I couldn't find a season thread for this year yet so I'll kick it off. Season opened here on Fri. Yesterday was the first chance I had to go out. I got one! Not only the first dear of the season, it's the first dear of my life!!
I didn't start hunting until I moved down here just shy of 4 yrs ago. I didn't really do much more than scouting the first year. I'm entirely self/internet taught. I've have taken a bunch of small game since being here but no deer. After a series of missed opportunities and either getting busted by or spooking several deer I finally got it right this year. I've been watching/feeding the same group of deer in my yard for months now and was able to get on on my first day out this year.
I'll tell you this, dragging and quartering a deer in 80 deg. weather sucks HUGE ****ING DONKEY BALLS!! I was just pouring sweat the whole time. I got a clean through double lung shot on him and he only made it about 40 yds from the point of the shot. I know a lot of people, myself included, love to bitch about broad-heads being $30-60+ for a pack of 3. Well I can say with absolute certainty that the Allan brand 125Gr. broad-heads from wally world for $7 a 3 pack kill them just as dead. I used a 20 in. Barnett Headhunter Custom Carbon bolt with the 125 Allen BH. Total combined weight of 440 Gr. thrown by a Centerpoint Sniper 370 FPS crossbow.
I think I made out alright for my first go. Considering the heat it was all rush rush rush. It was about 45 min from finding it's corpse to skinned, stripped and packed in the cooler to age for a few days. The many many many, did I say many?, hours of watching skinning and processing vids payed off big time. I was able to strip the deer much faster than I expected. Quarters, back straps, neck, outer rib meat and tenderloins, all without having to open the gut cavity.
The cats in my yard are having a field day with the scraps and carcass. He was a little on the small side, which most deer down here are. I never hung him to get an official weight but it felt like he was somewhere in the 150-170 lb. range based on what the drag felt like. So, without further adieu, here's my first deer...
The wife was nice enough to come out and film the tear-down and hold a leg occasionally. Camera memory kept getting full so it is split across a few vids. Once I get it edited together and up on youtube I'll post it here.
Good luck this season and be safe!
I didn't start hunting until I moved down here just shy of 4 yrs ago. I didn't really do much more than scouting the first year. I'm entirely self/internet taught. I've have taken a bunch of small game since being here but no deer. After a series of missed opportunities and either getting busted by or spooking several deer I finally got it right this year. I've been watching/feeding the same group of deer in my yard for months now and was able to get on on my first day out this year.
I'll tell you this, dragging and quartering a deer in 80 deg. weather sucks HUGE ****ING DONKEY BALLS!! I was just pouring sweat the whole time. I got a clean through double lung shot on him and he only made it about 40 yds from the point of the shot. I know a lot of people, myself included, love to bitch about broad-heads being $30-60+ for a pack of 3. Well I can say with absolute certainty that the Allan brand 125Gr. broad-heads from wally world for $7 a 3 pack kill them just as dead. I used a 20 in. Barnett Headhunter Custom Carbon bolt with the 125 Allen BH. Total combined weight of 440 Gr. thrown by a Centerpoint Sniper 370 FPS crossbow.
I think I made out alright for my first go. Considering the heat it was all rush rush rush. It was about 45 min from finding it's corpse to skinned, stripped and packed in the cooler to age for a few days. The many many many, did I say many?, hours of watching skinning and processing vids payed off big time. I was able to strip the deer much faster than I expected. Quarters, back straps, neck, outer rib meat and tenderloins, all without having to open the gut cavity.
The cats in my yard are having a field day with the scraps and carcass. He was a little on the small side, which most deer down here are. I never hung him to get an official weight but it felt like he was somewhere in the 150-170 lb. range based on what the drag felt like. So, without further adieu, here's my first deer...
The wife was nice enough to come out and film the tear-down and hold a leg occasionally. Camera memory kept getting full so it is split across a few vids. Once I get it edited together and up on youtube I'll post it here.
Good luck this season and be safe!
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