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Was a long last 3 days. Put in well over 8 miles since opening day. Very few deer were spotted by my hunting party. I took my dad home about 1030 opening morning and made it back to my stand by 1230 at 115 this big doe popped out at 30yrds. As soon as I realized she was alone I let her have went maybe 10yards. Be back out tomorrow morning at my opening day spot. @REDNECK4LIFE32and I walked part of the property today and came across fresh tracks of what appeared a couple bucks trailing a doe. Never did see any of them.

Haven't made it out hunting much yet but have worn my knuckle raw from scraping against deer teeth skinning heads out over the past 3 days...

And it happens again! Good buddy right across from my property shot this 12 pt this morning! Spectacular deer. I can see him in his stand from my house. One year I drove golf balls at him! lol So happy for him. BTW I never saw this buck during bow season.

Was a tough opening weekend with some crazy winds in 8F, but it finally came together with an 8Pt yesterday at 2:55. Watched him make a scrape and then he came over looking for the doe that cruised by about 5 minutes earlier. The 30-06 did it's job at about 70yds, dropping him right there.

72 yard broadside on mid sized doe, dropped her where she stood. No tag soup this year, now I can relax and hunt trophy bucks and bear. Was hoping a buck would swing by and check out the crime scene, but no such luck.

Passed up at least 7 bucks. Not live right now but some photos from the weekend opener. One trail cam pic I let walk Sunday evening. Some others I never got pics of because I was prepped and ready hearing them coming in pushing doe. Sent from my SM-G781V using Tapatalk

Hunted opening day with @Swamp_bucksand his crew nothing in morning. We went dropped of his dad and got some delicious homemade donuts his grandma's recipe. Went back out wasn't in stand long I send him a text I got a button buck comes up and hangs out then I hear him shoot at this point I've got like 10 deer does and little ones. I was buck hunting. So sat till 3 something May be 4 then got out to help him drag lol. Me new hip him and I bad backs lol. 1 mile drag big ole nanny doe. Sunday cold as hell and windy made drives seen 3 they were booking and really thick. Today did a still hunt didn't see anything but found new spots to hunt and lots of sign and evidence of bucks chasing a hot doe. Great time will be back next year.

Got the next 5 days off, gonna go out in the AM, signing my last doe tag over to a fam member coming into town.

Look closer. It's actually a track & roller, not a pulley. That's commercial butchering apparatus. Those deer are on meat hooks.

A friend of mine brought his 1 (his birthday was yesterday) year old home trained Labrador with him on our duck hunt yesterday. The dog was well behaved and did a good job getting the ducks. No whining in the blind or barking ever, really good for a young dog. Video shows a couple of his retrieves.

You both can be right. It depends on deer density, the type of land your hunting, and how much land. Does your land hold deer all 4 seasons or just one? Does your land hold deer only during specific conditions? Do you have the deer patterned? It could be land that needs the rut to have the bucks moving through it and then it is dumb luck.

I saw 28 deer opening day from my tower stand, and not one of them had an antler...Second day I saw one deer, a buck,but he was tiny...I doubt he would dress out 75 pounds, so I let him walk...Yesterday I saw 12, but again no bucks... I have two DMPs, but I prefer to hold off on shooting does this early in the season...All in all, I am having fun seeing lots of deer.. Sooner or later a decent buck will show up.. I am not a trophy hunter by any stretch of the imagination, but I'd like to shoot something with a little MEAT on it, unlike that little skipper I passed up Sunday..

These guys are the real deal. No shit they have hunters from 14 to 90 at camp. Been around a long time. Family is from Maryland. Has property here in NY then they go to PA opener at another property and finish it off back home in Maryland. I'm blessed to have them as neighbors. They are a second family to me. You should see the racks from the 90's in this camp.

Here's the MIA 10, he was in daylight Friday morning, I got him every night, multiple times. Im really hoping he makes it past everyone, with another year I think he could explode. Sent from my moto g fast using Tapatalk

4 does and a spike tonight. I'm pretty sure my big 8 is dead now also. Heard a shot up the road, as I drove past they were loading a real big 8 into a truck. This was him, I'm hoping it's a different buck but I have doubts. Sent from my moto g fast using Tapatalk

Life has been crazy these last two weeks, shot a 4 point last morning of crossbow, standing on my tree sticks while taking my stand down. Told my self if he didn't come within 20 I wasn't shooting, he came to 10... Wind gets the assist on that one cause I never saw him till he was 50 yards away and my crossbow was on the ground. Sat am, dad and I went out, I saw a small buck and passed, dad had 2 doe coming up field but a small one under him that busted him, he shot a big doe across field ( I can see them where I'm at) They jumped up 20 yards and I put a follow up shot into her from 216 yards, she was dead 20 yards off field edge with 2 holes, His was 1 lung and lived, mine took out the rest of the lungs.

Buck down! He came strolling in, nose to the ground the entire time. I hadn't even planned on hunting today but my wife encouraged me to go out later in the day. No treestand, no blind, I sat on the ground just waiting to see if anything would come around. As dumb luck would have it, this is my first mature buck I've ever killed and I wasn't even trying. 20 minutes after I sat down back against a tree, boom. I had been seeing this buck on a few of my cams, one in particular that I took down awhile ago as movement went cold. Bullet went in from the shoulder and out the opposite side, he went about 10yrds before I heard the crash. His heart was a jellified mess. Savage 220, 3M.

i've shot Eley Sport, Aguila Standard Velocity Target, CCI Chootem, CCI Minimags, CCI Standard, and CCI AR Tactical out of my Ruger MarkIII bullseye pistol. I shoots the CCI Tactical within a single ragged hole well within the 10 ring on a Slow Fire NRA B-2 target. others open up a little. I shoot the other standard velocity stuff because it's less recoil and not high velocity. helps me get back on target better. so it's a trade off.

Let's see if anything comes by this evening

Back out in the woods. Nature seems more active, squirrels are out doing their thing. No sign of deer yet, trail cameras haven't reported anything since 5am yesterday. ☹️

This little piece goes along with the 256 win Marlin Levermatic thread in so far as producing your own ammo from 357 mag cases. It is not so simple as to just run the 357 cases through a die. The brass is somewhat hard and has to be softened a bit in the neck area (annealing) or it will many times wrinkle or split. Rifle cases are usually set in a shallow pan of water, the neck heated with a torch then tipped over into the water and quenched. The 357 mag cases are much easier I just do them over a kerosene lamp flame holding the case with a pair of pliers for a minute or so and that is enough to take the hardness out. Below is a case run through the die not annealed and it can be seen to have a split and crumpled, the case on the right was heated and came out good. Al

Haven't seen shit. Very quiet out.

0 deer

Lol, nope. Deer change with the seasons, our strategy has to change too. This year was really hot and primarily south wind, those are 2 really important factors in deer movement and location.

When did they ever?

It's Hunting Season .... no one cares !

Hunted Saturday and Sunday shot a nice fat doe on Saturday shaw a lot of deer all doe's and 1 4pt. I know there are more bucks there got them on camera. Going out behind the house tomorrow for a few hours. Then on Thanksgiving with my son who's coming up from NC.

I don't know man, I still think 90% of the hunt is just dumb luck.

Hmmm...a battery that's manufactured by "Nojoke", which I thought was Asian at first until I realized that it simply says "No joke". No joke. And the delivery date is between December 28th and January 7th. Run. Run very fast.

Doe down! I got a late start this morning and was starting my walk to a blind on the neighbors place. I was just walking past the barn when she stood up in the brush about 50 yards away. One shot, she made a quick dash and dropped at the edge of my back lawn. Easy retrieval on this one haha. First tag I’ve punched in 2 years. Gonna get this nanny taken care of and then head back to the blind for the rest of the morning before I go down to state land for the afternoon sit.

Been slow on my property. I saw a fawn yesterday that's it. Neighbor behind us shot 2 8pts a smaller buck and this giant. 23 inch inside spread.

Uneventful weekend for me. Saturday I did see a dozen or so doe with fawns. Had a little basket rack 5 chasing a doe around and that was it. At 3:15 Saturday my dad text me this as it's standing 75 yds from his porch before following a doe down to the river bottom. I wasn't able to make it out today but maybe I'll have to run out to dad's after a short day at work one day this week.

Took another doe this evening.

Wasn't in the stand 45 minutes and I saw a little buck run behind me, then I saw he was chasing a doe that I never saw. They did a big loop back into the thicket, they came back out about 10 minutes later and she came to 30yds on field edge so I decided to break in my new rifle. She went 25 yds and tipped over. Drove the truck right to her. Home and skinned by dark. Sent from my moto g fast using Tapatalk

Doe down Sent from my moto g fast using Tapatalk

Finally came together!

Kid we took out for youth got the 3.5 we’d been letting age up. Rather than be salty he didn’t make it to 4.5 I’ll post a pic for others to enjoy. Seriously, if someone is happy with a buck don’t be a douche bag. You win some you lose some but act with dignity. Wouldn’t want that loser mindset as a neighbor.

My youngest son and my grandson both got a deer . Youngest son got a 7 point and grandson got a 3 point . they started out with a big problem in the morning . Neither of the ATV's would start so they had a long walk to get to their stands .

Buck down! valoroutdoors.com

Doe down @715. Thank you Lord for this harvest

Got the ball rolling today, put up a batch of 100 cases and all went pretty well, just two rejects. used the Hornady Unique lube for the case forming, the Corland NY Redding dies performed like a dream and my 50 something year old Bair Kodiak press made the process effortless. I had a bunch of once fired 357 nickle plated cases and some folks mentioned that the nickle may peel when the case is formed but that did not happen. But on the safe side I got a bunch of new brass cases and used those for the most part. I have usable powders but I am going to wait and go with what most recommend (4227) and that will not arrive for a day or two. Al

After some successes early in my hunting career, I went 7 years and only shot one very small buck. This included some misses and errors on my part which cost me deer. I remember being frustrated during that time, but my kids were young and time afield was limited. I can never get that time back and would not change a thing. Even now, summers are spent on the softball circuit, camp time is non-exisitent. While I miss the freedom from before the kids came along, I get more joy from watchting them do what they love more than anything I could do for myself. To your original post, I have seen what some frustrated hunters can look like and I always promised myself not to be "that guy". Where it seems like life hangs in the balance with deer and inches on the ground. I hunt hard when I can and for me, the grind and sticking with it provides me with satisfaction, tags filled or not. I have been lucky enough to be surrounded by hunters (some serious, some not) who don't live and die based upon deer being killed. I think that has helped me through the highs and lows after 20 years of hunting. Good luck getting through this stretch!

I will 100% disagree. Good luck dirt time,you will get one for sure !

I dont see it mentioned specifically, but I am guessing you are bow hunting? If so, you are being a damn fine disciplined hunter by not taking shots you dont think you should take ...for that matter, the same goes for xbow or firearm. There are plenty of hunters who let fly at every observed deer, and the woods are full of wounded critters to show for it. You are seeing deer, so I am not going to tell you to do anything differently. I gave up bow hunting many years ago, after hunting with some success. Simply put, I couldnt put the time in to be as proficient as I wanted. I went more heavily into black powder which I love. Similar concept, but a bit more forgiving.

Rooting for you @DirtTime . After 40 hunts in a season you get an honorary spot in the grinders club. @Fletch @moho @Cabin Fever etc.... Sent from my motorola edge 5G UW (2021) using Tapatalk

This photo was taken about 75 years ago and put into a backlit wooden frame and hung behind a bar in an upstate pub. It resides in my home now.

The Adirondacks

Watched this video this morning and it is a very good one and gives a pretty accurate analysis of 22 ammo 50 yard performance for accuracy, I have had just about the same results when bench testing the different brands. A big player in the results of such tests is of course the firearm being used. The shooter looks to be using a standard Ruger 10/22, probably the most popular 22 rifle today. They shoot well enough for plinking and most hunting but personally I would not place them in the tack driver class as a good bolt action. Another good point made is how much different the point of impact can be when switching brands and ammo types. A different rifle may give different results so trying several different brands helps giving optimum performance. Al

The ballistic chart below covers pretty much most of what is available ammunition wise. There is quite a bit of difference between Standard-Match ammo, High Velocity and Hyper Velocity in both trajectory and energy. For me as I posted earlier standard velocity is pretty much all that is needed for Squirrels, I go with the high velocity stuff when hunting large small game like Woodchucks, Coons and the occasional Fox and even Coyote if the range is short. The CCI Stinger is my favorite ammo for the larger animals with the Velocitor a close second, I can hear a clear audible plop when it smacks a Woodchuck or Fox. It's main drawback is on Squirrels it makes a mess and it does not group well in all rifles. Al