Deer hunting BS thread

good pic

 

Man I'm real jealous of all you guys with weeks left to hunt. I didn't get to spend as much time as I'd like (new baby) but did tag a nice doe.

Butchered myself for the first time and it looks great in the freezer next to a pile of moose meat.

 

Moose meat...mmmmmm

 

Seems to be that time of year where the deer all over the county have just kinda stopped moving. 2nd rut should be here any time, but I’m not seeing any action in public or private land lately.

 

Not even 5 mins after I posted this I heard something walking around. Grunted and grunted. Nothing. Rattled. Within a minute I had 6 around me. 2 spikes a 4 and 3 does. Got to watch the 4 chase off the spikes, make a couple scrapes, then chase one of the does.

 

Doe season opens back up Saturday till jan1... Freezer is starting to get thin...

 

late season for us is hit or miss. pretty slow but if you happen to get on a Hot doe 2nd rut all hell breaks loose. i sit for 5 hours this evening. saw one doe and 6 turkeys. nothing else moving where i sat

 

Small game only up here (Maine) til end of year. Tho rabbit season goes into March.

 

Gun season for deer in Ohio comes back in for this Saturday and Sunday. Muzzleloader is a few days (3 I think) in early January and bow season is still on till end of January - I think?

 

Our gun season came in November 13th and stays in until January 1st, after that it's urban archery which is hard to get one in bow range after they've been shot at for 2 months and all the leaves are gone off the trees for cover.

 

Got those cameras out yesterday hoping to catch the neighbors during muzzleloader season
Had this barred owl land not far from me while I was hanging a camera .

 

Be cool if you can get a photo like this

 

Now that’s is a creative taxidermist

 

There used to be a lady taxidermist we used (she's passed now) that had some cool stuff mounted, one I remember was a table with squirrels sitting at it playing cards. The 1st time we went to her house we were talking in the driveway and there was an old car sitting in it with a cat laying in the back window. I noticed all the windows were up and said something about it, she said "that was his favorite place to lay"

 

Random question of the day for you folks. I'm seeing more and more land coming up for sale in a part of the world I'd like to end up. Has my mind wondering what my next steps will be.

How many of you have a deer lease or even own the property and wish you could live there long term? Retirement planning has started for me. I'm living in a market area that is demanding top dollar for houses/land and not sure I want to continue to be in the middle of all this pharking progress. The "market bubble" has yet to pop where I am for the last 20 years. Seriously. None of my appraisal business buddies believe it will pop any time soon. Mobile home and 1 acre not far from where I am sold for a whopping $250K. Stupid money. I'm not in a mobile home and have much more land than that. With a subdivision on my back door step and ranches to my west and north. And yapping dogs in every nook and cranny just down the road behind me.

Many of the places I've been finding are in "recreational areas" and are primarily used by hunters or those with extra income for a second home. City centers (groceries, hospitals etc.) are 1.5 to 2.5 hours away. Some of the places already have electricity near by or have solar/water catchment. Taxes are cheap and could keep the ag exemption (1d1) for majority of the property to save money in the long term.

If it helps, I'm in my 50s, single, work from home full time and have 2 kiddos that will be out of school in the next 5 years. I'm in no rush but have started planning. Sell/buy in the next 2 years, get me a mini home built (mostly by me) and start living life in peace and quiet. Then have this land for my kiddos and their kiddos. Same I had planned for where I am today. But progress has caught up and feel like I'm sitting on money (current home/land) that could be used to start over. Am I crazy?

 

You're not crazy....you're lucky and smart. I'm 53 and would retire today if I could. It sounds like you're sitting on a gold mine, best wishes to you cashing in early and living the easy life.

 

Lots of personal choices only you can make. If its right for you do it. Their will be struggles, packing, moving, selling, buying building. Some it move smoothly, some not so smooth. What gives you peace only you can answer.

It takes a little courage and a lot of strength to move.

We've moved all over.

 

I picked up a gray fox from the taxidermist years ago and he asked “How did you ever shoot that thing? It could see coming and going!” Turned out he thought it would be funny to give me my fox back with 3 eyes. But it has been a conversation starter!

(He put a sheep eye where the brown eye used to be)

 

This buck stepped out for the camera at 7:30am this morning at my buddies farm in south GA. Not a monster by any means but one we would definitely like to have. I swear they know when it’s the weekend. Between myself and the land owners son we hunted this stand four times this past weekend.