Daveboone

I didnt see one big enough...I only shoot 14 points or better.

how long do they work for? Sound like a good idea, but when they go dead...how long to charge back up?

Sure isnt any two year old. One heck of a lot of venison walking around there.

You were in my neck of the woods....I spent most of the fall tromping Happy Valley and surrounding areas. I headed up to my camp further north (East of Mannsville, Winona State forest area), for a long awaited week of deer hunting...I always take the last week of the season. I had to walk in to my cabin...about a 1/2 mile, as it is on an unplowed road. And my snow shoes were at the camp. GRRRR There were recent deer track, but they had to plow through the snow. I went out on stand, but called it quits this a.m.. I was concerned about leaving my vehicle out on the main road (there is a wide plowed area for parking), but the snow was still coming down, and if I shot something....how the hell am I getting it out through 3 feet of light fluffy snow? I was lucky enough to get a deer up there during ML season, so I am ok with that. I am always happy to see the small game hunters. I used to be one of them, and hope to do more again. They may just move a deer around for me. It used to be that there was no sunday deer hunting to allow the small game hunters a chance, but there are darn few out anymore.

Hunting is my ...mental therapy. I dont think about anything except being out in the woods, what the critters, weather, whatever are doing....It is about the only time I can really clear my mind. I particularly love hunting the slop. I tend to shoot more deer during fronts, or when it is really nasty...short of a gail. I love being out in the force of nature....but then love even more getting back to the nice warm cabin to enjoy ..not being out in it! I sure as hell though am not very happy about the storm just hitting up north, where I want to be come sunday night after I get out of work!

I remember wearing two pairs of jeans over cotton Kmart long underwear, two pairs of socks in Kmart rubber boots...with bread bags over my socks to help me slide my feet in and keep dry...Wearing dads thoroughly worn out wool coat and Filson style hat....a bandolier of slugs (always lost half of them by the end of the day).

Remember the days of seemingly bumper to bumper traffic , cars and trucks filled with orange clad hunters on 81 and the thruway? Opening morning, I didnt see any, and darn few vehicles in all the old road side parking places. When either northern tier or southern tier opening day came around, those were the days by far most hunters got out. Now, i know few hunters who arent multi season hunters...Bow, ML, regular season....Bow season for most now means crossbow, ML is modern inline. Effectively, people start hunting in september. I was very surprised last week end to go through a DEC traffic stop in the north country, southern Jefferson county. First game stop I had seen in probably 30 years. I was glad to see them, but at the same time I wanted to know why they didnt have it a month earlier, when the camps were way more full. Darn few hunters out at that time (last week end).

BS. When they catch poachers red handed on feeders at night with multiple deer shot from a car, they get a slap on the hand. Myself, I believe game law penalties are woefully ineffective....when you read about the "cuffs and collars", most are repeat offenders.

I am a total hot dog snob....Hoffmans or nothing! I ate way too many weiners as a kid.... That said....the only venison hot dogs I ever had that were worth comparing to a Hoffmans were from Costanzas in Webster NY. But all thier sausage products are a huge step up from the normal venison butcher sausage.

I have used both Williams and Lyman apertures quite a bit and love them ( I sometimes forget without looking which rifles I have wear which...I have used them on Mausers, 94s, Krags, and on my Lyman Great Plains caplock, which I shoot in league with. If you arent used to open sights, they take getting used to, but much greater accuracy potential than with just open buck horns....Hey, Just ask Quigley!

94s were top eject until their last run, when angle eject came out..that is, under the long time ownership before they went bellyup in the nineties. Before then, you could use an off set scope mount, but they were alwasy very clumsy. I had never heard of the AR...is that the angle eject? My own thoughts...I dearly love my 94s (I have owned four), but to me ...a scope kills its easy natural handling. I have a Williams aperture on mine, and it is amazing the improvement in accuracy. They used to be all pre drilled for them.

For a lot of folks, hunting is all about the toys they can buy. I enjoy one game camera in a popular area, just to know what is in the area, as well as the other wild life that is around. I know some guys who use them so ...scientifically, they will not hunt at all unless critters are showing at those times. Thus, some years they almost dont hunt at all...instead of just putting on the boots and ....Hunting!

I have shot quite a few with neck shots...but only when I can place it from behind at the base of the skull/neck, from a rest, when a good broad side shot was not available. Not much margin of error.. No meat wasted, drops them in their tracks. BUT>>>>Given preferences, give me a broad side boilermaker shot every time. Larger margin of error with quite a large kill area. I am not proud....I have goofed "gimme" shots trying for the fancy shot. Go for the sure thing, every time.

I think .243 is fine for smaller southern deer...but big bodied northern deer...big plus with a .30 caliber bullet (or bigger). No substitute for putting the bullet in the right place, but on marginal shots...fat and heavy bullets break more bone, penetrate deeper...less deflection....There is a reason the good old 30-30, 30-06, etc. have been favorites for well over a hundred years.

I have always tried to be in stand well before sun up, and often stay well after...just so as to not spook critters as bad. Even with the old times, I often stopped officially hunting...but may still be on stand....well before legal stopping. With snow on the ground...big game changer. Overall, I dont think it has changed how I hunt.