coonhunter

Like Dom, I just wash in baking soda. Sometimes I have to get a good cleaning from blood, mud, etc., and I will give them a normal washing, and then wash in baking soda.

My Christmas this year is mostly ice fishing related, as I am well stocked for hunting. Don't know when the hell we will get ice, but I sure am ready.

Nice shot. That's a pretty good, close picture.

I guess I am lucky like turkeyfeathers in the fact that my body takes the cold really well. I have a pair of morrells 600 gr. boots for above freezing. Then i have 1000gr. cheapy guide gear boots for colder hunting and for ice fishing. Several, including me, have said that a lot of people get their boots too snug. Try to leave some room, including your socks. I use merino wool or a synthetic blend that wicks any moisture away. In case you happen to come across it, my socks that have the rating on the label say (TOG of 2.4).

Nice pair of bucks. Should make a nice side by side frame look awful special.

They had Rapalas buy 4 get 2 free, so i picked up some jiggin and some rippin raps for ice fishing. Not bad because they are expensive little lures that work great at times.

Take my word for it, it's a coon feeder. If a bear happens upon it, he or she just carries it off and crushes it, and the person doesn't bother putting a feeder there again. Don't feel like an ass. I ran hounds for years and didn't know what one was when we came upon it in a sanctioned hunt.

That's a nice action shot right there. I used to go down on the Hudson at Kingston to fish for the stripers.

Nope, it is still a weapon . I can't even shoot my bow in town because of a neighbor not liking hunting and calling the cops after I had practiced for years down my driveway with a garage for a backstop. The police said I would get a ticket for discharging a weapon in town. I never even thought of such a thing because I thought it just meant guns.

I can feel for you about the time because it seems like there is always a hundred things to do this day and age. I am fortunate in the fact that I have been at my job for years and have plenty of vacation time. Don't be bitter. Your luck could change at a moments notice, or maybe you can meet someone that has better land to hunt. Enjoy getting out there and relax as much as you can. You definitely have it rough having to travel like that.

I got completely skunked this morning. It doesn't happen very often and I am glad. I was in 4O outside of Masonville. I sat until 11:00 and never heard a shot. It was about as perfect a morning as you can ask for with a light frost and almost no wind. I was set up downwind of a bedding area with turkeys, squirrels, and birds aplenty, but the deer were no shows. I love to watch the sun creep its way to me on a cool, clear morning.

You win.

That is awesome. I bet both of you are proud as hell. She sure had to work for it and had a wonderful dad by her side to guide her through. I love it when the ladies get into hunting and have success.

That is a great story. You obviously made quite an impression on him for him to remember your name and everything. Hope you put one down with it before you put it up. good luck.

I ran coonhounds for years. Believe me, there are feeders and bait piles all over this state. You really are hung up on these crossbows. How does it work when you shoot a deer with a light and a crossbow, you make a perfect shot behind the shoulder, and the deer runs off to the woods. Do you grab a flashlight and expose yourself to the world wandering around in the dark? Or do you try and get it in the daylight when you are in plain sight again. If they are doing it on their own land, I guess it would be easier to get away with and they can tell everyone what mighty hunters they are. I think hunters ought to just worry about doing their own thing, being legal, and enjoying themselves. Quit worrying about your neighbors and other hunters. For every poacher caught, there are another dozen that get away with it. And I am pretty sure it is mostly rifles doing it. I have never even shot a crossbow, and I don't sweat them one bit. I am just glad that if my body starts to give out, I will have an option to go to when I can't draw a bow back. But for me, I enjoy other hunters' successes instead of being jealous. I don't know. Maybe I just look at hunting different than others. I worry more about keeping the hunter numbers up and getting young people into it, and if it takes a cool new weapon like a crossbow to do it, I am for them.

To me poaching has always involved a light and a .22 mag to the head, and before you can get there, the truck and deer are gone. Why would someone want to have to track a deer in the dark on land they are trespassing on in the first place? I have no problem with people using a crossbow the same time I am using a vertical. Lack of funding for a real DEC presence and people losing their darn minds over deer are much bigger issues when it comes to poaching.

I prefer the top ones. Any of these will make you a beautiful bow. You are going to have to decide if you want the red or the dark. I can't believe somebody talked you out of the other one you had.

Glad to see you have some success. Sometimes it just takes time for luck to swing your way. Damn fine shot too!

Mine was good for quantity of bucks seen, but the quality just wasn't there for me this year. I was in the woods when the chase phase finally started, and it never gets old seeing and hearing the bucks running does all over. I had one morning that was so cool and calm that I could hear the deer and a bear crunching up acorns just as plain as day. Not a bad season at all. I have had a lot worse on new land.

Treeguy, that is how I feel about him seeing the action. He was excited as hell jabbering on the radio. The only problem is that he has only killed one deer his whole life and is still in the early stages of deer hunting where a kill is a lot more important than someone that has killed a bunch. He will feel better when I get him back on one of the farms I hunt with no AR and a doe tag. He found this property himself and we scouted a little bit and he picked his own stand site. I told him what a great job he did and how much he has learned in two years of hunting with me, but he was only partly feeling better. Let him get a couple more deer under his belt and he will be more accepting. Larry, that is exactly how i do it. Not all of them will have 120+ inches, but most do. My last nine bucks average out to 184 pounds and some of them were leaned right out from running the does and patrolling their rutting territory. I will say that three of these bucks didn't even have 100 inches of antler.

You guys make me glad I posted this. It has been eating at me, but I am not one to stir up a bunch of crap on the internet. I am more of an old school, face to face talker. Plus the fact that I never post pictures or even post a whole lot made me reluctant to bring the subject up. Glad to see it was well received. I want to take a moment to thank the moderators for taking the time to police this site and keeping it friendly for all hunters and all types of deer hunters. And to all the members on this site whether you are active a lot, post pictures or not, or if you just show up for deer season, thanks.

Right there with you blur. I was in an AR area yesterday with a gentleman that has shot one buck his whole life. He got to witness, for the first time in his life, two bucks chasing does all around him. Unfortunately for him, both were forks or spikes. He was excited about the grunting, chasing, and the mouths being wide open, but he sure was disappointed in not being able to shoot. Especially, when he was denied a doe tag for the second year in a row. I just don't like them being forced down hunters' throats. Voluntary works for people that want them.

God! I am glad I have this site to go to and enjoy. It is sickening the crap I have been reading on facebook sites and other forums. Although we have a few good debates on antler restrictions every year, for the most part the posters and the moderators keep things down to a dull roar. Christ, every post has to have some snide comment on it if it is not a big buck. Who cares if you have a big lease and raise deer like cattle with tons of money spent on plots and the lease? Not impressed with hunters trying to be like the tv personalities. If you have the money and want to spend it, that is your business, but don't make it so bad that people are afraid to show their bucks they are proud of, or have them saying that it isn't a big one. If someone takes it legally, they have a right to be proud of it. It is even to the point of hunters shaming kids by saying too bad they aren't getting taught the right way. I was shooting mature bucks way before this antler craze came along. Now, I hunt the big ones with a bow, and only shoot does with a gun. Guess what, that's my choice. I don't cram it down anyone's throat. I take what I learned in bow season and give it to the gun hunters that hunt the same properties. The farm I hunted the most in bow season is leased by a group of 8 from the city. I didn't pay a cent to hunt this land, but I had plenty of scouting information for these guys that work hard all year just to come up for a week and hunt. For the first time ever, all 8 guys got a buck in the first couple days. The biggest was a 2 year old 8 about 15 inches wide. I will guarantee you there is not a happier camp in the state than this group right now. They have all week to shoot some does to even add more to the year. I am invited back next year, and my family is invited to a pig roast and huge dinner next weekend before they all have to go back to life. This is what hunting is all about to me and is what a lot of us older hunters grew up on, camaraderie at it's finest. I still have to get back over and shoot a couple more does to fill my obligation to the farmer and the leasers. Once again, thanks everyone for making this an enjoyable site.

I burnt my tag this morning on a doe. As I pulled up to where I have been parking, there was a truck already there. The farmer got out and had a young man with him (10 yr. old boy). He asked if i could take him along because he had never been and was interested. So I grabbed a small blind out of my trunk and had company for my sit. It was still mostly dark so I told him we weren't going to worry about noise, we just needed to get up on the hill. Of course he wanted to grab a Gator, but I said we would walk. He really wasn't fond of the dark, being a city kid, but he was a trooper with a little encouragement. We made it up on the saddle with enough light to set up the blind and anchor it down. He thought it was pretty cool to be sitting in it in the middle of the woods, but of course, he had to pee right off the bat. No biggee just pick a tree. Well, we got to hear and then see a bunch of turkeys right off the bat, along with all the squirrels eating acorns. This kid was a sponge trying to learn about nature. Then , I could hear the crunching of bigger animals coming up from the swamp, and I told him where to watch. Sure as can be, here comes four doe up over the knoll about 60 yards away. He was wanting me to shoot and was about losing his mind actually seeing deer in the woods. I told him we had to wait for them to get a lot closer. They were pretty leery of the blind, but they kept feeding their way towards us until they were at 30 yards. I had already showed him the trees they needed to get to before I could shoot, and he was ready. He was so excited I told him we were going to let them get even closer. He was a nervous wreck and starting to spook the deer a little when they got within 20 yards. I told him I couldn't miss now . So, I draw my bow and hit the top of the damn blind because I have never shot my bow out of it before. So, I had to squat a little more, and make darn sure I wasn't going to hit something with my limbs or arrow. Everything was clear so i took the shot. Perfect pass thru right behind the shoulder and she went running back towards the swamp with the others, and I thought I could hear her crash. Obviously, he wanted to go charging out, but we waited for 15 minutes and stepped out. We walked over to where she stood, and I showed him where she wheeled around in the leaves. He saw the hair right off the bat and asked where it came from. I showed him another broadhead and told him it cut on its way through. He asked about blood, and I said we had to follow her tracks and find it. 10 yards away the blood started and never stopped. I let him track it until he almost stepped on her. This kid is hooked. I let him help with the gutting and help drag it out to the edge of the woods. I could just tell this was a great and exciting experience for him. I let him call his dad to bring up the gator so he could drive it down in the barnyard to show everyone. He had blood up to his elbows and he had to tell everyone the story. He is a natural. This is why I help kids and women so much.

I will use the only big rifle I own. 100 ATR Mossberg topped with a Simmons Pro Hunter scope, chambered in .270. Not a very expensive or pretty rifle, but it gets the job done. I just won $40 bucks with it shooting against the guys that came to hunt the farm in New Berlin that I have been bow hunting. So, it is off to Texas Roadhouse for my wife and me tonight.