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Well..... I just shot a spike..he looked tasty! I happen to be sitting on my own/family property that I've hunted my whole life... I have never shot a buck on it.. I have seen and passed untold #s of 1 1/2 year old bucks over the years. Meanwhile my family and all the neighbors shoot piles of them... So I decided , what the neck, if I cannot beat them I might as well join them... I was really lucky.. he stepped out at 20 yds ...and click! Dam ! I forgot to put primer back in.. I managed to sloooowly get one out of my pocket and into my gun while he is looking everywhere but up..( good thing I wasn't on the ground)bam!! One shot in his neck...and there he is, the brown spot next to true trail in the pic.

I always believed there was no such animal as a truly "BIG 6pt" until I found these on my hunting grounds. I got a little more interested in 6pts after this. Never set eyes on him before or after this find. 8" gnarly bases, and some of the deepest vein canals I've ever seen on an antler around here.

This is the biggest 6 I ever saw.. Got it with the bow a couple years back... The very long brow tines are actually split main beams on both sides...

Me left moog5050 right.

Knife I had made for me by Denn Handmade Knives in the ADK's... every part of the knife is from NY... ADK deer antler.. hand forged and finished blade.. the handmade leather sheath even has a stamp of a deer hoof made form a 100 year old ADK railroad spike.

Certainly not as big as some of the 6pts seen above but this is my coolest 6pt. Some of you might remember these pics from two (IIRC) years ago. This buck was a stud, 182lbs (IIRC) and aged at 3.5 by the DEC but I kind of doubt it. This is one buck I should have had aged the scientific way, after I did the European mount on him I could see even more interesting characteristics in him. His skull was wider in girth than any other buck I've killed and did a European mount on. The glands and facial structure were much more pronouced also. He has mass and width but lacked tines! 18" inside........ Honestly, he is one of the coolest bucks I've ever shot.

This guy would have scored pretty well for a 6 if he hadn't broken his g2 off. Still a solid buck. Everyone seems to like the prototypical 8s but a big 6 is pretty darn cool.

Sounds like the Liberal distribution of wealth ........ pay for those that can't afford it . Don't do the crime if you can't pay the fine !

12-9-14 Late season success on the timbered edge of a goldenrod field. I sat on my stump daydreaming about shed season and all the antlers I'd be scooping up from the field behind me in the coming months. I had a sudden snap back to reality at 3pm when all of a sudden out of nowhere movement woke me up 25yds in front of me. This guy was casually following behind a young doe fawn and she led him right by me at 15yds before the ML swept him off his feet. He piled up about 40yds away, and when I arrived at his carcass I discovered he knocked an antler off when he crashed. I grabbed a few quick picures, and with sunset fast approaching I made a quick run home to grab a sled to make the drag out a little easier and protect his antler that was still attached. At home I realized I had this bucks antlers from last season which I included in these pics, and that I killed him just over 100yds away from where I had found those antlers last spring. This was the kind of hunt that made me thankful I could appreciate some of the finer points of the hunt without the size of the antlers clouding my excitement over him!

Picture doesn't do him justice . He is a big 1 1/2 year old north country deer.. 135#s all day.. the bucks don't have to go far here in farm country to find good feed and all the does they can chase with very little competition.. the buck to doe ratio is terrible.. And now I joined in ....Lol.... It is fun to shoot deer regardless, though....[emoji3]

Ha, many many years ago I was crossing a beaver swamp. Ice had nice coat of snow on it. Well I found out the hard way. Beavers had wore ice thin right in the middle of their run. I'm quickly in 4 feet of water wearing snowshoes. Dang scary ! We were trapping muskrats. Gloves were soaked trying to paw my way back out. I skinned 2 muskrats and wore them fur side in as mittens. Had a good mile and a half trek back to car. I laugh now but what could have been wasn't so fun at the time

I was leaning against a tree this morning in north central PA, hoping a buck would walk by...I saw a bird flutter down to the snow near me and then fly back up to a nearby tree..It was an eastern bluebird..Then I saw another, and another...Soon I was in the middle of a whole flock of bluebirds.. 30 degrees F and 8 inches of snow on the ground and I was surrounded by what was certainly a migrating flock of bluebirds. This is latest I have ever seen them this far north. I have no idea what they were eating, but they were flying down to the snow covered forest floor and getting SOMETHING, and then flying back up in the trees..They stayed around me for about an hour..It gave me something to watch, because the deer weren't moving much. Saw a big momma doe and two fawns, but she was safe from me since I already filled my PA antlerless tags.

I must say Ive been truly blessed in 2014...started off with a nice limit of geese over cut corn on 9/13 followed by a beautiful bear on the 14th.... bowhunted hard in oct with no luck on a buck, but did get a decent gobbler from the stand to christen in my new Martin Nemisis...after seeing nothing but groups of does for 5 weeks I scored on my best bow buck to date, a 19"wide 2.5y/o 8pt.... no luck on opening day of gun but the next day I scored my 1st handgun kill with a nice doe at 70yds(missed 2x @ 50 lol) with my S&W 29... Nov 30th I killed my best gun buck, a heavyish 3.5 y/o 8pt ......with the freezer busting at the seams I was feeling greedy and gonna pack it in, but yesterday I decided to jump in the stand and score a little "give away meat" with a transferred dmp. Got busted by a FAT doe with 3 fawns around 9.. at 10 I almost decided to pack it in when a group of 3 mature does came into range and I double lunged the biggest one at 20yds very enjoyable late season bowhunt with snow on the ground ....I gotta say this was my best season in my 15 years of hunting and still cant believe my luck, but what Im most thankful for and proud of, was that all kills were quick and clean and required zero tracking.

Very simple...There is never anytime when I feel so FREE from life's everyday worries and woes than when I am hunting or fishing.. My mind is occupied with what I am doing, whether calling a turkey or finessing a smallmouth with a hair jig..

I wouldn't call it a fascination, but I like big 6's too. Here is my biggest 170lbs. dressed

I shot this buck on 11/30/14 in the Adirondacks (Hamilton County) after tracking him for 4 hours 23 minutes (I originally claimed 5.5 hours in a FB post, I was incorrect according to my GPS) and covering 5.2 miles. I missed (deflected bullet) him once about halfway through the journey, but was able to connect when he got distracted by a doe and followed her across an opening in front of me. After shooting him I realized I had trail cam pictures of him last year over 2 miles from where I took up his track this year. These big woods bucks have large ranges! This was probably the most memorable hunt I've ever had, and boy did I have to work for it! Based on last year's trail cam pics and his tooth wear, which was at least as much as the 5 year-old 8pt (cementum annuli aged) I shot about a mile from there in 2012, I estimate this buck to be at least that old as well, perhaps even one year older. I will send his teeth in too to confirm. Gross green score of 131 and change. Brows are over 5 and 7" and bases are just shy of 5". The picture(s) I posted on FB last week generated a lot of comical comments about practicing shooting more, aiming better, and only taking ethical shots. Those folks don't realize that tracking is not blood trailing. They don't go 5.2 miles after a heart shot either. With tracking, you follow the buck BEFORE you shoot it... P.S. I wrote a much more detailed story of this hunt but I am going to see if I can get a magazine to buy it. They require it be unpublished material, which unfortunately includes posting it on an internet forum. If things go well, hopefully I will be able to post the story at a later date. (Sorry NYantler) Not something I normally look at, I thought this graph of my walking speed was interesting. (From GPS) Trail cam pics from 2013: Making a mock scrape:

Checked a couple of cameras today that were set up on some oaks, had 6 bucks on camera since Thanksgiving... Of note: Wannabe (3.5 year old) is still kicking around... Last pics prior to gun season... Monday morning... Daylight, only 15 yds from my groundblind!!! My favorite 2.5 yr old, 11-pt. I'm super excited to see what he turns into this next year!!! Sunday evening...

For years I have had this fascination with big 6-points... not the no brow tine kind of six, but the typical 3x3 with brow tines and G2's only... if I have one dream in hunting it would be to kill one... not sure why I'm so drawn to them, maybe because they are so rare. I have two buddies that have taken a big six... but I have never even seen a live one in the woods... does anyone else have the same fascination? My buddies with their six points

Populations would explode... unless of course we doubled the number of hunters... which I don't see happening if you take away tags and hunting days... adding more bucks to the equation and having less days to hunt with the ever diminishing habitat.. would be horrible for NY deer hunting... it might create bigger bucks for a while until there is no food left for the deer to eat because of over population. We are not other states... not the same types of habitats, not the same amount of habitat, not even the same kind of hunting in some cases, deer densities are different... we could go on forever. I'm guessing that since you didn't mention bow hunting anywhere...you're for filling in the voids made in the two gun seasons with more bow hunting... the whole thing sounds a little self serving to me.

From the start of the process....... Gutting: I've been using this Kershaw Gentleman's Folder for a few (?) years now and it is perfect for the job, IMO. The nice long slender point gets the a-hole done without any fumbling around. I don't know how many I've dressed with it since I got it but I'd guess 15-20. Skinning: Whatever I haven't used in a while could get the job here. I enjoy all my knives and they ALL get seat time. Here are a few that were used this year. (Geno Denning on top and next two down are Gene Ingram, the third is for boning out in the field and another Ingram) Boning out: These are all from a knife sharpening service that supplies the local restaraunts, meat markets etc with weekly sharp knives. Typically these are sold after they have been sharpened to a point that they aren't worthy of rental anymore, I get them for a couple bucks each and are sharp when I get them. Note the knife 2nd from the bottom, it is my favorite by a mile. It has a slight upward sweep to the blade and is has a very thin blade adding in flexibility. The rest are almost worthless........... All knives are sharpened on a Spyderco Sharpmaker as soon as they need it and they come back FAST with this set up. It doesn't scratch the blades, you can't cut yourself, works fast and is highly portable if your taking a trip. Remember: a sharp knife is a safe knife.

Something like this little guy would do just fine...

Good for you ncountry! That is what it's all about IMO. Shoot what YOU want, when you want. More pics when you have time!!

4seasons - I think after 10 weeks of reading your posts, I have a pretty good idea of who you are. You are never wrong, which means you cannot learn. You are not the audience in this response to your posts. When scientists do research, they never draw conclusions from one situation, location, etc. They certainly do not draw conclusions based on emotion or personal anecdotes. I can talk all about all the coyotes here and how deer numbers are out of control. It only balances the 4seasons argument. It is not science. 4 seasons is a story teller. The organic roots of which are not far from the stories the original Grimm brothers told. He wants to convince others that they need to fear these creatures. However, the science does not support this fear. I do understand where it coming from. I have spent considerable time in places where domestic stock has ranged free since the beginning of the holocene. A legitimate fear of wolves predates even that. Those people have very large dogs that live with their stock - even now in areas now devoid of wolves. I have watched a Great Pyrenees refuse to let a vulture land even though the bird is an obligate scavenger. The dog can't tell the difference between a vulture and an eagle - which is certainly capable of killing a small ungulate. Fear of wolves runs deep. And, another off topic comment: Hunting livestock is not hunting. High fence hunting is just a euphemism. I don't object to it. I kill lambs each fall. They are livestock. 4season's livestock may be more difficult to kill but it is not hunting.

Slight drizzly in 9g....had to park on side of the road because it was to risky with the depth of the snow to get the truck and atv trailer stuck......sitting in a honey hole that hasn't been touched in a while.....lookin for sonething to stroll by .....wouldn't even mind a yote at this point!!

Last day of my season. 'ML sitting on my lap and waiting for a deer. nice calm,balmy 30°. 2 grouse so far..they are pretty tasty, maybe I should change tactics/ targets..

Not a good weekend so far! Drove 45 min south to hit a spot well 20 inches snow with ice on top nope back home in stand at 7:30 am. Lost my licenses yesterday!

Hunting is an escape. It is one of the few thing's that can put me in the frame of complete happiness. Its about disconnecting with society, and finding who you are. I hunt because it is who I am, and what I love.

Can't speak about ALL MLs, but my T/C Triumph's breech plug port will only take a 0.019/0.020" gage pin. In a Triumph, the port has 3X diameter holes. Cleaning with Q-tips, pipe cleaners & a small diameter pin or wire is necessary. A shot of air helps, either canned air or from a compressor. I also use Triple 7 pellets and have never had a hang fire. BTW - Moisture is the worst enemy of any blackpowder during storage and useage. You know; Keep your powder dry! Also, there's a slight difference in primers, some are hotter than others. IE; Winchester T7 209 primers. Before loading any ML after cleaning, always fire a cap/primer only to clear debris &/or olis out of the port.

I guess one would not know a coyote problem until one had a coyote problem. Coyotes will decimate a deer population on a piece of property, one way or the other.

I wasn't referring to you grow... I was referring to the thousands of hunters I have talked to over the years and my perception of most hunters based on those conversations... I have heard what you heard for almost 25 years its an ongoing theme with most hunters... I have a good idea that your not like most hunters. Sorry if it seem like I was implying that.

I've had Brian from "Wildlife Creations" in Millbrook( Dutchess County) do heads for me. Great guy to deal with. I too like that he is a Vet.

Nice one Wooly!

Don't forget the velcro gloves

Wife made this tonight, was amazing. Cooked ground venison up in bacon fat with onions and carrots, added broth, peas, corn, red wine. Cooked, covered in mashed potatoes and baked. Yum.

I didn't until now. Dam Wooly those things are huge!

Yes it does. They've been that way every year... 2014: 2013: 2012:

I honestly wonder why there is so much controversy over shooting hours. Have we gotten so darn desperate that we cannot abide by a very simple rule? It is amazing what peer pressure and a need for the acceptance of fellow hunters can force people to do. Most do a lot of self-control acts, like being super-selective in shot selection, looking for minimum personal standard in size/age of what they take, etc., etc. So what is the big deal about adding one other restriction ..... ensuring that we follow the law. Is that really a big hardship? Why is that one so hard to incorporate into our hunting ethics?

This awesome little palmated yearling looks like he could be a Steuben County stud in a couple of years!!! [/url

Guys, Im in Ulster county if your interested you can pm me for my contact info.. I run a part time shop from home for the past 24 years. Im only doing game heads these days due to my full time job, artifact collecting and my passion for hunting and fishing... 2004 national champion small mammals , 2007 runner up north american champion and best of shows in NY, CT , NJ and many first places in award of excellence division.. Few pictures of customer deer.. Thanks for looking. Ron

He was next door eating my neighbors bushes last night. Too bad I'm in Amherst..... No action this morning so far Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

14 squirrels. jake turkey, trapped 18 coon, 3 possum, first buck with bow, a spike, 8 pt and 2 does with shotgun, and got tomorrow off and 5 days of m/l left.

First season ever at the age of 45. 1 pheasant and one buck. Couldnt be more hooked on hunting. Butchered both on my own thanks to this website and youtube. Both taste awesome. Totally rewarding experience. Thanks to all for your posts.

Lucky Last Day I had a little extra luck on Sunday. I was hoping to get up to the Adirondacks for the last day of gun season but personnel circumstances prevented me from getting away. So I thought I would hunt locally although I hadn't seen a deer in the last two weeks. I wasn't able to get to my stand until 8:30, climbed the tree and pulled up my shotgun. Within 30 seconds of untying my shotgun from the haul line I heard something then saw a deer creeping through the brush about 80 or 90 yards away. The deer's track would result in a CPA of about 40 or 45 yards directly upwind of me if. I took the shot as soon as he walked into an opening. Photo below. Just lucky, pure luck. Not a huge rack but he had some heft. Right beam was partially broken off due to fighting. The phrase "timing is everything" comes to mind.

If you DON'T feed the troll, they will die. Starve this one......................................................

Great season. My young female mentee shot 2 does - see the thread Mentoring Young Women. My 80 year old Dad shot a doe and a buck.

I shot my best buck yet.8-point, green scored a few inches lower than my best. A bit more spread & mass, longer brow tines,but lost out on G-2 & G-3 tine length. My '09 8-point had ridiculousy long tines for the overall size. Also, at 190#, within 29# of my heaviest buck from '04. I might have him mounted. I'm getting older & this is the 1st buck I've killed since my son started seriously deer hunting with me. He has a very symetrical rack.

Must be a wet drive.

Actually shot this guy the saturday prior to gun opener with the bow but couldnt find him. Was really bummed. Opening morning 10 min in he walked right up to me. 25 yrd shot only ran 40 yrd.

Number 2.

Shot this buck this morning with my Dad's .300 Win Mag. First deer I've killed with it since he passed away. Figured I'd blow the dust out of it for him...