Any Hunters?

Deer season is ONE WEEK away here in NE.
Couldnt find a hunting thread here so i made one, which is a take off from the other place where i started this thread a long time ago. I have a feeling though that the crowd here is more likely to share these types of hobby rather than start tossing out the insults.
I will be out this year with my 2010 Limited HEMI, for its first hunting trip. My 3.7 sport always did a wonderful job, so i have no doubt the this one will be great, especially since i have a lot more mods than the other jeep. The winch and mud tires will be an added bonus since i will be mile from any other person, by my self camping with only my rifles and Hemi for company, and the weather its supposed to be kind of bad so it may take all the items in my bag O'tricks, if it gets super muddy AFTER, im way back in the middle of nowhere with my camper.

Here is a look at my trip last year. I will be trying a new area this year and I hope its a beautiful as this was.

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Im guessing that there are other hunters here in the forum. Around here in the midwest, where I spend most of my time the weather is cooling off and the Fall temps are settling in......this weather always gives me the "hunting bug."
Im itching to start gearing up for deer hunting, even though its over a month away for the the season that I will be doing.
Just wondering if anyone else here hunts.....and if so.....Do you use your commander to hunt....

I used mine for all my hunting...Most hunters have pickups and wouldn't believe that I can get along very well with my commander.....probably Better than a pickup since I have a hitchhaul that I use to carry the game which keeps the inside clean and I have All kinds of other gear that allows my commander to transform into a full mobile hunting station.

here is a photo of the hitchhaul in action.

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I also have a game hoist that I used to hang up larger game such as the buck in the photo above. This hitch hoist works awesome for lots of stuff, depending on the situation.

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http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/te...053&hasJS=true

I'm not a hunter. I think I'm the only one in my family who is not. I have went a few times. It is just not my thing. That looks like a beautiful place to go hunting or just camping. That is a nice looking buck on your hitch haul. My brother-in-law is an avid hunter and taxidermist. He always has some serious deer mounts to do after the season ends. Good luck out there, to you and all the other hunters on here .

I went hunting with a friend once and ten minutes into the hunt he feel and broke his site. So much for that trip!

I went with my dad a few times as a pre - teen / teenager but not since. Its not my thing. Too early and too cold. I do love to go out waste ammo though. I almost hit a buck at about 75mph 30 minutes ago. Lets just say it was VERY close to my Altima's left front.

First of all, nice photos. Not that I am suprised after seeing your Camp Commander stuff.

I am very much a hunter. That was the primary purpose for buying my XK. I needed a hunting vehicle that would take the beating, and hold car seats.

Deer season is over here in CA. Spent two weeks hunting as normal, got a very nice 2X3 muley/blacktail mix. Do you use your Commander to skin the deer? This year I put a new twist on it and used the winch for pulling instead of just moving the Jeep. Worked very well.

It is quail season now. The country I go quail hunting in is very rugged and beats the you know what out of most vehicles. I broke the frame cross member on my S-10 twice wheeling in this area. The XK is a god send. It doesnt even blink when going through the worst of the areas. Having a Jeep instead of truck is night and day.

I am just getting internet installed at the house (which means I can post photos/etc. - blocked from doing that at work.) I will try and post some pics soon.

you and I are in the same boat for getting the XK. I need something that is my hunting truck when it needs to be, but a family car the rest of the time. I pick up just wouldnt fit that profile.

I have used vehicle for skining and have used a winch before too, but i usualy just use a knife anymore, it seems to go very quickly if the knife is sharp.

I have never hunted, which is odd with the amount of firepower at my disposal.

I think I should do it so I can find out first hand what it is all about; and learn how should I ever need to in the future. The problem is I don't like killing things. I have shot animals before - a bird with a .22 just to see if I could and a skunk with my .45 - that one was self-defense! I felt bad about killing either one, and don't like the thought of killing animals in general (though I would never tell someone else they shouldn't do it...), but I do LOVE meat.

Funny, I kept looking for my recent post and wondered what happened to it. Until I realized I posted on the "other" forum. Anyway, like your hitch haul and the area that you hunt in.

I'm not a big hunter by any means but do enjoy it. I've killed my share of squirrels, doves, pheasant, but only 1 deer. Looks like a beautiful place you've been hunting. I'd love to be out there whether hunting or not.

This thread has me maybe wanting to go hunting this season ! I have a new Rem 700 .308 just waiting to be sighted in. Also have an Ithaca LSA-55 in .257 Roberts that is an absolute tackdriver. Id like to get out and see what I could do. If I could only convince my wife and daughter ( she wants to be a vet when she grows up ).

I can't remember a time that I haven't hunted. This year my brother and I started planning an Elk hunting trip to Colorado for my Dad in 2011. He's a healthy and active 72 year old that has never hunted big country so we knew our time is running short before he can't. I was blessed to have a father that shared his love of the outdoors. Fishing, hunting and camping were regular activities growing up.

Deer, ducks, squirrel, rabbit, grouse and coyote to name a few. We stay sharp in the summer by hunting groundhogs aka woodchucks.

I wish I had gone hunting growing up, no hunters in my family but I would go someday if someone asked.

It would give me a reason to buy another gun too.

Just bought a Benelli semi-automatic shotgun this week.

Only scared little beaches own guns. I don't see how people can murder innocent animals, I know I won't kill Bambi.

;)

Those were things I have been told by people not man enough to hunt. Granted I don't really hunt because it is so expensive to do so in WA State. Probably cheaper to just buy a freaking cow. I must say that Cougar is probably the best meat out there. I like eating meat from animals that eat meat.

In AZ for fun you can go look for Coyote:

Coyotes are Arizona’s most common predator and found throughout the entire state. Though not always seen, their vocalizations consisting of howls, yelps, and barks are regularly heard during almost any night spent in the field. The animal's pointed ears, narrow nose, reddish brown to blond coat, and black or white tipped tail, help differentiate coyotes from dogs and wolves. The head and body length of coyotes is about 2 ½ to 3 feet with the tail adding another foot or so. Adult males are larger than females, the two sexes averaging about 21 and 17 ½ pounds, respectively. A very large male may attain a weight of 35 pounds. Contrary to popular belief, coyotes do not readily interbreed with either dogs or wolves.

Natural History
Coyotes are opportunists, feeding mainly on small mammals, but also on carrion, bird eggs, and vegetable matter such as acorns, mesquite and palo verde beans, and juniper and manzanita berries. They also prey on pronghorn and deer fawns, and insects when such items are available. In urban areas, garbage, domestic cats, and small dogs are sometimes taken.

Coyotes form strong pair bonds, usually breeding between mid-January and March 15. After a two-month gestation period, from one to several young are born in a den or burrow; the average litter size being about five pups. They leave the den when about 8 to 10 weeks old.

Hunting and Trapping History
The take of coyotes by hunters has been relatively stable during the past 10 years, about 13,000 hunters taking an average of between 30,000 and 40,000 coyotes a year. Most of these animals are taken while "varmint calling," while hunting other game, or simply as opportunities arise. Formerly, trappers rivaled sport hunters in the number of coyotes taken, but the reported take of trapped coyotes during the past 10 years has averaged approximately 700 a year. The principal reason for this reduced take is undoubtedly is the decline in market value of a coyote pelt as well as the prohibition of the use of foothold traps on public land.

I am always amazed at the lack of logic from people who don't hunt. They think they bear no responsibility for the death of an animal even thought they eat meat, use animal by products, or otherwise benefit. I had a neighbor growing up who couldn't believe we would go deer hunt, yet she anxiously awaited our return from trout fishing so she could eat some of the catch. Somehow to her, shooting a deer was not ok, but putting a hook in a fish's mouth and yanking it out of the water was.

I would so much rather know where my meat came from, do the work myself, and take responsibility. That is generally my lifestyle though, why pay someone to do what I can do myself?

When my wife and I built our new home in 2004 it was in a developement with other young familes. The model home sold next to us the following summer. The new owners lasted until the 2nd day of deer season when I came home and hoisted my deer until I got to the butcher the next day. The day after the guy across the street got one and a guy in the corner house got another. Within weeks that house was for sale. BTW, the new neighbors are glad because they love the venison stew I make. The new hit is my buffelhead dippers.

Some have said I just kill for sport, but I don't view providing for my family as a sport. As far as judging me for my decision to hunt, well I only have to answer to God and I know he will be just.

Lake in southern Ohio that starting with my dad we've hunted for almost 50 years. It's called Clendening Lake.
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As I look at the photos in this thread and others, I am truely in awe of what a great and beautiful country we live in.

Got pict uploaded from my deer hunting adventure for Nov 2010. My best weapon was the good ol' Canon Camera!

Here are some photos from my week in the wilderness, and my 2010 Commander's maiden deer hunting voyage. As usual, the Commander proved to be the best hunting rig I could ask for.

This is my camp back in the middle of "no where" Nebraska, several miles from any town.
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I was surrounded by wildlife everywhere.
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And saw some nice deer......BUT since I am not into poaching, I shot this buck with a camera, rather than a rifle.
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I did however take a nice doe for the freezer, and since I was alone, the Commander and all my "tools" made easy work of getting it from the field, to the freezer.
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Here are a few more pics of the scenery I enjoyed. It was beautiful and a nice get-away from work.
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Here is my view from one of the spots i set up in.
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And for five days, I cooked all my meals the way it should be done....in a cast iron pot or on a grate = over a campfire! Sirloin (Beef) steak cooked over some oak and hickory coals, never tasted any better!
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Now THAT is how to do it! I spent several years bow hunting in the thumb of Michigan. Since I moved to TX I just have not had the desire - Deer are smaller and don't taste nearly as good as those corn fed types up north. Yeah, not EVERYTHING is bigger in TX.

Looks like fun, I have to get outdoors more often.