Mn 2017 kill Thread
Minnesota
Let's see what's happened this year. I finally got out last evening, 10 minutes into stand this doe showed up, 25 yd shot 50 yd recovery right in the hairiest crap you'll ever see!
Nice doe, Randy! With the rain this year there is a lot of hairy crap out there. I had to use a machete to clear one path to a stand that I normally could just walk in. Going out tomorrow morning for the first time - too hot the last two weekends.
Congrats RD, taken with recurve makes the success that much sweeter.
Sweet! Those burrs suck! LOL!
Greg, how did you get that doe to sit down on the branch?
Exactly how I found her! 5 yard heart shot and watched her go down.
Anyone seeing anything. Had a good hunt Tuesday evening. Saw 6 antlerless but all 40-50 yards out. Out of my range. Sat Wednesday eve and saw none.
The cool weather lately has really ramped up activity that we have seen. This is my buddy's deer he shot last night at sundown. Sorry for the blood and gore, but I just had to post it because we had to pull it out of the creek in almost the same spot as I had to pull my turkey from last spring. Of course the creek ditch has 8 foot deep steep, muddy sides which made the extraction so much more fun. By the time we got home, boned out the meat and cleaned up it was 3 am. I'm tired.
I was able to sneak out with my son on Thursday and Friday and he managed to make a great shot on his first deer ever.
Razor, first glance at your turkey looked like it has suspenders on. LOL
Ha, you are right! Those were feathers that the broadhead cut off as it broke the wing - you can see the broken part of the right wing hanging off at an angle.
BuckCrazy, that is a very nice sized big one! Congrats to your son on his first!
Give your son a high 5 for me BuckCrazy!
Son's 1st night out this year. What a fun night!
Very cool MN Archer! Congrats to your son!
BuckCrazy and MN Archer, congratulations on passing it on and taking your boys hunting and congratulations to the "boys" on doing a good job on the shooting!!
Shoot now or save for later???
Shoot now or save for later???
Good pics, I haven't been so lucky yet.
While up North I heard about a argument in a public parking lot where a few gentlemen got into debate on who shoots the biggest buck, your kids buck is small, etc. and it got heated police had to be called one hunter escorted out of the place as a result. Apparently their personal feud has been going on for years.
Both of these individuals I have encountered before, BOTH of them have made comments to me and others about the size of their deer, etc. Folks need to remember the old saying: "every deer with a bow is a trophy", most of us shot a button buck , lil doe spiker, forkie, etc. as our first deer. Many "meat hunters" still do. The point is we are getting out there and you never know when it will be your last.
Keep posting pics, I know from experience the old guys who can't get out enjoy them, someday that will be each of us.
Good to see the kids out there!
My son helped me to recover this one. Can't wait until he's old enough for me to help him trail his.
Well, the orange army is descending tomorrow on the woods around my usual hunting spots. Me and my friend take the week off before gun opening every year and go down to SE MN to give the just emerging rut an all-out try before it gets disrupted. I ended up taking this buck late yesterday, so now it is all doe hunting until Dec 31. Was drawing on a monster yesterday morning as it entered my shooting lane and at that moment he decided to take a couple quick hops over a small dip in the trail, and also out of any chance I had to loose an arrow at him. Similar thing happened to me 2 years ago with an even bigger one. I think I'm cursed. Good thing venison is so good... However, I got a story and pic similar to Droptine's above. I hit him very well and he took off circling around me. About 80 yards and 4-5 seconds later I saw him go down just before he went behind a big blowdown tree. He gets up, goes out of sight and immediately I hear branches breaking like crazy for a second or two, and then quiet. I figured he dived into the blowdown as a last-ditch effort to hide but couldn't see him in it. I waited about 10 minutes, got down, went to the blowdown and found him just like this. Getting him out of there was an effort since I was alone, but well worth it. Good luck everybody!
I thought SE Mn was APR? It is in all of the areas I hunt.
APRs and cross-tagging restrictions don't apply in unit 603.
SB, you and anyone else hunting in SE MN should get a current DNR map and regs to make sure they are or aren't hunting in the new unit since it was carved out of parts of several existing units. There are a bunch of additional new requirements for this unit including how to have their deer tested and restrictions on transporting the carcass.
This is a better pic and is what I saw as I walked up to him.
I didn't,t find that in the regs....not only are they going to shoot everything that moves....now all these years of APR will go down the toilet as they kill off all the yearling bucks. There's already less deer in the area around me that there was in the early 60's..when you rarely saw one.
Up north in the snow, another spoon and crockpot buck for me this year.
SB, what units are you hunting in? Here is the DNR map showing unit 603 straddling units 348 and 347. The center of it is Preston/Lanesboro, where a number of cases of CWD were found in the wild deer population in the last couple years. That is why 603 was created - to monitor and hopefully contain it from spreading any further. Right now, the increased bag limits, mandatory testing and reduced APR are designed, from what I understand, so the they can get a comprehensive sample of deer this year to see if it is spreading or will die out on it's own. The thought that all the deer are going to be shot in there is just not realistic. Actually, I would be surprised if the harvest there is any more than slightly higher than what it was previously. If the DNR decided that CWD has gotten a foothold and was spreading they would bring in sharpshooters and other methods that would REALLY reduce the population. Almost all of the unit is privately owned and I doubt many farmers are going to go to town on shooting more deer than they have in the past, as they have had no trouble filling their tags in the past. Me and my friend have been going down there for maybe 10 or more years and appreciate the APRs. But, controlling CWD is a higher priority and please remember that APRs remain in effect for the remaining 95% of SE MN. It's not a doomsday that will end the good hunting in SE MN. On our week long hunt this year I passed up three small bucks and some does with my longbow until the last day when my friend and I said it is time to get some venison and this buck came by me after I called him in. I also saw two huge bucks that probably would score in the 160's and was drawing on one when it went to hell when he decided to jump across a small dip in the trail instead of walking over it like every other deer I had seen do. Oh well... Saw a couple other smaller but mature bucks, too. All in all, I think SE MN is doing fine and will continue to do so in the future.
Keep up posting the pictures everyone, they are great!
MnRazorhead.....I have a map ..but that area is surrounded by what I assume are county road numbers...and I can,t remember all of them! But....all but a couple deer I have shot are in spots outside that area.....barely! I did recheck the regs....I didn't see the new CWD zone the first time because I never bothered to look at it! Forgot all about it this year. Lost all of my old hunting spots due to changes of ownership or leasing to the highest bidder.....so I didn't even get out this year. Hope I can find somewhere for next year! I moved too far from the only place I had left to hunt....and it was only a small 5-6 acres.
Not the biggest but some good eating. 11/30/17 Bear T/D and snuffer did her in.
Good job, Randy! I'm out there trying to do the same thing to fill the freezer. Will be different hunting this weekend compared to last week, about 50 or more degrees different...
Razorhead's pic of how his deer ended up in a brush pile reminded me of one my son shot while he was on leave (Navy) a few years ago.
He shot it and it took a big jump off the side of the trail and landed in this brush pile unable to touch the ground.
One more yesterday, cold like -8, good eating.
Randy, get your gloves back on before your fingers freeze! Nicely done, however!
I was out the evening of that same day and speak from experience about the freezing fingers. Didn't see anything in my closing hunt of the season. After I checked my trail camera I saw that I should have been out there in the morning when it was close to -20 - see date, time and temp on picture... Although, the green color of the deer may have stopped me from shooting...
Nice pics above to everyone who posted and congrats. Lets hope 2018 brings a good season for all of us. Now, time to get ready for turkey.
Just have to share one more picture from another late-season stand that is one of the nicest pics I have gotten from my cameras. Fox in snow. I was hoping to hunt this stand the last few days of the season because there was more activity here, but the wind did not agree. Old one-antler will have to wait for next year.
MNRazor - good advertisement for Moultrie. I had a couple of Bushnell cameras out last winter. When it hit -20F, they took all 5000+ pictures and then either ran the batteries out or filled up the memory stick.
I like 'Greenie'. Looks like he could have been in the Predator movie.
Phil, Yes, there was another thread on the main forum about Moultrie cameras doing that same thing. But it morphed into other brands doing it, too.
I would have like to have tagged greenie. Although, based on how it took only about 30 seconds for my fingers to start stinging at -10 when I took them out of my warmer muff a couple times, I don't know if I even could have gotten off a shot at -20... Don't know how Randy did it, but he did.
Hunted -25 once. My brother in law shot a small doe, we had to chase it until dark due to the poor shot. No argument on field dressing when we got to the kill.
I'll do it!! When we got back to the vehicle almost couldn't get the door open hands were so cold.
My son got his first bear in September. He is 13. Complete pass through with a 36#@25” recurve. 1716 aluminum arrow was stuck into the ground on the other side. Zwickey two blade.
Good job, no surprise using a 2 blade Zwickey. My nephew shot his first deer with 33# bow, Bear two blade (w/o bleeder) same result. Now some 22 years later he shot 7 deer in 2017 including a nice WI buck and MN buck.
Cool! Congrats to your son!
About a 140 pound bear. The meat is incredible on small bears.
