moog5050

Real hunters use their bare hands. Perfect the sleeper hold.

Better start practicing throwing knives.

Its a great gun and accurate. You do have to throw the bolt with authority or it won't extract well. I agree with phade, the stock is average, but that's not why you buy one. The 3" winchester partions work well for me.

+1

I heard that the porcupines draw in the fishers. Saw my first porcupine in PA this year. It was fat and sat on the same tree limb for more than 2 days.

I agree. Do you have porcupines in the area? Good eating for a fisher.

It can be ridiculous this time of year. Its pretty easy after the holidays and through the summer. Ask for Paul Dano - good guy.

Pressure is on phade.

No doubt that phade is good at this. He identified a buck bedding area before we scouted a site saturday and low and behold, we kicked out a nice buck. It was almost comical. I had to go back and look at the map to be sure you couldn't see the antlers on bing. lol

Welcome Doc. You may want to consider a dedicated deer gun if you will be hunting region 8. I have the Savage 220f and its almost like a rifle out to 200 yards. Very accurate and more than needed for the types of shots you will likely take around here. I just started myself this year and had tons of fun. Lots of good info on this site. Feel free to PM me if you have a questions specific to the Rochester area.

Tughill Looks like you have great land to hunt. How many acres is that? Ag, cover and swamps. Nice mix.

Really good for your age. Should have read your first post. Well done.

Consider your comment that having a hunting license should be a prerequisite to owning a gun. How does that affect or impact the goal of allowing citizens to protect themselves from crime for the non-hunter? Would a training course for the non-hunter suffice? Just a thought. Not sure your grade level, but its a good essay. Good luck.

That thing sticks out like a sore thumb. I am shocked it made it through the season, unless you have lots of other hunters in your area that think like you. Very cool to grab some quality video of it like that.

Phade You taught me a ton this season. Looking forward to next year and targeting a mature buck, maybe the one we busted on Saturday. lol Thanks.

Have a hitch basket now, but did throw the deer in a body bag and in back. My cousin commented when helping me load my first that it may look a bit suspicious with a large Italian putting a bloody body bag in the back of a cadillac. lol

You must be on the favored list. It took them 7 weeks to send me a new blind when my brand new one ripped. Glad they treated you well.

+1 on Biekirchs

Well done Elmo. A cheap plastic snow sled may be worth investing in, depending on the terrain you hunt.

I had them come out for an early season doe that I arrowed. Unfortunately I gut shot her. After letting her sit all night, I still ended up pushing her the next morning (which amazed us considering the pieces of organs we found while trailing). Deer search came out later on day two and we put the dog on the trail, but no luck. The tracker was very disappointed because we both knew it was a dead deer. He was still training his 5 month old dog, who seemed a bit more interested in the birds than the deer scent. She fled to the swamp which I suspect is more difficult to track due to all the water. My first deer lost, but I have to say, deer search was good in responding in 8h even though we never recovered her.

You greedy, no good .... I am hoping to bag no. 4 this week and after that, well .... 5 would be nice. lol Actually, I gave most of my meat away. Probably have one full deer left. I really do need no. 4 to fill the freezer a bit more. Fingers crossed. Its amazing how many people ask for meat when they know you started hunting.

Congrats

Holy Smokes!

By way of example, one guy who has permisison to hunt the same land as me sits in what most believe is the best spot on the propertyEVERY time he goes out, bow and gun. The deer are now patterning him. He was shut out in bow and got one yesterday but only after spooking away a long ways from his stand. He is seeing less and less while another hunter sat south of him by 100-200 yards. He killed a nice doe and 8 pt early on opening day and another yesterday. In any event, the point is that the deer patterned the first guy and second guy took advantage. I planned to hunt the exact same spot on opening day as guy no.2, but elected to use a stand I set that had not been hunted since Oct. 1 and is really a better gun stand. Got a smaller 8 pt. I am trying not to burn out my spots as per recommendations received from a solid member here and it has paid off with 3 deer this year. Wind, cover, etc. are always a consideration. I have a ton to learn, but some basics has really helped, as has hunting areas with good deer populations.

Congrats