adirondackbushwhack

I use a place in Boyntonville, Big Buck Deer Cutting or something like that. That is out route 7 (Hoosick St) going towards bennington. They are located I believe on Warren cemetary rd. anyway they put a sign up on route 7 telling you where to turn. They are something like 15 miles out of Troy. They do a pro job complete with the little white styrofoam trays with plastic wrap.

That's the point I was trying to make, although I apparently done a poor job of it, when I PO'd WNY.

Wasn't trying to be a smart ass just factual.

I'm thinking it's hard to tell by a picture what the intended shot was no matter where the animal was hit. Moved his head into the arrows path? Could have just as easily moved his head so that the leathal area, as small as it is, was missed; couldn't he? I'm thinking that the only thing we can tell with certainty is where the animal was hit; anything else is just a guess.

I'm gonna buck the trend a little and suggest a Marlin 336 in .35 remington. Put a nice Leupold VX3 1.5 x 5 scope on her and you will have a perfect little deer and bear rig. The .35 cal gives you a bit more frontal area on the bullet too which cannot be over stated.

Shooting bench rest off sandbags at the range is a whole different ball game then is shooting off hand in the woods.

Those deer with their leg shot off should be a testiment to many hunters inability to shoot straight. I'm not sure that a guy shooting the leg off a deer should be taking a head shot. I've only ever seen one. Actually the leg wasn't blown off it was just a broken shoulder. I shot the deer and after I finished gutting it I saw a guy tracking it up the hill in the snow. I waited for him and he told me his story. He had shot it over a mile away and he had been tracking it ever since, we checked the wound and he had put a perfect shoulder shot into the deer and broke the shoulder but the bullet did not penetrait to kill the deer. The fella was useing a 243. That was back in the early 70's but i have always remembered that.

I understand that completely. There are lots of things that hunters do that seems to not give the animal enough respect to me.

While I have complete confidence in my shooting ability I won't take a head shot. It's been my experiance that while hunting, eventually, anything that can go wrong will go wrong and I'd be afraid that the deer would move his head just as I was squeezing the trigger. That would be my luck so I take the shot where a little can go wrong and I still put the deer down. I also wouldn't want to ruin the horns.

I guess I should have been more specific and started by saying I told the ENCON guy that they were baiting and shooting them at night with a spot light. It's not the same as watching deer with a spot light from a vehicle. I was refering to the poaching type of spotlighting.

The responce would be even more frustraiting trust me. The most agressive responce I have seen to date is the ENCON officer asked the poachers if they had a tag and when they produced it he thanked them and left. Got a tag? Really? They are poachers they don't tag their kills. My favorite responce from an ENCON officer was I quote " Well you know how the boys are they sit around the camp fire at night and have a few drinks and they just naturally end up doing a little spot lighting."

They sell alot.

I have every day off, retired, but I'll be spending it with my girlfriend I leave for hunting camp nexty week. Gotta keep em happy once in a while.

Oh wouldn't it be nice if that were true.

Apparently you have never reported a poacher before. It's like pulliing teeth trying to get anything done about them even when ENCON knows who is doing what.

The serious shooting doesn't start on opening day of the season like one might think but instead starts at the beggining of Sept. and continues night and day until the season is over. Favorite poaching techniques are baiting, road hunting and spotlighting. The lazy SOB's. Those of us waiting for the season opener will be hunting the left overs.

Marlin has changed hands and is no longer the Marlin of old I guess. I still have a few Marlins around in 30-30 and .444 but they are from the original Marlin company and they are great rifles.

Thank you all.

I like mine it is my hunting rifle.

I got a new camera and thought that I would try it out by sharing my deer and bear rifle. It's an Encore in .444 Marlin from the T.C. custom shop. It's customized on the inside too with a trigger job and all upgraded springs and hinge pin. It has a swing hammer but I choose to put a hammer extension on it. Topped off with a Leupold VX3 1.5 x 5 with duplex reticle. I also have a T.C. Pro Hunter Muzzle loader barrel on the way that will also be topped with a Leupold VX3 1.5 x 5 so that I can use this rifle in the muzzle season too. It is due in on Tuesday and I can't wait to shoot her.

I have a Buck that is my go to knife. I've had it for years, it's a model 118 I don't remember the name of it but it closely resembles their current pathfinder knife only with a lighter 5 inch blade.

I was taught that the bullet diameter needs to be big enough so that if there isn't complete pass through the entrance hole needs to be big enough to bleed plenty for a good blood trail. I took that to heart because I don't always acheive perfect shot placement in the woods. Off hand shooting past 100 yards (or even under) is harder then one might think especially when the heart is beating too fast due to antler syndrome.

Not to worry flashlights don't spook deer.

I started with woolrich when I was a kid and then switched to Filson wool and found it to be even better then the woolrich stuff. Now i use Cabelas MT050 stuff and I love it. Much warmer and dryer and lighter then any wool outfit I've ever owned and I always buy the top of the line hunting gear. If you like wool though check on the Filson stuff it is more expensive but it's that much better. I have the double macinaw cruiser coat and macinaw vest.

Hamilton County