the 3rd, a 5pt buck walks out broadside at  55 yards.  We watched him feed for probably 15 minutes before a button buck walks out on the other side of the field at probably 40 yards.  So we enjoyed watching them both.  We are only taking does off the property this year to help out with our management goals.  

 

Well a few minutes later and about 5 minutes until sunset (35 minutes of legal shooting time left) this BIG BERTHA of a doe walks out.  She was massive, she was probably around 150lbs.  I had to keep looking at her head to make sure there were not antlers, haha.  She was VERY alert.  So when she turns her head, dad gets his gun up and tags her.  She ran about 30-40 yards.  So when we loaded her up, every field we passed by or through had deer!  some with 1 or two, others with 6 or more!  We ended up seeing 21 deer that night! 

 

So yeah, we really rubbed it in thick to the guys who chose not to hunt.  haha.  

 

It was great spending the whole day hunting with my dad.  The last time we hunted in the same stand before was probably 15 years ago.  

 

Like an idiot though, I left my hunting coat out at the farm.  So I went back out today to get it.  In the process, I had about 35 minutes of legal shooting light left so I sat down in a chair on the edge of one of the fields we saw a bunch of deer in.  Like clock work, nice doe walks about about 10 minutes after I sit down and I watch her come from about 80 yards to about 30 yards to me.  So much fun!  I didn't shoot her because I didn't want to deal with the after shot recovery and loading her up by myself especially with my bad knee.  

 

So I can't wait for next weekend!  

[Guest Bonedaddy]

Cool! That's the way Sunday was, too. All the deer were movin' late. Hope they continue that trend for a couple days more, at least.

[rugerla1]

Went out again this morning, headed home, gotta go to work. No luck again, but cold again :)

[kckndrgn]

This is the 2nd year hunting some property (20 acres) near Sardis, TN.  Last year we saw 2 does in the field as we pulled up the drive.  

 

This year my FIL saw 2 deer from his stand, they didn't stop long enough to get a shot, dang it.

About 3:30 sunday, sitting in my stand had a small buck come into view.  Waited, patiently while it meandered around in front of me.  Got my shot off but went low.  Oh well, the deer are there, I'll be back out next weekend, praying I get something then.

 

Got to admit, that this was only the 2nd time in my life I've shot at a deer. The first time was prolly back in '91.

 

Over the summer got lots of pics of does on my trail cameras, trying to figure out where put my stands and food plots.

[Luke E.]

This is the 2nd year hunting some property (20 acres) near Sardis, TN.  Last year we saw 2 does in the field as we pulled up the drive.  

 

This year my FIL saw 2 deer from his stand, they didn't stop long enough to get a shot, dang it.

About 3:30 sunday, sitting in my stand had a small buck come into view.  Waited, patiently while it meandered around in front of me.  Got my shot off but went low.  Oh well, the deer are there, I'll be back out next weekend, praying I get something then.

 

Got to admit, that this was only the 2nd time in my life I've shot at a deer. The first time was prolly back in '91.

 

Over the summer got lots of pics of does on my trail cameras, trying to figure out where put my stands and food plots.

 

 Putting hot lead in a deer is the same as putting it through paper.. point and click. You'll get another chance and at least you're seeing deer! There are much worse things than shooting low, last year I lost my first deer. I was tucked between two pieces of bluff rock that were sticking out of the side of the hill and as the sky started to get a little gray that morning I saw 3 doe come out of the woods about 40yds away. I eased my safety off, put the crosshairs on her and pulled the trigger, she bucked up sprung back into the woods crashing through brush and limbs and I smiled because all I saw was meat in the freezer. I stayed put for about 15 minutes or so and then eased down to the spot she was standing to start tracking her (first time i've ever had to tracked my own deer, they always dropped withing 10yds). I got about 2/3's of the way down and noticed a sapling about the size of my thumb that was broken and doubled over and started to worry i'd missed her. It ended up being way worse than a miss, I got to where she was last standing and found a pile of stomach contents and followed a sparse trail of it for 10 yards before it stopped. I never found the first sign of blood and even after picking up my Dad and grabbing a dog she still was not found. After 3-4 hours of looking I decided to call off the search and that was the worst I have ever felt about hunting. Not only did I almost certainly kill that doe but I gut shot her because I didn't see that sapling between her and the tip of my barrel. I'm sure it was a long painful death and for that I felt horrible but i'm sure the coyotes had a feast. No matter how big a bullet you shoot there is no replacement for shot placement and knowing everything between you that might throw that off. I for one will be more mindful of things like this in the future.

Good luck taking your first deer this year!

[Slappy]

Was able to sneak away from work a little early and am now in my deer stand! Sitting over 20 acres of standing soybeans hoping to catch one! Was here for a morning hunt this past Saturday and only saw 1 crossing so hopefully an evening hunt will yield different results.

[DaveS]

Was able to sneak away from work a little early and am now in my deer stand! Sitting over 20 acres of standing soybeans hoping to catch one! Was here for a morning hunt this past Saturday and only saw 1 crossing so hopefully an evening hunt will yield different results.

This cold is hard on my bones Brother. Will wait until it warms up just a touch.

 

Dave

[rugerla1]

Was able to sneak away from work a little early and am now in my deer stand! Sitting over 20 acres of standing soybeans hoping to catch one! Was here for a morning hunt this past Saturday and only saw 1 crossing so hopefully an evening hunt will yield different results.

Good luck brother!!

[Slappy]

Haha, I hear ya! I'm in a nice box blind so that helps with the coolness and the wind.

This is what I am hunting out of.

http://www.redneckblinds.com/predator-combo-blind.php

[DaveS]

Haha, I hear ya! I'm in a nice box blind so that helps with the coolness and the wind.

This is what I am hunting out of.

http://www.redneckblinds.com/predator-combo-blind.php

NICE!!!! Me personally would have to have a duck blind heater in it!

 

Dave

[Slappy]

Haha, not going to lie. I wish I had one right now! My father in law has one of those Mr. Buddy ones and he loves it. Probably sleeps through most the deer movement though! Haha

[Slappy]

My buddy just got one about 800 yards as the crow flies from me. Apparently the deer don't want soybeans right now. :-(

[Rightwinger]

Took my youngest Sat/Sun and we went with the express purpose of stocking the freezer first this year rather than wait till December to hope to see a doe.  Worked out okay.  We each got a doe within 2 minutes.  Does are stupid.  The second one came to see what just happened after I dropped the first and my son got that one.  Butchered today minus one backstrap that we ate Saturday evening.  Back out Friday morning.

 

[KahrMan]

Took my youngest Sat/Sun and we went with the express purpose of stocking the freezer first this year rather than wait till December to hope to see a doe. Worked out okay. We each got a doe within 2 minutes. Does are stupid. The second one came to see what just happened after I dropped the first and my son got that one. Butchered today minus one backstrap that we ate Saturday evening. Back out Friday morning.

Nice. You are also correct, does are stupid.

[KahrMan]

Haha, I hear ya! I'm in a nice box blind so that helps with the coolness and the wind.

This is what I am hunting out of.

http://www.redneckblinds.com/predator-combo-blind.php

That is a real nice stand. Could have used it yesterday and I would not have gotten so wet.

[Rightwinger]

Wife just informed me that she snagged some pictures of me and the boy when we got back to the cabin.  (yeah yeah, the wife went along, shaddup..lol).

 

Anyway, if anyone is squeamish or letting someone that is look over your shoulder, be warned.

 

 

 

 

Figured I would post that I'm doing my part passing along tradition.   He got really tested today when we butchered them here on the carport when we couldn't hold the knifes anymore.  Freaking cold!

[Luke E.]

Wife just informed me that she snagged some pictures of me and the boy when we got back to the cabin.  (yeah yeah, the wife went along, shaddup..lol).

 

Anyway, if anyone is squeamish or letting someone that is look over your shoulder, be warned.

 

 

 

 

Figured I would post that I'm doing my part passing along tradition.   He got really tested today when we butchered them here on the carport when we couldn't hold the knifes anymore.  Freaking cold!

 

 Never skinned one head up like that.. Any benefit to it or is that just how you were taught vs. how I was taught? I'm always up for learning a new trick.

[Sidinman]

I took my new Marlin 444 out for a little stroll today. It got its first blood. This little doe crossed the field at 133 yards, and I introduced her to the hot rod  444.

Edited November 28, 2013 by Sidinman

[Sidinman]

I've some more pics. of this gun in my thread in long guns.(New t444ss) if you care to gander.

This thing is fast becoming my favorite long gun.

Edited November 28, 2013 by Sidinman

[Rightwinger]

 Never skinned one head up like that.. Any benefit to it or is that just how you were taught vs. how I was taught? I'm always up for learning a new trick.

 

Developed this a few years ago when I got the 4 wheeler.  It's just so dang hard to field dress one on the ground that I dragged it down to the cabin and hung it up.  I did the head down thing for a while but just for giggles (and after learning a new way to skin and gut catfish) I tried this.  Now we used to hang them a bit higher but the old board across the trees got weak and we replaced it, just lower than it should have been.  What I found was you can make your normal incision around the private areas and get a good shot at the pelvic bone.  With that removed, I just stand up and unzip the body cavity with a gutting hook, open the neck area and cut the throat and the whole gut pile will just fall out at your feet.  Leaves the carcass less bloody and lets us drag the still intact gut pile up the hill a bit (and wait for coyotes).  It just became my way when I can hang em.  If I hunt other areas, I still do it the standard way on the ground.

 

By the way, a fellow showed me how to quickly skin and gut a catfish by taking a big spike nail with him.  Hang the cat by the nail through the skull, make a slit all the way around the head and one long slit down the length of the back, grab a pair of needle nose pliers and PULL.  Fish is skinned.  Unzip the gut, cut the head off, severing the throat area and just pull down, fish is now gutted, ready to fillet or just fry depending on size.  I figured why not try it on deer.  It worked.

[Rightwinger]

I've some more pics. of this gun in my thread in long guns.(New t444ss) if you care to gander.

This thing is fast becoming my favorite long gun.

First deer I ever took was with a Marlin 444.  Great brush gun for our TN woods.  Glad to see it's still popular.