JALA RUT

Treeguy, a full body mount of a Booner would be amazing

Thanks Rob, I'll have to try that

Rob, I don't know why but for some reason all of a sudden I'm not able to add pictures to my posts. Use to add pics in my posts all the time from phone and computer but now I keep just getting msg that my pics are over size limit when they're not...unless I'm looking at them wrong.

I dropped off my Muzzleloader Buck Hide at the taxidermist to have it preserved and he told me that the DEC aged my Bow 10Pt Buck at 5.5 years old. He also asked if I was planning to have him scored for P&Y or NYSBBC, saying that he'd guesstimate it's score to be about 140 - 145. Trust me, I'm not a numbers guy and hate when other hunters bash someone for their harvest because of size, age, or whatever else. I'm a firm believer that every legally taken deer is a trophy and if a hunter is happy with a doe, a spike, or a monster buck he or she should gladly take and be proud of the harvest. So, with that said, I do choose to hold out for a mature buck, even though I don't particularly try to wait for a P&Y buck. Although, I have always wanted to tag at least one P&Y buck in my time. The closest that I've come so far, before this year's bow buck was a buck that scored 123 1/8, just missing the P&Y minimum score of 125. So, I'm going to get this years buck scored when I get him back from the taxidermist. He'll probably be done at the taxidermist shop around February...and I'll update with a score when it's done and he'll hopefully be my first P&Y Buck!

2018 was my 36th bow season and I've had 3 bows throughout that time. My current bow since 2007, a Martin Magnum. Been shooting that bow so long that when I draw and anchor, it feels like a natural extension of my arm. Have switched out strings on it but that's all its needed in that time and still dropping deer with it.

My dog's name was Colby...great dog, had to put him down last February. A 17yrs & 3 months old Cocker Spaniel.

Man, me too Rob...i can't wait until Oct 1st!

The season was great even with some of the weather challenges this year! I managed to tag two bucks, one with bow on 11/9, a nice main frame 10Pt with a 1" kicker off of one of his bases (My best buck to date and my #1 Target buck from Trail Cams) and one with Muzzleloader yesterday 12/18 the last day of the season at 4:20, a mature broken up 8Pt that looked like he was a fighter with a broken up rack and a torn ear. But in all honesty, even if I hadn't punched a tag my answer would be the same. The punched tags are just the icing on the cake! I can't express how much I just enjoy being out there and already can't wait until October 1st. I had some messed up stuff going on in my personal life and the alone thinking time on stand was needed and really helped. I keep a hunting sighting log and after completing last nights hunt in it, it shows that I logged 262 hours of stand time (Not counting time sitting in the dark waiting for it to get light out-I usually am on stand an hour to an hour and a half before light to give the woods time to settle) - broken down as follows: Bow - 122.25 Hrs, Gun - 112 Hrs, & Muzzle - 27.75 Hrs. I logged 45 Hunts as follows 13 AM Hunts, 19 PM Hunts, and 13 All Day Hunts with 22 Hunts during bow, 16 Hunts during Gun, and 7 Hunts during Muzzle. As for deer sightings I logged 137 Deer Sightings; 27 Buck sightings, 100 Doe/Antlerless sightings, and 10 Unknown sightings (I'm sure lots of repeats over different days). 55 Sightings during Bow; 12 Buck / 39 Doe / 4 Unknown; 73 sightings during Gun; 10 Buck / 58 Doe / 5 Unknown; (They were moving like crazy the last day of the season - 22 sightings that day including a shooter at 70 Yds with 6 Doe that never presented a shot and later a small 6 Pt that bedded 17Yds from my tree stand for over 2 hours) and 9 sightings during Muzzle; 5 Buck / 3 Doe / 1 Unknown. During the season I passed countless shots at smaller bucks and does but had encounters with 6 Shooter bucks; 3 during bow, 2 during gun, and 1 during Muzzle (Don't get me wrong - not bashing anybody for taking does or younger bucks. Any legally harvested deer by any legal means is a trophy. Just for me I choose to pass and wait for mature bucks or does after buck tag is punched). I learned that I still get the adrenaline pumping with Buck Fever as it took me 3 tries to get my bow pulled back on that 10 Point and I could swear he could have heard my heart pounding...but that's why we do it! I hope that feeling never goes away! I've come up with a list of projects for next season and looking forward to the prep and start of a new season next year! I'd post pics of my two bucks but for some reason the site won't let me post pics anymore. I'll gladly send pics to someone if they want to post them up for me or tell me what I'm doing wrong...LOL

Muzzleloader buck down at 4:20. Just got him out of woods and hung. Broken up 8Pt. Tried adding pic but for some reason I haven't been able to add pics to the site.

Out of work on time for a final night hunt with the muzzeloader...in my stand that I got the 10Pt out of during bow. Keeping fingers crossed for some final hours luck. Good luck to all out on this last day.

Prayers sent

Managed to get out of work on time to give it a go with the muzzleloader. In stand by 130. Pretty windy so not feeling real lucky but we'll see.

No rain here yet but it feels like its coming shortly.

Had a spike and a small 6Pt walk by together at about 7:50. Passed on them at about 12 yards. Nothing since. 8F

In stand nice and early with the muzzle waiting for daylight. Packed in for an all day sit. Last weekend I saw 22 deer from this stand on the last day of gun season including a shooter 8Pt with 6 does at 70 yds... he just never presented a shot in the brush &trees bird dogging the does before they took off. Then had a little 6Pt bedded 17 yds from my stand for over 2hrs...Hopefully Mr 8Pt wanders through again today. Good luck to all out this last weekend of muzzle/bow. So far my hunting log shows 242 hrs of stand time this year...hopefully today it pays off

Worked last 2 days in PA so managed to get out of work early to put in some stand time. Haven't even been in the stand a half hour and I just had a little 6Pt chase 3 doe by me...passed on the 6Pt at about 70yds...and now a little BB came by following the trail they were on...Hopefully one of the big boys follows suit.

Hey Belo, I've been in the market for a new pair of binos, what power are the Vortex binos you got?

Im with you Crappyice. Even though I got my best buck to date this bow season, gun has not been working out for me as far as any of the big boys showing up. Passed on some smaller bucks including a small 6Pt less than 15 yds from me yesterday, but haven't laid eyes on one of the big boys during gun season. My log shows I'm up to 195 hours of stand time this year, not counting time sitting in the dark waiting for daylight...122 bow season and 73 gun season. But today feels like the day and I'm packed in for an all day sit today. Good luck to you and all the rest out there today. Biz you are due for one...hope your 8Pt shows up in front of you

I have a funny story just about that. Two season's ago during bow season, the last Sunday before gun season opened, one of the local churches was doing a law enforcement appreciation mass and breakfast, so I skipped bowhunting that day to attend mass and the breakfast with two other guys from the PD. It was a lot of fun and a bunch of kids from the congregation enjoyed checking out the police car afterwards. Well, the next day, Monday I worked a half day to do a PM hunt and when I checked my trail cam, one of the 10 Pointers I was after that year came in and bedded down about 20 yards from my tree stand and was bedded there for over 3 hours.

My first buck was on 10/28/86; a little 6Pt that I got bowhunting on the ground. I was sitting on the ground up against a wide pine tree and my girlfriend at the time, wanted to come to watch, was sitting on the ground to my left about 6yds from me up against another pine tree. We were up on a little ridge that had a good deer trail about 10 feet below littered with rubs all along it. About half an hour before quitting time I heard something coming along the trail below the ridge but instead of following along the trail, it came up to the ridge and popped out about 10 yards to the left of my girlfriend. I could see that it had antlers and looked like a little fork horn. As it came to the top of the ridge it started rubbing a tree. All I can think of was, finally a buck in bow range and my girlfriend's between me and him, so I'm not going to even get a shot. I figured he'd see her any minute and bolt out of there but instead after he rubbed the tree for about a minute he turned and headed back down the ridge presenting me with a shot...talk about getting lucky.

Interesting, I'm gonna have to try that tomorrow. I would have thought the opposite, thinking that your feet would get sweaty in the plastic zip lock bag and then causing them to get cold.

So sorry for your loss, pets are truly members of the family. Prayers sent. Had to put my buddy Colby down Feb 1st...a 17yr & 3month old Cocker Spaniel that we got when he was about 2 months old.

Robhuntandfish, AWESOME Buck! Congrats!

Sounds like a beautiful piece of property!

Apex, like you, I love that adrenaline rush of when I see a shooter buck that I know I'm going to be shooting...I hope to never lose that feeling and I doubt that I ever will, being that I still get that excited after 35 years of bowhunting. In fact, when my shooter buck came in Friday, buck fever started kicking in and it took me 3 tries to even get my bow pulled back...Thank God he didn't look over and see me shaking like a bundle of nerves trying to pull back a bow that I've literally pulled back hundreds of times with no problems at all...LOL...and in the end, it all worked out with a harvest that I'm so happy with! Anyways, what helps me focus on the job at hand and not getting all messed up with Buck Fever is steps that I repeat to myself in my mind over and over....Draw, Aim, Breath, Release, Follow Through. I do this when I'm just target shooting as well so it's ingrained in me so in the heat of the moment of the real deal with a shooter buck, muscle memory takes over and it seems to help keep me focused on what I should be doing to send an arrow down range rather than being over run by adrenaline. Seems to work for me (Once I manage to actually get the bow drawn back...LOL). Good Luck, hope you get another whack at him, he sounds like a beauty!