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Well, Vincenzia, a.k.a. Vinny Quack drew an any species buck tag and as you can see in the video she’s pretty happy. The drawing results came out last week and she thought that she did not get a tag but we wanted to wait till it came in the mail to break the news. In North Dakota the results are posted online first and we just told her she wasn’t successful. I am not clueless about deer hunting, but I have not done it in years so any deer hunters on the forum? I may have tons of questions as I don’t want her having to eat tag soup.

Cool! Congrats to her. That’s exciting. I haven’t hunted what we call “pine goats” recently enough to be much help unfortunately. The game has passed me by.

Obviously scouting. Trail cameras are a lot of fun on their own.

what questions do you have?

Biggest question is rifle recommendations. Currently only own 223s. Guessing need something bigger. Shots distance max would be 400 yards. We are coyote hunters and she is comfortable shooting up to that distance. That being said we would try to set up for around 100 yards.

How important is cover scent or lures? For coyotes pretty much nothing works. If they get down wind you are busted. So playing the wind is what you do. Not sure how a deer’s sense of smell compares.

She drew a refuge tag so no overnight tree stands and no driving. So we will be on the ground and doing plenty of walking. Also won’t really be able to scout unless we get bow tags and say we are bow hunting. Lots of coulee’s so we can get on an edge and do some glassing.

Since the rut should be started or starting I was thinking about having her rattle. I don’t think it is a tactic used much here. Most people here walk shelter belts or sloughs jumping the deer. Or they drive the roads. People that have their own land do have elevated deer blinds.

I’d suggest taking a look at a .308. Shouldn’t kick the doors off her like a 300 win mag would but still shoots fairly flat out to 300 yards.

Deer will smell ya before they see you.

30.06 or 270 will cover those ranges....using the right slug. For closer shots, a 30/30 is plenty. As for lures and scent covers....that's mostly marketing....use the wind. I never use those gimmicks!

No need in purchasing another rifle if the 223 is legal for deer hunting in North Dakota. A 77 grain tipped match king will kill any whitetail or muley in North America. If your barrel will stabilize the longer projectile, she will have no problem with a shot through the rib cage. Good luck and hope she gets a wallhanger.

It is legal I believe. I will look into it thank you

PorkChop wrote:It is legal I believe. I will look into it thank you

If you go that route, just make sure she knows where to shoot the deer. Not sure a .223 can get through the shoulder, so more like shooting a bow than my 12 gage slug gun.

I would think with the right bullet shot in the right place would do the trick.

There seems to be a number of articles about using it.

Here's just one that seemed to have some details.

https://www.northamericanwhitetail.com/editorial/223-remington-viable-deer-cartridge/263043

SpinnerMan wrote:

PorkChop wrote:It is legal I believe. I will look into it thank you

If you go that route, just make sure she knows where to shoot the deer. Not sure a .223 can get through the shoulder, so more like shooting a bow than my 12 gage slug gun.

I would think with the right bullet shot in the right place would do the trick.

There seems to be a number of articles about using it.

Here's just one that seemed to have some details.

https://www.northamericanwhitetail.com/editorial/223-remington-viable-deer-cartridge/263043

agree, such a light cal will be limiting on target choices. I'd bump up to something with more punch. Even a 280 or 7mm 08 would be better I use the 223 for yotes but keep my shots within limits. Lets keep in mind, after 200yd it starts dropping fast

Did Vinny Quack get to use her buck tag?

Nope! She had a few smaller deer that she could’ve shot. She wasn’t really concerned about antler size, but didn’t want to shoot a small body deer. Saw two very nice ones that just did not work out for her as far having them in the right spot to pull the trigger.

I will have to admit that I really enjoyed my time with her on the stand being out there in nature, and all them animals not knowing we were around.

Unfortunately for my wallet, I think the deer hunting bug has bit her and now she has her archery tag. That season goes till January 5 or 6 so I need to get her fitted with a bow and arrows and it looks like we will be spending more time in the Deerstand.