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Gotta be in it to win it. Woke daughter with anticipation of a no to go because it's raining quite hard. I was wrong. Gave her some of my rain gear to throw on which is huge on her. Creek was crossable and dumped my waders on this side as going to need them later to carry her across. 8 turkeys roosted in white birch by creek. Lowest one flew but rest remained. Even flipped off red filters of flashlights to check them out. All 15-20' up. Couldn't careless and we almost got pooped on by 2 of them. Very quiet walk in. In pop up blind and dry. Cmon deer. Good luck to all out there today.

So some of you probably read my post last night about daughter passing up opportunity of a slam dunk invite by a good friend. Wants to shoot her first on her home turf , her gun and random. Text buddy last night. He instantly got a replacement for her. He really wants her to get one but gets it as well. So Samantha and I sat from 2:45 to dusk and again no deer seen. It'll happen some day Going to probably hunt from pop up blind in pouring rain in morning. Here's her replacement for buddies invite. Indeed she could have her first under her belt and said she has zero remorse. I don't know the young lad so I won't post his face. Borrowed 7mm from friend , 56 yards and was 1 of 3 that were all shootable. Said 12 bucks on radar in 2 spots. Please only " like" as not to clog up " live thread ". No comments needed. I should have started new thread with initial post. Cant stop thinking what a gem of a child we have raised. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Put some meat on the ground this evening. 20yd chipshot. She piled up 50yds away Sent from my LGMP260 using Tapatalk

. We are back at it. Pretty warm out here! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Finally! First with a bow. It has definitely been a learning curve. 1:30 arrived at stand. Camera had showed nothing coming during the day but I wanted to sit. Cooled just a bit near 6:00 and this guy stops quartered away.

No more kidding around. Atomic fire ball powers activate Have a wren keep peeking in our blind. Leaves and comes back. Probably thinking " hmmm, looks dry in there " Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

10/8 Today was a busy day. My wife, Geri, and I drove to Berne (near Albany) to take John and Jolanta Jeanneney up on their generous offer of loaning us 4 year old Kunox. We had a very nice 2 hour visit, then headed home to face the music with Luna. Kunox has had training on tracking deer, but has never been on an actual track. I told my wife how cool it would be to get a call tonight and have him find his first deer. Luna is a little puzzled about the intruder who keeps trying to hump her, but they'll figure it all out in the next few days. At 8:00 the phone rang with a hunter asking for Luna by name. I told him Luna has the day off due to her injury, but I do have an inexperienced dog I'd love to bring over if he likes. He agreed and told me he was hunting from the ground and had made a good shot on a nice buck, had good blood, then lost it. They had looked around for about a 100 yards, then called. I told them to mark last blood and back out. It turned out the track was only 1 mile from my house...gotta love that. We walked back to first blood since the hit site wasn't marked and started there. I told Kunox to "find it" and off he went. There was a substantial trail to follow and he mostly stayed on it. He missed some turns but corrected himself most times. When he didn't I took him back to last blood and restarted him.There were a few times where the blood dried up for 40 or 50 yards and Kunox methodically worked it out and found more. He was a very determined boy! We crossed two creeks and he dove in without hesitation. The track ended up being a mile long and I dispatched the gutshot buck at the end of it. The long drag out started then, with Kunox chewing the deer the whole time. He was not overly possessive as he showed no signs of aggression when I tested him several times by picking him up and walking away from the deer. He's a very good boy! It was an honor to handle him on his first track and first find!

10/6 5:30pm. First time successfully calling one in. Been getting trail cam pics of bucks sparring lately so I decided to just tickle the rattling antlers a bit. About a minute or two later, this guy is rubbing a tree 30 yards from me. Walked 8 yards in front of me perfect broadside. Double lung with an entry and exit hole but not a complete pass through. Good blood trail, ran about 100 yards. Got some bigger bucks on cam on another property I hunt but the access is rough and I'm gonna be working a lot so I decided real quick that I'm wasn't after a trophy that night. Although once gun season comes I might pass on something this big. Just happy to have some meat and time out enjoying the outdoors. Don't be afraid to hit the rattles a little this early in the season. Good luck to everyone! Sent from my SM-J327T using Tapatalk

Pulling the plug at noon. Rain let up for now. Kiddo has homework , 3 tests to study for and dentist apt Another youth season with no punched tag but had a lot of fun regardless. She'll hunt gun opener with me for the morning. Peace out from actually "live" until then. Good luck everyone

The young bucks have been on the move for the last week. Had this young buck at 15 yds. on second day of the season. Four days later he was sparring in the same field with another young buck over a nearby mature doe. It was really enjoyable watching the 2 young bucks butt heads with their small racks and push each other around. Even though they had small racks, the sound was very loud from them clashing their racks together. I have always maintained that you don't need to score on a deer to enjoy a great day out hunting. valoroutdoors.com

Spent the weekend fishing out of a Siesta Key. The sea was ANGRY, we could only get out 8 miles the first day and had to stay inshore the second but we caught a lot of fish. No keeper grouper but a lot of key west snapper, which magically turned into tacos. Also a bog barracuda. This was my friends last trip in this boat, he has a new Grady White on the way with three 300s!More of a surge than Irma

2 fawns again, they have a better routine than my kids bedtime.

Took my buddies 14 year old son out, he's been shooting his dads 7mm Weatherby out to 200 yds and groups under 2.5".... So we set up where he could stretch the barrel and 4 does cam out at 250 yds, waited till 6:15 and they had worked up to 230 yds... didn't want to wait anymore so he dropped this doe in her tracks..

Took my really pumped up grandson Noah out for his first squirrel hunt this morning using my old Savage 24 combo 22-410 loaded up with 2 1/2 6s. Saw a squirrel right off that got up in the top of an oak full of leaves and could not get a shot. Had a chipmunk present a shot and I let him take that to get his feet wet. Noah then spotted a squirrel run up a large oak tree and we tried to get close for a shot. As we closed in the squirrel came down and made a break for it and Noah took him on the run with a well placed shot for his first squirrel.

The cam scene is dreadfully slow so I was super excited to see a few familiar faces on one camera. It's amazing how the bucks physiques have changing in the past month!!! This 6.5 year old brute is bull of the woods and #1 on my most wanted list. I don't get too many bucks of this age class on cam. My wife and I actually had an encounter with him at 30 yds. tuesday night but it was after legal shooting ended and neither of us had our bows handy. I want him BAD!!! Looks like he's been working out on some saplings... Big 5.5 year old 6-pt. that hasn't been on cam since late August... This 3.5 year old buck is the big 6's running buddy. He had also been MIA for a month but appears to be packing the groceries away...

Sat a good deal longer than I planned but it turned out to be eventful. I bumped a young Buck laying right by my stand on the way in. As I was getting settled into the stand I noticed he was not far off. He had only gone about 60 yards and was watching/listening as I settled in. Eventually he wandered of. I managed to rattle him back in about 5 hours later. He came in from my 6, which was unexpected, but downwind, so probably should have expected that. Anyway, he came right up to the stand which is nestled between 2 young Hemlocks. Lots of cris-crossing branches that make it difficult to see me from right below. I was crouching and watching the area where the big Bucks bed when I heard the snuffling right under me. I slowly peeked around and down and he was right there. My home brew acorn scent cover seemed to do the trick. I was hunting next to a large Oak and he wandered right under me and toward the acorns. Never spooked or seemed alerted. He was 1.5 I would say. He had long spikes, was almost a 3 pointer. Not in my shooting class but fun to have a deer get into range none the less.

If you have confidence, don't worry a bit. EVERYTHING changes in two weeks..........................

IMHO, if you are disabled and/or suffer from a significant shoulder injury, (i.e. torn rotator cuff, torn labrum), and have valid proof of said medical disability and/or over the age of 65, I don't have any issue with X-bow. For those 65 and older, X-bow keeps them in the game. However, in the event you don't meet the above criteria, X-Bow hunters should be grateful for the rules as presently drafted. X-bow is without question easier than Bow & if you can shoot a rifle proficiently, X-bow is not a challenge. To become proficient at bow demands time, practice, skill & patience. One of the major reasons why any bow kill is something to be very proud of. Anyone can pull a trigger..... Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Why would you not.move if you are seeing them 100 yards away. . photos in July are fairly useless once buck get hard horn the patterns change and bachelor groups break up.. Food sources and deer nutritional needs change.. Pick a tree within a 18 yard circle of a spot that you figure your shot will be. Wind direction. Tells you the tree your stand should be in.. Its better to be in a spot to get a deer that you might see rather then see deer that you only might get....

Here’s the young buck

So after the young buck came by, I had a 3 1/2 year old 8 cruise by at around 60. It’s a buck I have on cam and he is a good buck, but not what I’m after this year. Right after he went by, another 3 does came in. Had them at 15 yards, but they got a pass today. Was a great sit, saw 12 deer total, all but the one were in range. I was bummed Haley wasn’t with me, she would have had the green light on any of them. Depending on the weather this week, I plan to skip out of work early a day or two to get back in there after one of my hit listers.

If you think you are frustrated now.... wait til later in the season when they only show themselves at night. Patience & persistence is the only way to be successful and sometimes even that doesn't work.

Venison Tyrolean Goulash over Dumplings: Glad I harvested the first deer I saw 7:10 10/1 haven't a seen another since.

This should help some of you

<<Crickets>>>

Will post again -1 comment and 1 question: Comment: There is only 1 real reason an "able bodied" individual chooses a compound instead of a recurve/longbow - that is they want something easier. That is fine with me until they insist that their easier should be the cutoff for all. Question: What recurve/longbow do you hunt with? My opinion is it is a far easier jump from recurve to compound than compound to crossbow. To get hunting accurate at 20 yards with a recurve takes at least weeks, probably months/years, to never for many. Same thing with a compound properly set up and with a little decent instruction can be done in an afternoon for many. With a crossbow off hand it is similar to a compound - maybe a bit easier for most. But on 3d ranges where both compete like the IBO, the compound consistently is on top. Crossbow with a rest is definitely easier. But finding a rest while hunting with a 20" minimum wide window and settling in with it while a deer is coming at <30 yds could be problematic. Few deer I have ever had in bow range appeared exactly where I expected.

We sat in the treestand for 4 hours in the rain.... that was enough of that. Home now drying everything off, eating, resting and then I will take her back out around 4PM. -Dave

Give them an inch they will take a yard. Once xbows are fully allowed during archery season from all the whining, gun hunters and ML hunters will want their piece of the season. Then you can pick what ever weapon you want cause it won't be archery season any longer. Pretty sad. To me, xgun is not archery equipment and should not be expanded. I hunt with an unscoped handgun which has less range than the xgun. Therefore handgun hunters should have the same privilege as the xgun. pulling a trigger is pulling a trigger, right.

The downpour actually came to a halt for now. Now that we're deaf from rain pounding the top of blind. Feel like I was inside a kettle drum at a parade. Creek outta be ripping pretty good by now. We'll find out later

I have no doubt they will get full inclusion at some point . I don't think I'll ever agree with the decision .

Yes, I do support full inclusion. Partially due to many of the narrow minded, selfish and elitist comments made on this thread, I just submitted my NYCC membership application and fee. Thank you for the push that I needed...

Here is how I transport my deer .

went for a still hunt/scouting trip and have nothing to report but that its hot and muggy. Couldn't help myself,it is bow season after all.

Ever since I got rid of the Caprice Classic with the stripped out trunk, boy you could stack em up in there.I built the deer hauler out of one inch and one by two inch galvinized. this year I added a ramp out of 3/4 inch presser treated

tie it down on the roof with rope or tie downs. i do it all the time, i get a few dirty looks on the truway heading back to the city when i hit westchester and the bronx i usually get the finger but a couple of thumbs up too. if you want you can quarter it and put it in game bags and put a tarp in the trunk but it has to breathe i seen deer go bad very quickly in plastic its the moisture that ruins meat. DONT FORGET THE TAG!!!! keep it with you

I know you said you don't dwell on it being any greater achievement but I do get greater satisfaction from the recurve. If you stick with the trad bow, you may just find that you still get the job done and enjoy it even more. Who knows. In the end, that is why I prefer having choices for everyone.

Why not a 35$ Williams peep? They are a great product. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

No time/distance for the arrow to rise enough in trajectory - which is why the 30 yard pin is used for some people's setups. That is their specific "intersection" of line of sight/distance and trajectory (which is still rising at that point) I will admit to shots under 10 that I actually don't use the pins and move toward instinctual shooting. Oftentimes because if it's that close, it's because it's quick. 10-20 is my 20 settled a touch low and good form. Close shots also cause people to throw their form in the trash when shooting from a stand. Bend at the waist and keep that T form? No way, let's shoot looking like someone dancing to the tea kettle song. I joke, but it's often because they're shooting close because the action is fast paced. Usually the heart pumping and adrenaline is dumping. Muscle memory and mechanics come into play here big time.

I always assumed that the reason bows generally shoot low that close is because the sight sits several inches higher than the arrow. Not sure how Rob gets the same poi at 5 and 20. Interesting.

Do you understand how how warm out it is? Anything over 50 degrees is a deer movement killer especially adult deer unless it's the rut. You said they disappeared two weeks ago. That's when this heat wave started. It's been 70 - 92 degrees every day. What deer are you seeing at 100 yards? Those deer? Or others? If you're not seeing the bucks then why don't you take a break until the last week of October when it'll be cooler and they are going to start to get anxious but still be relatively close to where they have been?

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Well that was fun, could not find my phone in my house. Evening hunt had my two resident fawns under me messing with 2 raccoons till dark. I got down they were 40 yards out and didn’t even flinch.

it's good practice, the only way to get good at shooting deer with a bow is to shoot some......especially if it's not your parents property, no harm done and they're good eating.

Some of the successful youth hunters http://www.nyantler-outdoors.com/2017-nys-youth-hunt.html

10/7 When I got up this morning I had a message from a hunter who had shot a big six last night. He had watched it for over an hour while it bedded down, out of range. He even took a picture though his binoculars of it. It eventually headed his way and he shot it, hitting the shoulder. The hunter tracked it last night until finding a bed in an open field, then losing blood. He was back with help this morning and had advanced the trail a short distance, then lost blood. I went back and forth on taking this one due to it being a shoulder hit with 6 or 7 inches of penetration. I eventually told him if he found more blood to mark it, back out, and call me. It wasn't 5 minutes later and he called back saying he had found more. We arrived and due to rain moving in, started at the bed in the field instead of the hit site. Luna quickly took us to the point of loss and led us across the road where we went through an open field and into a brushy area. We found a couple tiny drops of blood, actually smears on vegetation and she took me onto a grassy lane. We went down to within 10 yards or so of the end of the lane which led to another field, and I misread Luna. She was acting nonchalant about it and I doubted her. That was my mistake, I'm still sometimes not reading her properly. I'm hoping this one helps get it through my thick skull to TRUST YOUR DOG! We spent a good hour on wild goose chases after the restart, going different directions. Finally we ended up at the corner again and I let her continue. Sure enough, there was some blood there where he made a turn, walking along with an open field on his right and heavy brush, cedar, and swampy areas on the left. We walked 150 yards on the edge and Luna cut in. We went into a swampy area and we jumped him. The bed was dry, indicating he'd spent some time there, but had a little blood in it. We never saw him, but found a small amount of fresh blood leading out into the woods, with Luna barking and us in hot pursuit. We could see his tracks, with long strides and no stumbling. We got to a property line where we didn't have permission to enter. Rather than trying to get permission to enter, based on him still being so strong 16 hours after the shot, I called off the track. We ended up over a half mile from where he was shot.

Managed to take a good doe yesterday afternoon. Got the whole thing on film, was a really cool hunt. On to bucks now

10/2 Today was a 3 track day. I received a call from an anxious dad....his son had shot a spike last night and he was requesting some help. We agreed on meeting at 8:00 this morning due to not knowing how good (or bad) the shot was. We started at the hit site and Luna quickly took us to where the hunter and his Dad had backed out last night. They did everything right by marking the blood and getting out of there. A dream call. Luna took us through a small area of swamp grass, then into some tag alders. Roughly 100 yards into it, we made this young hunters day by finding his buck. It was actually an emotional moment. Carter turned 12 on September 28th. 3 days after becoming old enough to hunt, he had his first buck. Talk about a proud Dad! It turns out the shot was a little high, but angled down enough to catch lung. Our second track today was another example of how it should be done. The hunter shot a buck last evening and watched for about 40 minutes as it stood in the area. It finally got dark and the hunter climbed down, saw evidence of a gutshot on the arrow and backed out. He went back this morning and followed blood a short distance, lost it, marked it, then backed out and called me without grid searching. Luna quickly took us to the edge of a very thick swampy area where we found a bed with dark red blood in it. Luna took us into the swamp and appeared to be on the track although we weren't seeing any blood. We went in a few hundred yards, crossing a couple deeper beaver runs. As we kept going it seemed like Luna was no longer on it, so we fought our way through the tangled mess back to last blood and did a restart. Sure enough, a few yards into it she took a different trail. We were a hundred yards into it and I spotted a dropped of blood on the swamp grass. This pleased me. We continued on another couple hundred yards and Luna started her high pitched bark. A few minutes later we heard the buck take off, only 20 yards away. It was way too thick to even see him. The hunter from his angle could see the grass moving and said it stopped right on the edge of some tag alders. I had him hold Luna and I circled around with my handgun, hoping to get a killing a shot. The buck had given us the slip so I put Luna back on him and off we went. We were really hustling trying to catch up, just about running when the terrain allowed. He went into the woods and repeatedly went into a rocky creek trying to give us the slip. Luna was having none of it and stayed right on the track. The buck eventually left the woods and crossed a meadow. Luna took us through the meadow to a six foot fence and was pushing, trying to get through. At this point we decided that if the buck still had the strength to jump that fence, we better back out and give him some more time. I headed out to my third track, promising I'd come back later. My third track was a low shot on a doe, made last night. The hunter had tracked her for a couple hundred yards before losing blood. He looked around some, then backed out and called me. Luna quickly took us to the point of loss, then went in the opposite direction the hunter thought the doe had gone. Luna knows best! We went a short distance and Luna started her high pitched bark.....another live deer. We were seeing fresh blood as we tried to catch up with her, but ended up with property line issues and had to quit. Two hours after leaving the second track, I was back. We took Luna to the opposite side of the fence, expecting to see blood after the jump the deer had made, but now Luna wanted to go back to the other side of the fence! We went around and sure enough she showed me a spot of blood inside the edge of the woods and started pulling hard. Back into the woods and into the creek we went, this time going uphill. After a couple hundred yards we found him still alive, laying in the creek, so I finished him. This was 20 hours after he was shot yesterday.