2023 Hunting Season

[JD338]

Nice going, Jim. That is a great shot.

How are the others in your party making out? Seeing anything good?

Dan,
I haven't hunted since 10/7, waiting for prime time so I'm not tempted.
I've been sitting with Sue enjoying her hunts and seeing quite a few deer
We had a BIG 8 pt come in but unfortunately she couldn't close the deal at 25 and 20 yards.
Danielle missed a big boy last night. Her arrow clipped an unseen branch.
It's starting to get interesting around here, stay tuned.

JD338

 

[RL338]

It's starting to get interesting around here, stay tuned.

It has turned cold here over the past couple of days. Starting this week business should pick up.

 

[jimbires]

I was hunting N Carolina the week of OCT 16 - 21 . I shot a decent 6 point Wednesday evening . I had passed up a bunch of doe , and a few small bucks . it was warmer than it was supposed to be , and hunting was slow . I was happy to get him .





the next morning , Thursday morning I tagged this one , also a 6 point . they figured he was 5 1/2 years old . a nice heavy horned buck . this is the heaviest horns I've taken . I was thrilled to get him . I hung out at the camp that evening and headed home Friday morning .



now I gotta get serious about hunting Pa , I haven't hunted since I got back , been trapping LOL . the bucks are starting to get active . the cameras are still very slow . none of the big boys are showing up yet , that I know of . it's getting tight lipped on the lease . it's cooling off this week so maybe things will get good quick .

 

[RL338]

The second one is nice

 

[DrMike]

Congratulations on a successful hunt!

 

[JD338]

Nice bucks Jim, congratulations

JD338

 

[NYDAN]

Congratulations on a successful hunt. What rifle and load did you use?

 

[Guy Miner]

Congrats Jim!

 

[wvbuckbuster]

Congratulations on your pair of 6s. Dan.

 

[RL338]

Yesterday I punched my buck bow tag , no giant but first buck with x-bow.

 

[JD338]

Nice buck Rick, congratulations on your x-bow kill.

JD338

 

[DrMike]

Excellent! Congratulations on your first buck with your x-bow.

 

[NYDAN]

Congratulations on a fine first x-bow buck.

 

[jimbires]

Congratulations on a successful hunt. What rifle and load did you use?

Dan , I used my Tikka 595 , chambered in 7mm-08 . I do have good glass on it , a VX6 2-12 with the Boone and Crocket reticle . I use 139 grain Hornady BTSP bullets with IMR4064 powder . nothing special at all , it's just a consistent deer killer .


thanks guys , he's a pretty good buck . the antler bases measure 5 1/2 " the other 5 3/4 " .

there was a lot going on at crunch time . it was a cold frosty morning . the bright morning sun was shining directly in my face . the buck had stopped in the tall tree shadows , making him very hard to see . I looked through the scope and thought he's gone . pick my head up and there he was . I did this a couple of times . I thought I could see horns way over his head at times , but sure didn't know he had what he had . I had to have both eyes open to be able to see him , and make the shot . I think the scope dimmed so much due to the bright sun ,made the deer in the shadows about like nighttime . there was a whiteface hornet that kept showing up in the box blind that morning , he was in there buzzing around , keeping me on edge . I'll guess this all happened in 10 seconds or less . all this going on I lost track of where he was standing to be able to look for blood . I'm sitting in the blind trying to figure out where he was , and out steps a spike . he slowly walks towards me . take a few steps and stop , twitching his tail , then a few more steps and stop twitching his tail . he does this over and over , then turns broadside and stops for what seemed like a long time twitching his tail . then slowly steps into the thick . I paid attention to where he was standing broadside , it looked like a couple dried up mud puddles. I got down went out to the dried mud puddles and there was a well used deer trail . I looked around a little found blood about the size of my little fingernail , and marked the spot . the new owner of this outfitter uses a tracking dog on every deer that runs after being shot . if the deer cannot be seen from the shot location he puts the dog on it , doesn't matter how hard it's bleeding . his method is , get a close place to start the dog . go to camp for a couple hours . come back and put the dog out . this deer went about 30 yards after the shot , with no visible blood trail . he dropped in a low spot with high brown grass , and weeds . we would have had a very hard time finding him without the dog . probably would have gave up on finding him and wrote it off as a graze , not a solid hit .
the smaller buck bleed like it was pouring out of a bucket . we couldn't see the deer from the shot location so we put the dog on it . that deer went probably 40 - 50 yards .

 

[Idaho53]

Morning from Idaho. I am up in Stanley hunting bull elk with my family. My son in law and I have OTC open bull tags, and I was able to harvest mine last night. He's only a spike...but I am happy to fill our freezer. This is my 1st harvest with my 300 PRC. Shooting the 212 ELD-X bullets...bull was 485 yards. Two shots to the lungs and he was down (on elk, I have learned to keep shooting until they are down). Both bullets were complete pass thru's with large exit wounds. We quartered him up on the mountain and walked out in the dark (one of those hunts you remember) We are heading back it this morning to see if we can find one for my son-in-law. I will post pictures later.
Sure do love the outdoors and Public Land we are blessed to enjoy in this Country. Let's work hard and stick together to preserve it.

 

[hunter24605]

Made a rookie mistake and used the wrong dot on the X-bow sight and shot under a nice little buck. Later 4 Turkeys came in and I sent the bolt through this one. 9” beard and 1” spurs.

 

[JD338]

Congrats on a nice fall Tom.

JD338

 

[DrMike]

Sorry about the miss on the buck. But you did tag a fine gobbler!

 

[RL338]

Made a rookie mistake and used the wrong dot on the X-bow sight and shot under a nice little buck. Later 4 Turkeys came in and I sent the bolt through this one. 9” beard and 1” spurs.
View attachment 21343

Got yourself a nice Tom

 

[salmonchaser]

Home from elk hunting; no joy for me. Weather was pretty awful, almost 5 inches of rain in three days on top of a foot of snow. Saw plenty of elk on the side of a mountain about 4 miles away, decided to make a play on them. We counted at least 150. Left the tent at 0300, dropped 3000 feet in 2.5 miles then hiked down a horse trail for another couple of miles, climbed 3000 feet in about 2 miles crested the ridge at about 0800, a little latter than we hoped. We had to negotiate a draw for about 700 yards and we would be in position. We were in the bottom of the draw when all hell broke loose. A couple of guys on horses had also seen the elk and ridden down to them. 8 shots later they had collected two bulls. Oh well. Now it’s time to get ready for Montana.