OT: Deer Season is over for me I guess...

messer454

messer454

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Oct 2, 2006
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Ohio's muzzleloader season was this Sat-Tue and of course I had to work on a skeleton crew on Sat and Sun so I could not take off. Had been planning to hunt hard Mon and Tue. I even got a new Leupold with a Sabr reticle and had been practicing all the way out to 300 yards.

Today (Monday) it is -30 with the 20 MPH wind chill. After raining for 12 hours yesterday, most people cannot even get the doors of their outside vehicles open. I set my cut off at -15 with the wind chill. Since it was over my limit when I got up I went back to bed.

It appears I am not supposed to get a deer this year.

I take no small measure of pride however in the following. A member of my hunt club who joined four years ago because his then 10 year old son wanted to hunt came to me one week before Christmas day and asked what muzzleloader to get his son for Christmas. I looked at what was currently out there and recommended the TC Impact. Dad bought the rifle and I got him outfitted with the rest of the stuff needed to load and shoot the rifle. I sighted the rifle in and cleaned it two days before Christmas with Powerbelts. He was very surprised at Christmas. I later learned he told his dad he would rather have a MZ than any electronic gadget. I didn't know there were any kids like that left still. We shot it last Thursday and he shot it very well. He went out Saturday morning and called me at 10:00 to tell me that he had just shot his first doe at about 40 yards with a muzzleloader! He said it dropped right in its tracks. He has now shot one with shotgun, crossbow, and muzzleloader.

So I guess if me not getting one after all these years allows him to get one........I'm okay with that.

If I can get my doors of the truck open I'm going gun shop hopping.
 
Great post/story J.

Thank you for a good morning.
Sorry about your luck.
I do not feel so cold now :)
 
Congrats to the young hunter!
Love to hear about young folks getting involved in the tradition.
Great story...
 
When is cold too cold? That nasty wind can squeeze the starch out of even the most ardent hunter. That being said, there will be other days, other targets and more time for the youngster to get some shooting in...tradition has a way of getting passed down one way or another.

We all had the benefit of that initial instruction, that teaching which molds and shapes us into who we are. The impartation of the skills and knowledge is an intricate, often marvelous thing which follows us until we freely give it away again.
 
Glad a young hunter was able to score this year. I was really looking forward to muzzleloader season but it is simply too cold. I am not normally a fair weather only hunter but -40 wind chill is too cold even for me. If the weather breaks I will be back out bow hunting soon. And the nice thing is that after this cold snap it can be 20 degrees and it will feel warm.

Garth
 
Not even a deer hunter myself but glad you got a convert!

Maybe when the blizzard subsides you can get some coyote hunting in!
 
Good for the youngster. You still have hope for a deer. Get your bow out. There is still plenty of time. ;)
 
theaggregate said:
Not even a deer hunter myself but glad you got a convert!

Maybe when the blizzard subsides you can get some coyote hunting in!
Click to expand...

I have seen more coyotes this year than in over 20 years. I watched two different coyotes chase deer out of the woods in one day. I think this is what I am doing next.
 
messer454 said:
I have seen more coyotes this year than in over 20 years. I watched two different coyotes chase deer out of the woods in one day. I think this is what I am doing next.
Click to expand...

We have really seen a jump in coyote population around here as well. I actually turned down a shot at a nice doe earlier this year and took down the coyote that was watching here come in. Seems very few people around here are willing to take the time to help thin their numbers. Still baffles me though that in Ohio you can only shoot a deer with an arrow or slug but from the same place you can shoot a coyote with as big of a rifle as you want. Apparently in Ohio rifle bullets fly farther if you are aiming at a deer but will only travel a safe acceptable distance when pointed at a coyote. Thats right folks, we have magic bullets in Ohio.

Garth
 
Garth Reckner said:
We have really seen a jump in coyote population around here as well. I actually turned down a shot at a nice doe earlier this year and took down the coyote that was watching here come in. Seems very few people around here are willing to take the time to help thin their numbers. Still baffles me though that in Ohio you can only shoot a deer with an arrow or slug but from the same place you can shoot a coyote with as big of a rifle as you want. Apparently in Ohio rifle bullets fly farther if you are aiming at a deer but will only travel a safe acceptable distance when pointed at a coyote. Thats right folks, we have magic bullets in Ohio.

Garth
Click to expand...

With all due respect to Ohio Game Wardens as I know quite a few of them. Our weapon rules are dumb. I can shoot deer with a 15" .45-70 pistol if I want but my daughter can't use an 18" .44 magnum carbine. She has to use either a .410 which has lousy accuracy or a 20 ga. which kicks her like a mule.

I find it disgruntling that every game article tells you to practice, practice. To do that with your average sabot slug is not only painful at times, it is ridiculously expensive.

And then we could talk about how an Ohioan's concealed handgun license allows them to conceavably miss their intended target and hit an innocent bystander but they are forbidden from carrying a knife to cut someone at arms length who needs it. Thats right, a concealed fixed blade knife is an illegal concealed weapon even with a concealed carry license.
 
Garth Reckner said:
We have really seen a jump in coyote population around here as well. I actually turned down a shot at a nice doe earlier this year and took down the coyote that was watching here come in. Seems very few people around here are willing to take the time to help thin their numbers. Still baffles me though that in Ohio you can only shoot a deer with an arrow or slug but from the same place you can shoot a coyote with as big of a rifle as you want. Apparently in Ohio rifle bullets fly farther if you are aiming at a deer but will only travel a safe acceptable distance when pointed at a coyote. Thats right folks, we have magic bullets in Ohio.

Garth
Click to expand...

We have the same BS here in Michigan, these rules are so seriously flawed it is downright stupid. Here is what I got back when I emailed the DNR about using .458 SOCOM for hunting deer in the shotgun zone, which is almost identical to 20 GA. slug ballistics....

"Thank you for your question. Although the ballistics for some loads utilized by the .458 SOCOM may be similar the weapon does not meet the definition of a “shotgun”. Therefore the weapon cannot be legally used as such. I have included the definition of a shotgun below:


750.222 Definitions.

Sec. 222. As used in this chapter:

(h) “Shotgun” means a firearm designed or redesigned, made or remade, and intended to be fired from the shoulder and

designed or redesigned and made or remade to use the energy of the explosive in a fixed shotgun shell to fire through a smooth

bore either a number of ball shot or a single projectile for each single function of the trigger.


-Sgt. Kevin Hackworth

hackworthk@michigan.gov"



This pretty much tells me that even bolt action shotguns would be illegal here, which have become quite popular for shooting deer where I hunt.

Not that I advocate anything illegal, but there may be a case for 'big boy rules' here......
 
Sorry you weren't able to get a deer this year, however, I'm glad you were able to help a young hunter out.

Great job!!
 
aaaa-cccc,

From that definition it sounds like rifled slug barrels would be a no no as well. Around here very few people use smooth bore slug guns anymore.

Garth
 
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