I’d like to get all of your feedback on how you process your old mature rutting bucks. Back in 2017 I shot my last wall mounter and regretted getting the steaks and toasts out of the hind quarter. Tough, very gamey and didn’t taste the greatest. This year my son shot a 5 1/2 year old Buck (11 points) on opening morning. I chose to just keep the back straps and inside Tenderloins and process the rest of the deer into hamburger. I’m curious how all of you process your old nature bucks!

Anyone have any good ideas for what to engrave on a hunting kn!fe for my husband’s wedding gift?

Serious answers only, the more punny the better. I’d like to stay away from the traditional date engraving, some short phrase that’s a mashup of love and knives/hunting? LOL

thanks in advance

I've been outdoors/hunting/fishing in Maryland my entire life it seems. I've harvested numerous deer from various areas of the state. (you'll know why this is important later).

In 2019 I was field dressing a buck over a soy bean field on Maryland's Eastern shore. During this time I had accidently cut myself. Not worried about it at all, I addressed the wound, cleaned it out and continued to go on with my day.

It wasn't until a month later or so, I was harvesting another deer in the woods on that same property that I started to itch and get hives. By the time I got to my truck to go home i had welts the size of quarters on my arms and I was beginning to itch the skin off of my hands/fingers.

This was obviously a concern, but I wasn't sure if it was from the deer or not so I wasn't sure how to react to this yet. I wasn't sure if I was breaking out due to something I touched in the deer's stomach or not (various nuts, grass, etc)

The next year I harvested another buck, but this time on a property on the western shore of MD (Pasadena). I went to drag the buck to an open spot to field dress and immediately my arms/hands started to itch (just from touching the fur). *This is when I'm starting to realize I might be allergic to deer hair*

What baffles me about all of this is that I had touched PLENTY of deer before I cut my hand field dressing in 2019. Why all of a sudden after that am I allergic to deer?

Let me know if you have any similar stories or instances in which you or someone else you know is allergic to deer.

TLDR: Was never allergic to deer until I cut myself field dressing one. Now every time I touch a deer I get itchy and get hives on my arms.

I pickled some Deer Hearts yesterday and there was some of you asking for the recipe so here it is!

This is the recipe for 1 big Jar for about 2-3 Hearts.

Ingredients: 2 cups of Distilled White Vinegar 1 cup White Port Whine (any white cooking whine will do) 1 cup of water 1 cup of Sugar Bay leaves Pickling Spice 1/2 Red Onion

1. Clean Hearts in Cold water until all blood is gone. (Stick your fingers in Vessels to push out clogged blood in ventricles)

2. Cut hearts up into pieces and make sure you remove all white fat and vessels (ventricles)

3. Put heart chunks in a kettle with water and sprinkle in a little pickling spice and boil in just water for 2 hours. (You will need to add water as time goes by.) drain in strainer when finished. Cut Red onion during this process.

4. layer chunks of meat in your mason jar red onion and bay leaves and picking spice from top to bottom in jar. (Example) heart chunks, sprinkle pickling spice, add a little onion, add bay leave, then repeat until filled to top.

In a kettle boil your 2 cups of port wine, 1 cup of sugar, 1 cup of water and 2 cups of white vinegar until it boils. Pour in jar once it reaches boiling point. Fill jar to top and put lid on and let cool until you cannot feel any warmth on the jar, then refrigerate and tear it up once cooked.

Give me your feedback after you eat it!

Looking for a scope for one of my hunting rifles. It’s for a 357 mag so I’ll only use it for 100-300 yards max. Using 170 grain federal hammer down and buffalo bore 180 grain. I have a few of my grandpas old rifles and the scopes are ancient. Looking for something modern but not crazy expensive.

Hey everyone, I was recently offered a big career jump in South Carolina. I have hunted my whole life but never outside of NY/Pa. How often do y’all encounter snakes while hunting there? How do you avoid them? Any tips? We really don’t have any snakes besides timber rattlers and by hunting season they are usually so immobile you never see them.

Hey there guys I’ve been looking at getting the fanatic series from Sitka and wonder how it preformed in sub zero temperatures -20c and is it worth it? Also has there been Boxing Day sales equal to Black Friday sales? I will be still hunting and stand hunting in Sask and BC

New hunter looking for private land to hunt probably wont get to deer hunt this year thinking squirrels in January and turkeys in spring then deer next season I can pay/trade work or whatever you need preferably within an hour or 2 of Knoxville you can pm me we can talk before hand whatever you like thank you 🙏

Killed this 10 pt for opening day of PA rifle. Shot him and he dropped and his right side naturally shed when he dropped. We noticed he is missing alot of patches of fur on his legs, neck and body. He is def an old guy but should this cause concern for the quality or meat or safety of handling the deer?

Photo taken on 12/2/24

Is this a buck who has shed his antlers, and is already beginning to regrow them? If so, don’t they usually shed early in January or normally in February, then begin to regrow in March?

Could they have broken off early on during the rut or pre-rut and therefore beginning to regrow them now? For what it is worth, I live in South Carolina.

As you are aware goose season is coming upon us and I’m taking my dad and grandpa with me . now I was handed down a 20ga 870 from both down to me. I’ve exclusively used a 12 ga super x3 3/1/2 “ 28”for all my waterfowl hunts. (And I wouldn’t use anything else)And would I get by with the 20ga, appropriate shells of course but just wondering.

I’ve been looking at getting a heated hand muff but most I find have weird reviews that look fake. Does anyone have one that is good and they recommend? Please share the brand and a link if you got hit online. Thanks!!

So I grew up hunting in Texas with my dad (white tail, hog, and coyote) and am pretty good when it comes to tracking, following sign etc.

Moved to NC and have been hunting public land around Asheville for 3 years now and no luck. First year I didn’t see anything, second year I took a black bear while waiting, and this year I took another small bear with my bow and have seen 20+ deer but never gotten in range during bow season and they disappear during gun season entirely. I don’t use cameras or bait, have two stands that I have moved several times. What stumps me is there seems to be no predictability to their movement. I’ll find a trail and scrape that’s half a day old and set up there two days later only to find the trail hasn’t been used since. There is an extreme abundance of acorns and pretty much every low area has water so I can’t seem to make heads or tails of where they are moving on a regular basis. The only time I ever see them during the day is when I am moving and bump them from where they are bedded down.

Maybe this is just a vent but anyone familiar with this terrain know what I’m missing?

Photo of old scrape for reference.

Hi all—my FIL killed a deer this weekend and gave me the meat. I had it in a cooler over ice trying to find a place to process it into sausage. I checked today and the ice had mostly melted. I checked the internal temp of the meat. Most temp readings were from 38-45 degrees. Mostly at 41. Not sure how long it had been at these temps.

What are y’all’s thoughts on if it’s good or not?

I recently purchased a Henry 45-70. I live in the southwest where gun laws are pretty laxxed. What recommendations are vital? Tips and tricks?