Doc

Yeah, I came down out of the trees quite a few years ago. Yes, I recognize that I have handicapped myself by doing that, but a severe case of "fear of heights" left me with no choice. But in the process, I found an added level of excitement through dealing with deer on their own level.....Eyeball to eyeball. I know that there is no room for error. There is an extreme nervous and exciting feeling of vulnerability on my part because I am left at the mercy of all the deer's superior senses. yes, i no longer expect to get my archery deer every year. I have put myself at an extreme disadvantage. But I have to say when that deer (any deer) approaches me, I immediately go into a fit of trembling, the likes of which I never experienced while I was up in the trees. I know that I cannot get away with anything......Absolutely nothing! I have not mastered the art of still-hunting with a bow yet. I do construct ground stands. So, I still have a long way to go to hone that ultimate way of ground hunting. However, still hunting with a gun is my "go-to" method of gun-hunting.

Back tension has been a hot topic of archery shooting procedure for decades. I have archery magazines from the late sixties where Sam Fadala and others talked about back tension. But it was never explained as well as this video. Of course back then videos were not as easy to come by as they are today. But actually seeing someone go through the motions of creating proper back tension really is a good way of teaching, especially when it is done by an archery coach. This the first time I ever saw it related to muscle and joint longevity though. It all makes sense.

Congrats on a fine looking buck.

Years ago, I picked up a military style kaybar belt knife for $5 at a yard sale. That thing has the best steel of any of the knives that I own. Yes, I suppose by most people's standards, it is a bit big and clunky for field dressing deer, but I have not found that to be a problem. Once I put an edge on that thing, it stays shaving sharp for the whole season, even when I use it for hacking small limbs for shooting lanes.

Great video!

This is the best all-around fall for just about every activity. And yes the squirrels are going berserk. I have been dining on the little fuzzy-tailed rats quite a bit this year.

They really don't have to be all that old to figure out their survival mode. Have you ever noticed how all the deer seem to vanish into thin air after the first few hours of gun season opener? They find out that panicky running through the woods is not a real good idea. They also figure out where the orange army does not go. Yes they occasionally make mistakes, but not all that often. I had a nice buck that used the old "lay still" method of evasion. It was in a thicket that is in front of my house. I was going down our long driveway to get the mail and I took my gun along. His mistake was not realizing that the new snow of the season silhouetted him very nicely. I'll bet he spent may days watching us drive back and forth on the driveway and even walk up and down the driveway a bunch of times. It would have worked again except for that snow. It was a short drag to the driveway where I loaded him up for butchering. But the point is that they do seem to have some version of reasoning.

We have an excellent thread regarding deer anatomy that will help you make up your mind about neck-shots. Look closely at the size of the target of the neck area, and then look at the size of the vitals in the chest area. There is a big difference! Two incidences have made up my mind: The first was seeing a very nice buck standing alongside the road on my way to Naples. His entire lower jaw was just swinging from his head......Not a pretty sight. Could have been an attempt at a head shot, or a neck shot that had gone very bad. That deer had a very long and anguished end to his life in store for him. Nothing I could do. It was after dark and I was in the car with no gun. The second was listening to a deer on the far side of a huge ravine wheezing through what I assumed was a severed wind pipe. It was loud enough so that I could hear it the 200 or so yards across the ravine. I'm sure that deer was also going to die a long and suffering end, But there was no way for me to get to the other side. I have to concede that a neck shot that hit the spine will drop the deer right on the spot. But I have to wonder about a shot that is a few inches off the mark. Click on the picture to visit that thread and make your own decision.:

It all sounds kind of treasonous to me. Kind of makes you wonder what countries they are working for. It certainly isn't the U.S.

Ha-ha-ha-ha.....I'm more paranoid than you. My feet don't leave the ground while hunting.....ever anymore. I came down out of the trees quite a few years ago. It's a "heights" thing. My last tree stand was a 5' x 5' platform only 12 feet off the ground, and a railing all the way around. Eventually even all that wasn't enough and I found that I could not shoot my bow while both arms were wrapped around the tree. No I don't do tree stands anymore, and I'm actually more excited about hunting when I am on the ground, eyeball to eyeball with the deer. Yes, hunting from the ground is a bit of a handicap, but it does increase the challenge and the excitement. And I don't have to worry about lifelines.

Best recounting of an elk hunt that I have ever seen on a forum. I suggest that you submit that to a few hunting magazines for publishing.

Crows can be a dead give-away too. I fond one deer just by checking out some heavy crow activity.

It is a bit hard to apply any scale to the critter. Nothing there to really compare it to. But I have seen some huge coyotes down here in Ontario County, and I would imagine that the Adirondacks could grow some big ones too.

Our house is 1000' from the road with no direct view. I learned long ago how unattended property gets stolen when people think no one is looking. It's a real shame. I hear that the looting has started up already in the hurricane ravaged areas. How low can people get?

Wow! That's not just an elk. That's a monster elk. Now there is a trophy and an experience that you will remember for a lifetime. You deserve a hearty congratulations on an accomplishment that few of us will ever experience. And yes, I want to 2nd that request from Cons to hear more of the story.

I have a lifetime supply of ammo for all my guns loaded up and ready to go. I don't like the tactics that NYS is conjuring up to frustrate and harass gun owners out of using our guns. So quite a while ago, I decided to insulate myself against their anti-gun activities. I knew that ammunition was their next target.

Isn't that great tat they decided to put o a show in front of your camera.

I had 7 turkeys come off the hill and walked across our yard. Quite spectacular since we usually don't have a large population of turkeys here. I have not seen a lot of deer yet. Of course with all the leaves still on, it's not easy to see much of anything.

That is just plain and simple harassment. NYS has found a lot of ways to deny 2nd amendment protections for gun owners.

I enjoy all participation and conversation (on topic or off). I have found it quite easy to simply move on to the next topic if I find one that does not interest me. It is really no big deal. Actually, I even enjoy the political topics on that dastardly political sub-forum that everyone pretends isn't there......lol. None of it bothers me a bit.

I have seen pictures of black whitetail deer. Apparently there are all kinds of color variations out there.

Still have the old MQ-32 Mathews cranked up to 60#, and things are dialed in good for this year. My 80 year old, spindly, used-up, arms do feel the wear and tear when I practice too long, so I may have to drop it down a touch next year. What is really wearing down on me is the old legs. It always seems that everything around hear is uphill. That "killer" hill behind the house seems to be getting steeper every year. I have already cut way back on my scouting and pre-season wandering around. I don't think it will be my arms or shoulders that stop my hunting. It's all the rest of my body that's not handling the old-age all that well anymore. And no changing of hunting weapon is really going to help that. But for this year at least, I think we're good to go.

I have to admit that I have never patterned an individual deer and then harvested him....With camera or with any method. I was just curious about the comments of trail cams being an unfair advantage. I have heard that BS a few times, so I just thought I would check here to see just how many times cameras have actually become an aid in hunting. About the only claim I can make in that regard is that sometimes I get a mental boost that keeps me on stand a little longer when I know there is a nice buck somewhere in the area. But what I have found through trail-cams is that a lot of the nicer bucks travel at night and seldom repeat any movements. They seem to travel great distances and have very little repetitiveness that can be of any use in hunting. And when rut rolls around, all bets are off and it really depends on what doe they happen to be keyed in on at any particular day and in any particular area of their range (and even outside their range). But the question remains. How many of you have successfully used a trail cam to harvest your buck?

Because TV continues to hang on every word she has to say......Even Fox. When you come down to it, the Democrats have willingly pronounced her some kind of major spokesperson for their party. I can't for the life of me understand why that is.

How many of you have successfully scouted out an individual deer by using a game camera and then successfully taken that individual deer because of the pictures you have taken?