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Deer Hunting

Discussion in 'Tilted Weaponry' started by Smackre, Nov 21, 2011.

  1. Borla

    Borla Moderator Staff Member

    I'd love to have some of my grandpa's guns. I was too little to even know what he had, and he was fairly poor his entire life, so I'm sure they were nothing extravagant. But the sentimental value would exceed anything else.

    I also agree with you that .270 is plenty for deer.
     
  2. fflowley

    fflowley Don't just do something, stand there!

    I hunt with my dad's Winchester Model 70, in .243 Win.
    Ralphie you aren't going to get any better than what you have now.
    It will be newer but not better.
     
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  3. ralphie250

    ralphie250 Fully Erect Donor

    Location:
    At work..
    Its one of thosethings that I don't want something to happen to it. Id feel like ass if it did.
     
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  4. Chris Noyb

    Chris Noyb Get in, buckle up, hang on, & be quiet.

    Location:
    Large City, TX

    I can understand you not wanting to use your grandfather's rifle on a regular basis.

    I come from a long line of farmers and working folks. If any of my ancestors had valuable firearms, chances are good they were purchased used or taken as payment for work done. There have been a lot Marlin and Remington firearms in my family tree. A couple of my great uncles have dropped many, many deer over six decades with open sight lever-action Marlin .30-30s.
     
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  5. Borla

    Borla Moderator Staff Member

    2.5 hours in to my first morning bow hunting this season...


    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    8pts, got him from 42 yards through both lungs. Ran barely 20 yards before he fell, so it was nice and quick.
     
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  6. fflowley

    fflowley Don't just do something, stand there!

    That's a beauty Borla. Congratulations.
    We're about 10 days til opening of gun season here in upstate NY.
    My hunting buddy and I went scouting yesterday. We found a lot of activity with rubs and scrapes.
    We also happened across 2 bucks. Although that's not the purpose of the scouting it's usually a positive sign for the upcoming season.
    Plus the game cameras are getting nice pics of bucks.
    I think the lack of winter (and hence winter kill) here last year made a difference.
    We are very excited and optimistic for the coming season!
     
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  7. ChrisJericho

    ChrisJericho Careless whisper

    Location:
    Fraggle Rock
    How long will the meat last you? Also, what are your favorite dishes to make with the meat?
     
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  8. Borla

    Borla Moderator Staff Member


    We buy a side of beef a year, and generally buy a lot of bulk items (pork shoulders, whole briskets, etc.) throughout the year. So at any given time we usually have 40-120# of meat in the freezer. So we will ration out venison throughout the year depending on how much I get. If this is the only deer I get this year we will probably get 50-70# out of it and will slowly eat it throughout the next year. If I get another deer or two later in the season we will eat a higher proportion of venison through the next year and eat less beef. Either way we'll probably have a few odds and ends of it in our freezer for the next 10-14 months. I also tend to give away 5-10# worth to various non-hunter friends who like venison.


    My favorites are grilling the backstrap like you would a filet (salt, pepper, garlic, medium rare), using ground venison in any dish you'd use ground beef (tacos, spaghetti, etc.), and making breakfast sausage with it (80/20 mix of venison/pork, and using breakfast sausage seasoning).
     
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  9. scout

    scout New Member

    Not sure what part of the country you live in Borla but that's a nice deer. I like the darker racks. Here's a picture of the deer I got this year. Shot him about 45 yards with a 30/30. He went about 80 yards at a high rate of speed and got his rack caught in the tree and it was over.



    deer2.jpg
     
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  10. Borla

    Borla Moderator Staff Member

    Thank you! Looks like you did well this year too. :cool:

    If you want to see the "big" deer I've gotten over the last few years, look at posts #14, 28, 35, and 71 in this thread. :D

    Most of my hunting is done in the NW corner of IL, in JoDavies County. The two deer I got with the bow were taken in LaSalle County, which is in North-Central IL. :)
     
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  11. scout

    scout New Member

    Cyberly speaking we are neighbors. I'm in the southwest corner of Indiana. Indiana changed their laws a few years ago to help the horn hunter. Not sure I agree with all of them but it's the law and the law is the law :) Illinois is known for giant deer. I know of several people that have leases there and it seems every year one of them is sporting a monster. The picture on post 71 was gone but the other 3 were absolute monsters!! Very, very nice!

    Here is a picture of one I shot a couple years ago. It was just past dawn and he was working a scrap. His rack kinda went straight up and didn't really bend over his head much. It was low light and I thought holy crap that's a monster because I thought it was his rear tines but it was his whole rack! HAHA anyway I was a little disappointed but it is kinda of a unique rack.


    2010 Buck2.jpg
     
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  12. fflowley

    fflowley Don't just do something, stand there!

    Bumping this one back up.
    Whose out there deer hunting?
    Had probably my best day ever as a deer hunter yesterday.
    Expected a freezing cold weekend. It was about 12 F when we went out yesterday morning.
    Lo and behold this guy wandered across my path at 0700, before I even had a chance to get cold.
     

    Attached Files:

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  13. ralphie250

    ralphie250 Fully Erect Donor

    Location:
    At work..
    Great deer. Happy for ya
    Ive been a few times this year. Seen a few does but decided to let them walk.

    Sent from my VS996 using Tapatalk
     
    • Winner Winner x 1
  14. Borla

    Borla Moderator Staff Member

    That's a nice buck.

    I went out bow hunting last week. I had two coyotes walk under my stand and never know I was there. I saw two does and two bucks (one of them a decent one, though not as big as the one you just got), but they were all 55-75 yards away. If it was shotgun season I would've had meat in the freezer, but that is too far for an ethical bow shot.
     
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    • Winner Winner x 1
  15. Chris Noyb

    Chris Noyb Get in, buckle up, hang on, & be quiet.

    Location:
    Large City, TX
    Since this thread is bumped I'll ask a question that's been on my mind.

    Assuming that you do your own gutting, and possibly skinning, what make & model of knife do you use (make it plural if need be)?
     
  16. Borla

    Borla Moderator Staff Member

    Most of the work you do gutting and skinning a deer involves scalpel like work. I'd have to go dig out my main knife to check the make model, but it is basically identical to this: Replaceable blade skinning knives and hunting knives by Havalon Knives. Havalon Forge - Orange


    The idea (at least to me) is not to waste any usable meat unnecessarily. I also don't want to puncture the bladder, stomach, intestines, etc. if I can help it. So while a huge gut-hook Buck knife looks cool, in practice I'd rather have something very simple, sharp, and small enough to do precision work when removing everything from the abdomen. When hanging the deer I'll often use a hatchet on the hips to break the bones required to spread them and hang it properly. But almost everything else takes a softer touch. Skinning is similar. Just make cuts around the ankles and other key spots and start pulling. When processing the meat into the individual cuts, I use a couple of custom made Japanese knives that are the same ones I use in the kitchen.
     
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  17. Chris Noyb

    Chris Noyb Get in, buckle up, hang on, & be quiet.

    Location:
    Large City, TX
    I have a modest knife collection, and can see that the smaller (say 5" and under) fixed blades get a lot more use than the "more impressive" knives.
     
  18. ralphie250

    ralphie250 Fully Erect Donor

    Location:
    At work..
    i normally just field dress it with a Buck knife. then let the processor do the rest. just have to pay attention to where your knife goes
     
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  19. redravin

    redravin Cynical Optimist Donor

    Location:
    North
    I've never hunted deer so take my info with how you will but hunting moose we used a Kabar and a hatchet.
     
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  20. fflowley

    fflowley Don't just do something, stand there!

    Wow I really fucked up today.
    Opening day for rifle here in NY.
    I'm sitting in a favorite spot (same spot I got my big buck last year) and I see a deer with antlers heading down the hill towards me.
    It's far off, too far to shoot, and I can tell it has a rack but not much more than that.
    It goes through a concealed area, comes out and I can see it has a nice rack but still can't see how big.
    It quarters toward me and I put my finger on the trigger....and I hold up, wanting to see the full rack and thinking I'm going to get a better shot anyway as it continues towards me.

    Comes out of the next thicket...but now low and to my left and moving away to the left.
    I have to move laterally left and take a shot through a narrow window.
    And.......I miss.
    And....... now I get to see this deer had a huge, broad rack.
    May have been the nicest deer ever for me had I harvested it.

    Now my reward is I get to go out in the snow and freezing rain in the dark tomorrow to look for it again.
    Instead of snuggling up in the warm bed and feeling all happy about the great deer hanging in the garage.
     
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