Rut 2022

[Drilling Man]

  I guess I'm guilty of not wanting to shoot a small buck, but I will shoot a big dry doe, later in the season.

  Last evening, I had 9 deer go by my blind, including a small buck, here's 4 of them feeding as they wandered by,



  There is a bigger buck around, so I thought I'd wait and see if he comes by, if not, I'll shoot something else.

  DM

[jedman]

I ended up shooting a small doe up north on state land. Throughout the first day I seen a few deer , all running then near dark I spotted the one I shot while walking a two track while it was snowing quite hard.
I was shooting light 45 Colt loads in my Henry BBS, she went down on the spot and I had a pretty easy drag with the fresh snow.
Sorry no pics.
jedman

[Drilling Man]

  I bet your doe will taste great!

  I had 9 go by tonight, I'm still holding out for a decent buck, but mostly I just enjoy sitting out and seeing them.

  DM

[M134 Troll]

All the corn in our immediate area was picked last week, including the ground across the road from us.
BIL shot an 8 pt.  at 8:15 AM on the 15th opener and a yoy doe at 10:45 on the 16th.  He was so geeked up when he saw the doe he didn't see the buck about 20 yds behind her.  Hornady SSTs out of a scoped 12 ga 870.   Through and through on the doe which dropped in her tracks.   The 8t. went perhaps 60 yds into thick stuff, no exit hole.  I saw his white undersides before following blood trail.
I missed a 6 pt about 5:00 on the 15th. 90 yd head down and head on shot off a tripod rest.  Well within the capability of the Encore .460 S&W(dead on and 2 inches high at 100 yd sight in) but I was overconfident and impatient.  No hair, no blood despite checking again the next morning when light was better.
Unusual for us to see three bucks in two days, much less on the openers.   We saw 8 deer in two days on hunting dawn to dark.   But the local corn fields had been picked and that is a big change in cover. 
Nasty weather today and the next few days so getting some pre-Thanksgiving indoor tasks done.  No point in sitting in the blind when the wind is howling and the deer are hunkered down in heavy cover.

[M134 Troll]

Jedman, glad you saw some deer up north and had a successful hunt.  The young ones make tender vittles, eh?

Were there a lot of hunters?

DM,  it's as much fun watching them as shooting them.  Always anticipation that more/antlered will join the ones you see.

[jedman]

I didn’t see many hunters but did hear some shooting within a mile maybe ?  I shot my doe with only minutes of shooting light left and took a high shoulder shot. She went down on the spot and I had a 1/4 mile drag out but it was not bad with the fresh snow. I did find a area on the second morning hunt where I might put a ground blind if I return to the same area again.
I still see groups of does , 9 yesterday but they are staying 400 + yards out in the field behind my home and I wount shoot that far.  Like you said the wind has been crazy high since I returned home. Plan on hunting some early this next week.

jedman

[Drilling Man]

  I've been seeing deer every time I go out, 5 last night.

  I'm trying to shoot a nicer buck, but a doe is starting to look better and better!  lol

  DM

[Ranger99]

  I guess I'm guilty of not wanting to shoot a small buck . . . . .

  DM

doesn't bother me at all.
i always say to take whatever is legal and you
want to take. trophies are a matter of opinion.
every animal i take cleanly and legally is a
trophy to me.
not a whole of folks in my region feel that way.
they want everybody to hunt the way they do
and only kill wallhangers to show off and post
online.
wouldn't bother me if they'd tend to their own
and leave me to tend to mine

[Drilling Man]

  I'm not a trophy hunter.  lol  I do like to put the horns of every buck I shoot out of my blind, in my blind, and I do appreciate a nicer set.

  That doesn't mean they have to be some big trophy set.  lol

  I've been hunting all of my life, I've shot multiple moose, brown bear, blk. bear, caribou, even Dall sheep, but I doubt any of them had huge trophy antlers.

  I do enjoy having those antlers around though...

  DM

[Ranger99]

No problem at all with me
I have some, but not on the wall.
They're in a pile in the back unless
someone or something got them

[Drilling Man]

  Well, tonight I FINALLY had a decent buck go by my blind,



  That's a pretty nice buck for around here...

  DM

[billy_56081]

He'll eat!

[Mule 11]

  Well, tonight I FINALLY had a decent buck go by my blind,



  That's a pretty nice buck for around here...

  DM

That’s a beaut. Had a nice buck tonight in front of my kids for youth season and a couple small doe herds yesterday. Could have killed but beyond our shot was not safe. Congratulations on a Fine buck...

[Ranger99]

  Well, tonight I FINALLY had a decent buck go by my blind,



  That's a pretty nice buck for around here...

  DM

I personally think it's really nice.
There's a bunch in my region that
would say " shoulda let it grow a
coupla more years and you coulda
had a real trophy.  . "
I'd have shot it with no hesitation.
Since all the people in my area are
obsessed with "scoring " I'll visually
score it right quick using my own
method
Let's see now  . . . . . 2 hindquarters
Hmmmm 2 backstraps
And 2 shoulders
Hmmmm. And a neck roast

Yep.  It's a trophy

Congratulations

[Drilling Man]

  Thanks guys, I've never scored the horns on ANYTHING I've shot, those kinds of things just don't mean anything to me.

  He will look nice in my deer bling though.  lol

  DM

[billy_56081]

  Thanks guys, I've never scored the horns on ANYTHING I've shot, those kinds of things just don't mean anything to me.

  He will look nice in my deer bling though.  lol

  DM

I  used to hunt for trophy deer, but as  I got older my patience has waned and  I am mich happier with just killing something.

I  think the type of hunting being done now is causing these diseases to spread among deer. Populations are too high from lack of killing deer like everyone used to.

[Drilling Man]

  Thanks guys, I've never scored the horns on ANYTHING I've shot, those kinds of things just don't mean anything to me.

  He will look nice in my deer bling though.  lol

  DM

I  used to hunt for trophy deer, but as  I got older my patience has waned and  I am mich happier with just killing something.

I  think the type of hunting being done now is causing these diseases to spread among deer. Populations are too high from lack of killing deer like everyone used to.

  Where I live, there's so many deer it isn't even funny.  I'll probably shoot a doe yet; I usually do take a doe every year.

  By the way, my buck was so big and heavy, I couldn't drag him!  lol  So, I went home and got my tractor, it has a "skidding" winch on the back.  I drug the cable and a choker out to the deer and used the winch to get him out.  lol



  I've used it in the past for the same thing, it's a back saver...

  DM

[Drilling Man]

  Here's a pict. of him before rifle season,



  DM

[billy_56081]

Did you shoot him with a drilling?  If so share a picture of it please.

[Drilling Man]

Did you shoot him with a drilling?  If so share a picture of it please.

  No, I've been hunting with my 7 Express Remington, I had not used it in MANY years, and I just wanted to give it a little love.  lol  It loves Speer 145BT's, so that's what I load in it.  Over the years I've shot deer, bear, caribou and put much other meat in my freezer with it and that load.

  BUT, here's a pict. of my "most used" hunting gun,



  DM

[jedman]

Way to go DM !  That is a fine buck anywhere,  That’s nice you can drive to him with a tractor to get him home.
I would say your patience has paid off BIG !   CONGRATS

jedman

[Ranger99]

. .I  think the type of hunting being done now is causing these diseases to spread among deer. Populations are too high from lack of killing deer like everyone used to.

JMHO- I can't say for other regions
A lot of the bigger deer hunting operations
buy large antlered breeding stock for the
purpose of enhancing the sell ability of
their hunting operations to those with the
money to pay to kill an exceptionally large
antlered buck to have on the office wall
and post on farcebook, etc.
I personally think it's the penned deer
that spread the disease we see today

Doesn't bother me at all, but those same
types don't want other people shooting
what they consider an inferior " trophy "
My take is to hunt your own hunt and let
me hunt mine
IIRC Ted Nugent put out a video about
that very subject, but I don't have a way
to link it if I find it

[Mule 11]

Those penned deer have been responsible for a lot of the spread of disease.

[Ranger99]

Those penned deer have been responsible for a lot of the spread of disease.

yes, i agree

a free ranging free roaming deer that gets sick
will soon die and be cleaned up by scavengers.
deer ranchers are hesitant to let expensive deer
stock die, so they nurse them along as best as
they can, or as with some regular livestock
breeders, they do as cheaply as they can

[M134 Troll]

DM, That is a very nice buck !   We have a couple of 8 pts around here but they lack the beam and tine mass and tine length of yours.   I have long suspected we had a  buck or bucks with poor antler genes move in a decade or so ago.   I've seen deer as big and bigger than your fine specimen around here but that was easily 20-30 years ago.
I took a couple of days off hunting when the cold snap hit.  Yesterday and today I had does ooze out of the heavy cover 5-10 minutes before shooting hours ended.  So far not to excited about trailing and gutting after dark. And one always hopes a buck is following. 

[Drilling Man]

  Thanks guys, I didn't even go out today as the wind switched to out of the south, and there's no use going to my blind with a south wind.

  Looks like the wind will keep coming out of the south for the next few days too, so I'm going to take a few days off hunting.

  DM

[Drilling Man]

  Looks like there will be plenty of venison to go around again this year, as I shot this meat buck this evening using the open sights,



  My "go to gun" is 87 years old, and still putting meat in my freezer!

  The last big game animal I shot with this gun using open sights, was a nice bull moose.  lol

  DM

[billy_56081]

Very nice!

[M134 Troll]

Well, we are a few days into Michigan muzzleloader season with any legal weapon in this part of the state.  I haven't seen anything  since before Thanksgiving but did not go out a lot.  Harvested corn across the road was tilled with a heavy disc on Thanksgiving so less attractive to local deer.
 Neighbor shot a button buck on 12/2.
Drove up to Les Cheneaux in the UP and back yesterday.  Saw a single deer in a harvested corn field on the way out and perhaps 8 all told up and back north of Clare along I75 and US127. 
I just(AM 12/6) pulled the trail cam chip and found a picture of a massive 8 or 10 pt buck and a YOY from a couple of days ago....at 4:55AM of course.   Nice to know there are still a few around.

[Drilling Man]

  I'm seeing deer out the window of my house, so I know there some around, but I haven't been out since shooting the above meat buck. 

  I already shot two bucks, we just don't need any more meat, so I guess I'm done for the year.

  DM