Skillet

Yes I'm dealing with the Rochester store. I decided to go for it, I'm picking it up tomorrow. Excited! Wish I didn't have to wait months to use it.

I've shot a Mossberg 835 ulti mag for years, & I love it. 3.5" with a 28" barrel & an X full choke. It's a killer. I checked the site, & the msrp is $617.

Thanks Grow. All set here! We'll go out to dinner, & romantic that I am, I got her a new deke & a brand new, 5 prong, stainless steel frog gig she's been wanting! She says cut flowers are uselesss & always says to get her huntin stuff. Works for me!

Yep, I'm going to oak orchard. I got a kayak there once. They were good to deal with. It weighs 75lbs.

I'm going to buy a new canoe for fishing and frog gigging. I'm leaning towards the Mad River adventure 14. It seems pretty rugged and well made. I like the idea of seats with a backrest. It's expensive, but not as bad as a lot of them are. Anybody have this canoe? Any recommendations? Thanks.

Belo - "For many, their shotgun or rifle and dad's old revolver are all they need." You really don't get it at all. Your shotgun or rifle will eventually be labeled as an assault rifle, or whatever else they have to classify it as, in order to villify & eventually ban it. Your dad's old revolver? forget about it. Also, I really don't think many gun owners are liberals. How many Toyota prius do you see with an NRA sticker right next to the obama one?

I work for the DOT out of Rochester. A bunch of us got sent to long Island last night to plow the highways during the storm. We got our plows together & drove all night to get here. Got in around 5:30 this morning. They're telling us to expect to be here until at least friday. Starting to snow now.

Whaaaat?

LoL. I wish I could say it was my trophy room. It's the living room & she killed most of the stuff in it!

I don't know why the pics are sideways, or how to fix them, lol.

She finished it today. I like the look of a skull mount so much, I don't think I'll ever have a shoulder mount done again.

I'll never go to gander mtn again. Their prices / selection were never that great & the removal of all the taxidermy was the last straw for me. It's like they want our $ for hunting stuff, but they don't want to be associated with the sport. Nothing like deserting your customer base. Hopefully they go under.

Wow, that's nice. Great job with the filming. You took a lot of extra time to get some of those shots & It definitely paid off. That's the way hunting should be. I'd trade a whole deer season for a week like that. I could almost smell the campfire! Good for you.

I'd shoot 2 doe as quickly as possible & then go back to squirrel hunting, which I enjoy just as much as going after deer.

I'd bet a week's pay you come out empty handed. X2

The meat was not as good as we'd hoped. It was at peak rut, & he smelled strongly like goat. Unfortunately, the meat tasted slightly like a goat smells. He was quartered & on ice within 1.5 hours of dying, so it wasn't mishandling. We ground a lot of it, & the rest we seasoned to death.

Been in on a couple of hog & ram hunts. I shot a watusi (note I didn't say "hunt", I just shot it for meat. More fun than buying beef) And most recently, a Pere David's deer, which can't be hunted in the wild.

Awww, right back at ya. Nope, I never did go home empty handed & I'm glad I didn't! I forked over a lot of $ for my last hunt, & it woulda sucked to lose it. I busted my ass all winter, took all the OT I could get, & cut back on a lot of stuff, so I could do that hunt. Going home empty handed would have blown. I know that's a risk on any hunting trip that's free range, but I don't make a ton of $ and if I'm going to drop some of it to hunt, I want to make a kill. The last one I went on, I wanted to use archery but the guides weren't sure I would get a chance, & asked that I bring a gun just in case. It took a weekend, but I was able to use the bow.

I love ya Law, but I gotta disagree with you on this one. Not looking to get into a pissing match, but I definitely think a well run HF preserve can be a real hunt. There's a few preserves that give the rest a bad name (small area, unhealthy animals, etc) but I've hunted a couple that were really nice. The operators had a real passion & cared about the wellbeing of the animals. The animals were healthy & they had a lot of space to live. I've hunted or been along on hunts behind HF a few times, not once did an animal get shot as it was cornered in a fence, nor did they get shot at a feeder. They were wild animals, & many were born in the preserve, having very little human contact their entire lives. Just because they may see humans doesn't make them trusting or tame. If that's the case then 99.9% of whitetails can't be considered truly wild because almost all of them have some type of contact with people. It wasn't just walking out and shooting. As far as I'm concerned, it's hunting (on a good preserve). It's not for everyone, but I don't look down on it at all. I'm not ashamed to say I've done it. I have no regrets & would hunt HF again in a heartbeat. I'm guessing I'll get bashed for posting this, but oh well. It's my opinion, & I'm sticking to it.

Sam, no offense but I find it hard to believe that managing pressure or hunting a pressured property is a problem often faced by many of the hunters on tv.

Post #270, first mention of HF. Not posted by 4 seasons.

I don't know why high fence is coming into this thread. There's a huge difference between shooting "a freak buck in a pen" & hunting on a well run preserve. A good preserve can be a very challenging & fulfilling hunt. I'm speaking from experience, & before I'm accused of not being a real hunter, yes I'm very capable of taking deer in the wild. I've hunted animals on a preserve that do not even exist in the wild anymore, & the main reason they exist AT ALL, is because of the hunting preserve industry. I'll congratulate any hunter on any animal that they take, regardless of high fence or not. You might not agree with 4season's views, but I don't see the need to bash his business that you know nothing about.

Whatever you say. Nothing about shooting a small buck is under achieving. You need a big set of antlers to make you feel like a man? LOL. Maybe you're compensating for something you lack? Talking crap make you feel better? I like your sarcasm. You're cute. Like I already said, (if you'd read, instead of going off half cocked) a 1 buck rule would be fine with me, as long as I get to choose the buck. I don't think shortening the gun season is a bad idea either.

And for the record, I'm not calling the OP irresponsible or saying he's not an ethical hunter. He took a poke that was farther than he practiced, oh well. Let's gang up and crucify the guy like we always do. It's always the same few experts who like to beat up on someone who makes a mistake. You guys are ridiculous, I hope to someday be 1/10 the master sportsman that some of you are.

Yeah he took an irresponsible shot, but using that as a reason to block full inclusion is BS. Some push it way too far & take risky shots with every other weapon, too. If someone takes the time to learn his crossbow and it's limitations, he's no more likely to wound than the next guy. The people taking bad shots with a crossbow will be the same ones taking bad shots during gun season. You can't legislate poor sportsmanship. Find a better argument, or be honest that your opposition is really about selfishness.