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Post by Cybermortis on Dec 12, 2012 20:53:08 GMT
{Enough of the off topic talk please. Religion is not a 'hobby' - a statement that should have somewhat more weight given that I'm less religious that the average rock and have been accused of causing the water in the font to boil when I walk into a church. What it is, is a banned topic.
No one has misbehaved or treated the subject here in anything but a civil manner, which is why I was willing to give the thread some slack. But enough now thank you...don't make me use this big hammer. CM}
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Post by rick4070 on Dec 12, 2012 22:14:56 GMT
Nice, and pretty well ballanced rack. 8 points total. We should count that way out here. Here are a couple of photos of one of my hobbies: (I'm linking to the photo because even if I resize it on Photobucket, it turns up here oversized, and messes up the thread.) This one is of a Ruger Super Blackhawk that started out with a 7/12" bbl.: i195.photobucket.com/albums/z222/rick4070/My%20Gibbs/100_0274-1.jpgI removed the barrel and shortened it to around 5-1/2", turned off the silly warning on the bbl, recrowned the bbl., re-silver brazed the front sight back on, installed a stainless steel grip frame and ejector rod housing, and reblued it. The square trigger guard on a factory Super Blackhawk smacks me on the middle knuckle when I shoot them... This one is of my 7mmSTW: i195.photobucket.com/albums/z222/rick4070/100_0474.jpgIt started out as a military VZ24 Mauser. I did a lot of work on it, with the parts made by me when I worked in the gunshop, new 3 position safety, bolt handle, scope rings/bases double set trigger, trigger guard/bottom metal, barrel band sling swivel, barrel from a rough turned blank, threaded and chambered by me, and I did all the stock work. And, even if I didn't get to hunt this year or last, here is a deer that comes around with a bunch of his friends and naps in our yard, about 15 feet from our front deck, and right in town, too: i195.photobucket.com/albums/z222/rick4070/deerinyard004.jpg |
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Post by Domovoi on Dec 13, 2012 4:27:37 GMT
Nice guns brother. Thanks.
He looks to have a pretty nice body on him. And while I'd be tempted to take him with a bow, I'd let him grow another year or two. He's already got a pretty decent rack, but given a couple good summers and he should be a monster.
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Post by rory on Dec 13, 2012 14:40:05 GMT
Do they not shed the antlers for winter?
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Post by User Unavailable on Dec 13, 2012 14:59:48 GMT
Do they not shed the antlers for winter? Yes, they do, though typically, as a male deer matures, his rack gets bigger, so older bucks have bigger racks. If a buck gets to a ripe old age, his rack can begin to decline in size as he ages further. (though I am unsure at how many years old this can begin to occur) |
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Post by Domovoi on Dec 13, 2012 15:01:02 GMT
White tails shed at some point after the rut. When that happens depends on the area in which you live, and how the rut went. Typically you will get two ruts. Around here it tends to happen around the first full moon of November, and then again twenty eight days later. If there was a lot of hunting pressure during the first rut you can expect a third twenty eight days after the second when the does that didn't take come back into estrus. Then anywhere between thirty and sixty days after the last rut they will start to shed their racks.
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Post by User Unavailable on Dec 13, 2012 16:11:22 GMT
My daughters 2012 deer  |
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Post by rory on Dec 13, 2012 16:13:52 GMT
I'm assuming you gave her a hand carrying it home, or she stronger than she looks, big deer.
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Post by User Unavailable on Dec 13, 2012 16:24:46 GMT
She actually shot this one without me. Her fiance went with her. I was in route on my way home from Chicago when she got this one. This deer dressed out at 180 pounds.
Yeah, we don't drag deer out of the field. (we may drag them out of a thicket and into the field)
If it is dry enough, we use the pick up truck with the Tomy Lift on the back to bring the deer to the house.
If it is too wet, we always make sure the bush hog is on the tractor, before deer season and use the tractor to go get it. Just lay the deer on the bush hog. (Though we have laid deer on the box blade before)
We have a small utility trailer, but it really isn't an off road trailer, (made for hauling mowers and such on the road) as we have pulled the tail light wires out of it, driving through corn stalks/chaff, so it doesn't get used in the field any more.
If Dad is where he can, we call him and he drives back with the truck or tractor to help get the deer. If he isn't where he can help, one of us stays with the deer (to keep coyotes off it) and one goes to the house after the truck/tractor.
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Post by rick4070 on Dec 13, 2012 16:51:51 GMT
That's a nice deer!!!
I understand that out east, you only have White-tail deer??
Here in Oregon, we have four different deer.
The Columbian Black-tail, which is mostly on the west side of the mountains, The Columbian White-tail, which is only in a couple of very small areas, up in the very northwest corner of the state, and down in the south west, (the northwest population is protected, no hunting of them, but the southwest population has been taken of the endangered list,) the Northwest, (or Idaho) Whitetail, on the east side of the mountains, and the Mule deer, also on the east side of the mountains.
Some interbreeding happens in areas where White-tail, Black-tail, and Mule deer populations overlap.
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Post by User Unavailable on Dec 13, 2012 17:14:13 GMT
Yeah, we only have Whitetails. I would have to look up and see where the other species of deer start their range at. West Kentucky, does have a small European Fallow Deer population in the Kentucky part of the Land Between the Lakes. These are of course non native and are currently protected and illegal to hunt. (way I understand it is they were brought over in the late 1940's for the purpose of legal deer hunting, prior to the efforts to repopulate the Whitetails) The LBL also has a large Elk and Bison herd. (fenced prairie) Eastern Kentucky has had a successful re population of Elk and Elk can again be hunted in Kentucky by lottery/population control/quota hunts. I would like to see Elk roaming free in West Kentucky, but I won't hold my breath. Too many roads and to much opposition to Elk roaming free, from folks who can ONLY think of damage to their cars.  |
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Post by rick4070 on Dec 13, 2012 17:41:49 GMT
Well, I guess when I said "deer," I should have included Moose, Rocky Mountain elk and Roosevelt elk too.
They also are here in Oregon.
Hitting a deer is bad enough, and hitting a mosse or an elk is even worse.
I saw a big, jacked up 4x4 truck in a dealers body shop once in Newport that an elk hit up the coast, it had big dents in the cab roof, the side window was broken out, and the side and mirror was all messed up, along with the windshield.
The guy said an elk came off the bank, and ALMOST jumped right over his truck.
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Post by User Unavailable on Dec 13, 2012 18:33:28 GMT
Naw, I shouldn't of gotten off on the Elk thing without being a bit more clear. While they are all species of deer, we don't typically think of Elk as deer.
Yeah, Elk can mess up a vehicle! A few years after they brought the Elk down to LBL from Canada, a pick up truck hit an Elk on I-24 near Cadiz, Kentucky, about 20 miles from LBL. Total loss to the truck and killed the full grown Elk.
Folks immediately began the outrage of "See what happens when you repopulate Elk into an area with to many humans?...This is the KDFWR's fault!"
Thing is though, that all the LBL Elk were accounted for and are in a fenced prairie to begin with.
Turns out the hit Elk had a fish and wildlife tag in its ear from some place like Montana or Idaho or something. (I don't recall now which state)
The only thing they could figure is that the Elk was tagged very young, then "caught" by someone and brought to Kentucky and raised as a pet, until it escaped.
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Post by rick4070 on Dec 13, 2012 18:49:20 GMT
Yeah, I don't immediately think of elk or moose as "deer" either, but reading your post, I thought:"Waitaminute, elk ARE deer too, and hey, so are mooses...."  |
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Post by Cybermortis on Dec 13, 2012 19:38:24 GMT
Am I the only one who wanted to say 'Nice Rack', but figured that sounded so, so wrong. (And potentially life threatening)? Being British I know little of hunting - people here tend to get annoyed if you walk around with a gun and shoot animals in the nearest park. Strangely I think the biggest complaints would be about shooting deer, rather than having a gun - which is kind of strange when you hear people talking about this in the local Burger King. |
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Post by rick4070 on Dec 13, 2012 20:01:57 GMT
No, you are NOT the only one who wanted to say:"nice rack!" ;D
It's kind of different over here, at least here on the west coast, in regions where people like to hunt.
You still see pickup trucks with guns in racks that are mounted by the rear windows, so the firearms are clearly visible when driving behind them, and some schools almost close down when elk season comes around.
I often see hunters with guns and bows alongside the roads during hunting seasons, and no one seems to have a problem with such stuff.
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Post by kharnynb on Dec 13, 2012 20:33:44 GMT
I've only ever hunted ducks, pheasants and hares.
My dad in law and his neighbour tend to get 2-4 elk licenses every year though.
Meaning my freezer tends to be nice and full of some of the nicest meat.
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Post by rick4070 on Dec 14, 2012 0:26:52 GMT
Yep, deer and elk meat are really good.
Sometimes, it is hard to convince people how good it really is.
Usually, they say they don't like it because they have only had poorly prepared and poorly cared for meat.
We were given a package of elk steak one time, and when it was unwrapped, it had hair on it, bloodshot meat, and you could smell it from several feet.
The guy obviously had NO idea how to care for the meat, and had probably hung it in a warm garags for several days before poorly cleaning it and cutting and wrapping.
I once saw a VERY nice elk in the back of a pickup parked in front of a tavern, still in it's skin, and on a fairly hot day.
The guy must have thought it was more important to show off, and drink than care for that elk.
Properly cared for, and packaged right, deer, elk, etc. is some of the best tasting meat, bar none.
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Post by the light works on Dec 14, 2012 5:40:46 GMT
my biggest elk experience was one tax day (I was still having my father help prepare. we got a cal for vehicle vs. wildlife - happened to be on the highway in front of the place. by the time we got to the fire station and got the response rig there, the people had all gone leaving a Jeep wrangler, and 3 elk: one dead, two not yet dead. (in retrospect the dead one may have been from a previous unreported incident.) the Jeep wasn't drivable, but the passenger compartment had survived mostly intact.
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Post by Domovoi on Dec 14, 2012 8:35:54 GMT
One of the biggest reasons people end up not liking venison is because the idiot that processed it thought it was like beef and needed to be aged. Venison, pork, duck, chicken, turkey, pheasant, bison, etc etc all lack the enzyme needed to age meat. Instead, all you need to do is let it cool until the internal temp of the meat hits about fifty degrees before you process and freeze it. The other reason is a lot of people don't know how to process it. Yes, meat needs fat to cook properly. But if you don't remove a lot of the connective tissue when processing you will get a real gamey taste. I personally like it, but a lot of folks don't. Yes, you can still smoke it without the fat in there. You just need to do a good injection marinade after brining for a good while, and throw some bacon over top it before you throw it on the pit.   Throw some hobo potatoes in an aluminum pan next to your shoulder or backstrap on the pit,,,  And you have a meal fit for a king.  Sorry I ate all the bacon and most of the potatoes before I took the picture. |
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