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2 bucks me and my son took, an 8 on opening day and a 9 on Tuesday .

I have killed a half dozen Deer with a neck shot and they all dropped right where they stood. As for the ethical part several factors come into play. Distance is a big one, I use the neck shot for relatively short shots, under 100 yards. A firearm that is capable of precise bullet placement with a good hunting bullet. A good steady rest with total confidence in my ability to make the shot. I aim for the center anywhere on the neck, I think it is a fairly big target and an easy shot to make when one has the right circumstances. Al

Yep. My favorite excuse I hear is "It was the only shot I had". No dipshit, you could've waited, not shot, not set yourself up for all the drama and extra work, and shot that same deer from the same stand 48hrs later. If you were patient and had some self control. Takes a lot of experience to get to that point though. Antlers make people stupid.

No hunting for me until tomorrow afternoon. Road trip to see family in western part of state. It figures every time I plan this stuff the weather makes me wish I was staying put. Hunting today would have been interesting. I hope this sticks around!

It something that has been on my mind for several seasons now. Well, this year, we entirely stopped using trail cams. We started using them when 35 mm. cameras were in them. Progressed right up to the modern day cell cams. Now you may ask, why would they do such a thing? Many reasons, really. I just liked the way it was before trail cameras exsisted. I like to show the grand children how it use to be. Change is good, makes for new excitement. Making new memories, the old fashion way. And it's not a senior moment either,lol. I may cave sometime in the future IDK; but for now, the trail cams are in the box and all of us are really enjoying, this deer hunting season. How do you feel about trail cameras?

Found her , she was 20 yards away , blew the top off her heart

I have shot quite a few with neck shots...but only when I can place it from behind at the base of the skull/neck, from a rest, when a good broad side shot was not available. Not much margin of error.. No meat wasted, drops them in their tracks. BUT>>>>Given preferences, give me a broad side boilermaker shot every time. Larger margin of error with quite a large kill area. I am not proud....I have goofed "gimme" shots trying for the fancy shot. Go for the sure thing, every time.

I think .243 is fine for smaller southern deer...but big bodied northern deer...big plus with a .30 caliber bullet (or bigger). No substitute for putting the bullet in the right place, but on marginal shots...fat and heavy bullets break more bone, penetrate deeper...less deflection....There is a reason the good old 30-30, 30-06, etc. have been favorites for well over a hundred years.

I have like 14 Spypoint’s out all the way from Watertown Ny to Letchworth State Park. I use them mostly to find a couple of the biggest bucks on my properties and then I go all in for those 2. It’s either them or bust. They come in handy when my mature target bucks come back to my property after out doing their breeding for a couple weeks. Knowing they are alive keeps the drive going. Along with keeping track of any trespassers sneaking around.

So this was the first two years we had out 3 Reveal cameras. They did a great job showing us what was around but you could never time a buck with them. The lease property had them my property had the old kind. I don't mind them but real time picts can screw with your mind where to hunt. Not a big fan about them but you have to say you get some really nice pictures at times. If tomorrow they were outlawed no big deal I would hunt the same way as I always would looking for sign.

Yes I believe they are. Have taken a few and with a gun the die right there.

Exactly. If one is totally comfortable with their weapon and has plenty of time shooting that weapon. There is very little room for error but there is room. Compare that to the Texas Heart Shot… That should never be takin in my opinion. There is no need for a shot like that regardless of size or need to fill a tag.

I do not use trail cameras, I like being surprised, I grew up in a different era, old timers, books and magazines is where I learned about hunting techniques. There were no food plots, tree or ladder stands or enclosed purpose built blinds with heat and all the comforts of home. Most folks did not even have scopes on their guns. A sprinkling of stand hunting, drives, still hunting and tracking were the methods most used back then. It was all about learning woodscraft, reading sign and animal behavior. It is those skills that define hunting for me and I still use those methods today. Al

How about Vermont? Not as far from Albany as PA would be. Bennington is like 40 miles away. There's got to be a Walmart in that town. I can't imagine they have any restrictions on buying ammo. At least nothing close to NYS.

Come on, if it was easy it would not be any fun. I would say you have done alright for yourself. Al

To be honest I think it is pretty much impossible to stay warm sitting still for extended periods on cold windy days without being bundled up in somewhat bulky clothes. Sweating and getting your base layers wet from it will be a big problem. You can get by with sweating so long as you stay away from cotton materials period, good poly or wool next to your skin for any base layers. I have always had decent luck staying warm in real cold weather wearing high quality wool from top to bottom. While it is bulky and heavy I will take that over freezing my ass off. Al

Some nice bucks.

Theres a lot of vehicles down there.