How many guys are going out this weekend for the gun opener. I love to bow hunt but I'm taking my son out with his 870 20ga. Every year we all get together my brothers and cousin and some friends and now that we are getting older our kids also. Like I said I love to bow hunt but I just love the atmosphere of deer camp and sharing the good time with friends and family. How many of you guys use to walk/drive hundreds or thousands of acres or maybe still do? The style of hunting has changed since I was a kid 20yrs or so ago we would sit till the sun was up and then we walked and walked If it was brown it was down. Now we sit and have for 6 yrs or so most or all of the day and our success has went up and the quality of deer has went up. What changes have happened over the years in your deer camp?
I go to deer camp but I no longer buy a license or even bring my gun. I live in an area that has both state and federal land so the orange army from the suburbs heads to my area for gun season what a joy to witness the witless loading up and heading into the woods. Don't get me wrong I fully support gun hunting for deer I just don't want to watch, wonder if they have a gun hunting deer website and how many pages of lost wounded deer there would be?
I used to slug hunt. My wife is going to try it for the first time this year so I will be sitting by her side. My dad, uncle and uncle's girlfriend's brother will be here too. We sit from dark to about 10, work until about 2 and then sit again in the evenings. Try to keep some of our ground untouched while everyone else is pushing. To be honest, I despise those 9 days more than anything. Countless vehicles driving by that have never seen before, people going where they please, shooting out truck windows and the list goes on. Sad affair really. Brown is down like usual but there is nothing that can be done about that and to be honest, it is what it is. I am always glad when the sun sets on the second Sunday.
We have a deer camp here in VA that we have to pay 400 a year to be a part of and you are in it for life unless you decide not to but then you can't get back in. The only way to get a spot is if someone dies or decides not to come back. I married into the family and they got me in which I thought was great and it is great comradery but the hunting is typically terrible. There may be one decent deer killed each year although it used to be several nice bucks a year were taken but they tend to shoot at anything with antlers so we have a lot of spikes, 3 pointers, and 4 pointers that get killed each year. I pay to enjoy the company and hang out with family and friends but I prefer to hunt national forest land and a little private spot that is about 3 acres compared to the 800 acre farm.
It is kinda funny, I complain about the idiots from the cities, I go to Wisconsin for gun season and they complain about the idiots from Minnesota.
I too witness the endless pickups and SUVs circle areas that have very minimal traffic except the 9 days of slug season. I enjoy the season and have nothing against the ethical hunters that hunt it. I'm sure every state has the same issues but it sure seems that there are a lot of slob hunters also. All in all our group has a really good time even if we don't shoot any deer. I hope everyone else has a fun safe hunt and best of luck!!!!
I'm heading out with a couple family members. Gun season is usually pretty good to us. We've killed quite a few 4 year old and a lot of 3 year old deer over the past couple of years. We just decided on a new management plan this year to hopefully get some of these 3 year olds through. If it's under 130" then it's off limits! Almost all of our neighbors are very selective and already pass little bucks so good things are sure to come!
My brother and dad will be out and it sounds like my Father-in-law is going to sit out this year. I'll be out with my bow. I'll be bringing my rifle to WI in a couple weeks though
This is only my 2nd bow season but I have always been a gun hunter. So yes, I will be out with the rifle this week. Gun season is all about time spent with family for me. Bow hunting is more of an individual deal for us being we don't bow hunt the same land and can't bow hunt at the same times as we do during gun season. Plus, where I bow hunt the most, it gets more tough to take a deer with bow once gun season starts. First you have your "modern" gun hunt, then muzzleloader. I am almost strictly a public land hunter and the pressure increases so much with the gun seasons.
Since I started bow hunting, my rifle hasn't been out of the safe. I will, however, take my muzzle loader out occasionally. Otherwise I'm in a tree with a bow.
Ill be out for the first time this year with an old friend and his son. We used to gun hunt years ago together before we had kids, but we lost our spot, and never found another spot that we could both hunt on again. After that, I picked up the bow and never looked back! But as the years passed, we missed hunting together. This summer I finally found a spot for the 3 of us to go on!!! So we will be out again this year after probably 15 years!
