2024 Deer hunting thread

[casts_by_fly]

Hi all,

 

I didn’t see one started so here we go!

 

what are your plans?  Goals?

 

 

my season opens in a week but I’m traveling so I start when I get back on the 27th probably. I’ve been shooting my bow a bunch and it’s pretty dialed in at hunting distances.  I’ve decided I’m not shooting more than 30 yards in the woods this year. I’ve shot out to 40 at targets and all is great. Latest revision of my arrows are flying great. I added 40 grains up front, a wrap, and went to a four fletch. I’ve been shooting it out of my saddle setup. I want to shoot a couple more days of pin gap distances on a 3d target.  
 

I’ve got deer coming in on cameras including a nice 8. And today a bear came through. So far so good!

 

my goal is 4 does. And I wouldn’t mind one good buck. Doesn’t have to be a big one, just a solid 3.5+ 8 pt.   

[gim]

I just now saw this when I was going to start the same thread.

 

Our archery season starts on Sept 14.  I don't archery hunt, I only rifle hunt, so my season won't be starting until Nov 9.

 

Its VERY warm here for mid September.  Its gonna be 86 degrees this afternoon, and continued warmth for another week.  Not good to rot away in the woods.  Too many leaves, too many bugs, very little daytime deer activity...not to mention the issue of finding and butchering the deer ASAP in this heat.  I know a couple archery hunters and they are generally pretty die hard about going on opener.  They aren't going this weekend.

 

The 9 day gun season I hunt in November coincides with the rut here.  I hunt in a zone where I'm permitted to harvest 1 buck and up to 2 additional antlerless deer with bonus tags.  My goal is always 1) trophy buck, and 2) food.

 

Its obviously a heck of a lot harder to accomplish goal number 1, only happened 3 times in 29 years.  I usually buy one bonus tag and try to fill that with a small young tender corn fed bambi.  That deer is usually split between my parents and my own family.  I'm not crazy about venison.  Half a deer is plenty for this guy.

[DaubsNU1]

Although I have a bow, I have never bow hunted. Love waterfowl hunting, and that usually gets the nod in fall. And now that I have a good boat, spend more time fishing.

 

Brother and I found a ranch in the Sandhills a few years back for rifle season. We both tagged nice Mule deer that first year...but the Rancher leased hunting rights to another group the next year. We were able to get back on that land last year...but could only hunt whitetails. I tagged this buck

 

 

I absolutely love the Sandhills. Rancher allows us access with ATV's...we ride around, enjoy scenery, and spot-n-stalk.

 

Not sure if I will hunt deer this year...likely wait until next year to head back to that Ranch (If he will allow us access).

 

I've shot some nice bucks...wife really likes the deer brats...that's the main reason I hunt now. And we have bunches of brats left over from last season.

 

 

 

 

[12poundbass]

My son took a doe a month ago with a crop damage permit belonging to a farmer I know. They destroyed a ton of his beans and corn down the road. 
 

This weekend is the youth hunt but he’s sitting it out because it’ll be too dang hot! 
 

We’ve seen a couple bucks on the trail cam in the middle of the night but that’s it. They would be really nice next year. If I hunt I’d pass, I’m not sure if he’d take one of them or not. He passed on a decent one last year which I was proud of him for. We shall see.

 

@DaubsNU1 I’ve hunted the Sandhills of NW Nebraska before and absolutely loved it! Beautiful country out there.

[fishballer06]

We've got a bear on camera who keeps playing with our trail cams. He is the biggest thing on the list to eliminate right now. As far as deer, I usually like 1-2 deer for meat. I'm fine if that's only does. All the bucks I've had on camera this year (cameras have been up a month) are pretty small and not something I would shoot. I had one show up earlier this week that had a massive body but I couldn't make out how big his antlers were with how the angle was of the photo. Hopefully some bigger bucks start coming in once the crops start getting picked and the rut begins. 

[casts_by_fly]

Got out for the first time Thursday. We were out of the country from the season opener until Thursday morning, so I sat the evening. Had two does come in and had a perfect 16 yard quartering away shot on the adult. But I couldn’t pull the trigger because the little one with her was maybe 40 lb and had spots two weeks ago. In two more months?  That’s a dead deer.  In January?  The both get shot. But I couldn’t do it Thursday. 
 

On 9/13/2024 at 2:39 PM, fishballer06 said:

We've got a bear on camera who keeps playing with our trail cams. He is the biggest thing on the list to eliminate right now. As far as deer, I usually like 1-2 deer for meat. I'm fine if that's only does. All the bucks I've had on camera this year (cameras have been up a month) are pretty small and not something I would shoot. I had one show up earlier this week that had a massive body but I couldn't make out how big his antlers were with how the angle was of the photo. Hopefully some bigger bucks start coming in once the crops start getting picked and the rut begins. 

Yeah, I know what you mean.  Completely obliterated the block I had out in about 3 days. The deer wouldn’t come around while he was there. The block is gone and he’s moved on it seems. 
 

the camera is about 12’ in the air so can’t mess with that at least. 

 

 

[gim]

Time to bump this thread. Anyone been deer hunting this month?
 

Our gun season opens in 13 days. I will be purchasing my license tomorrow and working in stands later this week.

[12poundbass]

We haven’t been out. Firearm season starts the 15th here. We’ve been seeing plenty of activity on the trail cameras with quite a few bucks but, only two shooters.

[gim]

40 minutes ago, 12poundbass said:

We’ve been seeing plenty of activity on the trail cameras

 

Most of the activity here has been at night time.  Very little deer movement during the day.  I think because it's been so warm.

 

Not a whole lot of colder weather in the forecast either.

[casts_by_fly]

I’ve been out a handful of times. I passed an 8 pt (among others) that wasn’t a mature buck. Tines were only 3-6” long across the rack and 15” inside spread. I passed a doe that had a young of the year with her (passed twice actually). The past two days have a lot of deer moving around in this cold front. I’m seeing new bucks out and about. I just want the bigger 8 that’s running around to make an appearance. 

this one is the target, though I’m on the fringe of his range I think. 

 

this guy almost got shot (I was drawn on him twice the first sit I saw him), and then I decided not to. I’ve passed him a couple times now. 

 

 

[TnRiver46]

My cousin killed a small doe with a bow , he hunts to eat 

 

[fishballer06]

Deer activity has really picked up the past week and a half here. I've got 3 really nice bucks that have come through that I didn't see throughout the late summer and earlier fall months. 

[gim]

2 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

My cousin killed a small doe with a bow , he hunts to eat 

 

Those are the best eaters.  I've got a bonus anterless tag in my back pocket solely for that purpose.

[12poundbass]

Trick or treat!

 

 

[casts_by_fly]

very nice

 

I was out Wednesday evening and nearly let one loose.  I had a couple does come in about 20 minutes before shooting light.  I thought they were a couple yards outside my defined range but they were actually a little closer.  The first one of three made me think they were closer so I grabbed the rangefinder for the second one.  By the time I put the RF down to grab my bow she went behind a branch.  The third didn't come on the same path, so I had to wait for them to feed and come back.  While I was waiting a fourth came in behind me and was on a killing path until she swung downwind and froze.  Not sure what of me she smelled but something caught her attention.  She was in range but behind some trees.  By the time she came out it was too dark.  A few minutes later the other three came right under me and would have been 12-15 yard chipshots.  But it was too dark to see.  They aren't going anywhere so I'll get them another day.

[gim]

I went to check on stands today for gun season in a week. The muskrats have completely clogged the ditches and as a result they are plum full. Our bridges and planks are fully underwater and the ditches are twice as wide as a result. I spent an hour clearing the “muskrat dam” which got the water flowing again but I have a feeling they are just going to clog it again.

 

All the grassland is flattened too because we received 3 inches of heavy wet snow. Still a lot of standing corn which won’t be going anywhere soon either because it’s so wet.

 

Not looking like a promising deer or pheasant season.

[gim]

Hey @TnRiver46 are you for hire to trap some swamp rats? 😂

[TnRiver46]

I’ve trapped a few muskrats, can be pretty fun! 110 conibear 

[12poundbass]

@gimruis 6poundbass can take care of them for ya! 

[casts_by_fly]

After Wednesdays near miss, I figured the deer would still be around. I backtracked the trail I figured them to be on and picked out a tree. Most of the trees in this bottoms are big and straight with no branches for cover. I guess I picked the wrong one.  The tree was a bit wider than my shoulders and while my ropes were long enough my platform strap wasn’t. I didn’t realize it until fighting the climb up for 10 minutes though. 

I went further up the trail and found a smaller beech with a few branches in a pinch point near the trail. Go to ~22’ or so where the canopy kinda started and had to adjust location a couple times to get where the branches didn’t interfere with my bow at full draw but that the platform would not be interfered by lumps in the bark and could sit still. Ended up okay but with branches on my right side I couldn’t shoot from my 12:00-5:00 around the tree at all (which was my downwind and also an open woods so not awful).

 

The squirrels were going nuts but about 530 I saw a deer in the distance. Turned out it was three does. It took them ten minutes but they fed my way and eventually came out at 25 yards. They were coming towards me so I waited, figuring they’d stop and turn. Well they hung a hard 90 and were dead away before I got a chance. Fortunately they fed around a good while and one decided come back towards me, even smelling my tree.

 

 

 

I couldn’t twist to get the shot downward but she walked more or less diagonal away into my 11:00 and let me draw. It was fairly hard quartering away so I picked my exit hole, settled the pin, and stabbed the release. As the lighted nock disappeared I thought it was a little back but when the deer all ran off 40 yards and stopped i felt pretty good. They all stayed there for a solid 10 minutes before two spooked and ran off. I thought I heard a crash so I gathered up and got down. There was enough light that if she was heads up I could still shoot her. It wasn’t necessarily. She piled up about 50 yards from the shot. 

The entry was a touch back for preference, but it cut the top off the stomach, center punched the main liver arteries, and took out the lower front lobe of the right lung before exiting at the arm pit. I’d rather 2” further up the body but this will do. Full pass through most of the length of the body? I’ll take it. 50 yard tracking job? Done. Only had blood for the last 10 yards and not much, but a deer piled up in 50 will do. 

[gim]

@casts_by_fly how high up do you go in the tree?  It looks fairly high.  I used to have a portable that was 24 feet to the platform so when I stood up I was at 30 feet.  Not for the faint of heart.

 

The ones I sit in now are 16 feet high.

[12poundbass]

Nice shooting @casts_by_fly

[casts_by_fly]

On 11/3/2024 at 12:38 PM, gimruis said:

@casts_by_fly how high up do you go in the tree?  It looks fairly high.  I used to have a portable that was 24 feet to the platform so when I stood up I was at 30 feet.  Not for the faint of heart.

 

The ones I sit in now are 16 feet high.

it varies depending on the tree. I hunt from a saddle and primarily rope climb. So I’m not limited to how many sticks I have or how tall the ladder is.  I try to find trees with a significant branch, a split truck, or something else for back cover. Wherever that is I will climb to. In this case I was about 20’ to the platform. In the more open woods around here that’s about my minimum. I was on a hill with the deer below me so I got away with it. More often I am 22-25 to my platform. Depending on location and time of year, I’ll have a 35 or 40’ rope on top. 5’ wraps around the tree and another foot in the knots. So I can set that rope 28-33’ high and have enough rope to rappel down. 
 

 

Yeah, I was at a housewarming when this picture came through last night. The cold snap has them moving. And this is the big guy around. 
 

[MediumMouthBass]

Never went hunting for deer, but know alot of people that do.

Only thought of this the past week, are any of you concerned to eat deer meat since more than likely they have been bit by several ticks throughout their life? And if they have lymes disease? (Sorry if this is common knowledge)

[12poundbass]

I’ve hunted deer almost 30 years now and I’ve never heard of there being an issue regarding ticks or Lyme disease. I don’t recall reading anything about it either.