MT Private Land Doe Slayers: Talk About Guaranteed

[OntarioHunter]

The 783 is a decent budget rifle. If your not comfortable with the rifle that’s a problem. It should fit you and feel natural and build confidence for you. A Boyd’s stock would be a nice upgrade and there are many models to choose from.

I would recommend you replace the rings it came with though if you decide to keep the rifle. Usually they aren’t the highest quality. Talley makes their Lightweight rings for the 783. Great choice.

Yes, I was about to suggest changing the rings. Among the better quality rings, you can usually choose between extra-low, low, medium, and high set rings. Sounds like you are having to hunt for crosshairs? This could be due to improper scope height (wrong rings), too low or nonexistent cheek rest (which can be fixed by changing rings or adding a slip on cheek pad), or improper viewing distance to scope (sorry I don't have the correct terminogy for that right off the top of my head). In the john at the Dillon RV campground I found a dated Gun Digest and read an interesting article on how to check for proper scope distance (eye relief?). Something about keeping the gun mounted, looking sideways out of scope without moving head, then quickly looking back to find crosshairs. I'm sure you can find similar info on the net. Checking that would be my first step. It's the easiest fix and most commonly encountered issue with fit. Set on medium power magnification (about 6x on your scope) the crosshairs should automatically come into focus when you mount the gun. For decades my old Springfield had, unknown to me, atrocious scope eye relief but I could make it work because the scope was only fixed 3x. When switching to higher magnification, properly adjusted fit becomes critical.

 

[Mtnhunter1]

Wonderful "Father n Son" adventure! Enjoyed your recap and pics....but....deer dragging??

 

[tjones]

In the john at the Dillon RV campground I found a dated Gun Digest and read an interesting article on how to check for proper scope distance (eye relief?).

What's is the deal with you and bodily functions and bathroom breaks? You do understand its TMI?

Sorry to the OP for a slight thread derail

 

[OntarioHunter]

What's is the deal with you and bodily functions and bathroom breaks? You do understand its TMI?

Sorry to the OP for a slight thread derail

Hey, I was just washing up. Hot water tank in the trailer is cracked so I had to use campground facilities. Get your mind out of the toilet.

 

[AvidIndoorsman]

I made him drag it up the FIRST hill, at his behest lol. There were a few more along the way.

You back east guys... NO... there is NEVER... and I mean NEVER a good reason to drag a deer up a hill whole.

SMH

Great read... you hunt enough eventually you have a rodeo, funny my rodeos were with does... and a turkey

 

[OntarioHunter]

You back east guys... NO... there is NEVER... and I mean NEVER a good reason to drag a deer up a hill whole.

SMH

Great read... you hunt enough eventually you have a rodeo, funny my rodeos were with does... and a turkey

I'm not a "back east guy" and have downed more than sixty deer over the years. Yet to bone one out in the field. Back in my day only slobs did that with elk. Unheard for a real man to bone out a deer in the field. I never heard of a wimp doing it. And yes, I have pulled them uphill more than once. It's just a deer! Two half crippled guys could drag a decent size buck uphill no problem. Why mess with butchering it in the dirt and elements? Take it home out of the wind and rain, skin it out standing up, throw the quarters or halves on the table, and proceed to butcher it in a clean warm environment without having to bend over head between the knees working with a razor sharp knife and freezing hands often in poor light. A beer fridge and good sound system can make the job a downright pleasant experience. Do you really think dragging a buck up out of a coulee is any harder on the back than bending over it for a half hour or more fiddling with the gutless method? I can pull the guts out of a deer in seven minutes in the dark and be on my way with it. This year I finished with barely enough blood on my hands to mess up my wrist watch. Dragging out a deer I'm pulling forward against the load. Carrying a pack full of meat, the load is pulling backward against me. Which is easier to maintain balance? If I start to lose my balance dragging a deer, I can just let go. Lose your balance with a load of meat on your back and you're going down with it! And which is harder on the back? At best it's a toss up.

 

[AvidIndoorsman]

I'm not a "back east guy" and have downed more than sixty deer over the years. Yet to bone one out in the field. Back in my day only slobs did that with elk. Unheard for a real man to bone out a deer in the field. I never heard of a wimp doing it. And yes, I have pulled them uphill more than once. It's just a deer! Two half crippled guys could drag a decent size buck uphill no problem. Why mess with butchering it in the dirt and elements? Take it home out of the wind and rain, skin it out standing up, throw the quarters or halves on the table, and proceed to butcher it in a clean warm environment without having to bend over head between the knees working with a razor sharp knife and freezing hands often in poor light. A beer fridge and good sound system can make the job a downright pleasant experience. Do you really think dragging a buck up out of a coulee is any harder on the back than bending over it for a half hour or more fiddling with the gutless method? I can pull the guts out of a deer in seven minutes in the dark and be on my way with it. This year I finished with barely enough blood on my hands to mess up my wrist watch. Dragging out a deer I'm pulling forward against the load. Carrying a pack full of meat, the load is pulling backward against me. Which is easier to maintain balance? If I start to lose my balance dragging a deer, I can just let go. Lose your balance with a load of meat on your back and you're going down with it! And which is harder on the back? At best it's a toss up.

well...

I do yoga and have knee pads in my pants so...

 

[TOGIE]

I'm not a "back east guy"

what "kind of guy" are you exactly?

 

[cahunter805]

I'm not a "back east guy" and have downed more than sixty deer over the years. Yet to bone one out in the field. Back in my day only slobs did that with elk. Unheard for a real man to bone out a deer in the field. I never heard of a wimp doing it. And yes, I have pulled them uphill more than once. It's just a deer! Two half crippled guys could drag a decent size buck uphill no problem. Why mess with butchering it in the dirt and elements? Take it home out of the wind and rain, skin it out standing up, throw the quarters or halves on the table, and proceed to butcher it in a clean warm environment without having to bend over head between the knees working with a razor sharp knife and freezing hands often in poor light. A beer fridge and good sound system can make the job a downright pleasant experience. Do you really think dragging a buck up out of a coulee is any harder on the back than bending over it for a half hour or more fiddling with the gutless method? I can pull the guts out of a deer in seven minutes in the dark and be on my way with it. This year I finished with barely enough blood on my hands to mess up my wrist watch. Dragging out a deer I'm pulling forward against the load. Carrying a pack full of meat, the load is pulling backward against me. Which is easier to maintain balance? If I start to lose my balance dragging a deer, I can just let go. Lose your balance with a load of meat on your back and you're going down with it! And which is harder on the back? At best it's a toss up.

Wow!! I’ll never drag another animal again unless I can see the truck and it’s flat.
Took less than 30 minutes to break down my buddies Montana buck and load it all up in our packs including a snack break.
Carry meat out on your back is 100 times easier than dragging an animal especially if there is any hills, steep terrain, loose/treacherous trail conditions.

 

[NoWiser]

Wow!! I’ll never drag another animal again unless I can see the truck and it’s flat.
Took less than 30 minutes to break down my buddies Montana buck and load it all up in our packs including a snack break.
Carry meat out on your back is 100 times easier than dragging an animal especially if there is any hills, steep terrain, loose/treacherous trail conditions.

I'll never drag another deer again even if it falls 10' from the truck. With CWD and lymes disease carrying ticks these days I'd rather leave everything except the meat and a clean skull cap exactly where it dropped. Not to mention, dragging deer sucks.

 

[Irrelevant]

Wow!! I’ll never drag another animal again unless I can see the truck and it’s flat.
Took less than 30 minutes to break down my buddies Montana buck and load it all up in our packs including a snack break.
Carry meat out on your back is 100 times easier than dragging an animal especially if there is any hills, steep terrain, loose/treacherous trail conditions.

or brush...

 

[mtmiller]

Two half crippled guys could drag a decent size buck uphill no problem.

The problem is that I am an assh@le that no one wants to hunt with.

We may have similar afflictions.

 

[AvidIndoorsman]

Wow!! I’ll never drag another animal again unless I can see the truck and it’s flat.
Took less than 30 minutes to break down my buddies Montana buck and load it all up in our packs.
Carry meat out on your back is 100 times easier than dragging an animal especially if there is any hills, steep terrain, loose/treacherous trail conditions.

My 2 cents.

Landfills
-Landfills are anoxic therefore organic material does not biodegrade particularly well, if at all.
-Landfills in many parts of the country are filling up, hence the recycle and composting push. We have a composting bin that gets picked up, but its not that big, definitely not big enough for a deer.

Slob Hunters
-Not sure what this actually means, seems I hear it most with people dumping deer hides near the road. Not sure why that is bad actually? Because carrion eaters are attracted and therefore likely to be hit by cars? Anyway clearly a thing, people don't want you to do it.
-Probably not a lot of people are going to pack back in a deer or elk.

Given those realities seems like the most ethical/green thing to do is to leave any parts of the deer you don't want in the field. Let them be food for other critters.

I'm taken deer out whole, aged them, hoisted them into a tree in the field, packed them out bone-in, bone out... probably about everyway you can do it. I honestly think "the cleanest" method is to have help and to "rug" the animal and bone out as you go, though really it's all about paying attention. I've blown hair all over a deer I skinned while hanging in a barn... cutting the hair like a rooky.


Anyway that's my logic, anything I don't plan on eating or using or I'm not required by law to remove I leave.

@ajricketts sorry for the derail, nice adventure, jealous but also glad you got to have that experience with your dad!

 

[OntarioHunter]

what "kind of guy" are you exactly?

Since you asked: 1952 born in Idaho. Lived there two weeks before Mom was able to follow Dad to his new job in Montana. Maintained my MT residency until 1989 when I followed my wife to NW Ontario. I returned to work in Montana for a year back in 2008. Since then I have returned every year to hunt, usually staying at least five weeks. Also often returning during the summer to fly fish. I still own the family home in C Falls but NO desire to relocate to the rat race Flathead Valley.

 

[Tiredofthebickering]

My 2 cents.

Landfills
-Landfills are anoxic therefore organic material does not biodegrade particularly well, if at all.
-Landfills in many parts of the country are filling up, hence the recycle and composting push. We have a composting bin that gets picked up, but its not that big, definitely not big enough for a deer.

Slob Hunters
-Not sure what this actually means, seems I hear it most with people dumping deer hides near the road. Not sure why that is bad actually? Because carrion eaters are attracted and therefore likely to be hit by cars? Anyway clearly a thing, people don't want you to do it.
-Probably not a lot of people are going to pack back in a deer or elk.

Given those realities seems like the most ethical/green thing to do is to leave any parts of the deer you don't want in the field. Let them be food for other critters.

I'm taken deer out whole, aged them, hoisted them into a tree in the field, packed them out bone-in, bone out... probably about everyway you can do it. I honestly think "the cleanest" method is to have help and to "rug" the animal and bone out as you go, though really it's all about paying attention. I've blown hair all over a deer I skinned while hanging in a barn... cutting the hair like a rooky.


Anyway that's my logic, anything I don't plan on eating or using or I'm not required by law to remove I leave.

@ajricketts sorry for the derail, nice adventure, jealous but also glad you got to have that experience with your dad!

I don't mind the derail.

Honestly it was simply us reverting to something we knew rather than trying something new in the encroaching darkness. And, given how long our first time with the gutless method went with the doe later in the week, I'm kind of glad we didn't try it with the buck. Dragging sucked, but we got the meat out clean, were able to really get all the meat without leaving anything behind (either due to darkness or inexperience), and learned a lesson. Dragging in the dark is easier than butchering in the dark. That being said, we're going gutless method from now on lol.

 

[AvidIndoorsman]

I don't mind the derail.

Honestly it was simply us reverting to something we knew rather than trying something new in the encroaching darkness. And, given how long our first time with the gutless method went with the doe later in the week, I'm kind of glad we didn't try it with the buck. Dragging sucked, but we got the meat out clean, were able to really get all the meat without leaving anything behind (either due to darkness or inexperience), and learned a lesson. Dragging in the dark is easier than butchering in the dark. That being said, we're going gutless method from now on lol.

Definitely the smart play.

Kinda funny, last week I got my buck out whole and when I opened my trunk I was like... well WTF now?

 

[cahunter805]

Definitely the smart play.

Kinda funny, last week I got my buck out whole and when I opened my trunk I was like... well WTF now?

Pull the deer out of the trunk and quarter it in the driveway or parking lot!

 

[AvidIndoorsman]

Pull the deer out of the trunk and quarter it in the driveway or parking lot!

Had to be quick to get it all cut up before my garage mate got back from picking up his kid from daycare.

 

[AvidIndoorsman]

@ajricketts how did you keep the meat while hunting? coolers and dry ice or did you go the freezer route?

 

[TOGIE]

this thread is reminding me just how much more stress and anxiety in hunting is centered around meat than just about any other part of it all.

just a ball of stress over here until all my meat is finally wrapped up in a freezer.