Old hunts

[timmy]

With all the internet doom and gloom we need some old hunts. Here is one from a whitey taken some time during high school. Rumors were there was the biggest whitetail somebody had ever seen on the neighbors. This peaked my interest and with a little work I gained access. I still hunted the timber for several hours with a good wind bumping but not blowing any deer out of the small patch of timber. Finally the “giant” was standing in front of me with my grandpas Remington pump 270 and the old weaver scope I made it count. He wasn’t as big as I thought he was going to be but was by far one of my most memorable hunts growing up.

 

[antlerradar]

On Thanksgiving day of 1981 Dad, a friend and I spotted a big nontypical on a ridge across a canyon. After a long sneak we failed. Dad and I went back on the last day of the season and the buck was in nearly the same spot. This time we learned from our past mistakes and got to within 200 yards and deer started busing out of the Juniper below us. After as few missed from my 243 and one good hit when he stopped running I was in need of reloading. Dad made sure he didn't go any farther.

 

[Letthemgrow]

Cool buck. Do you have any close up pictures of the top of his head?

 

[Cav1]

Growing up in Iowa in the 70's and early 80's, we used to compete with South Dakota to be the #1 pheasant hunting state, and the opening of bird season was a bigger deal than deer opener or Christmas. Our 160 acre farm had 132 acres tilled but the remainder was always good for pheasants and a covey or two of quail. Couple decades later they subsidized using field corn in Ethanol and the price went to like $12 per bushel. All the big corporate farmers ripped out every last little slough, waterway, brushy fenceline, shelter belt, and old farmstead to row crop from gravel road to gravel road. None of my old buddies or their kids hunt now cuz there's really no birds to hunt.


Winnie the Uber Terrier apparently had "little dog syndrome" and thought she could take on a grizzly bear and became our best coon hunting (and opossum and woodchuck and stray cat) dog. We always wondered if a game warden would really believe our dog had actually treed the coons. One time we heard Winnie suddenly stop barking and all we could hear was the most Godawful squalling and hissing of a coon, and thought she had finally met her match. Ran up to find a great big boar coon about 10-12 feet up the trunk of a big old maple desperately trying to claw his way higher. Winnie's jaws were clamped tight on his butt as she dangled in mid-air with all four feet off the ground, still twisting and jerking trying to pull the coon down. It took awhile before one of us could stop laughing long enough to shoot the raccoon.



We didn't get too excited about deer hunting back then because it was IIRC just a 4-day season with mandatory use of shotguns with slugs.

 

[shb]

Great thread.

 

[thomas89]

Buck I shot when I was around 16. Dad convinced my mom I should be allowed to skip school for a weekday deer hunt during Wisconsin’s short deer season. Little two person push through an “island” of timber in the middle of a prairie section. Jumped his doe and almost took a Texas heart shot as she bounded away. Fortunately saw him watching her go from the edge of the timber. Let the ol’ 870 12 ga fly and he took off into the prairie. Emptied the gun (no idea if any hit) and watched him fall in sight after saying “GO DOWN GO DOWN GO DOWN” about 100 times in the course of 10 seconds. Wish I had better pictures of this deer. Was too young and inexperienced to know better. Aged at 5 years, something like 150”.

Doe from a buddy’s uncles farm in South Central Wisconsin probably 17 years old. Big string of does during the late season came through like clockwork around 0845. Cold as hell that day blood was freezing within minutes. Probably 200 yards with an old 270 Husqvarna rifle. 140 gr Interlock bullets if memory serves.

Fun to reminisce a bit, nice distraction for sure!

 

[Zootownelk]

Me and the Old Man circa 1995- Iowa.