Deer week in Ontario

valczer

valczer

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London, Ontario area
The week of deer hunting in SW Ontario is closed for shotgun hunting.

What are your stories, thoughts, trophies, ups/downs and more on the deer hunt this season.

Group I am part of had a decent season, we got 4 deer between the six of us.

The first part of the week was horrible. The moon was what did us in. It was full harvest moon and we did not see any deer until the afternoon Wednesday. The second part of the week was sooo much better. Deer started to move again and we got 4, 2 of them on Saturday.

All in all, good experience, lots of time outdoors, met new people and enjoyed ourselves.

How about you?
 
We had the opposite. Possibly as many deer as we’ve ever saw Monday and Tuesday and sightings dwindled as the week went on as is typical. Monday was quite windy which usually means we see and move fewer deer but not this time. Our group got 5 deer for 9 hunters. Once again could easily have went 9 for 9 if some guys could hit the broad side of a barn but that’s party hunting. I do get frustrated walking miles and miles to push deer out only to have blockers miss relatively easy shots.
 
Fwm, haha I know the feeling. Some guys could not hit the broad side of the barn if they were standing inside the barn lol
But such is group hunting. Weaker shooter should be the ones pushing and stronger shooters block, however, often that is not the case.

This year I was using a brand new shotgun with new ammo(Hornady rifled slugs). I was not as proficient using it, so when time came to push, I volunteered every time and it paid off with two deer…1 5 pointer buck and one doe.
 
I hunt in 85c. I saw a buck out if range on Tuesday morning, my dad saw some sort of deer that afternoon as well. Other than that, nothing and no shots around us. Talked to other area guys and they said the same. I saw deer moving in the fields on my way in and out but zero movement during the day.
 
jlovie said:
I hunt in 85c. I saw a buck out if range on Tuesday morning, my dad saw some sort of deer that afternoon as well. Other than that, nothing and no shots around us. Talked to other area guys and they said the same. I saw deer moving in the fields on my way in and out but zero movement during the day.
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I'm doing the December hunt in that WMU. Hopefully I get better luck than you.
 
Different strokes for different folks. I guess geography mkes a difference.

I can't imagine being in a hunting group of 9 hunters.

But I'm in B.C. And I prefer to hunt alone, either in a blind or stand for hours or slowly stalking the woods.

I enjoy sitting around the campfire with a couple of other guys after a day's hunting, but for the hunt itself, we go our separate ways.

I'm not being critical but hunting in a group as described would be a nightmare for me.
 
We hunt area 46 - Canadian Shield country. In 20+ years of hunting our area we never previously saw so many deer. Unfortunately almost all were does, and we had no doe tags (we are primarily meat hunters). There is supposed to be a 25% success ratio, but out of 8 applications no doe tags. Our group of 8 saw a minimum of 53 different does in 4 1/2 days of hunting. Most would have been easy broadside shots. On the brighter side, we did shoot 4 of the 5 bucks we saw. This included 1 x 12pt, 2 x 10pt, and 1 x fork horn. One other was a clean miss. All 3 of the big deer had super nice racks, probably scoring over 130. Usually we only harvest 1 big rack a year so what we lost in quantity we made up for in quality. Surprisingly we did not see a single bear. This was strange as we usually see several, and the weather was especially warm.
 
Bullmoose1 said:
We hunt area 46 - Canadian Shield country. In 20+ years of hunting our area we never previously saw so many deer. Unfortunately almost all were does, and we had no doe tags (we are primarily meat hunters). There is supposed to be a 25% success ratio, but out of 8 applications no doe tags. Our group of 8 saw a minimum of 53 different does in 4 1/2 days of hunting. Most would have been easy broadside shots. On the brighter side, we did shoot 4 of the 5 bucks we saw. This included 1 x 12pt, 2 x 10pt, and 1 x fork horn. One other was a clean miss. All 3 of the big deer had super nice racks, probably scoring over 130. Usually we only harvest 1 big rack a year so what we lost in quantity we made up for in quality. Surprisingly we did not see a single bear. This was strange as we usually see several, and the weather was especially warm.
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I bear hunt in 46 and spring and fall hunt saw no bears (and didn't see any deer those 9 days). Saw moose sign - a good thing!

I assume you are the south end of 46? I hunt north of Parry Sound and south of French River.
 
Monday morning not a critter sighted in 92C and with the bluebird weather I suspected they were in the standing corn. Sand ground they just lay down cause its warm and food is a step away. Feeling a little off and thought of staying in but forced myself out for the later afternoon.

Picked me a fallen ash log that had a good tall root ball and settled in for the last couple hours. 5 o'clock and I was thinking of packing up, I hear the crunch of leaves, downwind and to my offhand side. I turn and a decent 8 pointer is coming hard out of the corn at 10yds, steps behind a couple trees. I have to stand to shoot and of course he busts me. Takes two leaps, I give him a bleat and I get a perfect quartering away lockup and he is looking back at me. Feeling even crappier than earlier I thought I ain't chasin' you tonight, and put one though his neck at 20 yds with the ever dependable TC Encore.

Butchered him Wednesday morn, cause of the weather, and he was bigger than I thought.

Then got to spend the rest of the week sicker than a dog as my triple vaxxed brother, who visited the Thursday before the hunt, shared the Covid. I have bad lungs and it was an interesting couple days.
 
doublelung said:
I'm doing the December hunt in that WMU. Hopefully I get better luck than you.
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Deer are moving all over during the day now since this "cold" snap. Saw 3 at the farm, literally 50' from my stand and several more in other fields on the way in at lunch. Talked to my mechanic, he shot a nice 10 point and his brother a 12, 4 deer for 5 guys, so things are looking better here for the December hunt.
 
jlovie said:
Deer are moving all over during the day now since this "cold" snap. Saw 3 at the farm, literally 50' from my stand and several more in other fields on the way in at lunch. Talked to my mechanic, he shot a nice 10 point and his brother a 12, 4 deer for 5 guys, so things are looking better here for the December hunt.
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Excellent news, appreciate the update.
 
Rugdoc said:
Different strokes for different folks. I guess geography mkes a difference.

I can't imagine being in a hunting group of 9 hunters.

But I'm in B.C. And I prefer to hunt alone, either in a blind or stand for hours or slowly stalking the woods.

I enjoy sitting around the campfire with a couple of other guys after a day's hunting, but for the hunt itself, we go our separate ways.

I'm not being critical but hunting in a group as described would be a nightmare for me.
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With a well organized group is can be the most exciting and action packed type of deer hunting. It takes plenty of planning, communication and accurate execution of the plan for it to all come together. When done properly you'll have blockers on trails with drivers slowly and methodically pushing the bush to get deer moving, but blockers must be careful to not spook deer into full out running. When done correctly the blockers will have close shots at standing, walking or slow trotting deer.

When done incorrectly you'll have deer running in all directions, blockers who can't shoot, and lack of planning and communication can make for a dangerous situation on your hands.


I mainly hunt solo stalking deer with a crossbow, but the controlled hunt with a good group cannot be missed.
 
I saw the buck I’ve seen on my camera yesterday but typical of this part of Ontario the thick bush prevented opportunity for a shot. Heading out after work tomorrow to see if I’ll have more luck. Once the rifle season closes on Sunday I’ll get out with the bow closer to home.

Alberta Mule deer season went well as we managed two bucks on opening day. My uncle filled his supplementary doe tag earlier this week as well.
 
canadian hunter312 said:
With a well organized group is can be the most exciting and action packed type of deer hunting. It takes plenty of planning, communication and accurate execution of the plan for it to all come together. When done properly you'll have blockers on trails with drivers slowly and methodically pushing the bush to get deer moving, but blockers must be careful to not spook deer into full out running. When done correctly the blockers will have close shots at standing, walking or slow trotting deer.

When done incorrectly you'll have deer running in all directions, blockers who can't shoot, and lack of planning and communication can make for a dangerous situation on your hands.


I mainly hunt solo stalking deer with a crossbow, but the controlled hunt with a good group cannot be missed.
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Whatever floats your boat. Not criticizing, but as I said before, it's not my cup of tea.

I don't do anything with 8 other people, and certainly not hunting.
 
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