New York Hillbilly

I stood in the wind on the metal ladder stand until almost 11AM. Toes and fingers got the better of me so I finally climbed down. Fist shots (2) I heard here in 7M at 6:30. Then quite a few scattered shots throughout the morning until about 10 am, then silent. I can't believe I never even saw a deer this morning's sit. I'll take care of a few chores, rest and warm up, then head back out. I chickened out taking my shotgun this morning and going where I wanted to be, overlooking the scrapes in the orchard where I got all the buck pictures. That spot is right on my property line faced into my land, but I was afraid if people on the other property fired at my property it might end badly for me. I'll wait until mid week to sit there if I have not scored by then.

Pretty day in 7m but freezing my arse. Sun is just now reaching where I sit and my toes and fingers are frozen again. Forgot the hand and toe warmers. Urghh! Lol.

6:30. 2 shots in distance. Quite a few after that scattered a varying distance but only a couple sounded close enough to be neighbors.

Best of luck folks! I'll be out in 7M with my Remington 1187 with the red dot if it's raining but not too hard. But if it is too much of a downpour, I'll head for my elevated closed in blind and take my Weatherby 30-06.

Good luck everyone. Stay safe, warm and dry! I look forward to the pictures.

Good call. I actually think I'm taking my Remington 1187 with the red dot for the first day. I haven't taken it out for an opening day in years, but it feels like the year to start out up close and personal with the deer.

I was surprised how many black squirrels I saw in Syracuse when I was out there a couple weeks ago at a training. I have never seen one anyplace else. And, I'm puzzled how that squirrel contraption works? You sure that isn't some sort of kinky device from "Fifty Shades of Gray Squirrels?". hahaha

I'm not all that picky at 64. lol Congratulations Eddie! Heck of an accomplishment to be out there and still scoring deer at 82. I hope to be so fortunate. Also, nice shot!

Good luck you guys! It’s a beautiful day to be sure. I just came out for lunch break and am dying to be out there today. Can’t wait for Saturday!

C'mon man! Nailed it!

Good luck you folks lucky enough to be out there still. I just got great news yesterday that others will cover for me at work in return for all the coverage I provided for them. That means I get to start deer hunting again Saturday, and then 11 days in row.

I got lucky this year with my corn, at least as far as food goes. The down side was one of our dogs ate a piece of corn cob, got violently ill and almost died when it got stuck in her small intestine. It cost us 2K in vet bills and many sleepless nights, but she beat the odds and is back to normal. We canned and froze a ton of it and left a lot still out there. There are acres and acres of corn standing in our are adjacent to my property that has not been harvested so the animals have not wiped mine out yet. My guess is once they harvest their corn mine will get more attention.

Let the games and excuses begin! Did you confront the trespasser? "I always hunted here." "I got lost." "I know the owner and he gave me permission." "I didn't know it was posted." "I didn't see the signs." "You don't have it legally posted." etc.

Very cool!

Should have been able to fill a tag this morning on a doe. Goofed up! I have a nice two man stand at the edge of a grown over field where the deer "always" travel on multiple cross trails just inside the woods. There's a pocket of open woods right in front of the stand that has an old logging road that winds up my hill, sandwiched between some really tangled scrub apple trees. This is in front of the stand and the field is directly behind me. This morning is the first time I went to this stand this season, and with it dark when I went up the hill, I could not find where I tuck my wheeler into the tangled mess at the field edge. So I just ran it into the top of a blown down tree. Then without a flashlight, I bumbled around trying to locate the stand. When I found my stand and climbed up, I turned around and right behind me was my four wheeler. lol Well, I was not the only one who saw it! Around 7:15 as I was watching the trails in front of me where the deer "always" travel, I happened to turn my head to the field and there was a big, lone doe standing there head bobbing at my four wheeler. Then she bounded into the woods to my right and at about 15 yards just stood there in the thick stuff. All she had to do was take about 2 or 3 steps further ad would have been hanging in my garage. But it was not meant to be because she turns and walked off in the opposite direction, stiff legged walking obviously still shook up about the wheeler. I was sick about the deal because it would have been a chip shot with the crossbow. Then over the next hour I froze my feet and hands so bad I couldn't hack it. I stood up and put the crossbow down on my seat, as I tried wiggling my toes and shoved my hands down in my pockets trying to get the burning to stop. It was about 8:30, and I was standing looking in disgust out at the field now, when I no sooner got my hands in my pockets and here we go again! I hear a snap behind me and turn my head back around to the trails. Here comes a small doe with a bigger one following behind her. In the meantime I'm now turned the wrong way, my hands are in my pockets, and the crossbow on the seat of the stand. I tried as sneaky and careful as I could pick the bow up, turned myself around , and they both ran off, up the hill. They were under 20 yards away and would have passed me broadside if I was in position. Again, would have been easy shot. What can I say other than I blew it this morning! After that I got down and worked on a ground blind where I used to have my son sit when he was a teen and hunted with me. He's coming for Thanksgiving this year, and I'm hoping he might decide to go out with me for the first time in over 20 years. I went out this afternoon for about 3 hours and sat in the ground blind. Saw nothing, but at least it was warmer than the metal ladder stand.

When I do use ground blinds I close them when I’m leaving to try and keep the weather out. This year I didn’t get mine out out though for some reason. At the moment I’m sitting in a pile of branches ground blind I tossed together this morning and window closing isn’t an option. Lol

Good catch.I didn't notice it before. This makes me even more convinced, if you look at a downward trajectory from an elevated stand. Deer walking away from the hunter, shot impacted just above the shoulder and opened the hide as it continued it's path forward and downward across its face and muzzle/nose. Picture laying an arrow (or bolt) along the straight marked line on the muzzle/nose back to the other end of the wound over the shoulder. The big fold of hide at the bottom is from the weight of the hide and gravity causing it to sag.

One screw up after another this morning. Fingers and toes are so cold the feel like fire and ache. Wrong boots and gloves! These metal stands can be a real bitch when they get cold!

Come gun season, I'll take him if I get a chance. Will probably need to get him right off the bat though, because to get this old, he has been able to figure out how to avoid people.

Good luck Tughill and anyone else headed out this morning. In about 20 minutes I'll be on my way out the door to go hit the woods too. No frost on the windsheids of the vehicles, and no wind blowing this morning. 7M

This broken rack buck has some serious heft in his size. His right side of his rack is busted off, and even with it intact it’s not all that impressive. But, I’m not sure if he’s an old buck going downhill with his rack, or just a young big ass body buck not yet there with his rack. Looking at his deep chest and sway in his back, I’m really leaning towards him being old and past his prime. With as little pressure as my land gets, I know there are deer who easily could drop dead of old age if they just stay put on my property. He may fall in that category.

Family obligations kept me out of the woods until the last 2 hours today. Then when I went to a different spot on my property for the first time this year, I found it so overgrown with multi flora rose I got shredded to pieces. Won’t go back there until I can take my tractor and brush hog to it to seek revenge! I did walk up on one deer and watched it jump up and run, but was so quick I couldn’t tell what exactly. I am going to try and post a pic on the thread for trail cameras here in a minute. I have older, cheap cameras by todays standards so not likely as good as the fancy ones, but one of my scrapes has several little bucks working it, and one buck with a broken rack that has a huge body and I wanted to share the pic of the tank.

Looks to me like a shot from an elevated position at a deer walking away from the shooter. People do take to really awful shots. But no matter what the cause, we can all agree that is a nasty wound! I doubt that deer will avoid getting infected and dying.

lol...... Horny picture!

Well, I'm doing the Doxycycline this time around just in case. Thanks for the tips on repellent. To be honest, I never even considered smell as a reason to use or not. I have just been too cavalier in my approach to these little a-holes! Not any longer!