MO first antlerless season

[Mobuck]

Although I heard a few shots and there was a crowd at one of the hunting cabins down the road, it seems this 'early antlerless season' was somewhat of a bust. I didn't even give it a thought as killing a deer in 70-80 degree temps is a big NOPER for me/us.
If I want to eat 'rotten meat' I'll go to one of the Mexican restaurants.

 

[Gator89]

Those of us in the South have to deal with warm temperatures for all types of hunting.

Meat does not inherently rot because the temperature during the hunt was 70 or even 80 degrees. What happens after the kill determines meat quality. I do not require my deer to hang and age. Kill, clean, ice down, process then freeze.

I have eaten lots of dove shot when the weather was in the 80s. Quite a few deer too.

Do I prefer to hunt deer on a frosty morning? Yes, I do. But down here we may have 40 at daylight and 70 by lunch. You take whatever the good Lord gives on the weather during the season.

GA had an antlerless only weekend October 4 & 5, temps were mild, the DNR proclaimed it successful.

Deer in the southern most of Florida rut in August.

 

[Hawk-in-Wi]

Wisconsin Youth hunt was this weekend , my Grandson at age 13 could go but because of work sch. Sat. was out . Sunday my Son was going to take him but they had something going on at church that kept him from going in the morning , so that just left afternoon , they did see one doe but the shot would have been on the longer side and thru branchs so he decided to pass , I told him he made the right choice , better to let it walk away than take a chance on a poor hit in 60 + degree temps and other land owners close by where if it got over the fence it would be gone

 

[contender]

I haven't had time to hit the woods yet myself. Yes,, we deal with warm weather around here as well. I too kill, clean, cool down (in a cooler or fridge,) then butcher & freeze.
A buddy of mine,, got a bear Saturday. About 275 Lbs.

 

[TestEngineer]

Warm weather is a hunting challenge, but it's not a show stopper. The biggest problem IMO is flies. I've seen a LOT more meat lost to flies (maggots) than I have to delayed cooling.

Since I hunt alone 90% of the time, I've changed the order of tasks to field dress game in warm weather. Once you cut the belly open, every fly in the county is on the way.

So I start with making every skinning cut first. Then I cut the legs off below the knees. Then I tie off the anus and pee pee. Last prep step is to free up the windpipe. Eat lunch at this point.

After lunch, the belly is opened and the gut pile is removed. I grab a game bag, skin and remove a shoulder. Repeat on the other side. Expose the back strap, remove, and add to the game bags. Next is skinning and bagging the hind quarters. Finally, the neck meat is removed and added to the hind quarter bags. I'm usually done with bagging all of the meat before the first dozen flies have shown up. This is VERY different than what happened when I used to remove the gut pile first. I've never lost a single ounce of meat from the weather being too warm.

 

[Mobuck]

^^correct
I don't do my own processing anymore and after seeing piles of deer laying on the concrete floor of the only local deer processing business, I wouldn't want to bring it home.
There's plenty of time during cooler weather to fill my freezer.

 

[krw]

But, If one could harvest antlered Deer the woods would have been full with Hunters everywhere. And herein lies my opinion that if not for their antler's, they would be considered a nuisance animal. Had a good Friend who swore up an down the best venison was when the horn's were in velvet, and He would have known

 

[Mobuck]

I'm just spoiled. We have opportunities running from mid-November through first week of January 2026. With that spread, I'll pass on 80* October weather.
What I'm seeing is a distinct reduction in the number of bigger bucks seen in the open during 'shooting time' as I do farm chores and such once humans begin thrashing about in the woods and fields. I'm not talking about typical farming stuff like harvest but hunting type activities. It seems those bigger/older bucks go nocturnal once bowhunters and fall turkey hunters start busting around in the brush.

 

[Gator89]

If you want to hunt the rut, you hunt when the deer are rutting.

The picture below is not mine, but if you want to peruse the GON forum you will see lots of nice bucks taken in warm, even hot, weather.

 

[XUSNORDIE]

But, If one could harvest antlered Deer the woods would have been full with Hunters everywhere. And herein lies my opinion that if not for their antler's, they would be considered a nuisance animal. Had a good Friend who swore up an down the best venison was when the horn's were in velvet, and He would have known

This sounds almost identical to one of my hunting buddies Wife. She's totally against hunting, hates meat, liberal as all get out, and the worst part is that my buddy doesn't hunt much anymore because of her. Must be some dang good tail.

As for your buddy and velvet "horns" what's wrong with that? I've harvested a ton of deer with velvet antlers. It was archery season early SEP. Anyway, to me the best venison is a very young doe or button buck. Smaller the better for eating. Butterflied backstrap, in a cast iron skillet, eggs, toast and hot coffee.....yum.

 

[krw]

You are right on track with 'eatin' Deer. Those lil 1/2 grown Etter's is what We eat. Big Bucks is just for the horns only, give that meat away

 

[XUSNORDIE]

You are right on track with 'eatin' Deer. Those lil 1/2 grown Etter's is what We eat. Big Bucks is just for the horns only, give that meat away

I disagree. I never "trophy" hunted. But if a fully mature 10 pt stepped out next to a young doe, I'm popping the 10 pt. My nicest buck is only an 8pt with a dressed weight over 200lbs. Back in those days we did a lot of scouting, food plots, doe management, and were proud of what was harvested. I hunt (hunted) two states mostly. MD you are allowed a couple bucks and a dozen doe. Little land prep and scouting required on the farm I hunt. Park the truck set up against a tree and drop whatever comes by or into the fields. PA you get one buck. That is where the majority of our land prep/deer management was. It's a sport, and fun to work on a property almost all year and harvest one of the bucks you were targeting on cam. I didn't kill anything that would impress Pope & Young or Boone and Crockett types. But I can assure you.....no meat was given away.

 

[s4s4u]

You are right on track with 'eatin' Deer. Those lil 1/2 grown Etter's is what We eat. Big Bucks is just for the horns only, give that meat away

While I agree, when you are only allowed to take one or two deer a season you have to be more particular or your freezer will be empty long before you get another chance to fill it. Those of y'all that can take a "deer a day" have more options.

Not sure if there is any worse feeling than shooting what you think is a doe, for the meat, and find out it has a twig and berries.

 

[Peter]

I and a friend Bow hunted in 60-to-80-degree weather. Usually never saw a deer in those conditions! When we did and got a shot, we would field dress and run like heck to the processor and throw it in cold storage. If the temps were 40 to 60 we would hang the deer in his garage the day we shot them and then process the next day, usually between 10 a.m. and 2 or 3 p.m.

As for doe meat that was what we tended to hunt. Yeah, is a nice buck pasted by the stand (in gun range), we would shoot it in a heartbeat, but I would rather have a doe or button buck for backstrap and roasts. Bucks that are not real horny are ok for ground "round".