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Shot this buck tonight, he is my best to date. Hes not the biggest Ive seen this season, but I am more than tickled with him. Cantrell taxidermy will be mounting him for me. Heres the story... Yesterday, I hunted a farm that I hadnt set foot on this season. My buddy suggested that I go sit in a stand that he had set this year, so thats where I went. On my way in, I kicked up a nice buck, but didnt get a good look at him. I set up in the stand and got down at 4:15, as I had to be home by 5:30. As I was walking out, down a tractor road up on a hill overlooking a cow pasture, I saw 15 doe come out from a thick swatch of brush and head out into the back part of the pasture. I had no time to mess with them, but ranged the spot where they were at 186 yards. Fast forward to this afternoon. My buddy and I set up a new ground blind on another part of the farm, and the idea was I was going to sit it this afternoon. When we returned to the farm a bit later, I noticed a guy in his ladder stand about 140 yards across the field. Damn, couldnt sit there, so I headed toward the stand I sat in yesterday. When we got to the spot where I saw the does, I showed him what I had seen and we discussed what the plan for today was. He was going to another ground blind, just down the hill from where we were and I decided I would stay there and see if I couldnt get lucky and catch the does heading into the back pasture again. I wasnt sure if it would work, as I was pretty exposed, but I thought maybe the distance was going to help me out. I was texting with my buddy asking if we had seen anything, and we both said no. As I put my phone away I spotted a doe coming into the pasture. I got low and moved up to the fence post that I could use as a rest. The doe moved into a swail in the pasture and I was waiting for her to emerge when I saw a rack come out from the brush to the left, right where I had ranged the does at 186. I switched my attention to him and as he put his head down to feed, I held just over his back right above the shoulders and slowly squeezed the trigger. POP! Are you kidding me! Misfire! The powder had gotten damp from loading up the previous day, then having 20 degree temps this morning and 50s in the afternoon. The buck looked over at the noise, then put his head back down. I got low and went back to my backpack, yanked the breech plug and pushed the load out. I threw everything out of my pack to get what i needed and reloaded, got back up to the post and slowly stood up. The buck was gone. My buddy called and asked what that pop was, so I told him, and as we were talking, the buck headed up out of the swail, i threw my phone, pulled up and grunted at him. I set my crosshairs in the same spot as he stood there slightly quartering to and let him have it. Boom! Through the smoke I saw the hit take him off of his feet. He got back up and headed into the brush. I picked my phone up and told him what happened, and he headed up to me. We went out and found blood, but thought we would give him time. I decided to range the shot, 180 yards on the dot from the post I rested on to my buddy standing where the deer was. We gave it an hour and followed a 50 yard blood trail to the other side of the brush right to my buck! Hes a solid 2 1/2 year old, with a very symmetrical rack. I couldnt be happier! What a vacation so far, a great doe yesterday morning and this guy tonight! Gonna take Thanksgiving off and get back after it Friday.

With age, comes changes in life that we thought would never come about. When we were young and would hear others talk of this we would say to our selfs that will never happen to me. That day is here. When I was younger I lived to hunt and hunted to live. I loved every thing about it, and I couldn't get enough of it. When The last day of seasons came around, I would start thinking about next years and planning for it. I have decided to give up hunting as I now know it and start another way of hunting with a camera. I love the woods and seeing wildlife to much to give it up all together. I have been very lucky to have had the experience that I have had hunting. I have been able to take more game than anyone could ask for and I thank God for that. I have been thinking about doing this for a few years now. I can not remember the last time I took a doe, for the last fifteen or so years I have been saying that I was saving my doe tags for late ML season and then I would go out. and have then 15 or 20 yards and would let then walk because I enjoyed seeing then more than wanting to take one. Don't take me wrong, I have nothing against anyone that wants to hunt with gun or bow and enjoy the experience that comes with hunting and I wish all of then the best of luck. If anyone is interested I am going to make up a list of my guns and other hunting eguipment for sale and If anyone is looking for something, just ask and I will let you know if I have it.

Just saw a squirrel fall 25 feet out of a tree and heard the "THUMP". That was entertaining

I have seen some pretty crazy behavior with hunters over the years, but have yet to see one with a sign around his neck saying he was a "city hunter". I really can't tell the city hunter from the local at first glance .... lol. I doubt that there really is much of a difference between the two. Maybe that guy that walked up to me and started talking while cradling his gun in his elbow was from the city. I did have to make a point of the fact that the muzzle was pointed at my mid-section. And then the guy a bunch of years ago that wanted to talk while the muzzle of his shotgun rested on the top on his boot might have been a city hunter, but I have no way of knowing. And then there was the guy that was having a real challenge standing up that had the flaming red eyes and stunk like he was soaked in whisky .... he might have been a "city hunter". Then there is the occasional guy that likes to still-hunt right up my posted line so that he can cover my side of the line as well as the other. They might be city hunters. I don't know, those guys and a bunch of other clowns that I have witnessed over the years doing stupid or unethical things might have been "city hunters", or they might have been guys from just up the road or over the hill, or some farmer from another county. Who knows. Like I said they don't wear signs.

My uncle's buddy shot this guy behind the house opening morning about 60 yards from where I sat! Awesome having a big buck that we have been watching down!

215 lbs giant. Shot by my friends daughter 7:15 opening day. From the same camp a nice 8pt shot Monday morning 11:15. This is the same deer my brother shot with the bow a week earlier in the neck. Had a big wound that started to heal over.

Ok. So here's my story on my harvest on opening weekend. Saturday morning 11/17/12 I get into my stand at the edge of a cut soybean field at about 5:45am. It's cold and no wind. As the horizon lightens up a few doe start moving about but way to far away - 250+ yards. Not comfortable with a shot so I sit and wait. About 1 hour after legal shooting light two small doe come out of the woods behind me to my left. They mull about eating about 75 yards out in the cut soybean field. They never present a broadside shot. So I watch them mull about. They walk in front of my stand but directly in front there is a tree with branches going every which way so I wait patiently. I decide to take one of them once they present a shot. After about 20 minutes, one of them turns broadside at about 100 yds and I squeeze the trigger. She runs off toward the tree line in the same area I shot my 5 pointer in 2010 and I'm think that crap, another hour to look for her. About 20 minutes later i get down and start tracking her. I get to the spot and just like 2 years ago see no blood. I start walking further away from my stand toward the direction of where I found my 5 pointer and lo and behold she's lying in the tall grass, not even 20 yards from where she was hit. That was an easy track. Here she is lying at my feet. The wound is the exit wound from my 30-06. Now Sunday morning (11/18/12) I get into my same stand about 6:00am. Again it's cold, no wind and frost on the ground. About 30 minutes later several shots ring out - before legal shooting light. I sit and see nothing other than some doe over 400 yards away. At about 7:00am out of the corner of my eye to my right I see a buck walking toward my direction along the edge of the soyfield at about 70 yards. I glass him to check his antlers and I count only 4. I continue to watch him as he gets closer and I see 5 antlers, then 6. I decide at that moment if he presents a shot I will take it. He continues to walk across in front of my stand and he gets behind the same tree with the branches in front of me blocking any shot. He stops there and feeds for several minutes. It's about 7:15 now and my legs start shaking. I have my rifle scope on him following him and he stares right at me. I'm thinking - Crap! He made me. He stares at me for several minutes and then looks down and continues walking. I find an opening to my left and I wait for him to get to that spot. He slowly walks forward and gets into the opening. He starts to quarter away from me. I put the cross hairs on his left shoulder and squeeze the trigger. He stumbles to the ground and goes 7 yards and drops right in the soyfield. I could not believe it. I surely thought he was going to bolt. I wait a few minutes and then I hear crunching behind me. I look and see a small spike coming right under my stand to my left and gets into the open field. He sees the one I just dropped and slowly makes his way over to him. He snorts, stomps, and circles him. After 10 minutes he finally walks away grazing. I tie my rifle to the tow rope (or at least I thought I secured it) and start to lower my rifle when suddenly I see the rope unravel and watch my rifle fall to the ground 15 feet and hit the ground with force snapping the rear stock completely off. I start cursing myself. I get down and look at my rifle - scope and barrel was intact but the rear stock broken off. My emotions went from elation to depression. I slowly made my way over to the buck I shot. I look at his rack and notice he's actually had a small seventh point about 1" long but I don't care and I chalk him up in my mind as my first 7 pointer. I go back from depression to elation. Now it gets better. I see the exit hole but no entrance hole. The exit hole was right in the middle of his chest. I then see what appeared to be a flesh wound on his right rear leg that seemed fresh. I'm looking at that and thinking - No way I did that! I flip this brute over and look for the entrance hole and after looking for several seconds I finally find it right above his left front shoulder exactly where I put the cross hairs on him. I was relieved. I'm wondering if that earlier shot I heard caused the flesh wound or was it from fighting?? I don't know and I don't care. He's mine and he's in the freezer next to his girlfriend.

Here's a nice one that was shot by one of my uncle's neighbors yesterday...

I shot this buck on Saturday around 9:45am. He came out of the pines to my north east and was heading south west at a slow walk. I watched him for probably 30-45 seconds before the shot. Perfect quartering on shot at about 60 yards, standing. He ran to about 17 yards from me and dropped. I pulled the jaw and will have him aged by the DEC people at some point as he is certainly not a young buck. He dressed out at 182lbs and had an 18" inside spread. These big bastards are really a pain in the azz to haul around. The normal hoist with the crappy thin nylon line isn't the best thing for getting a buck this big off the ground. The meat yielded from this kept my wife and I busy for hours. I used my NULA 50cal smokeless gun with Parker bullets. Shot him in Canadice. Here is a pic of my buck on the right with my buddies 10pt, also shot the first day with a LH NULA smokeless! We had a great day!

city folk do not spend the time we upstaters spend in the woods so they make bad decisions based on lack of experiance but there are some dumb asses up here that have no more buissness in the woods than any one from the big city

Congrats deerthug! Im doing pretty good filling mine this year too! 3 so far, goal is 2 more. I bought a 9.2 cu/ft chest freezer, plus my garage freezer, so plenty of room here!

what the %^&$ with analyzing what he said. so what if he exagerated a little. man, I wish I was as perfect as you!! Hell of a job Deerthug!!

he knows you are there.Thats why he left his climber.To claim that spot.If you saw his climber you would have gone on to a diferent spot right?Yes.most likely.So he might do like me.Try to plan the hunt the next day in adv down to a few days in adv with wind and morning stand preference.Just a hunch. So you need to do the same.Get some lock on stands.With climbing sticks.Not to start a war but if you pay to hunt it then hunt it. I had permision to hunt some land with one other guy.80 acr.I geve him most of it cause i didn't want to be rude since he had been there many yrs before me.He shot huge bucks so there every yr.I didn't hunt the area that they were cause he had stands there.But now i know different.I will hunt it.If i pay to hunt it i will hunt it.the last yr i hunted it and i never even saw the guy but once.On the way out. Dude.just hunt it.You both pay.

Great Looking Buck ... Congrats

I shot a doe last evening with my backup mz at bow range. I should have just brought the bow.

Day two.... This morning was very cold and foggy, but uneventful. this afternoon, my buddy and I set up a new ground blind on another part of the farm, and the idea was I was going to sit it this afternoon. When we returned to the farm a bit later, I noticed a guy in his ladder stand about 140 yards across the field. Damn, couldnt sit there, so I headed toward the stand I sat in yesterday. When we got to the spot where I saw the does, I showed him what I had seen and we discussed what the plan for today was. He was going to another ground blind, just down the hill from where we were and I decided I would stay there and see if I couldnt get lucky and catch the does heading into the back pasture again. I wasnt sure if it would work, as I was pretty exposed, but I thought maybe the distance was going to help me out. I was texting with my buddy asking if we had seen anything, and we both said no. As I put my phone away I spotted a doe coming into the pasture. I got low and moved up to the fence post that I could use as a rest. The doe moved into a swail in the pasture and I was waiting for her to emerge when I saw a rack come out from the brush to the left, right where I had ranged the does at 186. I switched my attention to him and as he put his head down to feed, I held just over his back right above the shoulders and slowly squeezed the trigger. POP! Are you kidding me! Misfire! The powder had gotten damp from loading up the previous day, then having 20 degree temps this morning and 50s in the afternoon. The buck looked over at the noise, then put his head back down. I got low and went back to my backpack, yanked the breech plug and pushed the load out. I threw everything out of my pack to get what i needed and reloaded, got back up to the post and slowly stood up. The buck was gone. My buddy called and asked what that pop was, so I told him, and as we were talking, the buck headed up out of the swail, i threw my phone, pulled up and grunted at him. I set my crosshairs in the same spot as he stood there slightly quartering to and let him have it. Boom! Through the smoke I saw the hit take him off of his feet. He got back up and headed into the brush. I picked my phone up and told him what happened, and he headed up to me. We went out and found blood, but thought we would give him time. I decided to range the shot, 180 yards on the dot from the post I rested on to my buddy standing where the deer was. We gave it an hour and followed a 50 yard blood trail to the other side of the brush right to my buck! Hes a solid 2 1/2 year old, with a very symmetrical rack. I couldnt be happier! What a vacation so far, a great doe yesterday morning and this guy tonight! Gonna take Thanksgiving off and get back after it Friday.

You have reached the "Sportsman Stage" in the 5 stages of a hunter. Enjoy it you've earned it.

heres a shot of the slob off a combine

Pretty powerful stuff here. I think about this subject from time to time. I guess i could see myself hanging up the guns & bows someday. I think I understand the feelings.......... Good luck man!

Hey WNYbackStrapHunter, I just put my cursor on your name and it said you were reading the thread about "Rochester area taxidudes" so your buck must be gonna go on the wall? Pics man, pics. The taxidude can wait until morning..........

Ha, now that you mention it, I'd trade that tv for 4 Easton ACC 360 shafts and a judo head!!! Good thinking woolster!!

Well I'll guess I'll be the first to ask, What are you selling? I don't plan on quiting anytime soon. I'm just on a count down until my son is old enough to get involved. I'm also coaching my wife even though she's not quite ready yet. Also I have a lot of friends that are taking an interest in it now they are getting older.

Noodle, I can certainly understand what you are saying. I am finding myself passing up more and more game as it passes by. I am to at the stage I enjoy opening my camp up to youth and a family member for a hunt. I try to pick one from every class I have. It is usually a child who does not have a lot of hunting support at home, or a mom trying to fill both parent roles (no offense meant to our lady hunters here). I am more talking about a mother who takes a hunter ed class with her son, so he will at least have someone to hunt with, even though she has no real passion for hunting. I truly enjoy watching them light up when they see a deer, or even more when they get one. I have taken enough game over the years that any more might make me feel greedy. I hope you stick around and share some of those pics. Just remember that the first time you see a racker with the camera, the fire will start burning again.

Sitting on the ground waiting for my buddy to help me track the nice 8 I shot 15 mins ago.

I too am fast approaching the age where I can see the eventual end. Just physically going through the rigors of scouting, climbing around the hills, dragging deer, and yet another thing that concerns me at my age is the idea of doing all this physical activity by myself with a history of a stroke a few years back and a few other medical problems. On the other hand, it is the hunting and scouting and just general hiking around the hills that keeps the joints oiled up and functioning. My slightly damaged health requires activity in order for me to exist. It is heavy exercise that keeps my blood pressure in check. It is exercise that keeps my blood sugar regulated. I need that activity to continue to exist. Hunting gives me a logical reason to be out wandering through the woods. Scouting automatically gives me a reason for year around outdoor activity. I'm certain that when I have to give up hunting and hiking and such that I will lose the motivation for an active life, and the results may be swift and sure. I don't think I would survive a sedentary lifestyle for very long. Not only all that, hunting is so engrained in my life that I would always miss the activity. I can't picture the thought of sitting in the house and hearing the shots outdoors without the ability to participate. I doubt that I could look at my wall of bows and other archery equipment and content myself with mere memories of what hunting used to be like. Of course it will happen one day if I should happen to live long enough, but I guess I will fight that ending as long as I am able to. So, I guess my time hasn't arrived ..... yet. But we all know that eventually it will, don't we?

Noodle one, I wish you luck. I think what your talking about hits some harder than others. I have had those feelings for the last few years. I made up my mind to get more youth involved at my camp. I would rather see a guest get one for the first time rather than myself. I let two walk Monday morning after doing 2 all day sits and only seeing a small button buck. Good luck my friend and continue enjoying the outdoors in your own special way!

Don't you ever work? <grin> Good luck!

No - it's the pick up driving, beer drinking, road hunting locals who go anywhere they want "cause I always hunted here" that bother me. Not looking for an argument or trashing locals, pick ups, or beer drinking. Just stating my opinion of course.

Back at the farm today but in a different stand. Quiet, foggy morning...

How do you know these folks are from NYC?

Me too. I go by Lonehunter on some forums. A handgun is always on you,while gutting, dragging and so forth,its never set down or unloaded . Heck one is in my pocket sitting here with wife and kids watching NCIS .

Niagara county stud... green score 194

Shot this spikehorn, which I mistook for a doe on opening day morning at 8AM. I also filled both of my DMP on Sunday afternoon. All on my property in 8N.

Is the $50 and beer for the person that comes to get it? hehe I had one in 36" size that I left behind for my sister back in the day when I moved out of her place because it was so heavy.

buddy of mine shot this today

I agree that you cannot go hunting convinced that you are going to be killed or maimed. At least not if you expect to enjoy your hunt. However, it is smart to be aware of the potential dangers and try to take some actions to put the odds of being wacked just a little more in your favor. I am always aware that there are possibilities that I might come across someone who isn't exactly the sharpest tack in the box, or somebody who doesn't really value my live as much as I do. So if the state wants to be just a little careful with legal hunting hours, I see that as not really all that big a problem. Sunrise to sunset seems like a very reasonable thing to me. I have never seen a deer that was so important that I felt that I should be shooting in some fuzzy darkness at it. Sure there are differences that make it possible to shoot in those twilight conditions. If the skies are absolutely clear, if the deer is standing right next to you, if you have no interest in seeing exactly what you are shooting at or where you might hit it, if you are watching a wide open field, if there is snow on the ground, then maybe it is possible to pull off a shot 1/2 hour before sunrise. But maybe the next day you go out there will be a foggy, drizzly, day of heavy clouds. Maybe you will be hunting in a mature hemlock woods. You might be amazed at how you can have difficulty seeing even at the legal sunrise time under certain conditions. Unless they are going to let you shoot in the dark, they have to put some restrictions on legal shooting light. I think they have chosen the most reasonable standard that takes into consideration almost all of the variables that you are likely to encounter this time of year.

Is there any other state that has the sunrise to sunset rule? Every other state I've ever looked at has some period before and after sunrise and sunset as legal shooting time. Most are 30 minutes each side. NY should be the same. Is it a big safety issue in all of these other states?

It was an awesome opening morning sit, although very short. As soon as I climbed into my stand I had deer in the 50 acre field I was overlooking. I had hardwoods behind me with a standing cornfield on the other side. The leaves in the woods were perfect to alert me of any movement with a nice frost from cold weather. After watching deer move around field right at first light I heard the "crunching" of leaves and this fella came out of the woods 50 yds to my right. Gave me a great opportunity to make a clean shot and I was able to make the most of it. He is not a giant but my second buck ever taken and first since 2007, rough score of 115. My biggest to date.

Look at the G5 Montec, thats a perfect example of a cut on contact broadhead.

11/7 am 27 Cold with a heavy frost. Hit the ladder stand out behind the house for 2 hours. Very quiet all morning until 8:15 when I ahd a nice one come in. We now have meat!! Story below. This may be one of the bucks that I am the proudest of taking. Sometimes it is just a lucky day or something but I feel I really earned this buck. It has been my worst bow season ever for deer sightings. I have been on stand during legal hours a total of 80 hours this season with 8 deer sightings. 1 deer for 10 hours is a very bad ratio I am usually 3 times that average. That being said I have been a bit discouraged with the activity. But I have been dragging my butt out every possible day. I think Zemmer18 from this site said once it is my persistence that pays off in the end. This week has been really cold and the sightings have picked up slightly. I actually passed a little 3 point at 30 yards yesterday, about the fourth passed 1.5 year old this season. It was very tempting considering I really do hunt for the meat. My family loves it and the freezer is scary low! I have been optimistic that the bucks had to start moving sooner or later. So on to the hunt. This morning was a frosty 27 degrees with a heavy frost covering the ground. I headed into my ladder stand behind the house and was set up by 6 am. It was very quiet all morning and I had not heard or seen anything. At 8:15 am I catch movement out front and see a deer crossing from my right to left about 80 yards out. Seeing that it is a nice buck but not working towards me I grab the doe can and give a couple calls. He stops but not really interested continues but does turn a little left. He cuts enough to get at 40 yards broadside which is my max range. He is at a small opening and I draw back and kind of bent over to line up with the hole and just tell myself this is not a good shot and let off. He then turns right and is headed out directly away from me. I grab the grunt tube and give it a couple blows and nothing, crap! Now what? He is at 70 yards…80 yards and going. I give a snort wheeze call with my mouth and he stops on a dime. I do it again and he spins 180 and back at me. He angles a little left and goes right through a lane but he is quartering to me. Then he turns and comes straight at me and now stops facing me at 12 yards. He turns a bit each way and actually gets broadside and looks away. Yea I start to draw and he snaps his head right back around! Oh cruds I am now pulled back like 3 inches and stuck. I start shaking, the bow starts shaking, my eyes are popping outa my head. I am thinking this is it he is going to bust me and be gone. After what seems like forever he turns away and I can let down, no way I could pull it then. He turns and starts walking away quartering away perfectly. I pull back and put the pin on the spot, double check pin so we do not repeat the miss I had two weeks ago!, and let it fly hitting perfect half way back. The arrow stopped on the far shoulder. He takes off and circles up and I see him go nose diving then summersault crash. He went about 70 yards. The whole deal took like 8 minutes and was extremely intense. I had to sit down until the shakes went away!! Got him dragged out and cleaned up he hit the scales at 160 pounds dressed. He will make some nice meals. He is a 9 point but I think most of the 9th point broke off when he flipped.

What is the point to AR?? This is an honest question and I'm not looking to start a pissing match. I don't live in AR and as I've said before I am a meat hunter. spike horn or 10 point they all taste the same to me. Whats it matter how much head gear they have

No, it doesn't have anything to do with what kind of hunter anyone is. It has to do with creating more and more laws that are trying to make inadvertant mistakes turn into poaching. But if a hunter has decided that he wants to take a buck every year as a goal, that really is none of my business, and I wish him luck with whatever buck he chooses. And by the way, I will be the first to pat him on the back and congratulate him for whatever he gets, instead of berating what he thinks is an accomplishment. Maybe we would have a few more hunters around if we didn't spend so much time worrying about whether his success measures up to our expectations.

And so we are really talking a defacto increase in the legal requirement as stated in law ..... just to ensure that mistakes are not made. That was one of the ways that I listed as ensuring that you never make a miscount by transposing a tine from one antler to the other. Interesting how a 3-point rule can be used to make a restriction even more restrictive. We just can't seem to restrict ourselves and our fellow hunters enough can we?