wooly

When I was a kid I was infatuated by any snake I saw and spent a lot of time handling them whenever I'd see one. I got zapped quite a few times and quickly learned there wasn't much to fear about them.(besides a bacterial infection I knew nothing about at the time) Garter snakes typicaly strike when provoked but don't hang on to what they bite unless you taste like a frog,lol. It really feels no different than sticking your thumb in a bass' mouth but sometimes there's a hint of blood. I'd let them hit me just to freak my mother out! One time on a Canadian fishing trip I found a nest of baby snakes along the river under a bridge. I scooped one up that I had seperated from the rest of the pack, when pops came along yelling for me wondering what I was playing with after watching me head down to the river alone. Long story short.... unknown to me at the time, I had made friends with the only rattle snakes I've ever seen in my life up to this point. The camp owner knew about them, but didn't think to mention anything to us because of they were in a hard to get to spot nobody really ever went. Mom and dad never let me outta their site for the rest of the week long trip,lol. Probably a good thing I didn't put him in my pocket to keep the worms company!

Thanks fellas! This was an extra special set I spent a lot of time wanting, but had little hope of ever finding. Deffinately one of the best highlights of all my hikes over the years!

Well I'm not here to preach so I'll spare ya the don't kill all snakes speel. I enjoy them myself. Milk snakes are probably a pretty good indicator you have a bigger problem with rodents. Not often we in NY encounter poisonous snakes, but with non native captive releases you can never be too carefull if your unsure. A good rule for to differentiate between a harmless milk and venomous coral snake... red touches yellow, kill a fellow... red touches black, friend of Jack.

Haha- actually, I've already returned 3 of them myself! I used to run it on 15 second video mode and man was that frustrating! I'd get a 3 second flash of a buck walking through the frame, then 12 seconds of nothing because he'd never stop to pay any attention to the cam. They'd stand there stairing at my red flash set ups for up to 3 seperate triggers sometimes for several minutes. The stealth factor of BF has it's pros and cons like anything I suppose depending on what's important to ya.

Good post! I've only run the Primos Blackout 60 and noticed no difference whatsoever compared to any red flash models I've owned. In all honesty, I think the BF had better quality pics, but suffered some in the motion blurr department and flash range. Not due to any difference in available light that affected shutter speeds or anything like that..., rather deer didn't notice the BF illuminating, therefore they never broke their stride while passing by. My red flash will stop and hold them every time it triggers. I never had a blurr issue when stopping game in front of the BF unit with scents the same as with the red flash models. Just thought that might be a relevant point to add to the post.

Thanks guys! 4-11-13 "A Tale of Two Antlers" Guys, just a quick crash course in history dating back to the 2011 deer season. Some of you might remember the most impressive buck I had make an appearance one time in front of my cam that year, never to be seen again. I searched high and low(litteraly by the landscape) but could never find those antlers. That year he got the nickname "G-spot buck" due to his ellusive nature. Fast forward to the 2012-13 hunting season, and he shows up again on my hunting grounds. I got several trail cam pics over summer of him and had a few in person encounters, so I decided to change his name to Frankentines! He'd become a regular throughout the fall but has since dissapeared once again. He has grown into one of the biggest 10pt's I've seen on this property. While I don't know yet if he made it through this past hunting season, he still had a set of antlers out there from the previous year I hadn't thought about much lately..... untill today that is! I must have walked past this spot 100x's without exageration over the last couple seasons. Today I spotted this and couldn't believe my eyes! As soon as I got up to it, I knew who the previous owner was! I did a quick scan of the area, and when I looked back towards the road, I spotted the mate 20yds away, and not 50yds from the road! You can see the road in the background of the second pic. Finally the set together after 2 years on the lamb! I was so excited after I found these, I turned right around and ran home ending my hike right then and there,lol! Antlers- 24 Sets- 4 Dead bucks- 13 Dead doe/fawns- 16

I was guessing this deer at 4 1/2 based on antler characteristics alone compared to other known bucks in the area. I know that's a highly innacurate method from one property to the next, but it seems for the typical age structure of bucks us average folks hunt, you can get pretty darn close that way most of the time. Dare I say.., almost as close as using the jawbone method with a little knowledge of the quality of different age class bucks roaming your woods. I guess that's why I posted this. It doesn't hurt to have a secondary method to back up or confirm your initial beliefs. Now that my interest has been peaked in a new method, a little practice over time, and experience through repetition, might make this a preferred technique with a slightly more accurate degree of of certainty to rule out the unlikely age of borderline bucks. Anyhow, this is the buck the jawbone came from. Thanks for the pointers all!

Yup- hope this one shows what you need to see. If not I'll take a better one tomorrow.

Figure a lot of you guys spend more time at this than I care to. Wondering what kind of estimates you all might have to this deers age. I think these pics should be adequate, but I can take different shot angles if necessary. I'm sure I could do a little research and come up with my own guess, but sometimes it's nice to hear some of the criteria others use before forming my own opinion. Here's a shot of the right side also.

BOOOOO!

Thanks Pav, sure was a great day! I'll be cooking him up next! He's still got some amazing color to his rack compared to some of the white winter bleached fresh antlers I've been finding lately. Makes me wonder how long he's been dead, but it's hard to tell sometimes.

4-7-13 Today didn't start off so hot. As I hiked about half ways into the valley, the front of the sole on my boot opened up. Every step it gobbled up a bunch of sticks, leaves and mud like a pac-man game..... wocka, wocka, wocka,lol! Anyhow, I would deal with it, and finally arrived in the valley. Not much to see at first so I headed into another thicket when I was greeted by this heavenly site.... beautiful long tines stretched skyward! It doesn't get any better than this folks! Determined to find the mate, I pushed through the prickly thicket but could not locate it. It's probably in the corn I can't hike. As I was looking for the mate, I spotted my second antler of the day instead! The days antlers together. I checked that thicket for the rest of the day, but that was all I could come up with. Heading back I decided to cut through a series of gulleys that lead into the valley. Normally I cross along the bottom field edge because it's an easy hike. My extra effort taking the long hard way payed off when I spotted a rib cage.... no a stump... dry grass around a stump.... I dunno, so I better go look..... .... and just as I was about to exit the woods another old buck skull "greening up". Antlers- 22 Sets- 3 Dead bucks- 13 Dead doe/fawns- 16

That was only half of them! Just as many split off to the far end of the field before I could get a shot of them. Needless to say, I was happy to see so many yarded up down here to winter..... now to find the rest of those antlers!

4-6-13 Today I shot down into the valley for a change of scenery. When I got to the fields, it didn't take long to figure out I was in the right spot! I saw a couple deer out and about soaking up the sun! This little fella stopped to check me out. When I saw all that, I thought about turning around and running back home for a trailer for all the antlers I was gonna find today! Once I got settled down and made my way to the opposite side of the field, I finally saw some tines..... YAHOOOOO another set in the thicket!!!! Obviously I think I may have missed a few today, so I'll be back in this area next hike! Also found 4 dead doe and fawns on the day. Antlers- 20 Sets- 3 Dead bucks- 12 Dead doe/fawns- 16

I think for a guy with that much spare time on his hands, it might be a good idea to move out of his parents basement and hunt down a girlfriend,lol!

Tell her one of our forum members caught it chasing deer and was gonna shoot it so you saved its life,lol

When I was a young boy with a BB gun hunting squirrels in the yard, I watched two dogs chase a doe across the neighbors yard and into my parents. The deer stopped on the other side of our driveway, and the dogs continued to sniff out her trail. I took carefull aim, shot the deer in the ass, and watched her run off. Then I simply ran at the dogs hollering "get outta here", and watched them tuck tail and run off in the other direction. That's all I got.... no need to over complicate things in a 12 year olds mind,lol

Thanks guys! It's been a tough season for me so far this year, but I'm hoping to turn things around this weekend. A few more antlers, and I can at least say it's been pretty average in comparison to most seasons. Last season I got spoiled by the mild winter keeping most of my areas open and easy to hike from the end of hunting season, right into spring green up. Hope to have some more to add soon.

Wow, looks amazing Sam! Way to bring the ol' mummy back to life! Great job with the antler restoration....impressive!

I'll bring the beer!

DUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUDE.......... $60,000 for some "grass" is way high man!

Have a good one Grow!

3-31-13 Thanks guys! March wasn't very good to me this year with all the snow we had, but I did manage to find an Easter horn yesterday. This morning it looks like April will be picking up where March left off. We got a fresh 3" overnight to cover everything up again that had just begun to melt out. Just a little guy that had melted out and layed there glowing! I thought this one was an oldie as chalky white as he was, but it still had some skin around the base. The weather is supposed to change back to spring mid-week, so I'm hoping there's a few left out there for me. Adding another dead fawn and another dead shedhead to the list also. Antlers- 18 Sets- 2 Dead bucks- 12 Dead doe/fawns- 12

I loaded up a cam the other day with 8-AA Dollar Store "Sunbeam" brand. The batteries were so undersized they fell right out of the camera when I stood it upright like it would hang on the tree. I had to put a piece of tape across them to hold them in place. I filled it up with Energizers and those fit snug. I use the generic C's and D-cells in my other cams with no problem, but can still tell they fit a little loose.

I've posted mine here before in the camping section. http://huntingny.com/forums/topic/3923-first-aid/ I keep it in my pack and it's there every time I head to the woods any time of year. I don't plan on any open heart surgeries, or amputations while afield, but this is usually enough to comfort most mild to medium problems that could arise for me or a guest. I've never regretted having it with me, and it weighs next to nothing.