I'm giving Hevi-shot a try this weekend, hopefully it's worth the cost. I actually bought a box of the blended loads with hevi- and steel together (BB shot), as a box of 10 Hevi-shot shells is still more expensive than 25 of the blended ones. Hopefully it's harder on geese than purely steel... not like hunting gear is ever over promoted. Got a preliminary weekend set for hunting pheasants in South Dakota this December. It'll be cold and snowy, but we'll still see plenty of birds (maybe shoot some) and probably clean up reserve fields for the rancher whose land we hunt on. Last time we did that, we pushed a few thousand out of one plot. It's a good problem when half the trouble is picking which one to shoot out of a flock.
My gun of choice is still the 300WSM 185grain kiss of death, after 4 days of hunting I had no shots and only 1 day left. In the whole time I was there not one single bull came to the cow call until this guy, he ran out of the brush with his buddy about 40 yards from me and I had an off handed kneeling shot that I yanked the trigger on it hit him in the spine, the bull sat down and I put one through his lungs and heart and it was all over.
Very nice. Were you mainly hunting in open land like that? How long does it take to dress and pack out one of those beasts?
That was a meadown about half a mile from where I would park my atv, then I had to hike up there, most of the area is scrub brush, cedars, pines. I was hiding in some brush near the meadow because it gave me the biggest field of view. This is a shot of where I was hunting from a mountain acrossed from it, this is where I glassed from, on the left of the picture you will see a finger going up to the meadow and then to the right of the finger there is another finger I was between the two fingers from let to right Spoiler
Spoiler Had a couple of visitors this morning. One just slipped back into the field. The only shooting action we got was a 10 second flurry where a flock of teals whistled past us and turned around to decoy. I shot one of them, so it wasn't a complete bust.
I'm far from an expert. In fact, I'm yet to loose an arrow, but I'm also looking to get into archery so I can share my experiences with you. I've been spending WAY too much money on ammo lately and they have a free outdoor archery range just a few blocks from my house so I figured I'd give it a go. There are actually 3 types of bow; Long bow, recurve bow, and compound bow (the one with the pulleys). You're going to probably want a compound bow. They are a lot more consistent so whether you're going to use it for target shooting or hunting, consistency is key. Finally, find an archery shop in your area and talk to one of them. You need to find a bow with the proper draw length and weight and one that feels right to you. That's not something anyone on the internet can do for you.
We have a hog problem at our place, they're out-smarting me, and I'm looking for new ideas. Here's what I'm doing currently: - I've set out three traps -- all swing door -- baited with corn and diesel (I heard diesel was an attractant, and keeps the coons away, which are an issue). One is also baited with catfish stink bait, because I heard that was worth a try. All three are along major hog paths, with tracks and rooting around them. I buried the floors on two, and left it exposed on one. When I put in just straight corn, the deer get into them. I think the hogs are just trap-shy. - I go out in the mornings a few times a week to hunt with my rifle (sighted in at 100 yards), sitting along those trails from about 5:30-7:30. Unfortunately, two things happen: 1) I can't go out as much as I'd like, being that I'm in law school and that takes priority. 2) When I do see a hog, it is always in a place that is less-than-ideal to shoot into. Night shooting is tough enough (when you don't have someone else to hold a light), and when you can't tell an animal's eyeball from its asshole, it can be downright dangerous to pull the trigger on something you can't 100% positively identify. I'm going out this Saturday morning with a buddy to a place they've recently started tearing up. I'll bring my .243, and given that there's no other option, he'll be shooting slugs through my 12 gauge. I'd like to get us within 50 yards for him, but 80 yards max is probably the limit. Ideas on bait, traps, or tactics? It's becoming less of a property-damage danger, and more of a but-I'm-smarter-than-them principle.
Got some good time in a tree stand. Twenty minutes after I got there a little six pointer trotted by like it was no ones business. I'd rather wait and see if I can't find something bigger. Fuck I missed doing this stuff. Maybe I am spoiled from living in Ohio but deer seem to fall from trees around here.
Christ, yes you are. I'm used to hunting deer on public land so that little six would be hanging from a rafter right now if I were you.
A fucking bird landed on my head today. I don't go that nuts with the camo but it was a first. I could tell they could smell me they all perked up directly down wind and a couple of doe must have saw me and scurried off. They came back around right as I was getting ready to go.
Because I'm required to wear a fair deal of blaze orange when deer hunting and still have deer come obliviously close to me sitting in a tree or sitting on a bucket with my back to a tree, I'm thinking it's about sitting the fuck still and having the wind at your face. Given, I don't have to be too close to kill deer since I hunt with a 12 ga. or .270 and am not shooting arrows, but I'm skeptical of scent eliminating camo being multitudes more effective and not a slight improvement with a big ass price tag.
Went out hog hunting this morning, three of us. Two of us had scoped rifles, my buddy had 6 rounds of 1 oz slugs in my semi-auto 12 gauge. Walking to where we were gonna setup, completely exposed in the middle of a gravel road, got surprised by at least two hogs maybe 20 yards away from us, max. Specifically, one a big-ass boar. Pigs were in the shadows though, and you can't (or at least shouldn't) shoot what you can't see. Not that I really wanted to shoot at that close distance anyway. Unless we put it down on the first hit, that thing would have charged us quicker than I could have pulled my pistol to dispatch it.
Re: Re: The Fishing and Hunting Thread Camo does help, scent blocker and the entire sub industry that has exploded from it is just a waste of money. From age 12 to 23 I spent all of my free time in the woods from September to january 1st hunting deer and scouting. Up until I was 19 or so I spent untold hundreds of dollars on scent lock Camo, sprays, soap, etc. When drinking and hunting became synonymous I found out that if your really still and the wind is in your favor none of the other shit matters. I have shot all of my deer under distances of 40 yards, most of the time reeking of the bar that I was in 5 hours earlier. I smoke and open beers in my stand and it hasn't bothered the deer at all, wind and the ability to remain still is key. I don't hunt deer with a rifle or shotgun, just use the stick and string.
Yeah I am weary of the sent lock claims of some cameo outfits. I just use old shit my dad had slathered in raccoon and deer piss which I also question if it actually does a god damn thing. On another I have it better than you note, I was about twenty minutes late getting out today (fucking ipod clock and it's 20 minute snooze). I saw a young buck crossing the main part of my grandpas farm driving down his driveway. As I walked around the corn field I came up on one and had to string my crossbow and creep up, just as another one he was with comes out of the corn and spots me, they both took off. At my usual stand the same buck and does I saw the other day wander by and another six point buck (can't be sure if it was one of the earlier two) came darting through. Going to change my position up to another spot they come out.
NOTE: The following is based on white tailed deer in Ontario, and I have no idea if it applies to any of your La Grunta deer farms down there. Deer are curious animals. They will come to investigate noises that they don't recognize. We had part of our hunt camp harvested for lumber, and I'll be fucked if we didn't see a handful of deer just standing there watching the equipment work over those four days. The four days before the season started. Fuckers. We use quads to get to the remote areas we hunt in. We've learned that once you stop and park the quad, get your fucking rifle locked and loaded in a hurry, stand still, and keep your eyes open along the path you just came along. Sit there for about 20 minutes, as there's a good chance that a deer will follow your path to see what that racket was, even more so now that it's stopped. Likewise, if you're walking through the woods either stalking or dogging, stop every now and then, stand behind a tree, look behind you, and wait for 10 minutes or so. And if the deer are in the rut, and you see a big-ass doe come running out of the brush, wait... odds are pretty good there's a buck chasing it. Mind you, that might not be pertinent to you as we have really sparse deer populations North of Toronto, out of the corn fields, which means we're not too picky. If we see a deer, and have a tag for it in our group, the gut reaction is to waste it, rather than wait for some trophy or something. We're after meat, not points. And salt licks. Buy one from a local co-op, and if you know you're going to be in a particular stand, salt a nearby stump or something. Might not be allowed, depending on your regs, so check it out. We do it when we're leaving our hunt, so that the deer spend the next 12 months learning to come to that stump. Kind of handy for that one week you're there with a rifle. I also bring a little sterno stove fire tin with me and boil apple juice over it while I'm sitting there. I've watched deer ride the scent in to the buffet. Of lead.
Yeah for what it's worth, I've hunted up and down Minnesota (private and public land) and this state is absolutely crawling with deer. I'm a meat hunter, so if I see one, I'm killing it. The caveat I left out of my previous post condemning spendy scent-blocking stuff is the fact that I've never been bowhunting or have sought out a particular, big ass deer to shoot. Nope, I'm a simple slug hunter. It makes a difference when my goal is just to bring down some brown vs. tagging a Pope and Young buck and if I can see it, I can probably shoot it. I could be convinced it makes a difference when hunting the 4-5 year old mature bucks that have been constantly chased and shot at, but I couldn't care less if I bring home a buck or a big fat doe. I'd even be satisfied with a yearling that can be carried like a heavy bag, knowing they taste the best. The difference is that while there's a ton of deer here, there's a ton of hunters. The first minute of legal shooting hours on opening day would make you believe you're in a war zone... shots everywhere. Sounds like a bag of popcorn is getting ready in the microwave. If I don't shoot that deer, someone else will, and that just sucks for you to pass it up. If you're hunting somewhere that you can pass on a 6pt, fucking enjoy it you lucky bastard. Kubla I hope you post photos of a dead deer today.
We lost our spot to hunt because the guys whose land we usually hunted on aren't going to Colorado this year and are going to hunt it themselves. I doubt I'll go this year because public land is nothing but a giant clusterfuck and I don't appreciated 12 gauge slugs whizzing by me.
Yeah I'd rather lease a spot myself than hunt some public places. I don't know if they were feeding the deer the HGH shit but the dudes at the place my grandpa takes his tractors have leased property in Adams county Ohio, which is supposed to have monster bucks. They have walls filled with monsters. They had pictures of a piebald deer that was ungodly huge that Cabellas paid 14k for the hide. Makes my semi-urban farm deer look like the Florida sub species.
This is the first year for as long as I can remember that I don't have deer hunting plans. Our once-thriving hunt group that used to have upwards of 20 guys come out to the hunt camp dwindled down to 5 of us last year. This year it would have been 3, and just not worth it. Kind of pisses me off... the other guys were bitching about the cost and the time investment, etc., when every year (since 1988, for fucks sake) I've flown in from BC to Ontario to go hunting, rather than just drive the 3-4 hours they have to. The "out of town" expenses ran to close to $2k by the time you factor in airfare, non-resident tags, etc. The upside is that my dad and I have opted to spend that same cash I normally would and go destination hunting/fishing together. He's getting old though... hopefully we'll get a few years in at least.