Can you remember how many deer you have killed ?

[ZeroJunk]

I was thinking about this in another thread. When you are young it is easy enough so I never wrote it down. But, after 35 years or so of deer hunting I have lost track. I kill two most years, but some years one and some years four or five. I wish I had kept some kind of diary. Might be a good idea for some of you young guys cause your memory will go south on you sooner or later. Of course that gives you the luxury of remembering stuff that didn't happen and forgetting stuff that did.

 

[EMN89]

I'm 22 and have been hunting for 7 years and I have killed 15 deer and it is getting harder to remember specific deer and hunts, I can imagine as I get older I will lose track of how many deer I have killed.

 

[shortwave]

Bout in the same boat as you ZeroJunk.

Been over forty years and I've just lost track. At this stage of the game, I forgot what I did last week.

 

[Mueller]

Well in 20+ years of deer hunting I have harvested 42 deer with Bow, muzzle loader/shotgun and centerfire rifle.

There are a few moose and some bears and a piggy or two in that time frame as well as a lot of grouse and ducks.

I have always kept a log and not really for the reason of keeping track of the kills, but to determine patterns and hot spots and what I call last chance hunting spots, where the chance of harvesting any deer would be better than 80% in the case of inclement weather usually.

The log does help in bringing to mind the various hunts since they are fairly detailed, because unlike some I don't take pictures of the various game animals, just something that was never a big thing in my family, so memories are all you have.

 

[Deja vu]

ill be 40 soon enough. I have killed a deer most years since I was 14. A few years I got both archery and Rifle. Id say about 30 deer all together but that may be a little high. I have also gotten 4 elk, 2 hogs, 1 moose, 3 black bear, 1 buffalo and 1 Kodiak. Out side of the deer I remember them well but the deer all kind of blend together. I was going to get a Wolf but I never saw one last year during hunting season though I saw a lot out side of the season.

about 75% of my deer in the last 8-10 years have been shot from my back porch on opening day of hunting season. They love my Apple trees and I like them smoked with the wood from those same apples trees.

Most of my deer have been killed with a 357 magnum Marlin. I have killed a few with the 45/70 and a few others with a my S&W 357 magnum model 686. I have taken 1 deer with a 12ga, and 2 with my fathers 30-06 when i was still a teenager.

I hope to some day take one with a Semiautomatic. I have a Coonan Classic with a 6 inch barrel that should do the trick and is the the Caliber I feel most comfortable and trust. We have what is called a "short range hunt" on Idaho where hand guns in a strait walled cartrage with a round that was originally designed for a hand gun is acceptable. I am thinking Ill use the Coonan in that one.

 

[PawPaw]

My father-in-law was a big rabbit hunter and after he died, his sons found a diary (or log) that he had been keeping for many years. The diary detailed all the hunts, the dogs that were used, weather conditions, who hunted with him, and anecdotes about each hunt. This diary consisted of three big spiral notebooks. All we could figure was that after every hunt, the old man went to his room and jotted down pertinent facts about each hunt to remind him what covers were productive during each hunt and how the dogs worked under varying weather conditions.

A log like that is a good idea. I know that his sons took a great deal of comfort from it.

 

[YARDDOG(1)]

"[Can you remember how many deer you have killed]"

No, I could only guess & get Close, But I can tell you how many I harvested
with my bow (17) PS In FL you can take a deer a day & posess (2) Bigest comming from Ga. I wish I kept a log

Y/D

 

[L_Killkenny]

A log like that is a good idea. I know that his sons took a great deal of comfort from it.

I've always wished I kept better notes. We party hunt here in Iowa so some years I kill five or six, some years I don't shoot at all, anywhere in between, no idea how many I've killed.

But I did find a neat little notebook at a local outdoor shop, "Rite in the Rain" all weather notebook. About 4" x 5 1/2", water resistant paper, fits in my back pocket, has plastic covers front and back. Been using one for a month or so for daily notes for work and play, every day in my back pocket, no signs of wear. Right next to it they had a "Hunter's Logbook". Same construction, just a little more specific in purpose and hunter orange covers. I'll be keeping better notes from now on.

 

[Sure Shot Mc Gee]

Me too. I'm in the same boat as ZeroJunk & shortwave. The only difference between us is. I have an extra 10 yrs. added on beyond shortwave's.
Um. say there mrs. >Whats my name again?_

 

[Art Eatman]

Can't really call it. I've tagged some four dozen bucks, roughly. I never kept track of does on the home place, nor the deer I killed there during a culling program of three or so years. Keeping count just never seemed important.

 

[youngunz4life]

yes

 

[hooligan1]

My memory has faded, I read the thread this morning and almost started to cry because I can't remember all of them, then I realized that I was lucky enough to be able to hunt this many years successfully for deer, and the best of the stories I remember but not all.

 

[603Country]

More than 200, but less than 300. The one day max for me was 11 (orders from the ranch management to cull does). No way can I remember all of them, but I do think that I remember all the misses. Luckily, there aren't TOO many of them, but over the years that total has grown also. And for what it's worth, the first deer was taken with a shotgun, the next 10 years of deer were taken with a Marlin 336 in 35 Remington, the next 10 years or so with a Remington Model 700 in 270, followed by decades with a Sako in 270. Also in the mix were a few taken with a 30-06, a few with a 220 Swift, a few with the 223 and the last two years I've used a Ruger 77 MkII in 260.

 

[Hawg]

Killed my first one at 12. Am 55 now. Not no but Hell no, I have no idea.

 

[Brian Pfleuger]

I lost count several years ago. I had been keeping track by memory but I began hunting some much more productive areas and its much harder to remember 3-5 a year than 2 or 3 every 3 years.

 

[Rembrandt]

Been hunting for over 45 years, not important how many overall....but I do remember the big ones!

 

[ZeroJunk]

Well, what got me thinking about it was that the couple I have wounded and couldn't find I remember quite vividly and I was trying to figure what percentage that would be. Doesn't matter much I suppose.

 

[Indi]

0. But this is my first year hunting, and thanks to you guys, I'm going to keep a log of all of my hunts. Thanks!

 

[Gunplummer]

I did not keep track until I got married. The Ex was a picture taker. I have taken pictures since, but over all deer kill I do not know. We did not keep a camp book at the West Virginia camp until a couple years ago. We thought it a good idea to stop arguments about previous years. It works.

 

[FrankenMauser]

Zero.
Since I turned the legal age to hunt, I have never shot a Deer, let alone filled a tag. Though, I must admit... I only hunted Deer for 5 seasons ('96-98, '07-08 {Florida, 3+ months}, '08 {Utah}).

Most of the Deer hunts I've been on have just been so enjoyable, I enjoyed the weather and scenery a bit too much...