2023 deer season.

[deadeye]

Way to go glen57.  Glad to see you checked out the MDHA office in Grand Rapids. Alice has been with the office staff for less than a year but has a knack for getting things done. I may just have to get some of these signs.

[glenn57]

Way to go glen57.  Glad to see you checked out the MDHA office in Grand Rapids. Alice has been with the office staff for less than a year but has a knack for getting things done. I may just have to get some of these signs.

I met Justin and Alice about 6 years ago when they both worked in grand rapids at ASV building skid steers and we where union organizing the place.

Good people. Still stop and BS with them on my way to the cabin now and then.

[Steve-o]

Hunt leader said there was a chance of rain next Saturday, now Wunderground.com sez PM snow showers on Sunday.  Barometric pressure rising a bit Friday into Saturday in the 40s.  Looks to be shaping up to be a nice opener.

[Boar]

Funny

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[mike89]

 

[Boar]

Cant help but think of deadey on this one

[deadeye]

Ha, I guess if I ran into this situation, I would just assume someone gave me a wheeler. 

[Boar]

How glenn sees the deer he shot.

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[Steve-o]

My kind of "Hero Shot!"    

 

Deerzilla!

[LPS]

Just like the fish pics, holding them out as far as you can.   

[glenn57]

How glenn sees the deer he shot.

your just jealous you didn't get one that big and I did!!

[Pulleye16]

Best. Photo. Ever.

[Steve-o]

Not too much action.  Saw some does, no bucks.

I was grunting away Saturday evening during the last hour of hunting.  With 10 minutes 'til sunset, I perceived movement in the distance.  I put my scope up and all I saw was a wall of twigs between me and that spot.  (Your brain filters that stuff out, but the scope does not.)  Still, I didn't see a deer in there.  I didn't wait until the end of legal shooting, it was getting pretty dark, and I knew they guys were already waiting for me, but just as I lowered my gun, a deer turned tail and ran off.  It was still about 100 yards out, give or take.

Live by the call.  Die by the call.  You might get a deer to come your way that might not have otherwise thought to do so, but you give away your exact location.  And this one was spooky and had no intentions of closing the distance while there was any light to see by.

[LPS]

I grew up in SW MN so I usually go there when deer hunting.  Not this year though.  Talked to my buddy there who is a farmer and he said he isn't seeing any deer hunters driving around and not hearing any shooting.  It used to be that hunters were always on the move and we could hear shots all around the area.  Times are a changing.

[Steve-o]

So, LPS, is it the number of hunters that is down?  The deer population?  Or both?

[Steve-o]

My daughter missed a close, drop shot on a spike buck she wanted for her freezer. 

Her .243 might have been deflected by a twig or maybe she just pulled the shot.  The deer was really close at a high angle.  There is also a chance, based on the angle, that the shot hit high on the back, angled down missing the lungs, and lodged in the shoulder on the opposite side without causing an exit wound.  That is one way she could have hit it without a blood trail.  Any bleeding would have been internal.  Either way, the deer got away.  If she had got lung, we should have been able to find it in our search.  I am curious to find out if that deer will eventually show up in on the neighbor's game cameras.

[LPS]

So, LPS, is it the number of hunters that is down?  The deer population?  Or both?
[/quot

I am not sure.  We were all fired up weeks ahead of time for deer season.  I don't think it is near of a tradition for the younger crowd.  There are huge corn and bean fields down there and the best soil there is so huge yields. So there is lots of food so would think the deer are still there too. ???  He said about half of the corn is harvested in his area so the deer may be still in the corn.  The more I think about it I don't think the younger ones are interested.  Even in my family.  One brother has a son that hunts but none of my other nephews neices hunt or fish cuz Mom and Dad didn't. 

[Steve-o]

So, LPS, is it the number of hunters that is down?  The deer population?  Or both?

I am not sure.  We were all fired up weeks ahead of time for deer season.  I don't think it is near of a tradition for the younger crowd.  There are huge corn and bean fields down there and the best soil there is so huge yields. So there is lots of food so would think the deer are still there too. ???  He said about half of the corn is harvested in his area so the deer may be still in the corn.  The more I think about it I don't think the younger ones are interested.  Even in my family.  One brother has a son that hunts but none of my other nephews neices hunt or fish cuz Mom and Dad didn't.

Fewer hunters is a real problem.  Standing corn is another one.  Deer go in there an don't want to come out.

And its a double-edged sword...  It takes a lot of energy and rejection for us citiots to get permission to hunt on someone else's farm land.  Where do you even begin to look and who do you ask? 

[KEN W]

Mn deer harvest for opening weekend is down 13% from last year. Down 28% from 5 year mean.

2023......47,100
2022......49,300

[glenn57]

That's cause there ain't no friggin deer up north. Ma nature took care that so did the wolves.

[glenn57]

Our group got one and yours truly got it. nephew says he hit one but never found it.

Went to talmoon.for beer and gas, there where 5 deer there to be registered.

I feel lucky tomorrow.

A week from Thursday I head to my brother's is sconnie to hunt.

[LPS]

Good job Glenn.  Looking forward to seeing it. 

[glenn57]

Good job Glenn.  Looking forward to seeing it.

already cut up

[Bobberineyes]

I feel lucky tomorrow.


[/quote] Aaah,  heading to Inger???     

[glenn57]

I feel lucky tomorrow.

Aaah,  heading to Inger???     
[/quote]awe and this is for you bubba
 

That's all Gunners harrum. Over there.

[mike89]

but he's leaving tomorrow!!!

[glenn57]

but he's leaving tomorrow!!!

well then he's busy saying his goodbyes all night tonight.

[Bobberineyes]

That's why Mike,  the ladies are wide open...lol.

[mike89]

 

[Steve-o]

Read this article and a lot of it made sense.  How much of this resonates with you guys? 

The Case for New, Wood-Stocked Deer Hunting Rifles

In my opinion, that place is deer camp where tradition thrives. The gold standard here would be hunting with Grandpa’s old gun (perhaps a Savage 99 or Marlin 336), but maybe you didn’t grow up in a deer hunting family, or maybe Grandpa is still hunting with his rifle. Sure, you could shop around for a classic, used rifle (maybe an old Remington 700 or a Winchester Model 70), but the nicks and scratches in that rifle won’t be yours. I think there’s still value in buying a new, wood-stocked rifle, marking it with your own memories, and then one day passing it down.

In 22 years of deer hunting Wisconsin’s Northwoods, I’ve never needed to make a shot farther than 200 yards. 

Most of my shots are made in the woods at close ranges. Anyone who has hunted the hectic 9-day Wisconsin gun season knows that shots at bucks are usually quick ones, taken while the deer is moving through timber. My shooting is done from a treestand, usually offhand, or braced against a tree.

I want the rifle to look like the rifles of my childhood. That means a nice wood stock. I can remember back to when I was a little kid, my dad first showed me his deer rifle—a beautiful Browning A-Bolt Medallion that my mom had given him as a wedding gift—and instructed me on how to handle the gun safely and avoid touching the metal on the barrel or the lenses on the scope with my grimy hands. Even as a little kid I could tell that the rifle was imminently important, even if I wasn’t sure why. My dad loves that gun, and he still hunts with it today.

For deer camp, I want to hunt with a rifle that brings back that kind of reverence.