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When do you throw in the towel for this season?
- Thread starter fairchaser
- Start date
bowhunterfanatic
Well-Known Member
Rut is still wide open in my area. I'll keep hunting as much as I can until the first of the year or so, then I'll cut back to only evenings when the time allows. I'll hunt dang near to the end of season killing some does whether I kill another buck or not. Hoping to get to shoot a couple more does with a bow before it's over.
moondawg
Well-Known Member
I'd throw in the towel usually in mid-late December, especially if I had a doe in the freezer. But if I hadn't killed a deer, I'd probably be hunting until the end. Can't hunt them from the couch, and it was a long off season for me as I only hunted the muzzleloader and gun seasons.
Yessir I've learned that the only thing I truly know is that I really know nothing. And this season was an especially good reminder.
I averaged probably 4-5 hunts per week since season opened and in all those hunts I've laid eyes on two mature bucks, one in OH and one in TN. I've seen three 2-3yr olds and a small handful of spikes/forkies. By a season's end I usually have a fair guess on what the next season will bring. I'm pretty nervous. There was no conveyor of prospecting visitors that I normally see, nor the bulk of young up & comers. No idea what to make of it all.
megalomaniac
Well-Known Member
Feb 14th (end of season in south MS) is when I quit hunting, but I never throw in the towel, year round work to be done.
I hunted hard from the start of bow season through the second LBL draw hunt in mid Nov. I've got a full freezer and have moved on to squirrel hunting and fishing.
Nice fish on fly! is that a WP bream?
I'm an hour and a half from my lease so hard to get there during the week and relegated to weekends. That said my weekends are booked up until January so maybe 1 or 2 more times if possible.
Thanks. In-laws pond
Stalkhunter
Well-Known Member
My hobby is deer hunting, I hunt when I want and don't worry about anything else. I will take time off from it if I want. I would like to get 2 more but if it doesn't happen that's hunting.
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JCDEERMAN
Well-Known Member
Same. I will be out of town the next 3 weekends, so no hunting for me. Possibly the last week of the season, IF I feel like it. More likely will be hiking and scouting - looking forward and planning for next season
JCDEERMAN
Well-Known Member
BSK
Well-Known Member
The lack of mature bucks using my property has been shocking. Worse yet, of the older bucks we are getting on camera, not a one would break 120.Humbling - no kidding! This year definitely showed me the law of averages. Last year, just about every time I went in the woods, I saw great bucks and had multiple opportunities. Limited out and passed multiple bucks I would have normally shot. This year, I can't get a picture of one
JCDEERMAN
Well-Known Member
Definitely a year on the low end of the spectrum. We've had 2 frequent flyer mature bucks this season. One broke off half his rack and the other is an impressive deer, but won't score maybe 110-115". Many, many spikes and very small racked deer. I'm hoping for a great acorn crop, as well as great crop growing conditions next year. Hopefully, bucks will show up late October that haven't, at that timeframe, been seen in a year or possibly 2 years. At any rate, just hoping it's back to normal
When I tag out or it is the last day of the season. Hunting never gets old to me. I'll take a morning or evening sitting in a stand watching nature and the sunrise or set any day whether or not I see or kill a deer. With the craziness at work and other life issues it is where I find my peace.
Wiley
Well-Known Member
I've hunted less this season than ever in my life during the years that I actually hunted. I hunted opening morning and opening evening. That's all. The decent 9 pointer that I took that evening will be the only TN buck that I kill this season. And I feel completely satisfied. Old age setting in and I'm far more selective than ever before.
I may hunt my property in AL and kill whatever for the freezer.
I may hunt my property in AL and kill whatever for the freezer.
tellico4x4
Well-Known Member
For me this year I hope the best is yet to come. Our big bucks are finally on their feet during daylight.
Yesterday morning I had to pass on what would have been my personal best whitetail in 52 years of hunting them. Came by at 8:30, 15 yards in thinned pines, trailing hard. Doe must have come thru before daylight as I never saw her. He actually got directly down wind at 30 yards, threw his head up, reversed direction & put his nose back on ground & spent another two minutes searching within 100 yards.
Couldn't shoot him as I'm waiting on cementum results on a 10pt I shot a couple weeks ago, hopefully get it back Monday. Our management rule is that a buck has to meet 2 out of 4 criteria items which are 19-1/2" beam length, 4-1/2" bases, 16" inside spread or 175# live weight. If buck misses these marks then it's a two for one and your done for year.
I missed the weight by 2.7# & base by 1/4". Knew buck was narrow & tall with plenty of beam but misjudged the others. We have option of getting teeth tested for age & if it's 4-1/2+, then all is good. 95% sure he'll make it as I've had lots pics past two years.
All that said, I hope to be back buck hunting next week. Still have grandsons looking for buck too so we'll be after them until the bitter end.
Yesterday morning I had to pass on what would have been my personal best whitetail in 52 years of hunting them. Came by at 8:30, 15 yards in thinned pines, trailing hard. Doe must have come thru before daylight as I never saw her. He actually got directly down wind at 30 yards, threw his head up, reversed direction & put his nose back on ground & spent another two minutes searching within 100 yards.
Couldn't shoot him as I'm waiting on cementum results on a 10pt I shot a couple weeks ago, hopefully get it back Monday. Our management rule is that a buck has to meet 2 out of 4 criteria items which are 19-1/2" beam length, 4-1/2" bases, 16" inside spread or 175# live weight. If buck misses these marks then it's a two for one and your done for year.
I missed the weight by 2.7# & base by 1/4". Knew buck was narrow & tall with plenty of beam but misjudged the others. We have option of getting teeth tested for age & if it's 4-1/2+, then all is good. 95% sure he'll make it as I've had lots pics past two years.
All that said, I hope to be back buck hunting next week. Still have grandsons looking for buck too so we'll be after them until the bitter end.
JeepKuntry
Well-Known Member
I've killed 2 so my season is probably over. I am already thinking of 2023, places to scout, you name it. But the freezer has plenty for the family and I need to spend time with my kids over the Christmas break. I get them this weekend, then again on Christmas day for 9 days straight.
348Winchester
Well-Known Member
Hunting season is but part of the year. I'll make hay whilst it can be made.
It has been a strange season. I've hunted every day but two since muzzle loader opened. 82 deer sightings thusfar, eight of those have been bucks. 2 of those bucks have been nice, one mediocre, and the rest were spikes.
On the northern plateau, December hunting is slow but there is always the chance a nice buck will appear. Hunting is always better than work.
It has been a strange season. I've hunted every day but two since muzzle loader opened. 82 deer sightings thusfar, eight of those have been bucks. 2 of those bucks have been nice, one mediocre, and the rest were spikes.
On the northern plateau, December hunting is slow but there is always the chance a nice buck will appear. Hunting is always better than work.
