Enigma

Fwiw I've killed many NY deer with the .243. Always 100 grain or the Barnes 85 in copper. Sounds typical to my experiences. Always felt the .243 was adequate but moved up to the .308 and don't have the drama anymore. No fuss when I cut one loose. Keep up the good work. Don't let the bad days get you down and always remember, HIT. THEM. HARD. Those deer have a will to live that you and I can only dream about. Keep at it.

Yep. My favorite excuse I hear is "It was the only shot I had". No dipshit, you could've waited, not shot, not set yourself up for all the drama and extra work, and shot that same deer from the same stand 48hrs later. If you were patient and had some self control. Takes a lot of experience to get to that point though. Antlers make people stupid.

What .243 load are you shooting?

Buck up and start getting a killer instinct. You need to be a steely eyed killer. Hunting deer ain't no game. Pound them and break a shoulder, or two. Get two holes in them if you can. Poor shots are a part of the business when you start but you need to learn to minimize those situations and possibilities as your experience grows. Ask yourself what you have to do to change the outcome. Do you want to keep f'in around crawling on your hands and knees for hours looking for blood? Or do you want to pull the trigger and see them die within sight? The choice is your's.

Last couple years my PA hunting buddy and I have hunted the Charles E. Baker State Forest during the MZ holiday hunt (Madison County, WMU 7M.) Tags are easy to get and it's 9,400 acres lol. Lots of different forest types and quite a few ag fields butting up to it. Also has 100 miles of horse trails throughout so you're not always pounding through the brush. Can also ride the forest roads and if you cut a fresh track (snow depending) you can make a plan and get on it. Most fun I've had deer hunting in a long time IMHO. PM me for more info if interested.

I've been on the road camping the last month. The last two places I've stayed I've heard grouse drumming nearby in the woods from sun up till noon. It's not just your turkeys lol. Odd for sure.

So if it's plastic, what kind of contraption is it? What even comes close to looking like that on any piece of any outdoor equipment you've ever seen? Ag/atv/utv? Nothing. Low quality pic of a bird's wing.

See the board in the first pic. Captain Jason is a stand up guy. See his fb page for more info.

I'd booked a third day with a different captain. Had planned on taking out one of my sons but they both ghosted me haha. So I called up my friend @Swamp_bucks and we got his son out on the lake for the first time. The fish didn't cooperate but he had a good time. Mission accomplished.

Trolling worm harnesses on the bottom.

My friend Eric lives to fish. Booked a couple days on Oneida Lake for us and had a great time.

Have us a good time

Would have been even more funny if the taser got pulled out.

If you can do the full 11 min.