BaldguyLee

Miller's is awesome. A bit too much in one bite and I think I've been pepper sprayed!

I haven't seen deer hardly at all this season. But... not filling my tags is OK with me. My daughter and I get 8 DMPs between us and my main hunting buddy gets 4. That's 12 DMPs spread over at least three regions, usually four. I / we never plan on filling them all, we just get the max because we're not sure where we'll be hunting throughout the season. The only deer I saw close-up so far, a fawn / yearling doe, I let walk on by. I will regret that if I don't have some meat after this weekend though.

I hunt 8G state and fed land always except opening day. I've only been hunting 5yrs so I don't know how busy it used to be there. It does seem like the area could use more guys most of the time. Yesterday I only saw one guy near me on the Tonawanda refuge but heard tons of shots from private farmland to my west. Must have been a group driving the deer successfully. I think the public spots I've been on have lots of deer but they can hide easily and most people ( me too pretty often ) won't go in far and deep enough into cover to find them. We're all a bit lazy sometimes. The times I've done little pushes / drives with buddies there we usually see or hear deer when we work for it. I don't feel in danger on public land, I trust that folks are usually careful and I hunt defensively. I'm not sure how to get more man-hours spent on state lands. I do agree people hunt less than before. That's not a good thing for us and our sport.

I guess my results aren't typical, but the two deer I ( and daughter) took with SST's died really quick. First one 20ga, ran maybe 15yds and died. Second, 12ga, shot at 10-20yds, fell directly over and died. Neither round exited. I do have some lightfields that I'm wanting to try out though. I did have one deer I thought I missed with SST, but maybe not? There was no blood, but most are saying that's an SST trait.

I may or may not have heard of some other guy....., who once used the best thing available at the time to combat 12ga recoil. It was a spare diaper from the glove box in the truck! It was summertime, so I ( I mean that guy ) had to try to put it in one's shirt while nobody else would see.

I got an invite to private spot near Wellsville, I'll be hunting Sat all day and Sun AM. I'm pretty pumped!

Anyone know any stores in WNY stocking non-toxic buckshot or similar predator loads? I like the looks of that Federal brand coyote load, might be BB shot, but haven't seen it on shelves yet. The Iroquois preserve ( Swamps ) is non-toxic shot only. I would mail / online order some, but 'SAFE' Act......

I hunt opening day Reg season on a maple syrup farm ( regular field crops too ). I joke with the other guys about squirting Mrs Butterworth's on my clothes as an attractant !

Congrats!! I jokingly thought about making a fake ID for my 16yo daughter so we could youth hunt a third year this weekend! Good times...

I don't know..... I'm a really new bowhunter and I would be out for does now if it weren't for car problems. I'm not to the point yet where I think a buck is way better to take than a doe. I like the venison either way.

Dang ! I have a new Wolf I'll be using this season, and I cradle-carry all the time! I'll have to rethink my carry style for now perhaps.

I have the Ruger American Rifle. Very inexpensive, not at all pretty, but shoots as straight as one could want.

12ga Truball rifled slug, from Rem 870 with Knoxx stock ( think riot gun ).

Yeah, pretty gross. When I was little I saw a mouse in my yard, kind of dazed-looking. It flipped over dying right in front of me. Then a giant-sized maggot crawled out of it!!

I love mine! Just be careful electronics or not. Even old-fashioned ones can stop cooling at low temps. I lost some good salmon / trout eggs before I learned this. Luckily before I had venison. Best for me to keep important meats, etc in chest freezer in the house.

Mostly hunt for some venison. If / once that gets done, the thrill of getting semi-busted by a deer takes the cake! When you get a stomp and a snort but the deer doesn't bolt right away. Lets us know I / we did something wrong but not too awfully blatant.

Late season squirrels- I love hunting them too. I use a 20ga, until I finally sight in my 10/22.

Wow! I'm gonna need more guns....

After opening day I saw almost nothing. Probably hunted 12 times through rest of Reg season. Not a bad day amongst them though.

I don't know. The DMP's being pooled seems ok for me for a drive or a group hunt. The buck tags seem different though.

No ML for me yet, game over, but OK season. Opening day southern zone; 15yo daughter got 1st deer ever, great 8pt'er. 10 minutes later, I shot and dropped my first buck, the 4 pt that almost ran us over. Day 2: missed shot at doe my daughter pushed through brush my way. So impressed with her initiative and skill at young age! Rest of gun season: lots of outings, no deer, almost no sightings. Overall, I heard lots more bucks taken opening day than normal. Rest of season was poor like ours within my circle. Memorable year but not freezer-cramming for most I think. Other than day 1, all in 8G.

I had to come to work on a scheduled day off since my boss couldn't get here to Lockport from East Aurora. I'll have to take a different day off to hunt I guess.

Nice! My daughter and I both got bucks Saturday. Her first deer- a beautiful 8pt, and my first buck, a fat 4pt. Great day for us too!

Yeah, what phade and Trailer said. My daughter and I both got bucks Saturday. Hers was 20ga SST at 30yds roughly. Deer ran 15 yds, fell in a brook and died right away. My buck I shot at 10 yds quartering towards me, entry in front of shoulder, deer dropped on the spot. Her deer (20ga) had a tiny (pencil-size) entry hole in skin, no blood, but inside ribs had big damage and both lungs jelly and opposite shoulder damaged beyond edible but no exit. Mine (12ga) had a medium entry wound, damage up into spine ( fired from low ), and tons of flesh damage in front half. These slugs do nasty things inside deer, but I think a wrongly placed shot might leave little or no bloodtrail to follow. I may ponder going back to foster slugs for up close work where accuracy can be off a little and save my SST's for distance shooting. My scoped guns group real nice with SST's.

Venison -ground - Hamburger Helper- Beef Stroganoff flavor. Nuttin fancy, but my wifey made it for my lunch tomorrow. Pretty cool and tasty. No need to even drain after browning- hardly any fat present.