Hunt it on public

[Pucky Freak]

Let me know what you find out. I have quartered in the field before, which involves: 1. Tag deer
2. Report harvest, and gut animal
3. “Take carcass to the processor”, which is me, in the field.
4. Quarter
5. Pack out hide, spine, ribs and feet in a garbage bag.

The question of whether #5 is necessary rests on whether public hunting land is considered “public property”, so as not to be considered littering. It’s the same concept that prevents you from breaking a branch off a tree on public land, because it’s illegal to damage a tree “on public property”.

 

[Pucky Freak]

The buck lives. 53 yards away, asleep right now. Wait, call, stalk?

 

[Pucky Freak]

Inched to 26 yards. Shooting windows were too tiny. Backed out quietly, and still he sleeps...

 

[Crossbowguy]

Very nice congratulations!

 

[Pucky Freak]

Sunday afternoon moved a stand to try and intercept the buck on his way to his bed once I have a favorable wind. Sat the remainder of the day in another stand and saw and heard nothing.

Monday AM sat the same stand and heard numerous deer in the pre-dawn dark, including a yearling buck, but by the time shooting light arrived all was quiet again.

 

[Crossbowguy]

Beautiful woody! Thanks four showing it off!

 

[Pucky Freak]

Supper for the family last night was braised fawn shanks. Dry rub with seasoned salt overnight, browned all 4 shanks, then braise in broth for 7 hours. Served with salsa, cilantro and sharp cheddar. I can’t believe I used to grind the shanks!

 

[Pucky Freak]

Tomorrow morning I’ve got a good wind to try and ambush the buck from the new stand location. I took the morning off and hope to get lucky.

As far as the rest of the season goes I have about 3 days to bow hunt, 3 days of shotgun deer, a one-day dice roll on an unscouted rifle doe hunt, rabbits once there’s a fresh snowfall, and lastly got some set dates for cow elk with @wyoboypt. The elk tag is probably going to start burning a hole in my pocket once season opens, as it should be lots of fun.

 

[Pucky Freak]

3:30 AM wake up, got in the stand with an hour of dark yet. Wind was good, and a half hour after sunrise I hear deer on the ridgetop. I get in position and I see 2 does. One peels off and heads over the ridge and the other is following the crest. She is going to either hug the top out of range at 40+ yards, or else take a trail split diagonally towards me at 25. I draw back, and she takes the closer path. My first MEP doesn't halt her movement so I call louder and she stops. The release feels smooth, and at the hit the deer flies down the hill right towards me with a broken front leg. She runs under my stand, and crumples over with her head bent awkwardly behind her in the dirt just 5 yards downhill from me. I don't see any blood, an arrow, or an exit wound. I can see her still breathing without a cough. My thought is to put a second arrow in, but the vitals are almost entirely behind a tree. While I'm contemplating what to do, she gives a lurch after about 3-4 minutes and slides downhill about a foot, and starts to lift her head up. I have my window now, and I put a second arrow through the heart.

I watch her quickly expire, and I notice a dark tarsal gland. What?! "She" is actually a "he". The smallest pedicles and antlers I've ever seen on an adult deer. Each "antler" is about the size of a skittle. In any event, I was able to fill my 2nd antlerless tag, and the freezer is on its way to filling up.


I opted to sit for another hour an a half, hoping the big buck would make a show, but the only company was a furry friend.


When field-dressing the buck I found the first arrow sliced a lung and lodged in the opposite shoulder. He would have died soon without the second arrow, but it was all for the best as it sped things up. It was 10:15 now, and I was pushing it to make it to work on time. I hung the buck in a tree and hiked the 1.5 miles out, came back in the dark to cut up the deer and pack it out, finally home at 10:15 PM. Long day. Good day.

 

[Pucky Freak]

9-hour sit on the same stand today. A doe and her two fawns early, then a yearling buck a little later and that was it. I’ll try a different stand tomorrow AM.

 

[Pucky Freak]

No deer seen this AM. Left once the thermals changed, and headed to the gun range. Rifle was a pleasure to shoot, as always.


I lowered the red dot on my slug gun, as I have had issues with forgetting to hold low on quick shots. I now have a 1.5" highest point of the arc, sighted in to 90 yards. This suits my style of hunting better for IA gun deer, which is still hunting and ambush in close quarters.

I patterned my new turkey round at 50 and 40 yards. I'm comfortable with a max range of 45 to get plenty of BB's in the kill zone.


On the culinary front, I've been trying to work out a deer liver preparation that I actually like, as I've tried many that have too powerful of a liver taste. With the two deer livers I got this fall I arrived at this variation to the classic bacon grease and onions after several attempts:

-Thoroughly rinse the organ, cut into small cubes and soak in vinegar water for 2 days.
-Lightly fry in bacon grease with onions, black pepper and a generous amount of dry mustard
-Serve with the fried bacon and BBQ sauce

The mustard and other strong flavors help mask the liver taste, whereas cutting it into small cubes helps prevent the edges from getting overcooked.


Round 2 of braised shanks is on the menu tonight. This time I did a dry brine of salt, coconut sugar, ground cloves, and chili powder for 3 days. Can't wait to try it!


Other venison firsts this year include saving the diaphragm and the tongue for the grind pile, as well as making fried kidneys. Wasn't a fan of my first kidney attempt, but I'll give it another go before too long.

 

[Pucky Freak]

I guess they’re hocks, not shanks. For some reason I got the word mixed up in my head. Anyways, meat is just about falling off the bones.

 

[Pucky Freak]

We got our new 16 cubic ft freezer set up to replace the much smaller one that came with our house. Here's our organization system - lots of space left for elk steaks!

 

[Pucky Freak]

I've looked over the extended weather report and strategized with my buddy for gun deer this weekend + Monday. So far we have a few sunrise and sunset stakeouts, and a still hunt when we can move quietly, mostly in places we've had success in the past.

My wife and I also blocked out 15 days for Wyoming and Montana in late May / early June for a week of family camping and a week of bear hunting. The hunt plan is for her to drop me off at the trailhead, where I'll hike a 14-mile loop over several days. It will be 7k-10k elevation and 6000' of vertical gain, and I'm working to get my butt in shape now. I'm on day 9 of daily lower body conditioning that will continue through the spring.

I've also been shopping around for my first spotting scope. I agreed to shoot the first legal bear I see - it drives my wife nuts when I tell her about all the animals I let walk . The spotting scope is mainly so I don't waste half a day getting in position only to discover it's a grizzly and not a black bear.

 

[vanish]

Good luck!

 

[Pucky Freak]

Walked in the dark to set up an ambush for deer returning to their day beds. My buddy and I set up on parallel ridges. He didn't see or hear anything. The wind was gusty and variable so I had a tough time selecting exactly where to sit to avoid detection. Before dawn I could hear a deer approaching to the left of my scent cone, and I got my gun ready. As soon as the female deer crossed a shooting lane at 60 yards she scented me, looked in my direction, and immediately took off. A young buck followed right behind her. The picture is taken from the perspective of the deer looking up the hill towards where I was on the top of the path.


Back at the truck a large group of drivers who had taken a buck on adjacent private land stopped to talk. They were very friendly, and asked if we were going to keep hunting the public piece, and we said no, have at it, and we shared scouting notes with them.

We spend mid-day stalking very slowly through a new piece that my buddy knew about but neither of us had been to previously. We turned up fresh sign, but no deer. Evening we set up on a third property to try and ambush for deer leaving their beds to feed, and we saw and heard nothing. It was thick cover - my buddy was about 50 yards away but mostly obstructed from view.


Tomorrow AM we're planning to still hunt some ag fields at first light.

 

[Pucky Freak]

AM still hunting we didn't see anything until the final field, where we spotted a flock of turkeys a couple hundred yards up. As we were deciding what to do, two hunters walked up behind us. I greeted them quietly, and when one of them responded it became evident he was annoyed. After a brief exchange he announced they were going to walk past us, bust the birds, and hunt the field. The joys of hunting public land!

Next up we went for a low-probability armed hike. We kicked a couple deer up about 20 yards away in thick stuff and watched them bound off. A little later we were walking parallel to one another when a doe stood up between us flat-footed. She was just 10 yards from my buddy, but with no safe shot she got the pass, and eventually she took off running. About 10 minutes after that we jumped a buck who ran, stopped in some cover, then took off again into the open before slowing to a walk at 400 yards.

The buck disappeared into a 7-acre island of thick cover, surrounded by bare terrain. I gave him two hours to settle down, then spent the next 3 hours meticulously picking my way through every hiding spot in the island. I found about 100 rubs, mostly from this year but also last year.


Maybe a future bow-season spot? I doubt the buck ever bedded down here but it was worth a try. Here's the spot I lost sight of him from 400 yards.


Evening sit was a bust, with the only deer seen being a fawn in the dark on the way out. Last chance tomorrow. High of 55 and no wind - will be tough to find anything on the move.

 

[Gellar]

Let me know what you find out. I have quartered in the field before, which involves: 1. Tag deer
2. Report harvest, and gut animal
3. “Take carcass to the processor”, which is me, in the field.
4. Quarter
5. Pack out hide, spine, ribs and feet in a garbage bag.

The question of whether #5 is necessary rests on whether public hunting land is considered “public property”, so as not to be considered littering. It’s the same concept that prevents you from breaking a branch off a tree on public land, because it’s illegal to damage a tree “on public property”.

sorry this took me so long to find out. but the scenario I proposed to him was if I am hunting in the back of one of the public areas and shoot a deer can I quarter it and pack it out with proof of sex. His response was "Go ahead and quarter it, no problem there. Tag the antler or leg and leave proof of sex if possible."

 

[Pucky Freak]

Last day of the hunt headed out with a different friend. He posted up in the timber and I slowly walked some huge loops to try and get a deer to double back and be exposed. We had a few deer running which all got passed. Sadly, I encountered 3 dead deer in the open presumably shot and left to rot by drivers. A mature doe that died Sunday, a yearling buck that died Saturday, and another mature doe possibly from the week prior. This clump of hair possibly dropped by a bird tipped me off to the buck carcass.


Wrapped up the day with an evening sit on the edge of a marsh. We saw 10 turkeys and a rooster feed into a soybean field, but no deer seen or heard.

 

[vanish]

Sadly, I encountered 3 dead deer in the open presumably shot and left to rot by drivers. A mature doe that died Sunday, a yearling buck that died Saturday, and another mature doe possibly from the week prior.

I was pretty surprised by the prevalence of drives there. I don't have a problem with them done well, but I saw an awful lot of "pull and pray" shots on running deer.