New York Hillbilly

What the heck! I was away for work all last week, so I only hunted on Friday evening, Saturday morning and evening, and then on Sunday morning. I take a shower every night after being in the woods, and check myself closely for ticks because I am totally freaked out by them after finding them stuck to me on several occasions. So, don't it figure that today I felt an itch on my side at my waist when I was driving home after work, and as soon as I get in the house and have my wife look, there is yet another damned tick stuck to me. This one was still tiny, not bloated, but it's head was attached. True to form, I freaked and immediately, instinctively picked it off me and it's head stayed attached. I had my wife rip the rest out with tweezers and I put bleach on the site. If anyone is ever going to test positive for Lyme I think it may be me for as many times as I have been bitten by these damned things. Have any of you guys ever been tick bit more than once? I may get a course of Doxycycline this time around, and stay out of the woods until we get a good freeze.

Headed up in a few minutes. Have not looked out the door to see what the weather is yet, but for the first time since Friday I don’t hear the wind chimes on our side porch. I did hear the town’s fire whistle going off this morning, and I always worry when I hear that sound. Especially after my ordeal 2 years ago this time of year almost to the day. So, good luck to those hunting this morning, and, stay safe!

Back in and settled. Let the game begin!

Holy crap! How common a problem is this? I have a Centerpoint also, and now I'm going to be on the edge of my seat worrying about my safety.

I pulled the plug at 10 and headed to the house for breakfast. My phone died after I forgot to recharge it overnight, and my wife hates me hunting without a way to contact someone if there is a problem. Over the past several years I find myself hunting alone and it worries her. The only activity this morning was a huge flock of blackbirds that came roaring through just over my head, 2 helicopters, and a couple gray and red squirrels. I'll get back after them this afternoon.

Settled into my pine tree stand. Fingers crossed. Good luck all! Really crunch walk in today. Cool breeze and quiet here in 7m.

Congrats Hock3y24! That IS a big bodied deer. He looks like a real brute.

Just finished the 2 weeks of training for work I volunteered to do. Now that I am back home, it's my turn to climb back into my stand. Happy to be home! It looks like it will be a beautiful afternoon in the woods. Good luck everyone!

It really is fantastic this way, and I don't need to worry about the freezer losing power as happened to me a couple times before. Talk about stress! I'm thankful my wife learned how to can food after all these years. She has gotten to be quite the expert at it. Even the toughest piece of meat becomes so tender you can cut it with a fork. : )

Many may be in the woods or working. I like to keep up with what is going on with folks lucky enough to be out there while I’m not able because of my job. And, I cheer them on!!

Sorry to hear the trip was a bust. Been there done that a couple times over the years with my uncle who is no longer alive. He was my hunting partner from the time I was 16 until he passed a few years ago. Your trip sounds like a bear hunt we took to Quebec. A total screw job!! I understand how we can feel worse for those close to us than for ourselves. Maybe you guys will get another chance to realize that dream. I hope you do!

Love or lust? Good luck with your new hookup! Lol Keep us posted on how she delivers.

Lol. That dog has been eating better than the hunter.

Good luck to all of you out there chasing deer. I can’t until the weekend. My wife sent me a picture this morning of our driveway and side yard. Guess what? 7 M. SNOW!!!!!!!!!

I stayed out of the woods this weekend because of the warmth on Saturday, and then today because I need to be away again for week of work and wouldn’t have time to deal with another deer. So over the weekend we canned and made jerky. The yield from the deer I shot last weekend was 25 Quarts of canned venison, 12 pounds (before drying) of jerky, 1 pickled heart, 2 back straps cut and frozen, and the tenderloins got eaten already. Additionally, we canned a 20 plus pound plus turkey including the meat and broth, 4 pints of chicken breast, and 12 pints of cranberry’s. Along with the garden bounty, we are well on our way to being prepared for Winter.

Definitely looks like a nut sack to me, and three legs.

I got up this morning got dressed, grabbed my bow, got the wheeler out, and went back in the house. lol It was going to be beautiful out, but I really did not want to risk shooting a deer with the temps going as high as 70 degrees. I did eventually go out and do a little scouting and located a spot with three fresh scrapes and two good sized trees all rubbed up in the apple trees. I had a ladder stand up about 60 or 70 yards away, so I pulled it down and relocated it in a great spot overlooking the scrapes and rubs. I'll save that spot for crossbow or shotgun, but also put one of my cheap trail cams there to see if I can get a peek at who is ripping the spot up. I'll hit my pine tree stand in the morning if it's cool enough, otherwise I'll wait until next weekend to get back on stand.

Any action?

So here we are 3 months after my original post. Things getting better people? Are you all feeling safer? Still want to not talk about sad or depressing realities? For those who fall in the let’s ignore it camp you can keep your head in the sand and scroll past this thread. For those who are awake and honest I would ignore the recommendations from those to “not talk about it”. With family gatherings this time of year for holidays like Thanksgiving, it is in my opinion the exact time to think and talk about where we are now, where we are headed, how we got here, and how to correct course if it is possible. As uncomfortable as it may be, I think the discomfort will pale in comparison to what we may face in the near future if we do not acknowledge the reality of what is going on in this country and the world as a whole. The unthinkable and unimaginable does happen, as current events and history has shown us. So I would urge people to think, imagine the possibilities, and talk to each other at every opportunity. Do not let masks real or imagined shut you up, or hatred cloud your judgement or guide your actions. We have so much more to lose than hunting. Better to speak up and risk having people not want to see or look at you in my opinion, than to remain quiet and not be able to look yourself in the mirror knowing we are on the doorstep of potentially losing it all.

Thanks for all the cool pictures! My guess on this one is they actually tied these deer to the poles when they were laying on the ground to use for carrying out. One guy on either end of the poles for a long haul out. Then they stood them up for the pictures. Someday I’m going to try to dig through my boxes of stuff and find the pictures of my grandfather and his buddies at Cranberry Lake. He used to refer to that place and a place called McKeever (sp?). They hunted the Adirondacks 1940’s -1960’s as I recall.

Holy crap! Ask him if he, or any buyer he finds, has a brother or cousin for me. I have toyed with the idea for several years about selling and returning to Alaska, or seriously downsizing with a small place out by Rochester to be near my daughter and grandson. It never hurts to ask, so it may be time to ask a realtor who has connections with these type of buyers. Still, my fingers are crossed you get to hang onto your spot

I would rest easy if I were you. Hunt and enjoy it as long as you can until it sells if he is agreeable. I can't see how anyone could possibly have 320k into 60 acres of land unless it was heavily developed into lots complete with access to things like public water and sewer. My guess is you will be hunting it for a long time. I doubt like hell anyone is going to pay that kind of money for 60 acres. Pipe dreams!

With the threat of temperatures rising to close to 70 degrees over the next couple days the pressure was on to get my deer cut up as quickly as possible. After my first and very hectic day back to work yesterday I immediately got to work on it when I got home. I never even ate dinner yesterday. With my wife doing the canning we got 7 quarts done. There is another close to 7 quarts to can this morning. I have several pounds cut and ready to make jerky tonight, and the hind quarters and back straps in the freezer temporarily. It looks like I beat the warm weather buzzer.

I climbed out of bed to go take a picture. Lol There was too much for a quart jar so I split into a quart and a pint jar. That’s why in this picture it does not go to the top. It was tough getting a picture that actually looks like much but here goes. I guarantee the taste of this will far exceed the look of the picture.

Just finished making my first pickled deer heart of this season. Got hooked on Wolc’s recipe last year and was excited to use it again this year. The only change I made was adding a pinch of ground dry black pearl pepper from our garden. Hot hot hot so only needs a pinch! PS- Big mistake rubbing my nose before washing my hands. Yikes!!!