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TN velvet hunt Aug 25-27

Good Luck With That GIF by Chicks on the Right
 
TNRAMBLINGMAN said:
No way. I did the velvet hunt in Kentucky once and it was so hot I was afraid the meat would spoil. Not enjoyable in any way. Like others said I also hate the heat and I would much rather shoot one starting mid October forward. Nothing more enjoyable than talking to other hunters in camp mid day on a cold day with a buck cooling out. No heat and no need to rush around frantically worrying about hair slippage, meat spoiling, etc.
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Meat will be good for at least 2 days at 85deg temps in the shade if you skin, quarter, and hang in game bags asap after the kill.

The quarters will form a nice crust FAST in those temps and protect the meat inside. If you need longer than 2 days without referidigation, just spray the meat with a citric acid solution... could prob get 4 or 5 days at 85 deg before it begins to spoil.
 
I checked the TWRA Hunter's Toolbox and it shows that only 858 bucks were taken during the 2022 velvet season. That is out of a total of 88,232 bucks taken for the entire season.

If you figure the typical 10-15 percent success ratio for bowhunters, that means only about 5,000 hunters take advantage of the velvet season. And that may be a gross overestimate.
 
rsimms said:
I checked the TWRA Hunter's Toolbox and it shows that only 858 bucks were taken during the 2022 velvet season. That is out of a total of 88,232 bucks taken for the entire season.

If you figure the typical 10-15 percent success ratio for bowhunters, that means only about 5,000 hunters take advantage of the velvet season. And that may be a gross overestimate.
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Bowhunters are different. Hardcore bowhunters are differenter than that!
 
rsimms said:
I checked the TWRA Hunter's Toolbox and it shows that only 858 bucks were taken during the 2022 velvet season. That is out of a total of 88,232 bucks taken for the entire season.

If you figure the typical 10-15 percent success ratio for bowhunters, that means only about 5,000 hunters take advantage of the velvet season. And that may be a gross overestimate.
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It's obviously not for everybody. I've done it and enjoyed it. I'd 100% without hesitation do it again if I had a buck I wanted to hunt. I could sit for hours in the sun exposed bleachers at a Braves game and nobody would say a word. But sitting in the shade of a tree stand through the same weather and everybody thinks it's crazy.
 
New member here… I just can't stand this heat this time of year.. I killed a bear in Virginia one year in September and the flies were almost unbearable.. and the Tics , wow..
 

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Bullfrog said:
Hypothetical question....is anyone going to shoot a deer that is already hard horned with a lot less score/size(if that's what you were going for) than what you thought it'd look like? Only asking because i've seen a couple hard horn in the last week.
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negative. standards don't drop on velvet. if i wouldn't shoot it in sept, won't shoot in aug. imho i wish it would have stayed velvet only.
 
themanpcl said:
negative. standards don't drop on velvet. if i wouldn't shoot it in sept, won't shoot in aug. imho i wish it would have stayed velvet only.
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Same here. I won't shoot a velvet buck that I wouldn't shoot in regular season. If he's a mature rack buck that tickles my fancy then I'm hunting him regardless of season or weapon. If not then I won't.
 
Ski said:
Same here. I won't shoot a velvet buck that I wouldn't shoot in regular season. If he's a mature rack buck that tickles my fancy then I'm hunting him regardless of season or weapon. If not then I won't.
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I just see me killing a monster this time of year with velvet.. I'm old school , gotta be freezing my butt off early in the morning and hear that chase coming up the ridge and get that heart beating
 
hangingstands said:
I just see me killing a monster this time of year with velvet.. I'm old school , gotta be freezing my butt off early in the morning and hear that chase coming up the ridge and get that heart beating
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Yeah I get that. Seems to be the majority opinion. I'm cut from a little different cloth I guess. I enjoy it all. I've done the velvet hunt once so far and it was hot just like this year except we got a thunderstorm Sunday evening, and the buck walked under my stand as wind was roaring & lightning flashing. I shot that sucker in the pouring rain. I'd be tickled pink to do it all over again.
 
No way, Jose! Velvet does nothing for me. I'm staying in where it's cool and there are no ticks and skeeters/wasps swarming. Good luck to all the die-hards who do venture out to hunt in this sauna we are in right now!!
 
Ski said:
Yeah I get that. Seems to be the majority opinion. I'm cut from a little different cloth I guess. I enjoy it all. I've done the velvet hunt once so far and it was hot just like this year except we got a thunderstorm Sunday evening, and the buck walked under my stand as wind was roaring & lightning flashing. I shot that sucker in the pouring rain. I'd be tickled pink to do it all over again.
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At least we aren't going to have the remnants of a hurricane like a few yrs ago...
 
Ski said:
That's the year I'm talking about. 2020. Around here the weather was fine until Sunday. Then it was hard wind, hard rain, and lightning. Deer still moved though!
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That was fun, and a day i picked the wrong size tree. not sure i could have shot straight from the stand if a b&c had walked by...lol
 
themanpcl said:
That was fun, and a day i picked the wrong size tree. not sure i could have shot straight from the stand if a b&c had walked by...lol
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Fortunately I was in a huge oak, and even it was swaying. My buck jumped a fence as it ran off but died right away. He ran full throttle for about 50yds and nose dived. As I was pushing the top row of barb wire down to step over, lightning hit the fence somewhere down the line and it knocked me on my @$$ hard. Luckily no serious or lasting injury but all exposed skin got welder burned, my hand got blistered up burned, my eyes got flash burned, and I couldn't hear a thing for about half an hour. I've killed some decent bucks over the years but none with a story like that one.
 
Ski said:
Fortunately I was in a huge oak, and even it was swaying. My buck jumped a fence as it ran off but died right away. He ran full throttle for about 50yds and nose dived. As I was pushing the top row of barb wire down to step over, lightning hit the fence somewhere down the line and it knocked me on my @$$ hard. Luckily no serious or lasting injury but all exposed skin got welder burned, my hand got blistered up burned, my eyes got flash burned, and I couldn't hear a thing for about half an hour. I've killed some decent bucks over the years but none with a story like that one.
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Holy crap you're lucky to be alive.
How big was the deer?😀
 
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74MOPAR said:
Holy crap you're probably lucky to be alive.
How big was the deer?
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Yessir I am. Luckily my brother was down from Ohio to hunt with me and was standing right there when it happened. I actually thought I had been hit in the head because of the instantaneous sensation of all the symptoms and my vision whiting out. I came to my senses pretty quick and realized it was lightning so panic set in to turn around & check on him. He was fine. He said lightning hit down the line and at the same exact time I sparked and made a popping sound. When I held my hand up he saw the fence burn and realized what made the spark & sound. We laugh about it now and make jokes but in the moment it was really eerie.

His size is the best part of the story!. I'd been watching him grow a wide 10pt rack all summer long and just knew he was going to be a big perfect 10 in velvet. Out past his ears, good mass, beams that extended past his nose tip, everything like in a big rack. Then we walked up to recover him and my brother burst into laughter, which considering the circumstances it was nice to have some comic relief. If deer have dwarfs this buck was it. In hindsight I could have used the fence for scale, but somehow I completely missed it. He's not half as tall as a T-post. Good thing was that I just threw him over my shoulder and walked him out to the truck lol

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