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My season ended at 06:45 or so this morning. Field dressed by sun-up. Not a huge rack but he will taste good (wheat fed). 2018Deer - 1.jpg 2018Deer - 2.jpg

100 yds off hand. He was running, and stopped and turned to look back. Entry was just behind the left shoulder and exit was midships on the right side. Missed the spine but liquified the left lung. From the size of the exit wound I would say I got great expansion. Maybe next year I'll go with 165 gr instead of 180 gr.
2018Deer - 3.jpg 2018Deer - 4.jpg
 
Nice slot-job!! Looks like you still got the back-straps intact.... :s0155:


Yeah, 165gr (+/-) weight bullets are PLENTY for blackies, looks like you could plop a golf ball through the exit. ;)

Did he drop like a sack, jump straight up and plop into a pile, or run a bit before falling?

Details man, tell us details!!
 
My son and I also ended our seasons early, opening day, had both of these guys on the ground by 7:30 am, I got the little forked horn and he got the 3 point. Both of us took headshots with a .223 using 55 grain softpoints, the yellowjackets were horrible, by the time we got them skinned and in the shed there were 100s of them all over us. 7B4BE7E6-B54F-4419-A74D-98DB9AD8FC33.jpeg 7D2E91FA-17F4-4055-AF52-89F7FEA00AC4.jpeg
 
I pulled the card from my game cam and got the whole family! John Deer, his wife and twins! If I'm lucky I'll find John later.
John Deer family.JPG

Congrats to those of you who have filled tags already!
 
Nice slot-job!! Looks like you still got the back-straps intact.... :s0155:


Yeah, 165gr (+/-) weight bullets are PLENTY for blackies, looks like you could plop a golf ball through the exit. ;)

Did he drop like a sack, jump straight up and plop into a pile, or run a bit before falling?

Details man, tell us details!!
He dropped in his tracks like someone flipped the switch to "off".:) I was surprised that I didn't hit the spine from the way he went down.
 
My son and I also ended our seasons early, opening day, had both of these guys on the ground by 7:30 am, I got the little forked horn and he got the 3 point. Both of us took headshots with a .223 using 55 grain softpoints, the yellowjackets were horrible, by the time we got them skinned and in the shed there were 100s of them all over us. View attachment 504268 View attachment 504267
Good job! I brought mine home to skin here in the woods south of Eugene, and like you, I was swarmed by yellow jackets.
 
In my limited experience it seems if you can get done before the day starts heating up the meat bees dont seem as bad. It depends on the day but that point seems to be around 10AM.
 
This one was only 75 pounds hanging weight. The last buck I got in that same spot was 175 hanging weight.

So, I'd been on my favorite stand the canyon rim on a well used path that is one of only a few places where deer can access the canyon since about 05:30. Lots of moonlight so no problem setting up, then I settled down to be quiet and still. About 06:20 three deer walked by me at 50 feet towards the cut in the canyon wall, but it was too dark to see horns. The wind was right, blowing down into the canyon so they had to come downwind. I kept trying to put horns on them and was 90% sure they were all bucks, but not certain. Too early to shoot anyway with sunup at 6:58.

I tried to get my binoculars to my face to see better, but they spooked and left to the North. I settled back down and waited. About 15 minutes later they came creeping back, really determined to use that trail to get to the canyon. Now it's shooting time but I still couldn't put horns on any of them for sure.

Then one turned his head just right and I was sure. As I eased my rifle up they were at about 50 yards and they spooked again. Figured they were gone for good.

Another 15 minutes of playing statue and they were back trying to creep around me through the trees. I got a good bead on one of them and let fly, but being stuck in an awkward position sitting on my folding 3 legged stool and facing the wrong direction, I missed.

Now it's off to the races and as I stand up I see one running to my left towards the wheat field through the scrub juniper and rocks. To get a clear shot at the field I jumped up and jogged (at 70 I don't run through the lava flows) about 50 yards to my left. As I came to a halt in a good spot so did the deer about 75 yards out into the field. I had a nice clear, off hand shot at about 100 yards and center punched him. The picture that shows the field is looking back toward my stand and the canyon is that black horizontal line in the distance, 500 feet deep and 1/2 mile wide.

It was a great feeling after a couple of years when there just weren't any deer around that area until later in the winter, too late to hunt.

Looking north, down into the canyon. You can see why the deer like it. And those rocks in the grass in the foreground are what I mean by lava flows. Looks like grass but it's treacherous footing.
2018Deer - 1 (1).jpg
 
Last Edited:
Congrats to those that have scored so far. WA modern season opens on the 13th and I have seen three different bucks on my game cam but none in the last 4 days. I attribute that to the sudden dirge of coyotes showing up on the cam 4 days in a row and even in the daylight. I might have to sit in the stand a couple of times pre season to thin them out and send a message.
 
Congrats to those that have scored so far. WA modern season opens on the 13th and I have seen three different bucks on my game cam but none in the last 4 days. I attribute that to the sudden dirge of coyotes showing up on the cam 4 days in a row and even in the daylight. I might have to sit in the stand a couple of times pre season to thin them out and send a message.
Lucky you. I'd love to have a buck deer season that started two weeks later. ODFW is stuck on the nearest Saturday to Oct 1. Makes zero sense to me.
 
This one was only 75 pounds hanging weight. The last buck I got in that same spot was 175 hanging weight.

So, I'd been on my favorite stand the canyon rim on a well used path that is one of only a few places where deer can access the canyon since about 05:30. Lots of moonlight so no problem setting up, then I settled down to be quiet and still. About 06:20 three deer walked by me at 50 feet towards the cut in the canyon wall, but it was too dark to see horns. The wind was right, blowing down into the canyon so they had to come downwind. I kept trying to put horns on them and was 90% sure they were all bucks, but not certain. Too early to shoot anyway with sunup at 6:58.

I tried to get my binoculars to my face to see better, but they spooked and left to the North. I settled back down and waited. About 15 minutes later they came creeping back, really determined to use that trail to get to the canyon. Now it's shooting time but I still couldn't put horns on any of them for sure.

Then one turned his head just right and I was sure. As I eased my rifle up they were at about 50 yards and they spooked again. Figured they were gone for good.

Another 15 minutes of playing statue and they were back trying to creep around me through the trees. I got a good bead on one of them and let fly, but being stuck in an awkward position sitting on my folding 3 legged stool and facing the wrong direction, I missed.

Now it's off to the races and as I stand up I see one running to my left towards the wheat field through the scrub juniper and rocks. To get a clear shot at the field I jumped up and jogged (at 70 I don't run through the lava flows) about 50 yards to my left. As I came to a halt in a good spot so did the deer about 75 yards out into the field. I had a nice clear, off hand shot at about 100 yards and center punched him. The picture that shows the field is looking back toward my stand and the canyon is that black horizontal line in the distance, 500 feet deep and 1/2 mile wide.

It was a great feeling after a couple of years when there just weren't any deer around that area until later in the winter, too late to hunt.

Looking north, down into the canyon. You can see why the deer like it. And those rocks in the grass in the foreground are what I mean by lava flows. Looks like grass but it's treacherous footing.
View attachment 504293
Nice report! Congrats.
 
I dont hunt the first two weekends of deer season in the coast. Too much brush and too many people. I may not make it out this year for deer but certainly going after elk. Got a hair tag for northside.
 
Lucky you. I'd love to have a buck deer season that started two weeks later. ODFW is stuck on the nearest Saturday to Oct 1. Makes zero sense to me.

Yes I feel for you. On the West side of state the blacktails are usually in pre rut by the modern opener which makes the nocturnal buggers a bit easier to hunt. Some years I just have a few small bucks on camera and then a day or two before season the bigger bucks start coming out of the woodwork due to increased interest in the ladies.
 

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