FULLDRAWXX75

To try and narrow it down to just three is tough when I consider ever day in the woods is a great day...........................Here goes: #1 - I would have to say the very first buck I harvested, it was my forth season of hunting deer and had yet to be able to put a deer in the crosshairs. Opening day South in 1983 a nice spike buck strolled through the oak grove I was watching and history was made.............................LOL. I gutted, tagged and dragged him down to the shed at my uncles place, hung him up and headed back up the hill to meet up with my uncles. Well, just about the time I hit the slash road to head to the orchard, three deer jumped out of the lower pines and broke into open hardwood timber headed for the top. I swung, picked a hole in the trees and dropped the big lead doe, in less than an hr. I had not 1 but 2 deer on the ground and I was in heaven. #2 - Hunting with my Mom's brother and their uncle(my great uncle) was one of the great experiences in my life, my great uncle past away 7 yrs ago and left a huge void in my life. But before he passed away, he handed down to me two of his most prized guns......................a 1942 Beligan Browning A-5, and a 193? .300 Savage Mod. 99. Well, I took numerous deer with the Browning while hunting with him and he was just tickled pink about that.................................But, what eluded me was the taking of a deer with the .300 Savage (my most prized gun in my safe) My uncle passed away very suddenly from a stroke in Sept. of 2003 at the age of 81. I made a promise to myself that I would carry no other gun during rifle season until I harvested a buck with it, no matter how long (yrs. if need be) it took. Well, I hunted that entire season and only saw one buck and it was not a good shot presentation so I passed. The last day of the season, I was standing watch on the far south east corner of my great uncles old childhood farm property when out of no where a really nice 6 pt. buck appeared directly 40 yds in frt. of me...................I have no idea where he came from or how I did not see him until then. Well that buck looked at me, stared me down and just turned and walked 10 yds to his rt. and stopped and looked at me some more. As soon as he looked away, I raised that .300 Savage and took aim........................The 180 gr. round nose handload that my great uncle had loaded did its job 10 mins. before the end of the 2003 hunting season. To this day, I can not explain where that deer came from, why he didn't run off or why he continued to walk closer to me.........................................All I do know is, there was a little old man dressed in red/black plaid with me that day. I was 40 yrs old when that happened and I knelt down next to that buck and had tears in my eyes. I miss that old man terribly. Pic of Uncle Mike and myself in 1996, he was 74 then. He never wore anything but his Woolrich plaid(head to toe) #3 - Well, it hasn't happened yet.........................My son will be venturing into his first yr. of hunting deer this fall. The day he harvests his first deer will be a very memorable moment in my life. I hope to be able to share it here this fall. FDXX75

R446, You @ 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 hrs from my place. I have been down through that area on my bike a yr. or so ago. I used to travel that direction alot, got family in West Windsor & Endicott. FDXX75

So....................................How long do bow strings last? FDXX75

Well then, did you take it upon yourself to shot your rifle and check the zero before heading into the field for the hunt???????? FDXX75

I think I suffered damage to my ears from all the other noise pollution in the video................................................nice video part, the audio was beyond my toleration level. Didn't watch the whole thing. Sorry. If you are marketing something with the video, maybe different music that appeals to the masses would be a better approach..........................................IMO FDXX75 Oh, to answer the question.......................NO, I have seen a fox make that noise, I may have heard it and not known what was making it though.

I remember that very well, a friend of mine owned a construction company and did logging as well. He and his crew loaded up every piece of equipment he owned and worked out there for nearly 6 months doing clean up and other stuff as a private contractor for NIMO or some major company out that way........................ Hard to believe 20 yrs all ready. FDXX75

The first two mounts were taken in Broadalbin, NY (about 20 miles west of Saratoga) within a 1/4 mile of my house, the third mount and the euro were taken on my families property in the Town of Union near Endicott, NY. FDXX75

I don't know if I would believe that most outfitters do that. I never bowhunted with an outfitter, but I did gun hunt with a number of them, be it 15 to 20 plus years ago now. I think they could have cared less if my gun was on or not. Some have a target set up, but it's only there if the client want to check out his gun. Generally they want you to pay them BEFORE they take you hunting, so they surely won't lose any sleep over you missing an animal they might put you on. They got their money the rest is up to you. It's just business to them. Maybe I should reword that, most "reputable" outfitter/guides have a huge interest in there clients and the game that is being hunted. They want the clients to score and generate repeat business and they don't want the reputation of being wounded animal chasers(yes, it happens) If you hunted with an outfitter that was only concerned about getting his money, then you need to ungrade your quality of outfitter...........................I think I would feel screwed before my hunt even started. FDXX75

Though this may be true, I have seen deer pattern hunters and drivers from a weekend to weekend push, and even yr. to yr. I actually witnessed does, move from a small patch of woods that was being pushed(same drive every weekend by the locals) and saw does stay in the woods while the watchers walked by and as soon as they passed the does walked out, into the fields, lay down and waited until the drivers passed, then up and back into the wood lot. Humans are creatures of habit as well...............sometimes easier to pattern. I took the 11 pt. buck pictured in the photo thread, by being some place different during a watch than the usual watcher used to stand at.......................I moved 75 yds further down the hill and to the rt. and that big boy tried to sneak by. I did it because three times that season I hear guys talking about seeing this huge buck while driving, but the watchers never saw him. Same guys, same drive, same watch locations.......................the deer knew the game. Well I changed the rules..............................LOL FDXX75

One big question to ask when joining a club is the hunter to acreage ratio??????? If it is more that 1 hunter for every 40-50 acres it will be over hunted/pressured. FDXX75

Yep, but no where near as good of a feeling.............................. FDXX75

I have one X scent shirt, I really like it. UA is over rated/priced and I hate felling like a piece of link sausage........................plus it pulls the hair on my chest and itches. LOL FDXX75

I will not even begin to tell you guys the stuff that goes on at some if not the majority of deer processors..................................you will never take one there again. FDXX75

Very good point, like I stated above...........I don't use mine for hunting. I actually have two pair of the old style, one set was given to me by my grandmother, they were her grandfathers and are nearly 200 yrs old (they look like a really wide/rounded set of Huron style) the others are more of an Alaskian style, longer/narrower. The binding on my gggrandfathers were in really rough shape, it had a local leathersmith make me a new set of binding and they look really nice. I have them in my den strickly for show now. FDXX75

Ditto FDXX75

Cabela's.....................check out their stuff. I forget the exact name of the stuff I have, but I know I bought it there. Light and works. FDXX75 PS: stay away from Frogg Togs, junk and a waste of money.

Bingo, Tubbs are the way to go, My son and I both have and use them to do winter scouting trips into our areas's. I have never had the need or opportunity to use them during the hunting season. My mother has a set of Tubbs as well and she and her girlfriends snowshoe all winter on the trails, she is in her late 60's. FDXX75

If you are looking for a "BASE" layer, you can't beat silk...............................yes, silk!!!!! It is by far the best/lightest weight base layer material available. Light weight, moisture wicking, anti-chaffing. I have used silk as my base layer for nearly 20 yrs now while hunting, laugh if you want but I wear silk boxers when doing long hauls on the Harley......................7-8 hundred miles in one day and my arse doesn't complain one bit. You can get it through any of the major vendors (Cabela's, BPS, Gander Mtn) I would also check out Sportsmens Guide, they sometimes have it on sale at a really good price. FDXX75

I know the area, nice to meet ya.........................LOL FDXX75

Muck Boots!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hands down, no questions asked are by far the best buy for the money. I have hunted 32 yrs and used many different brands of boots. Two seasons ago I bought a pair of Woody Elite's. They are the most comfortable and warmest boot I have ever used, I only wished I had made the move yrs ago when I bought my last pair of rubber boots. I would suggest buying them 1 size bigger and using a layered sock system if you are prone to having really cold feet( layered sock - polypro sock liner under a good quality wool or non cotton blended sock) You will not regret the move. If any one is looking into them, drop me a line first and I will put you in contact with a friend of mine who is a dealer and offers the best prices available on the Muck Boot line. FDXX75

Eddie, Check out this site, I have the boning knife they sell and it is great. http://www.askthemeatman.com/ Not to mention this is a pretty cool site to check other stuff out as well.............. FDXX75

R446, What part of the state you located in? ??? ? FDXX75 Yes, I gathered you lived in NY. That is why I asked what "PART", meaning West, South, Vermont border, etc. I live just west of Saratoga, near the Sacandaga Lake(NY) My reasoning for asking was, if you were anywhere close to me, I would be willing to hook up with you and share the art of processing a deer from start to finish so you would have some knowledge of it and be able to attempt it on your own in the future and save yourself some money and have better quality meat. That's all. FDXX75

Now, let me clarify something..........................If your hunt is a yr. away, don't replace it now and wear it out by shooting 5000 arrows through it. Do your shooting and replace it a month or so before the hunt and make all your final adj. before you head out. Checking POI once there is a most, I believe most if not all outfitters require the hunter to shoot/qualify per say with their bow for several reasons............to check that the equipment is functioning and on target and to let the guide/outfitter know how efficient the shooter is with his equip. FDXX75

I can not provide you with any solid pro's/con's as my son just started shooting and he is using them. They appear to shoot/perform very well. The only thing I can comment on is the fact that he has already Robin Hooded several arrows and the damage was minimal. We only lost @1/2" of shaft to make the repair. FDXX75

OK, ok, ok...............................I have made fun of this thing for yrs. But with all this positive feedback and talk about how well it works........................I am headed off to Walmart to donate $10.00. LMAO Now, I will have to wait 7 months to try it..............................dang. FDXX75