2014 Hunting Megathread

SpankyMA1971 said:
Got this spiked buck Friday. I had actually decided to call it quits for the day and was heading out of the woods. Walked around corner in trail and he was standing there with a tree blocking his view of me 20 yards away. Only ran about 45 yards before dropping. Not a big guy, but plenty tasty and already packed away in the freezer.

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Same thing happend to me with the first buck I ever shot...I was new to hunting and one morning I got bored and tired of sitting in the tree so I got down and stood at the base of the tree for about ten minutes listening for anything coming my way...I took a few steps away from the tree and heard a deer coming my way so I slowly crept and put a tree between me and the deer, drew and waited for him to clear the tree and let the arrow fly!
 
45collector said:
^ Nice. That's why I practice walking as quietly as I can through the woods. You never know when one is just going to be farting around out in the open. It doesn't happen so much after the guns of December have started thundering but that's pretty much the same way I got my first deer. Me and two buddies combed through an entire area of marshlands, got all the way to Barnstable harbor, turned around and headed back and not 3 minutes later there's this dumb ass spike just standing in the grass. I fired two rounds of 00 buck which crippled it's ass end, and one of the other guys ended it with a slug to the back of the head.
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Was that a long time ago ? I thought you couldn't use buckshot in MA.
 
71montess said:
Was that a long time ago ? I thought you couldn't use buckshot in MA.
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The hunting regulations in MA are just as easy to read through as the general firearms regulations, (LOL), but yes it is legal to use buckshot to hunt deer here. It's also legal to "drive" deer here, where that practice is illegal in other states.

http://www.eregulations.com/massachusetts/huntingandfishing/hunting-prohibitions/

Shotgun ammunition: except as provided below, no species other than deer, coyote, or waterfowl may be hunted or taken with shot larger than #1 birdshot. Except during the prescribed open season when deer may be hunted lawfully with a shotgun, a person shall not have in his possession a shotgun shell loaded with a rifled slug, single ball, buckshot of any size, or any shot larger than or equal to air rifle shot in any place where birds or mammals may be found except on a skeet, trap, or target range between sunrise and sunset, or except for the hunting of coyotes (a) during the prescribed open season for coyotes with shot not larger than FF; or (b) during the shotgun deer season when coyotes may be hunted only with archery, muzzleloader, or shotgun—using slugs, buckshot, or shot of any size; or, except as specified in the annual Migratory Game Bird Hunting Regulations.
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Buckshot should be outlawed . Its useless past 25 yds and a hell of a lot more dangerous than slugs. Also i would like to add even at 25 yds the pattern opens up to much to make an ethical kill on a deer. Stick with slugs.
 
71montess said:
You really should stop being an a hole.... When was the last time you heard of anyone hunting deer with 00 buck ? How old are you, boy ?
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Actually I know a few people that use buckshot and use it well. But they dont just stuff it in any old gun and blast away like some morons do.

They have dedicated buckshot guns with custom buckshot chokes and they pattern their guns just like you do with a turkey load. They know exactly what their effective range is based on pellet strikes inside an 8 inch circle on a target.

I myself prefer 3" slugs.

FYI buckshot has never been illegal and hunting over a single solitary scrape is rarely successful.
 
arlow said:
Actually I know a few people that use buckshot and use it well. But they dont just stuff it in any old gun and blast away like some morons do.

They have dedicated buckshot guns with custom buckshot chokes and they pattern their guns just like you do with a turkey load. They know exactly what their effective range is based on pellet strikes inside an 8 inch circle on a target.

I myself prefer 3" slugs.

FYI buckshot has never been illegal and hunting over a single solitary scrape is rarely successful.
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Bull, to both of "your opinions" if you don't know a deer's patterns of checking on scrapes, and taking that into account your a young hunter.
 
71montess said:
Bull, to both of "your opinions" if you don't know a deer's patterns of checking on scrapes, and taking that into account your a young hunter.
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I am a young hunter (not in age but time in the field) so I would be interested in your thoughts on a deer's pattern of checking on scrapes. From what I have read (if I recall correctly), scrapes and rubs are pretty much made at night and do show an animal to be in the area. Now finding a rub line could lead you to an area where the buck is bedded or rubs in a very small area could be his bedding area but I have never heard of a scrape pattern. Thanks.
 
When a buck goes out, sometimes at night, sometimes day he will sometimes follow a route that takes him to some of his scrapes. Seen it before at daylight, saw it last week . Helps to know they are in the area you are hunting. I wouldn't put up a stand in an area with no scrapes.
 
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Allow me to clue you in Monte...

I have shot deer with a bow in every New england state but RI and in NY and Colorado. I have been to Saskatchewan and currently am acruing preference points for an Iowa bowhunt.

I have taken over 50 deer with my bow and probably another 40 with the gun. I have shot at least 1 deer with my bow in Mass every year since 1994 except for last year (passed on two young deer) More years than not I shot more than one in Mass .

Plenty of guys on this forum and others can back me up on these facts and the facts I spoke of earlier in this thread. Your stupidity on this subject is so deep it is really quite astounding you can form such a vehement opinion based on such ignorance. Do yourself a favor and just shut up now...

So yea I have a bit of experience hunting deer. I am prettyl F'ing good at it. You quite clearly are not.
 
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71montess said:
When a buck goes out, sometimes at night, sometimes day he will sometimes follow a route that takes him to some of his scrapes. Seen it before at daylight, saw it last week . Helps to know they are in the area you are hunting. I wouldn't put up a stand in an area with no scrapes.
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Thank you for the reply.

I do know if you want bucks you need to make sure they are at least in the general area through sign, but would you solely use "a" scrape to hunt over or who you have to find multiples before setting up in that area?
 
exojam said:
I am a young hunter (not in age but time in the field) so I would be interested in your thoughts on a deer's pattern of checking on scrapes. From what I have read (if I recall correctly), scrapes and rubs are pretty much made at night and do show an animal to be in the area. Now finding a rub line could lead you to an area where the buck is bedded or rubs in a very small area could be his bedding area but I have never heard of a scrape pattern. Thanks.
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First of all 90% of scrapes are made at night.

Scrape/Rub lines or clusters can be good sign. A.single solitary scrape not so much. A number of scrapes in a line indicate a line of travel a buck uses to scent check for does. This is a repeatable pattern that is huntable when bucks are seeking.

A single solitary scrape has too little information to create a plan.

I prefer to hunt edges and funnels in proximity to doe feeding and bedding areas. If that is scraped up, bonus. Even if not the bucks will come.
 
arlow said:
Allow me to clue you in Monte...

I have shot deer with a bow in every New england state but RI and in NY and Colorado. I have been to Saskatchewan and currently am acruing preference points for an Iowa bowhunt.

I have taken over 50 deer with my bow and probably another 40 with the gun. I have shot at least 1 deer with my bow in Mass every year since 1994 except for last year (passed on two young deer) More years than not I shot more than one in Mass .

Plenty of guys on this forum and others can back me up on these facts and the facts I spoke of earlier in this thread. Your stupidity on this subject is so deep it is really quite astounding you can form such a vehement opinion based on such ignorance. Do yourself a favor and just shut up now...

So yea I have a bit of experience hunting deer. I am prettyl F'ing good at it. You quite clearly are not.
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Allow, your condescending attitude, bullcrap opinions which never once really seemed to contradict mine are better left in the boys room where you seem to be right now. Drop it or "Keep digging".
 
71montess said:
Allow, your condescending attitude, bullcrap opinions which never once really seemed to contradict mine are better left in the boys room where you seem to be right now. Drop it.
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Wait..

So let me get this straight...

My "opinions" are BS but do not contradict yours....

Are you taking medicine for your condition?
 
dropride said:
If you really want to know whats out there put up a trailcam. It will at least give you an idea of times the deer are in the area.
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They will teach you a ton. Then you get that picture of the big boy and you need no help with motivation gettin out there.
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anyone hunt out in the wind today? I was up in a stand this afternoon and felt like I was out on a boat. Do you guys typically stay home on days like this or what?
 
For the most part yes...or I try and hunt from the ground...get the wind in my favor and use the noise from the wind to cover the noise I may make from moving around.
 
Yeah I only sat for about 3 hours before I called it a day. My ladder stand was creaking like crazy and it was constant gusts of about 15 to 20 mph. I was too layered up to go walking around, not that I'd have any idea where to go.
 
Waiting for a better cold weather jacket to arrive so I can stay warmer and out longer. Have not been out since the first week of the month and will not be out again till after Thanksgiving.
 
I've shot deer on sunny days, rainy days, cold, hot, windy calm. Doesn't matter what the conditions are like; the deer are still out there. You might have to adopt another tactic like pushing through swamps instead of sitting in a stand, but deer never take a day off.

The only times I've never gotten a deer are when I was watching TV, raking the lawn, or doing other chores, and not hunting.
 

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