PGallagher

Thanks so much guys! I really appreciate it!!!!

Good morning guys!! Well I connected this weekend on a nice 8 pt!! I know that this deer would have been passed by a large majority but this was by far the biggest buck that's ever walked within shooting distance, and it's my second buck ever!! So needless to say... I'm PUMPED!!! He came in at about 4:30, following a doe that wanted nothing to do with him. Once they stopped he turned a perfect broadside with a tad quartering away, and an exact 20 yards away (I have a log marking the distance, works great!). I sent a swacker through his boiler room, and he only ran about 40 yards. Blood trail was amazing and and made for a quick and easy recovery!! After gutting I found out that I split the heart wide open, nearly in two!! Yeah, he may be small, but he's just as much a trophy to me. And he's all mine!!!! (Can you tell I'm excited!!!) A friend of mine is going to do him into a euro mount and I can't wait to display him proudly! And he broke the arrow off on a tree just as he took off so I have that to hang on his horns too. Happy hunting to Everyone!! Cheers! Patrick

And this is why I love hunting! Everyone that I've talked to and everyone on here are so supportive! It is amazing how awesome this brotherhood is and I'm lucky to be apart of it!! It only makes me want to get back in stand even more!! Also, the butcher didn't even give me a second glance when I told him the whole situation and he looked over the deer. He said it was perfectly fine! He did agree that I should start drying out the inside cavity once I hang 'em. I also got their phone number, and he said that no matter what call him after I get one. He said that no matter what time of day or night, someone can stop by the shop to open up the freezer to store it. A great big thank you to everyone for their support and advice!! Happy Hunting!!

Thank you so much for the great advice! He will be going to the butcher very shortly and I think that I might even pick up a bag of ice to transport him with. I will absolutely, ALWAYS, grab some ice to stuff them with from now on; and I like the idea of patting down the inside cavity with some paper towels. Adding them both to my mental checklist now! And here's a photo of my buck. Like I said, nothing to write home about, but this is my first deer, let alone my first buck! And I couldn't be happier!!

Good morning! This is my first post and it's a bittersweet one at that! I started bowhunting last year but wasn't able to connect. This year was looking more promising after seeing a lot of smaller does. Well this past Saturday I finally connected with my very first deer, a tall spike with a kicker. I'm proud of it, and I couldn't be happier! I've finally been able to officially join the brotherhood that is hunting, and bow hunting to be more specific. I'll always remember this entire hunt and I plan on keeping the skull in tact to memorialize it. My question though pertains to the handling of my deer... Saturday night was really cold, about 30 degrees. It was a quick and pretty clean gutting, with thorough instructions from my hunting mentor Butch. We were able to drag him out, hang him (hide still on and stake inside the cavity to crate airflow) and even hosed down his insides within about 30 min. We hung him in the pavilion on Butch's land and he is completely in the shade all day. This is where the issues start, the butcher that we were going to take him to was already closed for the night; and because of schedules neither I or Butch could get him to the butcher at 1 on Sunday. We thought that the weather was going to stay cold enough from Saturday until today but I'm worried that the warm day yesterday, it reached almost 60, was enough to ruin the meat. When Butch checked on him yesterday at around 6 pm the hide and the inside was still very cold to the touch. What is everyone's opinion on the matter? Is the meat still okay to take to the butcher today? I feel like a huge a$$hole to have this happen to this animal. I think that it's horrible to waste any meat that I've been lucky enough to harvest and just have a horrible knot in my stomach. I know that when I killed the animal, I also inherited the responsibility to respect the animal all the way through the entire process.