wooly

Great critters, pics, and recap! You guys shoot pretty straight for a couple of city folk!

Yep, the barbed wire one was the first I did this way and I got a little too far into the eye sockets than I would have liked. I made sure I didn't do that again on the second one. These were bucks I found dead, so it was free practice for me. They're not perfect, but that's not what I was after with the finished product. I like to mess around with these kind of things in the off season just for fun.

Here's a couple I did a few years ago. First one was a chunk of rough cut lumber from an old abandon blind. I cut and sanded that one to shape, and added some little cut off antlers for a stand to prop it up. I liked the way the grain of the wood pattern fit the skulls outline. The second one I just cut an old fence post and wrapped some barbed wire around it.

Had an opportunity at a doe one of the first times I ever used a treestand. I was still petrified of heights so I was a little nervous to begin with being up there. Any movements I made were done very precise and gingerly. When I went to draw down on her, I heard an awful clang, my bow locked up mid draw, and I sent an arrow into outer space when I hit the release on accident. I forgot I still had my bow rope hooked up and the carribiner clip was hooked through the bottom cam on the bow,lol

Very nice, congrats! I hope you at least helped her drag or you may not be around for the next anniversary,lol

Helluva buck, congrats!

Good eye spotting those beauties! Very cool subjects. I usually don't notice them until I put my face through one. Then I'll spend the rest of the day paranoid the giant tarantula is crawling all over my body every time something brushes up against my skin,lol

On my way to the stand this evening. First time I've ever seen this in person! Ordering my new camera tonight due to this inspiration! Got about 6-8ft away from her before she noticed me.

I better log off before I say something our forum "defenders of hunting" wouldn't approve of.

Sweet picks of the pupper! He'll pack on the winter weight fast now with all the fresh backstraps that'll be laying around the woods.

I'll give it a shot. You're not gonna kill a 200"er from the couch! Good luck, and be safe out there everybody.

How 'bout this one?

I'd probably laugh at you Grow if it hadn't happened to me too. No drag rags, just an accidental spillage of deer piss on my hunting duds the day before while filling my scent canisters.. The next day on my hike in, I had a little 3pt that decided we were going to have a "bull fight" before the sun came up when I spotted his glowing eyes in my headlamp at a scrape near my blind,lol I'm pretty sure it was buck piss if memory serves me correct. We both got a little bloody from that pre dawn encounter, but fortunately neither of us were seriously injured.

Calling for 70* here... which should keep deer patterns right on track with what the rest of the summer has been like weather wise to this point. Just planning a couple prime time sits in the mornings and evenings early on. I ain't gonna sweat it. Better days to come no doubt, but I wouldn't miss the opener for the world. Seeing plenty of late afternoon activity around a few of my stands, so keeping my fingers crossed for an opportunity at a shooter no mater what.

There's no such thing as a cover scent for human odor.... PERIOD! If you think you're invisible to a deers nose by adding another flavor to the air you may be mistaken. If your deer can smells your "cover scent", it can smell YOU too! IMO, scents work best around stands when used as a distraction instead of an attraction. Strategically placed on the upwind side of your stand can offer a golden opportunity for you to get away with some things while a deer is pre-occupied with your "scent trap". ANY scents IMO, when used properly, should be classified as curiosity scents instead of attractants, or lures. I think this is where scent makers make their killing by labeling them as attractants whether they are food or urine based. Use your scents wisely to stop deer where you want them for the shot opportunity, not draw them in from the next property over. That ain't happenin'!

Saw it in the October issue of NAW.

Cool- did she send any letters back to Italy about our Buffalo wings yet, or are they not really anything special to write home about?

Thanks for the feedback guys! I've never honked on a wood grunt before, but that makes sense.

I know I don't ask many serious questions, but I need to know what makes one of these custom grunt calls any better than a basic box store $10 special. Seriously, it has to be one of the most basic sounds in nature to reproduce only with some variations in pitch and volume that a lot of call makers already have covered with adjustable reeds and proven designs. I lose a lot of stuff every year with calls being #1 on the list, so when I leave something over $20 behind, it stings a little bit. What do you guys feel makes these things better, or is it just the hand made aspect you appreciate more over a conventional grunt tube? I would think that unlike turkey calls, the idea isn't to throw something new at them unlike any grunt they've ever heard before.

Who you kidding..... those things have already been photographed, framed, and are already hanging on some happy camo clad hunters wall just waiting to be spread all over hunting sites like this one!

Pretty sure that's normal. I don't have a lot of experience in this department but my reverse draw is the same way. Keep your rail greased. I've heard of some guys using Vaseline for this if they don't have rail grease on hand. The only down side is the Vaseline collects dirt and debris from what I understand, but it performs the same function.

Uh ohh, sounds like he may have gotten away with a "Cornholer" too,lol Maybe the guy let him go so he didn't have to perform the cavity search!

The funniest thing about this post is the SAME topic, was posted by the SAME guy, last year around the SAME time. http://huntingny.com/forums/topic/18373-paper-plate-archers-in-full-effect-today/?hl=%2Bpaper+%2Bplate+%2Barchers+%2Bfull+%2Beffect+%2Btoday There's also a post in last years "Live from the stand 2013" from the SAME guy talking about his own complete miss. Not exactly what you'd expect from one of our "top echelon archers" as he refers to them.....so maybe some guys need to take their own own advice before opening their mouths and being so critical of others abilities. BTW- I still need to google what a pugilist is. I might be one and I don't even know it!

First one I've seen done up in Predator. That's pretty sweet! I'm not a big fan of some of the other patterns on skulls, but I like this.

We've got experts on every topic under the sun here. Hang tight, and I'm sure one will be along shortly,lol