Whitetail deer season 2023-2024

I took my first buck and it was my first deer with a bow last weekend . He’s not huge but it’s special to me

IMG_0303.jpeg
 
MN rifle season ended yesterday. Had to pass on this huge deer... no rifle with me. The small 8 pt was harvested after a long night shift, perfect for our freezer.

Browning BAR. 30-06 using 150g corelok bullets (junk by cheap)

MN, Lake Co, morning hunt from ground stool.
 

Attachments

  • 20231111_080511.jpg
    20231111_080511.jpg
    3.5 MB · Views: 106
  • 20231114_091556.jpg
    20231114_091556.jpg
    8.6 MB · Views: 109
Took early trip to S. Texas for varmit and pig patrol and do some scouting. Saw some nice young bucks but not really moving yet.
IMG_3379.jpeg

My son went with me and helped out pig patrol with 10 confirmed kills. While waiting on the next victim to show he found a huge bobcat that fell to the 308. It was a beautiful cat. Made for a successful weekend.
IMG_1101.jpeg
 
Me, my kids, and a neighbor have been chasing this buck for three years. We’ve had him on cameras each year but this morning was only the second time anyone has seen him in daylight. None of the kids wanted to get up this morning so dad took the shot. He was chasing a doe hard and would never stop moving. I have to admit to a little buck fever having targeted this buck for so long and finally having a scope on him. I ended up taking a 160 yard shot angling hard away as he was walking out of the green field back to the timberline. Not my preferred shot but the 300WSM and my Africa loads (180gr AFrame) performed perfectly.View attachment 570156View attachment 570157
I don’t know exactly how old he was, but I feel like this deer was bigger last year. Looking at this cam picture he was taller last year but maybe not as massive.View attachment 570158
The blind was a lot more crowded this evening!View attachment 570160
That's a beautiful buck!
 
We capped off the Illinois first gun season with somewhere around 15 deer in the cooler, from the total extended family that comes to deer camp. Had a great 3 days of hunting even with less than ideal weather. A lot of good rut action still going on. A good mix of does and some smaller bucks taken with two great stud bucks in the mix. We'll all come back together the Saturday after Thanksgiving to butcher them and prepare sausage meat and deer steak to divide evenly.

Both of these bucks were ones that I had some trail camera pics of but only a few, so I didn't have much to go on for them. They both just slipped up and daylighted in front of the wrong guys!

The one buck was very old, heck of a rack, and barely any teeth left in his mouth. I cut out the incisors to send in for aging, what was left of them anyways. I'm very interested to see what they say, I predict 8 years old or more. I suspect that's why he only weighed 166 pounds as well.

The season has really shaped up well from the slow October bowhunting, I got my 8 pointer, now these two bucks are in the salt, with a few more bucks left for me to chase into the later part of season.

unnamed (2).jpg
kev buck .jpg
unnamed (1).jpg
unnamed (4).jpg
unnamed (5).jpg
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Took early trip to S. Texas for varmit and pig patrol and do some scouting. Saw some nice young bucks but not really moving yet.
View attachment 570515
My son went with me and helped out pig patrol with 10 confirmed kills. While waiting on the next victim to show he found a huge bobcat that fell to the 308. It was a beautiful cat. Made for a successful weekend.
View attachment 570516
That's a heck of a cat! that's awesome.
 
Beautiful Lumber on that Rifle
 
I connected on a South Georgia buck this morning. I used my new to me Ruger M77/MarkII in 30.06. I was shooting Remington ammo loaded with 180 grain Swift Sirocco Bullets at 2700ft/sec. Shot was about 50 yards and the deer ran about 45-50 yards after the shot. Had my future son-in-law hunting with me this morning as well so I had good help dragging and getting the deer loaded up and taken care of. Hope everybody has a wonderful Thanksgiving.
IMG_6173.jpeg
 
Got this nice buck on my Illinois farm opening evening. Shot him at 283 yards with my new 450 Bushmaster built by Bear Creek Ballistics.

IMG_1850.jpeg
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I shot this KS buck 3 weekends ago with my bow, using 125gr Kudupoints at 13 yards. He went down within 60 yards.

The bigger news is my daughter (12), who shot her first doe last year with my 300BLK, and declared that she wanted to get a buck this year.. I told her that she'd probably have to put in more hunting time for a buck than a doe and she said that's what she wanted to do. After 6-8 hunts, she connected yesterday morning with her crossbow for her first buck! She shot him at 18 yards. He ran about 25 yards up a hill before he stopped, staggered, fell and rolled back to his resting place, about 20 yards from where he was shot.

She's good with her bow (recently upgraded to a Mission Hammr) but we're still building up draw strength before using it to hunt. She used a Killer Instinct Boss 405 with QAD Exodus broadheads. I'm so proud of my girl for sticking with goal and doing a great job when the time came!

It's been a great November in our bit of KS woods!
20231104_090539.jpg
20231124_083249.jpg
 
Got some good quality family time at the deer camp (South Ga) with my 2 kids, daughter 11 and son 8. My daughter got her first deer, a nice doe, she made a perfect shot and she was down within 30 yards. The next evening I was able to get this 9 pointer, we have been getting pictures of him for a couple months (some are in a trail cam thread on here).
IMG_7373.jpeg
IMG_7386.jpeg
 
My youngest got a nice one. This deer was 6 years old (about 218") and had not been seen since last year. He showed up during Thanksgiving and the rest is history! We are coming out of the drought it seems so we are hoping for a great 2024.

IMG_4201.jpeg
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Step daughter got her first buck today, Mossberg patriot .243 with 100 grain soft points, dropped him in his tracks at 75 yards. Funny rack, a weird spike on one side and a little claw shaped thing on the other side.

img_3_1701130505769.jpg
 
Last edited by a moderator:

Forum statistics

Threads
57,872
Messages
1,241,987
Members
102,214
Latest member
FreddieMau
 

 

 

Latest posts

Latest profile posts

Looking to buy a 375 H&H or .416 Rem Mag if anyone has anything they want to let go of
Erling Søvik wrote on dankykang's profile.
Nice Z, 1975 ?
Tintin wrote on JNevada's profile.
Hi Jay,

Hope you're well.

I'm headed your way in January.

Attending SHOT Show has been a long time bucket list item for me.

Finally made it happen and I'm headed to Vegas.

I know you're some distance from Vegas - but would be keen to catch up if it works out.

Have a good one.

Mark
Franco wrote on Rare Breed's profile.
Hello, I have giraffe leg bones similarly carved as well as elephant tusks which came out of the Congo in the mid-sixties
406berg wrote on Elkeater's profile.
Say , I am heading with sensational safaris in march, pretty pumped up ,say who did you use for shipping and such ? Average cost - i think im mainly going tue euro mount short of a kudu and ill also take the tanned hides back ,thank you .
 
Top