Breechplug

The fall of 2012 has gone by so fast and our 2012 Deer Season is upon us. Do any of you have an Annual Tradition that you do each year? Deer Contest, Hunting Parties? ect...
My one buddy who owns a farm started a Annual Deer Contest for just close Friends and were on our 8th year for it this year. We usually have around 25 who sign up for it, it's mostly for FUN.
The Deer Contest coinsides with his Annual Deer Hunting Party that is the Saturday befor Opening Day of our Regular Deer (Rifle) Season. The Party this year is Nov 10th ond Opening Day is Nov 17th.
For the party we all bring a dish to pass and get to see some friends that we dont get to see all summer as were all so busy. At the party we give out Awards from the following years Deer Contest. The contest is for "The First Buck In" "The Heaviest Buck" "The Heaviest Doe" "Most Points" and "Widest Spread" We all put $10 in for this and $2 from each of our $20 goes for each category. Then we have a "No Prize" Award that goes for the "Smallest Deer" this is kind of a Insult, HA HA, why did you shoot shuch a small deer prize. It's to get everyone to not shoot small deer. If you get the "Smallest Deer Of The Year Award" we have a Plaque with that years winners name on it that is hung on YOUR WALL for the entire year for all your friends and guest and neighbors to see. And throught out the year YES we check to make sure you have it hung. This has really reduced the size of the smallest deer taken to a heavier szed deer through out the years.
The Heaviest Deer taken is usually the biggest racked buck and get's a Big Trophy with that years winnesr name on it and he has the trophy through out the year untill the next awards deer party when he gives it to the last years winner. It's called "The Big Buck of the year award"
For Late Season Muzzleloading we just have a "Heaviest Buck" and a "Heaviest Doe" award, this will cost each person $5 each.
Our Best One is what we call the "Whiskey Doe" award, this used to be a Big Bottle of Crown Royal and went to the heaviest doe taken during our regular gun/rifle season. This not only makes one not want to shoot small does, but gives them the Raign of being the King of the Whisky Doe. At seasons end the winner will bring the bottle of Crown Royal to a party we have where we cook Venisn, chat about the season gone by, tell stories and drink the Crown Royal.
But in the last couple of years we have had some non drinkers who wanted to get into the Whiskey Doe Contest who dont drink, so we now still call it the whiskey doe but give that person who wins the money collected for that, it cost each person $5 to enter. So far we've been lucky and only had the winner be a Crown Royal Sipper
Oh Im in charge of making the annual deer contest and have been from the start. I buy one of them big foldable poster boards and will post a pic of it when Im finished with it,
This is something we all look forward to, Hunting Season, seeing al lour old good friends, the party, the contest, the awards, the razzing on who shot the smallest deer, the one who claims the king of the biggest deer of the year trophy and what we all consider the most important (and were not drunks) the King of the Biggest Doe and the Whiskey Doe Winner.
So what if anything do you all do for each Hunting Season, any Annual Traditions?
(BP)

cayugad

Sounds like a lot of fun you have. Other then a few big buck contests at the local watering holes.. we don't do anything. But then I hunt alone these days. All my friends have moved off on their own way and with their own groups. Which is fine. Things need to progress. And I have kind of lost the desire to shoot anything. I wish you the best of luck and may you win the big buck trophy.

One year a person with a doe tag shot a doe.. no kidding.. We skinned her, gutted her, cut her legs off at the knees and her head off of course, and she fit on a large Weber Grill. But MAN!! was that good eating.

gregrn43

We don't have any kind of annual tradition or anything, our daughter always come home to hunt with Linda and me on opening weekend. I cant wait for her to get here. Our rifle season opens 1 week from today and she will be here this Tuesday, I cant wait.

Breechplug

I know cayugad them small deer are tender and very good eating. I know we should'nt pick on anyone who decides to take a small deer but over the years some of our hunting buddies have taken some small one's.
You and I live in the North, were used to bigger bodied deer than the ones in some other states. A good sized respectable doe here goes in the 120lb range dressed, a nice big old fat swamp does here goes in the 140-150lb range with some taken each year in the 160lb+.
Like I said some of our buddies have dragged in small does or fawn buttons that have dressed out for example at 48 lbs. This to us is small, the ones we can pick up with one hand and toss into the back of the truck.
There's no need to take them small deer when there's enough older one's to go around, and a fawn button is one less buck for the following year so that's why we have the smallest deer of the year award. It helps to save them small ones and gets our hunting friends to pass on the small ones and wait for a better one., The award is working but each year someone always manages to get the award even if there deer weighs in around the 99 lb mark dressed. Nobody likes to get the award and name on the plaque but that's how it goes, and even though it sounds mean it's a-lot of fun at the party when we give it out.
And yes even breechplug has had his name on the plaque over the years, once! We hunt a real nice piece of land in hill country that is loaded with deer, it's owned by an older couple and mom and dad to a friend we hunt with who also has his property adjoin there's, it's around 300 acres. Anyway the older gentleman who's I think 91 this year loves Venison and used to hunt but cant anylonger, so each year one of our group shoots the older couple a deer and tags it with there tag and we all chip in to pay to have it processed, our way of thanking them for allowing us to hunt on there property.
Anyway it was a tough season one year, we all had a hard time filling our own tags or even some of them and we still needed to get the older couple a deer. I had 2 deer already for myself and had deer comming through the woods, it looked like I was going to be the one to get them there deer.
Now I know some of you dont get the chance to hunt deer in the snow, but snow makes deer look bigger, it's even worse if there alone. Anyway I picked out what I thought was the biggest one of the group and fired, I watched the deer go down.
When I came upon the deer I instantly knew I was this seasons winner of the smallest deer award, it was a 1 1/2 old doe wich weighed in at 87 lbs dressed. I prayed for the rest of gun season that someone would get a smaller one but it did'nt happen, the rest of our group all had trigger shock on anything that did'nt look big and they were all going to be sure OL Breechplug would get the award, I did. But it was all good as I got the older couple there deer, even the razzing at the party did'nt matter to me and yes I had to hang the plaque on my wall for the whole year.
Things got better twords the end of that years season, the hunting picked up and we all filled most of our tags, we even got the older couple another deer.
But getting that award has given me trigger panic on deer now, if I dont see big antlers and only skin heads I tend to not shoot, especially if the deer is by itself. I like to have a few in a group so I can size them up, if I cant tell I pass. And I've even passed on some that I was'nt sure of that went by me and were taken by friends aways away in there stand that were way bigger than I thought.
Anyway the smallest deer of the year award (plaque) has given us all trigger panic in our group, wich in a way is good so we all let the smaller ones grow to be bigger one's.
Also I in no way an picking on any of you who decide to take small deer, I know there very good eating and some times you have to take what you can and only have that chance to get em so you do. Also I know some of the deer in other states only get that big and that's a good sized deer for you.
But here in the North anything under 100 lbs dressed is small for us. A average sized good doe goe's 120 lbs+ and a good average sized buck goes 150 lbs+ with 150lb+ does taken each year along with 210lb+ bucks.
One of my buddies called me last night and he arrowed a nice 10 pt that dressed out at 213 lbs.
I know I write A-LOT!
(BP)