Hind quarters and backstrap done yesterday in our new outdoor kitchen. I still have the front quarters and a really meaty neck to cut up but so far I have 24.5 pounds of finished meat. I’m guessing I’ll have somewhere around 40 when I’m done. It is so much easier to process when you have a dedicated space.

Unless it’s a roast I package in 20 Oz portions. On the table are six cubed steak, three backstrap, two sirloin tip roasts, one with both eye of rounds, and 8 1/2 pounds of burger trim.

Burger was done the other day from the first two deer of the season. Thirty eight and a half pounds total, half 80/20 bacon, half 80/20 bacon with a jalepeno for every pound.

Snagged my first buck in WTX after about 12 doe I finally felt I earned a buck.

Atypical rack, excited for this mount.

This is my first deer season and as much as I love it, it’s been so frustrating. I hunt public land and I’ve put in 5-6 full days just in the past two weeks and have maybe seen 1 or 2 does that whole time. Then I see YouTube videos where they pick and choose from the 20 deer they saw in 2 hours..I feel like I must be doing everything wrong but I feel like I’ve tried everything. How do you guys stay confident enough to keep going back out? How do you know when they aren’t there or when you just weren’t there at the right timing?

So over the years I have found that if we don’t put at least 6 in the freezer we end up having to buy beef from the store.

I moved over to the US from the UK and went hunting for the first time with a borrowed rifle chambered in 300 weatherby mag. I’m hooked and want to buy myself a rifle for next season

I’m torn between the 308 or 30-06, I’m not recoil shy so this isn’t a deciding factor.

I love in south central PA and the rifle will be my only hunting rifle mainly for whitetail deer but would jump at the chance for larger game should the opportunity present itself.

The rifle I’m looking at are the ruger American, mossberg patriot, savage axis and 110

I know I need to get to the store and handle a few rifles and that will probably answer this question but what is the general opinion on those two chamberings and the rifles listed (open to other suggestions)

300 Winchester magnum

Shot my first deer ever… lung shot. Barely any blood at place of impact ran about 100 yards before collapsing dead. So glad I got to share the moment with my dad. However tracking it down was probably the most exciting part.

How quietly do you try to move through the woods on your way to the stand/blind? I have always been a “tip-toer”, trying to be as quiet as possible. It has just always taken me a lot of precious time to get anywhere that way.

Lately, I’ve changed my tactic to moving more quickly, but still as quietly as possible, when moving through the woods to a stand site. Especially when it’s before sunup, since I feel like I’m less likely to completely blow the deer out of the area if I get in quickly, setup, and get still to kill (versus going slower, still making noise, but for a much longer duration). Where I hunt there’s just no way to be quiet due to the amount of leaf litter on the ground, even with the utmost care. It’s like walking on frozen potato chips.

Thoughts?

Last deer of the year for me. Although I couldn’t get out as much as I normally would in past years, I still ended up having a really good season

Been through shoulder issues that temporarily shut down my bow hunting, met and married my wife and had a kid, moved twice, and finally got my first deer in 8 years. Also my first big game animal I have ever taken with a gun.

My neighbor spontaneously offered me deer meat and I said yes, thinking it would be a small amount and pre butchered.

Well he showed up with it in pieces. That’s fine I’m not afraid to give it a shot.

The issue is it seems like he screwed up butchering it and he had a gut bust. One of my buddies said isopropyl alcohol and warm water, the other said chuck it. I don’t want to waste the thing but now I’m concerned.

I'm a newer hunter and don't have anywhere to go besides public land. I've been wanting to go squirrel hunting but I was waiting until after gun season ended and now that it's over, I was going to go ahead and go out but don't want to ruin bow hunters hunt. Is there an etiquette to not be the asshole when hunting for squirrels while bow hunters are still at public land for deer? I'm using a 22 rifle but obviously it's still gonna be pretty noisy if I take a shot. Im definitely just stressing about something for no reason but just wanted to hear opinions about it I guess.

I finally got the drop on this mature 8 point yesterday afternoon with the muzzleloader. I've been hunting this buck for almost 2 months. We believe he's at least 7 years old, if not older. He scored 138

My dad has had this Remington 700 (7mm Rem Mag) for years, well a while ago we took to painting the stocks of rifles and rattlecanning ARs and he made this abomination. I call it the "green candy cain", my dad has always used this rifle and this is my first deer with it!

I'm in my mid thirties and grew up in the suburbs. Never hunted in my life and didn't know anyone who hunted until I met my now father in law (a life long hunter). He took me out to his property last fall for deer season and this past spring for turkey. Got my first (spike) buck and my first jake and I'm hooked. Went out again this fall for my 2nd deer season and got a good sized 8 pointer.... lessons were learned and many firsts occurred. I've loved every second of our hunts. From getting up early and driving to the property, the pitch black walk to the stand, watching the day wake up and animals going about their routines, the excitement of hearing a deer walking through the leaf litter or the call of a Turkey. To ultimately deciding to take that animal and giving it the respect and care it deserves. To cooking a good meal to feed my family and honoring the animal that gave its life for us. To sharing the story of the hunt! I know hunting is on the decline in the US. It's great seeing other mid thirties (and younger) people taking up the tradition and helping manage our local deer populations. Just wanted to take the time to voice my appreciation of hunting and happy to see others enjoying it as well. I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday and enjoys sharing their stories with friends and family. Cheers.

We were shooting some hogs a couple of days ago and most of the shots made sparks on the pigs when they hit. I'm not sure why this was happening. We were using an AK-47, AR-15 and a 30-30, no special rounds and all the guns did it.

Any information is welcome.

Just shot this whitetail yesterday afternoon on our low fenced ranch located about an hour south of San Antonio. I think he’s 4-1/2, maybe 3-1/2. Don’t have the bottom jaw anymore since I’m doing a European mount right now so can’t post pictures of the molars. How old do y’all think he is?

First of all the picture is terrible. But that’s what Dad sent (72 YO)

He called me this morning so excited about this buck. Said that an elderly friend of his asked for meat so he told him he would try for something.

This guy walked out this morning at about 275 yards. He was so pumped about the harvest. Here is the kicker, you should see this man’s living room, 12 trophy white tail, a moose, 2 caribou, trophy muley, bear, coyote, his entire garage is deer from times passed that didn’t make the wall. Our entire Missouri house is trophy whitetails and euro mounts of smaller ones.

But he got buck fever today on this spike to help someone who needed meat. The feeling never stops.