Which state would be best to hunt looking for a large deer, not so much horns but a big bodied animal. Weapon choice is easy as I have shotguns and muzzleloaders whatever is legal I will tune something up for the hunt.

Northern Maine, hands down.

Drive north, further you go, the bigger they get. One of the laws of nature, in fact. Bergmann's law I think they call it.

The state of Canada.

Wisconsin has some really big bodied deer or so I hear. Think the world record (body weight) WT was taken there iirc.

Northern Maine has some brutes.

Yep, the farther north you go, the harder they are to drag.

I'd look north of the border. I love the look of those fat Canadian bucks with chocolate antlers.

Have to look into hunting in Canada to see if the expense is outrageous.

Damn that is a huge deer.

That thing doesn't even look real.

They get like that when you 'hunt' an enclosed zoo.

+1

Corn and soybean fed.

Scott Kane seems to have a handle on really big bucks

Maine. You can stay in the states and not need a passport.

World record by weight was in MN. Over 400 pounds dressed weight, killed by Carl Lenander.

My biggest bodied buck came from Aroostook County in northern Maine, field dressed it weighed 254# live weight was estimated at 335#.

Spot on.....google it. Not a fair chase deer. The poaching pot stirrer failed to mention that.

This.

Alberta

Sask has some bruisers too!

Canada for sure. If you're wanting to stay in the states---the upper midwest, corn fed deer get pretty big, as do those in Maine.

If you're not stuck on a whitetail, mule deer average quite a bit bigger though they both get big in the northern states and Canada.

Body size don’t really do anything for me I prefer bigger racks given the chance.

I prefer body weight to antlers.

I prefer both.

I’ve killed some hammers in montucky too....

Nice muley Jud. Where'd the whitey come from? He looks very good too.

Johnny, whitetail was killed up two hills alberta 2 years ago. Headed back this year with a muley and whitetail tag in pocket. Can't wait, alberta truly is the land of giants.

MIdwest has plenty of toads. Northern Missouri, say from I-70 up, Illinois, Iowa, anywhere from there north and there are some real big bodied boomers out there. I have a good friend who hunts land in one of Missouri's northern most counties that borders IA and his son shot a nice 10 pointer that field dressed 235 pounds which would have put it close to 300 on the hoof. Wife's family has a farm in Jersey county Illinois (borders the Mississippi river north of St. L), and BIL shot a 290 pound buck with a bow (actually on public land just a few miles from their farm). Like many have already said, they grow bigger the further north you go. For sure it's true in MO. Illinois seems to have big deer state-wide.

Moose is "deer", right?
They are...large.

I hunted northern MN in the 80s, about half way between Chisholm and International Falls...St Louis County.

Biggest Deer I took up there was in 1984... was chased out of a swamp on a deer drive, with a bunch of
others.... temp was unusually cold, even by standards up there... at 30 below...

Taken with a 444 Marlin....at about 100 yds..

field cleaned at 265... DNR figured it was 345 to 350 on the hoof...

Record whitetail was taken in Stearns County MN, north of St Cloud, 1926..
with a lever action Winchester...

At a reasonable price.....Northern Maine, but also generally fewer deer the further north you go.

Manitoba.
Sandy River Outfitters.
First class operation . I've been there several times . The hunting isn't easy but the deer are pretty big . Several taken every year in the 250 to 300 pound weight range.
Outfitters name is Harry Walker .
Good Luck,
Soup

Go north young man.

Montana, Maine, Canada or my favorite N Idaho where I killed a buck well in excess of 300lbs dressed. Have pictures in the computer that I posted before working on getting them out of photo bucket to re post.

Growing up in Northern Vermont my father killed several big bodied deer the were around 230-245. Vermont used to require deer be checked in and weighed, biggest one I ever killed there was 175.


Lefty C

In the Midwest I would say Illinois first and Minnesota second. Its not that Wisconsin doesn't have some nice ones, its that we get to gun hunt them post rut and the bucks have run lots of their body weight off by then. My 210 dressed biggest would have been 230 two weeks earlier. They need the genealogy which you get in the north, you need milder winters which you get in the southern Midwest, you need age which you get from lightly hunted private or huge blocks of inaccessible land and you need a great food source which you get from the crop land areas. Reading lots of the Larry Benoit tracking books, they got nice mid 200's in Maine and Vermont early on though nothing great antler wise, but then they relocated their hunting to Canada which probably tells you something.

Head to Lambeau Field!

Ironically, the biggest bodied whitetail I've shot was killed in Florida. Guess he didn't read the rules on going north.

Seafire, I to killed one of the biggest deer east of Or and south of Blackduck Lake.

This one is from SE of Superior, WI

https://imageshack.com/a/img923/4566/Dhxeai.jpg

Nice deer, Scott! Who is the young guy standing beside it?

Quit giving away my spots!

Never scored? I'd say about 140"....

Good thing he had 200gr bullets to penetrate all that forest growth.....TFF.

No scale, but the neck came back from the taxidermist at 29 inches about 4 inches below the ears. It is the biggest deer I've ever seen in TX. Taxidermist thought it might go 250 live weight, we will never know though.

But that was a rare deer IMHO.

Northern deer sure seem to be on average not small. Makes sense, to survive teh winter. And if you were that big/fat here you'd die of heat stroke in January.

I always read, seems like that Canadian deer have been pretty big bodied. So much so the antlers seem small in relation.

Last story... went to taxidermy school in WI. Driving one weekend to some place, like Gander mountain or such a deer walks out, I comment, thats big for a doe. Local guy laughs, says thats a fawn. I says BS. Then the mother steps out next to the fawn... LOL. Somewhere around Janesville WI

140" seems about right.
Never scored and obviously never really weighed.

Maybe that guy is only 5' 1"......

Does this one qualify?

Cheater....

Photo shop much? Dudes got spider monkey fingers...Seriously 🤔

Real Deal Mule! That would hang both from my rafters and then wall...Love the big Muley’s 😎

I think was it my goal to shoot a heavy deer, I'd hunt East Central Minnesota. We have big deer all over the state, but there seems to be a little higher percentage of those tall spread out deer that mature out really heavy on the east side. Oddly, I have shot two big deer in NW Minnesota and have so far only killed a 200 lb doe in ECM. The doe I shot last fall went 180 dressed and given another year or two she'd have cleared 200 I expect. I wouldn't look for big antlers in ECM though. It's not at all unusual to have deer over 200 dressed that have small racks. If I had to give it my best shot coming back with a 300 lb dressed deer, I know places where I might could find one, but I want nothing to do with getting it out in one piece so it could be weighed. Better I think to hunt where one of them MIGHT eventually give you a shot but also in places where you can get them out with an ATV. Find all the places that have big buck contests and find where they're killing the most of them.

The guy is behind the deer, farther away from the camera than the deer, this makes the deer look bigger than it actually is. It is a big deer though.

Bwahahahahaha!!!!

Biggest bodied Whitetails? Go North young Man!........Hb

Biggest bodied deer I have taken. Northern MN. Did not get him on a scale but the wife and I had a heck of a time getting him out of the woods.

There are some really big deer in northern Maine. It's great hunting but poor finding.

My first deer as a kid was northern MN nubbie. Field dressed 103#. My cousin shot the doe that was with it. I don’t remember the weight of his but it was considerably bigger.
If I can remember, I’ll post a pic of the doe my son shot this fall in northern WI. We didn’t weigh it but it’s easily 160#. Easily.

No. They need a neck to qualify.

Oh god damn Johnny, I love those big ol salamander necked bucks!!! You guys ever kill him?

The;big ones are hard to handle. The farmer and I could not lift it into the trunk of my car, We rolled it into the front loader bucket on his tractor. The small ones in VT are much easier.

I don't know about best. I do know about darn good.

Look at where Kentucky, Indiana, and Ohio come together. Locals call it the "Tri-State." In the center is Cincinnati.

In Kentucky, the area is Zone 1: unlimited doe harvest. In Ohio, Hamilton County supposedly has one of the highest whitetail concentrations in the world. In Indiana, Switzerland County is considered one of the top bowhunting destinations in the state.

We have 300 lb liveweight bucks in our subdivision on the north side of Cincinnati. The trick around here is finding a spot to hunt them. It is rather disarming to be driving out for a gallon of milk and see a 12 pointer standing next to the neighbor's mailbox, treating the flower bed like it's the salad bar. I've come into the living room on a Saturday morning and had a bruiser staring in the window at me.

Biggest? Probably not, but they're big.

It takes accomodations for sure. I keep a block and tackle and ramps handy. If you dig around on my weblog, you'll see me using it:

http://genesis9.angzva.com/?p=3869

I have an old S-10 rigged as a dedicated deer retriever.

https://get.google.com/albumarchive...bwpCXEW_u3zYM7iGASLE531NEvkTD?source=pwa


Our newest innovation is the L-E-Vator. It's a portable deer lift. It's really handy for getting a big one into the back of the my Silverado.

Jud, no we never did get that old guy. Seems like that's normally the case for those big old slobs.

Ya I’ve learned that, better kill em while ya got the chance!!! Blacktail are really bad that way...

Impressive.

Thank you.

It used to be that it was just me, alone. In 1991, I bagged a 255 pounder in Switzerland County, IN, and had to walk a few miles to find a farmer that would come over with his front loader to get the deer into the back of the truck. That taught me to prepare ahead. Until the kids were nearly grown, it was still just me heaving these boogers around. I took to carrying a block and tackle so I could get them up into a tree and then back my car or truck in.

The latest twist at camp was when SuperCore had his bypass surgery. He bought the L-E-Vator for camp so he could get one of these toads onto the back of his ATV in a pinch.

My goal has been to make sure everyone at camp is fairly self-sufficient. I spent too many years getting called out of the stand on the Opener to retrieve deer. As it is, with the Hirschwagen, the L-E-Vator and our meatpole operation, we've been able to kill 2 deer before 1800, get them to the meatpole, gut them, load them in the truck and have them out to the processor by 1930.

I guess I'm just old school. I just use a ramp big enough to fit in the bed of the pick up. A few years back Wisconsin changed the rule that we had to take the deer out in one piece only gutted. We can cut them up in five pieces now to pack them out. I do carry a double and triple pulley set and rope in my pack to get them up in a tree off the ground and away from the wolves. It took me three days and four trips to pack my last deer, a 12 pointer, out of the hinterland. Note to self: you've got to start hunting closer to the truck.

Im a ramp and block and tackle guy when solo loading bear and bear and hogs.

https://youtu.be/USbA6psnwew

It takes a darned big deer to dress at 200+ pounds. The biggest deflator of egos is a certified scale.

Upstate New York has some big deer too. Here is a doe from about ten years back while on active duty. For reference, I am 6'6" and weighed 235 pounds, so I fully assume that doe hung around 200 pounds dressed.

The yearling on the tin behind me is bigger than most full grown deer on the Mid-Atlantic...

I think fish and bear are even worse!!

Hogs are the most often "fudged" regarding weight.

Well it looks like Wisconsin gets my attention. A friend of mine owns a huge farm in east central Wisconsin so I called him up to see what his deer were like and he said big and too many! Out of state tag isn't outrageous and I have the run of 3000 acres that is about half cropfields. He also said the rut is on more during the muzzleloader season but now that he can he likes to hunt with a centerfire rifle.

Rick,
Actually, the rut happens during the archery season. The ML season begins after the rifle season (rifle season follows the early archery season).

Yep. I watched a guy have a near meltdown at the feed mill in Butternut, WI because his buck that he was sure dressed over 220 was "only" 195 pounds. It was a massive buck with a beautiful rack in the high 140's low 150's. There was absolutely nothing to upset about on that deer. But that guy wouldn't hear it.

I'd run the BS flag up the pole on the rut statement. WI rut is during the crossbow season and may catch the beginning the rifle season. They may be back up and moving during the muzzleloading season though after a tough rut and holding tight during the gun season.

crossbow season in WI? You actually went there?

yup, the farther North the better. The biggest bodied deer that I shot was in Vermont and it weighed over 200 lbs after being dressed out and hung for a couple days. I know they get a lot bigger but that one's body seemed huge to me. I also hunt in the Adirondack of New York where the deer get pretty big. The problem, though, is that these large forested areas in the North have far fewer deer densities than farther south. It is not uncommon to go a week hunting without seeing a single deer in some of the areas with huge bucks up north.

I killed one here in NY that weighed 195 dressed after hanging for 5 days. The butcher at the weigh station where I entered it in a big buck contest told me if I'd have brought it in the day I killed it, it would have been 10-20 lbs heavier. Oh well, had to work and didn't have time. Won the big buck contest that year anyway so it really didn't matter. Over the years I've seen quite a few taken in the Catskill region that dressed over 200. Two hogs one year taken off the same mountain on the same day were impressive. One dressed 205 and the other 215. Another big one taken by the former deer hunting forum moderator on the old Huntamerica website dressed 255. I saw one the season before last that I'm sure would have been well over 200. I had him dead to rights If I wanted him. Trouble is, he was 75 yards across a property line on land I didn't have permission to hunt. He stood still as a statue staring at me for what must have been at least a full minute while I studied him through my scope trying to decide if it was worth paying a trespassing fine and/or trying to bribe the owner of the land to let me keep the buck and forget the charges. It was a tough decision but after staring at each other for a spell he turned and I watched him walk away. He easily would have been the biggest buck I'd ever killed in both body and antler if I'd have pulled the trigger. Be that as it may, bucks that size are very rare here and I wouldn't recommend anyone come here specifically looking for one as they very well could hunt for a lifetime and never see one.

Stand on tailgate, reach over, grab antlers, pull the deer up. Once the shoulders are to/over the edge - pull deer into bed.
Though I'm sure the big deer you fellers are referring to are of much grander scale.

Captain Obvious is that you?

SKane, awesome buck and a great pic. Sure is a hoss in my book.

Blackheart: not trying to start something, serious question. I thought you said, or at least I thought I recalled, that permission was not required to hunt on private land in your area.

Come on up to Saskatchewan. The deer are scary big.

Getting the shoulders over the tail gate is the hard part!

Go shoot an elk..

East central is where I live and I'd say if you are talking 3,000 acres in Shawano or Door County, you are in some nice area. I went to school in Stevens Point and hunted Portage County and that is sand area with lots of deer, but not really big body or rack sizes. Buffalo leads the nation in B&C bucks, but it is all private and mega dollars to pay to play. I prefer to take my chances in the big woods away from people in the north west and there are some real horses up there if the wolves don't get them. I'm sure that I drive past better areas than I hunt, but I don't have a buddy with 3,000 acres. The gun season here is post rut and most of the big breeder bucks are doing what you do after getting it on... sleeping.

Elevation has a similar effect as latitude on body size. The two biggest-bodied bucks I've killed were both mule deer, one in Montana at timberline along the Rocky Mountain Front, and a prairie buck in Alberta, about 300 miles north of the border.

I didn't get to weigh the mountain buck, but the biggest Montana mule deer I've weighed was another mountain buck taken near the Idaho panhandle, which weighed 232 field-dressed after hanging for a week, probably 250 before hanging. With the standard deer formula of multiplying field-dressed weight by 1.25, the buck would have been around 310 live weight.

The Front buck was MUCH bigger, and I did measure the chest depth from back to brisket, which was around 21-22". Most mature mule deer bucks measure around 18 inches. His body also measured just about as the same size as a 1-1/2-year-old cow elk my wife killed a couple weeks later.

I didn't get to weigh the Alberta buck whole or field-dressed, but boned him out before driving back to Montana and got 130 pounds of meat. The rule-of-thumb is that boned meat is about 1/3 the live weight of a deer, so if he wasn't 400 on the hoof, he was close. My wife killed a mule deer buck on the same Alberta hunt that was almost as big, and my first Alberta mule deer, taken back in 1993, was about the same size as Eileen's.

The biggest-bodied Montana mule deer ever officially weighed was 453 pounds whole, and 340 field-dressed, but
but Montana whitetails don't get as large as mule deer. The biggest officially weighed went 375 whole and 275 dressed, but I've only seen a handful of Montana whitetail bucks that went over 200 dressed. On a Manitoba whitetail hunt, made the fall after a bad winterkill, one of my hunting companions killed a young forkhorn that field-dressed around 210 pounds.

In Minnesota near the Canadian border 2016 December 20th, 15 below zero I shot my biggest whitetail buck with my Barnsdale bow that still dressed 220 lbs. ,deer was a long big deer and had lost a lot of weight during the rutt, this buck was either 300 lbs more or less alive in the early fall. deer had a very nice big thick 8 pt. rack too,probably score 145 or more ? at my age of 65 years shooting big bucks does not happen every year,not sure of my exact number of bucks over 200 lbs. probably dozen ,not sure ? last year I did see a huge old thick forkhorn huge muledeer buck the day after a shot a nice 5x5 muley in Montana next to the Canadian border that probably weighed close to 400 lbs. live weight with a friend from Montana who knows deer size well,biggest deer I ever have seen ! if he`s alive next year ? who knows ?

Never said that. Dementia or Alzheimers ?

That's a BFB. Especially at that time of year.

I think I just pee'd a little.

at Camp Ripley in Minnesota 30 some years ago when Camp Ripley was open in december for bowhunting a bowhunter killed a buck that dressed right around 278 lbs and the next big buck was like 230 lbs. dressed ,I seen both of them, that 278 lb. big was a brute! where I hunt I have seen 2 bucks bigger than the one I bow shot over a few years never got a shot.

?????

could be either, or both

With all due respect, that deer doesn't look that big. Most of our bucks here are as big, some bigger

....point missed...

True I guess. His point was that he thinks this is a big deer, and that he shot it in the south so the rules go out the window. The fact is, the rules hold the majority of the time and that is not a huge deer. My GF shot a mulie doe two years ago bigger. Most of our deer are bigger.


https://www.bing.com/images/search?...tures+of+saskatchewan+deer&FORM=IGRE

My buck last fall was 206# dressed last year and we considered that a nice buck, but not really big. You have to be mid to upper 200#s dressed to be considered big in MN.

Congrats. What do you want a freaking cookie? If you shot a bigger buck than that in Florida then I'll be interested.

I don't want anything. Just not that big of a deer. I never intend to hunt Florida, we have fantastic hunting here.

Looks like the gene pool in Canada needs a good shot of chlorine again.

I know 230 pounds is the average size of a 2 week fawn in Canada, same with the big assed women, but I also know lots of folks that have never shot anything over 200 pounds.

S head remains on ignore.

And you still need help velcroing your shoes.

... and they probably think they do every year.

Truth! lmao.

LOL. Yep.

And 140" deer just like this one..

You frigging brain has been on ignore since 53. Poor, dumb Don

Nah.
That’s close to 150”

I killed an ordinary fork horn whitetail in south central BC just before a trip and so took it to a meat cutter. Skinned, trimmed of head, legs, bloodshot etc. it weighed 148 lbs. hanging in the shop. A friend in Alberta razzed me about little deer in BC. My cousin in Oklahoma had a hard time believing that a fork horn weighed that much.

Biggest mule deer I ever killed out here "guesstimated" about 175 on the hoof. By the time I got him gutted, and dragged the 1 mile to the truck, he HAD to have been 'close to 300"!

No idea what this one might weigh, but he's stout.

1minute.....what a beast!

This one was too.

1minute & JG - great captures.

When they're shaped like triangles (big up front, skinny in the rear) you know they've seen a plethora of hunting seasons.

This one was a beast.

What a absolute hammer!!! Damn things neck is bigger than it’s head, Love ruttin bucks

Steelhead, what does that thing weight, approx? Looks large to me, and that's a great pic.

Didn't weigh it, but weighed a bunch of others and the normal big deer would go 140'ish without the guts. That one had at least 30 pounds on any of them.

So I'd say about 175 without the guts. Big Sitka. That one was flamed by Paul when he came out for a week hunting with me.

Regardless, that's a real beauty.

We all done playing roshambo? I'm tired of it, just wanna kill sheit, drink some whiskey on occasion and talk about killing sheit.

Maybe this wasn't clear, but it was directed a JG and Judd. In short, I'm sick and tired of kicking one another in the nuts. Lets save it for the liberals, not one another.

That said, I'd love to see a pic of a BIG BODIED Columbian Blacktail

Hey, I agree 100%. I just wasn't sure what that meant.

Here’s a perty goodun, at the time I was lifting 4-5 days a week and weighed 315lbs, dunno what the buck weights but it covered me up fairly well. Never weighed a deer before, got some others I’ll have to take pics of pics...

By far my biggest bodied blacktail, I’ll have to see if I can find some body pics.... the size of his head is a pretty good indication of his body.

Good night Jud.....that whitey is a monstuh....!

Johnny the last 2 are both Lewis county Blacktail

Even the one you've got the death grip on?

Damn dude, you’re full on big sumnabitch! I mean big deer...Jud, is that how to begin the “Taint Hold”?.. Start with the head and neck, then shoot for the neithers... Seriously, impressive schit as usual...You’ve killed sum amazing animals! Mark 😎

Yep blacktail. Only whitetail was the Alberta buck I posted earlier

Haha hang some pics I know you Oregon boys got better Blacktail/Rosie hunting than we do

I took a pretty big Blacktail near Onalaska in 1987. At the time I was under the impression that 120# was a big one. The one I shot weighed 160#. That said Blacktails are the best eating deer bar none.

Haha that’s my back yard, where bouts ya kill it Rick? Any pics?

Kansas has some big deer.

I shot one than was ~285 dressed, and I couldn’t lift him to get him in the truck (I have a cap on the Tacoma)

I ended up dragging him with the truck to a ditch where I could get him in... I now have a winch in the back for such hogs.. crazy stuff.

Thank you

Paul is 6 foot 6 and 285 pounds

I've yet to meet a deer better tasting than a pre-rut Sitka

Judd, answer up you wrestling SOB.

This was my biggest Sitka, made book in 1985. My last day of hunting in Alaska was November 10, 2008 and I had a bigger buck at 25 yards and let him walk. I was on the ferry the next day south and I thought that was the way sheit should end.










I miss the Sitka Blacktails

I want to do the Sitka thing. Are the bear infested stories true?

Its all good... I'm probably the friendliest guy around until someone flips me shiit... Its gtg.

Define bear infested.

Where we were it was only black bears. That said, the bear in this pic (3 legged) charged a guy that worked for me. Paul and I went out the next day and found it and skinned it out. It was a 5 1/2 boar, 18 inch skull, 3 legs and no fat and it was October. Looking to make an easy meal out of the guy that worked for me.

I had read (dangerous, I know) something about "dinner bell bears", stating when the grizzlies heard gunshots they knew there was fresh meat on the ground. Maybe I have that confused with Kodiak?

Kodiak, yes, SE Revilla/POW islands, no.

Gotcha.

They got guys that snare em up there? Timber companies will snare em round here, one will show up every now and again missing a paw

I've got an Afognak elk tag this year....boy oh boy.

Considering the area I was in, the only one I knew running snares was me and that was for wolves.Never found a leg.

That said, my guess is a DSMF shot his leg off. It weren't but 1/2 mile from salt.

Some private property up the hill from town, not five miles out. No pics the woman I lived with at the time took everything she could carry and get in a car while I was out cutting firewood. My photos went with her, we lived across from the school bus yard. My daughter lives in Chehalis.

Musta been up middle Fork rd area. I actually live closer to Onalaska than Chehalis but it’s considered a Chehalis address. Where’s the daughter work?

That is the area off the middle fork road. Kristin is married and if she works she hasn't said so to me. Watch out for hot rod Toyota's she drives like Indy all the time!

Copy I live over on the North Fork, over the ridge from middle Fork. I’m sure I’ve seen her runnin around pretty small area, born here, been in Chehalis 43 years...

I lived in Centralia, Chehalis and Ilwaco from 1986 to 1989. Loved it but getting a worthwhile job was impossible, moved back to Texas and went to work in the oilfield. It's about that time again, every two years or so I head up there to see her and get some fishing done. Do the Steehead still run up the Chehalis river? The Salmon up the Wilapa? Do you still have to dodge the bears while fishing for them? Last time I was up there sure were a lot of places you couldn't access like I could in the 80's. Heck maybe I should see about getting a bear tag and a deer tag.

Oh ya, late August Kong’s start running. Steelhead start in the Chehalis around January through April. I take the last week of August off and fill up on salmon down willapa bay outta Raymond, bout a hour north of illwaco. Hit me up when ya come, I’d like to have ya out to the hollar and shoot the shiit....

Sounds good to me, I'll see if I can pull it off.

You really need to have me out to shoot one of those! I'll even use schit bullets and a non-dialing scope. I'll bring the cheap beer, dip, and info for your elk tag in MT...

Are the bad in rut?

Shiit I’d love too. Most folks don’t realize how tough it is in western Wa. There’s a reason you don’t see many folks post pics consistently killing good bucks up here. It’s not like Alaska where you can hunt em 6 months outta the year, from velvet through the rut, or Montana where you can hunt through the rut. There’s days where I won’t see a deer, days where I’ll see 2 does, and days where I’ll see 25 deer and a handful of bucks, but those days are very very few, if any during season. Season ends on Halloween, the last 3 days are the time to be in the woods all day. Weather plays a huge part in deer movement here. Rut is the same time every year, the wild card being the weather, to keep the does up moving, and hopefully a buck chasing all horned up. That being said our tags are expensive but when you kill a mature blacktail in western Wa, it’s damn rewarding. Last years Halloween buck, seen 1 doe earlier in the morning, killed this buck about noon, ran out of the timber scent trailing a doe, that’s all it took...

Very nice!! Neat looking deer in country very, very different than I've ever spent time in.

Ya it’s a brushy biitch in most places, clear cuts are your friend

When they get gun barreled out and lose all that fat, they can be a little rough.

Those I think I could hunt. However, I need a fence or two to hop...

Oh you’ll fit right in!!! Shiit bullets, no turrets, fence hopping, goat fuuck cartridges, dunno how I get by every year!!! Grin

I'd even hit the kiosk in the mall up for an airbrushed "Haybale and Crockett" orange T-shirt so as to be safe!

That would be badass!! Don’t forget the tape for the muzzle, might jam your barrel in the mud bailing outta the boat!!! Grin

As a aside, our deer taste like shiit imo. I grind backstrap and all into summer sausage and pepperoni

I do that with most all the deer I shoot. Pronghorn and elk get different treatment.

Fo sho... Antelope is damn good groceries, freezer full of elk aint bad either.

I've two full, and the wifey has a bull tag which means dead elk. I gotta eat more elk than I have been to clear space! (3-5 pounds weekly)....grin....

That’s not a bad place to be Greg.... grin

Chicken or pork sounds great about once a week though. .grin...

Not a huge Blacktail...But a solid shooter on a clear and sunny day...It was nice not being soaking wet for a change...😎

I've been in that position before. Put 2 elk, 3 lopes, and 2 whitetail in the freezer then found out I drew a cow bison tag! Jerky from burger is a good way to free up freeboard in the freezer...