wooly

I don't think they would have much to go on in that situation. There's no law against cutting the rack or head off a deadhead. That deer could have been shot and unrecovered by someone and found by someone else who came back with the tools to get the job done. I do it all the time but usually after season has ended just so it doesn't look suspicious if someone were to see me hauling buck heads out of the woods on a daily basis during an season,lol. I've even gone so far as to bury a carcass or head under a pile of sticks and leaves so nobody finds it until I return. I'm sure that would look suspicious as all hell if somebody did find it, but ain't no law against that.

Found him trapped in a big pine log so I grabbed the chainsaw and set him free! I'll clean him up today and give him a quick grooming before he gets his hair and nails done.

Most poachers get turned in on a tip, or in this case, a butcher shop discovery. The officers usually investigate the scene first to determine if they have a case... then to collect as much un-tampered evidence as they can and then compare it to the suspects story to see what matches up and what doesn't. These officers aren't the stumbling, bumbling fools some guys make them out to be.

LOL- yeah, get lost Mr. DEC officer. If you want incriminating evidence against me go find it for yourself! Mr. DEC officer hangs his head in shame and heads out to investigate another NY mountain lion sighting and you never hear from him again,lol If he's asking you to show him where you killed your deer, he probably already knows, and is giving you a chance to come clean and cooperate, and maybe even cut you some kind of break unless you turn into some kind of un-cooperative guilt ridden ass wipe.

I'm almost positive that bronzed deer skull in the original post was done with metal reactive paints. That's turning out to be a pretty big thing with skull carvers and other artists lately. You can get that stuff in copper, bronze, brass, and iron(rust) finishes. Comes with an activator spray to speed up the metal aging process. Pretty sure you can get the DIY kits on Amazon.

I cut down a big dead beech tree today on the edge of the yard. Soon as that sucker hit the ground, a "flock" of FOUR flying squirrels took flight and were reluctant to leave. For the next half hour they soared around the forest where their home tree once stood, which gave me a chance to run in and grab my camera.. Truly an AMAZING sight to see, but boy did I feel like a turd when the show was over. Obviously I had no clue they were in there. Eventually, they all found their way to another tree with a hole in it and never came back out. Afterwards I inspected the dead beech I had cut and found a hollowed out rotten section with a big nest full of squill shit inside. I've caught these guys on trail cams after dark before, but this is the first time I've ever seen one during the day. What an AWESOME aerial display of grace and precision from these little gliding rodents! I didn't think of it or I would have shot some video.

This one took a little longer than expected with everything else going on this time of year, but he's pretty close to done for now aside from a few minor details and clean up. Also ran into some problems with my execution with the original idea and had to salvage what I could from it.... hence the hole in his chest,lol I may add some war paint when we get a break in the weather, but painting is really not my thing. Guess I'll wait and see if there's any interest in him as he is before I go adding any make up. Stands right around 5ft tall.

See that symbol I reacted to the original post with? That's a CUP baby,lol!

When I was younger me and this gal I knew would get drunk on Genny's and go around kidnapping deer from a bunch of local eskimo villagers. Snatched them right out of their beds during broad daylight! We used chloroform to knock them out until they were loaded in the getaway car and sold on the black market,lol

Would love to sink my saws into something that size!

I put a deer in my freezer last week and he hasn't moved since.... I'd say yes, deer activity definitely decreases the colder they get!

Very happy for you G/F! You gonna get her stuffed or just gonna stuff her in your belly.

They say the camera adds 10lbs, so she was probably only 240,lol I take a TON of pics with different carcass poses and from a variety of angles. Sometimes just putting a portion of the deer and hunter on a different plane can create the illusion of an exaggerated size to one or the other compared to a straight on shot of hunter sitting behind the deer.

Oh there's no insulation whatsoever in this stuff. What you see on the outside is all you get on the inside. Basically a plastic garbage bag with arms and legs,lol. I will admit it does make a pretty good wind breaker on my winter hikes when I don't care about noise.

My snow camo is WAAAAY too noisy for hunting. Sounds like I'm wearing a paper bag whenever I so much as raise my hand. If there's snow on the ground, I'll definitely pull it out for the field photos just because I think it looks cool! Doesn't make any difference to me whether I killed while wearing it or not.

LOL- he won't look so deep cut and creepy once he's sanded and shaded.

Picked this thing out of the bargain cave last year for $10.... regular $170 or something like that. Finally pulled it out of the box a few weeks ago and it's on it's way to the blind for the opener this weekend.

Still got quite a bit of work left to do on this guy, but here's the idea so far. This one is a 5 footer.

Scrapes around here have pretty much shut down this past week or so. That usually happens every year about this time right before the woods erupt with a frenzy of chasing. The possibilities are endless as to why a certain scrape will go cold any given season, but in the scenario I described, I like to believe that bucks already obtained all the information they need from them and are now just waiting and saving their energy for that first hot doe to roll through. Then I usually don't see any serious scraping action again until late ML season or shortly after that.

I'm trying something new this year where I don't see any shooter bucks. Seems to take care of all that buck fever stuff really well.

Sounds like you might have blown the drive shaft... Be honest now, or we can't help you,lol

In a pinch, you can pull the licence plate off your truck and hang that around your neck. A lot of hunters don't know that little secret. It also offers an extra level of bulletproof protection when hunting public ground.

Hmmmmmmm..... this place looks good to me!

"Whitey Bulger"....? That's what all the home boys call me when I walk through the ghetto in my camo sweat pants,lol