I'm sitting it out as well. Gonna take my boys squirrel hunting this evening and in the morning.
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TN velvet hunt Aug 25-27
- Thread starter agelessssone
- Start date
All that sweat, the bugs, and all the other "uncomfortables" that you two encountered today melted away like butter when that deer stepped out.
Great job dad! I hope he stays on cloud 9 for a long while!
Good deer!
I
Have to agree that it was definitely worth it to see how happy he was. I don't think we would be saying the same thing if he hadn't killed one though. Lol
megalomaniac
Well-Known Member
Buddy had to sit on a shoot house on the dam of a pond on my place bc the bachelor group of bucks was using it every eve to drink. Prob 120deg or more in there with windows closed. Pouring water over his head to stay cooler.
Rewarded with a 22inside 8pt that scored 141.
Rewarded with a 22inside 8pt that scored 141.
DoubleRidge
Well-Known Member
Congratulations! Nice!
tdt5446
Well-Known Member
I hope to see you next weekend!
Velvet 2023 closes with a bust for me. Had opportunities at shooters but not the one I'm after. Closest he got was 40yds and still partially concealed by vegetation so I held my arrow. Perhaps I'll get him this fall.
Lone Hunter
Well-Known Member
Smile says it all. Congratulations to you and him…
2023 August Velvet hunt summary:
Unit CWD – SW TN, 12 counties total, firearms allowed and select public lands are open
Remainder of State – 83 counties, archery only, private land only
Fri – 224 deer checked in
Sat – 231 deer checked in
Sun – 267 deer checked in
Total – 722 deer (a few odd ball check-ins, antlerless etc)
Unit CWD (firearms) - 134 deer, or 18% of Statewide kill.
*** based on photos I seen across the State, a few bucks killed were in hard horn.
Congrats to all who took part and made the most of it!
Unit CWD – SW TN, 12 counties total, firearms allowed and select public lands are open
Remainder of State – 83 counties, archery only, private land only
Fri – 224 deer checked in
Sat – 231 deer checked in
Sun – 267 deer checked in
Total – 722 deer (a few odd ball check-ins, antlerless etc)
Unit CWD (firearms) - 134 deer, or 18% of Statewide kill.
*** based on photos I seen across the State, a few bucks killed were in hard horn.
Congrats to all who took part and made the most of it!
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There's a nice 8 and a fork horn that have been hanging around my house a lot lately, and I had the idea of possibly taking the 8 as a velvet buck if the opportunity presented itself. I saw the two of them yesterday evening and the fork still had his velvet but the 8 was completely bare horned with no velvet at all. Just reddish yellow horns.
Thanks for posting, Andy!
megalomaniac
Well-Known Member
IIRC, thats a little lower than years past, but not as low as I would have expected since this was the hottest velvet hunt weekend we've had
TheLBLman
Well-Known Member
Keep in mind in years past, no one in West TN could legally use a rifle (as they did this year), in what started as an archery weekend summertime "trophy velvet" hunt.
Also, it appears the illegal use of firearms in the rest of the state has only gone up annually during the velvet hunt. Same for using legal archery equipment over an illegal pile of corn.
My take is the percentage of illegal harvest is rapidly rising,
while the average hunter has less interest in "velvet" summertime deer hunting with each passing year.
EVERYTHING about this contributes to giving hunters a bad name among non-hunters, who ultimately decide the fate of ethical sport deer hunters?
August velvet hunt started in 2018, few months before CWD was first detected. 2018 was the only year that August velvet hunt was archery only and private land only across the entire State.
This is the fourth year rifles were allowed in UNIT CWD for August velvet hunt (2020-2023), and we could use a MZer for the velvet hunt in 2019 before rifles became legal.
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Correct on rifles
Based on recent TWRA post season hunter surveys, they estimate 17,000 hunters participate in the August velvet hunt. It is estimated that 151,000 hunters participate in traditional deer season, thus 11% of all statewide deer hunters partake in August velvet hunt.
Generally speaking, I expect 600-800 bucks to be killed Statewide on August velvet hunt. This year's total fell right in the middle. I'm convinced the extreme hot temps and humidity affect "some" hunters WAY MORE than deer.
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themanpcl
Well-Known Member
I was able to keep my record in tact. Hunted each velvet season, 0 antlered deer seen any year...lol But, hunted in a hurricane and at over 100 degrees. So there's that. I'll be there again next year as well.
