Fall.

[Okie Hillbillies]

here, yonder, there. I don't know about yonder and there but here it is hog killing time as it was in the 40's this morning, it seem's fall has arrived, in Okla.


OkieHillBillies

 

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[Kentucky Kache]

Same here in Kentucky. I ain't got no hogs to kill, but I'm a fixin' to lay down a few deerz.

 

[Kentucky Kache]

49° this morning...went out and threw a couple of bags of wheat out around the deer blinds. I have my license already...waiting on husbands to see if he can safely make it up into the stand. Put some corn in both feeders 3 weeks ago, and got the wheat in before we got 6" of rain...walked in to check and we are having visitors. Deer tracks and coon...but also a rather large cat....looks like there is a mountain lion in the area. I set up a camera to see if I can catch him at the deer feeder. The print was around 4" and very round going the same direction as the deer tracks. We had wondered why we were getting no deer tracks around our feeder as the corn was out for sometime now. The wheat was sprouting and we should start seeing some soon...that is if the grass hoppers don't get it all. They have totally stripped the leaves off of the Mesquite trees. Cleared about 6 miles of road and snipped the last suckers off the road with pruning shears......with the cold weather the rut will start...I was hoping it would wait till much later....toward the end of October at least. I've started oiling up the guns and just need to get a few more 30-06 shells. I always fill my tags and give the meat to some of the needy folks around town that could use the extra groceries. A nice Fat Doe that isn't nursing will go along ways for a Grandma who is raising her grandson by herself.

I'm bow hunting with a long bow, so the deer have nothing to fear. Until gun season, that is.

One deer, even a small one, will go a long way in feeding a family. That's a good thing you're doing, TT. Here we have a program called, hunters for the hungry.

 

[Kentucky Kache]

I can take 4 turkey
1 mule deer Buck 1 antlerless
2 Whitetail buck 3 antlerless or 5 antlerless

You must have more deer than we do. We are allowed only two deer (Only one can be a buck, except for a button) with the regular permit. After that we can buy a bonus tag for who more anterless deer. That can change from year to year, depending on the deer population.

 

[Kentucky Kache]

I can take 4 turkey
1 mule deer Buck 1 antlerless
2 Whitetail buck 3 antlerless or 5 antlerless

You must have more deer than we do. We are allowed only two deer (Only one can be a buck, except for a button) with the regular permit. After that we can buy a bonus tag for who more anterless deer. That can change from year to year, depending on the deer population.

We are surrounded...good thing they aren't packing...LOL Everyone feeds them....I have cut some out of fence and always look for them. So many are killed by car and that is such a pity both for the animal, the owner of the vehicle...but also you can not use the meat...it is all wasted. Mostly they are doe....if the person is a hunter sometimes they will look for the fawn...I know a few folks around here that have mothered them.

I have a very good DVD on the proper way to process deer. If you're interested, I can give you a link on how to order it.

 

[Kentucky Kache]

Looks like you got it all, TT.

 

[bigscoop]

The next six weeks are my favorite time of the year, early archery season! Each year, starting in about early August, my oldest son and I scout a big buck to hunt, sometimes we get them, sometimes we settle for less. But to me it's really all about spending that quality time in the outdoors with my son. Just being there and being part of it all makes it special.

 

[bigscoop]

just went over to check the cam....out of 18 pictures....not one had a deer in it. I did see some nice tracks and one horned toad. The place is crawling with grasshoppers...it is the worse case I have seen in a long time....My hens have cleared about 5 or so acres and they keep trying to move in but everyone is found by a hen, peafowl or turkey and quickly dispatched...Has anyone ever built a grass hopper trap? I am thinking about a large screened box and maybe some molasses inside to attract them....we are talking 100's per 20 feet...bring them home and excellent chicken food.

We've been watching three really nice bucks, two we have already setup for, the other one (the largest one with a massive rack) I don't think we can even get at until the rut. Hangs out in a narrow ditch line that runs through a square mile of ag ground, no cover of any type except along the ditch, which runs east and west with the normal prevailing winds. This is the one I missed last year, I was asleep at the post, thoughts were somewhere else when he came charging through at 20 yards in pursuit of a hot doe. Never got a second chance at him.

 

[bigscoop]

TT,
Most of the cover around here is scattered wood lots, ag fields, ect. Most of the really impressive bucks get that way because they typically bed in areas where there is a great deal of visibility all around, or they bed on properties where deer hunting isn't allowed. They seldom venture out of these safe core areas until the rut, and even then it's mostly at night because there is human activity and scent all around them pretty much 24/7. It's usually only during the summer months prior to hunting season and the peak of the rut that you will spot them during day light hours. A few years ago, just prior to the peak of the rut, I took a really wide, high tined 8 pointer that field dressed at 247lbs. (I can still picture his huge frame standing swayback in the morning light) Until the day I shot him I'd never even seen that buck before and I'd been scouting and hunting the area for a couple of years prior to that day. The only reason I felt there was a good buck in the area was because of the size of the rubs, scrapes, and tracks he'd been leaving behind, even from the previous season. To this day I still have no idea where this buck had been bedding?

 

[bigscoop]

TT,
Here's two 8 pointers I have in my home office, the one at left dressed at 191lbs, the one at right dressed just under 220lbs. I have others in various sporting shops, some of which I have completely lost track of over the years. Both of these bucks came from hard hunted state land, which I hunt quite a bit since I'm surrounded by it and it's so easy to access through the week. I never hunt it on the weekends because I value my own life too much. The two I'm setup for this year are about the same size, a few more points, not monsters but good bucks just the same. The third buck I was telling you about, the one bedding on the ditch line, well, you could easily put either of these two racks inside his 12 point headgear with lots of room to spare. In Indiana you are only allowed one buck per year so we take does for the meat and try not to harvest our buck unless it's a decent, older animal. Like I tell my son, "I'm getting older, one of these days you're going to have to decide which one to drag out first, me or your buck!" He always looks at me like that's going to be a tough call to make.

 

[bigscoop]

Genetics plays a big role in where I hunt, the two bucks pictured were taken two years apart, notice how similar their racks are. The same can be said of the 247lb buck I spoke of earlier. Somewhere I have another 8 pointer like these, perhaps a bit smaller, but all four of them were taken within a mile of each other. Point is, where you saw that big buck jumping the fence, stay with that general area because the genetic pool usually creates a situation where these genetics are passed on. If you can learn that area well, and I mean WELL, then on down the road it becomes much easier to have a fairly accurate idea as to how these bigger bucks travel the area, where they generally bed, feed, and where they can generally be expected to be found during the rut. The two setups I have now are not new setups, but I've not hunted them in a couple of years, but once I saw that there were good bucks running the area again I decided to use them again because of a lot of past experience hunting the area. By the way, these setups are in thick cover with few openings and anything over a 25 to 30 yard shot is nearly impossible. For the most part, around here anyway, because of all the routine human activity and added hunting pressure, even during the peak of the rut these nicer bucks tend to remain in the thicker stuff. It's all kind of like treasure hunting, meaning, "If you want to find gold consistently then hunt where the gold is." The same can be said of hunting nicer bucks. Stick with that general area where you saw that nice buck, odds are you'll get an opportunity at a big buck again!

 

[bigscoop]

Opening day of archery today. Was getting down from my tree stand tonight, hadn't seen a thing but a bunch of pesky nosie making squirrels, heard something fall out of my pocket as I was climbing down so I took a few minutes to look for it, don't know what it was? Walked out of the thicket I was hunting, got snorted at and off he goes, tail high and rack plowing through the standing corn. Man I hate when that happens!

 

[Ray S S]

Wow, Tee, I have to commend you on ALL the really good stuff that you do and are good at. You are one fine woman and
I will say that your husband is a real lucky guy. I can see why he loves you so much. You are a lifetime soul-mate he
would be proud to call his wife.

Bigscoop, those are some beautiful racks.

There is some very interesting reading on this post. Although I still have guns, I don't do any hunting with them anymore.
I would rather shoot them with a camera nowadays. LOL.

Ray

 

[Kentucky Kache]

I have never looked into or shot a cross bow but the thought has crossed my mind. I guess my Dr. would sign off on one....

I've got a cross bow coming. I've never used one either, but we have a pretty long season here for them, so I guess I'll give it a try.

 

[bigscoop]

Crossbows can be quite dangerous. I know a guy who shot his own thumb off. Since you shoot a crossbow much like a rifle he instinctively raised his left thumb, the hand the bow's forerest was resting in. When he pulled the trigger on the crossbow the string struck his thumb, taking the tip of his thumb clear off. Also, unlike a coventional bow, a crossbow is often pulled back and ready to fire much of the time.........be very, very carefull with them!

Ray, I know what you mean, that's one of the reasons I try to only take mature animals, those who have at least been given the chance to live a good portion of their life. I have a great appreciation and respect for wildlife, love watching them all. Taking a deer is never an easy thing to do, there is always some level of grief to be felt in the harvesting of them.

TT, I broke my neck several years back, took me about five years and a lot of therapy before I regained enough strength in my shoulders and neck to pull back a legal hunting weight again. Today I can only shoot about 55lbs, max! As for the "humane killing" aspect. I advise everyone to forget about shooting all this new and improved light-weight arrows and broadheads. Yes, they'll shoot flatter and faster for a greater distance, which increases hunting accuracy and range, however, more and more animals are being lost because there isn't enough kenetic energy maintained in these new lighter setups to make for quick and humane kills. I'm finding more and more lost animals all the time because of these lighter setups. I think they should be outlawed.

 

[AU24K]

Fall. Hmmmm....
Personally I'm afraid of a fall. At my age it could result in a broken hip....what? Oh...
AUTUMN....
Autumn is mixed for me; the HOT days subside but I'm already looking forward to spring.

Get ready for all of the "Holiday" commercials, then the "After" holiday ads.
Guess I've never really liked fall because winter always seems to follow....

Best,
Scott