coonhunter

i think the .270 is a great choice for you Doc because you like to reload. There is a ton of information out there for you and brass is easy to come by. Personally, in the recoil department, I consider the .270 more of a jumper than a puncher, which should fit you as well. Good luck with your new rifle and hope you come up with your best group ever with your own reloads.

I posted about this on another post about shotguns. I think you will be surprized how well the rifle feels. All mine are youth models now or have a shortened stock. They are produced for the average sized adult male, and apparently, I am not tall enough. The youth models fit me like a charm.

Good point d-bone. Those of us that have the experience know this or have learned it. Most of the adds you see now are touting the mechanicals, and they probably are good products. But I don't remember the adds saying anything about lower poundage shooters. Maybe the newer ones work better than the earlier models, but I don't know. I do know that I have never lost a deer shot with a plain old three blade muzzy, and I have never had a failure. I have a hard time spending more money for a product that can't kill them anymore than I already am. But, I am pretty much a hardheaded person that doesn't like to change something that works. Hell, I stuck with aluminum arrows for years just because i was stubborn. If I hadn't gotten some for Christmas, I would probably still be using them.

I miss people just plain being nicer to one another instead of this me, me ,me crap. I miss people working their butts off to support their families when times were rough instead of running to the government for free money. I miss my dad and a few buddies that have died over the years. Hunting and dirt track racing have never been the same. I miss winter. People in their 20's and maybe even their 30's don't get to see snow that never goes completely away until Spring, and just keeps piling up until the plows had to shelf it back with their wings so their was room for the next batch.

It's funny. I had a few shotguns over the years that all got the job done, but never really felt like a nice, sweet gun. I am only 5'6" tall, and i had a guy tell me to try out a youth model. I couldn't believe it the first time i shouldered my 870 youth. I instantly felt i wasted a lot of time and money over the years. It just feels right. So if you are short, young, or a woman, give a youth model a feel before you spend the money.

I agree with Doewhacker on the plain old reliable muzzy 3 blade 75 grain. They are way cheaper than the mechanicals, most of the time you can resharpen them if they hit bone, and they are easy to find at almost any shop. I started with the 75 grain many moons ago, and had so much success with them, I never bothered to change to a heavier one. As for arrows, get what you can afford. The cheapest ones are still straight within 8 thousandths. A human hair is only 5 thousandths thick. Just use the chart on this forum to get the right arrow, and keep practicing. Shot placement is the key. Wait for a clear shot. When you get older and make more money, then you can buy all the fancy equipment you want, but you will find out that a good , clear shot trumps all the fancy stuff.

Growalot, unfortunately after a calamity of errors all I have is a picture of a half skinned buck hanging. I have heard of people having problems with pens, but it never happened to me until yesterday. usually I just hold a lighter to the tip if needed, and it will write. Well, yesterday it didn't work and before it was over, I had a broken pen and ink all over my hands and somehow, I found out a while later, on my face. Then, the pen finally wrote like a charm. I have a long drag from where I hunt because four wheelers are not allowed. Well, I had a camp chair, fanny pack, my rifle, and my deer. Unfortunately for me, my buddy decided to hit the sauce Friday night so I had nobody to help. Then, when i finally get to my car, it is like a barren desert. Nobody goes by to help me get my deer in my trunk. Finally, I tied the head to one of the hinges and lifted the deer in. Now, I get in my car and see ink all over my face, and of coarse like a dumb ass, I have to smeer it more. Finally, i got to my buddie's house and got cleaned up. By that time, he had it hung and mostly skinned. Although it is a nice example of a mature deer, it is nothing special in the antler department. That is alright with me. I ate my tag last year, and held out for a bigger deer and just couldn't come up with a nice rack. I will try for a late archery buck as long as the hunting pressure stays as low as it was this weekend. Getting back to the post topic, all I can say is don't give up. Find some thick spots that have food close by that are off the road and harder to get to. As a rule, people are lazy, and don't want to have to walk in very far. Get away from the hunters, and you will find the deer and some late season bucks. Just the simple fact that the farm I hunt doesn't allow four wheelers makes it a great spot because it is uphill 300 yards before you even hit the woods.

Thanks, and traditionally I do have good luck late in the season. People give up too easy and say there are no deer in their woods. All I do is let the first week go by and watch everybody give up. There are a ton of deer in the area I hunt, but I constantly hear that if you don't get a buck on opening weekend, you have to get real lucky. The opening weekend and last weekend I saw hunters moving through the woods in my area, and heard a few shots. Yesterday, I saw no hunters, and my shot was the only one on my ridge. The does are still coming in, the fawns will come in, and hunters are staying home. Yesterday was perfect in my area. Cool, but not brutal, steady medium wind, and crunchy so you could hear the deer coming.

I sit outside my car listening to the radio and drink a cup of coffee. When I can see the outline of the trees on the hill against the sky, I finish dressing and head up. This morning I was at my stand at 6:15 which is getting a little later as the season progresses. I am a sitter so this is how I do it. I know guys that wait til shooting time, and stillhunt to their spot,sit an hour or two, and stillhunt til evening sit. Probably just depends on what has worked in the past for a hunter.

I shot an eight point today that was on the trail of a lone doe that passed through 15 minutes earlier. He wasn't grunting, but his nose was on the ground right in her trail. He was big, but leaned right down to nothing almost. On the hanging scales he weighed 180, but looked like he should have weighed a lot more, but even his fat along his backbone was down to almost nothing. I concur about the daytime movement. I saw a lot of deer, including two other bucks. Almost no shots in my hearing, and I am up high on a hill.

I enjoyed the pictures with the story. It really brings it to life. Congrats.

After a brutal morning sitting in the wind and snow yesterday, I went with a small group to do some drives to fill a few doe tags. We went to the Brookfield statelands, and only saw two older gentlemen trying to fill their doe tags. We set them right up in a couple of traditional escape routes, and they both got nice does to complete their seasons. You would have thought we gave them a million dollars they were so happy about us letting them sit on our drive. The group I went with filled all four doe tags they needed filled for that unit, and even shot a bonus eight point buck. Although I am not much of a drive hunter, I don't mind helping guys out late in the season, or on days when the weather is so nasty. I always walk because I like to see people bag their deer, and truthfully, I don't care if I shoot any with a gun or not. Number of hunters continues to drop in this area. After the first day, the roadside parking is almost non-existant. Mostly groups of hunters just pushing the woods day after day. I just think that people have put deer hunting a lot farthur down their list of priorites, or have just quit because they are too afraid to find new places to hunt after their farm they hunted forever gets sold.

I had full on chasing today, and look for it to continue right into the gun opener. Then the pressure will put it mostly to night.

Always nice to see the youngsters get out. There was times when I had myself and all three of my kids with me in the 90's. We always had a ball, and they learned patience, nature, and respect for wildlife. A good thing to remember is that kids are usually only able to take two or three hours without getting bored or antsy, and that is if they are seeing game. It was always worth it for me, and i remember it fondly even if we don't get out together much anymore.

Phade, you are correct in a lot of what you said, but the problem was only a few early does coming in. Today I wake up expecting rain, and I have snow and dead calm. I went from just getting up to see how hard it was raining, to hurrying like hell to make sure I was on time. I saw more bucks today than some hunters will see all season and I had to leave to renew my drivers licence. I just waited until I went an hour without seeing any deer, and got my butt down, went to DMV, and straight back to the woods. Had to wait another hour for the wind that had picked up to die down, and the action picked right back up. I saw at least seven different bucks chasing I think two does. I mean these bucks were grunting and their mouths were hanging open, This is the true chase stage for my hill. I thought I might miss out this year, but it is almost the exact same day as last year. I saw some of these bucks several times, and I had a few shot opportunities at close range. There was one really nice 8 that was inside of 25 yards twice this morning, but even though I was at full draw both times, I couldn't even get him to slow down. He didn't show up this afternoon so I assume he got hooked up with one of the does, and will be prime to go again in the morning. I can't wait. You talk about primary scrapes, and we just don't get them on this farm very often. No matter how many does we have tags for, we can never seem to even put a dent in the population. I think this is why we always have lots of small ones. I was surprized to actually see some bucks work a scrape even if it was first thing in the morning. As for finding the does, that is where I have been waiting on the weekends. I have two areas that the mature bucks show up at every year to get the does, and I was at one of those today. Only one mature buck showed, but hoping for more tomorrow. Thanks for the input. I sure don't pretend to have it all figured out. This was my most exciting day in a couple years. My hands were froze because I had my bow ready for over an hour tonight, and I just didn't dare reach into my pockets for my hand warmers because I had deer all over and didn't want to get picked off.

Definitely buy a box of a few different brands. Accuracy can vary greatly by the gun. I had a winchester 12 guage that absolutely would not shoot Federals at all. I mean you could throw rocks just as or more accurate than that gun would shoot a federal slug. The same gun, I had no issue at all taking 75-100 yard shots with Winchester slugs. Later on I bought a Remington 870, and it shot Federals best of all. Remember, just because it is a big ball, doesn't mean you can shoot it through brush. Make sure your first shot is clear, and make it a good one.

I'm in almost the same boat, Cabin fever. Last weekend I was worried about missing the hottest part of the rut while I was at work. I show up Saturday morning and the fawns are back with mama, the young bucks are still together, and the older bucks are nowhere to be found. A scrape I watched a few deer work last weekend looks like it hasn't been touched again all week. I have all week off, and here I sit on my computer because for the last three days, my deer sightings have ended by 8:00. And, I am moving around with the wind to keep my spots clean. They are just on a normal feeding pattern here, and most years, the mature bucks don't show up until the does come in. May be another year of a couple does in the freezer. But, it sure beats the hell out of working even if I do get up earlier for hunting.

Edmeston and Pittsfield.

My Stanley one works great. If I have coffee left at the end of the day, it is not scalding hot, but it is not even close to luke warm. Maybe it is old enough to not fall into the new junk. One small piece of advice is to wrap the cup part with some sort of cloth so when you drop it out of your stand, it only clunks on your steps instead of clanging.

I saw a mix of does alone and some still with fawns last weekend. I also saw three bucks including a good one all work the same scrape within an hour. It made me think this was going to be the big week, but maybe it will hold off for my vacation next week. I will be at it full bore starting Saturday morning. Next week has been the best week for my area for the last few years.

Wow, sure looks like it will make it through the winter hibernation well.

I said the exact same thing. The last few years the rut has held off until the week before the gun opener. This last weekend pointed to it going full bore this week. We will see starting Saturday morning.

That's what I say Deerthug. If you don't take the time to vote, don't complain how the government is. And, I sure do like to complain about polticians.

Wow! Thanks for sharing the video. I have never seen a 14 point buck even dead. This one is alive and doing well. Good luck and enjoy the hell out of this opportunity even if you don't get him.

Keva, I think he has a strong opinion about deer management in general, and he just didn't like the topic. Nyantler has a lot of useful information and ideas. Just easy to get riled up on these forums. I am just more laid back with deer hunters in general. I hunt how I like, and shoot or don't shoot what I feel makes my hunting better, If someone is happy with a 1 1/2 year old buck every year, I am not going to talk down to them or tell them to not shoot them. Every hunter has fun their own way. Hell, I know a couple guys that come down to a neighboring camp for opening week of gun season and are lucky to hunt a day the whole week. They sit around camp and drink, play cards, and eat high on the hog all week. They are always happy when we stop in to shoot the bull, and are having a great time. Hunting is made up of all kinds of people. That's is what some people forget.