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Hunting has been tough this year for my hunting partner, after I shot my buck opening week. He has seen a few small bucks, but passed them hoping for something a bit bigger. I have been doing one man loops, through some very thick stuff trying to get one in front of him. Almost had a nice one go to him last weekend, but he circled me and went out the back door. So this morning I was back at it again. I'd walk till I found a good fresh track, set Gary up, then I'd circle around, trying to get the buck back to him. This was hard work, through heavy wet snow and very thick cover! I'm showing my age I guess, but it forced me to go slow! Exactly what needs to be done for this type of work. First two times today, I got close, to two different bucks! One, a very nice nine point I got to within 30 yards, before he jumped up! But I have no buck tag! And he went the opposite way I wanted him to go! Dang it!!! At this point I'm sweating, cut by thorns, breathing hard, and my feet are soaked! (broke through the ice in swamp). My lifelong friend and hunting partner said that's it, lets call it a day. I told him I cut a different fresh track while circling for the last one. Lets go one more time! Third time was the charm!!! Put the buck 30 yards in front of him!! Was never so happy to hear him shoot! Two happy, and sore friends tonight! We earned this one. Two hour drag to get him to a wheeler. Hope to do it again next week for my grandson!

no one told the deer it was to warm.... He came in chasing 5 doe which are walking past me on the ground at 40 yards tight now !

Had a good feeling about tonight. I was up in the tower early. About 4 I had a deer come out to the mini field I could see the bumps on his head and put the glass and yup a button. I see another in the thick still and about 10 minutes later it came out and it’s another button. I go off high alert thinking that is it. Then a couple minutes later she pops out. Nice doe and a huge 24 yard shot with the TC Triumph. As the smoke cleared I saw her going into the thick looking hurt. I got down after 15 and as soon as I hit thick I saw a deer take off. I was 95% it was one of the little ones but backed out to be safe. Gave it an hour and she was 35 yards in the thick. Died 1 minute after she was hit. Thankful I am. Freezer took a nice upswing. She hit 122 on the scale dressed. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

well I finally been able to post a pic of my deer .See I got a flip phone [hey its free from work] and cant e-mail so I had to depend on my son [well I took over a week but he finally sent them to my e-mail]. The story with this deer is I just bought a nice 30-06 Remington 700 but it had see thru bases I really didn't like and a cheap simmons scope and I never really had a chance to sight it in proper only a few shots and it seemed ok . Well im in the stand and im like screw this they aint moving well up @ the tree line I see a doe this was @ 4pm then @ 4:10 I seen him walking through the middle of the field and I made sure he had 3 on one side @ lest and I aimed @ his shoulder and took the shot he keeps walking in no hurry I shot a gain im like wtf then I aimed @ the end of his ribcage. Well I seen him go down I get out of the tree and I left my gun and backpack hanging on the pull up ropes [really dumb] I walk over to him and I smelled him [he stunk to holy hell] before I seen him [ he was rutting really hard, all the bucks I seen were they all looked really tired]. I was like oh no I gut shot him but I see his antlers moving and I had my worst fear hes still alive. I get there and roll him over and see I shot him in the neck. Well I went back and got the gun and pack I load another round and took a shot and that was it but man it still bothers me to this day see with a bow I shoot constantly no way I want to wound a deer but with a rifle I took a few shots while I could and said that was ok but I never ever will take a chance like that again .I will make sure I have good equipment and know the rifles dead on . I try to take ethical shots I passed on deer and yes bucks because I didn't feel comfortable with the shot. Sorry about the lousy pic my neighbor whos even worse than my with these phones

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Date night in the deer blind with my wife last night. Saw 14 does, a small 8, and a small 6 pointer. Watched 2 fawns chase each other around and play for 10 minutes or so. We didn't bother any of them.

.8 point yesterday. Someone had shot his foot, and tried a texas heart shot. He stunk bad. Meat was rotten. At least he is out of his misery. Body of the deer was huge, horns were nice, but holy cow was he a big deer. There were coyote tracks around his bed but they did not mess with him. He still had some fight in him.

No deer again folks, I tried, and will keep at it. Just shy of 2 miles in hill country, zero snow, first time at this place. I did find a buck bed, real excited about that, I am learning, and it was fun to apply what I learned. Plus, my dad was with me, how cool is that!

Slow morning doing some small pushes. We only had 5 guys this morning. Definitely not enough guys to do what we had hoped. We did push out this guy and got a small doe as well. Hopefully the rest of the guys won't be scared of a little drizzle next weekend. We still have a lot of DMPS to fill.

Last hunt of the season with the kids

If I’m going to hunt in a place that is completely deerless, it may as well be this place. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Hoping someone travels through here on the way to a friends freezer. Old friend who loaned me a gun for my first three years of hunting can no longer hunt due to age and health problems. Trying to fill his freezer for him. Fingers crossed. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Sodfather and I are in the duck blind, feels like a great setup Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Why is half this thread today “live from the bitching...um...butcher’s block?!? Walked out with the boy, my hunting partner, and his son this am to the field across the street. Hunkered down under some broken down shed parts and sat through some misty ickiness. Saw one doe from quite the distance . Saw a larger doe later but no shot. Good day- glad we went Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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I cut down a big dead beech tree today on the edge of the yard. Soon as that sucker hit the ground, a "flock" of FOUR flying squirrels took flight and were reluctant to leave. For the next half hour they soared around the forest where their home tree once stood, which gave me a chance to run in and grab my camera.. Truly an AMAZING sight to see, but boy did I feel like a turd when the show was over. Obviously I had no clue they were in there. Eventually, they all found their way to another tree with a hole in it and never came back out. Afterwards I inspected the dead beech I had cut and found a hollowed out rotten section with a big nest full of squill shit inside. I've caught these guys on trail cams after dark before, but this is the first time I've ever seen one during the day. What an AWESOME aerial display of grace and precision from these little gliding rodents! I didn't think of it or I would have shot some video.

Not the biggest in the world but nice & plump. .223 60 grain v-max @ 137 yards. Ran about 25 more and keeled over. I needed to fill a tag so we have meatballs and jerky for x-mas and time is running out.

Pretty much what I do. No need for multiple knives etc. one knife. Start at chest and work down. Core out the butt, pull everything out, reach as high as I can to cut windpipe etc. flip buck over and shake by the head to drain as much blood as possible and start dragging. No need for bone saws or multiple knives in my opinion. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Sort of wondering why bother at this point. He/we had such a great day yesterday for his first real deer camp experience(two great hunts, got one, atv rides, darts and cards and food all evening...). Why end the experience with a cold rainy sit-God willing he has plenty of time to learn how shitty hunting can be at times!!! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Daughter was snow queen in Nutcracker for ballet.Sadly it’s the first one my folks have missed. Little sad. Looks a little different without camo doesn’t she. So took her newish BF to the goat Pretzel sticks , queso , honey mustard. Berbere wings and liver , onions ,bacon n mushrooms. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

First archery season for me this year. Passed on 11 dink bucks , tumor buck , busted drawing on a nice doe. Fawns , decent does too far off. Shooter bucks too far off. Gun season starts and same. Not sure how many hours in a stand but it’s a lot. Started to get burnt out , deflated, calling it quits and was very close to my second deerless season along with last year being my first. Daughter shot her first ( buck ) last year so that made it a great season. Someone made a golf related comment to keep me out here and it stuck. Brought up a club championship years ago where in dreadful rain and wind I shot 81 ( 9 over par ). It’s done , on paper and out of my control. The next weekend I shot 69 Saturday and 67 Sunday for the win 81-69-67. I put that experience into my hunting this year. The past is gone and out of my control. Been carrying my ML as primary gun all year as usual. Yesterday I asked daughter if I could borrow her Remington 870 youth 20. She gladly obliged. Got to stand at about 2 . My fawn friends arrive as normal to dig in the small plot. I notice movement coming from the west on woodsline into golden rod. West wind in my favor. Shooter buck I guessed at 100. Didn’t grab laser range finder out of backpack but looked like most of a sand wedge. He started directly towards me with only a head on shot. Then started diagonally and was getting closer. I turned on bushnell T optics and dang shooting rail is too low. Well Treeguy helped me set this stand in a 5 trunk maple. One trunk with a nice limb gave me the rest I needed. Put the T front shoulder and squeezed. Legs buckled under him. Racked another and kept eyes on him. 5-7 minutes later I see him trying to get up and head is raised. Put T on neck and sent another. Nary a twitch. First one went through boiler room. But I was taking no chances and no too dead. 81 yards. Buddy who’s property I hunt is in Ohio so no deer uber. Old school drag by horns most of way. Then hitting the uphill portion I grabbed the drag and shed some gear. You guys kept my head in the game , thank you for that. PMS and texts were blowing my phone up. Thanks for the congrats! Up in stand now trying to punch a doe tag. Guessing he’s 2.5. I like the dark chocolate rack. Congrats to everyone who’s gotten it done and good luck the remainder of the year.

I was going to sleep in today because of forecasted rain...I’m in my ground blind with blue skies above....strange...maybe today will be the day!!! A bit tricky in the canoe as the creek is starting to flood. Good luck all!

Been trying to get caught up at work all week long so far as I was off all last week... So this is my bear from late last week. I was out near Ellicottville about a mile back in on state land and I see a black "thing" maybe 130 yds off. Looking at it through the scope, it moved and I could see the head and ears. I watched it for quite a while, trying to decide if I wanted it as I knew it was not going to be easy getting this thing out from the creek bed area. The bear stood up and looked around and it spotted me, dropped back on all fours and started over towards me. Absolutely certain it saw me, I decided if it comes in reasonably close that I would take it. Well, at 80 yds I got a perfect shot off. I found a taxidermist near me (Your Trophy in Alden) and we skinned it out last night. The shot was quartering toward and entered just inside the right shoulder into the chest and out the opposite side at the rear of the rib cage. Double lung shot. I selected this half mount pictured below.

The pray and spray guys would have the deer nocturnal before the rut even starts.

I'll bet many guys here could actually do surgery in an emergency if they had to. A few might be better off sticking to autopsies.

It's nice to have a place to post all of the things normal people couldn't care less about.

Less than 12 hours with protective hide, dressed? Yes, yes it is. Man how did humans survive before refrigeration [emoji849] Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Had a beautiful morning in the woods today. Even saw the deer I was looking for. A big doe. I've enjoyed reading all the posts during my sits this season. Good luck guys and gals.

How sweet it is to knock down a doe with my son right next to me after the other little guy’s grandfather nudged her our way. First deer I never had to drag an inch!!! What a blessing- corned venison for everyone!!!!! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Step 2 wrap Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

And so it begins... Bacon wrapped venison filet, smashed potato and broccoli. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Warm spell. No snow. Hopefully the big boys are back on the feed and need some green in their belly. I have 150yrds of clover to my right. Bedding in front of me. 220yrds of clover to my left and 200 behind me. He comes out, I will send it. Sent from my XT1650 using Tapatalk

Just chop that deer right in two like last Buffalo hunt. After cutting in a mile long recovery road, axe was a bit dull.......LOL Chef won't like this but it was around 95* and carcass hung all night when it got down to 80*. Best steaks I've had and I raised angus for about 12 years even graded prime a few times.

Never seen anyone put coyote in their freezer. To each their own..

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I use one small three inch blade knife. Cut around anus, push it in towards guts. Cut from anus, over the pelvic bone to bottom of the abdomen. Make small incision, insert two fingers from left hand, (right handed) using only the blade tip, facing up, cut to bottom of rib cage. Turn deer on side, start pulling out stomach-intestines, liver and spleen, while cutting the diaphragm from top side, pulling anus out too. Once contents are outside body cavity, cut the lower diaphragm still connecting and pull everything free. Reach up under rib cage until you feel the esophagus. (feels like a ribbed grunt call) Grab with left hand, bring blade with right hand facing away, follow along, turn blade, cut towards spine, then pull out lungs and heart. Turn deer body cavity down, back legs spread to drain. Done! Takes me about five minutes. And have done close to two hundred in 45 years. I hardly even get messy anymore.

Weighing my options for the evening hunt. High 40's, 10 MPH window low barometric pressure. To me that adds up to a boring day in the woods. 1.5 hours of driving for maybe 3 hours of hunting. Or I can stay home and cook a great Birthday dinner for the Mrs. and score some points.

I made this last night. TF is in bunny suit, of course. Grampy in the suit and tie. Wolc on the fat right imitating the international sign for PA Chest Measurements Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I hope you brought enough bread TC.

It's been 3 years since a shoulder injury sidelined my archery season. 3 LONG YEARS ! Loved shooting bow with my kids and friends. Looked forward to coming home from work relaxing in the backyard slinging arrows. Loved getting into the woods early . It was my trophy season . Hunted bucks only. Got to target specific bucks before the rut changed patterns. I never wanted a crossbow. Never opposed them either. Best friends father was a paraplegic do to a spinal injury at an early age. He could have benafited from a crossbow. Could have hunted in warmer weather . Just couldn't understand the selfishness of other people. Only difference I can see is you don't have to hold the draw. I find shooting a crossbow to be challenging to hold on target clarence of limbs in the horizontal is new. Carrying the darn thing through the woods is awkward. Selfish people pushing their own agenda and politicians using inclusion as a bullet in their political arsenal is going to drag this out for ever. Only way to change.this is to get a law passed that puts decisions for hunting issues in the hands of the dec with a sportsman oversight committee .

This forum gives me hours of entertainment, different viewpoints and a sense of comradery. Someday, I may even hunt in NY!

Let Jesus take the wheel! Sent from my moto z3 using Tapatalk

Evan Williams honey celebrating a big 8 point a friend knocked down. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thread hi jack ! Gin is my go to hard liquor, Tanqueray, is my everyday ,but Hendricks, Aviation and a few others are in rotation. This is by far the best I’ve had . I’ve had a few Japanese whiskeys which are very very good so I tired this , blown away .

I don't know why the picture is always sideways? But got my skulls back from my crossbow and rifle buck

Frittata. Ground buck, onions, peppers. Mighty taco sauce went well with this too!

Of course, chefhunter86, technically you are right. The food danger zone is 40-140 degrees, but that relates to the temperature of the meat itself, which doesn't exactly correlate to the ambient air temperature. When you factor in a potential wind chill and the insulating effect of the hide, could one possibly get away with an ambient air temperature slightly higher than 40 degrees when hanging a deer (in the shade)? Enzymatic activity occurs up to 42 degrees, so I've read. Could 42 degrees ambient temperature be a reasonable max temp? A secondary tangential point, I feel like the moisture issue doesn't get enough consideration when field dressing or hanging deer. Myself, I go through the trouble of hanging my deer head up to promote drainage of any moisture, and then flip it to tail up to butcher it. Sorry to derail the thread, but couldn't help myself to chime in on this one.

Sorry, but I just don't see how a hunter with a crossbow, or vertical bow, takes "a chance" away from another hunter.

Finally here! Headed out in the AM allllll day!