2022 Firearm Success Pics

[boo711]

Had a good opening day. And a great opening weekend down at camp. Had a spike opening day a little after 6:30 come in directly to my right working his way across the hill. Was digging through my pack at that point getting my binoculars out.   Could see he had some headgear but couldn’t make out “what” he had. Ditched getting the binoculars out and looked through scope. Could see it was a spike. He ended up passing in front of me at 5 yds. Was looking at him through the logs in my blind as he passed. Watched him walk into the thick stuff as he continued across the hill. 
A little after 8 I looked to my left and here comes a buck on the same trail the spike was on, just in the opposite direction. He got right in front of my blind, saw me flinch, scared him and he jumped sideways and took a coupe steps sideways. Maybe 10 yds away. Got the cross hairs on him and fired.   Could see the blood pumping out as he ran. Dropped about 40 yards up the hill. About 20 minutes later I walked up the hill and dragged him down the hill just past my blind to about 20 yds from the road. Hopped back in blind, was having a bite to eat and filling out my tag. Looked up the hill and had 6 does at about 60 yards making there way across the hill. Then the big one comes behind them. They eventually made there way in front of me and kept going across the hill. 45 minutes later I hear my cousin shoot. He got the big boy. 
My brother ended up with an 8 pointer also Saturday morning and my father got 2 does also. 79 years old. Was really happy for him.   Was a good weekend.  Closed up camp for the week this morning and will be heading home shortly. Wishing Thanksgiving wasn’t this week so I could stay here until Sunday. Unfortunately we have 28 people converging on our house Thursday for dinner. Wife told me this morning you’ve been gone since last Wednesday, you’ve got stuff to do, get home.  Lol.  She followed that up with, let’s get through thanksgiving and then if you want to live at camp for the rest of the year that is fine. I’m not sure if that is a blessing or if she is trying to get rid of me???🤔🤔🤔

 

 

[ShootEm]

23 minutes ago, boo711 said:

Had a good opening day. And a great opening weekend down at camp. Had a spike opening day a little after 6:30 come in directly to my right working his way across the hill. Was digging through my pack at that point getting my binoculars out.   Could see he had some headgear but couldn’t make out “what” he had. Ditched getting the binoculars out and looked through scope. Could see it was a spike. He ended up passing in front of me at 5 yds. Was looking at him through the logs in my blind as he passed. Watched him walk into the thick stuff as he continued across the hill. 
A little after 8 I looked to my left and here comes a buck on the same trail the spike was on, just in the opposite direction. He got right in front of my blind, saw me flinch, scared him and he jumped sideways and took a coupe steps sideways. Maybe 10 yds away. Got the cross hairs on him and fired.   Could see the blood pumping out as he ran. Dropped about 40 yards up the hill. About 20 minutes later I walked up the hill and dragged him down the hill just past my blind to about 20 yds from the road. Hopped back in blind, was having a bite to eat and filling out my tag. Looked up the hill and had 6 does at about 60 yards making there way across the hill. Then the big one comes behind them. They eventually made there way in front of me and kept going across the hill. 45 minutes later I hear my cousin shoot. He got the big boy. 
My brother ended up with an 8 pointer also Saturday morning and my father got 2 does also. 79 years old. Was really happy for him.   Was a good weekend.  Closed up camp for the week this morning and will be heading home shortly. Wishing Thanksgiving wasn’t this week so I could stay here until Sunday. Unfortunately we have 28 people converging on our house Thursday for dinner. Wife told me this morning you’ve been gone since last Wednesday, you’ve got stuff to do, get home.  Lol.  She followed that up with, let’s get through thanksgiving and then if you want to live at camp for the rest of the year that is fine. I’m not sure if that is a blessing or if she is trying to get rid of me???🤔🤔🤔

 

 

Doesn't get much better than that, heck of an Opening Day for your crew. Congrats to all!

[Robhuntandfish]

Doe for the freezer! 

[treeguy]

Duke scored a solid unit! Was quite the work out dragging this big old buck out in 3' of snow.... but we got him hanging !

Edited November 22, 2022 by treeguy

[mowin]

4 hours ago, treeguy said:

Duke scored a solid unit! Was quite the work out dragging this big old buck out in 3' of snow.... but we got him hanging !

Look at those brow tines.  

[Nomad]

 

Irish Spring and Mennen speed stick score again ! 

So they often come out the far corner of the thicket into the cut beans, no stand over there , few trees,  bad wind ( it blows right into the thicket ) and your skylighted in any tree .

 

So I said Larry there’s a cross wind tonight , go park on the back side road walk down the hedgerow and sit in it . 
 

I get there at 3 sit down pull out binoculars, phone , reading glasses, shooting stick , 15 minutes later a buck steps out, then a bigger one, not great but a decent body, the hunt just fell together, it felt really well .

Half mile drag a lot up hill on mud , I called my buddy,knowing that he would break my balls for not passing this buck, but it seemed better then a heart attack or all night drag . He came over on his ATV thank God , as I got maybe ten steps before I needed to stop .

Heres my “ nest “ in the hedgerow , the first deer ,and a couple  pics of the one I took .

 

7mm08 that’s the exit wound, he went 15 or 20 feet .

Edited November 24, 2022 by Nomad

[Steuben Jerry]

My wife has been seeing only a few bucks since Saturday, and nothing she wanted to shoot until this guy walked out at 4:15 this afternoon. We had put a new elevated platform stand in our murder plot this year and just got it out by early September. No one has used it until Saturday. We’ve all passed small bucks there but Doreen hadn’t hunted there until today.

130 yd shot with her 7mm-08. Double lung, dropped in 60 yds. Had to go get the tractor, no way her and I could do the lift into the SxS with this one.

I think she likes the new platform!

[Doebuck1234]

On 11/22/2022 at 9:29 AM, treeguy said:

Duke scored a solid unit! Was quite the work out dragging this big old buck out in 3' of snow.... but we got him hanging !

Atta boy duke,you da man!!never disappoint's

[GroanALot]

Healthy yearling at about 1800’ above sea level, was alone and smelled like she was in heat…

11/23 4 pm snow doe:

Did have to “drag” her about 100 yards downhill, but it literally took 30 seconds with the snow + gravity…then the reenergized gator did the rest:

Edited November 24, 2022 by GroanALot

[Phantom]

[Meatball]

Not my harvest , but this is a friend of mine who just started hunting this gun season. Had Jay out on opening day and didn't connect with anything, but saw deer. So he wanted to return to the same spot this morning for a few more hours on the state land and we still have a doe tag to fill.  9:15 this morning he sends me a text, shot a doe! He had two does come down the hill behind him and he turned into position to take the closest one. Put the .308 right in the vitals and she only went about 5 yards. 

So we readied him to gut the deer and when I rolled her on the back....... surprise! She is a button buck!  Worked out great, greenhorns second hunt and he tagged his first buck! And we both made it home in time for Thanksgiving dinner. When Jay called me earlier in the fall to tell me he was going to start hunting, I really wanted to help him succeed in his first season. So we checked some state land spots out and I tried to put him on some ground with good sign. Fingers crossed that the deer would cooperate with our hunts. We had a good start to our new adventures hunting together! 

[mowin]

Takin this morning by a good friends son in Maine.  

 

[treeguy]

This fella hobbled in on a dangling broken front leg. Can't imagine how the last week has been for him with the snow, but he will have no worries from here on out. Thankful for the opportunity !

 

[518BowSlayer]

Couldn't hunt Thanksgiving morning because I had family coming and too much to do. So right around noon I'm bout to walk out the back door to get the turkey fryer set up and I look through the glass towards the corner of the small field behind my shop. What do I see you ask? The biggest 8 I've ever seen on this property working a scrape I didn't know was there not 50 yards from my garage. I snap 1 quick pic through the glass. My wife sees me getting all excited and asks "what's wrong?" And I think I said "I gotta grab my gun" I grab my rifle and head out there. By this time he's walking right through the middle of the field away from me. He gets to the edge and stops. I got him in the cross hairs... 60 yards... safety off... at the very last moment I have a change of heart I guess. I just watch him walk away. Just didn't feel right. Literally minutes later my guests start to arrive and I'm still shaking from excitement. 

Supposed to work the next day and get a text saying the customer rescheduled. Guess where I'm hunting in the morning? So knowing this buck is around i decide to wait until legal shooting light to leave the house because I don't want to spook him in the dark. I walk really slow to my stand which is less than 300 yards from my back door. I get 10 yards from said stand and a buck comes right down the trail. I don't even wait to confirm if it's the one I saw or not. I shoot. He jumped up but it looked a little far back towards guts. He runs maybe 40 yards and stops but I can't see him because it's downhill a little. But I definitely didn't hear him crash. I slowly walk towards where I think he went and he's just standing there. And all I got for a follow up shot is the Texas heart shot. Well he just stood there for damn near 5 minutes. I realize at this point it's definitely not the big one I saw the day before. I'm running scenarios in my head. I'm pretty sure he's gut shot, I'm pretty sure he's not bleeding alot, and I know it's going to rain later. So I tell myself if he starts to walk away I'm gonna shoot. Well he does. I shoot again but it goes right through that back ham. That's gonna cost me some meat. He ran maybe another 40 yards and dropped. Didn't kick around at all, just laid there on his side. I give him a few minutes and start walking towards him and he sticks his head up. Quick lung shot on the ground and he's done. 7 point with 2 broken tines. Thought I'd be a little disappointed that he's not the big one but I'm not. I'm definitely thankful for what I've got. And at least I kinda feel like I hunted him and didn't just shoot him from my backyard. That's 3 deer in the freezer and all from right behind my house. Kinda wonder why I spent so much time hunting public and down at my in-laws! Haha! Been hunting this property for 10 years but we just bought this house last January. What are the chances of buying a house right next to a property you already hunt? Feeling very blessed. And there's still a big one out there for the late season! 

[Lawdwaz]

Shot a nice doe this morning in Lima.  Same gun as my opening day buck,  7mm-08 ULA with a 120gr Barnes TTSX bullet.  The shot was about 150 yds and she went about 75 yds.   The entrance was on the other side, the exit is pictured.   In the brief time before I shot I thought she was broadside but it turns out she was a little quartering.   No big deal I guess but I was surprised.  
 

She dressed out at 125#……a steady diet of agricultural helps, huh?!?!

 

Edited November 28, 2022 by Lawdwaz