Skillet

One of the bow shop guys at Field & Stream told me the regular Rages can open up in flight from a crossbow. I read online that some guys put an extra rubber band (the size a dentist would use on braces) on the broadhead to prevent this. No thanks, I'll stick with fixed blades.

Hey tools, lay off the guy. If you want to kill that bear, kill it. I would shoot it without a second thought, & hang him on the meat pole right next to a spike buck. Sure he's young, but as last year's cub, he is legal (Per DEC region 8 office). I wasn't aware that we had QBM, or a pilot weight restriction program to reduce yearling bear harvest. Any legal bear is a great kill IMO, & he'll taste good too. Shoot it and be happy.

I'm shooting Thunderhead 125gr 3 blades out of my Excalibur. My gf is shooting the same out of her 10 point. The Boltcutters are nice, but the Thunderheads are only 25gr lighter, & we got the packs of 5 on sale for $35. Way cheaper & they've never let me down.

Maybe leave him a note? Give him a chance to remove the stuff. That way there shouldn't be as hard of feelings against your friend as there would be if you nark him out. That's just me though.

I wouldn't go in there that late unless you really need to. Can you just duplicate the height of your stand and shoot in the backyard or somewhere else? Going in there will leave your scent behind, no way to avoid it. I've still got a little trimming to do on two of my stands this weekend, then I'm out of the woods until I hunt. I try to give at least 2 weeks rest to a spot before the season, so I'm already pushing it. That's just me though, I know guys who hang and trim stands in the morning & have killed deer out of them that night.

There are some nice moose in the Adirondacks though.

$350 / Best offer

You've got this man, no sweat! In my thoughts and prayers.

It'll probably be my Traditions Deerhunter 50cal percussion for opening day. Stock has a crack in it, but I'm having it fixed soon. I bought an inline this year, but after shooting it, I'd rather have the sidelock. The inline isn't half as fun as the traditional. I'm shooting 90gr of ffg, & a 385gr Great Plains conical.

Any 22.

I use a 12ga Mossberg 835 ulti mag, with 3.5's. More pellets = more head / neck hits, like VJP said. Use as much gun as you can comfortably handle. If I bought another turkey gun, it would be a 10.

I don't get much sleep either. I'm awake every half hour or so, because I'm afraid of not hearing the alarm and being late to the woods. That'd be like the dream you have where you get to work before you realize you forgot to put pants on - unacceptable.

Lmao.

Happy B day!

Good luck anybody going out. I hate you.

I've kind of backed off on hunting squirrels in september. The last couple years it seems like at least half of the ones I kill in the early season down around camp have bot flies. I didn't know what they were, but I kept finding big lumps under the skin on the squirrels. Some squirrels had like 5 of them. They were weird enough that I wouldn't eat the ones with it, so I never skinned one and found out what it was. I finally got frustrated a couple years ago & squeezed one of the lumps, so it popped, & a grub like an inch long oozed out of the skin! Talk about being grossed out. After looking it up & finding out what they were, I had a couple guys tell me it was still ok to eat the squirrel. No way I was doing that, so I've not been hunting them as much until later in the season. I don't want to kill them and not be able to use them. Even in the late season, some of them have tiny bald spots that look like maybe an old wound from a shotgun pellet, but it's actually a healed up spot where there was a bot fly. The eggs get laid under the skin, the grub hatches and grows under the skin sucking nutrients out of the squirrel, then it breaks through the skin and flies away. Usually the squirrel lives, unless it's a really bad infestation. I have a tough time eating a squirrel with even old marks from them, it's a mental image thing I guess. It's a bummer, because they're my favorite animal to hunt and eat. Anybody else notice these on squirrels you kill? Maybe it's just more common where I hunt. Naples (8N)

Now I get it! Damn I'm slow.

I think that would be great. Shoot one buck and that's it, just let the hunter choose the buck. Everybody wins.

^ My fault Larry. I got all worked up and went off on a tangent. Carry on

Now you're speaking as to what weapon "JC" would endorse?

You're unbelievable. Don't call me out on faith, or say I need to get right with the Lord. If you knew me, you would know that I'm an alcoholic with 2.5 years sober (by the way, I attribute my sobriety to a 12 step program I'm involved in, God, & MY OWN HARD WORK) & maybe you wouldn't assume I go to "wild" parties. You also would know that I do carry a small bible in my pack, & I regularly read it while in the woods. Your failure to take the necessary steps to be an ethical hunter, is pure laziness and arrogance, not faith. Don't pretend it's anything else.

Not too great. I finished the flagstone walkway & the patio. I've still gotta re point the chimney because bricks are about to start falling out. Also, I've got to form and pour a new cover for the septic tank at camp, because the existing one is about to fall in. This weekend, we're installing a new & bigger koi pond for her, which I'm not sure we'll be able to finish today. All my stands are up, but I still need to trim a couple of them and cut trails into a couple more. Junior wants to get a couple weekends of squirrel hunting in before archery starts, so I gotta get this stuff done soon.

Wow. That's all kinds of stupid. "Get up, Peter. Kill and eat".

DEC certainly did not make these changes to make crossbow hunters feel better, or punish the vertical bow crowd for being stubborn. (I hunt with both, so I'm not playing favorites here). Please don't make it seem like you are in some position to "negotiate" with the vertical crowd. That attitude will definitely not make them warm up to the full inclusion idea, and I'm pretty sure us crossbow supporters wouldn't choose you as our PR representative. First of all, this isn't about crossbow hunter vs vertical bowhunter, this is about DEC really overstepping their bounds. We as hunters should all be on the same team. Perverting the new rules into something tailored to suit you, at the expense of others is disgusting, and really gives a lot of insight into your regard (or lack thereof) for your fellow sportsman. I'm not being anti Christian here, I'm being anti your attitude. You say God puts the venison where he wants it, and guides the arrows / bullets of deserving followers, to strike down divinely distributed game animals. According to you, practice and proficiency with your weapons are of secondary importance. Then, you gloat about your 1 (one) lucky kill, and point to it as confirmation that you're in the Lord's good graces. What happens next time when you gut shoot that deer? You'll blame it on how you committed some sin on the way to the treestand that morning? In reality, I think you have displayed a lack of respect for God's creation by taking such an entitled, careless, & disrepectful attitude. Surely He would want you to practice and become efficient enough to honor his creation by killing it swiftly. I think he would expect you have enough respect to put in some effort, and be able to show that you honor the animals (and in turn, him) by becoming proficient in using your weapons. Seems like you're praying "God, I know I haven't practiced enough, or at this range, but I'm going to take a poke here, hook me up would Ya?" Sounds pretty arrogant to me. Then you have the nerve to come on this site, and tell others they are messing with the fire of hell, wow. "Judge not, lest ye be judged yourself". Way to defend your irresponsible, disrespectful actions by hiding behind the Bible. Do us all a favor. Put in the practice to become proficient, and stop trying to be the mouthpiece of Christians and crossbow hunters. As one of each, I find it highly offensive. Sorry for the off topic rant, but I couldn't help myself.

$375 Takes all of it.