New York Hillbilly

I had a nice 2.5 year old 8 point within 60 yards tonight hot after the doe and fawn I saw earlier. They do bed down tight in bad wind and cold from my experience. I think there is the safety factor but equally important is their desire to conserve calories and heat, and to remain comfortable as well. Once the front passes though they will be really on the move.

I'm liking it! Congrats on good thinking and good shooting.

Doe and fawn about thirty yards out just galloped by, broadside. Little do they know .....lol! Oddly enough they had the wind directly to their backs.

All bundled up and toasty toasty toasty! Wind is brutal so I opted for the camper stand. It's an old camper shell that flaps, pops and snaps in the wind but cuts down on most of it. Now I just have to listen to the rat run back and forth over my head. Lol. Good luck hunters!

Just so happens me and the wife are looking at property yesterday and today with a real estate agent. Staying at my daughters house in Webster. I have my BIL and nephews back home hunting and keeping the would be trespassers at bay, with firm instructions to except no excuses and call authorities. This picture put a smile on my face today. Nice buck and congrats to one very lucky hunter!

I couldn't give a rats azz if somebody cuts their own deer or not. I do think it's a good idea for any hunter to do it at least once though by themselves or with friends because it is quite the learning experience. And even though it's time consuming, it can also be a lot of fun as has already been said. I for one have cut up so many over the years that I just plain grew tired of it. So did my wife.....lol! She got sick of me messing up the kitchen table as I quartered them outside and used all her good knives, my slicer and grinder to complete the in the kitchen. I used to like to do my own because it saved me money, I was always convinced I would not get "my" deer back, and I liked to see the whole story of where my shot placement was and where it ended up. She would actually fry up the inside tenderloin as I (we) were cutting the deer up, and we would eat them as we were cutting. Personally I wont take a deer to a place that runs an assembly line or throws them in a pile like that, but that just my personal preference. Luckily I do have a fella who has been cutting mine up for twenty years, at least those I don't want to do myself. His dad taught him the trade as he was a lifelong butcher at our local grocery store. When I take them there it is always the same thing, "I want my back straps whole..............every other ounce of the meat I want turned into breakfast and hot sausage". He makes great sausage and I burned out along time ago on steaks, chops and what not. He does one at a time and I know I get mine back and not somebody else's.

Sorry................not buying this one at this time. I've killed several bears with bow and rifle and this just don't stack up for me. First thing is any bear weighing that much is rare exception. And for a female to grow that large is beyond what I can accept as possible. Second thing is, if that bear was anything like the others I have been around on the back of a 4 wheeler, they are big floppy , hang to the ground type animals. That thing there looks like it's taxidermy stuffed! Lastly, if you put a 600 pound bear on a 4 wheeler, there will be no room for anyone to drive it out, and it would be squashed down pretty good, which does not appear to be happening in the picture. Maybe it's real, but I doubt it.

Sweet! Congrats!!

Congrats to you and you son! And I was wondering the same question about the other deer with the hole the size of a softball. What did that?

Hats off to you for not just writing the deer off like so many do. Congrats on your first deer!

Thumbs up x's two. You are both very lucky in more ways than one. Thanks for sharing the experience with us.

Congrats to your BIL on a nice buck .

By the looks of the hind quarters I'm guessing momma in the middle, flanked by her two youngsters. A freezer full for the winter.

OMG that was funny about the scope and squirrels! Made me actually laugh out loud. It's tough here today in 7m. Real bad Wind and now light rain.

Hoythunter. I'm with you on that line of thinking. Go back and see he buck my BIL shot the first day out ever with a bow. We were laughing about it again last night while playing cards. He never scouted a day in his life, wearing camo that was just washed in Tide and dried in the dryer with softener sheets, deodorant, no face paint, stood next to an apple tree and watched it walk to him from over a hundred yards away. He then at 15 yards takes the bow off the branch he has it hanging on, draws and shots the deer. Net score of rack 114. I will give him all the credit in the world for keeping calm and making a nice shot. But geeze!!!!! I think I'm getting down miday and going into the diner with my hunting clothes on and eat anything I want including onion rings and the wipe my greasy hands on my clothes, I'll bring coffee back to my stand and forget all this preparation overkill. Hahaha

Must be somebody got on stand before me and the BIL this morning. We're both on my wheeler headed way up to top through the fields and "what the heck!" Big Tom turkey comes running wild eyed straight atv. I try to swerve and the bud thing slams the wheeler and bounced off my leg. BIL can't see past me and yells "what the hell is going on", as I runs off into the goldenrod. Hahaha Settled into my tree house now safe from anymore turkeys. Good luck hunters!

Run!!!!!!

Well, I sure didn't put a dent in the deer population today. Hahaha But either my neighbor or somebody trespassing started blazing away. Then it sounded Iike they were following closer snd closer towards me, jumping it and shooting at it. On my property of course!! I expect I'll either get a call tonight to get permission to drag it out thtough my fields, or as in the past, some sneak in under the cover of darkness with flashlights, take care of business and try to sneak back out.

Back on watch. Going to sit in my old camper shell at the lower end of my property to check things out. Plus, I can't see any reason to risk bumping deer off my hill to the neighbors to shoot at. This is the type of stand where a rifle really shows its usefulness. Good luck fellow hunters!

Since the buck earlier, about a dozen does and does with fawns. Easy shots on all the flat tops but don't ant to screw up a chance st buck. In meantime chipmunk madness sets in! Lol

Be safe all. Good luck! Watched a buck stroll by my bow stand about half hour ago. Hahaha it figures!!!

I guess I see wounding and losing deer as a whole lot different than, "the one that got away" stories fisherman tell. I guess I see people who post long drawn out detailed stories about their sad misadventures as either some form of sick bragging as if they did something special by getting close enough to a deer to wound it, or feeling so guilty they are looking for someone to tell them "it's all ok", and they are not half the f-up they think they are. And yes I do think it would be interesting to see exactly who, if anyone here, can lay claim to being the top position holder for wounding and losing deer. I would be interested to see who would like to be known as holding top honors in that category.

There is no one who hunts deer for any length of time that escapes the nightmare or wounding and losing a deer. That said, I think enough already! I for one an not proud to admit I belong to this wounded and lost fraternity, but I am. Perhaps it best from here on out to just keep mouths closed until the deer is recovered. They do not give half credit to those who can stick in arrow in or through a deer and have it go off suffer and die. It is not a badge of honor to simply wound animals. I think maybe we should find a way to keep a score card here and tally up just how many animals are reported as wounded and lost. It might be interesting as well to keep tabs on any repeat offenders, and how many times they report wounding and losing deer. Finally, it might be interesting to start a thread on the list of excuses people give for blowing a shot. Heaven forbid we ever admit we either choked, did not practice enough or were so desperate to kill a deer we pushed the envelope a little to far and did something stupid. The sun was in my eyes, he jumped the string, a branch jumped out of nowhere, the string hit my clothes, a gust of wind pushed my arrow to far left.....you get the idea.

132 EP Got it! Thank you for clearing that up for me. Whatever is going on there sure does work at growing some impressive deer.

Not to point out my ignorance here but are you guys hunting these deer with bow or firearms. I keep reading this thread and see that there are big bucks being seen and several big ones shot and lost, but I'm not clear what the method of hunting is. Also, if it is firearms season in this Park, why, if it is not northern zone. And lastly, what is this Letchworth Park like that it holds so many of these big deer?