ATbuckhunter

Finally got out for deer today and saw nothing. Only hunter the last couple hours. I sat in a new area of my grandparents property just to see how it is. I know its good, just a tough day to deer hunt. I'm going to hunt half a day during the week when I'm "working" remote

Maybe it was the lack of rain this summer that's causing us to see less ticks in the south east. What ever the reason is, Im loving it!

I have yet to hunt the Island this year, but I picked up a ton while bird hunting in Stewart this year. I spray my clothes, so I don't ever worry about them, but the one time I forgot to spray my dog, I pulled 25 off of her. Seems about average for ticks down here this year though

I know plenty of big deer are killed every year with a 243. A guy I know shot a 200+ pound 11 point near Rome NY a long time ago with 243. I wouldn't hesitate to use one, but I would definitely want to use a copper bullet. The Barnes and any other all copper bullet will have great penetration.

Got back at 2am from my brothers wedding last night, so I knew going deer hunting today wasn't in the cards. Felt bad for the dog since she was alone for like 16 hours last night, so I took her out bird hunting again. She did great with pointing the first bird and I did a bad job shooting again. I did hit it and it went down, but it ran when it hit the ground. She did a great job tracking it down...but the retrieve on pheasant is something we'll have to work on. The second bird I actually saw flush wild about 70 yards away when we crested the hill in the field. It flew into a dried up creek bed, so I went to the other side and pushed it back to the field edge. Wind switched when I got back in the field, so the dog had no way of finding it, but this time she flushed in range and I shot it. I really need to get into the deer woods. This weekend is looking pretty shitty though

Went out for birds this morning and came back empty handed. Dog tracked one for 60 yards and then slammed on a beautiful point. The hen was 30 yards away when I went in to flush it, but I only winged it. Dog tried hard to find it in the woods, but she couldnt. She either found it and didnt want to retrieve, or just plain old lost the scent. She doesn't like retrieving male pheasant because they spur her, but the hens are fine She pointed one more in the woods, but crept too much and busted the bird while I was still 60 yards out. Never saw it, but heard the rooster cackle as it flew. She pointed a couple other times, but the birds must have ran on her. Cant wait to get out for deer though. Weather is kind of crappy the next week or so, but ill be taking a couple days off around the first weekend of November to Focus on deer. First time I've ever waited so long to get out in the woods for deer

Cut away the meat that's touched by the guts. Washing can spread contaminants to areas otherwise uncontaminated. Not worth getting sick for a small amount of meat, so better off cutting it away

Got out today and was able to get my limit of pheasant. Took me a while to find them, but I limited out with in 10 min once I did. I checked out a tip I was given about a woodcock spot, and put up a woodcock as I was leaving. I gave it a half-harted shot, but I missed. Wasn't really hunting it, just went to look, but now I'm confident in that spot when the migration is on. I was hoping to run into a Turkey, but no such luck there either. Still a great day to get out and watch the dog point a bird Ill try to get out on last time for birds before making the full switch to deer. Still haven't gotten out for deer yet, but ill be leaving work early on Wednesday to get out in the stand. No its time to focus on deer for a month before switching back to birds.

Happy Bday!

Just got back from a week of Grouse and woodcock hunting in Maine. Group of 8 of us went up and even though the numbers were apparently way down, we managed to scrounge up 20 grouse between all of us. I was able to get 5 myself, but should have gotten at least a few more. Those guys are so much fun to hunt, but really hard to hit. It was my first time grouse hunting, but I'm hooked! Here are some pics of a few of the birds.

I didnt think people still did that. Hopefully its well stocked

Never have to. I buy broadheads that have replaceable blades and are known for being pretty sharp. I'm sure they could be sharper, but they seem to do the job quite well when I do my part

Its pretty much everything about it. The access to public lands that we can hunt, the abundant game, the hunters rights that we have. In most of northern Europe, you have to pass a litany of tests to hunt, some places require the hunters to own a recovery dog, paying the govt for a plot of land to manage (that can get taken away) and the pay to play thing. Its not a good system. Southern Europe is different. Where my family's is from, you just need to buy a hunting license and there's plenty of govt land to hunt. However there are no deer left and now there's only wolves, jackels, pigs and birds. Laws are in place for seasons and bag limits, but no one ever listens to them. I wouldn't trade what we have here for anything in the world.

Depends on where in Europe, but I don't believe many here would enjoy the European way of hunting. We are lucky to have it the way we have it here

Ill be out a lot during the week when im "working remote" since I can finish up all my work by 12. Ill also be taking a week to go grouse/woodcock hunting up in Maine this year