Since there doesn't appear to be one yet, I'll start. Ran into this guy yesterday on my first afternoon bowhunting in eight years.



Not breaking any records, but I was stoked to hang an archery tag on him. Coolest part was that I was hunting an area on public land I found during my sophomore year in college ten years ago. It hasn't changed a bit. Big stands of old-growth oaks and beeches that are a really beautiful place to hunt, and can be quite productive this time of year. It's literally a poster child for the phrase "hunting is conservation," and embodies exactly why I happily pay my license fees every year regardless of whether I can be sure I'll use them or not. Thankful for days right now.

Congratulations on your buck! Nice start to the season!

Nice little early season buck, man!

Nice one

I'm late to the party, a very nice buck to start off the year. I haven't seen any wall hangers, but have seen some deer, got to stick a couple and put some meat in the freezer.

Fun part right now is I've taken 3 deer with the same bolt and broadhead, 1 last year and 2 so far this year.

So the buck I got wasn't much to look at... but the kill shot was pretty good. I sent the rage after him, he trotted off about 15 yards, stopped and stood there for a few seconds, then just keeled over. It was like watching one of those hunting shows on TV.

The rage works.

Thanks all! Nice shooting, CWA. Rage Hypodermic?

Correct.

I got two yesterday, a huge doe in the morning and a 9 point in the afternoon. The rack on the 9 would almost fit in your coat pocket about a 3" spread. I don't think it was much more than 10 feet that separated where I shot each one in my wheat field. Neither one even kicked when that 250gr Barnes hit them. Went though both shoulders on each deer and exited.

BOOMFLOP!! Nice, that is a good first day.

Went yesterday afternoon and another big doe stepped out. I took a few pictures of her then decided there is a reason DGIF gives you 6 tags so I tagged her too. It's like a lightning strike when a Barnes 250gr hits one. A third one with no dragging just backed up to her with the 4 wheeler. Now all of my coolers are at the butchers, may have to buy another cooler.

That's a good problem to have.

+1 for Barnes copper monos, especially for muzzleloaders. This guy gave me a 70 yard shot this past weekend and the Barnes performed phenomenally. Super thankful right now.

Very nice OXN, congrats. I'm hoping to get some time in the stand starting this weekend.

Is that a Wolf you're shooting? If so, which Barnes bullets are you using? Good looking rifle at any rate.

OXN, nice deer. I tried Power Belts ( Crap) Hornady SST's ( they were a little better) Barnes 250gr EZ tops them all. Being handicapped dragging a deer is a chore so hunting over my wheat field and using Branes bullets eliminates dragging. I'm going out this afternoon the first time since Monday and see if I can make it four in a row. I need a small tender one for a cook out.

Indeed it is a Wolf. It is almost a comically reliable and accurate setup for its price. I shoot 250 gr. T-EZs. They are, in my opinion, the only way to go. As Vahunter says above, Hornady SSTs (or really any decent quality saboted round) are also accurate in a lot of my blackpowder setups, but the terminal performance of the Barnes is in a different ballpark.

L.B.D

This little fella crossed my path around 7am yesterday, he was maybe 15-20 yards when he came out. 1st shot hit him hard, he was crashing as he went away from me and I lost sight of him. Waited a bit before looking, did not find an immediate blood trail but was able track his movement until I did find blood and then him. He wasn’t quite dead yet, had to put another shot in him to finish him. Turns out the 1st shot went in high above one shoulder at a steep angle and lodged in the opposite shoulder. Pics of the bullet and weight after removal below. It’s a Barnes 290gr spitfire TEZ, weighed 278gr(even found the blue tip). Excellent expansion, just a bad angle.

That's wild, CWA. Looks like the projectile expanded perfectly. How much propellant are you running? Mine blew through both shoulders of that rather large animal with a mere 85 grain load of BH 209 (around 1800 FPS muzzle velocity.) Glad you found him!

I'm using 70 grains(by weight, not volume) of BH209. I have not chrono'd it but if I remember right their site says 70 grains by weight is equivalent to 100 grains by volume, approximately.

The 2nd shot that finished him was straight on at about 20 yards and went through both shoulders, instant lights out.

CWA you are correct on that measured weight, if you multiply the volume weight times .7 it gives you that number. Its way more accurate this way then by volume. Have a good one... Eric

20ga slug vs. deer heart... no tracking involved.

got him on cam the night before, about a 225-250 yard shot the next morning

Nice one James, congrats on that.

Thanks buddy, after the last couple rough years I sure needed this one

My yard last night. Poor quality photo.


I noticed this 8-pointer limping. Injured by a buddy? Car accident? Bullet or arrow? He barely touches the ground with his right front hoof.

I thought about him all day and tomorrow I'm going looking for him. I can't stand to think of him suffering a slow death.

Pretty rack, hope you find him.

Opening day in Kansas. A friend arranged for 6 of us to meet up (2 retired Marines, 2 active airline pilots, retired AZ state police captain, and me).

I took this 8 pt at 150 yds, .308 165gr BTSP, pass through. He ran straight for 50 yds and jumped straight up and died. About 175 lbs.

All of us scored, with the last one going down with 1/2 hr of shooting light on last day.

https://i.imgur.com/teIoHje.jpg

Rifle is a very early Model 88 (4 digit) with Redfield 2x7 wide angle w/ post I never moved selector knob off 7

Took a button on my antlerless tag on the second day at 80/yds, about the same result but he actually ran a little further.

Deer at butcher now.

Very nice kjack, congrats!

Finally got to notch a tag! Saw about 9 bucks this season...4 shooters. This was the smallest of the 4, but the only encounter that went my way! Taken yesterday in the National Forest near my home in Craig Co

That's a pretty rack, congrats.

What muzzleloader are you using? That's a nice looking stock on there.

Thanks. That's a T/C Omega X7. No longer in production. Actually wasn't made long. Marketed as "The King of the Mountain". 24" barrel and weighs a little over 6 lbs. Nice for where I hunt.

21 5/8 inside spread , pretty nice . Nov.15 T/C Pro Hunter 250g shockwave 100g powder.

That's a nice one for sure Parker. Pretty wide for VA.

Fauquier county , I've seen some really big bucks here over the years

This is one from 2017 that I never got a chance at, you can see my stand right behind him on left in picture

Wow, too bad you never got a chance at him. He would look good on the wall for sure.

I agree , it made/ruined my season that year !

People can say what they want but have not harvested anything less than 8 points and not past the ears if the ears are facing you for almost 7 years and these are small plots . I always have someone telling me that the hunter on next property will get them but I can at least say I let them grow and hope for the best

Same here. 8-pt minimum since very soon after I started deer hunting back in '98...so for about 18, 19 years or so. I'm 60 so I am late to the sport. Nowadays I hunt public, so that makes it a bit tough. It's a personal choice that a couple of buddies have also adopted. Not needing to fill a freezer anymore certainly makes a difference, though.

One of the guys I hunt with figured that 60 degree weather was not good for deer hunting, so he left early yesterday.

I sent him this pic, shot the deer at 3 o'clock......




It was a touchy shot, 96 yards through the woods, but I had about an 8 inch opening that agreed with where you properly lung-shoot a deer.

Angle of the shot compromised the diaphragm but did not open up organs. I reckon the "mad-dash" after the shot let things start on their way out.

Hernia mesh came to mind.

Nice one Vic, congrats. He's obviously been fighting but what a nice rack. I can't recall seeing the organs push out like that before, wild stuff!

Thanks.

He made a run of about 150 yards after the shot, so I figure that activity caused the organs to come out through the hole. I was sure I had gut-shot him but while field-dressing I found all the abdominal organs intact.

Lungs weren't too good, though...

What round vic

.308 Win. Ruger Hawkeye with a 3-15x42 SWFA "SuperChicken".

The rifle is reasonably accurate but I have a Douglas XX Air-gauge in mind for next year.

Here's a pic taken from another stand.

At this stand, the area to the right fills up with does around 4:30 or so in the evening. Every once in a while a buck will accompany them.

I'm late as heck to this too. Some nice deer taken here this year! Took this beaut opening day of muzzle loader. Powerbelt aerolite 250gr from my Thompson Impact with iron sights. Dropped him where he stood. Biggest deer I've ever got. I was stoked!!

That's a nice one Hearse, congrats.

For just a second when I looked at the 1st pic, I thought he had a humongous body... then I realized it's not a full size truck.

My oldest daughter has been on a roll. 2 bucks on opening day, 1 the day after Thanksgiving and a big doe yesterday with the 30/06 she got for Christmas.

Very cool stuff. 30-06 is a good round, she can get a lot done with that. Congrats to you and her.

How do you like that SWFA? Hear a lot of people rave about them.

It's heavy, the glass is not quite Leupold VX-3i but usable through legal hours, eye relief may be critical on a harder recoiling rifle and the eyebox is less forgiving. None of these are deal-breakers in my book if the scope "aims" good.

Adjustments are very tactile and precise and it returns to zero every time. I have two Nightforce scopes and this thing dials just as good, which led to me buying a 3-9X42HD for my SPR. That scope has better glass and is FFP while the 3-15 is SFP, which I prefer for hunting, though I am finding the reticle on the 3-9X42 usable for hunting, just a touch on the small side at 3X. Parallax is adjustable down to less than 10 yards on the 3-15.

As you can see in the pic, potential for a long shot exists so the scope's ability to track is important, and this one has been very precise.