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Good luck and hunt safe to all. Sounds like the weather will be just fine, hopefully all tags get punched that need punching. Pics or it didn't happen...............

Since my area has gone to rifle, rather than shotgun only, I hear MUCH less shooting, and instead of the 5 round volleys that used to be the norm, most of the time I hear single shots. Safety wise, switching to rifle is the best thing that has happened in this area in the 45 years I have been deer hunting. Sighting through a scope sighted rifle is much safer than spraying shotgun slugs all over the countryside.

I don't know where some of you hunt? If I hear 10 shots on opening day(with most of the shots in the far off distance) in the last few years, that is a lot. I hear fewer and fewer shots each season and see fewer and fewer hunters around. Go back to the 60's, 70's and 80's on opening week and you'd think there was a war going on. These days it is not even close to what it once was where I hunt.

??????????????? Opening day of gun season is the BIGGEST man-made drive of the season, people will be shooting at & pushing deer all over creation, at least in 9P where I hunt. Looks like around 30 in the morning, going up to 45 in the afternoon, pretty comfortable if you ask me, no rain forecasted. The only thing missing is a couple inches of snow on the ground for a white backdrop, but I'll take it.

http://www.adirondackdailyenterprise.com/page/content.detail/id/533920/The-lone-hunter-of-Lake-Placid.html?nav=5046 The lone hunter of Lake Placid November 10, 2012 By JOE HACKETT - Outdoors Columnist ([email protected]) ,Adirondack Daily Enterprise Save | Undoubtedly, the most rewarding aspect of producing a regular weekly newspaper column is the opportunity it provides for me to meet and interact with so many interesting people. Over the years, I've had the good fortune to interview and interact with some truly unique characters, of which the Adirondack region seems to have a fair share. Often, I stumble upon these folks by circumstance or coincidence. However, in recent years, I've frequently been introduced to them through friends or associates. Article Photos Andy Morford of Lake Placid displays a six-pointer he harvested in 2010. (Photo provided) For several years, I heard tales about an old-time woodsman from Lake Placid who harvests a buck every hunting season. He knows where the runways are and has learned the deer's habits. He hunts alone and has successfully filled his tag for years. The story is not unusual. In fact, there are plenty of successful deer hunters in the area. The Adirondack culture tends to breed competent woodsmen, as well as women I must add. It's not some nostalgic notion; it's simply the "Way of the North." In many small, rural towns across the country, the traditions of hunting, fishing and outdoor sporting endeavors are still considered key components of the local culture. Such traditions come from the need for subsistence, and the desire to become self-sufficient. In many regards, if you can't do it yourself, it simply isn't going to get done. Yet, beyond the obvious harvest achieved through outdoor pursuits such as hunting and fishing, there are also the tangible recreational benefits and the personal satisfaction that comes with being able to fend for your self. Competence generates confidence. Unfortunately, due to a variety of factors ranging from the advent of the "wired generation" and the burgeoning political correctness of "anti-anything dangerous," the culture of rural America is changing. The changes were never so apparent as they were last week when I sat down to interview Andy Morford, who had recently moved to Will Rogers from his home on Bear Cub Road in Lake Placid. Mr. Morford was a plumber by vocation and an outdoorsman by avocation. He is both a hunter and an angler. It appears Mr. Morford is the lone woodsman of Lake Placid I've been hearing about for so long. He is also a gentleman of the old school, and an alumni of the School of Hard Knocks. "I was born in January of 1917 down in Clintonville, right up there in the mountains," he explained. "When I was young, I hunted with my dad. I remember watching him shoot pheasants up in Harkness. "I used to hunt enough when I was young. And when we were hunting, the deer were good and we were shooting them and canning them. That's what we did for food." With obvious sadness, Mr. Morford revealed, "My dad used to take me hunting and fishing all the time, but he died in a shooting accident a gun went off as he placed it in the backseat of a car." Morford, who will turn 95 in January, graduated from Keeseville High School, and like so many proud citizens of the "Greatest Generation," he promptly went off to war. He revealed this fact as we were discussing hunting lessons. "The first thing you need to do is to be sure where you're shooting," Morford said. "And always be careful with your rifle! I've kept my guns shooting accurate all the time. Some guys are very cautious around guns and they learned that from the military." He paused, obviously reflecting. "I was in a reconnaissance outfit in the Army, in the 6th Armored Division. The Major asked me, 'Do you hunt and fish?' I said, 'Yes!' "The Major replied, 'Then you'll be good for recon, Sergeant!'" Morford explained, "I was a hillbilly for sure and I was in Patton's 3rd Army, 86th Mechanized Calvary during the Battle of Bastogne. "We rescued the 4th Armored Division and I lost an eye. I was shot in the leg. I think the time I spent in the Army was one of the greatest achievements of my life." On the wall of his apartment, there is a small picture frame that holds his sergeant stripes, a Purple Heart, a Bronze Star, Campaign Bars and an assortment of military decorations. It also contains far more courage than most U.S. citizens will ever know. After a long silence, Morford said, "Losing my eye made me a better hunter, it didn't hurt my shooting, it just made me a bit slower. "The last time I was out hunting was last year." He shot a buck while hunting alone. "I was out for meat for my freezer," he said. "When I was younger, we dressed deer in the woods and slipped 'em into an old mail bag to carry them out of the woods. I used to love to go off by myself. I didn't shoot a lot, but I learned a lot about deer. I was wilder than a coot then!" Finally, Mr. Morford offered it up. My mouth was shut and my ears were wide open as he began speaking. "Lesson one about deer hunting, the first thing you've got to do is pay attention to the wind. Learn to walk gently and quietly. Hunt slow and cover the ground well. That's what it's all about! "I like to hunt on dark days, I've never had much luck on sunny days. On a dark, cloudy day with no wind, I've walked right up on bucks in their beds. I like a day just like today." Contrary to popular opinion, Morford doesn't put much stock in chasing after deer directly following the season's first snow. "After the first snowstorm, deer just don't move," he explained. "I used to walk for miles hunting all alone, and I dragged a lot of them out by myself. But as I got older, I figured out where the deer traveled to and from food, and I'd just sit and wait." Morford, who has harvested a buck nearly every year throughout his 70s, 80s and into his 90s, explained, "My son said, 'You just shoot 'em, and we'll carry them out.'" Finally, Mr. Morford, who has raised two sons and a daughter, addressed the topic of today's hunters. "When I was young, nobody cared and we'd shoot a lot of 'em. The kids today just don't want to hunt. "I killed my first deer at age 15. The buck stuck his head out from behind a Norway pine, and boy, was I nervous. I shot it with an old .44-40 and it was an 8-pointer. "The guy we were hunting with tagged it and claimed he had shot it. Boy was I mad! But I've had a lot of deer and a lot of good years since."

So yesterday I was standing in public land. All of the sudden at 830 I see movement 100 yards out, here comes a deer. It is moving from my left to right slowly. It keeps looking behind it so I think it is a doe with my monster buck pushing her. The deer walks 30 yards on the ridge and I am praying that she takes that one step to the right to bring her and the monster by me. Now I still can't see what is pushing her but she is contantly looking behind her. She stops and turns right SWEET she is coming my way, wait a second the she is a he a little spike. As the sun hits his body I see an arrow sticking out of him. Holy crap now I tell myself I have to try to get a shot off if he comes close. The arrow is sticking out of the left back leg way far back. So the deer is now heading my way but he is going to give me a 25 yard shot if he stay on route which is a little long for me comfortably. I decide that since I practice 25 yards almost weekly I will try it if he does come by that far out (Only because he is already injured). Well luckly he jumps at something behind him (my focus is on the deer now) and come 15 yards in and stop in a lane but I have a stump covering just over a quarter of the lungs all of the live and into the stomach. I dont have much room for a shot but I needed to take it before he jumped and I couldn't shoot. Pull back anchor and wizzz goes the arrow. WACK I hit to far forward nailed him in the front shoulder. Now I am cursing my self. One I rushed the shot and two he steped forward and brought that shoulder back when I let go. He goes running off with TWO arrows in him now and I am verbaling abusing myself for screwing up the shot. I sit down and look back to the ridge and here come a hunter. He is searching back and forth looking for the blood trail. He come in to 15 yards of my tree and I whistle get down and we start to look for this deer. We have blood not alot and the deer is gowing through some pretty wet stuff. The guy said he had a perfect broadside shot at this deer but it was 35 yards out and out of his usual range but he was standing so perfect he would try the shot. It is now 900 and he said he shot at the deer around 730 let it go for 30 to 45 min and then started tracking it. So I watched where it ran to after my shot so I knew the genral direction it went it. We head up to the spot after we can't find anymore blood. We search the area and no blood. Bigger search area and still nothing. Now it is 945 and we start talking about the shot and events of the day. There was a very thick ridge the way the deer ran and I said to the guy "I have shot deer and a buddy has also and they go in that thick stuff lay down and die." The guy looked at me and said "everything is thick around here". He said "it isn't good but this happens sometime and there are coyotes in here and they got to eat". Now I am getting pissed this guy is giving up. He tell me that he is going to walk this flat area back in a circle to his car. He is Done. Off he goes. So I go back to my treestand and stand there and look to where I last saw the deer and we were a little right of where the deer was so I get my treestand together and start walking to a tree I marked that the deer ran by. Boom I find some more blood. I get ahold of my buddy that is in hunting also and he comes over. Now it is 1030 my buddy shows up and we start trailing again. There is little to no blood but we keep finding little specks and some chuncks of fat. Not looking good for us. The deer is heading right for the thick stuff. So we keep going. We go another 100 yards and the blood stops. Now we are just on the edge of the thick stuff so I did a big sweep of the area and another 80 to 100 yards and boom there is a little spike horn dead. I was so excited that the deer didn't go to waste. Now I am very dissapointed in that guy. He hits this deer knows that the arrow is going to kill him but just gives up after 2-3 hours of searching. He did say he might call deer search (Definate credit to him if he does) but I was guessing he didn't. The worst part of the whole thing was he said he was a hunter ed instructor. That is what really erked me. I do relize that when he left it looked pretty gloomy about finding the deer but when you are hutning you have to give it everything you have specailly if you are going to take a shot (out of your range so to speak). That is when the work begins. The other thing I couldn't believe is he took a shot that he wasn't comfortable with. Being a hunter ed intructor if you know you are good at 30 yards and that is it you don't take the 35 yard shot even if it is the perfect shot. I do hold those guys to a higher standard. I am not saying crap doesn't happen in the woods. I just hope he learned a lesson not to take the shot next time and I am super happy the deer didn't "GO TO THE COYOTES". I don't mean to sound like I am belittling this guy I was just sad to see someone that is suppose to be teaching our new hunters give up on the deer specially after running into anpother hunter who saw where the deer was shot and where he ran to. The guy hit the deer in the back right leg it went through the leg and into the guts. That shot is what killed him. My shot was in the front leg and just slowed him down. My arrow ended up breaking his leg in two spots and going through to the other leg where the bone on that side stopped the arrow. I didn't hit any vitals. I am the guy who made the crappier shot. At anyrate I hope the guy sees this post so he knows that the deer was found and knows where he hit the deer so he can put the questions to rest. Good luck you guys and keep your shots within your means and don't give up.

I love it when the DEC is at the local butcher near me inspecting teeth for age of deer as they come in. Then they see corn in the teeth of the deer and ask the the hunter where they got this deer. The hunter's freeze up, and are then asked to take the DEC to the kill spot. Bait Pile is found!

When I saw the title of this thread, I almost didn't dare click on it. I was afraid that someone had posted a picture of Bubba in a THONG...

Good luck, have FUN, stay safe. Hum mine go in a Buick... would that pic be ok ? My daugher just home from grad school is in line at Dicks Webster for her tag,nothing like last minute !

Yea, Good Luck to all! Remember to take pics afield. The ole' back of the truck pic looks horrible!

No, you can't. But you still got a couple of hours! Stop looking down at your phone and look at the buck 30 yards away from you! SHOOT!

for sausage, jerky, salami etc there's no place better than costanzas. dude gets business from all over central and western ny http://www.costanzasausage.com/

I feel the same way. Plus its means the end of bow season as well. I much prefer the solitude of bowhunting versus hearing 5 group shots one after the other for hours on end just knowing that those deer you passed on or were out of range are now getting lead flung at them from some idiots who are clueless. Every year we find unrecovered deer full of holes. Drives me absolutley nuts listening to it all unfold. If not for the point of being at camp to protect the place from vandals and trespassers on opening weekend I wouldnt even go. Funny how all this goes away by sunday too. Dont get me wrong I indeed enjoy gun hunting just not opening day. Past few years someone has been shot on state land around camp too. Yeah its not really a good plan to sit in the bottom of a ravine in a camo ground blind when there is orange plastered all at the top. Just saying. Then by noon the drives start by the same group of people every year. Its like there is only 1 day of deer season and whatever it takes to get a deer. Now come sunday and those jokers are all home sleeping in and guns stuffed in the corner till next year life is good again except the point that every deer is now on high alert and hunting just got a whole hell of a lot harder in what is already hard to begin with. Is what it is and wont ever change. Sad really when there is alot of great hunters who I would be proud to share a camp with for a deer hunt when there is a few that stink the place up for the rest. Oh well. Good luck everyone, be safe, be smart, know what your aiming at, dont take those iffy shots and remember if you cant get the deer down without unloading on it you probably shouldnt be shooting at it.

So true!

My name is Rick. I wanted to say Hi from PA.

Maybe it's a good idea to brush your deers teeth before taking them to the butcher. LOL!

he is talking about butchers. But ya.I doubt you could get nailed for baiting cause the deer had corn in its teeth.They travel a lott of ground in a short time.

I take an old piece of venison and seal it in my tub. Then I seal the whole whole tub in a contractor bag.

A model 94 Winchester 30 30, back from the 50's Looking forward to trying things out in the field. Will be the first hunter going out of the family cabin in 15 years. Far too long id say.

I am! All those deer that have been teasing me, just outside of bow range are in for a bit of a surpise.

My nephew has a hair cut like that!

id look really hard at an elite.. the hunter model would be a good choice as it it is compact.. go to a proshop and shoot a bunch of different ones before you buy

The older I get, and I'm not THAT old, I look less and less forward to opening day of gun. The only thing that'll bring it back is going to be acreage ownership, which is being saved for. The thing about it is, that is has nothing to do with the hunting or the guns....it's the people behind the guns for the most part. No doubt, some real quality hunters out there that are honest and respectful...but just as many slob hunters. Either way, I'll be hunting smart this season.

you'd have to do that when all you shoot is doe

I like to put a nice outfit on mine, maybe a little blush, and I never forget to brush its teeth and use a couple of toothpicks to give it a nice smile before I photograph my kills. If its a doe, sometimes Ill put a flower behind its ear or some nice earrings. Gotta make sure that animal I just killed and disemboweled is pretty for the non hunters and antis....

From last Sunday in 9N. He was hot on 4 does, he gave me a window at 35 yards. After that the 3 blade spitfires did the work. Recovery was 100 Yards.

First buck I've gotten with a bow. 7 point (should be an 8 but has broken brow tine) with 15 1/2" spread. Got him 11/9 at 9:40am.

Sorry arriving too fast...I want one more bow deer...buck or doe....hhhhmmm I feel those earlier passes nibbling on my back side... lol

my 12 yr old is going to be on watch with his bow.Soooooo.i am thinking of sitting with my bow too at about 50 yrds from him in the thickest crap on the property.I think it is like having a gun.2 bows.we will cover about 85 yard of the corridor.I think is sounds fun.

I grew up in Hunterdon County. Cut my teeth at Spruce Run hunting and fishing. Now that I live and hunt in Rochester Region I laugh when people say public land is crowded.