CraigC
Sixgun Nut
If I had to deer hunt in July/August, I wouldn't. I like being in the woods in the fall, when it's cool and the leaves are changing.
That's not helpful or productive.
I think I'm going to indefinitely forsake big game hunting but . . .
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Jason_W
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Around here, November - February are the best times to be outside. It's different on the coast, of course. It's going to be over 100 here today and we can run those sorts of temps into October sometimes.
As a bonus, if I hunt one of the unusual rainy days, I'll probably have the woods to myself. Californians hunker down indoors if it's even overcast.
Newtosavage
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Just call it how I see it. There are deer to be found in every state. Sometimes, you gotta hunt though.
CraigC
Sixgun Nut
Not everybody wants to hunt when it's 90 friggin' degrees. I don't hunt for meat or sustenance. I hunt to hunt and enjoy my time in the woods and that's near impossible to do when it's that hot. I spent the first 32yrs of my life in Florida, which was not only hot 90% of the year but also soured me on hunting public land and I just ain't gonna do either any more. If that constitutes "whining", then I guess I'm a whiner. I thought it was just personal preference.
eastbank
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thats not whining, thats common sense. i don,t hunt in 90 degree(maybe groundhogs) heat either, thats why i hunted in africa in their winter. you can tell the whiners here by their clean closes, you don,t get dirty in a bar or sitting in a truck. eastbank.
Jason_W
Member
90 degrees in July or August would be a treat. Anything below 95 I'll take.
I might fish in that kind of heat, but being of northern upbringing, I just won't last doing any sort of physical activity.
I'm happy to wait til late October or early November to find a place to chase birds and rabbits. Public land should be a little less crowded by then as well.
theblakester
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Try not living in California.
Jason_W
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That'd be nice, wouldn't it.
.308 Norma
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Every once in a while, when my wife (also an avid hunter) wants to get under my skin, she says, "I only married you for a ticket out of California."
I guess you don't have that option, Jason. Sorry. There's no finer meal on earth than my wife's chicken fried venison steak with biscuits and gravy.
Jason_W
Member
Every once in a while, when my wife (also an avid hunter) wants to get under my skin, she says, "I only married you for a ticket out of California."
I guess you don't have that option, Jason. Sorry. There's no finer meal on earth than my wife's chicken fried venison steak with biscuits and gravy.
As much as I joke, it's not all bad here. There are some beautiful parts that have an amazing climate. The Sacramento valley just isn't one of them. The best thing I can say about Sacramento is, "Hey, at least it's not Stockton."
I'm hoping some day to be in a position to buy a little hunting land in one of the nearby other states. Some place to retreat to every now and then and just roam the woods with a gun like I did when I was a kid. That's a ways off, though.
jim in Anchorage
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I've read this whole thread and I think you'd be really,really happy in Alaska. Seriously.
MCgunner
Member
Heat is a pain, but if you're going to hunt doves in Texas, you must put up with it, and I don't know the last year I missed the north zone opener with my buddy first of September.
Teal season is in September here, to take advantage of the early blue wing migration. I used to do THAT, too, but being in waders in bath water and mud up to your thighs, and then there's the gators. I won't take my dog to the marsh in teal season. There have been dogs lost to the gators out there and there's some prehistoric monsters in that marsh, let me tell ya. No, now days, I pass on teal season. I really like taking Molly and she wouldn't like it if I left her at home. She'd like it even less if a gator ate her. I've had some epic teal hunts over the years, but I've decided to give that up.
Besides, duck hunting it's supposed to be COLD and miserable. I've broken ice to set decoys before and THAT was in coastal TEXAS. I have 5mm neoprene waders for those after the front COLD days. You can dress for cold, hard to put up with heat in the marsh, and I haven't even mentioned the mosquitoes down here which rival ANYWHERE in the USA. When you have to wear a cloth to breath to keep the skeeters out of your trachea, you KNOW it's bad. I have discovered the Thermacell, works well, but not good enough for a teal hunt. LOL
Teal season is in September here, to take advantage of the early blue wing migration. I used to do THAT, too, but being in waders in bath water and mud up to your thighs, and then there's the gators. I won't take my dog to the marsh in teal season. There have been dogs lost to the gators out there and there's some prehistoric monsters in that marsh, let me tell ya. No, now days, I pass on teal season. I really like taking Molly and she wouldn't like it if I left her at home. She'd like it even less if a gator ate her. I've had some epic teal hunts over the years, but I've decided to give that up.
Besides, duck hunting it's supposed to be COLD and miserable. I've broken ice to set decoys before and THAT was in coastal TEXAS.
I have 5mm neoprene waders for those after the front COLD days. You can dress for cold, hard to put up with heat in the marsh, and I haven't even mentioned the mosquitoes down here which rival ANYWHERE in the USA. When you have to wear a cloth to breath to keep the skeeters out of your trachea, you KNOW it's bad. I have discovered the Thermacell, works well, but not good enough for a teal hunt. LOL
Loyalist Dave
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swampcrawler
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While I still hunt deer and hog when possible, I absolutely adore small game (squirrel) hunting.
For me, harvesting a limit of bushytails with a .22 with clean headshots is incredibly fun.
For me, harvesting a limit of bushytails with a .22 with clean headshots is incredibly fun.
Jason_W
Member
For me it was ruffed grouse. I used to spend all of my free time wandering abandoned logging roads looking for grouse. Their populations run in 10 year cycles. Things got pretty exciting during peak years and I was always in good shape during a bird season.
Captcurt
Member
My youngest daughter would dis-own me if I didn't have venison in the freezer when she comes home for a visit. I didn't see her for 3 years when she moved to Philly. The first thing that she wanted to eat when she came home was venison, and the first thing that she wanted to do was shoot a gun. Yep, I was one proud father.
Sorry dude, but you need to get your priorities straight. Do you want to make money and live in La La Land or live in a state where you can do what you want?
Sorry dude, but you need to get your priorities straight. Do you want to make money and live in La La Land or live in a state where you can do what you want?
bearman49709
Member
Don't know what you consider young I'll be a great grandpa in six months. If my wife ever wanted to move to Ca I'd have her committed.Agreed, but life can take a turn. It turns out that the whole "for better or for worse" part of the vows might mean a move to California. You young guys out there, ruminate on that for a bit.
Newtosavage
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This
Captcurt
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Have to agree 100%. Well, I am talking about the venison, biscuits and gravy, not your wife's cooking.There's no finer meal on earth than my wife's chicken fried venison steak with biscuits and gravy.
We are talking flour or sawmill gravy of aren't we?
Speedo66
Member
I looked at the criteria on that "10 worst hunting states", and found them to be a joke. Some of the states had the highest deer yields of any states in the country, and they still considered them bad. NY was downgraded, among others, because most of the deer weren't 3 1/2 years old. Many hunters could care less as long as they bring home some venison, not everybody cares about trophy mounts, I sure could care less. Same for NJ and PA, huge totals, low grades. These states are so loaded with deer they have to keep harvesting buck and doe. Young ones have the best meat anyway.
They also downgraded for cold weather. Where are these guys from, HI? Deer hunting is a winter sport and in the NE it's going to be cold. Stop bitching, get over your wussy candy ass selves, and get out there and freeze your asses off like everyone else who enjoys winter hunting.
They also downgraded for cold weather. Where are these guys from, HI? Deer hunting is a winter sport and in the NE it's going to be cold. Stop bitching, get over your wussy candy ass selves, and get out there and freeze your asses off like everyone else who enjoys winter hunting.
Jason_W
Member
The little ones do taste the best. While a lot of the states on the list are due to the lack of trophy deer, I can attest to the fact that in northern New England, it's due to low deer numbers in general.
Like I said, I'd love to hunt a place with a lot small, careless deer running around everywhere.
Speedo66
Member
I don't know what part of VT you were from, but VT is contiguous to NY which has plenty of public hunting land throughout the state. A nonresident permit and you would have been in business.
.308 Norma
Member
Yeah, my wife calls it "milk" gravy, but she says some people call it "flour," or "country" gravy. She makes it by mixing flour and milk with the drippings from the venison steaks.
I feel bad for eager hunters who are stuck in states where the laws are written by lawyers and tree-hugging non-hunters. I love Kansas for it's abundance of game and mostly sensible game laws. At age 70, I've hunted every legal species of critter in Kansas for over 60 years, but the laws keep getting stricter every year. So our mostly sensible laws get less sensible every year. My goal is to hunt as much as I can until they throw dirt on me.
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