cooperjd
Well-known member
OK, this may end up a long post. so get ready.
this has been one of the slowest and oddest opening weeks in a long time for Dad and I. I went home for the week to hunt, i mean, for thanksgiving.. Well, the weather was hot and windy at first, and no deer showed themselves to me, except for a few does and a tiny lil spike. sunday morning fared a little better for Dad, he saw a big bodied, decent racked 7pt. he called me on the radio, i got a pretty good deer here, but i think i'm gonna let him go. nah, i'm gonna shoot him,.. (pause, listening for gunshot....)
"nah, i'm gonna let him walk"
few minutes later..
"he's putting on a show rubbing a tree and making a scrape, i'm gonna shoot"
(pause, listening for gunshot...)
"nah, i'm gonna let him walk"
we get back to the truck.. ."i shoulda shot that deer" "if i see him this afternoon i'm gonna shoot"
well, he saw him that afternoon, so the buck got a ride in the truck.
now this deer is the only deer that was rutting, he was a big bodied deer would dress about 140lbs, with a big swollen neck. his antlers just didn't match up with his body size, so i'm glad he was taken out of the herd.
monday afternoon i finally see another deer (other than the tiny spike that i would see nearly every day). he came out pretty late but i could see he had big forks, and Dad saw a big 5pt during muzzelloader season. i was pretty sure this was the deer, and he needs to be taken out of the herd too, so he offered me a good shot at 200 yards, and the 7mag brought him home. he's 15" inside, but not a very big body, and showing no signs of rutting, no swollen neck, smelled a little, but not too bad, and he was out with the small spike, not in the least bit concerned with does.
i hunted tuesday morning, seeing a couple spikes and very few does. wednesday was about the same, seeing very few deer. we usually see a ton of does, and late season open up a doe cleaning season, but not this year.
thursday morning was another slow morning, but around 830 a 6pt walked out across from me. Dad saw a real wide 6 during muzzelloader season, but coulnd't get a shot, and i thought this was him. compared to his body, his rack looked nice. the deer stepped out of the tree line and started running across the field so i had to act quickly, so i decided to go ahead and shoot. i hollered at him to stop him and put him down about 100 yards away. this guy never heard the gunshot, and went straight down. got down to him, and he is a decent deer, 15.5" inside, with good mass in his beams all the way out to the tips, but his body was tiny. he had hoof disease, his toenails were in bad but recovering shape. you could see his spine and his neckbones, i think they show up in the picture. i never weighed him, but i would guess about 110lbs dressed. another good deer to take out of the herd, only being a 6pt, and my processor tells me he was 3 1/2 years old. could be, his skull was a good bit thicker than the other deer i killed, and i'm pretty sure he was 2 1/2.
now to the next morning 23 nov. just after daybreak dad tells me he has a good deer way out in his field, with a good frame, so he's going to shoot. this deer is nearly identical to the other one he got, but a little wider at 16" inside. but they are shaped identical to one another, with a good side and a weak side with a big fork. i would like to get this gene out of our herd too.
so overall it was a great week. we hunted a lot and had a ball. but as far as seeing numbers of deer, it was one of the worst weeks in a long long time for us. also, i don't know if the drought had a lot to do with the lack of points on the antlers, or if it was genetics. dad saw a ton of deer during mz season, just couldn't get a shot at anything. our processor is also only doing about half of their normal business, and its like that for all the processors in the area. hopefully the deer are just hiding out in the woods eating acorns and avoiding the fields, and thats the problem. the folks i hunt near are not seeing anything either. hopefully the does will start showing themselves over the week of Christmas, with taking 4 bucks out we will definately need to take out some does to help balance the herd. Hunters feeding the Hungry got a lot of meat this week, as we both have an elk to eat, so really don't need the deer. also, the only deer i saw chasing any does was the tiny spike, no decent deer was even half interested. maybe the rut will come on soon. i hate i missed it. good luck and good hunting.
this has been one of the slowest and oddest opening weeks in a long time for Dad and I. I went home for the week to hunt, i mean, for thanksgiving.. Well, the weather was hot and windy at first, and no deer showed themselves to me, except for a few does and a tiny lil spike. sunday morning fared a little better for Dad, he saw a big bodied, decent racked 7pt. he called me on the radio, i got a pretty good deer here, but i think i'm gonna let him go. nah, i'm gonna shoot him,.. (pause, listening for gunshot....)
"nah, i'm gonna let him walk"
few minutes later..
"he's putting on a show rubbing a tree and making a scrape, i'm gonna shoot"
(pause, listening for gunshot...)
"nah, i'm gonna let him walk"
we get back to the truck.. ."i shoulda shot that deer" "if i see him this afternoon i'm gonna shoot"
well, he saw him that afternoon, so the buck got a ride in the truck.
now this deer is the only deer that was rutting, he was a big bodied deer would dress about 140lbs, with a big swollen neck. his antlers just didn't match up with his body size, so i'm glad he was taken out of the herd.
monday afternoon i finally see another deer (other than the tiny spike that i would see nearly every day). he came out pretty late but i could see he had big forks, and Dad saw a big 5pt during muzzelloader season. i was pretty sure this was the deer, and he needs to be taken out of the herd too, so he offered me a good shot at 200 yards, and the 7mag brought him home. he's 15" inside, but not a very big body, and showing no signs of rutting, no swollen neck, smelled a little, but not too bad, and he was out with the small spike, not in the least bit concerned with does.
i hunted tuesday morning, seeing a couple spikes and very few does. wednesday was about the same, seeing very few deer. we usually see a ton of does, and late season open up a doe cleaning season, but not this year.
thursday morning was another slow morning, but around 830 a 6pt walked out across from me. Dad saw a real wide 6 during muzzelloader season, but coulnd't get a shot, and i thought this was him. compared to his body, his rack looked nice. the deer stepped out of the tree line and started running across the field so i had to act quickly, so i decided to go ahead and shoot. i hollered at him to stop him and put him down about 100 yards away. this guy never heard the gunshot, and went straight down. got down to him, and he is a decent deer, 15.5" inside, with good mass in his beams all the way out to the tips, but his body was tiny. he had hoof disease, his toenails were in bad but recovering shape. you could see his spine and his neckbones, i think they show up in the picture. i never weighed him, but i would guess about 110lbs dressed. another good deer to take out of the herd, only being a 6pt, and my processor tells me he was 3 1/2 years old. could be, his skull was a good bit thicker than the other deer i killed, and i'm pretty sure he was 2 1/2.
now to the next morning 23 nov. just after daybreak dad tells me he has a good deer way out in his field, with a good frame, so he's going to shoot. this deer is nearly identical to the other one he got, but a little wider at 16" inside. but they are shaped identical to one another, with a good side and a weak side with a big fork. i would like to get this gene out of our herd too.
so overall it was a great week. we hunted a lot and had a ball. but as far as seeing numbers of deer, it was one of the worst weeks in a long long time for us. also, i don't know if the drought had a lot to do with the lack of points on the antlers, or if it was genetics. dad saw a ton of deer during mz season, just couldn't get a shot at anything. our processor is also only doing about half of their normal business, and its like that for all the processors in the area. hopefully the deer are just hiding out in the woods eating acorns and avoiding the fields, and thats the problem. the folks i hunt near are not seeing anything either. hopefully the does will start showing themselves over the week of Christmas, with taking 4 bucks out we will definately need to take out some does to help balance the herd. Hunters feeding the Hungry got a lot of meat this week, as we both have an elk to eat, so really don't need the deer. also, the only deer i saw chasing any does was the tiny spike, no decent deer was even half interested. maybe the rut will come on soon. i hate i missed it. good luck and good hunting.
