2023 Hunting Picture Thread

north east redneck said:
Is Kansas similar? Deer more concentrated in certain areas? I don't know much about Kansas at all. Flat and endless fields of crops is my perception.
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Deer here are more concentrated in the wooded edge habitats that border the cropland. And also in the suburbs...
The "flat and endless fields of crops." is a common misconception but the NE part of the state, where I live, has hills and woodlands. The Flint Hills are vast grasslands and Western Kansas, which IS pretty flat in spots,has mule deer as well as whitetail deer.
The big open regions kind throw the whole "Deer per square mile" thing off I think.
 
The deer certainly love suburban back yards.
The suburban sprawl of the eastern parts of Massachusetts also throw the density numbers off. There are a lot fewer deer where I live than there are 100 miles to the East. Lot of towns with no discharge laws and large amounts of unhuntable areas due the set back rules here. Must be 500 ft from a dwelling unless you have written permission to hunt.
I never knew Kansas had such a diverse landscape. So you have mule deer and whitetail, didn't know that. Are there different hunting regulations for each species?
 
Saw a 5 pt five mins before legal shooting time Mon am.
Couple hrs in the wind, and 2 fawns came slinking by.
Sunday my buddy blasted a busted 8 pt, dressed 155#.
He saw it and the 5 pt. All I saw was a button buck at distance (did see the 5 pt and another unknown in the dark when I pulled in).
We saw nothing opening day.
Didnt hear much shootin opening weekend either.
Proly lockdown. Try again this coming weekend.
Having hunted good ground yrs ago, larger too.............hunting a small spot that has to get deer coming across large open areas...........which does happen once in a while, is a tough gig. A grind really. You can hunt day after day and never see anything, then have a bruiser come through.
Bud has killed two over 150". We had one on cam after season, that was killed 2 miles south the next yr gun season. It was a booner.
Ive only killed 125 and 130 inchers (plus a few 100" ) at this place.
The doe I shot was my first deer in 4 years there.
This place tests your patience, discipline and persistence.
 
north east redneck said:
The deer certainly love suburban back yards.
The suburban sprawl of the eastern parts of Massachusetts also throw the density numbers off. There are a lot fewer deer where I live than there are 100 miles to the East. Lot of towns with no discharge laws and large amounts of unhuntable areas due the set back rules here. Must be 500 ft from a dwelling unless you have written permission to hunt.
I never knew Kansas had such a diverse landscape. So you have mule deer and whitetail, didn't know that. Are there different hunting regulations for each species?
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The wildlife department has the state divided into "zones" and some allow extra antlerless deer tags. Archery only in "the burbs" if you can get permission.
We're only allowed one buck tag for either species and to hunt mule deer requires a special tag that costs 10$ extra. The seasons are the same though.
 
My son shot his first deer earlier this season, last week actually, and then he promptly followed that up two days later with his second. That was great but it is not the main concern of this post. His first deer was a perfect shot, but the second hit liver. We trailed for a long time through some really thick stuff, and eventually lost blood. He needed to eat, and sleep, so I marked the last blood and we backed out to get him home. 3.5 hours later, giving time for an obviously mortally wounded but also tough deer to die, I returned with Jolene, my walker/pointer mix.

I got her to last blood, sat her down and said “find it.” Two hundred yards later, after I was questioning her decisions, she gave a victory bark showing me that I was the idiot for ever doubting her. It took her about ten minutes to follow the exact footsteps of that deer with precious little blood to trail at times.

I seriously wonder how such a perfect dog could have come to us free after being rejected by so many families at the rescue place. I told my wife, and I’m serious about this, that if I’d known then what a great dog she would be, I’d have been willing to pay ten grand for our free dog.

IMG_2558.jpeg

Edit to add: I love the other two also, but in a tough situation I call for Jolene (jojo) every time, so she got the call last night.
 
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6BE75521-C321-4112-9B40-D50DCC0C3704.jpeg Blooded the Waypoint 300 Win Mag this morning. Just a shade over 200 yards. 180 grain Swift Scirocco broke the facing shoulder and punched through the opposite side taking the heart and both lungs in the process. She fell at the shot and got back to her feet just long enough to make that 180 degree half loop that whitetail are famous for before she crashed in the same spot where I shot her.
 
Got him!

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Today is the opener of the PA rifle season. The boys were hunting in the woods behind the house so I elected to sit in a stand located in a grove of pines up front. I feel uncomfortable using a rifle because you are shooting towards the road, so I take my crossbow when I sit there. At about 9 o'clock two does and a small, but legal buck came thru. I wouldn't ordinarily shoot one that small but he was limping so I decided to put him out of his misery. At the shot there was a loud crack. I got down and couldn't find blood, or my bolt. I got back up in the stand to recreate the shot, and saw this. I was hugging that tree, but still missed pretty badly.

He kept up with the does when they ran off, so maybe he wasn't hurt as bad as I thought. No biggie. Went back to the house to drink more coffee. I might go back later and see if I can unscrew the bolt from the broadhead and salvage it.
 
marksman13 said:
View attachment 1181279Blooded the Waypoint 300 Win Mag this morning. Just a shade over 200 yards. 180 grain Swift Scirocco broke the facing shoulder and punched through the opposite side taking the heart and both lungs in the process. She fell at the shot and got back to her feet just long enough to make that 180 degree half loop that whitetail are famous for before she crashed in the same spot where I shot her.
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Nice!
 
The older I get and the longer I hunt, the more I enjoy not using the latest, greatest hunting technology. A few years ago I went through a phase of revolver hunting and found shooting deer and hogs with them immensely satisfying, although it does require near constant practice in order to successfully make shots to 50 yds. or so. For a couple of seasons I hunted with an 1886 production '73 Winchester (38 WCF) and an 1866 Uberti (44 WCF) and was successful with both of those. So this year I've been alternating between a 92 Rossi .357 and my old H&R Topper my folks bought me for Christmas in about 1973 (It originally came with 20 ga., and 22 Hornet barrels and I later added 30-30 barrel, which I've been using), both of which have open sights.

But yesterday evening as I was heading to the stand I grabbed one of my I.B.M.-produced M1 Carbine's and a magazine loaded with handloaded soft points. I've been seeing this buck on my game camera for weeks now, but he never presented himself during normal operating hours. But at about 5:25 yesterday evening he stepped out a tad over 40 yds. from the rudimentary brush blind I hunt from. It was an easy shot, but he ran much further than I expected and by the time I had combed through the thick mesquites and fairly tall grass, it was nearly dark when I found him. He's a 10 point minus 2 broken tines, with a 19 3/4" inside spread, and he field dressed at exactly 140 lbs. We had a horrible drought this summer, he should've been a good 20+ lbs. heavier.

CFRMfKZl.jpg
cOOUkjal.jpg


35W
 
35 Whelen said:
The older I get and the longer I hunt, the more I enjoy not using the latest, greatest hunting technology. A few years ago I went through a phase of revolver hunting and found shooting deer and hogs with them immensely satisfying, although it does require near constant practice in order to successfully make shots to 50 yds. or so. For a couple of seasons I hunted with an 1886 production '73 Winchester (38 WCF) and an 1866 Uberti (44 WCF) and was successful with both of those. So this year I've been alternating between a 92 Rossi .357 and my old H&R Topper my folks bought me for Christmas in about 1973 (It originally came with 20 ga., and 22 Hornet barrels and I later added 30-30 barrel, which I've been using), both of which have open sights.

But yesterday evening as I was heading to the stand I grabbed one of my I.B.M.-produced M1 Carbine's and a magazine loaded with handloaded soft points. I've been seeing this buck on my game camera for weeks now, but he never presented himself during normal operating hours. But at about 5:25 yesterday evening he stepped out a tad over 40 yds. from the rudimentary brush blind I hunt from. It was an easy shot, but he ran much further than I expected and by the time I had combed through the thick mesquites and fairly tall grass, it was nearly dark when I found him. He's a 10 point minus 2 broken tines, with a 19 3/4" inside spread, and he field dressed at exactly 140 lbs. We had a horrible drought this summer, he should've been a good 20+ lbs. heavier.

CFRMfKZl.jpg
cOOUkjal.jpg


35W
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That’s the first I remember of anyone deer hunting with a 30 carbine. Looks like it did its job. Don’t ever let it hear of all the folks saying it’s too puny or too old to work. Nice buck too, so nobody can argue that it would only work on yearlings because they are so small.

Pretty buck, pretty rifle, well done.
 
WestKentucky said:
That’s the first I remember of anyone deer hunting with a 30 carbine. Looks like it did its job. Don’t ever let it hear of all the folks saying it’s too puny or too old to work. Nice buck too, so nobody can argue that it would only work on yearlings because they are so small.

Pretty buck, pretty rifle, well done.
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Thanks.

The bullet was a 110 gr. SP, Sierra I think...or Remington. Anyhow it did much more damage than I expected and even more, completely passed through, which I certainly didn't expect.

Entrance wound-

z3ksAoEl.jpg
Exit wound-
xwycmpol.jpg


35W
 
I wrecked my truck the other day (old truck, bent the rear axle) and don't have conveyance suitable for a hunting trip. My friend (property owner from post #263) contacted me today, to talk about all the deer standing around in the woods next to his house, wondering why I haven't come out to shoot another one....:(
 
longbeard92 said:
Got a rifle buck in central Wisconsin/Waushara 10 minutes to dark last night. Always fun dressing and dragging it out in pitch black.
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Congratulations on your buck!
And yes it is a real pain dressing and dragging deer out in the dark.
I shot my first rifle buck in Waushara County not far from Coloma. Many many years ago.....

Did you get a picture to share?
 
WisBorn said:
Congratulations on your buck!
And yes it is a real pain dressing and dragging deer out in the dark.
I shot my first rifle buck in Waushara County not far from Coloma. Many many years ago.....

Did you get a picture to share?
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Don’t know how to upload pics. We are 8 miles north of Coloma.
 
Two more dead pigs tonight. The big sow was strictly a 6.5 Grendel affair. One shot. One kill. DRT. The little fella took a 6.5 CM and several 6.5 Grendels. A couple others made their way into the woods toting lead. Also, the ugly rifle has an ugly side by side to keep it company these days. 892AC1DB-A7B2-4708-8B17-83DD0D963C18.jpeg F315A46F-F69E-43CE-BF27-8F0580C1741C.jpeg 126CD32B-D973-4620-8824-0C200C8B7683.jpeg
 
Pulled an all nighter shooting pigs. Decided to hunt behind my house this morning anyway, and was rewarded with a stately, older gentleman we called Captain Hook. Gave him three years to turn that left side into anything other than a long, bladed spike. He had a large mass under his jaw that seemed like it was giving him some discomfort. The 6.5x55 and I put him out of his misery. One 140 grain Hornady SST did the trick at 87 yards. Center of the shoulder shot broke both of his front pedal pushers, but did not exit. No blood trail, but he didn’t make it far on two rear wheels. Found him piled up about forty yards from where I shot him. B8FE655B-9791-460A-B733-927041FF0DC9.jpeg
B91556DA-F255-49D4-8E3D-D6E101764801.jpeg
 
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marksman13 said:
Pulled an all nighter shooting pigs. Decided to hunt behind my house this morning anyway, and was rewarded with a stately, older gentleman we called Captain Hook. Gave him three years to turn that left side into anything other than a long, bladed spike. He had a large mass under his jaw that seemed like it was giving him some discomfort. The 6.5x55 and I put him out of his misery. One 140 grain Hornady SST did the trick at 87 yards. Center of the shoulder shot broke both of his front pedal pushers, but did not exit. No blood trail, but he didn’t make it far on two rear wheels. Found him piled up about forty yards from where I shot him.View attachment 1181566
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Congratulations on your buck! That is a very cool looking rack. It would make a neat looking European Mount.
 
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