vipertech

My friend John and my son both shoot Bear. Both are great bows. John has had plenty of luck with his. My son is fairly new to bowhunting and has not taken a deer with bow as of yet.

7mm-08 and maybe add a caldwell lead sled or similar when the shooting session goes long. Check out package deals from Savage. I believe they are going for around $500. edit: oops...late to the party.

Love it!

I find them way too limiting and for me...too dangerous. I owned two roughly 10 years ago. The better one was an Ol'Man. I don't like the fact that they are only good in branchless trees and of a certain diameter. I also hate lugging them in, trying to remain quiet when setting them up, the length of time it takes to climb and how sweaty I get when climbing. I also have had the bottom platform drop out on me more than once. That sent my heart racing into heart attack levels each time! After the second time, I stopped using them completely and swore them off (as well as swore at them! ) They are handy for hunting at places that you visit maybe once or twice, public lands, etc. I will also say that once I was up in the tree, my Ol'Man was a very comfortable stand.

Heck, I like it better when it is warmer. I get no enjoyment from freezing my a$$ off. Then again, I do hate fighting with mosquitos but that's what a thermacell is for. If it is raining, I won't go. I want to enjoy my hunts, not endure them.

No problem. I was being a tad sarcastic anyways. Shoulda used a smiley.

Haven't gone out yet but a few years ago, forgot my release. Realized it once I got to my stand. Decided to just go scout out a new tree I had been thinking about putting a stand in. Got to that tree and sure enough, a little 6 point walked right by me about 20-30 yards. Gave me a great shot too! All I could do was let him walk and enjoy the encounter.

BTW....I'll also go so far as to say that this constant worry about hitting the same spot led to the rise of the mechanical broadhead. To me, it feels like one of those things that "they" capitalized on, over-marketed, and suckered people into buying.

I get what your saying. My only point is that people seem to endlessly worry and spend countless hours fiddling with the bow trying to get the field points to hit the same exact spot as broadheads. (BTW, not directing this at the OP.....just ppl in general.) Just tune the bow to the broadheads and end it. Then one can spend all that extra time practicing their form, etc using field points. Simply note where the field points now group and aim accordingly. Easy-peasy.

If your broadheads are grouping to your satisfaction, adjust your sights to the broadhead group. Who gives a crap where the field points are hitting? Are you planning to shoot field points at deer? I have never understood this anal need to get ones field points to hit the same spot as the broadheads. Shoot broadhead tipped arrows and tune the bow to those arrows......DONE! If the desire to shoot field points for target practice is that great then there are some options. 1. Setup another bow for just target practice. (we all need to justify more bows anyways!! 2. Note where the field tips group and simply adjust your aim. 3. Adjust your sight back to the field tip group. 4. Use a second sight adjusted for the field tips and swap the sights out. I personally just do the second choice. I like to ensure my hunting bow is setup and tweaked for shooting broadhead tipped arrows. I do not care at all where it shoots the same arrow when that arrow has a field tip on it.

Don't forget your BUTT-OUT tool!!!

1) Is there a big difference from a 2 3/4" vs a 3" sabot slug? Do lightfield hybred EXPs have good knockdown power? I want a clean humane kill. A deer will not know the difference, I can assure you of that! I have always used 2 3/4 inch in my shotgun and never found the need to go to the 3 inch slugs. If your gun has been sighted in to 100 yards and you are happy with the groups you are getting then I would stick with the round that you used to sight your gun in. 2) If I buy scent killer is it as effective as running clothes through with a scentless detergent? I like to wash my hunting clothes once before the season using a scentless detergent. Then, all of my hunting clothes and gear like my pack go into a large rubbermaid bin. In the bin I put a bunch of leaves, branches, etc from the woods I hunt in. This smell will permeate the clothing and helps contribute some cover scent. Once at the woods, I will spray myself down with some scent killer. Having said all of that, playing the wind is still the best way to ensure that a deer does not smell you. 3) How important is your scope and is mine "good enough"? Well, plenty of people hunt deer with a shotgun and do not use a scope at all. So if you are asking if a scope is an important piece of gear then I would say no. I personally found that I like having a scope on my shotgun so to me, it is a key piece. I wound up buying a fairly cheap scope years ago and it has worked quite well for me over the years. Obviously one should sight their gun/scope in every year to ensure it is still on. Furthermore, it's a good idea to sight it in after anytime there is a concern that the gun may have been dropped or otherwise banged around. 4) Im looking to buy a knife for mainly field dressing. Was considering this or this? I want to spend sub 70~ A fixed or folding blade that is around 3" to maybe 5" is more than enough. I even heard a story once where a guy's dad forgot his knife and field dressed the deer using a razor blade! I do personally like to saw the pelvis bone which causes the back legs to open up wider and does seem to help make removal of the rectum a tad easier but this step is absolutely not necessary and more of a preference. So, I also carry a small folding saw for this purpose. 5) What is the best time of day to hunt for whitetails? Seriously....any time that you can get out!! But traditionally speaking, people tend to favor mornings or evenings. Just search any hunting forum and you will find tons of discussion about this. Obviously, if you can sit all day long then your odds of seeing deer go up dramatically. It is tough to do and requires serious discipline. For me, I like the whole experience and that includes meeting my buddies around lunchtime to enjoy talking about what we saw that morning and then plan where we will go for the afternoon. If I am hunting alone then I still like to take the mid day lunch break and then go to a different spot for the afternoon. However, I have spent all day on one stand on days where the action seems hot. 6) Last year I had a few opportunities to take a doe but my father in law said I shouldn't bother but should try for a buck. Is there something wrong with taking a doe? Does the meat taste any different between the two? Absolutely not and I think your FIL was a bit remiss to encourage you to hold out for a buck especially given that you are new to hunting. To this day, I am still very proud to connect on ANY deer and you should be too. There has been some discussion around the subject of older bucks who are in the midst of the rut with their hormones and testosterone levels are high causing a change in the flavor of the meat. I personally have no experience with this. 7) How important is camo? I have a camo jacket/headnet/gloves but was considering just wearing jeans out to the field? How well can deer see colors? Can they see orange? Eyes are made up of rods and cones. Human eyes have more cones so we pick up colors very well. We are low on rods so our low light vision is poor. Deer are basically just the opposite. They have many rods so they have very good low light vision however, they are limited on cones therefore they do not perceive colors as good as us. This does not mean they see in black and white. They actually can see some colors. Research has show that deer probably can see into the ultra-violet spectrum to a degree. They can sense colors like yellows and blues. But they seem to see greens, reds, and orange as shades of grey. So, they can probably pick out your blue-jeans but I wouldn't worry about it much. Deer are really more programmed to react to movement. If you stay perfectly still, you can probably wear a hawaiian shirt and blue-jeans and still not be picked off.

It is true that it is not 100% necessary. I have gut a few without breaking it. However, I do find it a tad easier to gut with the pelvis bone cut and most of the time, I do saw through it. When it is cut, it forces the back legs to open wider and also seems to make removal of the rectum a bit easier.

Hoyt Vipertech at 63# NAP Drop-away rest Trophy Ridge inline sight Beman arrows with Blazer fletching Muzzy 3-blade 100g broadheads

My ex-wife has gone out with me just to sit in the blind and enjoy the woods. She was not anti hunting by any stretch but had no interest in hunting otherwise. I'm trying to get my girlfriend to do the same but so far, she has little interest. Not an anti-hunter but has zero interest. I'm going to try to get her to join me on a spring turkey hunt first since the weather is generally a bit nicer, warmer.

+1 to everything already stated. However I will add that I believe you are still allowed to wait until you reach your vehicle before having to physically attach your tag to the deer. This is so that you do not lose the tag while dragging back to your vehicle. You still must fill out the tag ASAP after you find the deer. I have butchered many deer myself and still do sometimes but more often than not these days, I bring my deer to a place that butchers it for me. If I plan to keep the deer for mounting, they know how to skin the deer properly for use by the taxidermist. That typically means skinning the deer in such a way as to leave as much hide available as possible....usually enough to cover the chest or so. Generally speaking I don't think most taxidermy places process the deer for you. Some may but I don't know of any in my area. Then, after my deer has been processed by the butcher, they will give me the head and hide which I then take to the taxidermist. I have never made an appointment but I nearly always call ahead and tell them I'm coming over with a head for mounting.

IIRC a calculator is provided to adjust the times listed in the chart according to your area. Don't have the book in front of me to verify.

I think shooting before legal light is probably the easiest thing to slip up on. In the hunting regulation manual that we all get with our license, there is usually a chart which outlines the legal times for every day of the season. We all should be following that chart. But having said that, I think the most violated rule is failure to fill out tags and report deer kills. Especially if a buck is killed and the person knows that there is still another nice buck out in the area. I also think the DEC is more concerned with policing this action over policing people shooting just before legal times but I'm just guessing.

I got 11 of 13. On the spike buck question I inadvertently clicked the wrong answer when I actually meant to go with the right answer . The other one I got wrong was the cow question. I debated between the right answer and the one I chose. I went with the no correlation answer figuring it was some kind of trick question.

Other people is my number one. Hunters walking by or shooting nearby. People riding atv's, horses or whatever. Chainsawing, etc. I can deal with pretty much anything else. I actually enjoy watching the squirrels, chipmunks, etc.

While it is probably best practice to do this as soon as possible, 9 times out of 10, I just take the bird home and then field dress it there. As far as gutting turkey goes, it is super easy. All you need to do is cut an opening from the bottom of the breast plate to the anus. Then reach inside along the back and yank everything out. It will all come out without too much trouble but make sure you get everything. You want to remove the crop too. Make a cut at the neck where the skin meets the feathers. Take out the windpipe, and the crop. It's a sack thing that is extremely mushy and somewhat gelatinous. If you open it and examine it, you can find out what your turkey has been feeding on. I used to pluck all of the feathers but that became far too tedious. Now I skin it. I don't just breast them out because I like the leg and wing meat as much as the rest of it.

I didn't read every response so I apologize if I repeat some info. Neither one. Deer have Antlers.....Sheep, cows, goats etc have horns. There IS a difference. Antlers fall off and grow back, horns remain. Worth the money? Yes and no. If one is setup prior to the season and further camouflaged with extra branches, etc, they can be great. Deer will become used to it in the same way they get used to new tree stands. They can keep you out of the weather and can keep you warmer via cutting down the wind, etc. Deer CAN notice a blind that is randomly setup in a new area. If care is taken to hide the blind better, say under some overhanging evergreen branches or amongst some thick stuff, then it will be less likely to be noticed. As someone else said, they are cumbersome to lug around every time you hunt. As a method to cover up ones tracks, I suppose it can work well. However, I personally have never seen evidence to support the fact that I see more deer when using it in this manner. I can say for sure that I have never once seen a buck lock onto my drag line, turn and come straight to my stand following the scent trail. It just doesn't happen that way. Has it happened like that for others? Maybe. It definitely happens that way for the people who are selling the product....hint hint!! Personally, I don't spend the money for this stuff. Instead, I focus on playing the wind and remaining as scent free as possible. Once again I think there is a ton of miss-information and sales person hype out there.....especially in the world of scent free sprays and what-not. I'm one of those people that believe that the scent-lock type clothing is a bunch of hogwash and completely unnecessary. I don't go out of my way to purchase these products although I do have a couple of scent-lock items just because I liked the product itself and it happened to have scent-lock built in.....a hat or an undershirt for example. As for cover-sprays I do use them. I have used Scent Away and other such things but to be honest, I'm not anal about using them on every hunt and yet I still have my fair share of encounters. I have had deer with 20-30 yards on hunts where I did not use anything. I'm not discouraging anyone from using these products rather, I'm trying to point out that they are not 100% necessary. Playing the wind is really the key. I even hunted a few times when I didn't have any "hunting clothes" (no camo, no scents, etc) and I still saw some deer. Having said that, it is important to try to get into the habit of using a decent scent free strategy. For example, I do keep all of my hunting clothing and gear like my backpack in tupperware containers. I fill those containers with leaves, grass, branches, even dirt, etc that are taken from my hunting areas. The smell of this stuff trapped in the containers begins to permeate the clothing. It works quite well as a cover scent. I also take a shower before every hunt using hunting soaps and shampoo's that are sold at places like Dicks's etc. I set aside a couple towels to dry me off making sure these towels were washed in hunting laundry detergent...NOT the normal detergent. Beyond that, just use some common sense such as don't stand around behind your truck as the exhaust fumes blow on you. Don't wear your hunting clothes until you get to the place you plan to hunt. Etc. What should you be looking for? Umm.....deer! haha. Seriously, all those things you said are good to look for. Try to think like a deer in terms of looking at the land you plan to hunt. If you were a deer, how would you travel through the area? What foods would you likely eat? Where would you drink? Obvious deer sign will be dropping, tree rubs, ground scrapes and well worn trails with footprints.

I always double check mine before the season starts. I feel I owe it to the animals I hunt to ensure my gear is properly working. The last thing I want is to wound the animal unnecessarily. No matter how confident I am that my gun is dialed in, it just makes good sense to confirm. In fact, I sighted in mine just yesterday. It helps instill confidence knowing my shotgun is placing a 3-shot ragged hole 1" high at 50 yards. I did have to make some minor tweaks to get it back on target.

If you move to a new county, do you have to update your permit or something like that?

I get to the farm and as I'm heading in, saw 5 does in the field. I tried to put on a stalk but couldn't quite work the wind. So I let them go. Finally was able to go to my stand. While in the stand a small 6 point buck with a narrow but tall rack walked in. He stopped short of going almost directly under my stand. Then the same buck came back about 30 minutes later and presented me with three perfect shot opportunities. I let him walk because I know there are bigger bucks in the area as confirmed by my game camera. Then 10 minutes after him, two large turkeys walked in. Once they were gone I decided that if a nice doe came in, I would take her. Sure enough right at 10 am, a nice doe came in from behind me. I had enough time to draw and hold for about 30 seconds as she stepped perfectly into the lane I created. She stood directly over the 20 yard stake I planted there. Sent the arrow sailing and saw it make a perfect double lung shot pass through. She ran about 80 yards and fell over within sight. I did have some pics that I took on my phone of both the 5 does in the field and the 6 point. But they came out terrible. Also, I did not take any pics of the doe I got as I decided to drop her off at the butcher. So I apologize as I have no pics to share. I'm pretty sure this is the first time I've taken a deer on the opening day of bow season. I guess the sun does shine on a dogs @$$ every now and again!!