Sons best whitetail to date. (His 4th)

[npaden]

Got a chance to sit in a hunting blind with my son for about 8 hours over the weekend. An evening sit, then a morning and then another evening sit. This was his 4th whitetail buck and ended up scoring almost exactly 1” bigger than last years buck.

We played cat and mouse with this deer that morning and again that evening with 3 different opportunities on him and we were just patient and finally made the last one count.

Pretty proud of him as I didn’t even have eyes on the buck when he said he had the shot (I was messing around with my phone on the spotter trying to get it on video) and he made a perfect shot on him. He said that he was on him and based on the missed earlier opportunities I didn't want to risk him not having the shot so I told him to go ahead even though I didn't have eyes on him. I didn’t see him running off at the shot but my son did and saw him go down and we were able to walk right to him.





Got a couple good pictures of him through the spotting scope on one of the earlier missed opportunities.



Was an awesome time spent and one of the nicest weather weekends in December I've ever had.

 

[noharleyyet]

You've every right to be proud of your son's proficiency....cool outing.

 

[ashersdad]

His smile says it all. Congrats to you both.

 

[kansasdad]

Dimples for the win!

Congratulations to both of you.

 

[Mica Man]

Got to love spending time in the field with your son, congrats to both of you!

 

[Mtnhunter1]

Love the smile! Way to go young man and keep him in the field dad!

Question: What is the field dressed weight of that southern whitie?

 

[Werty]

Not a bad deer for your 4th deer. Good job

 

[idahohuntr]

Great buck!

 

[sbhooper]

Nothing wrong with that deer. I could not care less about score, but it is cool that he was able to do a little better than the last one. That is the whole purpose in chasing antlers, I guess.

 

[tarheel]

Nice 8; best of times.

 

[npaden]

Love the smile! Way to go young man and keep him in the field dad!

Question: What is the field dressed weight of that southern whitie?

I've never field dressed one so not sure. I've weighed a few of them with their guts in and a mature buck will go anywhere between 150 and 200 pounds. I do the gutless method on them even when I can pull right up to them with a pickup. I just use the tailgate to quarter them up so I don't have to bend over the whole time.

If I would guess on this one I would say he was a 3 1/2 year old and closer to that 150 pound mark, he wasn't a very big bodied deer. Of course they are just coming out of the rut so they are about as light as they are going to get right now as well. He had a pretty muscled up neck on him and seemed to be the dominant buck in the area but wan't that big body wise. I've shot some at the house (100 miles north of where this one was shot) that I think would have been 200+ but didn't get them weighed.

 

[npaden]

Nothing wrong with that deer. I could not care less about score, but it is cool that he was able to do a little better than the last one. That is the whole purpose in chasing antlers, I guess.

I agree. He was a very pretty mature deer so the score doesn't matter but he did want to do better than the last one.

He does care about score because I told him it would have to be 130"+ for me to have it shoulder mounted so he really would like to get one that big. Still about 10" short on this one.

 

[Mtnhunter1]

I've never field dressed one so not sure. I've weighed a few of them with their guts in and a mature buck will go anywhere between 150 and 200 pounds. I do the gutless method on them even when I can pull right up to them with a pickup. I just use the tailgate to quarter them up so I don't have to bend over the whole time.

If I would guess on this one I would say he was a 3 1/2 year old and closer to that 150 pound mark, he wasn't a very big bodied deer. Of course they are just coming out of the rut so they are about as light as they are going to get right now as well. He had a pretty muscled up neck on him and seemed to be the dominant buck in the area but wan't that big body wise. I've shot some at the house (100 miles north of where this one was shot) that I think would have been 200+ but didn't get them weighed.

Never field dressed one? What is the typical southern protocol after the deer is down?

Curiosity from a northern hunter where either the critter guts gutted and dragged to the rig or boned out and carried out on your back?

 

[npaden]

I would say the typical southern protocol is gutting it and taking it to the processor. I even know some folks who take it to the processor with the guts in it.

Since I butcher them myself I just don't see the point in field dressing them. I quarter them up and get them in a cooler on ice. Cut any other salvageable meat off the carcass there in the field. I keep it in the cooler for a few days, drain any water off and add more ice on top. Usually I will keep it on ice for 4 or 5 days before I butcher it.

 

[sbhooper]

I would say the typical southern protocol is gutting it and taking it to the processor. I even know some folks who take it to the processor with the guts in it.

Since I butcher them myself I just don't see the point in field dressing them. I quarter them up and get them in a cooler on ice. Cut any other salvageable meat off the carcass there in the field. I keep it in the cooler for a few days, drain any water off and add more ice on top. Usually I will keep it on ice for 4 or 5 days before I butcher it.

Perfect. I just processed two deer-one white tail and one mule deer-that had been in the ice chest outside for a few days. It is amazing how much blood keeps seeping out of meat. If you have cool temps, put the meat in an ice chest outside and let it sit. I have the opportunity to use the ice chest without ice, as the temps this time of year are cool. Even with ice, it is worth several days in the cooler, just to keep getting the blood out of it. I am thoroughly convinced that the blood in meat causes a lot of the marginal taste. The more blood that is extracted, the better table fare it will be. A cooler outside-with or without ice-will accomplish that.

If you are lucky enough to be able to haul it home, take off the quarters and straps and then get rid of the rest, you are a step ahead of many on this site. I even do the gutless method on deer that I shoot just north of my house. I don't like dragging deer through a creek and all of the high grass, just to get it home whole. Been there, done that, and don't need to do it anymore.

After doing the gutless method, the only extra thing that I do, is to remove the tongue. They make great taco meat. I also like heart, but rarely go to the mess, just for another heart. I have plenty.

 

[Bowhuntrben]

Congrats to your son..that’s a great buck!

 

[SG25]

Congrats to you both!

 

[duck wrangler]

Beautiful buck!

Congrats to you both; love the smile!

 

[rjthehunter]

Great buck!!! Memories like this last forever. If he can keep his trend of 1" bigger on every buck he's in for an awesome ride!

 

[Salmonchaser]

Really enjoy these stories. Well done