First Two of the Year

Corn is close to 7' high
Nights are warm
Skeeters are thick enough to walk on
Game Warden and the Fed's wrote up 3 permits
So time to get hunting and trapping

I have been doing crop damage raccoon trapping for a while
So far over 3 boxes of 32 S&W short ammo has been used on the raccoons by me and I used the 9 mm on some also

Canada Goose crop damage has not been as bad as some years , so I will wait till close to the end of the month to start

But the first Two of the year was White Tail Deer last night
I can harvest any 6 deer I want ( just have to turn over any racks), any time of the day I want ( spot lights and night vision is legal
With any gun I want
I can even just let the deer rot if I wanted to ( Ohio has some strange game laws )

As I own a area of farm land next to a public owned area and a private marsh
Deer and raccoon stay in the public land and marsh areas and eat the crops on my land ( Brother farms the land )
So I have a good supply of deer to chose from

So last night I harvested 2 does , I spent more time looking for does without fawns than the hunting ( lots of them in the hay field )
As I didn't want to shoot their mama
One was at about 75 yards and the other about 100 yards
I used a Savage 10 in 308 win with a Hogue stock
I had the barrel threaded for a suppressor and had a night vision scope on it
180 gr 2 part cast bullet
Pure lead nose and GC'ed Linotype base
LC brass
Win LR primer
IMR 4198 pushed the cast bullet at about 1850 FPS

I took my time and made 2 clean head shots
Most of the didn't spook from the shots because of the wind and traffic noise from behind me
Down range is a marsh and Lake Erie
So I didn't worry about hitting anything other than the deer

I converted most of the does to burger by 6 AM , the backstraps and tender loins were saved
I mostly turned the meat into sausage and burger , pork was added for fat

3 lb of the Sausage will be kept as bulk , as I ran out of casing
The rest will be smoked

Some of the burger will be for me
The rest was given to friends and several out of work people I know

I am single
Myself , Dad , my brother and my Niece & her husband all get crop damage deer permits so we have to plan on what to do with the meat
So no way I can use the meat from 6 deer
So I figure others should enjoy the meat also

John

Sounds like a lot of work, but a lot of fun too. Very cool.

we get antelope nuisance tags but there aint much worth eating on them.

Sounds like a great night!
I got 11 hogs last year, shared a bunch with a buddy and several of the neighbors. After 6 hours in the crockpot they are good and tender, pretty tasty too.
I've been wanting to try out some night vision on the hogs. I've got the green Moultrie Lights and green light on the rifle, it doesn't seem to spook them at all.

Good so see you helping others who are in need and sharing what you have.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by lar45

Sounds like a great night!
I got 11 hogs last year, shared a bunch with a buddy and several of the neighbors. After 6 hours in the crockpot they are good and tender, pretty tasty too.
I've been wanting to try out some night vision on the hogs. I've got the green Moultrie Lights and green light on the rifle, it doesn't seem to spook them at all.

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When I can
I will be upgrading to Thermal
I used ( Don't remember the name or brand as it was not mine ) a Thermal scope for Coyote hunting last winter
It let me see several coyotes back into the woods
That couldn't be seen with my night vision scope
That dose not mean I could have shot them back in the woods
But it let us get ready before we could have with just the night vision scopes

John

I've been involved with the crop deprivation permit shooting years ago when the deer were wrecking my Dad's orchard. Yes, I agree, Ohio has some stringent rules regarding what can or cannot be done with the carcass. I would be interested in knowing more about your soft/hard boolits performance. Head shots won't be the perfect medium for normal hunting situations, but understand your purpose in taking those types of shots in the situation.
The meat sounds delicious processed in that manner.

Well done, well done
Great report
Thanks
Mike

Excellent write-up of your activities.
You are to be commented highly for your thoughtfulness in sharing the bounty of your hunt with those that really are in need. Your kindness will be remembered by those you help.
We should all be so lucky!
Good on ya, Mate!!

Sounds like a good time with a good purpose.
Concerning thermal, I got a REAP-IR thermal a few years ago (back when they were made by IR Defense) for pigs at our hunt club. Hard ta beat. But even better when paired with some kindof I2 device. Get all the resolution you can stand to pay for in the Thermal.
Good on ya for helpin other folks out with the spoils. d:^)