Outdoorsman Thread

[TripleF]

Saw a couple deer today on the way to making a fire and a bacon sandwich at the Park this morning...

[CheckSix]

Puppy Dog sized deer?

Mmmmmmm.... Bacon samich on toast! Awesome! I call bacon the human litmus test.

[treefarmer]

Good post Scott! Can't beat fried bacon in the outdoors and you did good gettin' that picture of the "dog sized" Florida Bambis .
We were lookin' for a laid back day but a kid we know showed up at our house this mornin' with his 1st deer, askin' for help, "What do I do next?"
We agreed to show him with a little OJT. I told him I would start one side of the deer, he could watch, ask question, etc.. then he could try his hand on the opposite side. His wife ended up with Miss Joy's camera and took a bunch of pictures of the event. I figured we could share a few of them on the Outdoorsman Thread. I gave my old #39 queen a small work out this morning, my young friend was using some sort of CRKT fixed blade on his side of the deer. Here we go:

Here's another Florida dog sized deer, they are what they are.

Showing him how I start the job.

His turn to try it.

Moving right along, on the job training at its' best.

He seemed amazed as I pulled the hide off Bambi.

Class continues as he removes the other shoulder.

Rather than hang the deer and deal with our warm and rainy weather, we figured it best break the deer down and age it in an ice chest for a few days. I'm not sure how he is going to process the deer, we'll see how that goes.
Treefarmer

[CheckSix]

Good post Scott! Can't beat fried bacon in the outdoors and you did good gettin' that picture of the "dog sized" Florida Bambis .
We were lookin' for a laid back day but a kid we know showed up at our house this mornin' with his 1st deer, askin' for help, "What do I do next?"
We agreed to show him with a little OJT. I told him I would start one side of the deer, he could watch, ask question, etc.. then he could try his hand on the opposite side. His wife ended up with Miss Joy's camera and took a bunch of pictures of the event. I figured we could share a few of them on the Outdoorsman Thread. I gave my old #39 queen a small work out this morning, my young friend was using some sort of CRKT fixed blade on his side of the deer. Here we go:
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DSCN2886r.jpg
Rather than hang the deer and deal with our warm and rainy weather, we figured it best break the deer down and age it in an ice chest for a few days. I'm not sure how he is going to process the deer, we'll see how that goes.
Treefarmer

Your a good man Treefarmer!

What did he shoot it with? Looks like some excessive blood shot meat on the shoulder.

[treefarmer]

He punched him through and through with a 30-06. He did a number on the top of the heart and both lungs were damaged and the bullet traveled on. I asked him what bullet was he using, he didn't have a clue what I was asking him .
Treefarmer

[CheckSix]

He punched him through and through with a 30-06. He did a number on the top of the heart and both lungs were damaged and the bullet traveled on. I asked him what bullet was he using, he didn't have a clue what I was asking him .
Treefarmer

Good placement at least. Don't need a .30-06 for deer down there. If you see him again, suggest a 243Win with a Hornady 100gr Interlock BTSP. Good excuse for a new rifle. He'll thank you later. I have two 243 Win's, I love them for deer sized game and smaller. One is a Rem M700, the other is a Ruger #1B single shot. Both super accurate. From earlier this year, the Rem M700 bench session...

[kootenay joe]

Very well placed deer shot and very tight 243 grouping.
Even though a 30 06 has more power than needed for the small southern deer, i say use the rifle that fits best for you. If this was not just a luck shot and the hunter dude can regularly put the bullet where he wants to, then his 30 06 is a good fit for him. A 243 is a smaller gun, might have a shorter stock and might not come into shooting position as readily.
However he could try out a 243 before deciding to temporarily retire the 30 06.
TF, looks like you are taking the deer apart without gutting it first ? If so it is a slick way to get a deer home.
kj

[Quick Steel]

Anybody like a 270? In civilian life I've had little rifle experience. But inexperience never prevented me from having an opinion. Strikes me that the 270 Winchester offers not only the capability for deer and lesser game, but also for most North American game minus the big bears. I am aware that with proper bullet placement elk and moose readily fall to the caliber. I fully understand why you pros would advocate a larger caliber like the 30-06. But I do like the relatively flat shooting and lighter recoil of the 270. Certainly I recognize it should not be used by the unskilled on big animals.

[TripleF]

Great stuff Philip!! Awesome that you shared butchering knowledge with this young fella!!!

Yeah.....Dave, dog size or a little bigger. Saw an 8 point out by my daughters house last week....

[kootenay joe]

I have hunted with both a 270 & a 30 06. There might be some differences in ballistics but for hunting there is little difference. Which one you have with you will not change the outcome of your hunt. The 270 will bring down whatever game a 30 06 can take down. Carry whichever one you are more accurate with. I think there is too much emphasis on ballistics and not enough about the fit of the rifle to that particular hunter's size and build.
I am a small guy and had a 300 Win. mag with a 26" barrel (plus a "B.O.S.S." added on the end). I could not get that rifle to shoot even a 'loose' group, let alone tight. I sold it to a big guy, 6'6" 300 pound big, for half price because as i told him, "it doesn't shoot straight". I saw him a couple of years later and he thanked me for selling him "the best, the most accurate" rifle he had ever owned.
That's when i realized the importance of 'fit'.
Word about black bears: thin skinned, go down more readily than a whitetail deer which are thicker skinned and more determined.
kj

[CheckSix]

I have hunted with everything from 22lr, to 416 Rigby. From my experience, shot placement trumps most things. Second most important is bullet design and expansion control. When I first started out in the 70's, I used a .30-06. It all branched out from there. Heavy kickers, like my 375 H&H and 416 Rigby, are only ever needed when hunting truly dangerous game. I've used 300 Mag on large non-dangerous animals and it works really well with tough bullets, made for the high impact velocity. The older I got, the more intrigued I got with taking game with small caliber for size game cartridges. I got into a love affair with the 243 Winchester, which is a necked down 308 Win, to 6mm. With 85gr, to 100gr premium bullets, I speculate, with proper shot placement, I could take any reasonable sized thin skin game animal. And there in lies the allure.

Couple of dangerous critters I've been around... When you are walking the bush with known man killers about, you never relax and are constantly on high alert. By the way, I saw lion and leopard paw prints in the dirt but never saw them in person. They were around but elusive.

[Colonel26]

Great pics and stories all.

TF that doe looks like some fine eating.

Our deer are a bit larger here in KY. And a lot of them are taken with 243's. Even a few guys use 5.56. But the most common calibers here are 243, 270, 30-06, 308, and then the lever guns mostly in 30-30.

We have rollig hills and trees. There are a few bean fields and creek bottoms where in theory you could take a 300 yard shot. But normally a long shot here is 200 yards with most deer taken from point blank to 75 yards or so.

I shoot a 57 model Marlin 336 SC chambered in 35 Remington. It's my hands down favorite.

[Quick Steel]

CheckSix: As a youngster I read an article by an African PH about the 416 Rigby; this left me convinced that should I ever be around dangerous game the 416 Rigby would be my first choice.

[CheckSix]

CheckSix: As a youngster I read an article by an African PH about the 416 Rigby; this left me convinced that should I ever be around dangerous game the 416 Rigby would be my first choice.

There are some great African safari books. Robert Ruark the author, comes to mind.

The 416 Rigby standard load is 400gr bullet at 2400fps at the muzzle. About 80 lbs of recoil in a standard rifle. 5100 ft-lbs of energy at the muzzle. Properly placed, it will stop anything on the planet that has legs.

I'm very pleased I got to make 2 trips there and experience it myself. It is very humbling to be there with critters that can instantly ruin your day.

[treefarmer]

In response to your comments about the young feller and his 1st deer: He is married with a 18 month old son and I don't think he can hardly afford to pay attention, let alone purchase a rifle . He said the rifle he used was borrowed from his dad.

My love affair with the .243 came to life after one of those occurances that seem to haunt some of us. Late in the 1998-99 deer season I made a bad shot on a buck over on our lease. I blamed it on the rifle, a Remington 700 30-06. Since it was late in season, the rut was in full swing, I borrowed my young son's little Remington 788 .243 carbine. I knew it was still on the mark. The next couple of days I killed several bucks with the .243 and I was hooked! Father's Day 1999 my family gave me a 700 .243 and that's all I've toted since then. The old trusty 30-06 wasn't off the mark, it was me . I'm sorry I lost that deer so many years ago, but my impatience opened my eyes to what a great round the .243 is! My son had killed his 1st deer with this same rifle when he was 9 years old. Concerning the 30-06, I had been loading a 130 gr. Speer HP, pushed by 48 gr. of IMR 4895 and it was an outstanding load for my type of deer hunting. I just made a bad shot! I will agree the .243 is a great cartridge for whitetails. I used a model 700 30-06 for 30 years, prior to that I had both Remington 760 pumps and 742 auto loaders in 30-06 but since Father's Day 1999, I've not had any inclination to use anything but a .243.

I started this post around 3:30 this afternoon and realized I needed to ease on down to the shootin' house before it got too late, so I saved the draft and am now finishing it up. But in the mean time I was fortunate to have a nice 6 point show up at 5pm and thanks to the .243 he's is resting comfortably hangin' from the oak tree by the shop. I'll post some pictures later on.
Treefarmer

[Colonel26]

Great story TF. Ain't no flies on a 243. From ground hogs, to coyotes, to deer. It's a real versatile round. Dad has one, I need to go "borrow" it for a while I think.

Congrats on the deer!

[CheckSix]

That's great treefarmer! The 243 strikes again! Congrats!

[treefarmer]

Had a great time in the woods this evening!

Got to my shootin' house a little before 4pm. Trying to be quiet but ended up bangin' something and making some noise. When I settled into my chair I noticed a deer in the pines looking my way. I raised my binoculars and watched the little doe finally give up looking my way and back to her feeding. She worked her way to the automatic feeder and I noticed it was almost time for it to go off. When it came on she took off running but with in a few minutes she was back picking up the corn that had been spun out of the feeder.
She stayed there for 15 or 20 minutes and then fed off into the woods out of sight about 4:30. She reappeared in the edge of the wheat and worked her way diagonally across the plot toward the southeast corner of the food plot. I love to have a single deer in a field like this, they don't miss a thing. When they look you need to look.

Right at 5pm she got real interested in something in the northeast corner of the plot, she even turned to face that direction. She kept watching and I finally saw some movement, I could tell it was a deer and that was all. Finally it stepped out where I could see it was a buck and the rest is history.

Yesterday and today were the last two days of our very short doe season in this Deer Management Zone and because I'm such a nice guy , I had agreed several years ago with Miss Joy not to kill does on our farm . Yesterday I got side tracked and didn't make it to the lease and honestly I didn't feel like going over there this afternoon so there went my chance to kill a couple of old slick headed gals Thanks to this young doe, she pointed out the buck almost like a bird dog on a covey of quail!
Treefarmer

[Old Hunter]

Congratulations Philip, nice deer and some good deer hunting stories! OH

[TripleF]

Congratulations Philip, nice deer and some good deer hunting stories! OH

Ditto!

[djknife13]

Phil, I'm just getting rolling and you have had a full days worth of activity already. It seems kind of weird talking deer hunting when our season was over several months ago already. Deer shot around here this late (or road kill) have been eating tree buds and have a strong taste to the meat. All the good tender alfalfa taste is long gone. _____Dave

[philco]

Congratulations Philiip. That'll make for some good eating this winter.

I've learned that cattle make pretty good "bird dogs" too. They rarely miss anything moving about in their area and will stare at anything that catches their eye. I've seen them watching deer on several occasions when they spotted the deer well before I could see them.

[kootenay joe]

dj, i have thought that deer meat would not get dry and tough until later on in the winter. The change in the meat is due to the fat cells that lie within the muscle getting depleted. You can only see this fat with a microscope as the fat cells are dispersed among the muscle cells and only constitute about 3% of the total mass.
I THINK the deposits of body fat that overlie the muscles and surround the organs gets used up for energy before the cells in the muscle.
Hence, toughness happens later in the season after fat depos are exhausted.
That's the theory but what is the reality ? I have never eaten a deer taken later than Dec. 20th. Here in southern B.C. a deer taken in mid Dec. is still good if it's a doe. Bucks are worn thin from the just ending rut.
Have you eaten any mid winter deer ?
kj

[zp4ja]

dj, i have thought that deer meat would not get dry and tough until later on in the winter. The change in the meat is due to the fat cells that lie within the muscle getting depleted. You can only see this fat with a microscope as the fat cells are dispersed among the muscle cells and only constitute about 3% of the total mass.
I THINK the deposits of body fat that overlie the muscles and surround the organs gets used up for energy before the cells in the muscle.
Hence, toughness happens later in the season after fat depos are exhausted.
That's the theory but what is the reality ? I have never eaten a deer taken later than Dec. 20th. Here in southern B.C. a deer taken in mid Dec. is still good if it's a doe. Bucks are worn thin from the just ending rut.
Have you eaten any mid winter deer ?
kj

In my experience, you are what you eat. Anyone that has ever tasted a dabbling versus a diving duck can attest to that. No amount of marinade is going to make a diving duck not taste fishy. Why they get a free pass from my shotgun load. Deer are the same way in my opinion. Corn fed versus just grazing on whatever they can find, big difference. Then there is the difference between taste of a rested antelope versus one that was running very hard then shot, for instance. Rested tastes better. My opinion based on experience.

[garddogg56]

Good looking Buck Phil