opening weekend

shot a nice 8 point buck today about noon tracked it for 3 1/2 hours but the blood stopped :banghead:

Member of hunting party just came in said he just saw 3 bear 1 mother and 2 young ones following close behind.
I saw 1 doe and a 4 pointer, It was a miss on the buck no blood trail tracked about 1/4 mile.

Be safe.
Frank

Seen a buck this mornin..He didnt have enough of his vitals showing.
2 more steps and he would have been mine.

LR Yote

I passed on 2 yearlings at about 10 yards with my pistol on Saturday. I was having too good a time watching them. I also saw a buck at about 250 yards. Sunday I didn't see anything, but my 10 year old daughter shot her first deer. The 4th she saw from stand and she watched it for over a half hour before dropping it. We are so proud of her!! When we got home she cooked up the inner tenderloins for lunch. Then for dinner tonight we had the back straps. Absolutely scrumptious!

I must say for a 10 year old she was a die hard. Right after school today her and my husband headed out for stand again. Unfortunately they didn't see anything, but she asked him about going out again after school tomorrow. She's a keeper!

Nice job to your 10yr. old hunting mamma, that is awesome.

Thanks!

rcawdor57 said:

Pretty sad that a "hunter" would shoot a fawn and it's mother. How do we expect them to survive and propagate with those kind of people wiping them out?

That is illegal isn't it?

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Huh?!?!?!?!?

All deer are legal to kill given you have purchased a hunting license and have the appropriate tag(s) for your kill(s). In the CWD region, you are allowed to kill an unlimited number of deer in an effort to prevent the disease from spreading. The DNR keeps decent tabs on the deer population and limits the number of does that can be "harvested" (aka killed) in the various deer management units throughout the state.

I personally will harvest a yearling doe (fawn doe) over a mature doe for a number of reasons, primarily because the doe will be around next year and produce another set of twins whereas a juvenile doe is likely to relocate upon maturity (they also taste better IMHO). I pass fawn bucks and any buck that has a rack width smaller than the tips of his ears for trophy reasons.

Following suit, I managed to "harvest" a yearling doe opening morning. I only saw two other deer on the day so not terribly great but better than nothing. I'll be seeking another doe or hopefully a wall mounter after Thanksgiving dinner is over for the rest of the season.

rcawdor57 said:

Pretty sad that a "hunter" would shoot a fawn and it's mother. How do we expect them to survive and propagate with those kind of people wiping them out?

That is illegal isn't it?

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Not to pick a fight with you, but I don't think that it matters. The Gun Deer Season is only 7 days long. It is not conceivable that we could 'wipe them out' if we tried. Not in 7 days. They are pretty plentiful, atleast around here.

I personally don't shoot fawns unless I am absloutley certain it is not a buck fawn. I shoot all does from yearlings on up. I will explain my reason through an analogy I used withmy son.

There is a town that has 50 men and 50 women, all of them single. If 45 of of the 50 men shipped off to war, could the remaining 5 men get the 50 women pregnant? Then I asked if 45 of the 50 women shipped out instead, could tyhe 50 men get the remaining 5 women pregnant? The answer being yes to both questions, which would result in a lower birth rate?

He really did not understand how critical harvesting does is to managing deer populations until he thought about that analogy.

I agree does taste better.

I consider myself a meat hunter tho I do have a few mounts hangin on the wall.Only one of those is a deer.

The farmer that owns the land I hunt doesnt care as long as its legal.He feels the only good deer is a dead deer.Its also in the CWD zone and its EAB....like it or not, to get a buck kill tag I need to drop an antler less deer.The droppin nubby bucks does bum me out some tho.Rules are Rules and thats what we gotta play by.

If your so worried about the deer herd propagation ....Shoot more coyotes. Its open year round South of Hwy 8 and no bag limit.

Congrats to your daughter Hunting Mama !!!

LR Yote

BROKENSPROKET said:

Not to pick a fight with you, but I don't think that it matters. The Gun Deer Season is only 7 days long. It is not conceivable that we could 'wipe them out' if we tried. Not in 7 days. They are pretty plentiful, atleast around here.

I personally don't shoot fawns unless I am absloutley certain it is not a buck fawn. I shoot all does from yearlings on up. I will explain my reason through an analogy I used withmy son.

There is a town that has 50 men and 50 women, all of them single. If 45 of of the 50 men shipped off to war, could the remaining 5 men get the 50 women pregnant? Then I asked if 45 of the 50 women shipped out instead, could tyhe 50 men get the remaining 5 women pregnant? The answer being yes to both questions, which would result in a lower birth rate?

He really did not understand how critical harvesting does is to managing deer populations until he thought about that analogy.

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Actually the morals of this society, I would have to say, yes, the remaining five can get all of the others pregnant!

BROKENSPROKET said:

The answer being yes to both questions, which would result in a lower birth rate?

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The group that sw+llows ?

LR Yote

Apologies...I just couldnt resist.

LR Yote 312 said:

Apologies...I just couldnt resist.

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I understand.

LR Yote 312 said:

I agree does taste better.

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Yes, yearling does are good.

LR Yote 312 said:

The droppin nubby bucks does bum me out some tho.

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My son and I won't shoot fawns anymore, because it sucks when we drop a nubbin'. "I guess we will never know the monster he could have been"

LR Yote 312 said:

If your so worried about the deer herd propagation ....Shoot more coyotes. Its open year round South of Hwy 8 and no bag limit.

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Two months ago I bought a .22-250, scope, bi-pod and predator caller to do just that. After muzzleloader season is over, we are going to hit'em hard. Gotta pick up some strecthers yet.

I belive the boundry is south of Hwy 8 from Cameron to Ladysmith. At Ladysmith, it runs down Hwy 27 to near Cornell, then follows Hwy 64 almost the whole way to Lake Michigan. I could be wrong though as I am looking at 2009 Regs. No difference to me though. Too busy hunting deer down here during gun and muzzleloader to be up there when they can't be hunted north of the boundry. I am looking to get up there in Chippewa and Rusk Counties some time this winter.

BROKENSPROKET said:

Two months ago I bought a .22-250, scope, bi-pod and predator caller to do just that. After muzzleloader season is over, we are going to hit'em hard. Gotta pick up some strecthers yet.

I belive the boundry is south of Hwy 8 from Cameron to Ladysmith. At Ladysmith, it runs down Hwy 27 to near Cornell, then follows Hwy 64 almost the whole way to Lake Michigan. I could be wrong though as I am looking at 2009 Regs. No difference to me though. Too busy hunting deer down here during gun and muzzleloader to be up there when they can't be hunted north of the boundry. I am looking to get up there in Chippewa and Rusk Counties some time this winter.

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Expect some big ones....I heard from another varminter I met at the range one day
there has been some inner breeding from the wolves. From the way I understand it,only the Alpha couple breads in pack hierarchy.The subordinate wolf kills the Alpha male yote to be able to breed the female yote. Biologist have done some testing and the offspring produced hold up to 80% wolf DNA and have gone as big as 60 lbs.

I personally havent seen any that big yet,on the farm I hunt....but I have shot a couple young females that were up in the above avg weight class. A .308 dont tear them up near as bad as you would think so dont be afraid of the bigger guns.

Fur prices are still in the toilet last I heard,so expect to sit on them for a bit.

They are a very challenging critter to hunt,I have dropped them from 30 ft ( I was trying to pet it ) to the other side of 300. If you know a farmer or some one that raises free range chickens or some other type of poultry that helps alot in gaining access to huntin lands.
A yote needs 3.5 lbs of meat per day....so do some thinkin on where and how its gonna get that requirement.It will help.

If you plan on night shoots,you need a good light.2.5 million candle power dont cut it. I have shot most mine in daylight hours,one was even as late as 2pm.

If your not seriously addicted to it after the 3rd kill...You dont have a heartbeat.

LR Yote

Brokensprocket--Gun season is 9 days long. I shot a 9-pointer right at 6:40 on opening morning. After that I hunted every day and have only saw 3 deer. The population has been so devasted by the unlimited number of tags that can be purchased in certain zones. We have farmed for our land for 30ish years and the crop damage this year was as minimal as it has ever been. The trail cameras tell the same story that there aren't nearly as many deer in the woods. I know plenty of hunters who shoot 15+ deer every year, which is ridiculous. The DNR needs to get a grip before the whitetail herd is too thin and everyone stops hunting. Watch that $1.2 Billion in revenue from hunting fall to nothing. I am upset that I'm not seeing deer, but it won't keep me out of the woods.

people need to go find there hunting morals again and take only adult deer i have blown my tag for many years because i will not shoot a deer that is any younger than 2-3 years old
the cwd is not as bad as the dept of never ending regulation states it is (my opinion) and those many years of endless tags have desensitized the hunting morals of society which they use the younger deer taste better excuse or i dont see big deer well if people would shoot more adult deer and stop shooting younger deer there would be more bigger deer to shoot wether your a meat hunter or a trophy hunter if you shot a bigger deer you would not need to shoot as many younger deer and if you want to make it taste better might i recomend salt and pepper

sorry i had to vent this was not intended as an attack just venting my opinions

CUOfficer said:

Brokensprocket--Gun season is 9 days long.

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You are right. Wow. 7 days.....what a major brain fart.

Heading back up tomorrow night, will hunt the last 3 days. Looks like piss poor weather too.

CUOfficer said:

Brokensprocket--Gun season is 9 days long. I shot a 9-pointer right at 6:40 on opening morning. After that I hunted every day and have only saw 3 deer. The population has been so devasted by the unlimited number of tags that can be purchased in certain zones. We have farmed for our land for 30ish years and the crop damage this year was as minimal as it has ever been. The trail cameras tell the same story that there aren't nearly as many deer in the woods. I know plenty of hunters who shoot 15+ deer every year, which is ridiculous. The DNR needs to get a grip before the whitetail herd is too thin and everyone stops hunting. Watch that $1.2 Billion in revenue from hunting fall to nothing. I am upset that I'm not seeing deer, but it won't keep me out of the woods.

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When you say 15+ deer every year, do you mean 'individuals' or 'hunting partys'?

oak1971 said:

Heading back up tomorrow night, will hunt the last 3 days. Looks like piss poor weather too.

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I was soooooo much hoping for snow, but it turned back to rain. It sucks.