Hunting Washington Forum

Big Game Hunting => Deer Hunting => Topic started by: jackelope on September 08, 2009, 04:50:45 PM

Title: whats your deer hunting goals this year
Post by: jackelope on September 08, 2009, 04:50:45 PM: lets hear what you guys are after this year.
Title: Re: whats your deer hunting goals this year
Post by: Buckmark on September 08, 2009, 05:00:07 PM: Meat.
Well, thats how i started my season, get the first legal deer that comes by my stand in range and put it into the freezer.
Opening day i sat on stand and nothing came within range, not even close, watched some deer in another spot and decided day 2 to go and sit that stand.
Day 2 sitting the other stand i could see my first stand, 472 yds away.
About 30 min before dark/cant shoot light i look towrds my 1st stant and notice some mule deer right next to it, and i notice that there is a buck with the group, then my brain goes "hey man thats like 400+yds and you can see that buck with the naked eye! So i put the glass on him, nice 4x4 with eye guards :bash:, and 3 other bucks that were legal and the rest does, 15 deer in all, feed right past my 1st day stand.
I have a whitetail doe working towards me at the same time 80yds away, forget her, get up and head for a closer look at the other deer, then head for the truck.
Game plan changed after that, sat my 1st stand until saturday with no mule deer to be found >:(, did draw on a whitetail doe on saturday evening but let down thinking about that buck. Now im heading back over i a few weeks to see if i can connect on him. Then back to meat only.
Title: Re: whats your deer hunting goals this year
Post by: DeerHarvester on September 08, 2009, 07:00:50 PM: Meat in the freezer is better then tag soup!
Title: Re: whats your deer hunting goals this year
Post by: 270Shooter on September 08, 2009, 07:22:56 PM: Personal best and meat in the freezer. I have a MT tag and I plan on finding a decent buck to shoot over there. And In WA the first deer I see with 3 points dies.
Title: Re: whats your deer hunting goals this year
Post by: Navyhunter on September 08, 2009, 07:26:39 PM: Had to go with the meat in the freezer. Hunting eastern WA late season for deer and MT (late) for deer and elk...elk is the primary this year, haven't gotten one yet. For deer, I'd like to get a MT mulie. That's the one deer I haven't shot yet, soooo, a meat mulie it is.
Title: Re: whats your deer hunting goals this year
Post by: Armadillo on September 08, 2009, 07:41:17 PM: First legal buck thats within range, meat meat meat :drool:
Title: Re: whats your deer hunting goals this year
Post by: littlebuf on September 08, 2009, 07:41:51 PM: out of the choices i picked 120 or better black tail, ive never scored the buck i got last year but he was my biggest and i estimate around the 120 mark. ive seen bigger where i plan to hunt and thats my goal. i cant wait until deer season, this morning felt like fall down here and it really got me pumped
Title: Re: whats your deer hunting goals this year
Post by: bobcat on September 08, 2009, 07:50:40 PM: I think I'll be hunting the entire 9 day season in an eastside GMU for a mulie. If I see a legal 3 point I'll probably take it. Hopefully it will be a good one but I'm not going to be too picky. I'm very limited on hunting money this year, so the sooner I'm done the less money I will have to spend on gas. Besides that, if I get done early that will save my vacation time for other things like ducks, geese, pheasant, and elk.
Title: Re: whats your deer hunting goals this year
Post by: Rick on September 08, 2009, 08:37:32 PM: First legal buck I get a shot at is taking a dirt nap. I'm only hunting 2 days for deer this year.

To make it even tougher,those two days will actually be used to set up our elk camp. Actual "hunting" time will probably be just a few hours. I better be on my game. :chuckle:
Title: Re: whats your deer hunting goals this year
Post by: Blacktail99 on September 08, 2009, 08:51:36 PM: 1 legal whitetail i see in idaho so i say meat!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Title: Re: whats your deer hunting goals this year
Post by: bankwalker on September 08, 2009, 08:52:20 PM: well ive been hunting sense i was 10 years old. im 24 years old now. and i have taken 4 deer. 2 spikes quite a few years ago and a 2pt(last season) with rifle, and a doe also quite a few years ago with my bow.

ive never went back to back seasons getting a deer. they are always a few seasons apart. in fact until last season, my last deer came when i was 17 years old. so thats a long time without a deer.

my parents up until i was 13years old would get thier deer every single year, along with my uncle. and that is alot of deer in the freezer. BUT it has went way down with my parents getting older and both in poor shape (mom can hardly walk up hill, with very bad knees and my dad has had knee surgury 2 times in one knee and it goes out from time to time). my dads last deer came 2 years ago and it was small, he only shot it to put meat in the freezer. and my moms first year back to hunting was last season, before that it had been 6 years sense she last hunted. and the last deer she shot was lost due to pouring rain and very thick brush

so my goal is to get my parents into deer and to get a deer for myself in back to back seasons, and get my girlfriend her second deer, she just passed hunters education, and got her first deer last year with that defferal lisence.

basicly i would love to see my family tag out this season. maybe get my parents back into hunting like they use to be
Title: Re: whats your deer hunting goals this year
Post by: lamar_hunter on September 08, 2009, 09:00:45 PM: i want to shoot a nice 4x4. been seeing decent whitetails and mulies in my hunting spot so i think i have a good chance.
Title: Re: whats your deer hunting goals this year
Post by: PolarBear on September 08, 2009, 09:07:44 PM: It's gotta be a P&Y buck or it walks. I have pastures and a freezer full of beef so I would rather eat a tag than just shoot any buck to fill it.
Title: Re: whats your deer hunting goals this year
Post by: ing on September 08, 2009, 09:17:16 PM: My vote, personal best. I usually hunt for meat, but I have a tag in both Montana and Colorado this year. Hopefully I can find a nice buck within these two states. I'll go ahead and hunt for meat here in WA and shoot the first legal buck I get a chance at.
Title: Re: whats your deer hunting goals this year
Post by: luvtohnt on September 08, 2009, 09:27:31 PM: I voted personal best. Won't be hard to beat considering I have never shot one. I am leaving at 4:00am for ALW for deer and elk will be back on Friday hopefully with my personal best for either species.

Brandon
Title: Re: whats your deer hunting goals this year
Post by: bobcat on September 08, 2009, 09:43:59 PM: I'd like to clarify my previous post. I said I'd take any legal 3 point but that doesn't mean I'm hunting for meat. I've got lots of elk meat still in the freezer from last year, and hopefully with the Toutle elk hunt I'm helping my brother on, I will possibly have another half an elk in the freezer. So the reason I won't be holding out for a deer with big antlers is not because I "need" the meat. It's just that I want to be successful. YES, I want to KILL something. For the experience. Not for the antlers. OK, just didn't like the sound of "meat in the freezer" even though that is how I voted. Because 50 pounds of deer meat isn't going to last my family very long anyway. Now if we were talking elk, it'd be a different story.
Title: Re: whats your deer hunting goals this year
Post by: georgia redneck on September 08, 2009, 10:38:29 PM: If all works out I am hoping for a mule deer never shot one. I have taken white tails, black tails and a few bench legs but no true mulie. Come on October :bash:
Title: Re: whats your deer hunting goals this year
Post by: hambone on September 08, 2009, 10:45:37 PM: the very wide lots of mass whitetail i couldnt get ashot at last year he is old and very smart doesnt stay in the open very long . its him or his running mate that is very good also.
Title: Re: whats your deer hunting goals this year
Post by: JackOfAllTrades on September 08, 2009, 11:07:18 PM: I've always said that I'm a meat hunter. That said, I'm due for a good Muley. I have the week for Mule Deer available to be in the woods every day. Some of those days, my two sons will be in the woods with me. Hopefully one of them will have opportunity for the shot that I would pass up. I also have opportunity for late White tail late season on the east side. I don't plan on dropping the first legal buck I see. My standards will decrease as my opportunity does but I'm going to hunt pretty hard this year, so hopefully I'll be rewarded for my efforts.

-Steve
Title: Re: whats your deer hunting goals this year
Post by: ICEMAN on September 08, 2009, 11:17:19 PM: Meat.

Hopefully to be able to put my two new hunters in front of game they can pursue.
Title: Re: whats your deer hunting goals this year
Post by: Huntbear on September 09, 2009, 01:48:46 AM: I voted meat in the freezer. I need the meat, so any blacktail bigger than a small forky will drop like he was pole axed. If I could afford to be picky, I would say 120 4x4 or bigger. I know where they hang out, so will be in their home if they stand up in front of me.
Title: Re: whats your deer hunting goals this year
Post by: boneaddict on September 09, 2009, 06:01:00 AM: ...barbecue backstraps tonight. :)
Title: Re: whats your deer hunting goals this year
Post by: mazama on September 09, 2009, 06:01:24 AM: Record book deer,i have passed on 2 nice 4pts in last 2yrs.
Title: Re: whats your deer hunting goals this year
Post by: runamuk on September 09, 2009, 07:44:17 AM: If I buy a tag it will be my first deer hunt so the first legal deer I can find......
Title: Re: whats your deer hunting goals this year
Post by: haugenna on September 09, 2009, 07:49:07 AM: my first goal is to get my brother his first high mountain mule deer. My second goal is to shoot a 160" or bust.
Title: Re: whats your deer hunting goals this year
Post by: CP on September 09, 2009, 07:52:12 AM: Young, big bodied bucks are the best eating. I’ll be looking for a forkie if legal or a 3 pt if not. I’ll shoot a big antlered, pot bellied, swayed back, tough, nasty, smelly buck if one comes by, but I’m not going to go out of my way to find one.
Title: Re: whats your deer hunting goals this year
Post by: MtnMuley on September 09, 2009, 07:52:51 AM: In his prime, with mass.
Title: Re: whats your deer hunting goals this year
Post by: twisp_river_slayer on September 09, 2009, 07:54:40 AM: to find the first deer that runs into my arrow
Title: Re: whats your deer hunting goals this year
Post by: zackmioli on September 09, 2009, 08:11:28 AM: meat in the freezer. im completely out. i got drawn for a B tag this year so ill be dumpin a doe opening weekend and hunting for a buck the rest of the time.
Title: Re: whats your deer hunting goals this year
Post by: KimberRich on September 09, 2009, 08:15:13 AM: Got drawn for a montana buck tag and have private land to hunt and got drawn for a Doe tag in Washington so not worried about getting meat in the freezer.
I'm looking for me personal best Whitetail this year. Was looking for a mulie last year and was fortunate enough to get a nice one so aiming for a big Whitey. My best to date is probably around 135" so I'm planning on holding out for a 140" buck or larger.. But when the first nice 4x4 runs out I'll probably dump him. :chuckle:
Title: Re: whats your deer hunting goals this year
Post by: boneaddict on September 09, 2009, 08:18:06 AM: A-men Mtn Muley!
Title: Re: whats your deer hunting goals this year
Post by: Northwest75 on September 09, 2009, 08:22:33 AM: I chose personal best. I would rather pick a above average antlered buck with a fat body than a big Antlered skinny buck.
Title: Re: whats your deer hunting goals this year
Post by: colockumelk on September 09, 2009, 08:26:30 AM: Quote from: luvtohnt on September 08, 2009, 09:27:31 PM
I voted personal best. Won't be hard to beat considering I have never shot one. I am leaving at 4:00am for ALW for deer and elk will be back on Friday hopefully with my personal best for either species.

Brandon

Let me know where you hunt. I'm coming up on Friday so I don't want to stomp around the same area you did.
Title: Re: whats your deer hunting goals this year
Post by: C-Money on September 09, 2009, 09:36:27 AM: lovetohunt, are you hunting in Walla Walla area? (ALW) How did you do down there?
Title: Re: whats your deer hunting goals this year
Post by: jackelope on September 09, 2009, 11:31:54 AM: ALW==Alpine Lakes Wilderness
Title: Re: whats your deer hunting goals this year
Post by: Skyvalhunter on September 09, 2009, 11:40:40 AM: ALW high hunt or regular season?
Title: Re: whats your deer hunting goals this year
Post by: coriantonk on September 09, 2009, 11:45:49 AM: :'( Still waiting for my first deer so "meat in the freezer" for me. I will let you guys wory about trophies.
Title: Re: whats your deer hunting goals this year
Post by: SpokaneSlayer on September 09, 2009, 11:58:03 AM: Still trying to get my first deer, so meat in the freezer.
Title: Re: whats your deer hunting goals this year
Post by: DOUBLELUNG on September 09, 2009, 12:04:28 PM: Last year was my first in 20 without a single big game animal. Also very lean on leave time at work. Making a Wyoming meat run, will shoot a buck and three doe deer as quickly as possible, bone 'em out and head back. Then, hunt weekends with the hordes in rifle season.
Title: Re: whats your deer hunting goals this year
Post by: shanevg on September 09, 2009, 02:26:17 PM: Any deer is good for me, but I would definitely like a personal best as right now that is a pencil sized buck!
Title: Re: whats your deer hunting goals this year
Post by: jsteplee on September 09, 2009, 02:43:11 PM: I've got to go with meat in the freezer as I've yet to harvest a deer or elk in Washington yet. I guess that would make it a personal best too. Probably have to call it a trophy as well. Jeez, if your standards are low enough, you can squeak through any survey...
Title: Re: whats your deer hunting goals this year
Post by: GUHunter on September 09, 2009, 03:50:30 PM: Trying for my first deer, so just want anything legal. Doing the high buck, but mainly for the adventure. If that fails, tri-cities area for mule deer.
Title: Re: whats your deer hunting goals this year
Post by: Backstrap on September 10, 2009, 08:27:55 PM: Plenty of meat in the freezer. Gardner late hunt tag. Holding out for something special.
Title: Re: whats your deer hunting goals this year
Post by: jaymark6655 on September 10, 2009, 09:08:43 PM: Meat in the freezer, my apartment walls aren't big enough for a trophy and I have never gotten a deer before.
Title: Re: whats your deer hunting goals this year
Post by: Dmanmastertracker on September 10, 2009, 09:32:25 PM: Assuming I will be able to get out this year, I have a two year rule for venison. This is year two, so if it's brown and legal, it's down.
Title: Re: whats your deer hunting goals this year
Post by: Buschingc on September 10, 2009, 10:49:46 PM: Quote from: DeerHarvester on September 08, 2009, 07:00:50 PM
Meat in the freezer is better then tag soup!

Tag soup isnt that bad, just add a little bit of hot sauce... I've had tag soup the last two years.. Hopefully things will change this year.. Im getting a little skinny..
Title: Re: whats your deer hunting goals this year
Post by: taylorpz on September 11, 2009, 06:49:07 AM: Any deer for me. New to blacktails and still trying to figure out the wet side. Anything would be better than the big fat nothing I got last year.
Title: Re: whats your deer hunting goals this year
Post by: Wacenturion on September 11, 2009, 10:09:31 PM: Getting together with friends and family and enjoying their company and camp humor. Anything beyond that is just a bonus.
Title: Re: whats your deer hunting goals this year
Post by: Jamieb on September 11, 2009, 10:18:27 PM: I voted personal best but my real goal is the same as every season, get out as much as I can and have fun.
Title: Re: whats your deer hunting goals this year
Post by: fishseeker on September 12, 2009, 07:50:38 AM: Quote from: Wacenturion on September 11, 2009, 10:09:31 PM
Getting together with friends and family and enjoying their company and camp humor. Anything beyond that is just a bonus.
You hit the nail on the head!!Thats what its is all about. Will shoot a deer if 1 is retarded enough to walk in front of my bullet, but its not that important to me anymore. Its all about being out there with people you want to be around. Helping the younger ones get involved with the sport.
Title: Re: whats your deer hunting goals this year
Post by: NWBREW on September 12, 2009, 09:08:22 AM: Personal best for the first 5 days.....after that it meat in the freezer. :chuckle:
Title: Re: whats your deer hunting goals this year
Post by: couesbitten on September 12, 2009, 09:12:26 AM: Quote from: fishseeker on September 12, 2009, 07:50:38 AM
Quote from: Wacenturion on September 11, 2009, 10:09:31 PM
Getting together with friends and family and enjoying their company and camp humor. Anything beyond that is just a bonus.
You hit the nail on the head!!Thats what its is all about. Will shoot a deer if 1 is retarded enough to walk in front of my bullet, but its not that important to me anymore. Its all about being out there with people you want to be around. Helping the younger ones get involved with the sport.

I agree with Wacenturion and fishseeker. Just being out there is what I love, a few times I've actually been somewhat let down that I pulled the trigger and ended it to early (I don't really ever want it to end). But, when it comes down to it, when I see the right animal, I'll pull the trigger again if given the chance.
Title: Re: whats your deer hunting goals this year
Post by: rosscrazyelk on September 12, 2009, 06:29:47 PM: Well I have been Hunting Horns for the past couple years cause I have had Elk meat and Moose meat in the freezer . But since all that is gone I will probably hunt for horns early and see what happens after Elk season before i make my final decision.
Title: Re: whats your deer hunting goals this year
Post by: BoomWhop on September 12, 2009, 09:54:51 PM: Looking for something big 4x4 140+