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Taken Sunday....not bad for a first buck....very proud DAD........

What a hard season but finally got it done tonight! Doe down! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Best dinner ever. Went with my folks to celebrate their 70th wedding anniversary For you Erie County folk : Ripa's restaurant in Lancaster. It used to be a school when they first met 77 years ago. Mom was 12 and Pop was 14. It's now and has been a restaurant for many years. Both folks are in great health , wits about them, dad still drives and better than most. Love them so much When daughter was first born I was worried she may never get to know them as they were getting older. Daughter now 13 and they've all shared so much. I never met any of my grandparents as they passed before I was 1. Having a few tears shed right now. They bring so much joy to each other and everyone around. Love you Mom and Pop

Another deer down. She weighed #117.

The closest I ever got to any type of teaching position is NRA certified firearms instructor, and I don't know Papist from Adam. If you think we are the same person, put a large amount of cash on it and I'll split it with him to prove we aren't. I'll be 60 this month and currently consider my occupation "Independently Wealthy". When asked what I do these days, my answer is simply, "Whatever I want". Now, let's get back on topic here. You guys really have a very short attention span. Another reason this society is in a death spiral and headed for doom.

Thanks everyone, great advice and info! I went with the Ruger. Very lightweight. $329 on sale at Field and Stream.

Technically they poached it

Just go to the Mexican border and a whole lot more than 144 people crossed into the U.S. without i.d or any paper work. Thanks Mr. President.

It took me a while, but here's the 4 point I was talking about. I wasn't able to find the pictures of the buck at camp, but here's a pic of the skull.

Good thread here so far. FWIW..... Try some of the 165 gr's also and see if those are as accurate or better than 150's. Have taken close to 2 dozen critters in the 400-700 lb class; and bigger is better IMO.(Chambering would include; 270win,30-06,300RUM,375HH) A big fan of stiff contruction bullets and have had good results including shots from multiple angles. I get very few recoveries, I happen to like Swift Aframes and Trophy Bonded Bearclaws; but I did some volume culling on some smaller animals with a 243 and TSX's and they had excellent results. Loaded the 180grTSX in my 300 WBY and with now one animal down, I hope to use it for several hunts in the future; impressive stuff. I want 2 holes and be able to reach vitals from any position; and I want to break bones, preferably the offside leg if possible. Back to your first posts. I have two rifles I have 2 loads for (270win and 30-06), another with three ( 375 has a 300gr soft and 300gr solid to same point of impact and a Partition in 260gr with a second scope) . No big deal to work up 2 different loads if you want something softer for whitetails (and cheaper to plink with for chucks and targets). If grouping well, doesn't take more than 5 shots (or less) to get a scope zeroed, I use QD mounts and sometimes leave a second scope zeroed for another load. That extra scope always gets packed when travelling so with a few shots I could be back in business if required in case of a bad drop or accident to primary optic. Good luck on the hunt! Edit to add......Plenty of Elk have dropped to smaller calibers and the Partitions in all chamberings, good bullet. Most of the hunting I do involves a day rate and trophy fee; once that bullet leaves the muzzle, you own it. Positive blood trails, broken bones, and being able to possibly follow up very quickly make things just a little more stress free.

Apparently personal attacks are the diet du jour. The actual substance of an argument is all that most thinking people really care about. Trolls don't count. State a position and defend it. If you can't defend your position, you really shouldn't say it out loud, ie, post it on the internet. Stating that "It's a really difficult problem." got me thrown out of my junior high debating class in 1972. It didn't carry any weight then, and it still doesn't. If it wasn't a difficult problem we wouldn't be trying to discuss it.

So, is the new DEC ruling against using hunters to control feral hog populations working? Has the fact that hunters have been banned from dispersing hogs so that the DEC can successfully hunt or trap them been working? How many hogs has the DEC removed from the landscape. Where are the numbers? How many man-hours has the DEC devoted to the control of this invasive species? ....... Any??? Is the plan for eradication really working? Where's the story? How about it NYON, any plans for an investigative report to follow up on this story? Just wondering.

Minimum of 100 acres of corn and alfalfa. 20 to 30 cords of firewood cut each year. 150 acres of hay cut each year. Pasture 30 to 40 cows in the summer. This is a working 500 acre farm! And we have have killed mature bucks from here this year. As most years. Just saying, not as many seen the last couple of years. I'll let the experts sort it all out!

Very well said! I have been hunting a property for over 40 years, and this is the least amount of deer seen in that time.

I'm sick of DEC trying to BS us. They must think we're really stupid. "It's lack of participation, lots of mast on the ground, poor weather for hunting, lack of hunter proficiency, blah, blah, blah". I've got some ocean front property you might be interested in, if you're actually buying their lies. At least in my corner of 8N, the deer are NOT here. Like I said before, trail cameras don't lie. We have several cams, in different spots on the property, that have always produced a lot of pics. Yes, we have deer this year, but less than half of what we used to see on camera. Unless the deer (& turkeys, there's not many of them around either) have learned to avoid the cameras, THEY JUST AREN'T THERE. Yeah, there was a lot of food this year, but that's happened before. The difference is, in years past that had good mast crops, there were deer around to eat it. There's still apples laying under the trees at our place, as well as a lot of WHITE oak acorns. Don't feed me some crap about the deer not having to move to eat. There's no magical Mary Poppin's style, endless pile of freakin nuts laying in every bedding area. There were a lot of guys out down my way, too. I didn't notice any decrease in the amount of cars I saw parked, or hunters I saw in town. The only thing that decreased was the amount of shots. It's not just my place either. The neighbors aren't seeing jack. Sightings were even way down this year, at my friend's place in Scottsville, & we always used to see a LOT of deer there. That place was like a meat market, up until the last two seasons. Guys I know who hunt all over the region, are not seeing deer. One guy from my camp is a butcher in Walworth. Last week, he was at #74 for the year, where as he's usually into the 120's by now. Funny thing, he had DEC come by to check him out, & he had no deer on the floor. DEC guy said the last two butchers had no deer either. Strange. It's so disappointing that we hunters just suck lately. I'm sure that somehow, all the guys who know how to kill deer were either butchering them at home, or using other processors. Look at the amount of us on this site, who are just not seeing deer. It's not coincidence. Here at work, the amount of calls to remove roadkill deer has gone WAY down this year. Amazing! What a coincidence. People's driving skills must have improved, simultaneously with the decrease in hunter ability! Know what else is amazing? There's no huge packs of coyotes caught on camera either. No bears, cougars, wendigos, or any other type of super predator who could wipe out the deer. That's must mean it's not the predators! Shocking, right?!! It's the hard winters, too many damage permits, too many dmp's, & a DEC that wants the deer numbers decimated. Simple. They lie, & they'll continue to lie. Hunters are part of the problem, too. We sit here and decry the lack of deer, yet how many of us are willing to lay down the guns, & leave dmp's unfilled? I for one, am not filling any doe tags down at our place. Not this season, nor any time in the future, until I see a turnaround in deer numbers. Screw you DEC.

Need GPS dart to shoot out of trail cam at time of picture. It would make tracking and finding these bucks a lot easier Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Holy crap, Chas !! 3500 FPS for a 130 in the .270 Win would be REALLY hot !! Typical muzzle velocities for that bullet in the .270 Win are around 3100.... You sure your chrony is telling you the truth ? If that velocity is correct I would worry about the safety of my load. Early production Barnes bullets had some issues..Many rifles would not group them well and excessive copper fouling was a problem.. Barnes addressed the problems, and modern TSX and TTSX Group as well or better in my rifles as any other bullets and copper fouling has been reduced .. They are a great hunting bullet.

You realize that this thread is from last year, right?

I had decoys. 4 larger sized fawns at 25 yards. Browsed for a bit and meandered off. Ok , so this is what they look like again. Larger variety now please

d-bone - Ford is right. Papist is a provocateur, good for a chuckle now and then. Papist - If you are the academician you claim, don't you have grades to do? No other prof I know has as much time as you for this stuff.

Killed 5 miles away. That is alot of asskicking.

Very cool! Looks like an old warrior, with a broken rack from sparring.

http://youtu.be/isKkiZYt8Tw X-Calibur Lighting Systems http://facebook.com/XCaliburLightingSystems

Two inch thick lamb chops basted with olive oil, home grown garlic and chopped rosemary, grilled medium rare, plus oven roasted sweet potato and steamed green beans....Oh yeah...and BEER...

Dead serious Stoneam, it works! Your old buddy Skillet wouldn't lead ya wrong.

There were adults trying to discuss something on this thread so I'm not sure why you felt the need to get involved. But if I missed the point please let me know how what you posted has relevance? I'm sure letting gay people get married is somehow leading to mass shootings and the downfall of this country to right?

Ruger American for me. I own a .308 American as well as a 700SPS .308. Nikkon on both rifles. Both are tack drivers, but I'm only willing to truck the ruger through the woods. For the prices, I'm not going to bang up a $650 rifle in the woods when I can bang up one that costs a lot less and does the job just as well. Plus, the Ruger is much lighter, shorter and way more maneuverable. Shoots <1" @ 100yds with 150 grain Remmy Express Core Lokt. (tried Fusion and a couple winchester styles, but the Core Lokt shot more consistently). The mag feels loose, and makes me a bit nervous, but a few hundred rounds and still no issues. My hunting buddy just recently purchased a Savage 11 combo. Hated the scope and switched it out immediately for a ProStaff. He loves the gun, but I have no experience with it.

I think it is a lot of things as previously posted I will add that antler restriction and less doe permits in some areas alleviates a lot of the shooting at tales or movement.

Why is it that when we make a list of reasons for not seeing deer or a "bad" season... one thing that is never on the list is our ability as a deer hunter... 99 times out of 100.. it is something we are doing wrong... For example: Sitting in the same tree stand all season and not seeing deer isn't a bad season it's insane... hammering the same 100 acres of woods every day and not seeing a deer is not a bad season it's bad tactics Whitetail populations can fluctuate everywhere in NY due to many different factors from year to year... a good or bad season is usually on the hunter... unless of course there are absolutely NO deer... If there are fewer deer.. the better hunters will still usually find and kill one.. and if they don't they usually have a heck of a good time doing it and still chalk it up to a good season of hunting. When you have what you call a "bad" season it does much better to look at what YOU"RE doing and what you could do differently to be more successful. The population of deer in any area will always have it's up and down years

he left after I pissed out of the tree.

One farm I hunt in Lima is 250 acres; about 200 fields and 50 hardwoods/creekbottom combined. The place is FILTHY with coyotes. We see them all the time but rarely get a shot. A local trapper gets some but there are still a ton of them AND a ton of deer. Coyotes get plenty of fawns in the spring but I don't think they are doing THAT good of a job in lowering the population. I try and do my part...........are YOU?

As mentioned, the acorn crop was huge. Amazing how that changes their feeding habits, they just aren't out in the fields like normal years but sure are in the woods and don't move far at all.

Actually the only reason anyone should get shot in the woods is if they are hunting with attire that can't be seen by other hunters. I can see someone shooting at a deer not knowing someone is sitting against a tree 100 yards away in the same path. All the rest that has been mentioned may be reasons why hunters get shot, but all can be avoided simply by hunters doing what they were suppose to have learned in their hunters safety course. the real reason shootings occur is because a hunter has made killing a deer more important than safety.

And what have you done to the pr op erty to maintain optimum habitat for deer, trees grow, fields are turned into hardwood or soft wood stands, bedding areas ripped up for a food plot... ect land is like a living animal it needs to be tended to or it will die.

Have fun with your new toy, Jerry... If you reload or plan to reload, give me a holler...I can tell you what works well in my 7MM08..

Perhaps it ate at Chipotle ?!

i,think most have bolt actions, which is essentially a single shot weapon so you're more careful making that one shot count

I killed my buck this year with a tikka t3 in 30-06 with a 17" barrel I also have a t3 in 35whelen with an 18" barrel. My favorite big woods rifle would be my 7600's not as light as my Tikkas but they Cary a lot better and faster follow ups. All my big woods rifles have leupold vx2 compacts 3-9x33's. My favorite big woods cartridge would be either 35whelen or 358win. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Had my wedding reception at Ripas, great place and great food.

I blame it on the weather too, there will be 60 degrees on Sunday, hello did someone forget it's December? What would you do if you had your winter jacket on... not move is one answer. Still I will keep pounding and keep hoping.... Good luck...

Very nice!!! Reminds me of my Grand parents. They passed a couple years ago about a year apart, just shy of their 70th anniversary . They met when my grandfather was 16 and grandma was 14. Good memories.

im with you. 20ga slug is perfect for a hunt over bait

For sure. I like the thought of someone catching fish on a piece of a squirrel I shot.

Clearly, you just don't get it. Just like this kid....he just doesn't get it and never will. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Guess you missed the wider point. What a surprise.

I believe the Ruger American is the best value for the money. It is very accurate as well. If I were in your position I'd buy the Ruger and add my own scope. That way I could get the best scope for the type of hunting I'd do with it as well.

I am a big fan of savage products, as I have always had good luck with them. I looked at the Ruger, but it felt kind of "cheap" to me compared to the Savage. That may just be because I am used to the Savage feel. The only negative that I have about the Savage is the plastic magazine. It has never caused an issue, just wish it wasn't plastic. Makes of rifle are like makes of trucks... Everyone has their brand... Savage is mine, as they always work for me.

Finally after an absolutely stressful season full of problems I put this big bodied 8pt on the ground. Catt county ridge runner And I got some blood on the new rig!!!

If there was a piece of bone that was jagged I would venture it was an injury. Be neat to know the story, an amazing will to live that's for sure... Sent from my XT907 using Tapatalk