How was your opening weekend of deer hunting?

[Outdoors Junkie]

I wasn't at deer camp for the opening weekend (heading there Wed thru Monday). My grandma, dad, mom, aunt, and my son were there. My son had a great first day. He shot a doe from the new platform stand on opening morning and a seven point buck from one of our permanent stands in the afternoon. How'd everyone else do this opening weekend?

[attachment deleted by admin]

[The General]

I sat with my son for his first ever deer hunt.  We built a nice enclosed stand in hopes of this day.  He shot at an okay 8 pointer Saturday morning and passed on a small doe in the evening.  Sunday we didn’t see anything except for some pheasants.  We had a blast sitting in the stand with the heater on playing cards and talking while the wind was blowing hard. He had his snacks and his hit chocolate so he was good to go.  He is back at it with Grandpa this morning.

[gophergunner]

We had a great hunt.  Three guys in the woods, 3 deer harvested by 11 a.m. Saturday.  Mike, our newbie, shot his first deer with a .270 he borrowed off me.  My son Eric shot a yearling, his first deer also, and I got a nice sized doe.  I was able to instruct both of them on gutting their deer.  We made it out of the woods before the rain picked up.  We got a 6 pack of MIller to celebrate our success, and sat in the warm, dry cabin all afternoon watching football.  It was a good day.

[mike89]

that is great!!!

[Steve-o]

It was really nice to hunt with snow on the ground for the first time in... well... almost more years than I can accurately count.  I'm sure it has been close to 10.

We took two doe between four hunters.  I had one wonder past at 8:30 and shot it.  It ran over by my daughter, who gave it the coup de gras.

With bad weather in the forecast we were glad to have two for the freezer Saturday morning.

This also gave us the advantage of getting into the CWD testing line early.  There were only 4 trucks ahead of us when we got in line, but when we pulled out of town an hour later - around noon - the line was around the building and out into the street.  If any of you guys had to have their deer tested, how long did you have to wait?

Also, did any of you see any signs of the rut?  Chase phase?  Peak?  Nothing?

[deadeye]

I just got back from four days of hunting. It was great. Lots of deer.  Saturday and Sunday were a blur but I know is saw 18 on Monday and 10 by noon today.  Anyone with us who went in the wood saw deer.  Well even those who sat at camp saw deer as they fed in the field by the cabin at all hours of the day. 
I was a game hog and shot two bucks.  One nice 8 pointer that weighted 160 pounds and a broken up 9 pointer that weighted in at 195 pounds. 

This is the view from my stand after shooting the 8 pointer.
I shot him at 20 yards as he was on a collision course with my tree.


8 point on the ground.

[mike89]

excellent!!!!!

[deadeye]

I'm not sure what to think of this buck.  He would have been a 9 point but three points are broken off.  Also, not much of a rack for a 195 pound (dressed) deer.  Yes, it was on the scale. 
 
 I took this picture while sizing him up.  I knew his rack was broken but he looked like a mature
 deer to me.  Finally I decided to shoot him. 
 

Still not sure of his age, but I think he would have to be older to weight what he did.

[mike89]

well he liked a good fight??? 

[Boar]

awsome deadey,  we had a tough weeke d with o ly 2 deer shot,  sausage deer bkth 2.5 yr olds. my daughter had a bead on a nice forkkie for her, but she did t quire have her thumb safty fully foraward on her rifle, whe she corrected the buck was e 3 steps from the woods an gone.  memories of the game,  a mile north of us has about 4 seperate quarters of land in corn some harvestex and some still standing, which is why im sure things are tough in our woods. good luck!

[glenn57]

Still a nice deer deadeye. Were they broke off from fighting or deformed from the get go??

[deadeye]

Broken in buck fights for sure.  My theory is this.  He was an older big deer that wanted to enforce his dominance but for some reason, didn't have the antlers to support his power and just busted them up.  I plan to keep a lower jaw to check his age.  I don't think a deer under 4.5 years old would dress out at 195 pounds.

[dakids]

Our group got 4 bucks Saturday and spent sunday processing them.  We got 5 more monday 3 bucks and 2 does.

I will be hunting Saturday  with my youngest daughter.

[deadeye]

Are you sure there are any left?? Great job and good time by all would guess.

[dakids]

Are you sure there are any left?? Great job and good time by all would guess.

Plenty left.  Everybody was very happy. 

[savage270]

For the second year in a row, my wife shot her buck and mine and I got stuck with all of the work  

As always, it was a great time spent with family and I am just recovered enough for ND's opener tomorrow

[deadeye]

Very nice that she takes the chore of shooting the bucks off your plate.

[markn]

Picture of 11 year old grandson. Don't think we could wipe that smile off his face with a D8 CAT. Just two more inches of snow last night, going to finish my coffee and head out to do some scouting around.

[attachment deleted by admin]

[ThunderLund78]

Had the hunt of a lifetime last Saturday...
I hunt at my parent’s place with my Bro-in-law and Nephew. They had filled their tags by 9:30 am with a basket-rack 8-pt and a half-rack 3-pt.  They had dragged their deer out by 11:00 on both sides of me, making a lot of noise and leaving a lot of human scent.  I kind figured my day was over because of that. I had just eaten a sandwich and had my gun sitting beside me in my stand when a doe came charging in over my right shoulder over the ridge and stopped dead in her tracks, half-way down, once she noticed me.  Then I heard a big grunt – she was being followed by a beast.  I grabbed my gun and she made 90 deg turn in back and away from me - and the buck followed – thought I blew it.  Then I think she cut the deer drag trail left by the other two and it scared her back down the hill and the buck followed her. They were far to my right and it was going to be a Hail Mary, but I told myself if he presented himself broadside in the clearing above the creek bottom I was gonna pull the trigger and he did, so I did.

He took off like a bullet into the bottoms and I thought I’d missed him, I went to look where he stood and found no hair or blood, I had pretty much chalked it up to a failure.  But I decided to go check out the area he ran towards and looked around for 10-15 min and finally found a speck of blood - then a few more. I followed a faint trail to the creek bank and then I felt a sinking feeling as I realized that he could run through the flowing creek either way for yards and I wouldn’t be able to track him, now I was fearing I had lost him wounded.  I walked up the creek about 20 feet where a few logs had fallen over the bank found blood on a small sandy area where he had ducked to get under a log.  Then I looked up and saw him.  He had laid down in the creek, put his head on a log and died.  All-in-all he probably didn’t make it 100 ft from where I shot him.  But it’s not like he crashed-down, it’s almost like he posed.  You couldn’t stage a more peaceful scene.  I could just see his back against the log and his head was perfectly propped so I could see his rack sticking up.  It was unreal, very emotional and an experience I’ll never forget.  Beautiful 10 point symmetrical rack with a 16” inside spread.  I caped him out and am having a shoulder mount done.  Got 60 lbs of meat out of him – and that’s with having to throw out half the left shoulder from the shot, you’re lucky to get 45 lbs on an average buck – he was an absolute mule!  Took 3 of us a couple of hours to drag him out through awful undergrowth, prickly ash and brush  – I think the deer got the last laugh on that one.

Pics of him in the water were exactly how I found him - I did not re-position anything for the shot, except for the last one when we moved him up on the bank to dress him out.



[attachment deleted by admin]

[Rebel SS]

Holy wow!!! What a story...and pics!!!! Way to go, TL!!!     

Tried to "Like" ya, but the "like" button won't work on the site today.... plus it keeps logging me "out"
    

Ya, I know, maybe it's tryin' to tell me something...

[mike89]

nice all the way around TH!!!!!!!

[LPS]

Great story.  Good thing you took that walk to see for sure. 

[Reinhard]

Some great stuff here.  Many memories.  Went up last Friday through Tuesday.  Weather wasn't the best all day Saturday with light rain and a mix of wet snow.  Didn't see anything or even heard any shots.  Sunday there was no rain or snow and conditions improved.  I didn't see anything.  On Sunday my nephew's son got his very first deer, a medium sized buck.  That was worth the trip for me besides being there.  Will go back for the last weekend.  Glad I'm not there this week.  10 below zero there today.   good luck.

[deadeye]

Great memories there TL78.  Always good idea to follow up for sign of a hit.

[Jerkbiat]

Deer camp was sloe for us this year. Seemed like when the snow started flying the end of October the cameras showed hardly no more deer in the food plots. We seen no deer for 5 days. We end up spreading out on state land in the area and managed to get 2 does before going home on Friday. Then my second hunt begins. We hunt state land by our home and then the wife joins me. Last year I bought her a rifle s she could hunt. She would always come sit with me , but she was always worried about the recoil. So, I bought her a 7mm-08 and it was a perfect gun for her. Saturday evening we seen a couple small doe and fawn that she let pass. Sunday late afternoon a deer popped out. We looked and it is a spike. All we could see for the longest time was his head and the top of his back. He was eating in a bunch of tall weeds. Finally after a good 10 minutes he stepped out quartering to us. My wife took a shot and shot over it. ah oh, figured I better get him before he bolts and I did the same thing. What the heck. My wife had racked another round while I was shooting and boom, down he goes. Good shot hone I said. His one horn did fork at the top. I think I may have taken off the other horn when he was trying to get back up. i took a shot to finish him off. Her she is with her first deer. I couldn't be more happy!


[attachment deleted by admin]

[glenn57]

  nuttin wrong with that JB!!!! CONGRATS to your bride. you better go out and get one or it could be a long year listenin to it!!!!!!!!!

[mike89]

good job JB!!

[deadeye]

Very nice jerkbait.  It's always a tough call when to fire again at a well hit deer. 

[Jerkbiat]

I told her that she is the shooter this year. I am just there for back up. Just in case the big boy shows up and she gets buck fever I will be there to save the day.

[Outdoors Junkie]

We got three deer this past weekend. May dad got a 7point buck and doe and my buddy got a doe. My daughter (first year at deer camp) was a trooper with the -11 degree temp on Friday morning. She saw a small doe from our ground blind on Sunday but had trouble locating it in her scope. Then it must of caught our scent and ran off. All 7 of our hunters seen deer from their stands this weekend.

[attachment deleted by admin]