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I guess the highlight of 2021 for me is the addition of this little beauty to the family .

Still alive here fellas covid ain't got nothing on meh after 20+ years of marriage . Only 2 more days of querintine left ..the only bad thing that has happened was the loss of taste and smell which are returning now finnaly..

Perspective... ___________ Imagine you were born in 1900. When you're 14 World War I begins and ends at 18 years old with 22 million dead. Shortly after, a global pandemic Flu called 'Spanish' ", kills 50 million people. You come out alive and free You are 20 years old. Then, at 29, you survive the global economic crisis that started with the collapse of the New York Stock Exchange, causing Inflation, Unemployment, and Hunger. At 33, the nazis come to power. You turn 39 when World War II starts and ends at 45 During the Holocaust (Holocaust), 6 million Jews die. There will be over 60 million deaths in total. When you're 52, the Korean War begins. At age 64, the Vietnam War begins and ends at age 75 A boy born in 1985 thinks his grandparents have no idea how difficult life is, but they have survived several wars and disasters. A boy born in 1995 and now 25 years old thinks it's the end of the world when his Amazon package takes over three days to arrive or when he doesn't get more than 15 likes for their photo posted on Facebook or Instagram. .... In 2020, many of us live comfortably, have access to different sources of home entertainment, and often have more than we need. None of this existed before.

Ha , I Seldom hunt late season , don’t even own a ML . Last year I hunted it with my crossbow, and two afternoons around 3:00 3 mature bucks came out into the field 300 yards away and feed, two of the sobs bedded down right in the open field . So me being a crafty hunter , borrowed a ML, went back the next day, came in from another road and set up in a hedgerow for an easy shot . Never saw a thing . Im going to wash the cars now in shorts while smoking a cigar, what great Dec. Weather !!!

Picture this if you will. A handcart with a winch installed and a marine battery strapped to the floor of the handcart. Two straps securing the cart to a tree and a plastic sled rounds out the unit. Sliiiiiiick as can be.

A few from the dozen we landed today, felt good to be on a boat in December. Sent from my moto g fast using Tapatalk

How about we just kinda stick to the topic so it doesn’t get dragged down the road to me having to be an asshole. Nothing against you, just a thought.

I use the scent free soap for camo and body, sit 20 Ft up in a tree, grunt tubes, best equipment money can buy and Mrs Shapiro down the block, smoking and blasting Sinatra on satilite radio wacks the deer of a lifetime with her Audi. Life just isn’t fair.

I'm old enough to remember back when Mark Walhberg was Marky Mark

I can honestly say that every single time I carried a ML afield I saw a buck.

My plan is to just die in the woods and not be found till animal consume me... I eat them they can eat me....

Opening morning of regular season got it done at 10:30 full on chasing a doe and heard him grunt his last grunt 300 yards from the new house on the state land here in 4F First year here First Buck First Day

Thanks for the input I appreciate it. There's just something about this gun that draws me to it. As soon as I got home from work I had to put it back together. Now just to get the necessities.

Your TC Hawken has a barrel with a medium twist designed to fire both patched ball and Maxi Balls accurately. As long as your barrel is in good condition a bit of experimentation with different patch thicknesses, powder charges and bullets I would be sure you will find something that performs. I have several sidelocks that I like messing around with, the top rifle is a bunch of accumulated parts I purchased on ebay. TC Hawken stock and lock with a stainless Green Mountain Barrel, it has a twist made for shooting bullets. The middle rifle is a TC Cherokee I picked up at a gun show, it was one of the toughest nuts for me to crack ever, the only thing that shoots well out of it is TC Maxi Balls The bottom rifle is put together from a kit my boys got me for my birthday years ago. You have done a good job refurbing yours, it look great. Much of the fun is working up an accurate load, congrats and good luck. Al

Everyone has to die someplace! As far as I'm concerned; Better to die on a hill of principle than a sheep in a pen led to slaughter. But, to each his/her own!

That's red... thought everyone knew that crazy basterd.....

In light of the great loss experienced by many on this forum, in this nation, and around the world, I'm somewhat disinclined to highlight the many great experiences that this year has brought to me. The vast majority of hunters I have met are passionate and optimistic people, yet a small but loud minority give hunting a bad name. As they say, the squeaky wheel gets the grease... or the notoriety (and guilt by association) in this case. I joined the forum in part to provide an example of an avid hunter who doesn’t hold regressive/isolationist/xenophobic world views, so I’ll follow in @diplomat019's example and present a counterweight to grouse’s self-imposed gloomy and conspiratorial outlook on life. As this is a hunting forum, I’ll focus on the outdoors related stuff. Most of it is document here: https://huntingny.com/forums/topic/90773-versatile-hunter’s-2021-hunting-journal/ My hunting season began with a spring turkey hunt in my new public land honey hole where I've bagged a mature Tom two years in a row. It was followed with Alabama night hunting for hogs! (Don't tell anyone but I think I want an AR with night optics). A couple of months later we took a vacation in Hawaii. Of course it couldn't just be beach, sun, and good food. I bow hunted in some of the most stunning terrain this world has to offer and I came back with coolers full of meat, having bagged a Vancouver bull, a huge Billy, and a couple of axis deer. In the fall, I drove up to Canada for a moose archery hunt. Though I did not connect with a moose, I did manage to squeeze in plenty of hunting time over my dog and I connected with a dozen grouse, a snowshoe hare, and a woodcock. Fantastic time with great folks. This year also brought my first attempt at fly fishing and I am hooked. I hunted for deer during the archery season in Missouri and I botched a likely shot attempt at the biggest buck I’ve ever seen while hunting. Impatience is not a virtue. Many lessons learned. I visited family in South Florida. We fished together and caught groupers, snappers, a shark and ray, kept a couple yellow jacks for fish soup, and released a bonefish. Also took my first flats fishing trip where I played around with salt water fly fishing but drifted live crab when it was time to try to catch something. Manatees swam up to the flats boat. Had a permit bite but it didn’t stick. Back home in NY I bagged a couple of mature fatty does in a friend’s beautifully managed property. Freezer is full. To the chagrin of my beautiful and very understanding partner, I picked up a couple of new habits this year. I now own my first fly rod and reel and a CVA muzzleloader. My scope should arrive this weekend and I'm hoping to do some late season black powder hunting before the end of the year. I feel fortunate to have my health and I have fond memories of 2021 and an optimistic outlook to the future. Happy early New Year to all!

This is not political. If it turns into that, we will deal with it.

Great year. Spent the majority at my camp. Finished off the main cabin and renovated a minor cabin. Work exploded for both my wife and I. Made good money on the stock market. Met new folks and solidified my relationships with others. Published some new articles. Travelled to Canada to see my mother and then got her safely to LA for the winter. Good fishing season. Less so with hunting, but what are you going to do. Safe, healthy (knock wood), happy. Heading to Mexico for six weeks over winter. Great year.

Wow I don't see anything political in that . Just something to reflect on . Guess once again it's a matter of opinion .

So I can breath unrestricted and also keep my safety glasses from constantly fogging up.

For my Grandfather born in Sicily in the year 1900, add in: born in abject poverty, with an abusive and violent father, emigrates to USA at age 21 with literal pennies in his pocket, digs ditches for 10 years before finally owning his own piece of land. Died at age 86 a multi-millionaire. God Bless the USA!

I filled my ML tag last evening with a nice doe that weighs 180 lbs field dressed. One shot through the heart at about 65 yards. I still ML hunt with a 40 year old Thomson Center Hawken in .45 caliber, with the original iron sights, using a 240 grain lead Maxi-ball, Pyrodex powder and #11 caps. I made it from one of their kits back then and have been hunting deer with it ever since. I still do everything the same way I've done it for 40 years now. It works, so I don't see a need to change anything. Besides, I really enjoy hunting with an old school ML like that. It's a blast. Love all of that white smoke after the shot too.

yup last year didnt hunt with loader at camp due to over 3ft of snow couldnt even try and pull into driveway wheeler was useless also

going dark to dark tuesday in new spot my only hope

Hahaha u crazy sob!!! I didn’t see or hear about your son, congrats!! That hunts forever etched in your sons mind. Heck he’ll be drinking with his buddy’s telling that story for years to come!

LOL. I've definitely put a couple younger bucks and doe in headlocks while dispatching them with the knife. My son spine shot his first deer last month I jumped out of that blind so fast and grabbed it by the back leg as it tried to crawl away and yelled to my son to bring me my knife. Then I mad sure to tell him he couldn't do what I just did.

Yes and those stockings were actually on my feet when I put that epic stalk on my B&C Dall sheep in '06

https://www.facebook.com/bobby.ducote/videos/3646402248751857

Thats actually a solid plan from 10/1-12/31 Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

This is the real stuff grown in Japan crazy crazy expensive Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I have never seen a buck (even a spike) in the late season. Won't stop me from trying to change that....!

Your 2021 can’t get better than that!! I have two boys and they’re a blessing!

Got lucky through a mutual connection with the owner of a Toyota dealer a few hours drive from here. I happened to help the owner's best friend out with a replacement rifle for a kid that lost it in a family house fire two weeks. I mentioned it to him that I was looking for a Rav4 Prime and within five minutes the owner of the dealership called and I had a deal done for MSRP and the rebate. Owner had one loaded XSE coming in this week from the port of NY and hooked me up - he could have easily sold it for $5K markup over MSRP seeing as how you can't even find them on lots right now and waiting lists are months out. Wife test drove a few Lexus but she wants the Prime. I am not good at hold secrets against her, lol.

Thanks. Lots of experience and good territory helps. If you know where the deer will be at a given time, that's where you want to be. If you "still hunt", you won't spook deer if you move very slowly. That's the key to still hunting. If you cover more than 100 yards in a half hour, you are moving too fast. Take a step slowly, stop and look around. Every view in the woods changes with each step. The idea is to spot them before they spot you. A compact pair of binocs are good to have too. Keep the wind in your face and only try doing it if the ground is quiet. Otherwise, take a seat and watch your downwind side most of the time. With a ML, when it's empty, stick a small patch of cloth or paper just inside the muzzle and cap the rifle. Snap the cap and be sure it blows the patch out of the muzzle. This insures the rifle isn't blocked. Wait a minute to be sure the bore cools, load powder and ball and cap it. You can be confident the rifle will fire, and that confidence will help you hit that deer when it gives you a shot. Good Luck! And have fun.

Personally, I think someone is so but hurt about getting a vacation that they constantly try to bait people into an argument so that the other person can get a vacation or even banned. Back on topic, I think that is a great perspective on how things are these days.

It is not amazing to me. It is entirely predictable! There are some here who seem to sit on the edge of their seats just waiting for something or someone to pounce on. Hate-mongers are easily triggered and quick to respond with negativity. Again, predictable!

55 degrees at 7am Dec. 16th! Never thought I would hear frogs croaking in the swamp in mid-Dec! LOL Crazy!! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

https://clouthub.com/v/4G87kaMV

@WNYBuckHunter This is obviously a attempt to spark political debate and we move this where it belongs. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Well mr know it all , we have to use the mask provided by the company that is 3 times thicker then any surgical mask you will ever see. Our company makes their own masks and the only one that's permitted to be worn. Pulmonologist, let's talk it about it after tomorrow mornings run ,were doing a 2 mile warm up and then 10x 100 sprints.

No masks at my gym today .Tonight we went to a craft brewery place, no masks and it was crowded . Spoke with the owner who said “ F@#$ this bS ,fine me .” No one cares anymore , move on ,nothing to see here .

If only I had a third hand...

Started out with 30 lbs of ground sausage mix, plan was to pack it into 1 lb portions in vacuum sealed bags. If each bag is just 1 ounce over a pound, you end up with 28 full bags, and a 29th that contains about a half a pound. Took me and the wife a few minutes to figure out what happened. That is all I have to say about that...

I went to Citibank in Westchester and a local clothing store today. No masks seen. My wife went to Whole Foods grocery shopping in Westchester and saw a few masks. She didn’t wear one nor did many others. We have not seen any changes since 12/13. Everything appears the same as the past 7-8 months, which is great and how it should be. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Your a legend in your own mind.

Hard Candy Christmas.....by Dolly Mom liked that one. Reminds me of her when I hear it.

Step off a stand with four point harness, even with the suspension strap and try to self rescue. Not fun. It will have you switching over to a rock climbing harness really quick

Spaghetti squash, spinach and shrimp.

People getting it twice is even more rare then the unicorn breakthrough cases. https://www.science.org/content/article/having-sars-cov-2-once-confers-much-greater-immunity-vaccine-vaccination-remains-vital