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Well over here in Michigan firearms deer hunting season is in full swing, the season opened yesterday the 15th. Now then it doesn't help the hunting any when my wife declares I'm not allowed to shoot any of the does with names. wtfwtf! Apparently she's got names for half of the deer around here and she knows them all by sight and where she usually sees them feeding. I guess I should have paid her more attention because folks when I look at deer, well the are nice to look at but I still see meat on the table and what with the price of meat these days any fish and game is money in the bank.

Yesterday morning which was opening day saw the twins and their fawns come into the kill zone, now I know all these four are out of bounds because the twins were just fawns the year we moved here. Later that afternoon around 5pm I had an eight point buck just outside the zone, he is still in the rut, he was grunting away and stomping his hoof on the ground. He was only about 50 yards away but there was just too much in the way, we had high winds a couple of days ago and it's brought down a couple of dead trees here and there and the buck was stood behind a dead tree. There were too many branches in the way for a shot so now I'm hoping there's another buck in the locality and our boy is calling him out, alas nothing showed and the buck never did move except to amble away in the other direction.

Didn't see anything this morning and it being a Saturday everyone was out hunting and it got rather noisy at times. This evening though was rather different and somewhat entertaining, I had a large doe come into the zone and she was less than twenty feet from me. Now I'm sat in the blind and the doe is giving the blind a good look at but she couldn't see me and I've got the rifle up slowly when she looks away for a second or so. Well she figured the blind was cool because she relaxed some and started to wander and feed and I was about to fire when she turned abruptly and started heading towards the blind head down and glancing up and around occasionally.

I $h!t you not, the damn thing was about ten feet from the blind head down feeding, I could have shot it through the top of it's head and it wouldn't have known what hit it. I didn't shoot it Hey call me whatever but it didn't feel right shooting it that close up, instead I relaxed and sat and watched her while she fed then had a sniff around and wandered off. Next time though, she's table meat tongueout Saw lots of other wild life as well, it's never boring with all the critters around.

Blu

LOL, you'll be crying over Bambi soon Blu, sound a lovely location you live in though.

sconie wrote:LOL, you'll be crying over Bambi soon Blu, sound a lovely location you live in though.

Hi sconie, I harvested a a mature doe this morning just after 8am. Will probably harvest another one later this week or the next week, there isn't any shortage of deer around here mate.

Blu

sometimes its just nice to watch them, and its made the doe more confident for the next time

AL8, yeah you're right mate and it is nice to just sit and watch them. Thing is though at a distance of around ten feet, well it just didn't feel right and so I let her go.

Blu

Do you have to apply for a tag in order to hunt? If so, how much and are they readily available or like a lottery?

Doe tags can be bought over the counter just about anywhere but they are only for hunting on private land or if invited to hunt on private land. There are only so many doe tags issued to each county and so it's first come first served although saying that I have never known them to sell out completely and you may buy up to four doe tags. Doe hunts on State land lasts for 10 days at the end of the year and this is on a first come first served basis with a limited number of tags available per county.

Buck tags are bought online and one needs a drivers licence or State ID to get one. Buck tags can be used on State or private land. The cost of a Buck tag or a doe tag is $15 per tag and unlike the doe tags, you may only buy one buck tag.

Blu

I have plenty of wildlife on my land too, deer & boar mainly, but Wildcats too. my place was set up as a nature reserve by the last occupants, so hunting is not allowed here, but we're smack in the middle of the local hunt's area, every weekend there out with the dogs scaring the crap out of every living creature in France.
I'm not against hunting, just the way the French do it. They drive everything out and shoot anything that comes out, including their own dogs & themselves sometimes, even when they are wearing a full bright orange tango man suit.

I love to watch & photograph the wildlife, but I too see meat on the table, but can't hunt on my land, without allowing the local Muppet show to hunt here too, shame really.

the way the French do it. They drive everything out and shoot anything that comes out, including their own dogs & themselves sometimes,


There is some truth in it ... especially after lunch ...

Northumbrian, one word.

Phhhhhhhtttttt........... :)