Deer Hunting With Milsurps 2014 Edition

[TDH]

Having been an iron worker, read that welder/fabricator for over 17 years I can attest that you can be strong but out of shape. When you only use certain muscle groups everyday those get strong but you may not have the stamina for things like hiking in mud or up and down slopes and hills. One night many years ago as I was sitting in a night club I heard a young man at the next table bragging to his buddies bout how much "iron" he was pushing 4 nights a week. I quess I snickered a bit too loudly and he got a bit belligerent asking what was so (blanking) funny. I said I would bet him I pushed more iron in a day than he did all week. he asked me what I did and I told him I was a welder. He gave me a look and said I was probably right.

Nice buck VH

[mmppres]

got to brag about my step kids got there firts bucks. My duaghter with a mauser 98 in 244 rem 4 point an son with a half rack 3 point with 7mm08

[browningautorifle]

Nice deer, after all, you can't eat antlers...

[mmppres]

your so right an kids think they are big racks. all that matters is they had a good time an learned true life lessons. plus i got to watch bullet impact on 7mm08 was so cool.

[browningautorifle]

Next year or so for the bigger rack...maybe.

[mmppres]

there is always that goal but i am tring to teach them that everyone of them is a special trophy in itself. no matter how big. some day when they are old an gray like there step dad they will remember the odd or sneaky bucks not always the big record racks.

[Aragorn243]

I just got a major kick in the head yesterday. First day we were able to go hunting. Rained all day and we didn't see a thing. But as I was leaving the woods, there is a large sign I did not notice stating the area was a Chronic Wasting Disease Management area. This means any deer we would have killed we would have had to have left inside the management area as we live outside of it. There have been three reported cases of CWD in the state and none in this particular area so I have no idea what is really going on. In any case, our hunting plans may have to change in the future. I have family inside the area so I could leave the deer with them but it is not an ideal solution by any means. It just seems as if things are conspiring to force me to give up hunting all together. I've only gotten out a couple of days each year for the past five or so as it is.

[mmppres]

i think you can transport to a butcher but brains an spine might have to stay in woods look up pa commission web site for info big amount there

[mmppres]

A list of region offices and contact information appears on page 5 of the 2014-15 Pennsylvania Hunting & Trapping Digest, which is issued to hunters at the time they buy their Pennsylvania hunting licenses. The contact information also is available on the agency’s website (http://www.pgc.state.pa.us) by putting your cursor on “About Us” in the menu bar under the banner, then selecting “Regional Information” in the drop-down menu and then clicking on the region of choice in the map.

First identified in 1967, CWD affects members of the cervid family, including all species of deer, elk and moose. There’s no scientific evidence it can be transmitted to humans or traditional livestock, but it is always fatal to the cervids it infects.

There currently is no practical way to test live animals for CWD, nor is there a vaccine. Clinical signs include poor posture, lowered head and ears, uncoordinated movement, rough-hair coat, weight loss, increased thirst, excessive drooling, and, ultimately, death.

Much more information on CWD, as well as a video showing hunters how they can process venison for transport and consumption, is available at the Game Commission’s website.



Pennsylvania’s DMAs



Within Pennsylvania, there are three separate Disease Management Areas (DMAs) within which special rules apply.

DMA 1 comprises about 600 square miles in Adams and York counties; DMA 2 recently was expanded and now encompasses more than 1,600 square miles in Blair, Bedford, Cambria, Huntingdon and Fulton counties; and DMA 3 covers about 350 square miles in Jefferson and Clearfield counties.

Those harvesting deer within a DMA are not permitted to transport outside the DMA any deer parts with a high-risk of transmitting CWD. These parts include the head and backbone.

The intentional feeding of deer also is prohibited within any DMA, as is the use of urine-based deer attractants.

Maps of each of the DMAs, and detailed descriptions of DMA borders, can be found at the Game Commission’s website, http://www.pgc.state.pa.us. The website also contains a complete list of the rules applying within DMAs, as well as a full definition of high-risk parts.


CWD precautions



Wildlife officials have suggested hunters in areas where chronic wasting disease (CWD) is known to exist follow these usual recommendations to prevent the possible spread of disease:

- Do not shoot, handle or consume any animal that appears sick; contact the state wildlife agency if you see or harvest an animal that appears sick.

- Wear rubber or latex gloves when field-dressing carcasses.

- Bone out the meat from your animal.

- Minimize the handling of brain and spinal tissues.

- Wash hands and instruments thoroughly after field-dressing is completed.

- Request that your animal is processed individually, without meat from other animals being added to meat from your animal, or process your own meat if you have the tools and ability to do so.

- Have your animal processed in the endemic area of the state where it was harvested, so that high-risk body parts can be properly disposed of there. Only bring permitted materials back to Pennsylvania

- Don’t consume the brain, spinal cord, eyes, spleen, tonsils or lymph nodes of harvested animals. (Normal field-dressing, coupled with boning out a carcass, will remove most, if not all, of these body parts. Cutting away all fatty tissue will help remove remaining lymph nodes.)

- Consider not consuming the meat from any animal that tests positive for the disease.

[Faulkner]

When I'm serious about putting venison in the freezer I use my scoped Ruger M77 MKII in .30-06. But, after the first one is bagged each year I usually transition to a milsurp for the fun and challenge. I went through my hunter's log and note I've taken the following with milsurp rifles, all in Arkansas.

M1 Rifle - One 8 point; one 6 point
M1 carbine - Two 6 point; two does; six coyotes; five ferel hogs
Russian SKS - One 6 point
M1903 Springfield - One 8 point; one ferel hog
Lee Enfield No4 MKII - One 6 point; one coyote
M1911A1 - One doe
Mossberg M44US (.22LR) - Thirteen cottontail rabbits
S&W Victory .38 Special - One timber rattlesnake