2022 Deer Pics/Chatter/Excuses

[enuf]

BTW, I was wearing my blaze orange vest but had just took it off from around my backpack and chest when my wife arrived and wanted pics.

Surrrrreeee you were, we all believe you - matter of fact if I look real hard at an angle on my screen and tip the monitor just right and kinda shake a little, I am pretty sure I can see a glimpse of it.

 

[dennishoddy]

Thanks! I'm super happy. I spent hours in the woods just staring at him, such a beautiful animal before my eyes, enjoying my achievement for hunting deer. Plus I had to wait for my sons to come get him, i was burnt out. Many days of freezing my but off last year and this year all for this moment. It's s overwhelming how much works goes in killing a deer. My whole life I thought they were just dumb animals that jumps infront of your cars.
10 minutes before this buck, I saw a buck twice his size with more spikes, hope he's around next year.

I also just picked up some 110 vmax last week from a fourm member. I did not get a chance to zero before last weekend's hunt, had to make due with the sub, now I know.

Big congratulations on the public land deer and your story about it!

 

[dennishoddy]

@Virtuaguyver First, that is a very nice buck! I’m probably wrong, but I always thought rifles weren’t allowed on public lands for deer hunting. Can anybody please clarify the use of rifles on Oklahoma public lands.

You really have to scour the regs on public lands especially on Corps of Engineer lands. There may be one tiny parcel that is archery only or shotgun with pellets within a rifle allowed area. Typically, near campgrounds, so just do your homework and you will find some decent areas.

 

[dennishoddy]

Finally got on the board at the 11th hour yesterday.

Not to sound all mushy but this deer really makes me happy. Not the biggest or heaviest I've killed but will hold a lot of sentimental value for me. Since I started hunting OK in the late '90s with my father in law on his lease I've always wanted to own land and have the ability to hunt on it. As most of you know I finally moved to OK last year (after being on this forum for the prior 11 years) and my wife and I bought our property last February. Was blessed enough to have the funds and "know how" to carve out one food plot out of a pasture and one 3/4 acre plot out of some thick nasty brush woods. The Buck Forage Oats and winter wheat along with three corn feeders really attracted the deer. Lots of sweat, diesel and hard work paid off at about 5:15pm on Sunday evening.

Had 5 does and couple fawns on the plot for about an hour feeding. THey were a bit skiddish but hung around. They were definately on alert probably due to the swirling winds and them catching my scent occasionally. Finally all the girls looked up and stared in the same direction they came from and where most of the deer walk in from. THey stared for more than several minutes. Finally this guy showed up and wondered toward them. He was the first shooter deer I got on camera back in early September when I put my first cameras and feeders up before i even planted the Oat and Wheat. Saw him regularly on camera but 95% of the time deep into the night.

Needless to say he's not the giant we see posted on the internets but he's absolutely the one I'm most proud of and will always remember what it took to take this buck.

BTW, I was wearing my blaze orange vest but had just took it off from around my backpack and chest when my wife arrived and wanted pics.

View attachment 326250

Huge congrats on taking the first deer on your place and it's a dandy! You might be spoiled now in future hunts. LOL.
You did everything right and it paid off.

 

[Parks 788]

Surrrrreeee you were, we all believe you - matter of fact if I look real hard at an angle on my screen and tip the monitor just right and kinda shake a little, I am pretty sure I can see a glimpse of it.

Ha! I actually did have it on. Since I wear a backpack with all my junk in it I wear one of those crappy orange vest that have a bib panel in the front and back with a length of elastic that go across the rib cage under your armpits. I like it because it gives me coverage over my backpack where it would be otherwise covered. However it barely does cover much of the front. No matter what the law/regs states I haven't been on my land long enough to feel 100% positive there aren't some knuckle heads treaspassing on my land and mistaking me for something else.

 

[dennishoddy]

You should see me trying to explain to my wife, when she asks "how was your hunting trip today". Then when I explain it to her, she immediately ask "well if it's not fun, then why do you go out there", and I don't have an answer. But next morning, I go out again. It kinda makes no sense lol

Trust me we all go through the same thing.
It's raining, cold, foggy, but we trudge to our stands and blinds.
We shiver, wonder what the heck we are doing here for hours day after day.
Then that buck of a lifetime walks into a clearing and it all makes sense. We won, we did what we had to for this event to happen.
In the aftermath, we don't remember the suffering and cold. We remember walking up to that animal after tracking it in the dark thinking WOW I did it!
Then the reality sinks in..... I've got to field dress this danged thing and drag it out.
Then the work begins.
It's a great feeling.

 

[JT708]

Parks 788 Great deer.

 

[BobbyV]

Definitely some nice bucks taken this year so far . . . congrats to all!

 

[Virtuaguyver]

Trust me we all go through the same thing.
It's raining, cold, foggy, but we trudge to our stands and blinds.
We shiver, wonder what the heck we are doing here for hours day after day.
Then that buck of a lifetime walks into a clearing and it all makes sense. We won, we did what we had to for this event to happen.
In the aftermath, we don't remember the suffering and cold. We remember walking up to that animal after tracking it in the dark thinking WOW I did it!
Then the reality sinks in..... I've got to field dress this danged thing and drag it out.
Then the work begins.
It's a great feeling.

Perfect way of explaining it, I never really put that much thought into deer hunting. I just know I'm a unexperienced hunter and want some deer meat, but going through exactly what you said, it does make sense now. Thank you, I can explain it to the wife now lol

 

[Jlingle]

If you hunt long enough, you’ll have some really bad days in the field. Matter of fact, you can have some downright life-threatening days in the field while hunting and fishing. We’ve all read the quote “a bad day hunting beats a good day at work” but I promise you, I’ve had many days hunting and fishing that I would’ve given anything to be somewhere else. I’ve been drenched to the bone and freezing cold, wondering if I’ll get hypothermia. I’ve been lost several times. I’ve climbed high hills and hiked miles to near exhaustion with heavy packs on, I’ve been fishing on days in a boat where I thought I could drown. I’ve been broken down in a boat twice in the middle of the night, and barely made it home. I got stuck in a snowdrift one time while hunting, with no heater in the truck…. I used a candle in a gallon coffee can for warmth until help came looking for me.

All that said, when it all comes down to it I LOVE the adventures I’ve had in the woods and on the water. I have 2 boys who love to hunt and fish, and we’ve shared some of our best times in the outdoors. When it all comes together it’s amazing. I love eating fish and deer meat and I love sharing it with family and friends. Heck, I just got back from shooting a hog with my thermal. I don’t know why I would ever quit hunting or fishing. It’s a large part of who I am.