What is your whitetail tally so far?

A

AdamSean

New member
Like the title says, what is your current tally this far into deer season?

This is my second season and the first time harvesting a deer. I got started way late last year and was very inexperienced. This year, however, my buddy took me under his wing and taught me all he knows.

I took my first deer with my bow as she ran right toward me and turned only 10 feet from me. She was only a tiny 80 lb doe, but it is a great memory and feat to take a deer while stalk hunting with a bow.


I took my second deer at 110 yards with my .270 Win rifle while sitting in a lawn chair wearing my leaf suit...lol. Another doe weighing 110 lbs.


And just a few days ago, another doe. But this one at 215 yards with my rifle in the same lawn chair and leaf suit. My buddy said she is the biggest doe ever killed on his land at 140 lbs!




So far, I have 3 in my freezer. All doe so I am ready for my first buck. We have seen some great 8 points in the few weeks before deer season and my buddy killed a big 11 last year so we know they are there. We have decided to let his land sit quiet for a few weeks and just observe. When the rut hits in January here is Alabama, I'll be ready to drop that monster buck. I am very anxious and excited for the future hunting experiences as I am having a great first "real" deer season.

So chalk 'em up folks, what is your count?
 
I have 2 doe down and a decent 8 pointer. All with a bow. Here in VA we get 3 either sex and 3 antlerless only tags with our license. I could have been tagged out but I have been letting a lot of small buck walk. My freezer is good. Next one I get is being given to some friends that introduced me to the owner of the property I hunt. Plenty of season left so I have been doing more watching then shooting. Hoping a real big boy comes by
 
Ha, I don't even know anymore. Probably 20ish? There have been years where I've taken deer with bow, muzzleloader, and rifle all in the same year. Of course there have been other years where I got skunked. I'd say I probably average 1.5 deer per year across about 15ish years of hunting. I'm 28 and started when I was 12.
 
With about three weeks to go here in eastern NC's deer season I have killed 5 deer. One good 8 point, one basket racked 8 and three does. None in front of dogs. I got 2 of the does in early muzzle loader. I have had one of the best deer seasons I can remember.
 
In Indiana, I've taken a doe that field dressed 130, a buck with an odd rack that field dressed 145, and a six pointer in Ohio yesterday(last day of gun) he field dressed 125. I'm done for the year although I could purchase additional anterless tags. 3 in the freezer is plenty for the 2 of us. Oh. I got both deer in Indiana with crossbow.
 
Just one small doe this year with my shotgun.
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Nice. I am taking my shotgun loaded with slugs out over the next 3 weeks on some new public land. Its thick wooded swampland so I will have to get close to see. I saw a monster rack bobbing above the tall grass and cat tails this morning. Good first time on that land. Very promising.
 
One. One shot from my AR one little buck. Wife is one for one also with her .243. Undecided if I will break out the knight ml for alternative method season or not. Keep thinking not but the deer keep showing up in front of my house and I am still mad at them for having to pay the 500 deductible after one decided to use my truck to commit suicide.
 
2 so far. I could tag out in one day if I choose. When the moon is wrong, I see between 12 to 16 deer in the evening. When the moon is right, it is not uncommon to see 25 to 30 deer in one evening(legal hunting hours). Morning hunt on the same field I usually see 2 to 6.
 
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2 so far. I could tag out in one day if I choose. When the moon is wrong, I see between 12 to 16 deer in the evening. When the moon is right, it is not uncommon to see 25 to 30 deer in one evening. Morning hunt on the same field I usually see 2 to 6.
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They changed our regs this year. In the past you could take 2 doe a day. But this year they changed it to only one doe. Which really sucks, because the last 2 I shot, a second was hanging around and gave me a perfect shot. Stupid regs.
 
This is the first year I have hunted and not gotten a deer. Wisconsin's southern zone has a late december hunt so I'm hoping maybe I'll tag a deer then. But this season I have only saw two doe and of course I was in a buck only zone.
 
only one.
in ID you only get one deer(either sex) and can apply for an extra doe tag depending on what unit you're in and unfortunately, I was not drawn for my extra doe so I only got one this year.
 
I took a buck and doe..... all the tags I had. Buck was big, probably the biggest I've ever taken. Doe was average sized, and tasty.
 
Man, I can't imagine the whole buying a tag thing. In Alabama we are allowed 3 bucks, one having at least 4 points on one side, and then as many doe as we can take, having only 8 in possession. I am hoping to get at least 3 more doe and a nice buck by the end of January. Totally possible.
 
I have taken 4 does this year, all with a rifle. I tend to trophy hunt with a bow, just more challenging that way. My 4 with my boys buck will give us plenty for the summer so if it ain't 150 plus im gonna let 'em walk the rest of the season.
 
Man, I can't imagine the whole buying a tag thing. In Alabama we are allowed 3 bucks, one having at least 4 points on one side, and then as many doe as we can take, having only 8 in possession. I am hoping to get at least 3 more doe and a nice buck by the end of January. Totally possible.
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In certain areas where they are trying to cut the population, there are a pretty liberal number of antlerless tags to buy over the counter/online. A couple of years back, "whitetail antlerless only" tags had a bonus tag, and you could get 8 tags total ......

Also, it is my impression that the further north you go, the larger the deer tend to be, provided there is enough food ....... I think it has something to do with larger animals being able to keep warm in the winter more efficiently than smaller ones (and smaller ones stay cool in the summer, too). ...... Yeah, I doubt I'd buy very many tags if the average deer was under 100 pounds.

The size of the deer also explains (one reason at least) why folks in the south don't field dress their deer: it's not a problem to drag a 100 pound dead weight animal and toss it in the back of a truck. OTH, it took 3 people to load my buck, even after field dressing .....
 
The size of the deer also explains (one reason at least) why folks in the south don't field dress their deer:
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It's also a heat thing. When the temp is 70 or higher, you can't afford to waste time trying to field dress a deer. Just haul him straight to the skinning rack to clean and get it on ice as soon as possible.
 
The size of the deer also explains (one reason at least) why folks in the south don't field dress their deer: it's not a problem to drag a 100 pound dead weight animal and toss it in the back of a truck. OTH, it took 3 people to load my buck, even after field dressing .....
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must have been a bruiser. our deer get to be 200-ish pounds pretty easily and we are quite proud of them. that said... we are slightly less proud when we get them and nobody else has the day off work to help you drag them out. :D

(and smaller ones stay cool in the summer, too)
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this could be the case and it could not be the case. I'm not a wildlife biologist by any stretch of the imagination, but we get pretty hot summers out this way. some jerk brought a thermometer out in the field with us one time while harvesting test crops by hand(yes, harvesting wheat and barley with a sickle) and right about the hottest point of the day he showed us that it was 124.7 degrees... I doubt it was entirely accurate but triple digits for most of the summer is to be expected. as far as I know, most of our animals seem to find other ways of coping besides shrinking by half.
 
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