cold missouri deer hunt

Spacedone · Member Joined: Nov 04, 2005 Posts: 266 Location: missouri

out this am early hunting. fifth day without seeing anything.

it was 28 degrees with a windchill of 16 degrees and i went out and sat in a chair i have setup and nothing was moving the wind was howling and i was freezing. finally one lone squirrel passed me by and since i had been sitting in the damp cold for 3 hours i decided its to danged cold and i stood up and started to the house. i had started up my long rough hill and went about 50 yards and a white flag showed about 60 yards in front of me uphill. i pulled up my 303 longbranch and looked to watch it run thru the brush when i realized it had stopped and was looking at me. blam one shot and down it went.

amazing how the chill in your bones just goes away.

button buck about 140 pounds

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

since missouri this year has unlimited bonus tags i guess its to the woods with me.

to heck with it its not that cold.

515034s10ring · Posted: Wed Nov 16, 2005 11:53 am Post subject: Re: cold missouri deer hunt

Good job!

Cold.....No problem

Wind however, i don't take to well! Shocked

DallanC · Site Admin Joined: Jan 18, 2005 Posts: 3572 Location: Utah

I prefer to hunt in blizzards personally... I was extremely disappointed when our Nov Muzzleloader Deer season was moved up into the middle of Sept. Hunting Mule Deer in 80 degree weather is horrible.

-DallanC

shrpshtrjoe · Posted: Wed Nov 16, 2005 3:48 pm Post subject: Re: cold missouri deer hunt

Congrats Spacedone. It is amazing how the chill go's away. I prefer it cold you can always put more clothes on, but those strong winds make deer huntin tough.

Bushmaster · Posted: Wed Nov 16, 2005 7:50 pm Post subject: Re: cold missouri deer hunt

Spacedone...Where you at in Missouri??

Spacedone · Member Joined: Nov 04, 2005 Posts: 266 Location: missouri

im 60 miles southeast of springfield at mtn grove. i own 40 rough hilly acres surrounded by several thousand acres owned by mid am milk company which they use for soybean or corn every year.

longwalker · Posted: Thu Nov 17, 2005 8:21 am Post subject: Re: cold missouri deer hunt

Isn't it great. My sons first deer was like that. Cold ! Temperature was -23 and wind blowing. My inlaws were in town and we were going to go hunting regardles of the cold. By 10:30 we were done and had to get into some shelter. At about 12:30 we decided to go back out, as the sun was shining and do a little walking. Long story short a nice doe jumps out of the of grass along a fence line. I saw movement Martin saw the deer. It was all over in 3 seconds.

He will never forget that one and I expect you won't forget this one. Great job!

longwalker

Spacedone · Member Joined: Nov 04, 2005 Posts: 266 Location: missouri

its so funny

ive killed deer in the blistering cold and the heavy heat, snow on the ground or ice, wind blowing or still.

on nice days i normally kill my deer sitting and the terrible days i seem to kill them walking.

i think its like if its to cold or miserable to sit then the deer bed down early and if its nice the deer wander around.

ive only killed does or button bucks on real bad days and my 2 10 pointers on very nice days.

season before last i killed a 6x4 at 30 feet. he walked right up to me and looked behind himself and he was mine. i wonder if anyone else has experienced this.

ive found the best way to kill does is to sit with a friend and drink coffee and chat softly. look around every few minutes and shoot the doe standing 10 yards away looking at you. we have tested this the last 6 years and have killed 16 does this way the longest shot being 40 yards.

Bushmaster · Posted: Thu Nov 17, 2005 9:28 pm Post subject: Re: cold missouri deer hunt

My wife wants to move me to Mountain Grove when I retire. Will need room and a barn for horses. Not to mention my own private shooting range. Just a couple of years left....Then freedom from bosses....Oops. sorry dear...(Forgot about her). Very Happy

Spacedone · Member Joined: Nov 04, 2005 Posts: 266 Location: missouri

buy your land now

we are growing to fast and land is getting high. 10 years ago i bought 40 acres with half woods and 2 ponds for 19500 and now the land is worth 2500 a acre 7 miles from town. there is great reasonable land still here if you look for it. mostly mountainous. yes we are mountains {1300+ feet}which is very rugged and rocky. yesturday i saw 4 does and stumbled across a 14 point buck making a scrape, havent got a shot at him yet but i hope to today.

its great i walk out my back door walk 40 yards and shoot anything i want anytime i want. my stand is less than 200 yards from the house and took a huge 10 point off it 2 years ago. {im a meat hunter so i normally only shoot does but the 10 point was impossible to miss, only my second 10 point in 40 years of hunting}

we need more hunters here. this year im by myself on 40 acres and my neighbors only hunt weekends so the deer arent moving much. im basically hunting 240 acres by myself.

finding people who will let you hunt on them is getting harder but neighbors usually dont mind if your nice and polite and arent a city slicker. you having horses you will fit right in.

hope to see you when you move here.

oh your wife has excellent taste.

p.s. we have a very friendly gun shop in town now so all your shooting needs are easily taken care of.

Bushmaster · Posted: Fri Nov 18, 2005 7:11 pm Post subject: Re: cold missouri deer hunt

Aaah Spacedone...Mountains? 1300+ft? I hunt and camp at 8,000 ft. I keep my horses at a ranch that is at 1000 ft and work them up to 2000ft (we call them "foothills") before I take them to 7,000 ft. I was in Mountain Grove and toured the Ozarks for two weeks to decide if I was going to let my wife move me there so I don't want to seem like I am lookin' down on your "mountains", but yours are just "rollin' hills"...But they are very beautiful "rollin' hills". And I will let her move me there...I may have to learn how to slow down a little, but...I figure that my main horse and I are old enough to both sit on the veranda and sip whiskey and lie about the ol' days.

Yup...I know my wife has excellent taste...She married me, didn't she?

Ain't that nice...The coyotes are singin' outside my gun room window....

Spacedone · Member Joined: Nov 04, 2005 Posts: 266 Location: missouri

look at the map where it says ozark mountains.

largest oldest mountain chain in the world stretches from mexico to canada and are several hundred miles wide. anyone who says these arent mountains has never dragged a big deer very far here. it is nothing to walk down our "hill" dropping 600 feet to have another "hill" rising 800 feet. with the ozark plateau being up to 2500 feet my property having a 300 foot drop in less than a eightth mile and my place isnt very rough compatatively. the rockies ARE cute to be such young things but will never equal real old mountians and the seirra vistas arent really worth metioning ive rode across them many times by horseback. remember missouri was barely populated until the 1830s because the countryside is so rough

your in baby mountains which are about 6 million years old and im in adult mountains which are about 250 million years old

Bushmaster · Posted: Fri Nov 18, 2005 9:30 pm Post subject: Re: cold missouri deer hunt

You are correct...I do know my history and geology...But being the young-un that I am I still have to say that your mountains have worn down to foothills. And you are correct again. I find the Sierras to be ugly. I much more prefer the Cascades that are an extention of the Sierras. Which start deep into Mexico as the Sierra madras and continue deep into Canada all the way to Alaska. I ride the Three Sisters (Faith, Hope and Charity) of Oregon once a year for six days on horse back (No pack horses. I'm a saddle bagger)...With all that said I am lookin' forward to retirement and a new home in The Ozarks...Expect me anytime from 2006 to 2008. Put coffee on and I like it with a little whiskey...

DallanC · Site Admin Joined: Jan 18, 2005 Posts: 3572 Location: Utah

I live at 4,000ft and the mountain peak here I look up at is at 11,500+ ... and while I lived in the east for a short time and saw some impressive "mountains", I agree with bushy. They are pretty but compared to what we are used to they are "hills" ;). One of my main hunting spots growing up locally is called "the low hills"... canyon laced rolling hills all about 2000ft high on average from the level terrain. We used to hunt a canyon to the south of us called "4 Mile" ... you stand at the top and look down off it and its 4 miles to the bottom. I've shot my last deer in that place let me tell you.

East is very pretty and you guys have wildlife coming out of your ears, I am envious of you all.

-DallanC

Bushmaster · Posted: Sat Nov 19, 2005 11:58 am Post subject: Re: cold missouri deer hunt

DallanC...I spent time up in the Rockies a couple of summers ago. The Bitterroots near Hamilton, Montana. I found the Rockies in that area nice. I haven't had a chance to see the Utah Rockies, but as my wife is Morman I stand a chance to go with her one of these days to Salt Lake. DallanC...You just have to see the Three Sisters Wilderness area of the Cascades east of Eugene, Oregon...Absolutely believably God's Country...