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I have been hunting this property where I shot this buck for around 10 years. It is 45 acres and I have killed several very nice bucks and missed a few others. I have always tried to do my part in QDM and told myself I would only shoot mature bucks regardless of where I hunted. That being said this is the only buck I have taken off the property in the last 4 years and this is my honey hole. All I can say is passing up small bucks is worth it, no matter how much property you control. OK on to the hunt!!! I set up my climber 5 days ago from what I noticed to be a very active scrape line along very thick cover that butts up to mature hardwoods. I hunted it 3 out of the 4 last days when the wind would blow w or sw or downwind. The last 3 days I have been seeing small bucks and young doe/button buck fawns. I called in most of those deer out of the thicket with a doe bleat can call and buck grunts. What was bothering me was not seeing any mature does around. I wasn't sure if bigger bucks had them locked down or if they were just staying put and not moving. I was feeling discouraged this morning and almost hunted a different property. Glad I didn't, I decided to stick it out. This morning was calm and the woods were moonlit. At first light I noticed the scrape I was hunting downwind of was reworked by someone overnight. I hit the can call and a few grunts around 6:50 but nothing immediately responded. I was thinking about doing a rattling sequence when I noticed movement in the thick stuff. I see big white horns moving through the thicket and on a beeline headed right to a scrape that I thought was 40 yds away. Well I new that was a long shot and I hit the doe bleat to see if I could direct him my way. Nope, he was set on checking that scrape. I had an opening just before he made it to the scrape and decided to go full draw and prepare to stop him broadside as he came out of the thicket. I just didn't think he was going to come my way so it was now or never. I thought he was 40 yds away and aimed a little high on his back and released. I watched my nockturnal lighted nock as my grim reaper broadheads hit its mark. I heard a loud smack and noticed a lot of my arrow sticking out and watched it break off as he ran back into the thicket. Needless to say, I am totally shaking and adrenaline is at its peak, and I am worried about arrow penetration at this point. I waited 25 min before I got down from the tree and went to check for blood. Blood was pretty much instantly visible right where I had shot him. Followed the blood trail for about 25 yds, we're I then found my arrow. About 5-6 inches had broken off in the deer. Blood was looking good but decided to back out for 3 hrs to give him some time. Around 11:00 we resumed working the trail and about 100 yds later, I walked up on this dandy 8 point.

Harvested this Buck last Friday (11/7) in Steuben County. Got in the Stand around 5:30 a.m., it was 28 degrees and raining, it continued to rain til about 8 a.m. then it turned to snow. Had a couple smaller Bucks and some small deer pass by throughout the morning so I decided to stay in the stand til 11 a.m. At 11, let my Bow down and started packing up when I noticed this Buck coming straight at me. Quickly pulled my Bow up and nocked an arrow, by this time he was passing under my tree. He stopped at less than 10 yards, I drew and released my arrow. I heard a "whack" and off he bolted across the field. I watched him go into the neighbors woods about 200 yards away at a dead run, never slowing down. When I got down, I found that my arrow had snapped off with about 8" still in the deer. My buddy and I headed down and got some lunch, came back about 1 p.m. to the location where I saw the deer go in. We found a couple thumbnail size drops of blood and then we came to the property line. I called the neighbor and thankfully, he gave me permission to pursue. After another 100 yards of following minimal blood and scuff marks, the blood started spraying out! Another 50 yards or so and there he was piled up. Never found the arrow but, apparently when it dislodged it allowed the blood to come out. I hit him right behind the front shoulder and the broadhead appeared to hit the opposite side shoulder as there was no exit wound. I took him to the Butcher on Saturday and when I got back to Virginia on Sunday, I get a call from the Butcher informing me the deer must have been hit by a car recently because it was infected from front to back and was a total waste. Ugh...was looking forward to some Venison Tenderloin & Burger...and lots of it!

Sounds like your club needs to evaluate its membership criteria

Story Here..http://www.nyantler-outdoors.com/adirondack-muzzleloader-buck.html

THANK YOU TO ALL THAT HAVE SERVED!!!!

deer were movin late that morning! still as all hell, cold, and I was amazed when I finally saw the first buck cruise through at 8:30... Then a doe n two fawns, and about 9:30 I was gonna call it... so I tipped the can over a couple five or six times n here come this guy nose to the ground trottin at me looking for his lady... I had originally gone into this sit looking for a big chocolate ( well more of an amber or caramel color) rack but never showed. This being my last sit for bow and I hadn't gotten my usual doe yet, I decided he'll due and get some meat in the freezer... shot em at 5 yds , went 30 yds, wobbled, and then made a death dash/leap into the thicket not 5 ft from him in which he managed to get all tangled up in and expired seconds later... It was hell getting him all untangled out a that mess... Stoked for the weather for the SZ gun opener this saturday n have some pretty good bucks on cam I'd like to have mozy on by... good luck all , n thanks for reading... Joe

with that many ticks on it, the meat is definitely ruined. you'd better drop it off at my house so I can dispose of it properly!!!

Adirondack 6pt. Saturday afternoon in 5H about 100 yds with my Winchester 100 in .284 Winchester. 139gr Hornady Interlock BTSP with Varget. 1 shot in the neck dropped him like he was hit by a freight train. Not a good picture of his rack though.

Just a bit of advice to members on here and any visitors. The members here love to help but if you are going to ask a question about a regulation or involves the legality of an action, Please, at least appear to have read the regulations and not have slept through the hunter safety education course. We not return you to our regularly scheduled scolding. .

Ever get that chill down you spine and the little voice in your head whispers, "This never ends well"?

Really the sunrise,sunset rule in this state is as dumb as 7 bullets in your magazine, I see where the law should be there for gun, considering that every body knows that one guy who is a total dumb ass and scares the hell out of you during daylight hours, let alone in the dark, But then again he is the guy shooting when its still dark out, but too argue over a few minutes with a bow is insane, Just like the last election are true problem in this state is the fact that we are always at each others throats and can never just agree to pursue things that really matter, If we as hunters and gun owners had united in this state, Cuomo never would have won, Its all relevant when it comes down to law, Stand together and stop the bickering, unite to get the politicians out that are not in our favor and put in place ones that would change laws so this very topic would no longer come up, Fighting and name calling over a few minutes, Really!!!!!

I remember my Dad's last deep sea trip with me... We didn't know it at that time... But this is one of my most favorite pics..

I could hunt after work then[emoji1]

I dont get to hunt northern zone as much as I used to, now that we have moved to the western part of the state, but I was up in the Speculator area this past weekend. Only saw 1 deer in three days of hunting, but was fortunate enough that the one deer was this 8pt on Sunday morning (Nov 9). I was sitting on a ridge overlooking several active scrapes, when he approached from behind me. I sat down at 6:45AM, and he came in at 7:05AM. He litterally came to within 6 yards. He was DIRECTLY behind me, and so I couldn't even get turned around for a shot until he turned to my left and gave me a short 10 yard shot. I was hoping he didn't spook before giving me a shot - two bounds and he would be over the ridge and out of sight. And it was quite thick right behind me. Anyway, this river bottom area I was hunting had excellent scrape activity this past weekend. And this guy was definitely working that scrape line and looking for does. And his tarsal glands reeked. Wondering if you guys are seeing similar activity up north. LiveToHunt

Dan's buck.........

My son got his first deer!

Got em...big 8. Will post details later.

What Biz said..... I just got home early this morning...I took a dandy nontypical buck with 10 scoreable points on the right and 6 on the left and good mass, scoring around 180. My buddy took a similar non-typ that scored around the same and even had large, gnarley spilt brow tines. The other three deer hunters in camp shot very nice typical 4 x 4s, from 26" -28" wide all scoring in the 170's. I'll try to get some photographic evidence on here after I get unpacked and settled in . Great hunt.

I sat watching all the turkeys wakeing around me...learned alot this morning...was trying to decide whether to shoot one when they dropped down when I heard foot steps behind me...checked the watch and it was just 6:58 I got the bow ready and in slipped a rack....to my rt...perfect...I'm lft handed.... he was moving through the trees and I was following him with the scope at around 17 yards a turkey putted in the trees and he stopped..I squeezed off the shot and he took two bounds and stopped to look around...dang I thought I missed! then his knees went together and the hip swayed...he tried a wobbly walk but 20yrds after the hit he tipped over...it was a perfect hit...I actually tried to recock the bow but it wouldn't catch???I have to check it out later...I was going to sit and see what the turkeys did...they weren't upset until I started gathering gear to leave then what a racket..lol great morning and out of old faithful stand...all it took was a corn cutting to put them back on track...OMG he stinks...all rutted up...

Well my first year went great! Sitting on the ground is a hard thing to do. Saturday we saw 4 coyotes I was able to get one of them with my crossbow. Sat night I was able to harvest my first ever deer! Was a nice little button buck but hey he was my first one. Sun I was ready to wait for a mature deer, it didn't happen till the PM but wow worth the wait! She was 40 yards away and I got a perfect heart shot! I can not wait till next season! All shot with Barnett Ghost 410 Oh yeah here is that heart shot!

No, they were placed here to give us a little gun practice before the rest of the season opens. And to serve as dinner at deer camp.

Zem, your story reminds me of the Monday openers, hanging out with my pop, my uncles, cousins and friends the entire weekend, playing cards, joking around, smoking cigars, and looking so forward to Monday morning. People often ask me, why I love to hunt so much....I tell them, its hard to explain. Its the same reason I still make sure to always have sicilian olives, soppressata, fontinella cheese and crusty bread for lunch on opening day....Its tradition, and reminds me of my ancestors....very important today in this fast, immediate world we live in now... I appreciate your story, and will pray you and your dad can get out again. Good luck and be safe.

Um, you eat it, just like any other deer.

Why can't they all just do what the magazines say they are supposed to be doing!

Leaving a half hour before legal seems excessive. Some of my best opportunities(I suck so they are not kills!) come during that magic 1/2 hour. After legal shooting light passes still leaves plenty of traveling light.

They sent you an extra bar as they didn't include a tree

There has to be something I am missing here. Decades ago we had round wheel , two wheel bows where the wheels are mounted eccentrically to get the let-off. That is "old-tech" not some new invention. The video is long on fancy-talk superlatives and absolutely missing any useful info. If they are asking gobs of money for a round wheel eccentric bow, I have a whole wall full of them that I will let go for approximately 1/8 of that price.....lol.

What's so new ? Manufacturers started out with bows that had 2 wheels . They went on to make 1 cam and 2 cam bows . Now a manufacturer is once again making 2 wheel bows . This is innovation ? Enlighten me please !

Virgil, what type of system did you go with? Philo, I want a mud room but my wife needs it. Lol

Nice job! Gotta love watching them drop a short walk away.

I saw this.... it was November 20th 2011... I had sat down for a night sit at about 2:00. Around 2:15 I hear crashing coming up the creek... through an opening comes a doe with her tongue hanging out and snot pouring out of her... behind her comes a buck! I look but the doe was larger than the buck so I decide to pull on the doe and drop her in her tracks. I begin texting my wife and letting her know that I killed a doe and that the buck ran to her brother I was waiting for the shot. Just as I was about to get up I see the buck come back. I sit to watch him for a bit and start texting my wife letting her know he was back. She tells me "shoot him then you won't have any tags to eat" This year the weather was warm so it kind of made sense. I looked at him while he was still pacing the swamp looking at her. Finally I decided my wife was right and I did not yet have a 5 pointer. So after about 20 mins I decided to take him too. Two deer same day... The rest of the guys never saw anything for the rest of the year so I was happy I decided to take them both. She was HOT and he didn't want to leave... Love kills!! Sorry about the gut pile in the back not the best picture....

Here's a different issue to ponder. Today I'm hunting a property I have permission to use but don't know well. So I decide to stalk a little to see more areas I haven't seen before. As I'm going I see a doe trotting down with a buck in tow. I drop to my knee and draw, I have him! Then I see the posted sign. I wait hoping she will bring him across, she doesn't, they leave. No one was around, no one would probably care... But its someone else's.... Or in the world of rules only kinda apply to me should the shot be seen as acceptable.

Sorry to say, but if a stud buck showed up two minutes after the sun went down and its still damn near broad daylight out, I'm sticking him every single time. If someone told me that they had the buck of a lifetime show up at 517 and their little app on their phone said sunset was 515 so they didn't shoot, I would slap them in the side of the head.

Not that I know of ...it was just a sight she wanted to share....... after I told her of the buck jumping my car...then the whole seeing deer running on the way to work and the incident she saw came up...I believe what she saw from the excitement in her voice when telling me...obvious a new experience for her...

Think 18 yo guy at the prom w/o a date. I once watched a 1.5 yo 6 pt buck do crop circles around my tree stand for 5 minutes that could have been seen from the space station.

Poacher! I hope you get your license revoked for many years! No harm, but still illegal. I could have a shot an 8pt buck easily with my xbow the other day at 530am. It was standing 30 yards from where we parked the car. But then I would always look at the antlers on the wall, knowing I cheated Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

And remember just because the regs say you can shoot till sunset does not mean it is always safe. I hunt one swamp that on a cloudy day gets too dark to shoot safely before sunset. Like a dungeon in there.

No in our club we all put our own stands up on our own and came to a agreement that we stay in our own .. to much work scouting hanging stands cutting lanes and letting deer go to have some smuck come in while I'm not there and shoot the fist 2 he sees ... if we had all the stands and we went out together and hung them then yes but this guy's first year he hung no stands and thought he was gonna go off our hard work no I think not

Portions of Harriman state park were originally opened up for a 3 yr trial run back in the early 80's. I hunted it in 81 or 82, I remember getting out of my car when a park officer came by and he said a bomb scare was called in and it would not be in my best interest to go into the woods. As soon as he left I went in to hunt and missed a deer that day. It seems that a lot of people complained about the hunt but it also appeared that the state had overestimated the number of deer that were in Harriman so the hunt was cancelled after one year. As a previous poster said its not as good as most people think.

I usually sit until I can't see anymore to answer the question you asked. But yea, not supposed to shoot them after sundown.

Just got a shot on a big buck. I am still in the tree and I am a little worried. Saw my lighted nock hit the deer but I don't know how good the penetration was. Could see my arrow sticking out of him as he ran off. Dammit I hope he is down. Probably 30+ yd shot broadside.

I see deer often tines within 15 mins of climbing with a climbing stand.

Again tonight! 40 yard heart shot!

Success Tonight! Horton crossbow NAP 100 grain kill zone broadhead

Talk about reinventing the wheel !

My son's deer, 23 yard shot right through the heart. Very little tracking job. Nice size frame on this animal. Had been shot, just below the spine some weeks ago.

6pt down ....17 yrds 7am a 20yrd walk tipped over heart shot...pics after I go get him....

This is my 2013 Mount from Fins to Feathers in Hicksville. Thanks Rich!!! Looks great!