Custom Baits - Forum
General => General Discussion => Topic started by: ctom on 11/11/12 19:59 UTC
-
....at 2:10 pm today I filled my buck tag. Last day of the season and within three hours of the close. Nice buck. He's an 8 pointer with a very symetrical rack. The antlers have some nice mass and the spread is well outside of the ears...little short on tine length, but those antlers don't affect the meat and this guy will weigh out at around 200 pounds.
I got some pics but honestly I'm too tired to mess with them tonight and I'm busy all day tomorrow so Tuesday I'll get a snap or two of the boy up.
I took a chance and passed on hunting yesterday what with record warmth upon us. Today was rain all morning with a forecast of snow possible in the afternoon and daytime highs in the 40 or lower range. At 12:30 pm I left for the deer stand and after scaling this pseudo mountain I hunt on I was catching my breath when he stepped out of some dense woods and stopped squarely behind two trees that covered his peekers and hind end, but left the vitals wide open. One single shot from the .50 sent a 250 grain bullet cleanly through his neck just ahead of where it meets the shoulders.
I am a tired but happy boy tonight. A little soak in the tub of very hot water, some snacks, and beddi-bye.
-
I would have thought today was more of a duck hunting day..than deer hunting! That was dedication!
Rain all day here...then ice...then some snow....Yeah...I know....perfect hunting weather!
It was also perfect bait making weather!
Congrats on the buck.
-
I can't bring myself to hunt ducks. They taste like liver and I feed them in the driveway all winter.
The day yesterday was full of radical changes Andrew. A 40 degree temperature departure from mid-night, rain, nnw wind, and precip changinging to light snow, no help from moonlight during the early morning dark....all spell confusion for the deer herd. Had it stayed warm, the deer would have been bedded until dark. I held off hunting until I knew that rain was not going to be the precip. The snow was in the air and its amazing how little of it the first time in the fall throws the deer into a panic....kinda like our drivers here in MN. Anyway, the weather elements we had combined worked to keep the deer up and moving. In another month the deer will have the weather figured out.
(http://i574.photobucket.com/albums/ss184/crappietomtackle/IMG_0879-1.jpg)
The antler bases are fairly thick but not real visible in the pic. He must have been carrying 10 pounds of tree bark ground into the bases. When I first saw him he was only 10 yards away from a big doe and a fawn that were laying in deep grass and that doe was what I was looking at how to get a shot at, until the buck started to work a tree fairly high up.
For only a so-so rack it sure is symetrical and well balanced side to side. I might have to add the rack to those in the house....I have yet to get an 8 point that is this perfect and I need an 8 with the others. I have a 9, a 10, an 11, a 12, and a 13, all of which are at the taxidermist getting cleaned so I have time to decide what to do.
Anyway, now I can close the 2012 chapter to deer hunting happily and rewarded. Back to fishing for this guy now.
-
Beautiful Buck. Nice job - congrats.
Jason
-
FINE Buck, Sir! And Heavy!
That definitely makes me want to set the rod down and grab the rifle...
-
Nice buck for the wall and backstraps for dinner. Mmmm good. Congratulations.
-
Nice buck! It's always a good feeling to have that venison in the freezer. I leave for southern Illinois this thursday to hunt with my son. Illinois has a three day gun season, friday, saturday, and sunday. Most years we have our deer by saturday morning, get them to the processor in the afternoon and I am home (northern indiana) (five hour drive) to go to church sunday morning. Everyone is usually interested in what we got (my pastor deer hunts also).