Meat Manager

Awesome, another public land primitive kill...good skills! Looked like a tasty one...nothing better than fresh venison in October (I know my dogs agree). I grilled my first nice sized chunk of backstrap last night on the first fireplace fire of the season...mixed hardwood with some apple tree in there...real good eats. Back to butcherin..gonna try to get back out with the bow one morning and one evening before I head back to PA for ML (Antlerless only) on Saturday.

TG tell your old man that is one beast of a beast...look at the size of that head!

Nice Harvest DP! It's a shame I had a truck load of kids stuff and dogs...I had to quarter mine, but what a great night to hang a deer...congrats everyone so far!

BGF...is that a state lander?

Hey guys...finally scored one this morning after alot of action this week...high angle quartering toward gave me a fit to recover...225 yards of occasional pin drops through two sets of thick pines sandwiched by tall mountain laurel...finally found him where he collapsed...small amount of intestine jamming and protruding through his exit hole kept the blood in for the most part. Nice-Bodied Barely legal spike (just under 3") taken from my cabin in Delaware State Forest in the Pennsylvania Poconos: Quarted this afternoon at the cabin, now back in 7j and ready to butcher tomorrow: Freezer will be atleast 1/3 full!

In at 530 mild clear and a light breeze. Just saw what I believe the same 2 doe from monday morning almost the same time same line just a bit further away...nice big bodied doe up front followed by her very good sized fawn...I'll try for either if they comeback around.

Nice doe Pat. I sat at the dining room window this morning and passed on a Y-buck at 10 yds, he was with a doe and had she wandered down into my lane I would have taken a shot at her. If I don't fill any tags by gun season that lil buck is freezer meat. Heading back out to the #1 AM stand tomorrow...should be in by 5:30...had a lot of action so far, I need a clean kill and some freezer cargo so I can relax though. Back to PA tomorrow night for all-day hunt at the cabin Saturday, really would love to bring some ultrafresh 7J tenderloins down for that.

I am seeing deer every time I go out, mornings and evenings...I say if you have time and a couple different stands, go out every chance you get...as long as you can spend the time recovering the deer if you shoot one.

October 4: AM at Dining Room Window (pictured in above post) 7:15am 1 Y Buck and 1 Doe... Y Buck was in my lane @ 10yds and I had my bow but I did not draw...too early to pick a little buck off back here..would have taken the doe if she had presented a good opportunity. Any of my other stands on public land around here I would have made a clean attempt on him though, and I will take in gun season if nothing else is in the freezer.

I won't be hunting any cornell property, but I'll be using the tags on private and some public land around that area...allowed me to get my local two dmp's , and I really like the January hunting, I do think 2/day is a bit excessive. Also, seems as if Cornell is still running the show with this thing, just made the registration process through dec.

I agree with this essentially, get deep enough in that you are sure you are legal and you are confident a wounded deer will not take off onto private or residential property if possible, then set up. Still use reflective trail markers. Finally, it is really warm and wet around here...if it is the same where you are I really suggest taking a break. Not only is the weather terrible for tracking and recovering a deer, but you run the risk of pushing the deer nocturnal REALLY early in the season if you beat that spot up too much. Try to scout a few different places to hunt if you are going to give it a go on a near daily basis or you may be sitting and not seeing much after a week or two.

I also love does because I really love deer meat..I also observe that young and bigger mature does always taste best, but fawns around here are a nice size and will fill a good portion of the freezer with meat that has near zero marbling. Shooting fawns is also part of herd management, but like others have said I can understand why someone may pass. Personally I don't discriminate until the freezer is full, hopefully before gun season, then I will wait on a nice buck. Until then the one in the best lane is the one for me.

Elmo all of the sudden I don't feel as bad about my bad luck yesterday. I'm glad you are alright man. Get yourself some type of non-destructive reflective trail markers to clearly mark a trail so that you can easily get in and out in the pitch black...I started in this morning at 5am and it was foggy to-boot, but at the critical turns on the main trail I have a double marker, and when i get back into the hardwoods and pines I have a double mark (marking my corridor) every 15-50 yds depending on density of the woods. My trail lights up like a highway as soon as my headlamp gets near it. Here are the ones I use: http://www.dicksspor...rabber:12269917 You may also want to consider giving it a day or two rest, especially after your ordeal this morning. It is probably going to be raining my way, if it is yours I suggest taking a day off and going and getting some reflective trail markers. Glad you haven't lost any will or spirit, that is awesome. Just remember, lots of deer season, tons of archery still! Don't exhaust yourself before the rutt kicks in.

October 2: PM at Oak Stand: 530pm 1 Giant Doe - Missed Clean @15yds 630pm 1 6-8 Point - @ 20 yds Busted me pulling my bow back up into the stand October 3: AM at Oak Stand: 715am 1 Doe @ 75 yards. Let me also say that "sighting" your son get the hang of crawling off his belly at 7 months is the only thing I can think of that I enjoy more than watchin deer in the woods...definitely takes the sting off the bad luck yesterday.

Maybe this will make you feel better, Fail Post #2: Got into my new oak stand yesterday at 1pm...nothing until 5:30. Then a huge doe comes straight towards me, I draw as she gets behind a tree (15yds out 25ft down) but I have no time to do my normal stand/draw and as soon as she gets around that tree she stops broadside and looks right up at me, not spooked yet, but staring, so I close my eyes, count to 5, she is still looking...close em again, same thing, finally she goes down for a munch for a second and then looks right back up, I pick my spot and release...follow the arrow as it flies over her back...UGGGHHHH! Went and checked the arrow after she totally left the area, totally clean and montec broadhead embedded in a stump. Got back in my tree for the last hour pretty hot at myself, but I could smell deer from several directions as the wind swirled so I stayed...at 6:30 I lowered my bow figuring that the rain may come soon and I did not want to wound an animal late with the warm and rainy evening ahead... As soon as I lowered my bow a nice (still smaller than the doe) 6-8 point walks slowly and stops right into my best lane, I never saw or heard him enter my zone (and I had my phone away the entire hunt) and when I tried to haul my bow back up into the treestand I got busted...SONOFA! Went back this morning and saw a doe in the distance but nothing else, and I'm definitely still shook a bit from last night. I relearned three old lessons I've learned in the past, but I guess I needed an early season refresher: 1. Don't rush a shot because you think the deer is gonna take off, if you have lanes ahead wait for a better shot after you have calmed down and the deer isn't staring back and forth in your direction anymore. 2. Practice as many shooting situations as possible during offseason, I try not to do seated shots but I should still practice them as regularly as anything else or not attempt them in the field. 3. Stay in your stand until legal shooting time is over, let the situation happen and then judge if you have an ethical shot and recovery chance.

Tried my new oak stand yesterday at 1pm...nothing til 5:30, then I miss one clean over the top at 15 yards...huge doe came in on me quick, no chance to stand had to shoot seated....glad I missed clean, still can't believe I missed at all. Got back in the tree after checking the arrow, totally clean, broad head in a stump. Decided to get down at 630 since warm rain was coming didn't want to wound anything late... ...soon as I lowered my bow a decent 6-8 walks right into my best lane, busted me trying to haul it back up....arghhhhh! Back in the same stand since 530, saw a doe in the distance at 715. Rainy and warm on my way in. Foggy now with on and off drizzle...got to head in for daddy daycare soon .

I married well, the wife is on the way home to release me back into the woods. Hopefully the rain will hold off, calling for on-and-off drizzle with a chance for a shower right at the magic hour, d-Oh!

I know ignorance is no excuse but I swore I read dogs were ok as long as it was only for recovery, but after reading these posts and researching myself I can see it is quite true...thanks for the education.

Wow, great deer everyone. Phade and WNY Bow, those are beasts! And the montecs through two shoulder and ready for sharpening...thats why I use em!

Again Phade, it wasn't that long ago for me I was sticking near-side shoulder or only hitting one lung because I was too eager to think about quartering toward vs quartering away. Its also no secret I've been hunting in CNY after my whole life in Eastern PA nearly on my own for 5 years now, so I have plenty of sympathy. The real problem is first he posts about a dead deer, and sounds so sure of its demise and location he is going to continue to hunt. Then when he realizes tracking deer is hard, he gives up and decides to try and shoot that buck he was looking for instead. Then when alot of members politely try to give him some guidance and confidence and encouragement to keep looking (hell, he probably would have actually recovered the deer and we would have all been celebrating his actual achievement), he sets his stunner on blast and starts telling us swamp stories and how crazy and rich we must be to search deer overnight and stuff. Meanwhile lets not forget he did have the foresight and economic means to film it all. Uck...I hope my wife gets home from work soon, I gotta try and get in the woods and get this bad taste out of my mouth. I shouldn't let this kind of thing bother me. Time for me to put away the computer and handheld electronics for a while...especially in the woods.

I don't know alot of guys who haven't phade, but this guys lack of ethics in terms of what is a satisfactory effort at tracking a wounded animal is striking to me, maybe I just need to chill, but I don't want to hear it from this non-chalent deer poker.

Another longwinded unorganized rant which includes many points that show that you are not ready to be an ethical archer in this state. Not sure how they do things in gator country, not sure how that has anything to do with this. You tell how hard it is to track in swamps...what was it about multiflora rose and briar that had you so stumped? You are not doing well for the first day, you did not "get" that deer and it was in no way the "first in NY on the first day." Seeing and wounding deer is in no way the measure of any hunter. And as for my name, check last years live from the stand report and harvest threads and see what kind of weekend warrior I am. You have repeatedly told us what you did to track and we have repeatedly told you nearly unanimously it was not enough time or effort or real skill tracking. Worst of all, you bragged about staying in the stand to hunt on a warm day when you had no visual or even audio confirmation it was dead and recoverable. Then you went on to tell us TWO hours later..."Oh well lost one, darn." and then sarcastically chided a deer recovery service as you are sitting in the treestand ready to wound another. If I had shot one of those doe yesterday morning, I would have had to leave the woods by noon latest to watch my son, I factored that into not taking a so/so shot when I could have. Even if I would have made a bad shot or just had a difficult time finding the deer the difference between you and me is instead of hunting at 4 like I did yesterday I would have been out with the reflective tape and kneepads...and by dark would have gotten my dogs on it with a latern. No one cares about your florida past or your socioeconomic situation and don't presume to know mine. Learn how to properly recover deer before you shoot another one.

If I have tags and no meat in the freezer its down, maybe two of em if one comes back to see whats up.

My 2 cents is that food plots are: 1. Considered legal because as mentioned in numerous posts they take forethought, care, and are somewhat in line with a deers natural feeding patterns. 2. Not fool proof, deer will go nocturnal so easy, ask all these guys with food plots and trail cams. I would say the same philosophy applies for sexual attractant vs. bait. I also hate any hunting show where something is shot literally on top of a bait barrel...I don't love farm hunting shows either though. Work for it, that's the fun part isn't it, learning to think like a deer.

If the arrow was snapped off you probably got the first shoulder and no lungs, thus why your blood trailed ended after about 100 yards (though I suspect if you had spent the whole day instead of 2 or 3 hours you would have atleast found some more evidence such as fat chunks and fur...the light blood was probably from the initial wound, the dark blood was probably a little out of the mouth if you got into the lung at all, and more likely just the caugulating wound around the arrow stuck in the shoulder of that doe...that may have been enough to drop deer in florida, but more than likely you just left half a stick of carbon and a broadhead in that animal and it may recover. You still should have spent more time and when that doe did not drop in front of you should have began to investigate on a warm day like today within 30-45 mins while being mindful not to push the wounded animal. And again I'm not holier than though in mistakes, I've hit a shoulder and I one-lunged that headless buck, but I search more than 2 days for the first and the headless buck i found on the second day after a late evening one lung kill. Also if you have video you should be able to see about where you hit and assess from reaction. Finally work on your recovery skills before you fine tune your camera work. Nice rant.