[Tree stand broke]

The stand was Ameristep. Forgot the name of the model. I don't think they sell it anymore. Bought it for like $120 or something like that. Will have to hunt on the ground for the rest of the season. Might go with steps and hang on or saddle next year but money is tight this year.

The bottom platform as you well know should be completely straight. It bent where that white part is at. The white is due to the paint cracking off due to the bend. Fortunately it dropped right when I was hugging the tree as I was trying to get the harness around the trunk. Also fortunate that I was only 12 to 15 feet up.

Holy crap ...........I use 2 of those stands. I bought them from Dick's. Mine are Field and Stream brand. Probably made in China.

[Next weekends hunt.]

Not much happening in 9K. Also sat in wet snow , saw 3 coyote , 25 turkeys and 1 small doe.Give it hell tomorrow, it can only get better.

[and you thought Primo's invented the "can"]

x2 worth a try ,nothing is working so far. Hoping it can only get better.

[Lost Venison & hurricane report.]

If you had a diesel motor you can run it on vegetable oil. I've been doing it for 10 yrs now and runs great. Sorry , that sucks ,I hope things get straightened out quick. Wait a minute ,I thought OBAMA was going to save the country.

[Easiest ,most tender ,delicious venison roast]

Squirll is excellent too. I had to try the mystery meat at a game dinner recently, that was cooked this way. It was delicious, by the way the meat was a spring woodchuck and racoon . How the heck did I get italics???????

[Easiest ,most tender ,delicious venison roast]

My wife makes this all the time and I can't get enough of it . First take your roast out of the freezer and put it in a crock pot or oven roaster. Cover it with 2 cans cream of mushroom soup ( or 3 cans makes more gravy) set the crock on low and leave for 6 to 8 hrs. If using the oven , same thing ,frozen roast in to roaster , cover with mushroom soup and bake on 250 for 6 hrs or until it pulls apart easy. Put the meat and gravy over a huge pile of mashed potatoes. My daughters friends call occasionally to see how my hunting is going , got 1 doe so far , so tonight, we have a housefull of kids and friends for dinner. I had to remind them that dinner won't be until I'm back in off the stand.

[more coyotes than deer]

I went out this morning , it started to snow lightly. After 20 mins. I see movement. A coyote about 75 yds out , he leaves, an hr later, 2 more coyotes come through . I called like a squirll and they start to come in down wind. The biggest gets to 30 yds. but not shot, off they go. Later a small doe comes by but acts real skiddish, I thinks she smells the coyote. No wonder I'm not seeing many deer. I need to leave the bow in the cabin and head out with the 22-250 and even the score. This is in the southern tier, north east of jamestown , ny.

[How long do you leave your powder and bullet in the gun]

Thanks for all the input . I like the suede leather trick , I'll have to give it a try. I'm convinced to shoot out the charge on a wet day but will leave it in for a few , if its dry out. Always used a balloon over the muzzle on all my guns when hunting in wet weather.Always snapped a cap before loading , caps are cheap. I don't want to miss a deer due to moisture.Powder and caps are cheap ,my time isn't.

[How long do you leave your powder and bullet in the gun]

How long do you leave your powder and bullet in the gun after a day or so of hunting? Especially in a closed breech like my TC renegade, I don't want to leave it more than a day, I'll shoot it, then a thourough cleaning that evening. My TC Triumph , I'll let it go 2 days if it hasn 't rained . I saw Stan Potts on North American Whitetail say that he left his ML go for 5 days then he missed a nice buck due to old powder.

[Safety harness saves another]

I had been looking into the tree spider. It will slowly lower you in the event of a fall. I think its time to spend the cash.........

[Hunting conditions following frankenstorm Sandy?]

I went out this eve , didn't see anything but there was no wind and an occasional quick shower.

[slow day on the stand]

The pyrodex .54 cal pellets are 60 gr. They fit down the barrel of my .50 triumph. I may have a problem after 4-5 shots with the pellets hanging up on the fouling when i reload. But in a hunting situation , 4-5 shots , is a lot of shooting.

[Venison Ham]

I have heard of it being done , but I think it would dry out the meat . No fat in the meat ,I would inject some sort of marinade or better yet , inject some warmed ,liquid pork fat with some spices mixed in. Seems like a lot of meat to screw up if it doesn't work.

[slow day on the stand]

I'm pretty sure they are the mag express. What does 120 gr in pellets equal in loose powder? Would 90gr give me enough punch at 200 yds? I can hunt west Texas with a .300 Win mag but I want to use the TC Triumph .

[can you guys age this deer???]

If this is from a NY deer , I wuold say from the enamel width and the overall wear, i'd say 8 1/2 yrs old. I only saw this much wear, one other time on a 91/2 yr old captive deer that died of natural causes. Its hard to judge just from pictures but after 61/2 yrs you tend to consider body size, mass ,antler mass etc.Looking again at the pictures , is this the upper jaw, if so it could be 91/2 as the upper wears less than the lower jaw ,usually. Just my 2 cents.

[slow day on the stand]

Today was a slow day on stand , being so warm , the deer are not moving. Went back to the cabin and pulled out the TC Triumph. I just got some new 300 gr. XTP sabots , wanting to move up to a heavier bullet from the 250 gr shockwave. The 250 gr always shot good with 2 '' groups at 100yds., but I may have a chance to go to Fort Stockton TX. to hunt Aoudad sheep on a friends 35000 acre ranch. The 300gr would be a better bullet for a 500 lb Aoudad.

I have some .54 cal pyrodex pellets that I bought for my TC .54 Renegade , so i dropped 2 down the barrel of the Triumph and I could hear them hit bottom. Dropped the 300 gr XTP in and let 'er rip. DEAD NUTS at 100 yds. , sweet ,now i"m wondering If there would be too much fouling for another shot, dropped in 2 more pellets and had to push them down the last 4 " with the bullet. Next shot touches the first at 100 yds. Now I'm grinning ear to ear, better run a few patches and let go another shot , touches the other 2, now I'm really pumped.

I plug the info into the Nikon spot on ballistic calculator and come up with a chart that will take me out to 264 yds on 9 power. Didn't mean to ramble but i found the sabots after the shots and saw that some of the petals are ripped off the base of the sabot. Is this a problem with this load? Let me know what you all think. I will run some bullets with 120 gr loose pyrodex , maybe tomorrow.

[What year did....]

In 1996 , Sunday was permitted for 3 sundays during deer season ,then within 5 years All sunday hunting was allowed except on designated lands. ( from the NRA website) I thought that it was earlier , there are still 11 states with no Sunday hunting.

[What year did....]

Years ago there was no Sunday hunting, I'm guessing 45 yrs ago. I think that goose and duck are one half hour before sunrise to one half hour after sun set.

[forgot my arrows at home.should i go back out?hmmmm]

I was wondering what a squill was. I laid awake this morning ,waiting for the alarm to go off. Opened my eyes to see it was light out allready. It was 7:30 , only an hour late, off I went ,saw 2 doe ,glad I went.

[Looking for the warmest lightest hunting boot]

I have been looking for new hunting boots, so i'm looking for your opinions. I want a lightweight boot , warm (at least 1000 gr) ,good for walking and sitting on stand for hours. I generally sit about 4 hrs in the morning and evening and roam during the day, walking about 2-3 miles. I know I have to compromise between a hunting /hiking boot and a pac boot, but need light and warm.

[the flying buck !]

The ears usually help get them off the ground. A good headwind helps alot.LOL

[The rut is on]

On my farm just north of Randlph ,NY, I have yet to see any scrapes or rubs. I know it will be soon but the lack of sign is getting to me.I' m not seeing the movement ,only a few does in the field in the evening.. I'm starting to think that my neighbors , 2 rogue cows that are roaming the woods would have something to do with it. But I would doubt that

[What do you use to clean Pyrodex fouling?]

A little off the subject, but has anybody had any experience with IMR White Hots? Almost bought some at the Cabela's store in Hammond IN. this past weekend.