Hunters

[jryoung]

Some pics of my trip to MT, I missed a bull on opening morning and never saw another legal one the rest of the trip.

Just before I missed on opening day




Obligatory “fencepost pics”


My brothers AR…


Pickup-Stix



Meow


Woof


Lexus, not just for soccer moms.


My bladder froze up Tuesday morning so I went all McGyver with some tin foil and the sun….though nothing exploded.


I’m not really a man of faith, but if there is such a thing as God’s Country, this is it.

Selfie in the sun.





When Dad came to pick me up after basking in the sun he brought me a treat. Achy feet, hot sun and a moose drool is a surprisingly pleasant combination.

Me and my brother

Me and Dad

All of us

Coming into a hot, lighted camp after hiking 10 miles is an awesome sight in the darkness of the woods

Especially when it has hot water and hot food.



Strategic planning session


One final point of good news was that I saw several signs like this, and was very, very happy to note 100% compliance (for now).

[Nooga678]

What caliber is your brother's AR?

[jryoung]

.308 winny

[boardordie]

[jryoung]

At 10+ pounds I think there were moments he thought it had no place in the outdoors. LOL

[Okie Boarder]

Great pics!

It looks like we are going to get an opportunity to hunt some private land around Thanksgiving, so we'll see how that goes. We have a couple more weekends of Turkey season, then deer season starts.

[E.J.]

jryoung, Nice pics & I am a fan of Moose Drool....

[Okie Boarder]

Love the Moose Drool, as well.

We didn't have much luck with Turkey, so it is one to deer. I went with a buddy this last weekend so I could get one last chance at Turkey and he could see how he could do with deer with his bow. He got a shot at a doe in one area, but missed. We're seeing lots of evidence the rut is underway. Deer (gun) season starts Saturday, so we'll see how we do.

How many of you use scents and how do you typically use them?

[Okie Boarder]

My buddy went back to the same spot and was there all day yesterday. He saw a couple bucks going through the same area, so it is definitely a traveling path for them. That is the spot I plan to go with my oldest on Saturday (weather permitting). I'm thinking about doing a good scent trail and use calls.

[jryoung]

Controlling your scent is #1, make sure if you're still hunting the wind is in your face. Be patient if it is at all swirling or changing directions.

[pyrocasto]

My favorite scent after my brother showed me was as close to zero scent as possible. Everything gets washed the night before with scent free soap, and and shower off the morning of the hunt with scent free body soap.

He even thought about ozone blasting his clothe the night before, to kill any scent for sure.

[Okie Boarder]

So y'all aren't using attractants like doe or buck urine? What about calls?

[pyrocasto]

Calls yes. A lot of times you can make a buck run right at you with a call, when he was 100 yards out. Sometimes not. Depends on the mood of the buck.

[Okie Boarder]

What type of calling have you done?

[TnR6Rida]

One deer down this morning!

[Okie Boarder]

We didn't have much activity Saturday. We saw one doe, but we unable to get a good shot at her.

[vette74]

Here is a mule deer I shot at my lease. The best thing was that my son was with me on his first trip.

[jryoung]

Nice, where is your lease? I always think white tail when I hear TX, but there are some mulies out west correct?

[STPHNSN23]

i never get tired of seeing pics of dead deer with their tongues hanging out. cracks me up every time.

[Okie Boarder]

Good looking mulie. Glad your son could be with you.

[jryoung]

His antlers looks like he's bred with a white tail. Just a main beam with single branches.

[vette74]

[vette74]

Okie Boarder, Thanks Okie.
jryoung, I also shot him with the 7mm rem just for you.

[jryoung]

Nice, anything in 284 I say.

Just brought this guy home. Savage 99F in 284 winchester (rare chambering for Model 99s).



Gave my 7 rem mag a new stock too. Mcmillian classic ADL, mix of 50% blue 50% purple.

[Okie Boarder]

vette, since you deal with temps similar to here, or warmer, what do you do with the deer once you get it home? Do you ever hang it or just quarter it right away?

[vette74]

We usually have deer cooler of 70+ quarts and 10 or so bags of ice with nothing else in it ready to go. When I shoot something within 4 hrs or less I quarter it up but never gut it. Just hang it from the back legs, skin it out, take off the front shoulders, head, backstrap, cut down the front a little and get the tenderloins, and then separate each hind quarter. Then haul off chest cavity with the guts still intact.
Then put the deer on ice and leave the drain plug open then keep the cooler topped off in ice for 7 days or so then take it to the processor. $426.26 later you have a bunch of sausage

[Okie Boarder]

OK, I've read about quartering and keeping it chilled if you don't have the option to hang it. Does that work fairly well for you and the meat comes out pretty tender?

[Okie Boarder]

jryoung, nice upgrades.

[howabouttheiris]

Hunted Balcones Canyonlands (just outside Austin TX) this past weekend on a tag that I won thru their lottery system.... despite 6" of rain and several hours of sleet, I managed to get a doe. Filling the doe tag allowed me to take a buck, but I did not get a shot on Sunday (although I seen 2 nice bucks).

Notice the freezing precipitation on the bushes, and the fact that my jeep is nowhere to be seen..... due to the rain, I had no road access and the drag out was about 1.5 miles. Lots different than the 83 degrees last weekend.

[vette74]

[Okie Boarder]

howabouttheiris, we had a lot of ice on most everything. It was dropping like crazy off the branches of the trees in the woods. We managed to find a spot we could set up our ground blind, which helped us stay warm and dry.

Congrats on the doe. I like the tarp idea for dragging out...seems like a smart idea.

[jryoung]

Are you wearing Beats by Dre, Realtree edition?

[Okie Boarder]

vette74, sounds good. Seems like the fairly common thing to do here, from those I've talked to, is to quarter and refrigerate for about a week.

[howabouttheiris]

jryoung, ha ha.... I am not nearly that cool.

They are Howard Leight shooting muffs. Really good for hunting. Warm enough for the sleet, sound amplification for listening, but removes all gunshot noise. It is what I use weekly at the range so we can talk at a reasonable volume.

like these ...

http://www.academy.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product_10151_10051_33374_-1__?N=85400282&affcode=42&kwid=ps_cse&cid=CSE%7CGoogle&gclid=CKjFp5j1gLsCFZE7Mgod4nUAVg

What you did not notice is the ~15lb rifle (savage .308 with 30" match grade barrel and 6-24x viper vortex).... not exactly the easiest rifle to lug for the weekend.... but it doubles as my comp 1000 yard gun.

Fully capable and looking forward to the 500 yard shot off the bipod... but shot this guy freehand from 30 yards.

[jryoung]

I thought that barrel looked a touch heavy.