beachpeaz

Thank you everyone! He is already at the taxidermist. Btw, he was so old he didn't have any teeth to age him. I am guessing he was at least 7.5. Amazing a deer can live that long and not get shot. Especially with that rack cuz you know nobody is passing on him. His rack was probably in decline if you can imagine that!

Yeah, no problem. I will point them that way, but I can't guarentee he will walk in a straight line to your stand. Lol

I couldn't believe the amount of fat on him already! With the weather being near 80 still. I think it is a sign of the bad winter we are going to have!

No sir. The 160 buck was another property I hunt. I hunted him for 3 years. He disappeared off my cameras after bow season last year and was never seen again. I think someone got him. Very sad about that deer being gone.

No. I pride my self on scouting and preparation. Never seen this deer before. Nobody has. A ghost I guess!!

You got that right! I've shot some decent deer, but none this big. Thankfully it happened quick or I would have crapped my pants first! Lol. After that arrow flew and he crashed, I was shaking like a leaf. What an awesome feeling!

Yes, second morning! 7:20am.

He snuck in behind me at 35 yards. Had to make an akward shot around the back of the tree, over a branch and between 2 saplings. Smoked him. Went 30 feet and piled up. Main frame 10 with split 2's (scorable) and an extra kicker on his right 2 that is questionable. We will call him a 12 point. Tallest buck I have ever seen. His brows are 8", his G2's and G3's average 11". Not very wide, but a ton of character. Rough Gross 147"

The turkey would get it before the deer if i had to chose between those 2.

I will play the devils advocate for a minute. I live in Erie County, which is, outside of NYC, probably the most densily populated county in NYS. I can hunt behind my house (and do). Like my area, most areas in Erie county, you can't shoot more than a few hundred yards without danger of hitting a house, road, barn, etc. Yes, shotguns have come a long way and are "rifled," however, i sure as hell wouldn't be back behind me with my .300 ultra mag which I can pluck targets at 1,000 yards with. A slug would barely even go that far without shooting it straight up in the air. It would scare the crap out of me if they allowed judgement to fall on the hunter and said that there are no limitations on weapons (IE: banishment of "shotgun only") and let people decide for themselves what is safe. My brothers house down the road has already been hit TWICE by hunters. People do not realize how close they really are to things when they let lead fly. The only reason my house hasn't been hit is because I know from the edge of the woods where they are most likely to be huntiing, to my house, a slug would hit the ground first. A rifle...forget it!!

I bit the bullet and paid the $4.99 for Kimble. I haven't used it yet, but it looks like a really, really detailed and usefull app. the one thing I cared about the most, it does not seem to do though, is monitor wind direction. I am not sure how they forgot that key piece. It will only tell you the current weather and wind. It will not tell you the forecast for the future to help at least plan out a little. I might do like you just said and put the scoutlook app on also.

I don't dissagree. I posted a similar thread last year I believe. Hunting shows, while I appreciate they have brought hunting into the spotlight and created very good publicity for our sport, have also altered people reality of hunting! Again, like i posted earlier in this thread, I don't want to even start that debate (like deer genetics in NYS), because it turns into a whole other level of debate. It is very sad that the younger generation is growing up with this idea that 200" deer are running everywhere, that a 140" deer is small, that points are all that matters, etc. Enjoy the outdoors. Shoot what you think is a trophy. Don't worry about what other people think! And most of all, have fun and pass the legecy onto the next generation. Its the only way our sport will survive with the liberals running amuck.

Single spike....IE: unicorn (accoring to some)....lmao. I would certainly hang that bad boy on my wall. If it had 2, it would look too much like this one I have hanging on my wall:

well, finally we agree on something. I dont' come on here to have a pissing contest. In fact, I didn't start this one. I simply posted a picture for peoples enjoyment. I didn't start a topic thread that had anythign to do with deer managment or statistics. I wasn't the first one to make any comments of the sort. I could also care less. If a 140" deer walks by, i'm not counting points, i am shooting. good luck this season.

and, even though I quoted you, you and WNY have the same argument, so don't take it personal.

Guilty conscience? hardly. I was responding directly to what you wrote (and several people before you). You can argue facts all you want. Again, with the "all-inclusive" statements. 140" deer 8's do get shot. I never said they didn't. I never even said that a 140" deer was big, or a "unicorn." Speaking of putting words in peoples mouths. Geez man. You can argue all you want. As a percentage of deer, the opportunity for an 8 point to be 140" plus, verse a 9, 10, 11, 12, etc, etc, etc. is WAY, WAY, WAY smaller. It is very hard and very rare. Fine, take your argument. Only look at Mature deer that were shot. Then take the percentage that were over 140", then determine how many of those were 8 points verse any other amount of points, and again, compare. I gaurantee you that the percentage of 8's would be the smallest percentage in that group. You don't want to talk facts........then there is no argument. Opinions mean nothing if you want to remove facts from them.

Thats one thing I love about this forum (or any forum). When you type something, it becomes an all-inclusive statement. 140" 8 points ARE a rare beast in NYS. This is a fact. What I did not say (where people like to fill in the lines and ASSUME additional information that was never said), is anything to do with POTENTIAL. NYS has tons of potential. I won't get into that conversation because i have seen it every year on here and it gets debated heavily. Let a deer grow and sure, go shoot a 140" + 8. We have the genetics, the crops, the population, etc. Take a survey of ALL deer shot in NYS, under the CURRENT system, and let me know what percentage of those deer are 140" + and 8 points. I will guarantee you with any amount of money you name, it is a very small percentage of the total deer taken. They are rare (and by rare, i mean less than 1% of the total harvest). we live in a state where people plow the first 1.5 year old 4 point that walks by. That coupled with the fact that just by pure mathmatics, an 8 is harder to score high due to the lack of inches to score. If you would like to have conversation about a fantasy world, where this state managed the deer population better, and everyone was forced to shoot only 4.5 year old or older deer, cultivate non-breeding does, remove small genetic deer out of the heard, etc, etc.....then have at it. My original point was based on reality.

wow, ScoutLook has HORRIBLE reviews...lol. Only 1 person had something good to say. Before I chose one, any other opinions out there? Someone in the reviews mentioned Trimble? anybody use that?

perfect, thank you!

Does anyone have a good app the would recommend for tracking more specific hunting conditions than just the general weather (IE: wind direction, sunrise, sunset, moon phase, etc, etc.)?

A) There is no such thing as too cold, but there is such thing as too hot. B ) If you actually read my post (and comments), you would see they were directed at my PREFERNCE for it not to be so fricken hot on opening day, not that I wasn't going to go hunting. C) When you pattern a mature buck all summer and work hard to put yourself in the right spot at the right time, there IS a "just right" time to be in the stand......you will learn that someday.

who cares about doe? lol. I could shoot a doe literally any day, under any circumsnance of weather by me there are so many. I was specifically referring to mature bucks.....which do care about the weather a great deal. does are idiots

They also did this to be sneaky with the 2 laws that were passed (2 years ago and this year) and that is the youth gun hunt that is during bow season and now the cross-bow hunting. They like to throw us bowhunters "a bone." for messing around with our season. October 15th was really an ideal opening day. I can't that a majority of deer are shot in the first 2 weeks (not the good ones that is). But, since it is open, you will find this guy in his stand. Wouldn't want to be anywhere else (especially work).

Don't jump off the deep end people. I didn't say the deer get put on a shuttle to the moon. It is an absolute fact that in warm weather the deer move less during the day. If you have a particluar buck you are hunting, and he is nocturnal, then going to your stand every day while he isn't moving, you are just asking for trouble. Do you see deer? Of course. Can you shoot a deer? Of course. But, if you put me in charge of the weather, It wouldn't be 80 degrees on opening day! i can guarantee you that.

Funny store about my knife (which I will try and keep short): I have a really nice Buck knife that I paid some good money for. I have had it for years and years. Its a great knife....kinda. On my last Mule Deer hunt in Utah, i shot a nice 4x4 literally miles from anywhere. I had to gut and quarter it to pack it back to camp. Wipped out my Buck knife, went to work and the goddamn blade snapped in half just as i started quartering!! What do you do! thankfully I carry a back-up knife....a $7.00 "feebie" that my company bought a pile of for a trade show give-a-way. Literally a made in China cheap knife. Ya, know what, that knife skinned and quartered that entire deer and was still sharp! Who would have thunk! I will say though, after writing a letter to Buck in my dissapointment, they have very good customer service and sent me a brand new knife for free.