Deer hunting 2018 thread

[jagee]

I hope it was a coyote hunter I heard...0635 is a little early for deer.

 

[Leadeye]

A better morning than yesterday, passed on three younger bucks, woods was alive with critters. Heard one hunter fire 8 times in 3 seconds which in all the years I've hunted I've never heard.

 

[rkwhyte2]

A better morning than yesterday, passed on three younger bucks, woods was alive with critters. Heard one hunter fire 8 times in 3 seconds which in all the years I've hunted I've never heard.

Spray & pray method.

 

[Leadeye]

Spray & pray method.

Hunters from the hood?

 

[chubbs]

"If theres lead in the air, you have a prayer"

 

[jblomenberg16]

Heard some early shots this morning too, 7:01 was the first shot. Then around 9:00 some guys really opened up. I'm hoping they were rabbit or bird hunting.

Had a small 8 walk under the stand this morning hot on a doe that was behind me and wouldn't stop in a shooting lane. Tried all I could to stop him, doe bleat, grunt, sprayed some Tink's 69 in the air. He had one thing on his mind and it was that doe. I stood up and tried to re position to get a shot but even that really didn't bother him. He slid into a draw behind a thicket and while he was broadside at about 25 yards, it wasn't a good enough shot to risk it.

As I was walking out I saw a really nice buck about 400 yards away in the middle of an open field with a big doe. Well outside of my range with my 300blk so glassed him for a while and watched him follow the doe to a treeline about 800 yards away. Hopefully those bucks will still be out in the daylight the next few days so we can get a chance at them.

 

[Mgderf]

Best opening weekend of my hunting career.
I took a small(ish) doe about 11:30am yesterday. She will be freezer fill, and darn tasty to boot. I'm guessing she probably tipped the scales at around 100lbs.
This morning, at 9:28, I took the largest buck I've ever taken. I'm guessing he probably ran about 160-170lbs and had the nicest 9 point rack of all the bucks I've ever shot.

These were both on my property in Fountain county, both taken with a Marlin 1894 in .44mag running 240gr Sellior & Bellot JSP.
The doe was at about 50 yards, the buck at around 70 yards.

I have a good bit of meat already, this is only the first weekend, and I can still take one more doe on my property, then I have permission to hunt property in Tippecanoe county as well.
I can take 2 additional bonus county antlerless there, then another doe for muzzle loader season, and still another during late archery, that is if I'm extremely lucky...

I'm a very happy camper, and a very tired one too!

 

[trailrider]

Congrats to a lot of success. Deer are really moving. Saw a few plump does being harassed by a basket rack tonight when I went out to cut wood. I'll be looking for one of those does next weekend.

 

[Hookeye]

Buddy took a buck just over 160# today at 9 oclock.
8 w split G1, so call it a 9 pt LOL
Maybe 100" or so.

Good one to put in the freezer IMHO.

I'd have shot it.

He used a rifle that belonged to a family member that had passed, was gifted to him.

Very cool.

 

[Hookeye]

I saw a fawn and two does. Heard a buck in thicket, never saw him.
Put the 4X Leupold compact on med doe and said "bang, you're dead" and let her continue to chow on acorns

 

[Landon]

Saw 3 does and 5 bucks today. 3 were small 6 pointers, one was a ten that never crossed the property line so I couldn't take it. And then a big bodied 8 this evening. I passed him up, lots of season left.

 

[Leadeye]

Best opening weekend of my hunting career.
I took a small(ish) doe about 11:30am yesterday. She will be freezer fill, and darn tasty to boot. I'm guessing she probably tipped the scales at around 100lbs.
This morning, at 9:28, I took the largest buck I've ever taken. I'm guessing he probably ran about 160-170lbs and had the nicest 9 point rack of all the bucks I've ever shot.

These were both on my property in Fountain county, both taken with a Marlin 1894 in .44mag running 240gr Sellior & Bellot JSP.
The doe was at about 50 yards, the buck at around 70 yards.

I have a good bit of meat already, this is only the first weekend, and I can still take one more doe on my property, then I have permission to hunt property in Tippecanoe county as well.
I can take 2 additional bonus county antlerless there, then another doe for muzzle loader season, and still another during late archery, that is if I'm extremely lucky...

I'm a very happy camper, and a very tired one too!

Congratulations on a good hunt on your new land.

 

[Mgderf]

Congratulations on a good hunt on your new land.

Thank you sir.
It was a lot of hard work, but more than worth the trouble. A labor of love, if you will.
I also learned more about the animal movement on my property.

New shoot houses are in order for next season, a little further into the property, not to replace, but to supplement the 3 we have.
50 acres is a lot of ground for 3 hunters to cover.

 

[w_ADAM_d88]

First day of VA hunting was a bust. Saw nothing but squirrels this morning and then 2 rabbits this evening. After shooting light while walking out had one blowing at me, but never saw or heard it run off.

 

[Tryin']

Spent eight days trying to get one to come into bow range and on the first day of firearms I have this one at fifteen yards. My first experience with DNR Law Enforcement as well. He was there less than five minutes after I checked her in online. Nice guy.

 

[DEC]

What a nightmare of an opening day of firearms season that I had. It involved a trespasser and a tiny sliver of landlocked land that butts up to one of my farms. I've hunted my ground (owned by a relative) for 25+ years and have respected this land locked sliver. Somehow some twenty something punk got permission for the land locked sliver and after asking all of the surrounding land owners for permission to access it, he convinced one land owner who has about 10' of land that butts up to it. So at sunrise on Saturday, I could see his orange hat. 45 minutes into the morning, I hear "BOOM". I sat there and watched him get down and eventually start making the LONG drag through the woods and swamps to get back to his 10' wide access point. I decided to get down and go to a totally different spot on my property since I knew that portion was a bust. Part of that trip had me paralleling the sliver. I looked down in my field and see fresh boot tracks, so my walk not turned into a human tracking job. Finally I get to where I can see him, still in his sliver of ground. He waived to me, I waived to him, and then he invited me to see his deer. I greeted him half way and we had a nice conversation, which at one point I asked if those where his boot tracks in my field. He admitted that he walked my field in the dark to easier access his stand deep down the sliver and not disturb any deer in there. I politely (not normal for me) explained how that is trespassing and how I had respected that sliver of land all of these many years and that I expected the same from him. He said he understood an apologized. He then took me to see his deer, a beautiful 140 class 8 pointer ... I wanted to throw up, but I had to be the bigger man and I congratulated him. I even took photos for him with his iPhone. We talked for a while and he told me he wasn't looking forward to the long drag. I told him that I was going to go to another area of my property and get some hunting in since the morning was still early and told him to be safe.

Well ... no sooner was I out of sight it turns out, he drug the un-gutted buck up the hill in the sliver and into my field. He proceeded to gut the deer in my field. Then he walked the some 1/2 mile to his 10' wide access point and across the neighbor's land who gave him access, to get his Kia Forte car. He drives the car through the neighbor's hay field, through the 10' wide opening, approximately 1/2 mile through my picked bean field, loads up his deer in the trunk, and then proceeds at that point to slide the car down a hill in my field where it came to rest in a muddy bottom draw right next to one of my treestands. All while I was only 300 yards or so away in a spot where I could not see what was going on. He apparently screwed around for hours helplessly trying to get his car moved but just made it worse. I've never seen a car buried like this ... LOL. Finally at about 1:00 he called me (the neighbor who gave him access also gave him my number) and told me that he had gotten stuck on my land and needed a tractor to get him out. You can imagine how my afternoon went from there. It consisted of law enforcement, multiple land owners, tractors, mud, and me. Sadly, none of the land owners wanted to press charges, though they all had rights to do so. My day was screwed. He had taken a great buck out of the local herd. But he was told by all of the landowners involved that he is never allowed back to cross into that sliver of land. So moving forward no one can access this small parcel that has sat there as a sanctuary for the 25 years that I have been hunting that property.

 

[Mgderf]

What a nightmare of an opening day of firearms season that I had. It involved a trespasser and a tiny sliver of landlocked land that butts up to one of my farms. I've hunted my ground (owned by a relative) for 25+ years and have respected this land locked sliver. Somehow some twenty something punk got permission for the land locked sliver and after asking all of the surrounding land owners for permission to access it, he convinced one land owner who has about 10' of land that butts up to it. So at sunrise on Saturday, I could see his orange hat. 45 minutes into the morning, I hear "BOOM". I sat there and watched him get down and eventually start making the LONG drag through the woods and swamps to get back to his 10' wide access point. I decided to get down and go to a totally different spot on my property since I knew that portion was a bust. Part of that trip had me paralleling the sliver. I looked down in my field and see fresh boot tracks, so my walk not turned into a human tracking job. Finally I get to where I can see him, still in his sliver of ground. He waived to me, I waived to him, and then he invited me to see his deer. I greeted him half way and we had a nice conversation, which at one point I asked if those where his boot tracks in my field. He admitted that he walked my field in the dark to easier access his stand deep down the sliver and not disturb any deer in there. I politely (not normal for me) explained how that is trespassing and how I had respected that sliver of land all of these many years and that I expected the same from him. He said he understood an apologized. He then took me to see his deer, a beautiful 140 class 8 pointer ... I wanted to throw up, but I had to be the bigger man and I congratulated him. I even took photos for him with his iPhone. We talked for a while and he told me he wasn't looking forward to the long drag. I told him that I was going to go to another area of my property and get some hunting in since the morning was still early and told him to be safe.

Well ... no sooner was I out of sight it turns out, he drug the un-gutted buck up the hill in the sliver and into my field. He proceeded to gut the deer in my field. Then he walked the some 1/2 mile to his 10' wide access point and across the neighbor's land who gave him access, to get his Kia Forte car. He drives the car through the neighbor's hay field, through the 10' wide opening, approximately 1/2 mile through my picked bean field, loads up his deer in the trunk, and then proceeds at that point to slide the car down a hill in my field where it came to rest in a muddy bottom draw right next to one of my treestands. All while I was only 300 yards or so away in a spot where I could not see what was going on. He apparently screwed around for hours helplessly trying to get his car moved but just made it worse. I've never seen a car buried like this ... LOL. Finally at about 1:00 he called me (the neighbor who gave him access also gave him my number) and told me that he had gotten stuck on my land and needed a tractor to get him out. You can imagine how my afternoon went from there. It consisted of law enforcement, multiple land owners, tractors, mud, and me. Sadly, none of the land owners wanted to press charges, though they all had rights to do so. My day was screwed. He had taken a great buck out of the local herd. But he was told by all of the landowners involved that he is never allowed back to cross into that sliver of land. So moving forward no one can access this small parcel that has sat there as a sanctuary for the 25 years that I have been hunting that property.

Some people are just dicks.
Sorry about your luck.
Hope next weekend brings you a better hunt.

 

[jagee]

That sucks, DEC. At least you don't have to worry about him in the future.

 

[Winamac]

What a nightmare of an opening day of firearms season that I had. It involved a trespasser and a tiny sliver of landlocked land that butts up to one of my farms. I've hunted my ground (owned by a relative) for 25+ years and have respected this land locked sliver. Somehow some twenty something punk got permission for the land locked sliver and after asking all of the surrounding land owners for permission to access it, he convinced one land owner who has about 10' of land that butts up to it. So at sunrise on Saturday, I could see his orange hat. 45 minutes into the morning, I hear "BOOM". I sat there and watched him get down and eventually start making the LONG drag through the woods and swamps to get back to his 10' wide access point. I decided to get down and go to a totally different spot on my property since I knew that portion was a bust. Part of that trip had me paralleling the sliver. I looked down in my field and see fresh boot tracks, so my walk not turned into a human tracking job. Finally I get to where I can see him, still in his sliver of ground. He waived to me, I waived to him, and then he invited me to see his deer. I greeted him half way and we had a nice conversation, which at one point I asked if those where his boot tracks in my field. He admitted that he walked my field in the dark to easier access his stand deep down the sliver and not disturb any deer in there. I politely (not normal for me) explained how that is trespassing and how I had respected that sliver of land all of these many years and that I expected the same from him. He said he understood an apologized. He then took me to see his deer, a beautiful 140 class 8 pointer ... I wanted to throw up, but I had to be the bigger man and I congratulated him. I even took photos for him with his iPhone. We talked for a while and he told me he wasn't looking forward to the long drag. I told him that I was going to go to another area of my property and get some hunting in since the morning was still early and told him to be safe.

Well ... no sooner was I out of sight it turns out, he drug the un-gutted buck up the hill in the sliver and into my field. He proceeded to gut the deer in my field. Then he walked the some 1/2 mile to his 10' wide access point and across the neighbor's land who gave him access, to get his Kia Forte car. He drives the car through the neighbor's hay field, through the 10' wide opening, approximately 1/2 mile through my picked bean field, loads up his deer in the trunk, and then proceeds at that point to slide the car down a hill in my field where it came to rest in a muddy bottom draw right next to one of my treestands. All while I was only 300 yards or so away in a spot where I could not see what was going on. He apparently screwed around for hours helplessly trying to get his car moved but just made it worse. I've never seen a car buried like this ... LOL. Finally at about 1:00 he called me (the neighbor who gave him access also gave him my number) and told me that he had gotten stuck on my land and needed a tractor to get him out. You can imagine how my afternoon went from there. It consisted of law enforcement, multiple land owners, tractors, mud, and me. Sadly, none of the land owners wanted to press charges, though they all had rights to do so. My day was screwed. He had taken a great buck out of the local herd. But he was told by all of the landowners involved that he is never allowed back to cross into that sliver of land. So moving forward no one can access this small parcel that has sat there as a sanctuary for the 25 years that I have been hunting that property.

Man I feel your pain. Been in your situation before and honestly that is why I stopped deer hunting as I did not own the land I was hunting on (had written permission though) for 20 some years. The "jack wagons" just showed up one year doing much like you just described on the property that adjoined my hunting spot. Trespassed BIG time on to my area and when I questioned him and his buddy they just basically told me to "pi$$ off". I knew if I went to the land owner he would not want the butt pain of dealing with such conflict and would probably tell me(or anyone else) no more hunting. I just hung up my deer gun after that, been 20 years ago now. I guess that is life.

 

[patience0830]

Man I feel your pain. Been in your situation before and honestly that is why I stopped deer hunting as I did not own the land I was hunting on (had written permission though) for 20 some years. The "jack wagons" just showed up one year doing much like you just described on the property that adjoined my hunting spot. Trespassed BIG time on to my area and when I questioned him and his buddy they just basically told me to "pi$$ off". I knew if I went to the land owner he would not want the butt pain of dealing with such conflict and would probably tell me(or anyone else) no more hunting. I just hung up my deer gun after that, been 20 years ago now. I guess that is life.

You give up too easily.