Uncle Nicky

How long have you been doing this?

I don't need to kill a deer that badly that I shoot one at dusk, back out, and come back the next morning to find all traces of blood trail gone, a dog probably won't even be able to find it at that point. No offense.

No, I don;t bow hunt in the rain, I usually won't hunt in the afternoon if rain is forecasted overnight either.

That's odd. I've never heard of ground meat being tough, not arguing, but just saying. I have butchered deer before where I noticed the muscles were extremely stiff, in every case it was a deer that died hard (didn't die immediately).

Wasn't going to jump in, but the devil made me do it.. SOOO many old wives tales, mis-truths, and urban legends regarding meat & venison... Aging meat DOES improve the quality of venison, I'd be willing to bet the average guy on the street could tell the difference in flavor and tenderness, but the question is, is the time, effort, and chance worth the end result? If done correctly, aged meat will develop a black somewhat slimy crust that needs to be trimmed off, you'll lose close to 1/2 of the edible meat; a deer isn't that big to begin with. Usually meat is aged at around 40 degrees uncovered and not touching any other meat in the aging box. Lots can go wrong with this scenario. I guess I don't really care for venison, even aged, enough to go through the trouble. "Cold shortening" is the term for freezing meat before rigor mortis sets in. This can be avoided by letting the meat cool down to room temperature before freezing. The only way this is going to happen is if someone kills a deer, runs home, skins it, and get it in the freezer within 2 or 3 hours of the kill. I have some clue of what I'm talking about, I have a degree in culinary arts, cut meat in a store 10 years, and ran a processing business for 15 years.

I'd go with .35 Remington.

The first time I hunted in South Carolina, the landowner strongly suggested to bring a Thermacell. I had never heard of one before, I had always used bug spray and a headnet before that. I was pretty skeptical at first, but once I tried one, I realized they were on to something. This was 15 years ago, most folks up north now know what they are, but I still run across some older fellas who've never heard of one, and refuse to carry one in the warmer months.

Name the next pup Cletus. Next dog I get I'm calling Fido.

Best of luck with the pup!!

You can kill a deer with a .22 rimfire also, but why wouldn't you want to use the right tool for the job? Personally, a .243 with a 100 grain bullet is about as light as I'd want to go, but as long as you're within the law, it's up to you to decide what gun to use.

You are always taking a chance when you leave personal property out in the woods. I've had a lot of stuff stolen over the years, what I've noticed is the more people that frequent an area, the better chance of having your stuff disappear. The more chains and locks used, the better chance you have of keeping stands secured, but as mentioned, if someone wants to destroy/steal your stand badly enough, they will find a way.

I've smoked bluefish before, it's good. I can't eat salty food anymore, so that's out. I'll have some tonight and maybe another meal this week, the rest I'll give to neighbors. I found the best thing to do is trim ALL the bloodline off the back of the filet, and give it a soak in water for a little while to get some of the blood out before cooking. It's not bad fresh, just gets funky once it sits in the freezer a while.

Found a 6th guy to go after all. Another outstanding trip to the Sportfishing Capitol of the NorthEast. My son caught the biggest porgie I have ever seen!

I think you mostly got it right...only thing I see misssing is where you paint your face like an Amazon tribesman or an X-man. And I think it's customary to yell "BOO-YAH" after you give the fake cameraman a fist pump. But very close.

I either fry them like chicken and make pan gravy with biscuits, or cook them in the crock pot and turn them into Brunswick Stew, gumbo, or dark meat "chicken" salad.

WOW! You definitely have them patterned!!! (Where's the thumbs up icon on this thing??)

All this talk of squirrel hunting got me inspired...I went up to camp this weekend (Allegany County) to get things ready for deer season. I decided to lug the shotgun along, and get up early this morning for a squirrel hunt. Action was a little slow, I killed the only 2 I saw. No dreaded bot flies, but I did see a couple holes/scabs on the squirrels' skin that wasn't from #4 shot, assuming the bot flies had been & gone. I'd forgotten how challenging the early season could be, it's much easier to get the drop on them in October when the leaves are on the ground and crunchy, and they are out in full force putting their winter stash together. The dog is my dropper Maizy, she has nothing to do with squirrel hunting, but I am just so proud of her I posted her picture.

Aim for the head with buckshot (because it doesn't penetrate into the body cavity very well, and any miss should be a clean miss), aim for the front shoulder with a slug gun or rifle (even if you miss by a few inches, you are in the kill zone), and aim right behind the shoulder with an arrow (need to hit both lungs and heart if possible).

Dumb move, just another kid who got fame, fortune, and success before he was ready for it. Probably finished in the NFL, if he does play this year I wouldn't be surprised if he takes some late hits and cheap shots and the refs will look the other way. Maybe he'll wind up playing in Canada, where they play another anthem and salute a different flag, wonder if he'll be as disrespectful there?

This is what I've been doing for the last 10 years or so, if I drop one where dragging it out would be more trouble than it is worth. Take your pictures where the deer dropped, then skin & quarter it right there. 2 trips with 25# of meat beats 1 trip @ 175 #,

Bumping it up.

Due to a cancellation, there is an opening available for 1 person on a charter trip from Montauk, on Saturday, September 10th. The plan right now is to target stripers and bluefish, and once we get a limit of stripers, fish for fluke and sea bass. I've done this trip dozens of times, September is usually prime time. Charter boat is Windy, Captain Jack Passie. If anyone is interested, send me a PM for details. Thanks for looking!

I'm not much on preserves, but there are 2 in Southeast PA I've been to that I would recommend: 1). Pheasant Valley Farms (also helped me with dog training) http://www.pheasantvalleyfarm.com/ 2). Powderbourne. http://www.powderbourne.com/gun-club/pheasant-hunts/

I've hunted with a .22, but most times I'll bring the shotgun, nervous about shooting in the air with a rimfire. They are incredibly tough, I've lost a few that were hit with 5 & 6 shot, so I use #4. I try to let them get out past 20 yards, but like having the full choke to reach up into the treetops. I'm supposed to get together with a guy this year who knows where to find fox squirrels, I've never shot one before, should be interesting. October/early November seems to be the best time to look for grey squirrels, they're active most of the day. Once the days get shorter and colder, they don't seem to move around as much.

Probably...do you send pictures to everyone, or am I just special?