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The back of the property is getting busy. Muzzle Loader opens the same day as the builders' meet





That last one is pretty nice for a Central Florida White Tail! Notice he isn't showing up during shooting hours.

Nice!

Really nice deer for Florida!! Jeff

Great pics. I love that reconyx camera. Expensive, but worth every penny. I went through many others before I bought mine. It's 6 or so years old now and still works great. And nothing gets by it without a pic taken.

Got tired of watching the girls all walk, when its really the venison I'm after so bought a crossbow. Saturday morning got this yearling doe. Dropped her where she stood with a solid heart shot. Really like the crossbow. Center Point 370 for under $300!



Almost got mom as well, but she wouldn't walk back out in the field, but just walked around the edges of the woods for about 20 minutes calling.

This guy actually walked out in the same spot Sunday at 8:00 am but I was in the house. I loaded up, and tried to get a shot, but he spotted me at around 60 yards, a shot I didn't want to risk. He's been there for three months so I'll just wait until I'm in the stand one day. Looking at him I think he's the same deer as in the top picture from last year...



Had a herd of 8 does walk through at 11:30 am last week, so hoping to load the freezer from the property this year. We ate 3 deer at the house this last year and ran out in late July. 3 more weeks of archery.

That venison will eat like prime rib! Good luck on the nice buck!!

Nice shot on that doe I second what Eric said. I need to get my license again as I now have them coming almost up to the house and eating the garden.

Tom

TomW1 wrote: ↑Tue Oct 03, 2017 12:50 pm Nice shot on that doe I second what Eric said. I need to get my license again as I now have them coming almost up to the house and eating the garden.

Tom

I can come back up there!

Any time but haven't seen the buggers in over a month.

Tom

TomW1 wrote: ↑Tue Oct 03, 2017 2:24 pm Any time but haven't seen the buggers in over a month.

Tom

I need to get my license again as I now have them coming almost up to the house and eating the garden.

...but haven't seen the buggers in over a month.

Which is it?

So CapeMan I guess the waters around your place have receded enough the deer no longer need fins

Yeah but I am hunting barefoot and in shorts, and the buck busted me because of the ripples in the swamp I was stalking through. Been a VERY wet year. Not HOUSTON wet, but wet.

That will be great meat for the meet!!

Saturday morning was the opening of muzzleloader, so I climbed the stand out back with the smoke pole before day light. This guy, which I had never seen before walked out after 20 minutes. 11 points and probably hit 170 lbs, which is a monster for Florida. Swore I would never do it, but he's at the taxidermist for a full shoulder mount. Pattie is making it my Christmas present!





There at least 4 other bucks walking around right now, including the earlier posted pic. The rut is in full swing here!

Too really rub it in, please note the Lithia hunting attire...(Fuzz, Narfi,...)

Cape Man, Congratulations!! That is a big one!! Again, congratulations!! My brother in law (GA) has yet to kill one this year!! Jeff

Congrats---nice heavy-horned rack. With all the rain y'all had, I'm surprised you didnt need that smokepole to ward off all the mosquitos.

This much rain brings fish into the swamps from the river so the mosquitos are not bad at all.

Dang, Craig that is a really nice looking buck Much bigger than our little Blacktails. I do believe I would have it mounted myself.
You folks both hunt and fish in a lot less clothes than I am used to You are not the only ones not having a bug problem now. For some reason they do not do so well with ice and snow

I never saw such a big one in Florida. Good shot.

That is an awesome buck!! Congrats Craig!!!!!

Thats a great buck It cracks me up to see you wearing shorts deer hunting

And barefoot

That's just not right, i don't think i have ever hunted during deer season above 40 degrees . In northern Maine
it was usually closer to 0

Am I very gay if I say I couldn't do that myself
Strange thing is I don't have any trouble beating the heck out or bleeding out a big fish, I'm almost sure I'm not the only one, am I?
Why is that? after all both are living creatures

peter-curacao wrote: ↑Tue Oct 24, 2017 9:40 am Am I very gay if I say I couldn't do that myself
Strange thing is I don't have any trouble beating the heck out or bleeding out a big fish, I'm almost sure I'm not the only one, am I?
Why is that? after all both are living creatures

When a fish looks you in the eye it is just cold and annoying... when it's a warmblooded critter with fur and a eye that looks like a dog... dang it... now I'm getting misty eyed.

Deer do taste good though.

I think I last did in a "furry" when I was a teenager. Just can't seem to get over the gut reaction. Hopefully it won't be an issue if I ever have to hunt to eat again.

Don't get me wrong as long as you eat it I'm not against hunting, just saying this goofball couldn't do it

We eat at least two a year now, and have gone through 4 in one year. Killing to eat is part of what we are, despite some who believe otherwise. Pulled the card from my game camera. Had to post this one. The smoke from the muzzleloader is still clearing...

Nice!

With you cape-man. Used to be how we kept food on the table. But after years of "store meat" or getting it from someone else (and maybe too many sessions of Bambi movies with the kids) I'm not up to it like I used to be. I'm sure that a bit of time being hungry would make all that go away though.

Cape Man, that is some really good shooting from a muzzleloader!! Congrats again!! Jeff

Only time I hunted was on a whaling ship, just a deckhand, East side of Bequia, Grenadines. They still hunt whale once a year, last I heard. This is not my photo, but I never hunted on land, bars..yes!

I think hunting has a lot to do with how and where you grow up. As a kid my father and I shot two moose every year. There was no sport in it, this was what we ate. No moose and it would have been a hungry winter. Because of this I have never thought of hunting as a sport, it is just another job that must be done before the snow flies.

Capeman,
Please measure and score him. I bet he would go on the Florida Big Buck Registry. Especially for central Florida! That is awesome! Congrats!

Steve

Dutch1 wrote: ↑Tue Oct 24, 2017 6:14 pm Capeman,
Please measure and score him. I bet he would go on the Florida Big Buck Registry. Especially for central Florida! !

Steve

I have a dark suspicion Craig will know

Fuzz wrote: ↑Tue Oct 24, 2017 6:01 pm I think hunting has a lot to do with how and where you grow up.

Yep not much hunting in The Netherlands, granddad was a farmer dad an artist and they were both into horses riding/racing/carriages.So food was there and animals were there as a hobby. Now I think of it I don't think with exception from Kings and royals there are many hunters in the Netherlands but I could be wrong, fisherman there's a lot of them, but that's not strange with a coastline like that

Capeman,
Please measure and score him. I bet he would go on the Florida Big Buck Registry. Especially for central Florida! That is awesome! Congrats!

He will be close to the Hillsborough record...

Fuzz wrote: ↑Tue Oct 24, 2017 6:01 pm I think hunting has a lot to do with how and where you grow up. As a kid my father and I shot two moose every year. There was no sport in it, this was what we ate. No moose and it would have been a hungry winter. Because of this I have never thought of hunting as a sport, it is just another job that must be done before the snow flies.

Pretty much the same for me Fuzz. I've shooting since I was six and we hunted for food when I grew up. First squirrels then bigger game.
We kept the respect in the old way,s offering a prayer of thanksgiving to everything we killed. To us it is important. We used everything the animal gave us. Even squirrel tails became fishing lures.

He isn't walking any more. This is the one I was after when the bigger guy walked out Saturday.

Wow, congrats on a very productive season there! And that 11 is a whopper anywhere in the country.

Alas, our timber wolf population is getting so high that the deer herd is really getting beat up in northern Wisconsin. I'm jealous of the number of deer you have around.

Congrats again Cape Man!! Good year of hunting for you!! Jeff

So when the deer population in Florida collapses we will tell them it is because Capeman killed the last two breeders in the state.
Another fine looking buck.

Craig you suck

Yeah...I know

Just ate two huge venison burritos...

cape man wrote: ↑Sat Oct 28, 2017 1:58 pm Just ate two huge venison burritos...

Okay, Now you really Suck!

Did you at least share a little with the eel?
Sent you a PM.

I may not be done! This morning's game pic!



Have never seen the bodies on deer like this. Nice rack, but the body is what is extraordinary for this part of Florida.

cape man wrote: ↑Tue Oct 31, 2017 12:41 pm Nice rack, but the body is what is extraordinary for this part of Florida.

Peter C will have fun with this!

Don't encourage him!!!

Jaysen wrote: ↑Tue Oct 31, 2017 1:39 pm

cape man wrote: ↑Tue Oct 31, 2017 12:41 pm Nice rack, but the body is what is extraordinary for this part of Florida.

Peter C will have fun with this!

My fingers and keyboard were itching, but I thought I let him go with it

Cape Man, that is a huge deer to be a Florida deer!! Good luck although you are already having a great season!! Jeff

Jeff wrote: ↑Tue Oct 31, 2017 2:15 pm Cape Man, that is a huge deer to be a Florida deer!!

With a (fake) rack and body like that, probably from the Miami area

Couldn't help yourself, could you?

cape man wrote: ↑Tue Oct 31, 2017 2:57 pm Couldn't help yourself, could you?

No I'm truly sorry Craig

And yet one more...have never seen this many guys of such size. The population along the Alafia river is STRONG!



On the way to the house just after 6pm yesterday almost had an 8 point jump onto my hood as it cleared the neighbor's fence chasing a yearling doe.

Cape man, that is really big deer for these parts!! Bigger than GA deer!! Jeff

Craig you suck even more

topwater wrote: ↑Thu Nov 02, 2017 8:27 am Craig you suck even more

He must be using deer crack!

Just remember...it is not always paradise along the river...



Against the law to shoot a swimming deer!

cape man wrote: ↑Thu Nov 02, 2017 11:48 am

Against the law to shoot a swimming deer!

Then put some bait on your porch

Season closes Sunday... Yesterday morning this guy showed up with 3 other bucks and two does...

WOW, nice Buck!! Jeff

So is this guy headed for the freezer?

If I see him. Sat in the stand yesterday morning and evening but just does showed up. These are amazing bucks for this part of Florida. I've always loved living here, but this past 6 months have been exceptional (even with Irma). Have to travel today and tomorrow so he has a good chance of making it to next season.

Couple of pics...

Yesterday evening here's the two does who came into the field. At one point they were lined up in the scope and the .270 would have taken them both. That's me, the responsible, law-abiding hunter sitting in the stand in the upper left.



This is the blue berry field up the road... Brrrrr. Hit 26 F before the sunrise.

Now that's hunting weather

Last day of the season. Heard two different hunters at least a mile east right after first light. Hope they didn't get the big one...

Have lived here 24 years and have never seen as many deer or deer as big as these. Something is going well for white tail here. In the midst of all the development and changes to Florida, I am really enjoying it.

My experience is that it's the development. More food, less hunting pressure, more clean water (they will drink from pools). If it follows the normal trend there will be a population explosion with larger animals then they will start to thin out as the population pressure overruns the supply of resources (back to normal but just more). We saw this in NY as the farmlands started to convert to housing developments. We've seen it here in the SC south east as well (more the return than the build).

Hopefully you'll have enough hunters to keep the size up and the population healthy.

Good luck.

Next Saturday is archery opening. We'll be in Jensen beach. One of our grad students may get lucky.

Tough choice, first day of hunting or the builders meet
My brother in law would have voted for hunting. He takes it serous. He had a stroke 4 days ago, got out of the hospitable two days ago and went hunting today

Great photos Cape Man!!! You will get a few this year, I am sure of it!!! Jeff

Still scoreless, but it is starting to heat up. Two more weeks and they'll be walking around with their tongues hanging out! We have at least 4 different eight points, but have seen only two of them during daylight. The only ones walking out in front of me and the stand are a doe and her twins which I have declared off-limits. We have been watching her with them for over 6 months now and she gets to walk as long as they are with her.

Now this guy...he's another story all together!

Nice buck Cape Man!! Jeff

Nice rack!

We have a large feral hog coming out in the field almost every night, so I put a pile of corn in the trap with the door open and the trigger off. The hog hasn't found it but the other animals have!





Even if I set the trigger and the door, there's no lid on that trap so he would just jump out. Still...too funny!

Those are great photos!!!!! Jeff

He made a mistake...

You suck I do miss deer hunting thanks for the pic's .

Nice Cape Man, congrats!!!! Jeff

Nice! Congrats!!

What the use plan for that guy? couple of roasts and some jerky?

Nice looking animal. I did not know they got that big in your area.
Learned another thing also. I did not know it was possible to hunt bare foot

Nice Fuzz, I noticed his was bare foot as well!!! Crazy hunter!!! Good kill though!!!! Jeff

From the porch while drinking coffee and reading about Glossie Black's adventures. White Terry cloth camo robe.... I had to get dressed to go find him, which took two hours because he didn't bleed outside. Small hole going in but no exit. Not a single drop of blood. He ran a semi circle in the woods and died maybe 50 yards from where I shot him, but I searched the woods in the direction he entered. 10 acres of Florida river bottom Bush is not an easy search...

I pull the back straps and tenderloins for special, grilled (medium rare!) meals, and everything else gets ground for chili, picadillo, spaghetti, meatloaf, burgers,tacos, and anything else that ground beef can be used for. Low cholesterol, low fat, real meat that comes from the land.

Speaking of lean meat. Caribou is so lean you could starve to death eating it. To make decent hamburger with it beef fat needs to be added in. Don't know how those deer are for eating but the Sitka Blacktails around here are lip smacking good

Nice Cape Man, love the story from the porch!!!! Jeff

Way back, when I was less southern and I liked the woods being slopped at precarious angles, my dad's extended family would gather at the WV homestead for thanksgiving. We used to have a couple of "harvested a bit early and not necessarily male" whitetails. The young ones would pellet gun squirrels and rabbits. Teens on up would go for the birds and anything else that would feed the hoard. The real young ones would would work around the homestead gardens digging later tatters and onions (never ate them, but they stayed out of the way and thought it was fun). Dad's side of the family was poor ... there were 10 kids that got married, had more kids until there were never fewer than 40 of us but often many more... so it was just how you did it.

Mom's side was ... a bit more affluent. Gandpa owned a machine shop. It was fancy tablecloths, fine china and real silver. Grandma could bake a mean loaf of white bread and the turkey... all the uppity cousins would fight over the scraps the next day it was so perfect. Grandma Ruby's fruitcake was like candy. I never understood the general hatred of fruitcake until she died and I ate some store bought crap. In spite of all the glitz and glamour though, Grandma Ruby's table never really said "thanksgiving" like the backwoods table of fresh game and home grown veggies.

The last hunt I remember was ... '83. After that everyone had money. So they started buying store meat. One uncle was a hold out. He would always show up with something less than 24hr from living. Every time I was down in WV, he and I would go out in the woods, or to the pond, and eat at least one meal "like we belong in these hills." I know most of my uncles trophy hunted at some point - I remember the mounted animals - but it was those meals, ones were everyone brought something to the table they harvested from nature, that stick in my mind when I think of "Thanksgiving".

I'm a bit jealous of your success. You've almost made me miss my past enough to go join a club (because you can't hunt unless you own the land in these parts) and put something other than fish on the table. Thank you for the pic. The trip down memory lane is much appreciated.

Brother and I are supposed to go out to the Sound in a couple weeks for late season blacktails, but our friend with the boat is having wife and money issues so I don't think it is going to happen now.

Was out by the barn working on the boat and my fishing/camping gear yesterday morning when the wife texted that there was a deer in the field behind the house. Walked up and saw a big doe that was new to the property, and a nice young buck standing behind her. He just made the cut for legal size antlers, but the meat is going to be delicious.



I stripped him bare and we put just over 60 lbs of meat in the freezer. At 8:30 pm I was once again reminded that shooting a deer is the easy part...

Capeman,

Nice little buck! Even better when you have a scout team working with you!!!
Merry Christmas!
-Reid

She claims half the credit for this one, but I told her she should get at least 75%. Not only that, she helped cut while I did the grinding. Pretty awesome for the art major girl who grew up in the burbs outside of Philly! Her dream would be a loft apartment in Manhattan and yet she has embraced the boonies.



Although she did give up when she got towards the bottom of the cooler and the meat was covered in bloody ice water!

Making me long for a trip to the mountains. Congrats.

By the way, to any readers here...Merry Christmas, Happy Hanakka, Quansa, or whatever floats the boat! 'Tis the Season!

Congratulations! Nothing better than fresh wild meat. Tell Patti atta girl Wonderful to have a gal that helps fill the freezer

Great working together Cape Man & Patti!!!! Congrats again, great season for you!!! Jeff

The corn has about 2 dozen squirrels on it at any given time. This guy didn't pay attention to the tall grass behind him...

So was the tall grass the cause of his demise?

Believe it or not, we are just 3 months away from archery. I'm covered up with some nice deer, including a large, fat, lone doe without a fawn that comes in twice a day. Perfect archery venison... Yesterday afternoon she shows up with twin fawns! She gets to walk...

Double post

Thanks cape for the heads up. Had forgotten to apply for FWC permits. Gonna try to get on silver springs forest since it is new this year.

Good luck! That's a gorgeous property. If you get in it will be interesting to here how much pressure is there. The Green Swamp used to be much more likely to get a deer than it is now...

I have been hunting green swamp since I was a child and finally got one last year. It was a squirrel but I got one. Basically a good day hunting for me is to not hear a phone ring with a unreasonable customer on the other end and not tip out of my stand while napping.

Action pictures from the game cam...

I need to set one of those game cams up in the yard. I might even catch the dang bear that is hanging around.

Beautiful property A lot flatter but looks like my property here in the SM of NC, Don't have that big cat you do cape man have smaller ones. Do have turkeys and wild hogs, bear and dear. Love to see them walking around my 35 acres. Don't necessarily like the deer eating my garden 30' from the house or the bears wandering on the concrete patio 10' from the double glass door to the family room and in between the grills.

For a year this guy has been showing up on the game cams at various times at night. Never in the daylight, and I never saw him with my eyes. Until monday morning around 6:15 am, when he was in my feed plot which is about 80 yards from the house. Got out the .270 and could see him but not the crosshairs in the scope. Centered his shoulder and let one go,. Still so dark the muzzle flash didn't let me see a hit, and he ran into the woods on the edge of the property...very thick, Florida woods. Waited for the sun to come up and went out to find him. Not a drop of blood and when he took off I didn't hear any crashing in the woods. Missed...

Yesterday I came home around 3:00pm and the vultures were all around. He was laying about 30 feet inside the woods! At least 50 vultures were working him, and the lower half and all the organs were already gone. From one of the game cam pictures I was able to measure his height based on a cabbage palm he was standing behind, and he came up to my hip, meaning he was well over 200 lbs. That big, and having nuts like oranges, he would not taste good, and I still have sausage from the last one. I'll wait till next week and don some gloves to retrieve the skull which will dwarf the others I have. Set the game cam up on the carcass to see what comes in to take care of it over the next few days.

A dead hog is a good hog.

I have always heard it is the piglets that make the best pork. Where there is one that big should be more.

100 lb or less sow. Yummy.

Fortunately he is the only one I've had for almost a year. The river bottom land we live on and the surrounding woods are prime habitat for them, and over the years we have killed dozens. They are one of the worst invasive species we have. Florida is probably right after Texas with the level of the problem, but they are moving north through the country at a rapid pace. Missouri is a new hot spot.

I hate wasting meat, but glad he's dead.

Yes, Texas has a lot, because everything in Texas is bigger, they get up to the 500 and 600 pounds!! Look like deformed hippos!

Hung the game cam facing the carcass. I was going to go out and get the head yesterday or this morning. Thursday afternoon and evening, before we left for the boat builder meet, the garbage men came and took care of it!
And then who shows up? ANOTHER ONE!!!
Jeeesshh!

Nothing but scattered bones. Did find one the cutters...

Nice! That was a big one.

Nice Cape Man!!! Jeff

Archery opened last Saturday. Every morning and evening I have a young doe by herself (too small) and a big doe with a late tiny fawn. Letting them both walk. Starting to get pics of the boys though. Wonder if they met...

The Buck caught by camera 1 has a nice rack on him. Camera 3 might be better eating though.

Big buck!!! Jeff

Nice deer.

We need the state to open up bears for a weekend...

Definitely heating up. Was sanding the stairs in the house instead of sitting in the stand for the one at 8:30 this morning. We actually had a conversation about what we were doing at 6:00am and I decided to get on her honey do list...

Good looking deer . Pretty respectable for the "Alafia river valley"

I know next to nothing about deer but my first thought was "man that is a good looking animal"

Story is that deer were brought into this region from Wisconsin in the 40s and 50s . White tail deer were almost decimated back then, as they were a major source of protein during the depression and before. My father was a big hunter here as a young man, and never got a deer. Turkey were also very scarce. Lots of hunting today, but only a fraction of the population compared to then when everyone would take almost every chance to put food in the larder. Like other states we are also seeing big increases in suburban neighborhoods where they serve as deer sanctuaries.

Cape Man, these guys are basically in your back yard, correct? Jeff

Its on the back corner of our 5 acre property which is surrounded on 3 sides by about 2,000 acres of environmental land and a church campground/retreat. The Alafia river is small enough and has shallow areas where they can cross. I have a tree stand near all those pictures which is a must for archery, but can also reach out from the porch during muzzle loader or rifle. I try and harvest two per year which is enough for the house. One of our grad students took a small buck as well which added up to 3 last year. There at least 12 different deer showing up on the camera this year.

https://earth.google.com/web/@27.875681 ... y,0h,0t,0r

That's our house in the upper left. The field those pics are from is just below and to the right of the swimming pool.

Got it!! Thank you Cape Man!! Beautiful area!! Jeff

Another action series of our cat and a squirrel...

They are fast!!! Jeff

Great pictures CapeMan! What kind of cat is that?

Bob.

Today ends archery and does closed here last weekend. Breaking out the smoke pole tomorrow morning and sitting this evening one more time with the crossbow. Unseasonably warm, but the rut should start in the next few days/weeks.

Of course... I think they know the regs better than me!

cape man wrote: ↑Sat Oct 24, 2020 9:47 am Of course... I think they know the regs better than me!
20201024_080218.jpg

Meat... Barely legal but he will eat!

The little young ones are better eating, at least that is how it is here.

Other than a doe, that's the perfect (legal) venison deer, which is why I hunt.

Nice Cape Man!!!! Jeff

Dude i so hate you right now

Kind of hate myself...

You can sit in my stand anytime you want. Seriously. Rifle opens the first week of November.

It is really easy to pull the trigger.. 6 hours...

Save me some chops please.

Nice Cape Man!!! Jeff

Sold all my rifles and muzzle loaders when i moved to florida . I wouldnt even know i was hunting unless i was standing in
knee deep snow and 0 degrees out . use to hunt northern Maine

He's walking around with his tongue hanging out!

Now that is a big boy!!!! Jeff

Damn.

Nice!

When you are too lazy to go scout and hang a trail cam last weekend you get pics like this from the guy who hunts near you. Citrus WMA.

Wow!

Hey there Cape Man, Cheers to you! Here's a couple scenes from this year as well - I haven't gotten any giants yet but will be eating good this year as well.



This is a lease and I do get stuck having a processor quarter the deer - not allowed to do it on property.
wade

Nice one! He'll eat just fine. I enjoy processing but also like dropping off a quartered deer down the road from us and paying the $65 to process and package it...
We were gone over the weekend and I think the rut started. Several day time pics of bucks...not the big guy, but at least two studly 8 points.

This year's latest addition to the herd...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBqPvloTRgI

Nice Cape Man!!! Jeff

Girls only dance...

Could you hear what music they were dancing to, Mozart. Beatles or Lady Gaga?

That is a great picture!

Every time I pull the cards from the game cams I'm looking for one like that. Did not ask them to perfectly frame their dance...

Great photo Cape Man!!!! Jeff

If you had audio, would we hear one say " I saw him first!"?

Cool picture.

It's starting....

Nice cape Man!!!

Sitting here drinking my morning coffee and visiting with my wife and sister and talking about how few moose we had seen this year. About that time a 50+ inch bull walked through the yard with his harem in tow.

Now that was very cool Fuzz!!! Jeff

7:45 this morning from the porch in the white Terry cloth camo, drawn in with scent of a fresh cup of coffee and a cigarette. 100 yard shot with the 50 cal Acura muzzle loader. Not the big one, but he's going in the freezer. A friend said just last week that hunting from the porch just didn't seem right, to which I said "I pay the mortgage and taxes!"

I did get dressed for the pics...

Congratulations! Nice looking animal. Nothing better than being able to shoot game animals off the porch
Only in Florida can you get dressed up for being in the woods and be wearing open toed sandals

How is Milas hawk doing?

Jumped in the pool afterwards. 75F. Brrrrr. Mila's hawk is going crazy! Sex season for them.

Good looking buck. Been far too long since I last tasted venison.

Nice Cape Man, congrats!! My brother in-law got a buck in GA over the weekend as well!!! Jeff

Saw the big boy this morning walking behind a big doe on my way out. If I wasn't in the beginning of the busiest week at work for many years, he would easily have been mine. The rut is in full tilt here, so he was absolutely oblivious that I was there, focused solely on the swaying haunch of the girl in front of him. Oh well, in many ways it is just as special to live in a place in Florida with so much wildlife going on every day.

Young deer in velvet at our property in Madison. Tis the season indeed.

That is a good looking animal!
Will the boss let you hunt them this fall?

He's going to be a very nice animal if he makes it a few more years...

The boss doesn’t mind us shooting whitetail as long as we actually eat them. Harrison and I whacked 2 each and Seth’s boy shot two bucks as well, same stand 15 minutes apart. We didn’t even knock a dent in the population. Going to focus on shooting does this year, we are overpopulated with them. One of my guys from work also killed a nice buck on our new property. With CWD less than 100 miles away, they need to be thinned out big time.

Fuzz, did you notice the air temperature in the photo? Just right for a summer vacation…

It's 74 in Tok AK right now.

Here’s a good ‘‘tis the season” photo from a friend in Texas. Free range, not a high fence…

There's a free range herd like that south of Aradia.

Looks like Axis deer. They are often around our house and are considered invasive to the native white tail. Supposedly very good to eat. I don't hunt so not sure but I think they are always open season?

Dougster

Dougster wrote: ↑Fri Jul 07, 2023 10:46 am Looks like Axis deer. They are often around our house and are considered invasive to the native white tail. Supposedly very good to eat. I don't hunt so not sure but I think they are always open season?

Dougster

Doug, I have zero intel about when axis deer season is in Texas. Derrick does tell me the meat tastes very much like filet mignon. I understand the does drop fawns two or three times per year instead of the once a year for whitetail. Fits well into the invasive category. I might have to go shoot a couple to test out the meat.

The meat is excellent and they are MUCH bigger than a white tail. I'm trying to get access to the herd near Arcadia...

Yall come on down

Dougster

Game on, ‘tis the season.

Nice Cape Man & AA. Great photos!! Jeff