Who in here likes to hunt?

I got a nice CT spiker with the bow last Saturday at first light, it was great having my buddy’s son in law there, he dragged it to the truck and even skinned it for me!

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It's something I wish I could learn how to do. Nobody in my family hunts despite living in a rural area. My grandfather has shot a few animals on his property, but he owns a farm and it's mainly been animals that went after livestock. In college I took a course on suburban deer management so I'm very aware of the benefits of hunting, and with all the shit in processed meats it is something I'd like to get into eventually.
 
Took my first bear earlier this month. View attachment 198985
Great bear! I'm assuming you hunt with hounds seeing dog in background. Does it take a while to draw a hound permit or how does that work? We are strictly spot and stalk here. There lots of bears in west Wa but dang they are hard to get at in the timber without bait or dogs.
 
I guess I’ll contribute here. I may need to go dig up some photos though. I do all my hunting in Cameron County, PA on public ground, whether it’s state forest or gamelands. I shot this buck 2 years ago in archery. Was my first archery buck and shot it from the ground at 20 yards. We’re we’re about a 2 hour hike back in where we hunt at. He was over 200 lbs and it took 2 of us 7.5 hours to get him out of the woods. There’s actually a cell phone video of the kill as well and a long story.
After getting him dropped off at the taxidermy office, it was suggested we send the jaw out to get aged because the deer pretty much had no teeth left above the gum line. Penn State university did the testing and came back that the buck was 9.5 years old... was pretty stoked about that.

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Great bear! I'm assuming you hunt with hounds seeing dog in background. Does it take a while to draw a hound permit or how does that work? We are strictly spot and stalk here. There lots of bears in west Wa but dang they are hard to get at in the timber without bait or dogs.
We have 2 bear seasons in AZ. The spring season is a draw and you're limited to the unit you put in for if drawn.

The fall season is over the counter and open in all units, but each has varying dates and a quota of bears harvested. Once that quota is hit, that unit is shut down (all bears must be called in within 48 hours of harvest and checked in by a game and fish biologist within 5 days).

Both seasons are any weapon and dogs can be used in both seasons. Baiting is illegal, so it's either spot and stalk or dogs. Drawing a spring bear tag is difficult, but the fall over the counter tags are unlimited, so no waiting there.

First time I've ever hunted with dogs; fascinating to see them work and learn about it. We hired an outfitter; they were his and his guide's dogs.

Just wrapped up a coues deer hunt here in AZ and saw 2 bears. This guy hung out eating juniper berries for an hour 200 yards from where we were glassing.
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I guess I’ll contribute here. I may need to go dig up some photos though. I do all my hunting in Cameron County, PA on public ground, whether it’s state forest or gamelands. I shot this buck 2 years ago in archery. Was my first archery buck and shot it from the ground at 20 yards. We’re we’re about a 2 hour hike back in where we hunt at. He was over 200 lbs and it took 2 of us 7.5 hours to get him out of the woods. There’s actually a cell phone video of the kill as well and a long story.
After getting him dropped off at the taxidermy office, it was suggested we send the jaw out to get aged because the deer pretty much had no teeth left above the gum line. Penn State university did the testing and came back that the buck was 9.5 years old... was pretty stoked about that.

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Nice buck! Congratulations.
 
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Planning on taking the boy to a conservation area on Friday where they release Pheasant roosters on weekly schedule. Not exactly "sporting" because massive flocks fly right over your head, but the kid hasn't ever seen anything harvested & cleaned. He's excited, hopefully we'll have a nice post-Thanksgiving meal out of it.