Uncle Nicky

It never fails. When I specifically target squirrels, they are few & far between. When I sit for deer or turkeys, they are everywhere. Things that make you go hmmm.....

Wanted to get a little squirrel hunting in today while they are still pretty active. Anyway, it turned out to be a slow day, I saw more deer than squirrels. After 2 hours of nothing, I decided to give a few barks on my Buck Rogers handy dandy squirrel call gizmo. First set of calls didn't receive any reaction, about 5 minutes after the second set, a bushy tail appeared out of nowhere, about 15 yards in front of me, he seemed to be looking for something (the originator of the call)? He caught me moving, but I got him in the tree running. 15 minutes later a chatty bow hunter stopped by, I was getting cold, so I called it a day. But honestly, I believe the bark calling brought this one in. Has anyone else ever had any luck trying to call squirrels in?

Not just today, this kind of nonsense has been going on since I started hunting 45 years ago.

Not always true.

This argument/discussion has been around forever. I recall the topic came up when my son was taking the PA hunter safety course, the game warden said whoever puts a fatal shot on the deer claims it. An open ended comment, IMO. I always thought the guy who finishes the deer off should take it. I had this scenario a number of years ago, I hit a buck that I was tracking, I'm pretty sure he was going to bleed out with the amount of blood he was leaving, I heard another guy finish it off. I followed the track/blood to the guy who was gutting it, I congratulated him, he wanted the deer and was expecting a confrontation (I think), but I wasn't giving him one. Saved me a long drag, and truth is I was tracking on property I didn't have permission for. I also had a couple guys steal a deer from me, it ran a piece and died. I was young and dumb, I followed it to a couple guys who were dragging it away (no shot fired). I told them I'd shot, they said they finished it off and laughed. As a full grown adult with some life experience, I think that scenario would have ended differently today.

The PA meat yield chart is a joke. I processed over 250 deer a year commercially for 15 years, as well as working as a meatcutter in a supermarket. Even if you are including the brain, tongue, heart, kidneys, liver & ribs, the most boneless yield you will get on a deer is 35%. A big buck is meatier, and a fawn/button buck will be more bones.

I understand 100%.

Allegany county 6 point. Hooray for me!

A year ago-an old guy who just wanted the antlers. Confuses me also.

Yeah, I still have an old Hobart Black Beauty grinder I bought when I started my processing business (early 90s). I've since retired from that endeavor, but I'd guess the grinder is about 50 years old. Rough estimate 16-17 tons of meat ground through while I've been owner, and still going strong. If I were in the market for a grinder, I'd try a Craigslist ad or restaurant/market supply shop first & see if you can find a used small commercial grinder in good shape before buying from LEM, Sausage Maker, or Cabelas. Just my $.02.

Sounds like a logical choice, I've had guns in the past that I wasn't impressed or comfortable hunting with, I just dumped them (but was honest with the buyer). But I wasn't attached sentimentally to any of them.

Tighten every screw, bolt, & nut, especially around the scope mounts. If that fails, put it up for sale. Nothing worse than a gun that won't shoot straight, just more frustration and money spent on shells every time you go to the range.

No pics, but a Savage Model 99, .358 Winchester. My favorite woods gun that I own.

I never used a cocking device on either of my crossbows, but when the string is fully pulled back and cocked (safety had to be off), you hear a "click" and the safety snaps into the safe position, then the bow is ready to fire. Broken strings and cracked limbs are usually the result of the force of the fired string not making direct contact with a solid object (a bolt). At least this has been my experience. I think the cocking device is mainly for ease in cocking the crossbow, I have heard it has an effect on accuracy when both sides of the string are pulled up completely evenly, but I've always had good results without using one, I really believe the accuracy issue is minimal.

I have heard people say "don't look at his antlers, just take your time & line up the shot". I haven't had my knees shake when I killed a deer in a long time, the only thing I recall thinking to myself when shooting a decent buck has been, " don't screw this up dummy".

I'm still on the fence about ARs, I like to have the choice of shooting whatever makes someone happy. But, in all honesty, I've never hunted an AR region in NY, but here in PA, antler restrictions are about 18 years old now, and there are definitely bigger bucks walking around now than before ARs.

No, cocked is cocked. I'm still going with the nock of the bolt was not making complete contact with the string at the time he squeezed the trigger. Barnett is notorious for having "fast" crossbows, probably too much power.

They stopped making Horton crossbows for a couple years and selling parts as well as servicing the old Horton products, pretty sure you can't get any customer service for anything made prior to the the buyout. I guess I should have been more specific? But yes, Ten Point is now manufacturing crossbows under the Horton name.

Yes, had it happen to me. First, I'll say I am NOT a fan of Barnett crossbows. My first was a Barnett, and it was a dog with fleas. My best bet is that he didn't have the bolt snug against the string when he fired, I'm pretty sure that was what happened in my case. I also dry-fired the crossbow once (yes, I'm that stupid, I had my kids with me, they were acting up, the bow wasn't shooting right, and I was frazzled, at least that's my story ). I replaced my Barnett when I had enough about 8 years ago, bought a Horton right before they went out of business. I still have the original string, no signs of wear, I do keep the rails lubricated. Rough estimate is that I've fired 400-500 shots (this includes practice and firing a shot into the backstop bag after each hunt) with the Horton, no signs of wear & tear (yet).

This is what I miss... Can we get 10 pages???

Someone sounds just a little envious that his neighbor has some money and land in Kansas. It's amazing the jealousy that deer hunting brings out in some guys.

I don't seeing proficient with a slug gun to be a bad thing. Most of NY lets you hunt with a rifle these days, but it wasn't always like that. If you ever decide to hunt in other parts of the state, much of the Midwest, parts of VA, PA, MD, DE, or NJ, you won't be able to use a rifle. I never noticed the recoil when I was wearing a heavy jacket, only sighting in at the range.

It is much harder to get a clear sight picture using pins on a bow or open sights on a gun than it is to pick things out through a scope when light is low. I'd be more tempted to call it a day early bowhunting than I would on a day when I had a scoped rifle or shotgun.

This week- 10/26-10/30. November- 11/17-11/19. December- 12/1-12/9.