Can you remember how many deer you have killed ?

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Brian Pfleuger

Moderator Emeritus
ZeroJunk said:
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.
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Do you hunt with rifles, I presume? The % lost is quite a bit lower with rifles, from what I've seen. Rifle shooters are more likely to practice than people shooting deer slugs and the (massively) better trajectory improves the range estimate margin dramatically. The difference between 75 and 100 with a rifle is irrelevant. It's the difference between hit/miss/wound with a 12ga.
I don't know anybody (though I'm sure such people exist) who practices with deer slugs on a regular basis. Everybody gets the gun out the weekend before the season, shoots a box of slugs and calls it good... if they have a scope. Iron sight guys usually don't even bother.
On top of that, most deer slugs have next to no hydrostatic shock. Most leave the muzzle well below HS speeds, say nothing of impact speeds.
We JUST got rifle hunting in our area, the first season hasn't even started for most of us, some have had a year or two. The limited numbers I've seen with rifle, the loss rate is so far zero. I'm sure it's NOT going to be zero but I wouldn't be surprised if it was under 2-4% long term, for ethical hunters anyway. There's always "shoot, hope and pray" types, regardless of weapon.
 
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ZeroJunk

New member
Do you hunt with rifles, I presume? The % lost is quite a bit lower with rifles, from what I've seen. Rifle shooters are more likely to practice than people shooting deer slugs and the (massively) better trajectory improves the range estimate margin dramatically. The difference between 75 and 100 with a rifle is irrelevant. It's the difference between hit/miss/wound with a 12ga.
I don't know anybody (though I'm sure such people exist) who practices with deer slugs on a regular basis. Everybody gets the gun out the weekend before the season, shoots a box of slugs and calls it good... if they have a scope. Iron sight guys usually don't even bother.
On top of that, most deer slugs have next to no hydrostatic shock. Most leave the muzzle well below HS speeds, say nothing of impact speeds.
We JUST got rifle hunting in our area, the first season hasn't even started for most of us, some have had a year or two. The limited numbers I've seen with rifle, the loss rate is so far zero. I'm sure it's NOT going to be zero but I wouldn't be surprised if it was under 2-4% long term, for ethical hunters anyway. There's always "shoot, hope and pray" types, regardless of weapon.
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I have never hunted with slugs. I have spent more hours bow hunting than anything else. My best bucks have been taken with a muzzle loader and interestingly enough I have never lost a deer with it, plain old side lock. I have lost one deer with the bow and one with a centerfire rifle along with losing one elk with a bow. The deer with the centerfire was only about 100 yards. No excuse for making a bad shot.
 
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sc outdoorsman

New member
I have been hunting since I was old enough to chase my Dad's boot straps. I am in my late 40's now. The is now way I can recount all the deer taken. I remember a good many mostly the big ones or ones with funny stories behind them. I remember a few I started dragging and wish I had never shot. The truck is always a little further than it seemed when I pulled the trigger.

I can tell you the number my son has killed because I have been with him for them all and they are seem to be a little more special to me.

I am thankful for the chance to hunt and take all of them over the years.
 
L

Legionnaire

New member
Yes. I didn't start hunting until my early 30s, and I'm mid 50s now. I have a running list of deer taken, where, and what I used--rifle, shotgun, bow, handgun, ML. I also make notes of anything particularly unique about a harvest. I review the list periodically, and rehash the trips with my Father-in-law, who was the one who got me started. I enjoy the memories, and write them down so I don't lose them.
 
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bamaranger

New member
yup

I started a log, about age 25 or so. I could remember back to catch up, and have kept up the score card ever since. I also have kept a deer diary of sorts, though not every day of every season is in it. But kills, big deer, special circumstances are mostly written up.

So....I can give a score, date, describe deer, etc. Can also break it down into rifle, muzzleloader and bow. The bow data is kinda detailed. Distance of shot, the hit, dx tracked, the tackle info.

Thirty years later, the dx of bow kills has not changed, average shot, 14.5 yds. Most do not go more than 75 yds., many less than that.

I've done about the same thing with turkeys, but I only shotgun them.
 
M

Mike / Tx

New member
I killed my first one at age 6, and have been dropping them just about every year since, and I am knocking on 49 pretty hard. I haven't got a clue as to how many, but it would be a pile for sure.

When I started out and up until about 10 years ago we really DID count on the extra meat to help get through the year. It was simply one of the small things that when added up at the end of the year saved us a little extra cash. We did all of our own processing except for making link sausage. It was just easier to have it made than to do the whole smoke house thing here in the city.

I have always hunted on my own property as well as being invited to hunt with friends, so there was no added lease fee. Most years we didn't put out feeders and if we did it was not for hunting, but either after the season to help them out when there was little mast, or just around fawning time to boost their protein.

As for memorable hunts, I have had a ton of them. Even years when I did not actually kill a deer I had encounters with them where I let them pass and could have but didn't shoot. A couple of those bucks have been some of the best I have seen in the areas I hunt, and I was just as happy to watch them trot off. Most of my best memories however are not actually of the hunts, but rather the time spent with family and friends who are now passed away.

Since the hog populations have ballooned in the areas I have been hunting I have concentrated my efforts on them rather than the deer. Heck I even have a half dozen does we now call the farm pets, as they drop their fawns within 50yds or so of the house. I guess I am just not as mad at them as I once was.

This all said, don't get the wrong impression, I am out there every season with bow, rifle and handgun looking for Mr Big. It's just over the years my criteria has changed and if I am going to drop the hammer on a buck, it is going to have to be something REALLY OUTSTANDING. In fact here are the last two bucks I have taken with a rifle both breaking 20+ inches inside,

Opening morning 04,
99333778AlWBgp_fs.jpg

Buck01.jpg


weekend before Christmas 09,
1219090940a.jpg

P1280188.jpg


and I let these fella's go on about their business,
10-Pasture001.jpg

8-PointatStand.jpg
 
Z

ZeroJunk

New member
Nice bucks Mike. I'm like you in that my criteria for shooting a buck is that he has to be better than one I have already killed.

But, I really like deer burger and take enough doe to keep in stock.

You sure can't remember those like the nice bucks.
 
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warbirdlover

New member
I've been deer hunting now for 47 years. I haven't always got one every year but at least one every other year. Best I can guess. That makes about 23 (mostly bucks) and only one was a real wall hanger. Last two were pretty decent 9 pointers with about 17" spread. Not quite good enough to mount.

But really good to eat!! :D
 
D

Deja vu

New member
I actually remember one my brother killed better than any I killed out side the first one.

My brother has a Ruger 77/44 bolt rifle. His was internally suppressed. He was shooting some heavy for caliber loads (I want to say 300 grain) at about 1000 FPS.

We came up on 5 deer (1 buck and 4 does) grazing. He took aim and dropped the buck. The does watched it kick for about 20 seconds then when back to grazing. We had to shoo them away to get the carcass. If there had been another buck he could of handed me the rifle and I could have taken it too.

That was one of the craziest things I have ever seen. That inspired me to suppress my Marlin 1895 SBL (45/70) With the right loads it is very quiet and shoots a 500 grain bullet. Has over 1000 Foot pounds at 100 yards even when subsonic from the barrel.
 
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Hunter Customs

New member
I don't recall for sure how many deer I've killed.
Killed my first deer in 1970, a nice 8 point buck.

When I first started hunting you were only allowed one tag, then they allowed two tags so I would get two deer a year, then they allowed three tags so I would harvest three deer a year.

There was a couple of years I did not hunt, so I would say I've easily killed 50 deer or more.

I did not go last year but I'm going this year, however I'm just buying one tag and filling one tag seeing that I'm the only one left at home that eats them.

Best Regards
Bob Hunter
www.huntercustoms.com
 
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lefteye

New member
With a .270 in Wyoming, Missouri, and Minnesota, and a shotgun and bow in Iowa, I've taken roughly 30 deer in about 36 years of deer hunting.
 
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bird_dog

New member
I've been hunting for 25 years...

I've shot 1-5 deer every year with bow, muzzloader, rifle, shotgun and, most recently, handguns -- never had a year without at least a doe. At one point I know my biggest buck was my 25th set of antlers...but he wasn't my last. At least 2-3 smaller bucks since then. I've since lost track.

And being introduced to the sport by a family of meat hunters (I hate that term, but it fits!), I killed many, many does for each of those 25 bucks, as a young guy I would fill the older guys' tags so they had meat. I'm GUESSING somewhere in the neighborhood of 150 deer total, but I'm not sure. Probably pretty close. Possibly a bit more.
 
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sc928porsche

New member
50+ years of hunting deer. I am certain that I have averaged over 1 per year. Many years 2 and sometimes 3 depending on luck and where I hunted. Of course there have been a few years that I didnt get any at all. Elk is 21, Moose 4, pronghorn 6, and bear 4. I am lucky enough to have relatives living in California, Oregon, Utah, Colorado, Idaho, Maine, and Alaska.
 
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cnimrod

New member
after 30 years

not exactly. most years one some years 2 some years none. I did log them on my computer some years ago but forgot to back that up, duh! antlers are all crudely mounted with some details on the back of the plaque. except for the ones I turned into wizard sticks for my Gandolph lovers here:)
 
A

Art Eatman

Staff in Memoriam
It's been a family thing to saw the front of the skull and then nail the horns to a garage rafter or some such place. A few plaque mounts around the house.

I can look at a set of antlers and recall the circumstances of the hunt. The where and when and conditions. Who was in camp and involved in the bull sessions around the campfire.

I've always sorta figured that as long as I'm alive, that buck is sorta immortalized--'cause your only immortality is in the minds of your family and friends.
 
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