WestchesterBowman

Looking for a small caliber rifle for some winter predator hunting. Scope is a nice to have, but not a must have. I'd be open to any caliber as long as it can take down a yote/fox. The Lonewolf climber is awesome, incredibly light and comfortable and quiet. I have used it no more then 10 times in the last two seasons. Our leased property has hang on stands so it's just collecting dust at the moment.

Last weekend, got in my treestand an hour before sunrise. I love watching the light come up. After sitting for a few minutes in the dark, I started hearing footsteps. Took almost 20 minutes before I could make out the body of a deer feeding not 30 yards from my stand. Light grew brighter and brighter, felt like it was taking an eternity. Deer kept walking closer and closer to me. Checked my watch for legal shooting time, green light, not 30 seconds later the deer stepped out behind a big oak, and I thumped him. I thought it was a doe, turned out to be a spike (less then 2" on both sides) almost impossible to tell in the dark like that. Shot was a bit high, made recovery tricky, but we stayed on it, and a found him about 20 yards away from where we found the arrow.

Two deer down so far this year. One went to Amato's in Westchester. He did a fine job. I'd prefer everything to be vacuum packed though. I took my second deer to Malafys in Red Hook, NY. Absolute kick ass job, fast, clean, every single cut is vacuum sealed and labeled. Did a bunch of speciality stuff too. Had the hot dogs last night, absolutely awesome. http://www.malafysmeatprocessing.com/

After two long days in the Catskill mountains we finally made it happen with an hour left in the day. We had been bushwacking all day, trying to locate a flock of birds. Finally around 3pm, we followed some fresh scratches right in to a big flock. We put the sneak on them belly crawled along a small hedge row to get closer. When we pounced the flock scattered out of the timber and in to a corn field, with many of the birds flying up in to trees. We quickly moved across a set of train tracks and found a good vantage point to setup. After 20 minutes of calling, we finally started to get a response. A lone bird crossed the tracks and rolled up the bank but was not within range. The calling really picked up, we were talking with multiple birds across the railroad tracks. Birds started to appear across the tracks, about 50 or 60 yards away form us. Just as it looked like they were crossing, we heard the loud rumble of a train coming and within seconds a seemingly endless cargo train steamed through. We used the cover of the train to reposition ourselves and get ready. It was only a minute or two after the train passed and the birds were vocal again, a lone bird came across to our left, he couldn't see us and walked 15 feet to our left and I dropped him (right handed shot). A few minutes later we heard more footsteps across the tracks and two more birds appeared. They came in on a string and appeared right over the embankment and walked right in to the muzzle of my Mossberg 535 and I folded him. It was a great end to a long day of working the woods. We definitely put the time and effort in so it was nice to put some birds on the ground at the end.

ANyone with a 4R?

Looks like 4R will not have any leftover DMPs. Anyone have a 4R they'd be willing to trade for?

Sorry, I looked at the third pic too quickly. thought it was the rear leg.

Also congrats, forgot to say that!

How much was she quartering? Looks like it went in the left side of her neck and out the left rear leg? Guts?

One bump here, I have 3R looking for 4R.

Great buck Burden!

Congrats guys, good to see some more deer on the ground! Who's going out today/tomorrow? I'm going to hit our spot in 3R this afternoon and then up to 4R tomorrow.

How do you mount the first camera?

I would call the Sterling State Forest park office. I know the Appalachian Trail crosses through the northern section of the park and I believe you can use it as an access point. I hiked the entire Appalachian Trail in 2005 and saw plenty of hunting activity on and around the trail ranging from tree stands, hunters walking on the trail, bait piles etc. One night in November in North Carolina, we had someone's radio collar bear dog come in to our camp and spend the night. Good times.

Thanks! It's actually not a head cam, it's a GoPro that I latched on to my bow. Works great, hands free.

Oct 1 cutoff.

Is anyone really surprised by this??? I called this back when the photo was first published. It's obviously a farm raised deer.

PM sent.

I posted this in another thread, but I figured it can't hurt to add it to the official Bow Hunting harvest thread. Yesterday morning I realized one of the biggest lessons ... preparation pays off. Last year I spent countless days in the woods without even seeing a deer. I did no pre scouting and in turn, spent many an hour sitting against a tree just 'hoping' a deer would wander by. I made sure I had things in order this year. Working to gain access to some private land, putting trail cameras out, scouting for deer trail/sign, and practicing every single night with my bow. This morning it all paid off. Was hunting a small piece of semi-private land in Rockland county this morning. I was about 3/4 of the way up a hill, working the edge of a hedgerow where the deer had worn a trail through. The trail cameras gave me a good idea how many deer were coming through. At 8 a.m. I started to hear some activity off to my left in the hedgerow. I had been waiting there since 5:30, trying to catch them coming out of their bedding area. A four point buck stepped out along the deer path and began working his way to my stand. He stepped out, I gave a quick grunt to stop him and let the arrow go. He had just started to turn towards me when I shot, so what I thought was a perfect broadside shot, turned in to a quartering-towards shot. Arrow hit right behind his front leg, right on my mark, and exited out his side, taking the liver on the way out. He ran for about a 100 yards and I heard the big crash. When I recovered him I was afraid the arrow had exited too far back, but there was no gut whatsoever in the cavity. Certainly not a trophy class buck, but it's my first bow kill and my first buck! Video:

Thanks for the comments guys, it was my first harvest with the bow, and my first buck ever. Pretty cool moment for me. The scouting really paid off, I knew it was a matter of time beforen he came cruising out of the bedding area.

Great morning in the woods. Shot right at 8 a.m. Final moments:

Took the day off from work. Planning to do a full day sit on our property in 3R. Have two bucks on trail camera, one is a shooter. The other is a 'see you in a few years.'

Thanks for the response G-Man. I've seen that a few times about 'busting up the flock.' This seems like a silly question, but do you actually run at the birds and they fly away? Can you call a fall turkey in w/ out busting the flock?

Guys, I've never done any fall turkey hunting. We have a flock on our property that come through most days. I don't have a dog to hunt w/, any advice?

Looking for 3R. Anyone?