Uncle Nicky

Axis deer leg steak, baked potato, and stir-fried cabbage, REALLY digging on the Axis deer, gonna shoot another one next time I go to Texas. Cheated and bought an apple crumb pie at the store, will have that with a scoop of ice cream a little later tonight.

I never look for them, but stumble on an average of 1 a year. I usually find them in the thick briars where deer lay down. Oddly enough, I have a pair that I found in the exact same location, 2 years in a row. I'm pretty sure it's the same deer, they are identical other than being a little bigger the second year I found one.

Give them to the dogs to chew on. They last a lot longer than anything you bring home from the pet store.

I usually add KC Masterpiece BBQ sauce, some diced onion & green pepper, a little brown sugar, and some hot pepper.

Thai style venison curry, over noodles. Lame cell phone picture.

I like fixed power scopes, they seem to hold their "zero" better than adjustable power scopes. I have a fixed 4X on my Model 99, and also fixed 4X on all my .22 rifles.

Gumbo, made with squirrels, venison smoked sausage, porgy, and shrimp, great way to clean the freezer up a little. With either a garden salad or cornbread, maybe both!

I always wanted to try hunting squirrels with dogs, finally got my chance. Met up with a group of guys who had Mountain Feist dogs in central PA. Neat little canines!!! Action was a little slow, but I think I get the hang of how this works. Already plotting my next hunting dog, and how to sell the idea to Mrs.

Another item to consider, some dogs like setters and some spaniels have longer hair, that needs to be combed often or trimmed, and gets tangled and filled with burdocks out in the woods. Shorter haired dogs are easier to maintain that way, but get cold quicker and when they shed, the hair is next to impossible to pick up. I'm looking into a feist or cur for squirrel hunting, but something tells me if I bring home another dog, I will be sleeping outside in a kennel with them. Mrs. Uncle Nicky has been pretty good about my bringing home hunting dogs so far, but a 3rd may be pushing the limits....

That is like asking what kind of ice cream or truck is best, everyone is partial to a certain breed. I would consider how you like to hunt...with a bird that points (pointer, Brittany, or setter), or with a bird that flushes (Lab, springer, or Boykin).

I think the name is Polish, it's cabbage leaves stuffed with seasoned ground meat and rice, baked in tomato sauce.

Making venison galumpkis and homemade mashed potatoes!

My best memory of deer hunting without firing a shot in 2016 was hunting at the club I joined this year in Virginia. I was able to break loose for a few days after Christmas, they use dogs to drive the deer, beagles, foxhounds, and mixes. Anyone who thinks this is lazy, unethical or cheating should give this a try some time. 15 guys hunted 2 full days I was there, 5 deer were killed (1 nice buck). It's really not all that different than driving deer with humans, and the dog owners/handlers break their tails not only controlling the dogs, but rounding them up after each drive, and feeding and cleaning their pens for the 10 months in the year when they don't hunt.

I know this may sound negative, but years ago, if I hunted a few times and didn't see or kill a deer, I would get pretty salty. I was processing deer at the time, and would have customers bring in 5 or 6 deer (legally) a year, and kept wondering, "How is it that they are killing 5 or 6 and I'm lucky to just get 1?". Eventually, the light bulbs went on in my head and I tagged along a few times, and I realized they were hunting quality private land, not just taking their chance at the nearest state park, as well as hunting smart AND hard every season. So, eating tag soup became the motivation I needed to become a "killer" like them. Eventually that all evened out, I still mostly hunt high-density private land and hunt as smart as possible, it's a rare year that I don't kill 2 or 3 deer now (all I want or need). But I'm a lot less aggressive than I was 15 or 20 years ago.

This time I hunted near San Angelo, I've hunted near San Antonio, Hondo, and in the Panhandle before also. In the grand scheme of things, I wouldn't say it's cheap, but I wouldn't call it expensive either...you can get a good hunt with airport transportation, meals, and lodging for under $2,000 if you do your homework. If you DON'T come home from Texas with a very nice buck, something is definitely wrong... A hog hunt is a lot cheaper, and they want every one killed on sight. I can PM the name of the outfitter to anyone who is interested.

Oh yeah, this is the 3rd axis I've shot. I made Salisbury steak out of some ground meat 2 nights ago, DEELICIOUS!!!

Yes, I could never get used to using a release, no matter how hard I tried. I mostly hunt with a crossbow these days. I don't think that anchor point, broadheads, or anything else would be any different than shooting a bow using a release, it's more a case of getting the coordination and control once you decide to let the arrow fly, and making sure your follow-through is consistent.

Gift cards, I'd rather buy what I want than risk someone picking it out for me. My mother gave me one of my father's handguns as a Christmas gift, I'm excited to use it on a hog hunt I have scheduled at the end of March.

Thanks t_barb!

Looking to make a fairly large purchase and use up some of the gift cards I got at Christmas. Does anyone have a current Cabelas coupon code that they can share with me by PM? Thanks!

The older I get, the less desire I have to sit out in cold less than 28 degrees, or in the pouring rain. I eat a lot of wild fish and game, but this day and age way can but food in a store if we have to. Thankfully, I've been able to find quality places to hunt and I hunt smarter than I did in the past, so I;m usually tagged out by late season anyway. I like hunting October and early November the best. I also don't jog, golf, hate sitting in the house, and don't get too excited by spectator sports, so all my free time is spent in the pursuit of wild animals, until the weather turns crummy.

I don't know about a better hunter, but probably a more experienced hunter. I have always said "Bow hunting is heart-breaking", because so many things can and Do go wrong. It's good to get a taste of the good, the bad, and the ugly as soon as possible, mostly the ugly, so that you know what to do and how to react when things go wrong (bad shot, lost blood trail, shooting from a tree as opposed to shooting at a range, etc., etc.)

The big competitor in my neck of the woods is Comcast, and they are even worse than Verizon. I was a weak fan of Verizon before they pulled all of the outdoor shows, now I lump them in with all the other big companies that really DGAF.

Lost a treestand in the Philly suburbs, this happens quite a bit, even with a heavy chain, a couple padlocks, and locking cables. I'm done with replacing them, going to raise the bar a little and hunt from the ground from now on.

I've never owned a Model 27, I do have a Model 19 that has helped a few hogs see their demise, VERY accurate handgun. Off topic, but I just inherited a Interarms Virginia Dragoon single-action revolver that was my father's before he passed on, .44 mag with a 6" barrel. I'd never heard of this gun before, did a little reading on the internet, mostly mixed reviews. Curious to see how this gun performs on hogs, will give it a try this spring.