C’mere deer!

[Pullstart 64,357]

27 outside, with no wind.  I haven’t hunted a morning in quite some time.  I’m hoping to go take a good doe.  

[adsm08 2,556]

44 minutes ago, Pullstart said:

27 outside, with no wind.  I haven’t hunted a morning in quite some time.  I’m hoping to go take a good doe.  

 

Good luck.

 

I was packing for my trip back out to camp last night and almost pulled my hair out. I lost my box of ammo 3 times in 10 minutes, without ever leaving the area I was working in.

[Pullstart 64,357]

Still chasing that doe.  Thanksgiving was yesterday, and we have our first maybe recordable snow accumulation.  We’ve had a quick dusting a week and a half ago, but this is actually covering the ground.  Maybe an inch or so.  I haven’t sat my tree in a couple weeks.  C’mere deer!

[adsm08 2,556]

My cousin and I are heading out later this morning. Weather report for Rossiter show light snow today with clear and cold tomorrow. I'm stuck between shooting the first legal deer that comes by or being a little pickier than I was last year and trying to get something bigger. The problem comes from wanting to get back home at a reasonable time (I hate traveling) and knowing I have all next week to hunt here at home, but the deer are sparser here.

 

But I found my ammo, got it in the bag I take to the tree, got that in my hunting tub, and got that in the car. So I should have something to shoot at them with,

Edited November 29, 2024 by adsm08

[Pullstart 64,357]

3 hours ago, Pullstart said:

I haven’t sat my tree in a couple weeks.  C’mere deer!

I figured I should clarify.  I’ve been sitting in the rock pile mostly across the field.  
 

But, it’s 25 outside, 10 degree windchill, and I was 24’ up freezing my bones off.  The wind, and weather, and deers win today.  I thought about warming up with a cup of coffee and going out to sit in Colleen for a couple more hours with just one window down.  No batteries hooked up = not an able vehicle = legal hunting blind.

[adsm08 2,556]

On 11/14/2024 at 8:30 PM, Pullstart said:

@adsm08 That sounds like a great hunt camp!

I took some pictures around the hunting camp while I was out there.

 

Here's the main "camp". The camper and the eating area. Yes, we went to 1980 and stole those tables from a McDonald's.

 

This one is standing at the end of the awning/lean-to/roof thing facing out :

 

And one from the stand I prefer to use:

 

I nabbed a pair this morning from there. They were standing just out of frame to the right in that last picture when I got them. I saw a total of six deer from that stand this morning between 6:30 and 8:00 when I fired my last shot.

Edited November 30, 2024 by adsm08

[Pullstart 64,357]

@adsm08 very cool!  You got two deer?  I see brown on the cargo carrier.  Great work!  

[adsm08 2,556]

6 hours ago, Pullstart said:

@adsm08 very cool!  You got two deer?  I see brown on the cargo carrier.  Great work!  

 

Yes. I got a nice sized doe, and a veal doe.

 

The big doe walked in with two others (old enough to be on their own though) in tow being real cautious. She cleared the edge of the woods and I got her, tracked one of the others around behind me, and when I turned back around the fourth was standing there investigating the downed doe. I hadn't seen #4 before so I'm assuming she came from a different direction. But the wife said "bring home two" and who was I to argue? I thought the veal was a bit bigger than she was, but that's harder to judge when they are alone. I'm a little unhappy that I spine-shot both in a CDW area, but my dad and uncles have harvested a few dozen deer between them over the years they've owned this property and never had one test positive.

 

I wanted to do a fast turn on this trip for a few reasons, so I didn't stop to take a bunch of pictures.

 

Big one:

 

Little one:

 

Both:

Edited December 1, 2024 by adsm08

[Pullstart 64,357]

2 hours ago, adsm08 said:

I thought the veal was a bit bigger than she was, but that's harder to judge when they are alone.

I agree, especially with excitement of the whole shebang.  I have come to TRY To remember to look at their head shape.  Long nose = mature doe.  Short nose = yearling.  Then again, I shot at a buck fawn during archery season and missed clean - even though I knew what to look for first!

[adsm08 2,556]

3 minutes ago, Pullstart said:

I agree, especially with excitement of the whole shebang.  I have come to TRY To remember to look at their head shape.  Long nose = mature doe.  Short nose = yearling.  Then again, I shot at a buck fawn during archery season and missed clean - even though I knew what to look for first!

 

I was so worked up when I shot that second one that I had to do it twice, because I forgot to rack the new round.

 

And I don't mind taking a yearling once in a while, because the meat is better, but I also try hard to not do it more than once a year. Ideally only once every other year.

Edited December 1, 2024 by adsm08

[rjg854 11,843]

I didn't know you could shoot fawns.  Baa-aaa

[adsm08 2,556]

14 hours ago, rjg854 said:

I didn't know you could shoot fawns.  Baa-aaa

PA's laws, as I understand them, are all does are fair game. "Button bucks", anything with an antler under 2 inches are considered "antlerless" and legal. Any antlered deer from 2" spikes through a 4 pt are illegal, unless you fall into a category that is not subject to antler restrictions. Then 5 pt on up are legal.

 

PA tends to write it's laws to select for a smaller herd than for big prize animals.

[adsm08 2,556]

Took the wife out this morning to a farm owned by friends of the family.

 

She saw 7 or 8 and never got a shot off. I saw one and brought it home.

 

 

 

Her goal for 2025 is to try and replace about 75-90% of the beef we usually eat with venison so I'd like to get one or two more between us yet this year.

 

I have one more of my own antlerless tags for the area we live in, and my buck tag yet. I will likely pass on another doe/antlerless for myself yet this year and only shoot if I see a legal buck. I'd like the wife to get one of her own though.

Edited December 2, 2024 by adsm08

[Ed Kennell 40,218]

45 minutes ago, adsm08 said:

PA's laws, as I understand them, are all does are fair game. "Button bucks", anything with an antler under 2 inches are considered "antlerless" and legal. Any antlered deer from 2" spikes through a 4 pt are illegal, unless you fall into a category that is not subject to antler restrictions. Then 5 pt on up are legal.

 

PA tends to write it's laws to select for a smaller herd than for big prize animals.

Just to clarify.  There is no mention of buck, doe, or sex in the Pa laws defining legal deer.    It should be noted as some wild hen turkey have beards, some female deer have antlers. 

 There are only antlerless (any deer having no antlers or spikes shorter than 3 inches).

And antlered deer(any deer having a spike longer than 3 inches).  These deer are only legal for youth under 16 years of age.

Antlered deer for adult hunters must have a minimum of three points (1 inch or longer) on one side). The brow tine and the main beam count as a point.

In some special trophy areas the brow tine does not count as a point.

The Pa Game Commission  does use the antlerless deer tag allotment to control the numbers of deer in each game management area.

They also instituted the antler restriction policy in 2002 to improve the quality of the antlered deer harvest.

IMO, for the most part, these policies have helped.    There are still severe overpopulation problems mainly in areas where hunting is not practical or permitted.

Without question as evidenced by the 60+ antlered deer I have harvested, The antler restrictions have also worked.

[Pullstart 64,357]

@adsm08 what gun is that?  Congrats on the doe!

[Ed Kennell 40,218]

3 minutes ago, Pullstart said:

@adsm08 what gun is that?  Congrats on the doe!

I'm guessing a Marlin M/n 336 in 30-30 caliber.

 

Oh, topped with a 3-9 bushnell banner scope.

Edited December 2, 2024 by Ed Kennell

[adsm08 2,556]

17 minutes ago, Pullstart said:

@adsm08 what gun is that?  Congrats on the doe!

Thanks Kevin.

 

15 minutes ago, Ed Kennell said:

I'm guessing a Marlin M/n 336 in 30-30 caliber.

 

Oh, topped with a 3-9 bushnell banner scope.

 

So very close Ed. The scope is a Simmons, otherwise you nailed it.

 

I'd been hunting the last two years with a Howa .243, but that one is really my wife's gun, so since she wanted to hunt this year she is using it.

 

The Marlin is on loan from my dad, but after seeing the season I'm having he said he wants it back. I guess that means I either need to find my own 30-30, or dust off my Ruger 7mm-08.

Edited December 2, 2024 by adsm08

[Pullstart 64,357]

I love my gun selection, but would love to shoot a lever action some day!

[Wayne0 842]

3 hours ago, adsm08 said:

Thanks Kevin.

 

 

So very close Ed. The scope is a Simmons, otherwise you nailed it.

 

I'd been hunting the last two years with a Howa .243, but that one is really my wife's gun, so since she wanted to hunt this year she is using it.

 

The Marlin is on loan from my dad, but after seeing the season I'm having he said he wants it back. I guess that means I either need to find my own 30-30, or dust off my Ruger 7mm-08.

The 7mm-08 is no slouch. M77? I shoot an M77RSI in 6.5x55, but I love a nice lever gun.

[adsm08 2,556]

1 hour ago, Wayne0 said:

The 7mm-08 is no slouch.

 

I'd rather have a lever than a bolt, but that gun, as I remember it, weighs a ton and kicks like a mule.

[adsm08 2,556]

2 hours ago, Pullstart said:

I love my gun selection, but would love to shoot a lever action some day!

 

Drop me a line when you are in town for the show again, I'll take you to the range.

[WHX?? 50,469]

A 336 is my choice of levers but still only on the bucket list. Back in '73 my cousin and I were being outfitted for our first deer hunt and our dads went with levers. He got a 336C and I got a Winnie 94. Both in 30-30 which was the youth caliber in the day. Dad paid $70 for it brand new. Could add a scope on a 336 because of the side eject. Not so on a top eject 94 although they did offer a offset design mount for one. Wasn't exactly the best answer for a scope mount  so never got one and became proficient with open irons. 

 

Bagged many a deer with my trusty 94 and stuck it in the mud more than once. A really nice choice for a brush gun back when our bunch did drives. 

Still have it and take it to camp ever year but seldom take it to the stand. The 7-08 Remington 700 I run now is a tack driver and does such a nice job but leaves abit to be to desired in the trigger department. 

 

A 30-06 is the go to whitetail round and is as common & traditional as fish fry Fridays and old fashions here ... 

 

50 minutes ago, adsm08 said:

Drop me a line when you are in town

Really Kev ... I'll have to crack open the safe when you come to visit. I have a butt load of levers.

[Pullstart 64,357]

I got myself a doe last weekend.  Lots of sits lately with no movement.  I’m happy to have another one for the freezer!

 

 

[Pullstart 64,357]

The track job was a story for another whole video.  It was not an instant death, but a rutting buck in the area kept bumping her and tore her up!

 

 

[Wayne0 842]

1 hour ago, Pullstart said:

I got myself a doe last weekend.  Lots of sits lately with no movement.  I’m happy to have another one for the freezer!

 

 

 

Great choice of cookware!

Edited December 6, 2024 by Wayne0