With all the economic turmoil and always increasing prices of food, and with the oh my god rise in firearm ammunition......How many of you will be killing at least a couple more deer with archery equipment this year? I plan to. The family doesn't much like deer, so I really don't shoot them unless I have someone that wants them. I can't believe how many deer I let walk every year, it just amazes me. Anyway......I know I'm going to try to shoot a couple more does this year for the freezer to help with the grocery bill....
Being picky didn't pay last year. I really only passed 4 or 5 does that I had shots on. This coming year, I am looking to take a few. I will be hunting in many different areas for does specifically. I really missed having more than just the one set of precious tenderloins.
I will be taking more doe (hopefully) this season, but it has nothing to do with our current economic situation. The doe population on my property has gotten a bit high for my liking (I've started to see signs of it finally in the past two seasons). Luckily, we all love venison here.
I missed a few and passed on a few as well! Now with the freezer getting empty, I wished I would of killed another deer or two!
We've always been a big venison-eating family; I'm very fortunate in that my wife loves venison as much as I do, and our kids don't have a choice. It honest-to-God takes five mature Illinois-sized deer to feed us each year; we could skimp by on four, but we'd be rationing... I think I took seven last year? My wife grows an AWESOME garden, too... tomatoes, snow peas, squash, lettuce, cucumbers, green beans, carrots, onions, peppers, spinach, zuchini and various kinds of herbs. Great compliment to all the deer that fall to my bow each year. Add in the occasional fishing trip as well, and we cut down a LOT on the grocery bill.
My wife hates venison, so my kids and I might eat 2 a year. I'm getting burned out on it now, so I'm taking a couple week vacation from it.
My wife has grown to like venison after this past season. W/ 6 in the freezer to begin with we have pretty well got it all down to about 2 1/2. I can tell you that I plan on filling all 6 tags again this season. Hopefully it will just be 4 does and the other 2 will be bucks. Oh yea and then my wife will be putting hopefully at least 1 in the freezer this year (Please God let it happen)
Other than a couple packages of shrimp (and our trip out to San Diego) my wife and I have made the switch to only wild game and fish. I got 3 deer last year, but I'm hoping for 5 this year since we're already down to less that one in the freezer. We both bowhunt up here in MN, but my WI rifle season usually produces good results for us (Gotta love $2 bonus tags, too bad the first buck and doe are $165). We ,or I should say SHE, has also started some herbs and veggies for our garden this summer. Even with the short growing season we should put a huge dent in our food budget. I don't want to be the crazy hermit couple that lives in the woods, but .... Ah, who am I kidding, that would be kind of fun!
I will be doing the same as I have for the last 20 years. Trophies with bow, meat with gun. From a financial stand point, I believe that it is cheaper to use a firearm than a bow. My most expensive ammo costs less than $2 per round. Quite a bit less than an arrow or a broadhead.
I agree with this. Also from a survival standpoint, I really don't know anyone that would rather use a bow than a firearm for survival.
Between Bow and shotgun, I need to tag out (4 deer} to keep my family in venison for 8 months... they love it ......but it's not that easy in NY, or I am just not that good ... I usually can muster 2-3 per year ..I dunno ... I suck I can't imagine being able to kill deer MOST of the time ... now I am not picky ... I won't shoot a fawn, but anything else is fair game to me .....
Last year I only killed one. This year I hope to fill all 5 tags. My wife and daughter both enjoy the meat,(so do I!), as long as it is processed properly. I have the majority ground into burger and we use it in all kinds of recipes, meatloaf, burgers, meatballs, and "YUMMY TACOS"! Just to name a few.
Don im with ya. My family loves venison other than my wife, so yes, i can see more slickheads on ice!!
Nothing will change for me. I will try to take as many as I can, which is almost always a surplus of what we personally can eat in a year. The rest goes to family & HSH.
i made a big mistake last year in passing does early, NEVER again. i ended up eating not only my IL tag(s) but my WI tags this yr too!!!
