I think I might be an idiot!

[Upton O. Good]

Well done, if you passed on him then he wasn't what you were looking for. Plus, if you hunt that area again you'll be watching for him, it brings more anticipation to your hunt.

 

[gillettehunter]

I'm with you guys. I usually hunt mule deer in Oct and then in Nov hunt whitetails. Has to be a good mule deer as I'd rather eat the whitetail. Unlike some of you as the season winds down I'll shoot a eating deer. Got a 171 mule deer a few years ago. Shot my eating whitetail this week. Always next year to look for the big one. Good luck on finding the big one! Bruce

 

[BRICKBURN]

............. Unlike some of you as the season winds down I'll shoot a eating deer. ............Bruce

I can't bring the meat back from Africa, what else can you do.

I take the eating deer from a different area than where I hunt the trophies.
Have to keep that freezer stocked.

 

[Wheels]

I can't bring the meat back from Africa, what else can you do.

I take the eating deer from a different area than where I hunt the trophies.
Have to keep that freezer stocked.

I wish our North American wild game tasted as good as most African plains game tastes.

 

[Diamondhitch]

I hear u guys, i got lucky last yr and connected on a +190 gross WT, just happened to be at the right place at the right time... Havent seen as much this year, all CWD hunting and last yrs winter, it could be a tough year for deer at least where i live.... Any ways here is a field pic of him, should be getting him from the taxidermist in a few weeks!!! A 160 is a good deer, but i try to hold to that 170 or better and to say the least, i havent shot much for deer the last while...

Great buck. Huge and plenty of character. Congrats.

 

[Diamondhitch]

They charge pretty big money in Texas for even a 150 class buck. I do get your point though. We have elk in Arizona that are truly huge. The last one I killed a few years a go was just average here, perhaps even a bit below. Friends I have in Idaho would have taken him quite quickly and be happy to do it.

If you do ever have an opening in your deer camp...I'm there. I started my hunting in Virginia and actually miss sitting in a stand bored and cold for hours waiting for those few exciting moments when a deer ventures in completely unaware of your presence. Best of luck to you or your wife, hope one of you gets a monster.

I would love a big elk, if you have room in elk camp... Average elk here is a 4-5 point raghorn with the odd one making it to maturity. Remote areas have more mature bulls but are much harder to hunt.

 

[Diamondhitch]

I wish our North American wild game tasted as good as most African plains game tastes.

x2.

 

[garyleach]

X3!!!!

 

[Diamondhitch]

Well it didn't happen for Christine today but not for lack of sightings, just lack of opportunity. We saw 8 bucks and 3 were shooters! (no they weren't 180", they were shooters for her). 2 would have been in the 150"s, 2 were 140ish, 1 2yr old, 2 yearlings and a gorgeous heavy long tined 160" 4x4. The problem is they just wouldn't stay still! One yearling walked calmly by and the rest either blew through hot on the trail of a doe or at a slow lope that no amount of grunting could coax them out of.

The big guy, and he was gorgeous, was the only one that she should have had a crack at. She was sleeping and I saw a doe appear at the edge of the bush. I gently jabbed Christine in the ribs with no affect. The doe showed all the signs of a stressed doe being chased so I jabbed much harder and finally got a response as the doe tore across the cutline. I said get your gun up. She said "its just a doe" I said Get your gun up and get ready. She again said "its just a doe" that was about the time I noticed thick 12-13" tines at the edge of the cutline. I did a quick and exited chicken imitation "Buck, buck, buck" as he committed to crossing. Upon seeing the buck she grabbed her gun and almost got on him when he stopped for just a moment at the far edge then took that last step intro cover seconds before she was settled to shoot. Now you may surmise that she will listen to me in the future, at least when it comes to hunting, but I doubt it! LOL

There is always tomorrow

BTW her friend was also out with her husband tonight and got her 1st deer, a 2yr old 4x5. She is pretty exited about it, apparently no amount of coaxing could convince her to hold out.

 

[enysse]

Those quick shots are hard for beginners, at least she saw a big one.

 

[PHOENIX PHIL]

Good day in the woods nonetheless Diamond!

 

[timbear]

Sometimes I pity North Americans with their deer tags. In New Zealand and Australia, deer are considered pests. If you want to shoot one (or 2 or 5), all you need is a firearms license and permission from the land owner. I can go out any weekend I want and hunt deer (there are times I leave them alone, but not because someone tells me to!). There is always venison in the freezer.

 

[bluey]

I wish our North American wild game tasted as good as most African plains game tastes.

I don't know wheels, your elk tasted pretty good when l was over there in Canada ( almost as good as our samba )
halibut wasn't to shabby either , first frozen fish I had eaten for a long time

 

[Diamondhitch]

Good day in the woods nonetheless Diamond!

I'll say. No complaints but it can certainly be frustrating.

Sunday was dead, 12 does and no bucks by 2pm. Christine had to work in the morning so I picked her up and took her out close to home and we saw 12 does, a spiker and a bigger buck that was working a field too far out to tell size, he never came our way for a closer look.

Today the bucks were back again. Christine had to work the morning again so I was by myself until 2. I saw a yearling, 2 2yr olds, and a honker of a heavy 5x5 buck that blew by at 40 yds. I have not seen this many big mature bucks in such a short timeframe for many years, which is weird because overall the numbers of deer are down dramatically, like down by 50% of what we had last year which was down 90% from what we had in 2006, we have never recovered from the winters of 2006 and 2007.

Once again the bucks had their foot on the throttle, no slowing down whatsoever with the exception of the yearling who did the usual head down steady trot by. I walked up to where the big buck crossed and attempted to track him hoping he would bump into a doe and slow down a bit. I followed for about 2 hours and he never broke a trot the whole time except when crossing a couple other cut lines where he broke into a lope, needless to say I never saw him again. He was definitely a shooter, over 170, heavy and a bit of trash and palmation for character. This full throttle business is getting real old real quick. I have never seen so many bucks in such a hurry, usually some blow by and most come at a trot and stop at a grunt but not the past few days that's for sure.

Anyway I picked up Christine and we went back to the same field as last night and bumped a doe who had an admirer lurking just inside the treeline who blew out with her never giving us a look at size then saw 19 does, a spiker buck, and right at last light a bigger buck that came in to 100yds or so but it was snowing so hard and so close to the end of legal (within 5 minutes) that it was impossible to say how big he was. Christine is now officialy frustrated. She asked if she should shoot him and I just asked her "would you be happy with a 135?" She said no so I said all I can tell is he is at least that big and we know there is a 135" buck working this herd so that could very easily be him. I give her credit though, even with huge adrenalin pumping she stuck to her guns to hold out for at least a 4yr old buck, maybe Saturday.

P.S. the heavy buck from Friday and the big guy today both came by just before noon. Stick to your stands boys theres no deer at the cafe'!!!

 

[Diamondhitch]

Sometimes I pity North Americans with their deer tags. In New Zealand and Australia, deer are considered pests. If you want to shoot one (or 2 or 5), all you need is a firearms license and permission from the land owner. I can go out any weekend I want and hunt deer (there are times I leave them alone, but not because someone tells me to!). There is always venison in the freezer.

Bears and coyotes, that is what we can shoot with no limit or season (on private land). Neither of which tastes worth a Sh#%!!!

But we do have generous enough bags if you are willing to do a bit of travelling to the zones with the most tags. Mule deer 1 Buck, 3 does, Whitetail 1 buck, 2 does, 2 black bear (crown land) unlimited on private land, 1 Moose, 1 Elk, 1 Bighorn sheep, Unlimited Bison, 1 Cougar, Unlimited Wolves and Coyotes and that doesn't even include all the special tags available through the draws like Antelope and Mountain Goat. We have nothing to complain about and no regrets.

 

[Diamondhitch]

Those quick shots are hard for beginners, at least she saw a big one.

Ya she is a great shot but needs to work on speed. She tends to thy to hit the "hair between the other hairs" instead of somewhere centerish on the lungs. It is definitely hard to get the close enough or "minute of Whitetail" accuracy across to newbies who have been taught to take accurate, controlled shots on the range to build shooting skills, but in this case she actually would have had plenty of time to shoot if she had raised her rifle when asked. Unfortunately sometimes we need to learn things the hard way to really get it. LOL

 

[BRICKBURN]

......... Unfortunately sometimes we need to learn things the hard way to really get it. LOL

Very True words.
Rookies facing one way, not watching behind them, as deer cross a cutline.:sleeping:
The deer were actually standing in the cutline watching them from behind.:doh2:

I wish there was a camera present.

Bucks are moving today. Lots of single tracks touring the country.

Come one Thursday!

 

[Diamondhitch]

Well season is over and once again I never got a chance at a monster. Oh well there is always next year. Christine did get a nice buck though. On Friday the neibor was supposed to take her out but delivered hay during last light primetime instead? No sense of priorities. LOL

I slipped into the field she was supposed to be hunting in 15 minutes after the end of legal time on my way home from work and there were 3 bucks there, a nice 4x4 and a heavy 5x5, both of which she would have loved to take if only she had been there!!! We made plans for Saturday last day of season.

She could only hunt the 1st and last 2 hours of light so we had our work cut out for us. In the morning we saw a spiker and a nice young 135" buck which she passed. That was it for the morning, no buck but that was OK because this is a far better evening spot. On our way home we saw several bucks bedded way out in the open with does in fields we don't have permission on, none were shooters anyway but that was encouraging, the bucks were certainly very active.

2 hours before dark we show up to see the landowner hauling hay across "our" field! We left with plans to come back 1 hour before dark, which we did. We had only sat for a couple minutes and a really amazing 2 year old came by, he was a 4x4 that would have gone 125" or so which looked huge on his small head and body. Shortly after he left 3 does and our spiker, who is a regular, came by and the 4x4 returned to run him off. they played around for awhile and another small 4x4 came out with a couple more does and joined the fun. Thick fog was rolling in and 15 minutes before the end of legal light and the end of season 3 more does appeared from the mist coming straight across the open field toward us followed by a splayed out 5x5.

Right away Christine was exited. "can I shoot him?" "Let me get a look at him... OK he is a nice buck but wait until he gets closer" "I can shoot him right there" "He is over 300yds, just wait he is coming straight at us" "but I can shoot him right now, he's huge" Read this with increasing uncontrollable excitement! "Wait a minute, he isn't as good as I thought, I don't think he is a shooter" I said to try to remove some of the mounting buck fever "but he looks huge" "I guess he is OK, I will stop him then you shoot him if you like" (insert grunts here) Bang, he piles up flops once and lays still. "oh my god, oh my god!!!!! I got him, was he a shooter" LOL "load your gun and get back on him in case he gets up" She does " youll be happy with him, I downplayed him to calm you down a bit" "I wasn't that exited" (Ya right, she was still vibrating)

He is a real nice buck, not the heavy buck I saw the previous night but certainly big enough to not take a chance waiting for the heavy one with 15 minutes of season left for sure! More importantly she was ecstatic about him and it is her 2nd biggest buck and a hell of a 3rd deer. Main frame grosses 154" and his 3 "devil" points off his bases bring him up to almost 158" gross and his outside spread id 22". Congrats Christine!

View attachment 23971

View attachment 23972

 

[Diamondhitch]

Almost forgot to mention, she immediately posted it on facebook and almost immediately (2 minutes later) someone reported her for posting pictures depicting graphic violence. She only allows access to her page by invitation so she posted her displeasure and asked the person who did it to unfriend her then made the picture her profile picture. 2 minutes later it was also posted as depicting graphic violence. Antis are such ignorant imbiciles. We are still awaiting facebooks decision regarding the suitability of her photo.

 

[BRICKBURN]

Almost forgot to mention, she immediately posted it on facebook and almost immediately (2 minutes later) someone reported her for posting pictures depicting graphic violence. She only allows access to her page by invitation so she posted her displeasure and asked the person who did it to unfriend her then made the picture her profile picture. 2 minutes later it was also posted as depicting graphic violence. Antis are such ignorant imbiciles. We are still awaiting facebooks decision regarding the suitability of her photo.

I'd start sorting some "friends" out in short order. Amazing.