# Stacking up the Venison



## Fishindude (May 19, 2015)

Shot a nice Indiana doe out back in mid October with archery gear, then went to Illinois last week for the first firearms season and connected on a real nice eight point buck, followed by a doe. Have three in the freezer and still a lot more hunting time in Indiana, plus a trip to Kansas coming up.

Enjoying every minute of it.


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## Bret (Oct 3, 2003)

Continued joy and safely on the deer trail. Fun to learn of your success.


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## Hooligans (Jul 11, 2017)

Nice work. Reminds me of my time in Texas living in a five-deer county. We used to stack em up too! Alaska is different..


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## IndyDave (Jul 17, 2017)

Keep it up and you are going to have to change your user ID to "Shootindude"!


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## GTX63 (Dec 13, 2016)

It isn't unusual for me to hear deer all around me as I fumble thru the early morning dark on the way to my treestand. They mingle and seemingly hang around even as I climb the ladder, then drift back into the brush for the rest of the day.
This year I was 17' up in the tree for about 45 minutes until a nice 6 point strolled slowly from my right to left at 45 yards.
Put a bead on him and followed him as he came into the open. Hit him with a 12g slug right in the spine and he dropped where he stood. Slug didn't even go thru. Spent the morning processing and making room in the freezer.
Driving into town late that afternoon I still saw the trucks parked along the tree lines and fields. Always nice to get one early.


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## RonM (Jan 6, 2008)

Congratss GTX


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## muleskinner2 (Oct 7, 2007)

We still have from meat in the freezer from the Elk my wife killed two years ago. We buy a hunting license every year, even if we don't use it.


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## GTX63 (Dec 13, 2016)

I know I'm going to go against the grain with this, but I'm not into the sport of it much. I enjoy the kill just not the buildup.
My 870 is a tool for the job.
I don't hang around outside the chicken coop door at dawn with camo and a cleaver. Other than a finger in the air first thing in the morning I don't gauge wind. I don't use "no scent" or bait piles. I don't pass a fat doe for the chance at a trophy buck. In fact, I don't keep trophies. I have buddies with high end gear who boast about how many hours they can perch completely motionless, covered in snow, letting a half dozen dinner bells walk by to see another day, all for the chance at "the one."
My Uncle hunted every fall in red flannel and bibs, smoking non filters behind trees and brush, just walking and stalking, and he always came home dragging a carcass at the end of a rope.


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## Fishindude (May 19, 2015)

GTX63 said:


> I know I'm going to go against the grain with this, but I'm not into the sport of it much. I enjoy the kill just not the buildup.
> My 870 is a tool for the job.
> I don't hang around outside the chicken coop door at dawn with camo and a cleaver. Other than a finger in the air first thing in the morning I don't gauge wind. I don't use "no scent" or bait piles. I don't pass a fat doe for the chance at a trophy buck. In fact, I don't keep trophies. I have buddies with high end gear who boast about how many hours they can perch completely motionless, covered in snow, letting a half dozen dinner bells walk by to see another day, all for the chance at "the one."
> My Uncle hunted every fall in red flannel and bibs, smoking non filters behind trees and brush, just walking and stalking, and he always came home dragging a carcass at the end of a rope.


I'm just the opposite, enjoy all aspects of it. We have purchased a bunch of land and set it all up for deer hunting, planted habitat, plant food plots, dozens of blinds, you name it. Hunt multiple sates every year and spend ridiculous time and money deer hunting. I love the meat and get my share of venison, but what I'm really out there hunting for is a big set of antlers. I find small bucks and does easy prey and not too sporting to kill, so that's just meat hunting to me.

To each their own, enjoy.


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## brownegg (Jan 5, 2006)

Yep, it's a combo of both here. I am choosy as to what I shoot...I allow a lot of deer to walk...does and bucks....the young hunters and my daughters shoot enough deer to share with all...yep, it's the only red meat I eat....I always eat 2 deer a year....the harvest is usually great and the rest are shared. I bagged a nice 8 point bow hunting and the gun kills are all theirs.....heck they shoot all of them...gun hunting alone this last 9 days, we have 5 adult deer hanging for 5 hunters...I didn't take a shot, and still had a wonderful hunt with my family....I'm setting a example...it's ok to let them walk.....easy peasy to shoot deer with the guns we carry today. Just be thankful and happy and don't waste any meat...the liver and hearts are always brought back and used too...

Peace be


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## AmericanStand (Jul 29, 2014)

Alaska has some rules about how big a moose rack has to be be for it’s a legal kill. 
It seems like there needs to be a protected middle ground. Some way to protect the outstanding bucks so that the constant pressure to get the big racks doesn’t create a small rack breed. 
On the other hand I seldom nibble on the antlers so maybe it doesn’t matter.


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## brownegg (Jan 5, 2006)

They sure are nice to look at....all year long! The thought of a small rack breed will never happen...big racks come with age...shoot all the big ones ( that never happens ) the small bucks are young ones with the same genes to grow big racks...let em go and let em grow....why not shoot a big one....way more rewarding...way more meat and just as tender.

be


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## Fishindude (May 19, 2015)

brownegg said:


> They sure are nice to look at....all year long! The thought of a small rack breed will never happen...big racks come with age...shoot all the big ones ( that never happens ) the small bucks are young ones with the same genes to grow big racks...let em go and let em grow....why not shoot a big one....way more rewarding...way more meat and just as tender.
> 
> be



I was with you 100%, until you said "just as tender".
Unfortunately the big bucks are rarely tender when compared to does, young bucks and yearlings. Not uncommon to shoot a big buck after the rut that is quite run down, has fighting injuries and almost no fat left on him. If I was strictly going for best eating, I would shoot the six month old yearling does and button bucks, with a fat doe coming in a close second.


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## Oregon1986 (Apr 25, 2017)

Sharing is caring,just saying


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## AmericanStand (Jul 29, 2014)

brownegg said:


> They sure are nice to look at....all year long! The thought of a small rack breed will never happen...big racks come with age...shoot all the big ones ( that never happens ) the small bucks are young ones with the same genes to grow big racks...let em go and let em grow....why not shoot a big one....way more rewarding...way more meat and just as tender.
> 
> be


 But what about young bucks with big racks ?
Or have we already selelected them out of the gene pool ?


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## alleyyooper (Apr 22, 2005)

A lot of the bucks here in the 1 1/2 age class are 6 points. Is not uncommon to harvest a 1 1/2 year old 8 point here either. Lots of soy beans and corn raised here and the deer just about live in the corn till it is harvested.

 Al


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## Fishindude (May 19, 2015)

Same here, but even really healthy 6 & 8 point 1.5 year old deer are going to be spindly horn, narrow racked deer. They've got to get to at least 3.5 years to get any kind of significant mass and size to the antlers. Antlers peak out between 5.5 & 7.5 years of age typically, then start going downhill.


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## ridgerunner1965 (Apr 13, 2013)

yuall can shoot what yu want, don't matter to me.. but if you want bigger bucks and more activity during the rut, yu will shoot more do.es.

lower buck to doe ratio will lead to more rut activity. also culling young bucks that have fffed up horns is the road to getting nice bucks in yur woods

if yur just after meat deer then carry on. I been there and lived off deer meat for years..

it takes a few years to really manage a property for bigger deer. you have to quit shooting every buck yu see.


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## Fishindude (May 19, 2015)

ridgerunner1965 said:


> yuall can shoot what yu want, don't matter to me.. but if you want bigger bucks and more activity during the rut, yu will shoot more do.es.
> 
> lower buck to doe ratio will lead to more rut activity. also culling young bucks that have fffed up horns is the road to getting nice bucks in yur woods
> 
> ...


Most of what you are saying is correct, however you need a massive amount of real estate under your control to be effective at this, probably 500 acres minimum, and very few have that luxury. I try to practice good management and let them grow on my 160 acres, but soon as one of those up and comer 3.5 year old eight points wanders off the property a neighbor whacks him, and many of the neighbors also shoot every doe they see so high doe numbers aren't an issue either. We could probably do with a little less doe harvest around here.

Your point about culling young fffed up bucks is off the mark. They used to say that about spikes being inferior deer, but they have proven that a bucks first rack is not an accurate indication of what he will turn out to be. Under controlled conditions, deer that started out with spindly racks or spikes have turned into very high caliber trophy bucks. Let that same deer get to 3.5 - 4.5 years and if he's only a 6-8 point below average buck, that would be the time to take him so he doesn't continue breeding.

This is how they do it on very large private properties, but most of us will never really be able to be very effective at management. About the only thing positive we can do is let the small bucks walk so they possibly get the opportunity to get some age. Whitetails are pretty amazing animals. Even in very high hunting pressure areas, there are always a few that manage to make it to maturity and turn into real monarchs.


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## JJ Grandits (Nov 10, 2002)

In the Deer Management unit I hunt in NY they offer 38,000 antlerless deer permits each year.
I only hunt for the freezer. Back when I worked seasonal and had a wife and 5 kids to feed, there is nothing better than a nice doe. I've tried "old buck", you can keep it. If I get that desperate I've got plenty of "old boot".
Got a doe and a button buck in the freezer. That's more than enough. I even share with friends.


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