Lookee what we found whilst wandering....

[Mike R]

Found a 10 pointer at a treestand at the top of a funneling hill. Shot him once, unsure if it connected, Uwe comes out and starts hollering saying he sees something down there and I signal to him to hush and put the rifle back up to take a 2nd shot. Still unsure which shot was the one that got him. I had to track a blood trails through some brambles for about 45 minutes but eventually I found him. When I found him he was down but not out and I didn't have any other ammunition or firearms with me so I went to find Shaun to get him to finish it off. Pretty far trek at this point, when I found Shaun and eventually found my way back, this guy had bled out. Taking him to get taxidermed today.

[Andy]

This morning, 5 minutes into rifle season I took this doe with my trusty Remington .30-06.

[Shaun]

Shot this doe backwards from tree stand 3 just before last light, after being up there for 6 hours.

[DV52]

^^^Mike, Shaun, Andy: hmm............the beasts in your 3 x photos looks suspiciously similar? Are you sure that it isn't the one Ross-Tech corporate deer with the mandatory VCDS logo hidden on the underside (and with antlers stuck on its head in Mike's pic)?

Don

PS: how much of the animal is actually taken for eating (venison?) and how do shooters deal with the part of the carcass that remains (I would think that lots of carcasses left to rot in the bush would be a bit whiffy)?

[Uwe]

PS: how much of the animal is actually taken for eating (venison?)

Pretty much all of it. We take them to a butcher / meat-processor who returns the meat in a form that has a high spousal acceptance factor. That means it's vacuum-packed, much as if it came from a store. This pic is from a couple of years ago:

and how do shooters deal with the part of the carcass that remains (I would think that lots of carcasses left to rot in the bush would be a bit whiffy)?

The only parts that remain on site are the entrails, which we remove almost immediately, and usually right where the deer goes down, meaning it's not in close vicinity to the cabin. Also keep in mind that we're coming into winter here, with nights consistently below freezing, and days also fairly cool. This means the parts that do remain don't spoil fast and various scavengers make it all disappear before spring.

-Uwe-

[Andy]

Here is another shot of Mike’s 10 pointer catching a ride to the taxidermist and then the butcher shop in Bruce’s non-VAG minivan-based pick-em-up truck:

[Bruce]

So da bear finally scored a deer... Here are two pictures:





So the story is after rain most of the day, Sage and I went to the big meadow to see what we might see... it was 15:30. As we arrived, 3 does spotted us and took off before either of us could get off a shot. We hid ourselves in rock piles on the meadow and waited to see if the deer would come back to feed. Around 17:15, I saw a doe coming down a trail Uwe, Katie, Sage, Shaun, and I cut down the mountain this summer. Using a tree for support, I shot the doe. She rose up about 3 feet off the ground and then came running right at me. I was so startled and was trying to chamber another round when she ran past and into the woods. I followed her blood trail about 200 yards down the hill and into deep woods. I lost the trail and called for help from Sage. He came and he noticed she doubled back and then went under a barbed wire fence, crossed a small stream - we call them springs - and then went down the stream bed. She finally climbed out of the bed and dropped. We had to get onto the neighbors property and bring her back. What an ordeal. Sage said to me - "This was a real hunt" - chasing the deer, dragging it up the mountain and then fetching it with the tractor! He thought it was a blast.

da bear breaks a 4 year drought! It feels good!

[Andy]

I just got a call from the butcher shop ... my deer is ready! That's fast, only 9 days.