Official rifle hunting thread

Well I worked last nite till 10pm..went home showered kissed better half goodbye made the 3.5 hour Trip to lease..took a quick 45 minute nap.. drinking coffee 5am..ready to go..good luck everybody..hunting in coke county

I'm waiting on my relief to get to the station so I call haul butt home and grab my rifle
& binos and get in the blind.

Just got a little rain shower in Lee county. Headed to the blind now. Good luck to all.

Got home from work after mindnight. Set my alarm for 415. Got up at 505. On my way to the farm now. Not as early as I hoped, but plenty early.

Went to bed at 8:30pm, woke up at 2:30am (back pain) figured might as well stay up, I can sleep in my blind

Had to be at the Sportsmen center on Ft Hood at 0300 to check in with guide then we convoyed to our area around 430. Been sitting in the blind for the last 45 min. Ready for the dang sun to come up. Not sure why they wanted us here so early if legal shooting light isn't until 0720

Dang Sapper, they must have wanted to drop you off so they could get to the chow hall! 3hr wait in the blind is almost as bad as a layover! Do the guides stay with you, or just drop folks off?

Well I am about to load things in the Ranger and head to the blind. Will be mainly shooting with camera this morning unless a hog or coyote decides to crash the party this morning. I will ruin their day if they do. It will be interesting to see how the deer are moving from an elevated rifle blinds with good views vs. my archery ground blinds with limited views. I was seeing a lot of deer the past 2 weeks with the deer really hitting feed since it has gotten so dry here.

About to head out with the wife. I'm hoping she gets a big buck, I am really hoping the one my son missed during youth season will re-appear.

they just tell you where to park and then tell you where the blind is and then leave. More of a partial guided hunt. Can't wait to see how many idiots shoot illegal less than 13 in bucks. They pound it into our heads don't shoot unless your sure and every year there are like 10-15 illegal deer killed.

Well, hopefully those morons will run you another good one like the one last year, that one would be worth a 3 hr wait!

Roger that!

Good luck! I am working so they'll have to wait for my days off next week!

My opening weekend hunting plans have been completely derailed by work...

Little drizzle here. Feeder just went off.

Having a boss who is a bit of an outdoorsman, and being his favorite employee has its perks. Got the whole weekend off, and he scheduled me off early on Wednesday so I can make a quick run for an afternoon hunt. Last year I was in your shoes.

Somebody not far from me just shot at something, and I'm not sure how. It's legal shooting time, but it's still too dark to see what you are shooting at. Hopefully it was a pig or something.

Raining in Navarro county. Stopped for now but more coming.

Just had a doe come by in the wheat field so we'll see what happens. Feeder won't go off til 8… I didn't adjust for dst.

I didn't account for it, my feeders been going off at 7every morning I guess. Last year I had it set for 8 all during the off season and changed it on daylight savings day. I forgot that this year.

Got home and made it to the blind just before 7. It had just started drizzling when I left the station and turned into a solid rain within 15 min of driving. Still raining here in SW VanZandt county. No movement yet... Gonna try to stay in blind til 11 or so

Not much movement at our place this morning. 3 little bucks and 3 does so far. Light rain on the roof is just about to put me to sleep.

I wish I was seeing that. Haven't seen a deer yet.

My little buck that got his heart broken by the girls this morning is comforting himself by cleaning up my corn.

Rain is back. I could take a nap.

This morning was a washout for me. Didn't see anything.

Hot and muggy here with fog after 7:15 this morning but the deer moved well very early. I saw 5 doe, 3 fawns and 9 bucks with a lot of deer in before daylight so some could have left earlier. Only one buck was 4-5 yrs old and the rest were younger. Feeder went off at 7:15(I reset it two days ago 10 minutes later) and that spooked most of the deer off. Some came back and ate corn till almost 9. Winds were N/NW/NE and swirling to the E/SE at times.

Same here, little activity, did miss opportunity on a decent sized coyote, barely light enough, I thought it was a deer, then it moved and I could tell it was a dog, few deer.

Got about three hours of sleep due to work. Got to the blind with hunting buddy at 6:30 while it was raining. 7:00 - BIL and his son showed up. Fell asleep and woke up around 8:00 and still raining. Waited until about 9 and another wave of rain came in. Called it for the morning. Not a great day of hunting in Canton.

Deer move in the rain. You slept through 2 of the best hours.





Getting a little afternoon movement. 2 does came through a bit ago, 15min apart.

I was at the blind with three others when I passed out. Nothing came to the feeder. This is my first true deer season to hunt. During the rain is the best time to be by the feeder?

Just talked to the guide for my area and he said 2 illegal bucks brought in this morning on Ft Hood

Not necessarily the best time, but they certainly move in the rain too. If it's a massive downpour, not so much though.

Sat in my tripod this morning. Absolutely nothing moving. The only thing I saw today was a Great Horned Owl that landed in the same tree my tripod is backed up into. He was pretty cool.

Should be a good evening. No rain, overcast, cooler temps in western Navarro county. I rattled in a nice shooter yesterday morning and a young buck later on. Rattled in 2 bucks yesterday evening. The shooter never came in any closer to 52 yards. Little out of my bow range for a mature alert deer. Cross my fingers he'll be back this evening. I traded the bow for the 30-06.

I saw about twenty deer from 6:30am to 11:00am. Had my cross hairs on a real nice 8 at 10:10am, waiting on him to turn broadside. Then he went on alert. A few seconds later about 30 pigs came running his direction from behind my stand. They ran right past him in the cover and he bolted. You Gotta Be Kidding Me! No shot taken...

Light wind and rain here in Gregg Co. Six doe so far today, made a clean miss on one at 9am. Back at it till dark, no movement yet.

Crappy picture but rattled in this young 8 around 4pm. He came in on a sprint it was fun to see. Hope I can get a big boy to do it next.

Had a big boar hog come to the feeder just before it went off. Debated shooting vs educating the deer. Feeder went off and he split before I decided.

Pretty sure I saw a bald eagle land out in a tree a few hundred yards away. Light was fading but that has to be was it was.

Got out this morning from Odark til 11. Saw a doe with twin yearlings, a good sized spike, 5pt, 8 pt and 10 pt. The 10 pt had a real high rack but was right on the edge 13". I would have shot the spike as he had 10" spikes and was a good sized deer, not a yearling, but didn't get on him in time. He walked straight across the food plot 30 yards from me and by the time I got the rifle up and on him he was stepping into the tree line. Hopefully I see him again. Didn't get to go this afternoon. Will back back out there tomorrow though.

Got in the stand at about 3:40, 6 point just shy of 13" ran 2 does around at 3:45pm, he came through a few times, then had a few more does hit the oats about 6p. Sounded like anyone that had ammo was using it for target practice..

Funny, in my neck of the woods I didn't hear a single shot. Not the usual opening day.

Not much activity this afternoon. One 9pt. might have made AR's but he was too young. Missed a huge coyote at 182 yards. Bunch of goofballs a couple of properties over played their "thump-thump" music all afternoon. Forecast says 70% chance of rain tomorrow. Might be a washout in the morning. Heard 3 shots all day.

Same here this morning, only heard 2 distant shots, but starting around noon, good lawd.

Some times it's cool to see what is gonna happen next...

Skillet head went in the cooler just at last light, same one I whiffed on this morning. Had a total of 4 does and a legal but young 8pt. this evening. Good luck y'all!

Deer are on their feet. Two illegal 6pt bucks in the last half hour, one has a broken leg. Not a doe in sight.

They sure are! Saw movement at the crack of dawn, then nothing until a short rain about 9:30. I was texting with Bigpig about 3 under my stand when I saw a coyote coming towards the deer and my blind, busted his butt, old male. putting the photo also in the photo section.

I saw the first buck yesterday morning and the second later that evening at 6:30 when he came in chasing a doe. The last pics is a buck I saw after all the other deer had left later this morning. Yesterday they moved early and this morning they moved well from daylight then up to after 8.

I got out this morning and only saw a hog. Killed it dead.

Does, does, and more does. Saw probably 20, but no bucks. Decided not to shoot. Plenty of time.

Been in the blind since 3 & it's been raining off & on with the hardest rain in the last 15 min

Almost non-stop movement yesterday including a hog stampede. Today: nada, nothin, zilch. Crazy...

Shot a few hogs at day break Saturday. Lots of movement, even with the rain, mostly does and young bucks but this nice 8 point came in chasing a doe and my son couldn't resist.

I agree with your son!
Very nice buck
Congrats to him

Me too!!!

At least I didn't screw up a great day by having to process a deer.

Nice buck!

That's what you call putting a positive spin on a situation. LOL