Season's ending tomorrow...for me

[BlackPowderGuy (AJHS)]

Tomorrow is the first day of a three day primitive season in Maryland that marks the end of the hunting season completely. It has been a mixed bag of a year for me. On my private land I did well during archery season but more or less struck out during muzzleloader season. On public land, well...I got better at using my equipment, which involves climbing sticks and a tree saddle, and I got better at seeing deer {in archery season} but they never quite were in range.

I am heading out of town on a business trip on Saturday, so tomorrow and maybe Friday morning will be my last shot. I will be on my own land and using my Traditions Deerhunter. Never did get a chance to confirm how well the XTP 250 grain .452 would work for my gun, so it'll be the Bullshop NEX over 80 grains of Swiss 3F for this year.

Good luck to all the other Marylanders out there...looking at you @Hatchet Jack!

 

[Mike3888]

Good luck in the primitive season, I’ll be out on my piece in Dorchester tomorrow and Saturday. I really don’t need anymore but I’m still holding a buck tag. Monday we will start running the dogs and bunny hunting till end of February. I’ll be carrying my only smoker I have left. TC Renegade.

 

[Hatchet Jack]

Will be out on Saturday for sure. Will try and make it out Thursday and Friday afternoon if I can get home from work early. Hoping to make the Renegade roar some smoke.
Good luck to all who get out.

 

[stan57]

In AL, depending on the zone and other stuff, we have until Feb 10.

 

[WP79Vet]

Best wishes for your hunt! Please let us know how it went.

 

[BlackPowderGuy (AJHS)]

Well, I took a small doe last night. She was alone, with no family group...smaller than I would usually take, but she'll make a couple of very tender stews. The shot, unfortunately, was not my best...I hit further back than I was aiming and it was on the line between liver and gut. She ran about 15 yards {I was in a tree} and lay down about 10 yards from me and I watched her die, which took more than a minute. I hate making bad shots and was very upset with myself. There is no question that I have to spend more time at the range next year getting my iron sights really dialed in...and really getting the hang of that very heavy trigger on the Deerhunter. Makes me wish for a set trigger... Still and all, I am greatful for the hunt and for the meat it provided!

 

[WP79Vet]

Congratulations on bringing home some meat! It's always difficult to watch an animal die when a bullet or an arrow doesn't go quite where we want it to... but it happens to all of us, and when it does, the best we can do is analyze what went wrong, and figure out how to do better next time.

Even at that, though, a hunter's arrow or bullet is still usually the quickest, least painful way that most wild creatures die. For example, even a pack of coyotes usually isn't capable of bringing down a reasonably healthy adult deer, but on several occasions I've seen deer that had either their faces or their back sides very badly chewed up, and the coyotes were just watching and following until the deer finally got weak and confused enough from blood loss for the coyotes to bring it down. I can remember the weakening process taking up to a week for several deer that lived in the open hills west of Ellensburg, WA, where I used to live, and walked for a couple of hours every day. Starvation and disease are even uglier.

 

[Hatchet Jack]

Got the Renegade to bark today. Ended up shooting this guy this morning. Came running across the powerline and stopped at a little over 50 yds. Thought it was a doe but ended up being a small shed buck.

 

[Mike3888]

Nice job H Jack. Congrats. It’s tough to tell if they are shed.. The one I got on opener looked pretty big so when she stopped @ 60 yards I gave a low whistle and she turned her head just enough I could see it was definitely a doe..

 

[WP79Vet]

Congratulations Hatchet Jack! And nice shot, by the way.

 

[deermanok]

Congrats.

 

[gman57]

Congrats for another contribution for your freezer, enjoy

 

[Lawnscaper]

Congratulations looking forward to shooting one with a sidelock next season, haven't done that since the early 80's, had a CVA mountain rifle kit my girlfriend gave me killed a few deer with it back then looking forward to getting back into it again.