sweet old bill

I like most hunter do shower in the morning but not for the afternoon hunt. But I take in my back pack some baking soda, and if I sweat up on the way in to the stand put some on me to kill off the human scent . This is key for me now that I no longer can use tree stands.

shoot all year long to make sure you are the best you can be. Make sure you only take good clear shots, that will not wound a deer, but make a killing shot. If you shoot a deer and can not find it, make sure you continue to hunt for the deer. ( nothing worst thatn a gun hunter or farmer finding a deer with a arrow in it that was not recovered) Join a archery club shoot 3D targets or indoors to sharpen your skill level

it use to be that rabbits had a cycle of about 7 years from a low amount to the high amount and then mange would get into the rabbit population and that would kill them off. This would get into the fox as well and cause them to also be on the low side. After reading about the yotes it sure seems that nothing will kill them off. Out west for years they would bate, posion, have a open season and yes now they do have I think a major impact on NY. I sure would like to see NY have a true open season on them...

PM

I have in the past tken in the back pack my reading glasses, a good book and also a FM radio with a ear plug to keep me from getting tired of sitting in the non hot times. I am a lot like Doc, maybe it due to age, but I am good in the morning from 1/2 from first light to 9 am, then I walk in and then go out so I am in the ground blinds from 2 1/2 hour from dark. As we getinto the last week of Oct and first week of Nov to me this has been the buck chase period and I like to stay for longer periods.

I like the idea of the xmas tree. to break up the blind. Oh I will also be looking for a red nosed deer to lead the way past the stand...

We seem to have a lot of the older hunters so why not have one stand area under bowhunting to ask questions on hunting and or how to set up or tune a bow or arrow. I sure we have years of knowledge to support new or older archers.

As a young hunter it seemed I could stay out all day. Just walk in for a bite and be back out till total dark. Being retired and able to hunt each day and now also 68 years young. I find I do not have the patience or staying power to be out that many hours. I am now planning during the pre rut / chase period to go back to hunting most of the day. I am sure that I miss some big bucks by being in the easy chair and not in the ground blind during the chase / pre rut period. How about you how long do you hunt each day.....

Love those broadside shots...

The only time it did not work for me was about 12 years ago on opening day of gun. I heard a shot in back of me and turned to look and as I did one of the biggest bucks I ever saw in the woods jumped over my ground blind and was really moving. I got the gun up but he was going so fast in very heavy brush all I could see clearly was his white tail and horns. So I let him go. A fellow down the road from me with his two sons was able to take him the next day. He was over 200 lbs and 10 points...

I am like you Doc and also I do not like to cut down the whole forrest. That why on my blinds I use pine to break up the camo material. I can always shoot thru the open spot of the pine.

I watch the show on hunting yotes on the hunting channel. I wish I was as good as they are. They use both rifle and also use shotgun with long range #4 buckshot to take them down. I may have to get one of those fake type small game that works on a battery and moves back and forth so that the yote has something to keep his eye on and not you as you try to get a shot...

I have several ground blinds that I have to take a off raod way to get there so I do not push out deer as I go to the stand. I also have a stand that it seems that as dark falls if I go out the way I came in I also will jump deer in the dark. I had to change my ways so I do not alert that I am hunting these stands. How about you and how do you handle bedding areas etc...

I had a buddy I use to shoot NFAA with and he was a outstanding shot on paper. But come the hunting season he failed in one area and that was he did not take the time to pick a spot. Look at that shoulder and the magic spot and pick a off color hair. The smaller the spot you aim out the better off you will be. It go so bad for him that when he had a 10 point buck walk pass and stand next to our orange tape for 25 yards he put two arrows over the back onto a big oak tree that were 8 feet off the ground. He continued to shoot at the total deer and or the rack.

Clearing shooting lanes How many times you find that hot spot for a blind or tree stand and you do not take the time to make sure you have all the shooting lanes cleared. Then on the first morning you are hunting the new O'h so hot new place the buck walks past and you can not get a shot due to too much brush in the way.

I amn ready same as you. I do have the ground blinds to brush in on about Oct 8 thru 10. I have 3 bows setup and shooting great. 2 - 60 to 70 lbs and 1 45 to 55 lbs. The lower weight is for Nov in cold weather when these old bones / legs do not want to work...

I have two different rabbit calls that seem to work real well. They sound like a rabbit that is caught. One is for large rabbit and one for small baby rabbit. It seems the yoke can hear real well. I also like to use a cut corn field and I sit up on a side hill overlooking the field. I have been using a 3 to 9 scope with my old 303 british rifle.

I no longer can hunt to keep up woth the dogs due to bad leg. But we always would wait till they had snow on the ground and the hare had turned white. We went for the early season by black lake, but hunted just plain rabbits and had a ball. Lots of rabbits and also lots of state land or people did not seem to mind us hunting rabbits. Just had to ask.

There was a survey report from Maine on coyote and what they have been found to be eating. The survey suggested that fduring the period of when young deer are being born, the coyote is up to 40% of it food source. But as the summer goes along it gets to be less and less. The rest of the year it sure seems they suggest the food source is small game of any type. Rabbit, or young turkey or any thing that walks or flys. I found on our place 3 sets of fawn this year so far. Most must have been only a few weeks old based on bone size. I think NY should just have a open season on the coyote.

about 12 years ago I fell just 12 feet or less and broke my leg in 9 places, knee cap in 3 places. I had sevra hours of repair, 7 months of rehab and was able to hunt that year. I was using a walking stick to help me get to a plastic walmart green car. Just about 15o yards from a road in the state hunting lands. The 2nd of Nov, I got to the chair and about a hour later I had a 7 point buck come to a scrape that was 25 yards down hill from me. I was able to take him. That was my first deer after the accident. I no longer can hunt from tree stand. My right leg was a 18 bar in the leg, with a total of set screws still holding everthing together. The knee cap healed but hurts with any weather change as well as the leg. I can tell you when the weather front is coming thru, when it stop hurting I lknow I should be hunting as the deer will be out feeding. Lets all of you that still use tree stands have a safe hunting season, make sure you are tied in. Bill

corn is still high over my head on the back lot of 28 A's. My son in law chopped last year opening day of bow season, the next few days was the most activity in the area. As the deer were working the areas around what had been the honey hole for them...

if it snow I put on my wool green pants and wool coat and go out hunting. If it is just a showers I have in my back pack a tree umbrella that folds open. Now if they aare calling for all day rain, I put on a pot of coffee, and just go over my archery items as I watch the hunt channel or read a good book. To many times in the past I have been cold, wet, and never saw a thing when it a old day rain. Now if they are calling for clearing late in the day I will be out there to see if the deer come out to feed...

good luck and safe hunting ...enjoy your 9 days of getting away and hunt camp. I sure miss those days when I was amember of a hunt club. Mine sold out...

I shot Bh's today to make sure they still fly . No problems and I then put another edge on them and gave them a coat of vasline.

I hope the new plan when they do cut some of the funds received will go back to the area were the forrest was cut. I also would like to see those funds then used to plant some food plots and or tree that will bear food for wild life. I lived next to the Pharsalia state game lands and we had in the area over 20,000 acreas of state lands. They would cut the red pine for paper mills and the funds would go down state.