Zeke Pipher posted this on his Facebook the other day. Zeke is a writer and it shows, what more needs saying? I had one of my best moments outdoors a couple nights ago - my 11-year-old son shot his first buck. We spent the afternoon taking photos and processing the deer together. Fatherhood rocks.
One topic floating around the Interweb right now: If you are in your stand and all of a sudden deer burst out, chased by a dog or dogs, do you shoot the dogs? In one discussion I read, a guy said he was having this problem with stray dogs in Penn. years ago. He called the game commission and the people there told them point-blank that if you see a dog chasing deer on your property, not only should you shoot the dog but you have an obligation to do so. They also told the guy that if you shoot a dog, with or without a collar, you have to report it to a game warden within 48 hours. They went [...]
As you read this I will have traveled up into Oregon and be in the midst of a 10-day quest for mule deer after a fine week of hunting in the Central Coast of Cali, near the town of Paso Robles, or “Pass of the Oaks.” The highlight of the trip was obviously shooting the 130-class 3x4 buck; B&C minimum for a Columbian blacktail is 135, so this is a great and above average deer, about as big as they for these parts. Twenty inches wide, even had one small eyeguard. Note the compact camera rig we used—Nikon DSLR, 80-200 mm lens here I believe, w/shotgun microphone. Cameras for filming the outdoors have come a long way. I remember not too [...]
Some really good buck hunters I know don’t hunt their best covers and stands until around Halloween and into November, as the rut starts rocking. Their strategy is sound—put no pressure on the bucks until there are moving more with their guard down, and especially in daylight. But I don’t believe that kind of thinking and approach are best for most guys. You’re busy, and you hunt when you can. If that happens to be now in early October, great. The woods are turning beautiful, there are fewer hunters roaming around than there will be in November, and there are good opportunities to get your buck. My friend Grant Woods, one of the premier whitetail scientists in the U.S. and [...]
My friend and good hunter Will Brantley says he has eaten some really fine deer meat, and some really bad, tough, gamey deer meat. In this post he outlines 12 mistakes that can turn good venison bad in a hurry. It’s great advice as most hunting seasons kick off across the country. BTW, do you cut up and process the deer you kill, or take them to a butcher?