Weekend results?

[tullibee]

scored a nice bodied, small antlered 8 pointer this morning. pretty good considering it was the first deer I saw while actually hunting this year! carried the 30-30 instead of the handgun the last couple times out since I was in the stand with longer range sight lines, but would still have had a chance with either gun. wasn't sure how good of a hit I put on him with the first round, so did a second one since he was still on his feet. slow, but still walking. got lucky with the follow-up, since I took a butt shot -- managed not to wreck much meat and dropped him in his tracks. He was climbing a slight mound so I managed to shoot real close to anus and miss the tenderloins but take out more vitals (first shot was lower chest/lungs and hit high on both front legs - was probably fatal, but I didn't want to have to track him!) will probably still have to go out in the cold though, since my hunting buddies still need help filling their tags! but I might sleep in tomorrow morning if my back is still sore when the alarm goes off!

[OldmanFCSA]

GOOD JOB.

A lot of hunters don't admit to taking more than 1 shot - they want everyone to think all their shots on deer are perfect and the deer drops in its tracks = NOT TRUE.

I hate tracking deer - difficult doing so on my legs. As a younger hunter I tracked most of a night to get a deer only shot once. (Lantern and hydrogen peroxide in a large volume spray bottle.) Now days I shoot til it drops. Yes I may ruin some meat, but I don't have a wounded deer get away to point of not finding it. And I don't shoot another because the first deer didn't drop in its tracks. I always mark my spot I was standing when shooting and the spot where deer was at when shot, so that afterwards I can go back and re-evaluate the shooting conditions and the effectiveness of my shot/shots. It also provides a good reference for starting point of tracking a wounded deer.

Thank you for your report,

[tullibee]

I went a lot of years with "one shot - one kill" deer hunting, but then I did a couple years where I had a run of hitting them in the leg - tracked one large doe for several hours and managed to find her, but lost the blood trail on a decent buck and did not like knowing I had maimed one and not found it. I'm no longer afraid to hit em again if I'm not certain it's going to drop soon. I'd rather sacrifice a little meat to avoid the heartache of causing an animals suffering. I got really lucky this time, since I only lost a little bit of hindquarter meat due to shattered pelvis bone and some bullet fragmenting. The angle saved me from ruining anything else. I'm sure now that he wouldn't have gone very far since my first shot hit lower lungs, but at the time I was worried that I had again shot low and hit just leg! I felt it was better to be sure and not have to go hiking thru the woods at 5 degrees! I guess Dad's teaching of hunter ethics must have stuck with me! I know he'd be proud of me for taking the second shot...
and he'd be proud that I had enough patience to sit in the stand watching for long enough to know it was down for the count before climbing down -- it's so much easier to make follow-up shots from the stand instead of thru a bunch of brush! (and to let the adrenaline rush calm a bit before trying to climb down as well, so I didn't slip and fall on my butt!)

[Holland&Holland]

3 hunters 3 deer. Bucks were in full rut on Saturday, litterly running through the woods. Just could not get a shot at anything, well except for the one my youngest tried to shoot at and then realized that he forgot to load his gun when it went click instead of bang . 15 and his first year sitting alone so dad spent a lot of time going over everything to do safely and not "remember to load your gun when you are set in the stand".

Sunday turned for us though. Nice mature doe (hunters choice area) a 8 point and 9 point, both big bodied. 8 had a better rack but the 9 had a beefier body.

Sausage, brats, stix, and jerky all made (finished up a few hours ago with drying jerky and smoking brats).

[CJB]

7 hunters, 0 doe tags, 0 bucks seen, nothing hanging.

[chopper]

9 hunters 2 bucks 1-10 pt 1-4 pt I seen 5 does sat and sun and let them walk by saw 0 deer after the snow.

[JJ]

9 hunters:
4 does
1- 10pt Buck

Between the group, we passed on at least a dozen smaller bucks that do not fit within our harvest criteria (4pts on one side, and outside the ears). Even after reviewing trail cam pics, and hunter harvests from adjacent properties, i still have at least 6 active bucks that fall within our harvest criteria on one property, and three on the second. I am guessing at least one of our group will be muzzy hunting. if nothing else, we know we have some great breed stock, and potential for next year!

Weather was nothing short of miserable for us all gun season in SW MN. High winds all week kepi most deer movement nocturnal (as verified by trail camera results). Two significant snow events (last weekend, and Thur/Fri) made visibility rough when you consider we did not have a single day with winds less than 20mph at peak. From looking at our trail cams, QDM is working on our properties in the three years since we have instituted it, as the "shooter" buck stock was the highest seen in the 7 years we have owned the properties. Talking to adjacent landowners, and getting them on board has been key. Our property where the neighbors are on the same page still has 6 shooters running around. This year hasn't been kind, but if we can avoid a nasty winter we should have very good chances next year.

We even got the neighbors on board with culling some undesirable bucks, and managed to get this mature devil buck out of the gene pool.

[Slayer_MN1]

Awesome write up JJ, I wish more people would understand the benefit of QDM and let the little ones walk.

[Ghost]

Awesome write up JJ, I wish more people would understand the benefit of QDM and let the little ones walk.

My rule of thumb on bucks is that I only shoot them if they are bigger than the biggest one on my wall, unfortunately I misjudged mine this year and shot one that I should have let walk. I would rather shoot does anyway.

[greenfarmer]

Got lucky again last night right before 5. Took a lot of work but snuck up on a nice 9. Wasn't ready though for after I shot, but this one came out into the open, shot him once at about 40 yards, but the one that came out of the woods after I shot made me cry. It was the big 14 that we have been watching for. I filled 2 out of our 3 buck tags and left mine open so maybe with the muzzleloader I can get a chance at the big one. In this 1x1.5 mile stretch, we know for sure there's still a 14, a 10, and some small baskets. (edit... drove out there tonight to scout, and saw 2 nice 8 pt's chasing some ladies in the area.) Plus more doe than you can shake a stick at. I was right by the pin where I shot this. And that's the only spot anyone can hunt in that area. It's a deer haven! Nobody else allows people to hunt. One dr that lives there won't even let his 21 year old daughter hunt out there. She has to go to Idaho to hunt. Anyone with a camera with a big zoom lense can get amazing wildlife pictures in this area! There's even a bald eagle always flying around here. Such an awesome bird to watch. Had no idea how big they really are until they fly close. Wow!

[JJ]

Awesome write up JJ, I wish more people would understand the benefit of QDM and let the little ones walk.

As much money as we all spend hunting, and on land management, its a no brainer. I grew up hunting in the McGregor area, living by the "brown it's down" mantra. After a couple years, shooting deer became almost clinical.

The hardest part for us, was getting past the old guys in the group, that believed every buck that crossed the fence was going to get shot. After a couple years of trail cams, and documenting bucks that we younger guys had passed on, showing up after season, and even the next year it was an easier sell. Now we are in the third year, and we are seeng the results in the camera's. Hasn't really shown up in our harvests yet, but that will come. After the first two years, our neighbors even saw the increase in quality, and of the controlling landowners who count agreed (with no convincing) that what we were doing was working. Now, our 200 acres, is closer to 1000acres of folks on the same page. We adjoin some WMA's and the guys hunting the public land will benefit too 9and that is cool to us).

It's a win-win, but it won't work in all areas, and if you don't have some private acreage, it won't do any good. Our goal is reasonable, with 3-4 good shooter bucks a year between both properties. Considering the fact we started with passing on forks, and 6's, and now we are passing on 8's, the future looks bright.

this years shooter

my wifes good one from last year

Also, pics of a good buck from last year, and this year.

[yuppiejr]

We had a terrible hunt in the Rum River State Forest, though the deer camp was a good time as always. With 5 guys we only managed 1 doe, though we passed on a number of smaller does/fawns and one buck that rolled by before shooting hours. The newest member of our group had a clean miss on a second doe and I elected not to take a marginal long shot through some brush + trees on a running doe that we kicked out on a drive, so our poor showing wasn't for lack of options.

On my way out of the woods on Tuesday I noted bear tracks following my own through the snow along with both deer and what I thought were coyote tracks criss crossing the woods. A gent who lives right nearby stopped by camp on the last day and mentioned the DNR had been in the area a month before removing 5 wolves... Right place, wrong season I guess.

[goalie]

Three hunters, three deer. My buddies daughter got the biggest on her first hunt ever at about a minute into legal light on Sunday.

The drive home sucked on Monday with the snow, but three deer in the freezer (and hopefully a 601 doe during muzzle loader yet to come) doesn't.

This is about half the sausage:

[SAM]

Nyffman took this 12 pointer--finally got his wallhanger.

[smurfman]

Filled my WI doe tag Friday night on the way to my niece's place. Not much damage to the pickup but there were plenty stopping to try to pick it up for me. One time I thought there was going to be a fight over the carcass even though neither of the almost combatants hit it.

Saturday morning around 9 AM I filled my buck tag with a fat 6 pt. His antler tips were worn down and broken and he had a few scars on his face so he had been fighting some this fall. Glad to have my deer tags full early, it gives me a little more time to chase ditch parrots.