C’mere deer!

[Pullstart 59,732]

Well, my food plot definitely attracts deer.  A couple problems have developed.

 

 I am having a difficult time getting into my stand without spooking deer off.  It sure is exciting to be 10 feet from the tree and multiple deer in the dark are snort-wheezing at you!  I’ll try a few more times to get out earlier, then I’ll hang up shotgun season.  There is rarely an afternoon that I’m not running the kids around to get away from morning hunts.  Muzzle loading is right around the corner!

 

Last night I ground stalked 2 does to about 60 yards out.  They were stacked up with a lot of body mass exposed!  I was knelt, steady, pulled the trigger.... the shell misfired!!!  It is a year old, but haven’t ever had tat issue with anything but a .22 rimfire.

[Ed Kennell 35,789]

4 minutes ago, pullstart said:

... the shell misfired!!!  

Did you have a good dimple in the primer?     I had a Savage 110 in  .270 cal. that had a habit of misfiring especially in cold weather.  A new firing pin spring solved the problem.

[Pullstart 59,732]

42 minutes ago, Ed Kennell said:

Did you have a good dimple in the primer?     I had a Savage 110 in  .270 cal. that had a habit of misfiring especially in cold weather.  A new firing pin spring solved the problem.

 

I don’t see anything goofy about the primer, I don’t understand why it would have done that by the looks of it.

 

 

[Ed Kennell 35,789]

Looks like it hit hard enough, but I am concerned that it is so far off center.         Could the firing pin be bent  or out of center?

[Pullstart 59,732]

I am not sure, here are this year’s and last year’s samples from sighting in.

 

 

[WHX?? 46,793]

On your slug problem Kev you got a pin problem fer sure. I don't think it's getting a right hit .. maybe a bent pin or busted main spring? Gunsmith should be able to sort it out. What gun?

Managed to score this on the traditional WI nine day gun season. Not a wall hanger but freezer filling. The 7mm-08 sure does it job. 

Still have 12 doe tags to fill! Going to harvest two for hamburger and steaks and one strictly for sausage makeing. We use alot of burger everthing from chili to spaghetti.  Had six does in the plow field tonight with two huge does past their prime. Good candidates. 

[Ed Kennell 35,789]

WTG Jim.  Our season opened Saturday, but I spent the day in the cabin cooking for the boys and grandsons.    I did walk some laurel out to the kids in the afternoon.

One boy bagged a small 5 point.     We old timers always keep our guns cased the first day.  I'll uncase the .270 and head north to fill some tags this week.

  BTW, no one saw the bear we watched at the bird feeders Friday night.

 

           Sat. 5AM  we had the coffee perking and bacon frying.

 

I stopped at a friends Camp Overkill, but he was not there. @Mows4three

Edited December 1, 2019 by Ed Kennell

[Pullstart 59,732]

Good job Jim!  Now go get you some sloppy doe!

 

Good luck Ed!  Deer camp looks like so much fun!  

[Ed Kennell 35,789]

OK, Here's the update.

My sisters grandson bagged a 5 point on Sat. morning.   Sorry, no picture.

Due to the ice storm that was forecast for Sunday,  we came home on Saturday afternoon.

I headed North in the rain and snow flurries  for the 5 hour drive to the Potter Co camp.

When I got there at noon, the roads and forest was coated with 4-5 inches of wet heavy snow.

 

The drive into the leased area to the food plot took an hour and the removal of several fallen trees.

 

I made it to the food plot about 1PM and set up a tent, planning to spend several days in the tent.

About an hour later I passed on a 6 point that I had all ready  passed in archery season.

At 2:30, this small 8 point stepped out in the woods behind my tent instead of in the front into the food plot.

I took him with an 80 yd shoulder shot.

 

I got him tagged and field dressed and dragged to the road leading to the food plot.

At 4 PM a single doe walked out across the food plot and I filled my DMAP doe tag with a 110 yd  neck shot.   

I loaded them and headed back to camp to hang them and enjoy a fine baked ham dinner and a lot of ribbing from friends about being "double dipped".

Seems the guys had hunted Saturday and Monday and only killed one buck.

 

 

I did some driving of the thick laurel on Tuesday and pushed this nice 8 point out to my neighbor.

 

We were only able to move him about 100 yds. and we knew we could not get him up the steep mountain before dark. so we hung him in a tree for the night and got more young blood to help on Wed.

 

After we got him out, I ran the truck through the "car wash" and headed home to butcher my deer.

 

 

[WHX?? 46,793]

Nice Ed thanks for the  and stories. 

The fellas give you the business about double dipping tell them they didn't save us no buffalo or take their nice plate of ham and replace it with a unfilled tag to gnaw on! 

[Pullstart 59,732]

Congrats, Ed!  Can’t eat antlers!

[Pullstart 59,732]

According to realtree.com, rut is over in Michigan and it’s time to focus on bed to food activity.  Well tonight, I went to check the wood stove before bed and there were an un-countable number of deer on the side of the house that I worked all day cutting and installing siding.  It is 11:30 at night and there is minimal light, but they kept scampering and making all kinds of commotion before all running towards my plot.  They were on the other side of the pool from me therefore two sections of chain link fence but it’s good to hear and see activity nearby still!  I hope to get out more during muzzle loading or late doe seasons and bag another one or two!

 

https://www.realtree.com/deer-hunting/pro-rut-report/midwest/midwest-rut-report-the-post-rut-is-here

[Ed Kennell 35,789]

We worked up about 50 lb of deer bologna today.  Most will be given away to friends, neighbors, and family,

Stop by at the Big Show...there may be some left.

  I slice some thin strips for the pickle/cream cheese roll-ups that Mrs K likes to make for the holiday parties.

 

Oh, BTW, my Nephew took this buck on Wed.       He had 13" G2s, 9" G3s, and grossed 173" with 7" of his left G3 broken off.

 

 

[Pullstart 59,732]

My brother in-law spotted three doe this evening walking pretty quick through the field, toward the house from the field.  I managed to get the gun out the safe and land a head shot on the biggest one!  Merry Christmas and no wasted meat!  I am taking the easy road and sending it to a processor this time!

[PeacemakerJack 10,671]

Kevin—hope you don’t mind me using your thread for sharing this cool story...@Coulter Caleb were driving to work on Tuesday morning when I spotted something that I had never personally seen...

An albino buck!  It was about 500 yards across the field but started running our way. I quickly handed Caleb my phone and he snapped these pics.

I appologize for the lack of quality but the deer was running, I was driving, and Caleb was trying to zoom in...

he was a 6 point basket rack with half of the rack gone...guessing that it had already fallen off.

Just cool to see this rare animal in person👍🏻

Edited December 26, 2019 by PeacemakerJack

[Pullstart 59,732]

So cool Josh!  They look like inverted color pictures!  I’ve seen one doe before, on the way back to work after a lunch visit home for something about 10-12 years ago... such a majestic sight!

[WHX?? 46,793]

Only saw one once but it was spotted brown/white. Guess they call that a piebald which is legal tender to shoot here. Could have had a crack at it but was too busy watching it.  All white albinos  no no.. very illegal to harvest. True albinos have pink eyes!

 

Sat in the stand last evening  for one of Ed's  Christmas bologna does but heavy fog persisted. Have what they call the holiday hunt going on here now. Does only any weapon type & goes till the 1st. and only in southern farmland areas. May get one yet. Like to know how the DNR thinks I am going to use 12 doe tags but they are in good numbers in the south. 

[Pullstart 59,732]

How much is a doe tag in WI, or do they give 12 away Jim?  It’s $20 a piece if I recall correctly.  

[WHX?? 46,793]

They are FREE!! In my area anyway. Some areas they are $12 extra over the counter if there are any left for the that area. Usually lots left.  One gets four  free with a buying a gun tag, four with a archery tag so between Cindy and I we got 12. One of the weird things over here is you have to specify either public or private land to use them on. 

 

Drove a GT over to a neighbors Tuesday afternoon I repaired for him and walked back through the woods and spotted eight of them out in the field we plowed! 

Really bizarre high temps here for this time of year but still ok hanging temps. 

[Pullstart 59,732]

I stuffed her with a 20 lb bag of ice last night.  Now I’ll need to load her in that loaner truck to bring to the processor 

[Jennifer 1,872]

3 hours ago, PeacemakerJack said:

Kevin—hope you don’t mind me using your thread for sharing this cool story...@Coulter Caleb were driving to work on Tuesday morning when I spotted something that I had never personally seen...

An albino buck!  It was about 500 yards across the field but started running our way. I quickly handed Caleb my phone and he snapped these pics.

I appologize for the lack of quality but the deer was running, I was driving, and Caleb was trying to zoom in...

he was a 6 point basket rack with half of the rack gone...guessing that it had already fallen off.

Just cool to see this rare animal in person👍🏻

I hope that as rare as this deer is you all enjoy pictures and don’t hunt it...  what a beautiful animal!

[Ed Kennell 35,789]

True albino deer are rare in the wild.  Lacking the necessary camouflage, most fawns do not survive predation.   There is also some evidence albino deer lack the keen sight and hearing possessed  by normal deer.   Even this piebald doe that I photographed for several years seemed to lack the wariness of a normal deer. I could approach her within 20 yards before she would move.     Interesting that albino deer are protected in some states.  Antler size is the only factor used  to determine legal deer harvest in Pa.   Coloration, sex, and size are not a factor.

 

[Pullstart 59,732]

Here’s my doe. 

 

 

[Pullstart 59,732]

I walked to where she dropped and held the camera about 3-1/2 feet off the ground.  This is the view of the deck, where I got her from.

 

I’m so thankful for one more animal in the freezer soon!

[Ed Kennell 35,789]

PeeAaas flintlock season opened on the 26th.   It was 45F yesterday, I still have a doe tag, so I took down the CVA .50 and got it ready for an evening sit in the lower tree stand.

Before loading, I always put a little power in the pan and dry fire it to be sure I have ignition.  After 3 tries and no fire, I took a punch and chipped a new edge on the flint.

It worked, I had a good pan ignition.    Then I put a little power covered with a patch in the barrel and fired it to clean and dry the barrel.   Now it was ready to load. I always put 10grains of 4F in the barrel to speed up the ignition of the two 50 grain Pyrodex pellets that go in next followed by the 295 grain Sabot bullet.    I got in the tree stand at 3 PM and spent an hour watching my Amish neighbor plowing the cabbage field about 200 yards to my left.   At 4PM, I turned to my right and saw 3 doe and a buck running towards me. As they were passing by me at 30 yds, I bleated to stop them for the shot.         One stopped and the other three kept running.        You remember, I allready used my buck tag and one doe tag and only have a doe tag left.

I'll let you guess which of the four deer stopped and looked at me when I bleated.