My First Deer

[lumberjack]

Got my first deer with a rifle tonight. Shot it a few minutes after sunset, 6 minutes of civil twilight left. It's an 8 point (4x4), they said it weighed 225-250lbs. 16" spread, they said 120-130" gross score. Roughly a 325 yard shot, Google Earth doesn't have a good picture of it, so I can't range it there. I'll get out hopefully tomorrow and check the range.

They allowed as how it wasn't a bad first deer :)


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v639/10mmsheepdog/Gun/DerrickMeandthedeer.jpg

[The Branch Doctor]

Well done my friend.:thumbup:

I just got home from helping a bro pull an elk off his mountain.:|: Damn those things are big!

Congrats on your first deer!

[Hobby Climber]

Way to go Carl,

Looks like you have some fine eating over the next few month!

BTW, Jeff (fishhuntcutwood), uses the hair from the deer tail to tie his flies for fishing! Hint Hint.;)

Good job my friend!

Bob

[Paul B]

gut it and eat it and you got my props amigo. :) hunting for food is ok in my book.

careful of your hunting partner, he seems to wear camo and he might actually be bigger than you!:\:

[Stumper]

Who are they? "They" overestimated the weight. Congrats on the nice deer.

[The Branch Doctor]

Good call Stumpy. I agree. It's not that heavy.

[Hobby Climber]

Ya Carl,

Who glued them big deer antlers onto that poor little baby deer? :P :lol:

HC

[Chisel Tooth]

Nice looking rack Carl, good thick beams. You have to let the rack dry for around 6 weeks and then you can score it. I would say it will score in the
150s. Congrats on your first deer.
See Ya
Mike

[stehansen]

Nice one LJ. Is it a whitetail? I remember how excited I was when getting a deer. Have you shot other deer with different methods, bow, shotgun?

[sotc]

nice job carl

[lumberjack]

Ha Pauly, I gave Derrick and his father most of the meet, I brought home a inner and outter strap, and a rear roast. I think Derrick looks bigger than me, he and others disagree (we ask random people). I have about 10lbs on him.

Nope Steve, first one I didn't orginally hit with a vehicle. And yes, it is a white tail.

Stumper and Dr. I was going by their weight guesses. 'They" was Derrick (in the picture) his dad, and half a dozen other folk that came to look at the deer. As it turned out, I had to do very little to no dragging of said deer, and didn't have to do much in the way of dressing it. Derrick and the others grabbed my deer and out the woods it went.

The middle of the length of the neck was easily 26" in circumference. My hands could just reach past the centerline of the neck. Granted there was friction, but my 250lbs foot locking/bouncing the rope didn't get the front shoulders off the bed.


Another picture:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v639/10mmsheepdog/Gun/Deer.jpg

[RIVERRAT]

Who are they? "They" overestimated the weight. Congrats on the nice deer.
Carl, I would have to agree with Stump on this. A buck 200 lbs. or better is just huge. Hard to tell things from a pic though.
Regardless, that is a really nice buck!

[lumberjack]

The stick:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v639/10mmsheepdog/Gun/IMG_5626.jpg

[Hobby Climber]

Yes Carl, you have a really nice rack!

...on the deer that is!:P

Bob

[Al Smith]

Nice buck.Most likely a good size for that area.

Deer are a product of their diet, around here they get a tad bigger.On the average they are about as large as a Colorado muley and taste a whole lot better.Corn and soybeans make for better tasting venison than sagebrush and pine needles.:P

[Mr. Sir]

Nice deer, Carl. I remember shooting my first deer when I was 10. A spike, about 150 lbs if I recall. What a thrill! I was on top of the world.

I haven't hunted since 1983. I'd like to go at least one more time with my dad, he'll be 90 this coming April. I hear Alabama has some nice deer. Can someone recommend a place for us to go? I googled it and came up with a bazillion different places.

[No_Bivy]

:thumbup:

[The Branch Doctor]

Nice buck.Most likely a good size for that area.

Deer are a product of their diet, around here they get a tad bigger.On the average they are about as large as a Colorado muley and taste a whole lot better.Corn and soybeans make for better tasting venison than sagebrush and pine needles.:P

Easy now, it takes one BIG whitetail to be like a Colorado muley... at least where I hunt. And the deer in that area happen to have a sweet taste to them, never gamy and nasty.

I just got home from spending all day pulling 2 cow elk off the top of the mountain in the same area that I deer hunt. I'm exhausted in a bad way!

[No_Bivy]

:|:

[lumberjack]

I got it to the taxi's this afternoon.

He put it around 125", minimum weight of 215lbs.

21 or 22" and some change tight behind the head, 24.5" 3" back. (circumference)

ETA:
I did some research online, as curiosity is eating me alive. The "normal' whitetail weighs between 9-10lbs (dressed) per inch of circumference tight behind the head, 1.3 times the dressed weight to get the weight on the hoof. One man claimed 80% accuracy to 5+/-lbs with this "formula." He claimed in his area, 10lbs was the norm.

So, if it was:
21"x8lbsi x 1.3=218.4 lbs on the hoof
22" x 8lbsi x1.3=228.3
21"x8lbsix1.2=201.6

Purely speculation, but amusing if only for the moment.

[sotc]

them corn fed bucks are like beef, i like my venison to taste like venison

[Stumper]

Branch Doc, Some of those Midwestern Whitetails will dwarf a Colorado Muley.

[The Branch Doctor]

They get pretty big eh, cool! I love big burly bucks.:D

[Paul B]

I love big burly bucks.:D

really? sounds kinda like a manhug pic is about to manifest itself!


hahaha, just kidding Doc, but you gotta admit, you set yourself up for that one! :)

[treetx]

What was the final score? I would agree with the 120-130 but I am not the best judge.

[vharrison]

Poor deer. LJ, isn't there sometime of ritual for nailing your first deer, like rubbing the blood all over yourself?

Mr. Sir, I think Treetx has some good spots in TX. Maybe he will turn you on to them.

[Mr. Sir]

Haha, he thinks I'm a psycho. :/:

[lumberjack]

Nate, he took in 3 deer that afternoon and we didn't have time to score it. I'll go by next week and get a measurement.

GG, haha! They tried for that, but I told them it wasn't the best idea they'd had that day. I'm not the great white hunter, I'm 21 years old, and I couldn't find a reason to whipe more blood on me after dressing it.

[MasterBlaster]

I thought you were supposed to eat the raw liver.

[Al Smith]

Oh I wasn't poking fun at the sizes if deer anywhere,just pointing out that diet has a lot to do with size. Male white tail in north western Ohio are between 130 and 300 lbs on the hoof.I suppose a big muley would go 300,mine did.If it were not a none typical,it would have made Boone and Crocket.

My cousin got a 3 or 4 year old , in '64 that did make Boone and Crocket from the same area .At that time it was the secord largest buck ever taken in the Vail area.We figured mine was about 7 years old,silver timber buck,past his prime.

I've hunted in Colorado,PA,West Va and Ohio. The Pa deer and West Va white tails were rather small,no antlers to speak of.The Ohio and Col deer were the largest .I had pictures of over 40 does in a group in Col just prior to a storm rolling in.The deer were smarter than us,we awoke up to 8 inchs of snow on the ground . I've seen some powerfull snow falls but nothing like the Col rockies.It can go from sunny to a white out in just a few hours.

Now about the gamey taste,some like it I don't.If you make a roast and smother it in tomatoes it takes most of the wild out,also 7-up does something.

If we made summer sausage we would add some beef to the mix .It seems to me the fat from a deer is were the nasty taste is and should be removed.The addition of fairly lean beef along with the deer made some good sausage. Man it took a lot of beer to make that sausage,or so it seemed.:lol:

[sotc]

It seems to me the fat from a deer is were the nasty taste is and should be removed.

:thumbup:

[The Branch Doctor]

Yeah Paul, I walked into that one.:D

And Al, I hear ya bro. I agree it's all about their diet for sure. We do all our own butchering and we cut out ALL the deer fat. When we make our hamburger and sausage we add beef fat since deer is so lean and deer fat is nasty for some reason.

[treetx]

Haha, he thinks I'm a psycho. :/:

If the shoe fits :D

Actually, let me know if you are up for deer in Texas. Lots of opportunities for deer and piggies :thumbup:

The scoring thing is a PITA. I tried it the 1st time this year. Where my folks are, there are plenty of deer but 120 is avg and 150 is huge. 4 weeks ago I went to a place near San Angelo (TX) - 180-200 was what they shot and 150 bucks were culled :? Crazy.

The scoring takes points off for lack of symmertry, etc...

[sotc]

i use pork fat in my buck burger, yummy

[treetx]

I prefer to not shoot or eat white-tail deer. Given the chance, I go for piggy or an Axis deer.

[MasterBlaster]

Whats the diff?

[treetx]

Axis taste more like beef. Fat makes things taste good! Marbling that is, not trim fat. ;)

http://www.argentineadventure.com.ar/fotos/especies/mayor/Ciervo-axis-ch.jpg

[Rotax Robert]

The secret to it is, cut out the backstrap and send it to Rotax Robert on overnite mail and I'll let you know if it is worth eating. Nice Buck

[Al Smith]

The secret to it is, cut out the backstrap and send it to Rotax Robert on overnite mail and I'll let you know if it is worth eating. Nice BuckHa ha ha,you old dog,you know the tenderloin is the best cut .
:lol:

[Al Smith]

Oh,while on this subject for those that don't hunt.Unless you live in a highly populated deer area such as some of us,you would not believe the amount that get ran over my motor vehicles.

It is twenty miles from where I live to the place I grew up in where my mother lives.One day while going out there I counted 7 deer that were hit by vehicles.

Statistics have shown that deer that are under hunting pressure actually do better over all.Sounds crazy but true.By being on the move the gene pool is more widely distributed making for a heathier deer. I don't hunt anymore,just passing on this tid bit.

[The Branch Doctor]

Ha ha ha,you old dog,you know the tenderloin is the best cut .
:lol:

You think so? I've always felt the back strap was the yum yum of deer and elk. But that's just me.

[sotc]

tenderloin=back strap :D

[The Branch Doctor]

We've got two cow elk hanging at my bro's house and I think we'll chop em up on tuesday. That means some fresh back strap for me.:D

[Al Smith]

tenderloin=back strap :DBeef,deer,pig,elk,lamb no matter.The best cuts of meat comes from the loin /backstrap area .No bone,all muscle.

Commercial cuts of meat such as filet mignon,pork tender loin,etc all come from this area of the animal.It's all good from the bottom of the loin to the top of the rib cage.

[Monkeypuzzle]

My first Montana whitetail. 225-245lbs. Everything is big out here. Taken Nov. 07.

[sotc]

nice:)

[Hobby Climber]

tenderloin=back strap :D
----------------------------------


Not so! Though a lot of folks think it is.

The back strap (meat) is the long muscle that runs along the outside of the deer's spine/back from the neck to the back legs.

The actual tenderloin is found on the inside of the deer starting at the pelvis area, (about a foot or so long depending). There is another smaller tenderloin that most don't realize between the front shoulder area along the spine inside the chest cavity,(usually not enough meet to bother with IMO).

Depending on the size of the deer will determine the size of the loin...the bigger the better!

...oh and BTW, nothing beats a moose tenderloin, IMHO!!!;)

HC