2022 Deer Pics/Chatter/Excuses

[jbarnett]

I’m kind of in the dog house with my family for shooting the buck on Tuesday, and I’ve debated sharing this.
As I said in the post with my buck, I went old school on my east TX hunt with no corn and no camera, so I literally had no idea what was on or around the place.
For a little history, the place I was on is a 400 acre tract that connect to my Mother’s place (200 acres), and we’ve had permission to hunt it for over 25 years. I used to live within a 4 wheeler ride of the place, but when I bought the new place which is 20 miles away, I pretty much quit hunting over there.
My brother and niece only hunt in my Mother’s pasture (literally 100 yards behind her house and within sight of his house) which is at least 3/4 to a mile from where I was hunting, and I set up where I did to keep from messing up their spot. I called my brother last week and specifically asked him if they had any bucks on camera that he wanted me to pass. He only told me about one buck with split g2’s, and Saturday, I passed a buck with a split g2’s which I found out afterwards wasn’t even the same buck he had seen.
Fast forward, I kill my buck on Tuesday morning and send my brother a picture, and he tells me that he has pictures of him and told my niece that he wasn’t old enough and wasn’t a shooter. I wasn’t very nice with my reply and told him that if he thought that buck wasn’t a shooter he needs to quit hunting and take up golf.
My brother took the pictures and helped me load him. He didn’t say anything, but I could tell he was pissed. He told me later that my niece is really pissed too. I told him that he needed to smooth it over because it’s just hunting, and I had done nothing wrong and had even tried to avoid any bucks they were hunting.
My wife wants me to stay off that place to avoid pissing them off, but I’m more inclined to go back and kill a couple more does just to piss them off.
My brother is a lazy hunter and always has been. He pretty much only hunts within sight of his house and wonders why he doesn’t see many deer. I love my niece and want her to be successful, and I’ve offered for several years to set up a two person spot and take her. He has declined the offer. I’ve also offered for a couple years to bring her to OK for youth weekend, and that offer has been declined too.
Am I wrong in this situation? Should I avoid hunting on 600 acres, so he can hunt the 5 acres behind his house?

I dont think you did anything wrong and I would want to do exactly what you are thinking. As I get older I think a little longer before acting and while I would keep hunting where I have permission to hunt I would also try to smooth things over. My wife has said she thinks I'm getting a little softer than I once was.

 

[FlyGuyGSP]

I’m kind of in the dog house with my family for shooting the buck on Tuesday, and I’ve debated sharing this.
As I said in the post with my buck, I went old school on my east TX hunt with no corn and no camera, so I literally had no idea what was on or around the place.
For a little history, the place I was on is a 400 acre tract that connect to my Mother’s place (200 acres), and we’ve had permission to hunt it for over 25 years. I used to live within a 4 wheeler ride of the place, but when I bought the new place which is 20 miles away, I pretty much quit hunting over there.
My brother and niece only hunt in my Mother’s pasture (literally 100 yards behind her house and within sight of his house) which is at least 3/4 to a mile from where I was hunting, and I set up where I did to keep from messing up their spot. I called my brother last week and specifically asked him if they had any bucks on camera that he wanted me to pass. He only told me about one buck with split g2’s, and Saturday, I passed a buck with a split g2’s which I found out afterwards wasn’t even the same buck he had seen.
Fast forward, I kill my buck on Tuesday morning and send my brother a picture, and he tells me that he has pictures of him and told my niece that he wasn’t old enough and wasn’t a shooter. I wasn’t very nice with my reply and told him that if he thought that buck wasn’t a shooter he needs to quit hunting and take up golf.
My brother took the pictures and helped me load him. He didn’t say anything, but I could tell he was pissed. He told me later that my niece is really pissed too. I told him that he needed to smooth it over because it’s just hunting, and I had done nothing wrong and had even tried to avoid any bucks they were hunting.
My wife wants me to stay off that place to avoid pissing them off, but I’m more inclined to go back and kill a couple more does just to piss them off.
My brother is a lazy hunter and always has been. He pretty much only hunts within sight of his house and wonders why he doesn’t see many deer. I love my niece and want her to be successful, and I’ve offered for several years to set up a two person spot and take her. He has declined the offer. I’ve also offered for a couple years to bring her to OK for youth weekend, and that offer has been declined too.
Am I wrong in this situation? Should I avoid hunting on 600 acres, so he can hunt the 5 acres behind his house?

With the info you shared, I don’t think you’re in the wrong.

It doesn’t sound like shooting a few doe out there just to piss them off is a great idea, if you value the relationship you have with them.

 

[undeg01]

I’m kind of in the dog house with my family for shooting the buck on Tuesday, and I’ve debated sharing this.
As I said in the post with my buck, I went old school on my east TX hunt with no corn and no camera, so I literally had no idea what was on or around the place.
For a little history, the place I was on is a 400 acre tract that connect to my Mother’s place (200 acres), and we’ve had permission to hunt it for over 25 years. I used to live within a 4 wheeler ride of the place, but when I bought the new place which is 20 miles away, I pretty much quit hunting over there.
My brother and niece only hunt in my Mother’s pasture (literally 100 yards behind her house and within sight of his house) which is at least 3/4 to a mile from where I was hunting, and I set up where I did to keep from messing up their spot. I called my brother last week and specifically asked him if they had any bucks on camera that he wanted me to pass. He only told me about one buck with split g2’s, and Saturday, I passed a buck with a split g2’s which I found out afterwards wasn’t even the same buck he had seen.
Fast forward, I kill my buck on Tuesday morning and send my brother a picture, and he tells me that he has pictures of him and told my niece that he wasn’t old enough and wasn’t a shooter. I wasn’t very nice with my reply and told him that if he thought that buck wasn’t a shooter he needs to quit hunting and take up golf.
My brother took the pictures and helped me load him. He didn’t say anything, but I could tell he was pissed. He told me later that my niece is really pissed too. I told him that he needed to smooth it over because it’s just hunting, and I had done nothing wrong and had even tried to avoid any bucks they were hunting.
My wife wants me to stay off that place to avoid pissing them off, but I’m more inclined to go back and kill a couple more does just to piss them off.
My brother is a lazy hunter and always has been. He pretty much only hunts within sight of his house and wonders why he doesn’t see many deer. I love my niece and want her to be successful, and I’ve offered for several years to set up a two person spot and take her. He has declined the offer. I’ve also offered for a couple years to bring her to OK for youth weekend, and that offer has been declined too.
Am I wrong in this situation? Should I avoid hunting on 600 acres, so he can hunt the 5 acres behind his house?

I had a similar issue with my brother in law a few years back. He never did anything on our lease then made snide remarks about me hunting all of the time and I “always claim the good stand locations for myself.” Well, 90% of the stands on that 720 acres were mine that I put up by myself, cleared shooting lanes by myself and placed feeders, kept them filled, etc… by myself. So I basically told him to go piss up a tall pole.

Bought my new place the following spring and vacated the lease with him, so he lost it too because the farmer knew I was the one that did all of the work. I have no problem sleeping at night.

 

[trekrok]

I’m kind of in the dog house with my family for shooting the buck on Tuesday, and I’ve debated sharing this.
As I said in the post with my buck, I went old school on my east TX hunt with no corn and no camera, so I literally had no idea what was on or around the place.
For a little history, the place I was on is a 400 acre tract that connect to my Mother’s place (200 acres), and we’ve had permission to hunt it for over 25 years. I used to live within a 4 wheeler ride of the place, but when I bought the new place which is 20 miles away, I pretty much quit hunting over there.
My brother and niece only hunt in my Mother’s pasture (literally 100 yards behind her house and within sight of his house) which is at least 3/4 to a mile from where I was hunting, and I set up where I did to keep from messing up their spot. I called my brother last week and specifically asked him if they had any bucks on camera that he wanted me to pass. He only told me about one buck with split g2’s, and Saturday, I passed a buck with a split g2’s which I found out afterwards wasn’t even the same buck he had seen.
Fast forward, I kill my buck on Tuesday morning and send my brother a picture, and he tells me that he has pictures of him and told my niece that he wasn’t old enough and wasn’t a shooter. I wasn’t very nice with my reply and told him that if he thought that buck wasn’t a shooter he needs to quit hunting and take up golf.
My brother took the pictures and helped me load him. He didn’t say anything, but I could tell he was pissed. He told me later that my niece is really pissed too. I told him that he needed to smooth it over because it’s just hunting, and I had done nothing wrong and had even tried to avoid any bucks they were hunting.
My wife wants me to stay off that place to avoid pissing them off, but I’m more inclined to go back and kill a couple more does just to piss them off.
My brother is a lazy hunter and always has been. He pretty much only hunts within sight of his house and wonders why he doesn’t see many deer. I love my niece and want her to be successful, and I’ve offered for several years to set up a two person spot and take her. He has declined the offer. I’ve also offered for a couple years to bring her to OK for youth weekend, and that offer has been declined too.
Am I wrong in this situation? Should I avoid hunting on 600 acres, so he can hunt the 5 acres behind his house?

Kind of sounds like they look for reasons to be pissy, so I wouldn't be inclined to tiptoe around them. I'd hunt it.

 

[kirk1978]

I’m kind of in the dog house with my family for shooting the buck on Tuesday, and I’ve debated sharing this.
As I said in the post with my buck, I went old school on my east TX hunt with no corn and no camera, so I literally had no idea what was on or around the place.
For a little history, the place I was on is a 400 acre tract that connect to my Mother’s place (200 acres), and we’ve had permission to hunt it for over 25 years. I used to live within a 4 wheeler ride of the place, but when I bought the new place which is 20 miles away, I pretty much quit hunting over there.
My brother and niece only hunt in my Mother’s pasture (literally 100 yards behind her house and within sight of his house) which is at least 3/4 to a mile from where I was hunting, and I set up where I did to keep from messing up their spot. I called my brother last week and specifically asked him if they had any bucks on camera that he wanted me to pass. He only told me about one buck with split g2’s, and Saturday, I passed a buck with a split g2’s which I found out afterwards wasn’t even the same buck he had seen.
Fast forward, I kill my buck on Tuesday morning and send my brother a picture, and he tells me that he has pictures of him and told my niece that he wasn’t old enough and wasn’t a shooter. I wasn’t very nice with my reply and told him that if he thought that buck wasn’t a shooter he needs to quit hunting and take up golf.
My brother took the pictures and helped me load him. He didn’t say anything, but I could tell he was pissed. He told me later that my niece is really pissed too. I told him that he needed to smooth it over because it’s just hunting, and I had done nothing wrong and had even tried to avoid any bucks they were hunting.
My wife wants me to stay off that place to avoid pissing them off, but I’m more inclined to go back and kill a couple more does just to piss them off.
My brother is a lazy hunter and always has been. He pretty much only hunts within sight of his house and wonders why he doesn’t see many deer. I love my niece and want her to be successful, and I’ve offered for several years to set up a two person spot and take her. He has declined the offer. I’ve also offered for a couple years to bring her to OK for youth weekend, and that offer has been declined too.
Am I wrong in this situation? Should I avoid hunting on 600 acres, so he can hunt the 5 acres behind his house?

They will get over it, you meant no harm. If for some reason they don't, Ill be your new brother!! Your new niece is available next year for that hunt also.

 

[Hirschkopf]

The start of my AZ to OK drive for rifle season is just a week away! It will be my first Midwest Whitetail hunt. I’m hoping the 168 acres of bottom land I bought in McIntosh county will not disappoint. My game camera traffic is way down; maybe the feeder quit working again :-(.

My collection of deer-worthy rifles is small. For the ground blind near a corn broadcast feeder and a couple of tree-mounted block feeders, I’m thinking to use a .300 BLK bull pup (Tavor with a 1-8 Vortex Razor LPVO) after some quick and stealthy feeder and camera maintenance, and perhaps throwing down some attractant. That rifle should work good within the confines of a blind, and likely won’t doom me to tracking much at those distances. When I can’t stand the blind anymore, or the wind is wrong, I’ll quietly walk the pecan/oak/walnut groves along wet weather creek beds looking for deer and sign (and wishing RM was there to teach me his secrets). I plan on carrying my 6.5 CM then (Tikka with a nice Vortex 2-12). I have three ponds to check and the forested shoreline of about 10 acres of Lake Eufaula backwater on the property. All the time, I’ll be looking for a better place to put my broadcast feeder (after getting 1000 lb of corn out of it) and/or where to put a really big gravity protein feeder. For the Coues deer my son and I have taken, 6.5 CM is always a bang-flop situation. I like them to drop where shot, but I think I’ll leave my .300 WinMag (Rem 700 5R) in AZ. Sound like a plan?

 

[OkieJoe72]

I’m kind of in the dog house with my family for shooting the buck on Tuesday, and I’ve debated sharing this.
As I said in the post with my buck, I went old school on my east TX hunt with no corn and no camera, so I literally had no idea what was on or around the place.
For a little history, the place I was on is a 400 acre tract that connect to my Mother’s place (200 acres), and we’ve had permission to hunt it for over 25 years. I used to live within a 4 wheeler ride of the place, but when I bought the new place which is 20 miles away, I pretty much quit hunting over there.
My brother and niece only hunt in my Mother’s pasture (literally 100 yards behind her house and within sight of his house) which is at least 3/4 to a mile from where I was hunting, and I set up where I did to keep from messing up their spot. I called my brother last week and specifically asked him if they had any bucks on camera that he wanted me to pass. He only told me about one buck with split g2’s, and Saturday, I passed a buck with a split g2’s which I found out afterwards wasn’t even the same buck he had seen.
Fast forward, I kill my buck on Tuesday morning and send my brother a picture, and he tells me that he has pictures of him and told my niece that he wasn’t old enough and wasn’t a shooter. I wasn’t very nice with my reply and told him that if he thought that buck wasn’t a shooter he needs to quit hunting and take up golf.
My brother took the pictures and helped me load him. He didn’t say anything, but I could tell he was pissed. He told me later that my niece is really pissed too. I told him that he needed to smooth it over because it’s just hunting, and I had done nothing wrong and had even tried to avoid any bucks they were hunting.
My wife wants me to stay off that place to avoid pissing them off, but I’m more inclined to go back and kill a couple more does just to piss them off.
My brother is a lazy hunter and always has been. He pretty much only hunts within sight of his house and wonders why he doesn’t see many deer. I love my niece and want her to be successful, and I’ve offered for several years to set up a two person spot and take her. He has declined the offer. I’ve also offered for a couple years to bring her to OK for youth weekend, and that offer has been declined too.
Am I wrong in this situation? Should I avoid hunting on 600 acres, so he can hunt the 5 acres behind his house?

If your family is anything like mine, brothers get pissed at each other and then get over it. Hopefully, he’ll realize that it’s nothing that should cause a long term resentment. My only piece of advice is to follow your wife’s wishes. You don’t want her upset with you. With the shorter days and longer nights, it could make for a very long winter.

 

[dlbleak]

The start of my AZ to OK drive for rifle season is just a week away! It will be my first Midwest Whitetail hunt. I’m hoping the 168 acres of bottom land I bought in McIntosh county will not disappoint. My game camera traffic is way down; maybe the feeder quit working again :-(.

My collection of deer-worthy rifles is small. For the ground blind near a corn broadcast feeder and a couple of tree-mounted block feeders, I’m thinking to use a .300 BLK bull pup (Tavor with a 1-8 Vortex Razor LPVO) after some quick and stealthy feeder and camera maintenance, and perhaps throwing down some attractant. That rifle should work good within the confines of a blind, and likely won’t doom me to tracking much at those distances. When I can’t stand the blind anymore, or the wind is wrong, I’ll quietly walk the pecan/oak/walnut groves along wet weather creek beds looking for deer and sign (and wishing RM was there to teach me his secrets). I plan on carrying my 6.5 CM then (Tikka with a nice Vortex 2-12). I have three ponds to check and the forested shoreline of about 10 acres of Lake Eufaula backwater on the property. All the time, I’ll be looking for a better place to put my broadcast feeder (after getting 1000 lb of corn out of it) and/or where to put a really big gravity protein feeder. For the Coues deer my son and I have taken, 6.5 CM is always a bang-flop situation. I like them to drop where shot, but I think I’ll leave my .300 WinMag (Rem 700 5R) in AZ. Sound like a plan?

If the Tavor is accurate enough at the distances you plan on shooting, go for it. The CR will do great on whitetails. Best of luck @Hirschkopf!

 

[dlbleak]

@retrieverman, I’ve been in a similar situation. It’s been years ago and things smoothed out. People get weird when it comes to hunting and especially certain deer. That being said, you didn’t shoot the buck he said was on his list. Sounds like it’s time to let it blow over. Keep the Mrs happy and maybe have a plan with your brother moving forward?

 

[retrieverman]

The start of my AZ to OK drive for rifle season is just a week away! It will be my first Midwest Whitetail hunt. I’m hoping the 168 acres of bottom land I bought in McIntosh county will not disappoint. My game camera traffic is way down; maybe the feeder quit working again :-(.

My collection of deer-worthy rifles is small. For the ground blind near a corn broadcast feeder and a couple of tree-mounted block feeders, I’m thinking to use a .300 BLK bull pup (Tavor with a 1-8 Vortex Razor LPVO) after some quick and stealthy feeder and camera maintenance, and perhaps throwing down some attractant. That rifle should work good within the confines of a blind, and likely won’t doom me to tracking much at those distances. When I can’t stand the blind anymore, or the wind is wrong, I’ll quietly walk the pecan/oak/walnut groves along wet weather creek beds looking for deer and sign (and wishing RM was there to teach me his secrets). I plan on carrying my 6.5 CM then (Tikka with a nice Vortex 2-12). I have three ponds to check and the forested shoreline of about 10 acres of Lake Eufaula backwater on the property. All the time, I’ll be looking for a better place to put my broadcast feeder (after getting 1000 lb of corn out of it) and/or where to put a really big gravity protein feeder. For the Coues deer my son and I have taken, 6.5 CM is always a bang-flop situation. I like them to drop where shot, but I think I’ll leave my .300 WinMag (Rem 700 5R) in AZ. Sound like a plan?

The Tavor is an interesting choice and would probably be last on my list of guns to carry to the deer stand, but I think a semi auto “30-30“ is kind of cool and should work great hunting over a feeder. The 6.5 cm should work as good on OK whitetails as it does on Coues deer.
My advice if you‘re going to be walking around is to stay away from property lines as much as possible unless you know who’s hunting around you.
As far as attractant, don’t waste your money. First off, the rut is starting which is one reason camera activity is down, and second, if you have acorns, that’s more than likely where the deer are right now.
If I were in your shoes and kind of coming in blind to what’s really happening on your place due to reduced camera activity, I would scout around and look for trails and scrape lines and set up a climber or ground blind 40-50 away with a good view of a scrape, or I might look for signs in an area with oaks and set up with a view of that area.
In my experience, feeders are good to hunt over in early season and late season but not so much during the rut and when acorns are falling. If you have does coming to your feeders, then I would hunt them even during the rut, because the boys are going to be coming to where the girls are.
I wish you the best of luck on your first hunting adventure in Oklahoma.