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It took a while, but I finally put my tag on a buck this year. My buddy bagged a nice 5 point on the opener, but I saw nothing but a squirrel. I did spend a few hours in the morning on the opener helping him with his deer, when I should've been in my stand, but I don't know if I missed anything when I wasn't there. Anyway, the day after Thanksgiving I went to my friend's nearby property to hunt. He was out of town for Thanksgiving and asked if I would hunt his 100 acres and make sure no one else was hunting there. I had exclusive hunting privileges Weds through Friday. I drove my truck into a back field and parked to wait for the sun to rise. I took a seat at one end of the field where I could see the whole field, as well as the wood line around it. Soon after legal shooting time, I saw a doe at the far end of the field just inside the brush of the woods bordering the field. It was 200 yards away. Scanning the woods behind her, I spotted this nice 8-point buck. The brush was obscuring his body, and I could only see his head and neck. The doe spotted me and blew a warning. She did it again a few seconds later. When she ran into the woods the buck was still there looking at her. I knew he was going to run, so I set my crosshairs on his neck and steadied my aim. The Kimber 84M in 7mm08 roared and the buck staggered, as he tried to run away. I lost sight of him after that. I drove the truck over to where he stood and found him not far from where he was when I shot. I was a 200 yard off hand neck shot, and the longest shot I've taken on a buck in the Catskills. I had to call my friend Chuck to help me lift it onto the tailgate of my pickup, as it was too heavy for me to do it alone. The buck weighed 140 lbs field dressed and has a nice symmetrical 8-point rack. It also has two little bumps where it was growing 2 more points that would have made it a 10-pointer, but they're too small to count. I took some time to fill my tag, but it was worth the wait.

What an afternoon. I get to my stand at 3:30 wind , temps were perfect. I hear a shot not too far away. Sounded like it was on my property. My neighbor gets back to me that there was a button buck in my corn field with the ass eaten out of it. Just standing there shaking. Seems like the yotes got this deer but didn't finish the process. Guys it was gross what I saw. He put the deer down. A good thing. So about 4:15 to my right I see two large deer. I have no idea if they were two bucks or a buck locked onto a doe. All I know is the buck started heading my way. It was a real nice 10 pt. Shooter goes off in my mind. I think that second deer was another buck but I never saw horns. So here he comes at 30 yards slight quarter to. I put a slug through the front shoulder and it exits through ribs. He goes down in front plowing up the leaves. I knew I had a good hit but he got out of sight. I get down and head for where I last saw him. Took a few minutes but I found him. Beautiful 10 pt. One tine was sligfhtkly broken and he had a scar on the upper part of nose. I thought that this could of been the buck that My neighbor and I hit opening day. Upon looking at the deer the back hoof was shot off. It was dangling and he was walking on bone. My neighbor and I agreed the buck on opening day was much bigger. I was thrilled to get this deer this late in season. 5 seconds before I shot this deer my brother texted. Telling me to shoot a big one so you can spend more time with your girlfriend! It worked!!!! Enjoy the picts.

Its been a while since i’ve posted anything on here, but I figured this warranted it. I just got back from an 8 day trip to the Northern Alberta and got my first Bull elk!! What an ADVENTURE! 70 mile quad rides (half in the dark) into the bush, run ins with moose and grizzly bears, spending 6 days with a native tracker and learning bush craft… it was truly remarkable Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Cousin is happy.

Got r done........ Sent from my SM-G975U1 using Tapatalk

What a night in PA! Youth rifle, got out of work at 3, got in stand at 4:30, shot doe at 5:15, ran to car, traded the rifle for the crossbow, 4 spikes chasing doe and all fighting in front of us. shot the buck at 6:05! His first buck. Prefect 30 yard shot. Saw a nice 8pt and 7 doe on drive out!

I was debating on whether to let him walk this morning but considering it’s my last day out and I haven’t had any venison in 3 years …… I decided to take him. He’s a small rack 5 pointer but big enough to kick my ass getting him to my truck. Good luck to everyone who’s still deer hunting.

Was out driving around and noticed a lot of deer on the move in the rainy weather. Was coming up my road and saw this, she stayed long enough to give me a great picture. I may have this one framed and put in the bunk house. On a side not we did a lot of driving yesterday to West Point and back. I just noticed an alarming amount of road kill. These animals are moving about so be careful.

Unfortunately I now only have access to this forum from my work computer. I use to be able to log in through Tapatalk on my phone but now even that has stopped. I tried resetting my password but with an absentee owner my request never gets fulfilled. Anyways... onto the hunting portion of this story. My daughter and I went out Saturday evening and set up in a log pile to get a jump on where we have been seeing a doe a few evenings a week. The plan worked out and she took her first ever deer in the start of her third season hunting. It was a pretty wild 15-20 min as the doe popped out but offered no shot. We where not in the best of cover so we had to stay as still as possible but you could tell the doe was getting increasingly nervous. I think she could tell something was off but we where just hidden enough and she was up wind from us. She eventually worked up the courage to try and circle around us to get down wind but she didn't even have to get down wind all she had to do is get directly to our left because at that point we are completely exposed. She gets to our left, freezes, starts to stomp her hoof at us then eventually blows and takes off running. Here's the wild part she stops 60 yards away completely broadside just blowing away almost like she saw us but we somehow still had her confused. My daughter acts fast gets the gun on the doe and whispers "I'm shooting" I just simply replied "take it". Her gun goes off and the does front legs tuck into her body while she crashes to the ground and bulldozes and flips for 10 second before dying within site. High fives some hugs and probably a few tears of joy where had. Even though we knew the deer was dead and not moving we sat back down to let it all sink in. After about 10 min I have her get her tag out and start filling it out. At about the 20 min mark we slowly work our way over to the doe, thank her for her sacrifice before taking pictures and getting to work. This is a day neither of us will ever forget and has probably taken over as the best day I've ever had in the woods.

Put the hammer down on this doe this evening. CVA Wolf does again

Doe down 7:02

I’m beyond excited, I had a back to back in 2 days with 2 awesome hunts. Thursday I called in 10 birds at once, 9 left. Today I called in a lone hot mature bird all by himself Yesterday was 4.5 beard and 1/8 “ spurs Today 8” beard and 3/4 “ spurs. I feel fortunate to have the opportunity to enjoy my hunting and harvest 2 nice toms, and have a great time in the woods

This past summer my oldest told me in conversation he thought he could graduate college a semester early and be done. 3.5 yrs rather than 4. Apparently those college level classes he took in high school were going to pay off. Well he called me yesterday and told me he was indeed done with school and was strictly focused on his career now. He earned a BS in Finance and Financial planning. My man! From the day he turned 16 he's had a job lined up and I don't think he's ever quit. He washed cars, washed dishes, made burgers at McDonald's, did retail and even humped concrete for two summers on a crew. Last January he did an internship at a financial services company in Rochester. A couple months later they offered him a formal contract to work for them. He's been working 30hrs a week at the firm this last semester in addition to the school work. Gratified and happy for him. Hard work = success.

Got my second ever b-day buck in 40+ yrs of hunting yesterday. Not the biggest buck in the woods, but I'm very happy with him. Lot's of yrs, I was already tagged out and couldn't shoot a buck on my birthday. Ya, I know crappy selfie, lol.

Here are a couple pictures of my morning buck -- 9 points

Nephew and I doubled up at 6:55 this morning. Fun hunt.

Spring this year she shot a 21lbs bird. They decided to have it mounted. Man did it come out nice. DJ's Taxidermist in Avoca did the work. I have had a number of deer mounted by him and never disappointed. The bird is just amazing!

Just took a big doe with muzzle loader. Three came in and only two left. : ) Picture is from my stand.

I shot a 6 pt chasing a doe. Not ideal but I figured as the season went it was the right thing. Nephew shot his first buck a two point! lol We took them to the processor tonight man there are some real nice bucks in there. Oh and I shot a big button buck last hour of bow season.

Brother got this nice 8 pt tonight. Chasing a doe. We have him on camera the night before doing the same thing. 30 yards xbow. Pass through shoulder. He said it did a back flip before it died. Crazy.

My sons patience ran out 13 minutes before the legal end of youth, does were over a knob in the field. Rainy and getting dark, We made the move and he 10 ringed a smaller doe at 150 yards. She ran right to us and died 50 yards away with both front shoulders essentially useless.

Teddi was tasked as a platoon Sargeant for Alpha Company at Beast ( West Points boot camp). Here is a picture of her in formation. She is to the right. It's a 6 week boot camp she stays for the first three weeks and then moves on to an internship at Homeland Security in Manhattan. Again thanks for all the support!

Since things are slow ,I thought I would share . My daughter in law is from Venezuela and came here legally about 10 years ago . She had come to the country previously for visits and that's when my youngest son met and dated her . Erika has a good job working for a company in Victor NY . This past Tuesday , my wife and I met my son and Erika at the Federal Building in Rochester for her Naturalization Ceremony . The participants had to say the Pledge of Allegiance . There were 41 participants from various countries . When Erika arrived at work Wednesday she was surprised that the work place was all decorated in red , white and blue with flags all over the place . We are proud of the fact that she is a naturalized US Citizen .

Back in 1986, myself and three other coworkers planned an archery moose hunting trip up in Ontario Canada. We took 2 canoes and a small aluminum boat and all our gear back along an old dirt road for umpteen miles, entered a lake and went to the end of that lake. Then we did a 150 yard portage into another lake and then went to the far end of that lake and set up camp. It was to be a 1-week hunt.... No guides. We set up tents and that was home all during the hunt. We did our hunting in the first hours of the day and during the last part of the day. During the middle of the day, we fished and caught some of our meals. The fishing was great. I never saw nights that were so dark and it was so quiet like I have never experienced. These lakes were not occupied, and there was a feeling of total isolation. There was a grey jay that we could feed out of our hands. I saw my first and only marten on that trip. It just was a fantastic experience that I never would have had if we hadn't decided to rough it. Oh, and by the way, we did get a small bull moose. It was just a perfect trip.

Opening day was not looking good weather wise as it was raining as I was getting into camp. So setting up my ground blind was a no go. Thankfully the rain started to taper off around 3 Am. The rain finally stopped at 4 Am. I set out a half hour early to set my ground blind up and waited for the fun to begin. Spotted over 20 deer with the thermal while waiting for the sun to rise and had 4 bucks chasing a doe in the distance as legal shooting time approached. One buck was clearly the dominant buck, but it wasn't one of the big bucks we had on the trail cameras, so I passed on it. As it got brighter out and the deer came in closer to around 200 yards, I could see the dominant buck was a shooter 8 pointer, so I decided that it was time to take action. He was perfectly broadside, but as I was taking the safety off, a truck came barreling down the right of way road and scared them away down a ravine. F'ing neighbor worked late, so he got up late and was flying down the road to his stand on a neighbors property. So as I sat there plotting the neighbors demise for chasing the deer away, they popped up around 300 yards away feeding under some thorn apple trees and saved the neighbors life. I picked a clearing they were heading towards, ranged it at 315 yards, dialed it in and waited. About 10 minutes later the doe appeared in the clearing, the 8 Pt buck followed and I dropped him. After the shot, the doe trotted about 20 feet and one of the smaller bucks jumped on it. To the victor goes the spoils. Another member of camp bagged a nice 7 pointer about an hour later. Since I was tagged out, I decided to coyote hunt over the gut pile we made 150 yards away in view of the camp. Nothing showed up that night, so I went out Sunday night at a location away from the neighboring hunters properties who were still deer hunting and dropped a male coyote at 1am. When it rains it pours. SJC

Buck down! Rattled and he came flying in

Cell cam sent this pic, first time i have seen this guy out during daylight.

The guys are still here. Few chases no really big bucks showing up. Friend shot this half rack yesterday. Xbow 20 yards heart shot.

132 lb field dressed doe (PA chest girth est) from last Saturday evening at my parents:

Looks like we have a real wide 8 and another tall buck together. We just started seeing big ones recently. I do have a video of even a bigger 8 woder than ears that I will try to download. One more month of growing they will be huge!

Well it has been around forty years since I had a boat and now that I am entering my second childhood I decided it was time to get another. A Tracker Deep V17 in decent shape, looking forward to Bass season and doing some Catfishing. Al

Finally found a morning I could get out back and enjoy a sunrise. Busy spring planting and building pen’s keeps time tight. Perfect Morning!

the lake gave up some gold yesterday

Merry Christmas my good friends!

After a disappointing archery trip to illinois, my nephew and I were able to redeem ourselves. I killed this heavy bodied target 8 on my new land in the NZ and my nephew connected with a beautiful 9 in the SZ. Im much prouder of these NY deer than I would have been with an Illinois kill. So overall, we had a great season.

Being so close to Christmas and with lots to do, this morning I got down at 10am. When I did I noticed the first scrape this season in this spot. It was less than 15 yards from my stand and it was fresh. In the low light when I went to my stand this morning I never saw it. So I figured I would put a camera over it in the afternoon before I climb into my stand, and that is what I did. I had only been in my stand for the afternoon about a half hour, when and adult doe and a this years fawn came headed straight towards me, and behind them was a really big doe who kept looking back over her shoulder. They were basically walking single file ad were going to walk right in front of the camera I just put up. I had my gun in my lap and they were so close I new I would be busted as soon as I moved. Seeing the fawn was with the first doe I was not having any second thoughts about shooting the big doe bringing up the rear, and was not gambling a buck would show up this late in the season. In hindsight, it was not my finest hour of hunting the way it went down, but as it resulted in a successful and interesting hunt so I'm satisfied. I knew it was gonna be tricky not only because they were close, facing me, and three different sets of eyes and 3 noses, but also because I figured out this morning my eye glasses are so old and cloudy it's like looking through a bottle of milk. And,my glasses have become sort of settled so when I'm looking through my scope I need to push my glasses up with my thumb so I am looking through the distance part of my bifocals. I let the doe and fawn get really close in order to allow the big doe to clear brush and give me a shot. Then I basically told myself one, two, three go, and raised the gun, quickly put the scope on the big doe while thumbing up my glasses trying to get the cross hairs centered on her, and as I did the first doe and fawn spooked and took a couple quick jumps. I pulled the trigger and at the shot the big doe went down. But, it was not ideal. I won't share the less pleasant aspect of this as it was unsettling for me. What I discovered after though was she would not likely have gone far, but in the moment I could not be certain as she was trying to get her legs under her. With her trying to escape; even though my mind was racing, heart pounding, my hands were shaking like a leaf, and I discovered the end of my ram rod was now missing, I still reloaded faster than I ever though possible. She momentarily lay still and I was able to put the second shot on her to put it to a merciful end. Even after the second shot, just in case I reloaded again. The other does only bounded off after the second shot and when I started to climb down. Tomorrow I will pull the card from the trail camera and see what was captured, because much of this went down in front of it. It could be interesting. See the trail camera in the scrubby little tree to the left of the deer.

I’ll post the story after a bit in another thread. It was pretty interesting story.

Thanks guys! I'm blessed with such great hunting property and good neighbors. I will do a Euro mount on this one. Last count there have been 15 buck and 10 doe killed this season between the neighbors. My camp has 4 buck 2 doe in that count. Here are the big three we got. 2 and 3 out of the same stand along with 2 doe. First picture was from a stand 100 yards away.

My son and grandson are hunting the whole day in Geneseo . I am going to do an afternoon hunt there and change the camera batteries . So far my son has seen 9 deer but nothing close enough to shoot with the crossbow . My son shot a nice wide rack buck on his property yesterday in Italy Valley .

Not much of a Deer hunter these days and usually from the middle of the season on, but last night I decided to get out the first thing in the morning. Got bundled up and grabbed the Howa Superlight 6.5 Creedmoor and headed out. A frosty start to the day and as the daylight started coming on the woods began to come alive. Walked to one of my favorite Squirrel hunting spots and sat down on a stump. Squirrels and Blue Jays were in the Beech trees gathering mast, I could hear Turkeys talking. Was not sitting for five minutes and saw a Doe walking through the trees, I have a permit but I let her slide. Then a parade of Turkeys appeared started toward me and low and behold a Buck was walking along in front of them. Put the crosshairs behind the front shoulder and shot, he hunched up and took off running but I knew he would not go too far. I walked back home and got my Airedale pup Ruff and brought him to the spot the Buck was walking when I shot. There was no visible blood but I put the pup on the track and away we went, not 50 yards and there he was deader than a doornail, A good introduction to Deer tracking for young Ruff, I believe he will handle Deer tracking quite well. Good part he was not far from a logging road so I got my tractor and drove close enough for an easy drag and flopped him into the loader bucket and brought him home to dress out. One of my shortest Deer hunts ever. Al

Hey shout out to my Brother in law Mark over in Schuylar county! I have been hunting with him for 35 years or so. We went to a traditional bow shoot in PA last summer it was great. He ordered a stick bow and practiced with it a lot this summer. All came together this morning. 18 yard heart shot on a big doe. So proud of him!!!!!!

Powers Taxidermy in Canisteo. Did a great job real happy with it.

Well the 2023 season is now a wrap for me. I again found a hit list of 3 of the top bucks in my hunting area of one of the greatest places in the state in Letchworth and it was one of those three or bust… Unless an even bigger buck showed itself. Was lucky enough to keep track of the three and harvesting one of them until the rut carried them off to yonder lands. He green scored 127 plus. Once guns started banging my standards are lowered to nothing but a mature buck regardless of size. The 2nd 8pt was a fighter for sure. Cut ear, holes in his hide on his forehead and an infected puncture wound in behind his front leg. Filled a couple freezer queens to keep things in check.

Yeah, deer seasons over, or is it?

I thought I would share a couple pics from my stand I was in the other day. This was my view the other day from my ladder stand. If you look in the distance in the first pic you can see the island with my trash heap blind. If you enlarge the pic you can actually see the blind. The deer were in between these two stands. The second picture is another view from the stand overlooking my hill and across to the rolling farm fields across the road. I’ll hit the same spot Saturday morning.

My Sons 11 pointer, with a split brow. Seems only pic that would load is of him caped out.

I thought I was filling a DMP with a Doe , guess not !