Daveboone

Have a great time! I love bear hunting...been up to New Brunswick spring bait hunting half a dozen times, gotten five bears. It shouldnt be as bad as spring bear for bugs, but plan on them still being real bad! I would bring a bug suit if you have one, head net and light leather gloves and a roll of duct tape if you dont (tape up all seams , boots to pants, glove to sleave, etc....not joking! ...or a thermocell, just in case. Have patience when you see one...they all look big in the woods. And sit still....like a rock! Many stand sites are in the same spot for literally decades, and the bears know they are there.

Whats the bike?

I wouldnt touch a bike that the owner cant or wont come up with a title . Not uncommon for non running bikes to get swapped around a bit (have had a few myself) for parts or repair, and titles get lost.

When we started looking for our camp, we drew up priorities. First, within an hour of home so we could go up and use it just for the day without burning too much travel time. Year round access...within walking distance of pavement in the winter was ok. I was happy with a smaller (10 acre) chunk surrounded by seldom used county and state property. Next, Good hunting elbow room within walking distance. By good hunting, I mean I dont mind ...Hunting! A high deer population was less important than a quiet area with plenty of woods to walk and potential. Sure, I would like a nice buck, but trophy potential is not so much of a concern. I got lucky. My small parcel is a frequently used highway along ridges, so even though I am limited what I can do to draw deer, they are there already. I didnt start to find any properties I was interested in (and could afford) until we narrowed it down, then went driving the back roads looking at land, areas and for sale signs. Craigslist, Facebook etc. also is a good area to look.

Impossible to recommend a slug without you finding out what your gun shoots best. No substitute for the most accurate round for your gun. Bench resting 12 gauge slugs isnt fun, but it was very worthwhile when I did. One box (five rounds) at 50 yards is what I did, at the time about five different sabot slugs from Brenneke (okay, not really a sabot), winchester, remingtons, federals...ultimately my shotgun vastly preferred winchesters. If they are tougher to find...shop early and grab them when you can.

With the mild winters they seem to expand northwards...a good cold old fashioned winter kicks em back. They arent built for the cold.

I had the same problem with my t/c inline, with triple seven. Funny, as I never have a problem with my sidelocks with black powder. After cleaning, I would wipe my inline with a good moist rag with Remoil. That took care of the problem.

I take the week of NT muzzleloading season every year. It is my favorite weather, and even if I am not hunting, I could be fishing (like I am the first three days this year), riding my HD, etc. I also take the last week of NT off every year...the week after thanksgiving. I always have my best luck then. Not a lot of people in the woods, and there is usually snow. I will also likely be up to the camp for a long week end Veterans Day week end.

My storage shipping container gets the little jerks. Multifront attack Bucket trap, sticky pads, old fashioned mouse traps, sticky pads AND poison. The newer stuff is junk. Good old Dcon worked good, but you cant find it any more. Traps catch the jerks in the process. Buckets work over a longer time, Dcon kicks off the mom and dad, and the local population. I have been known to settle down on the lawn chair with a pellet gun to zap the jerks when they show their heads, too.

Modern smokeless powder residue is in itself harmless to your modern rifle bores. I store them cleaned. That said when target shooting I (and most target shooters) will fire a fouling shot...mainly to dry the bore. For hunting distance accuracy, it is likely not to have any affect. But...I will always err on cleaning too often, than not often enough. ML...Clean without delay. I used to shoot triple seven, and found I absolutely needed to clean the rifle very promptly also. I eventually returned to strictly good old black powder. It has to be cleaned promptly and thoroughly, but, well....dammit I just like it! But then I am strictly patch and ball now.

I dont pay any attention to where anyone lives, no real reason for any one else either. Sometimes folks just dont have anything to say/offer. If you are looking for advice/opinions, ask. If someone isnt , I do not say anything. Especially if someone is from out of the area and looking for information, I am happy to offer my two cents, but I dont if someone already has said the same thing. that said, I spent two weeks deer hunting in Georgia about twenty five years ago...and had a great time! Beautiful country, lots of deer, mostly great folks...too many yankees down there for my taste though.

Common black watersnake. Harmless non poisonous, but are aggressive. And they get big! Pretty common to find a few of them sunning near each other on broken rock shoreline.

If you didnt have a boat...still pass. If you did take it, you still dont have a boat. You would invest a lot into it to still have ...an old boat. I bought a new to me boat this year If yand perused many before buying...but you need to have cash in hand, good ones go quick. If you are not in a hurry, there are ALOT of older boats in great condition going cheap. I was amazed at some of what I found. You can get floating and motoring away very inexpensively, depending on what you are looking for.

Mitcheners book "Chesapeake", told quite a bit about the market hunting down there and the use of punt guns. Great stuff. They were not uncommon among the market hunters (but the guns themselves never common) even in NY along the flyways. From what I understand, more than a few of the row boats they were seated in were sunk when the recoil took out the transom!

It was pretty common at one time to stage similar "incidents" ....

hmmmm, seems likely a bear could tear that salt block down and walk away with it.....

Another big thumbs up for Canales. Great Italian /American food. They are worth a stop. Even during COVID they were at the top of their game with food and service. We are planning a trip there in the next week or so. Rudys is ok...it is fast sea food . Not a sit down eat in place, and depending on when you show up the outside wait can be very lengthy. More of a local tradition thing than anything.

About fifteen years ago the 13 point non typical I shot near Cazenovia lake was aged at 4.5 years. I think the highway is more likely to get them than a hunter though.

We were there a few years ago. Great location. I would like to time another visit with a Redwings game, the ball field is only a couple blocks away.

rudolf had a coronary and fell into the tree.. Dang...he was almost sixty, after all.

I get out every chance year round. Always something to learn. What changes to the area, logging, access, atv use, Every outing improves your observation and knowledge of the area.

Yup, agree totally ...to those who have the old fashioned American work ethic. It is those who always want more and do not want to work for it that complain the most. I (think) I work hard, but we now own our house and camp free. I have a small fishing boat that I can use (never often enough) in one of the most water blessed states in the union. I have been very fortunate to have gone on several once only dreamed of hunts, my marriage is stable, health is good and dog doesnt bite. The kitchen is full of food, and the bills are paid on time. I actually am planning on a retirement, as opposed to both my grandfathers and father who anticipated jsut working until they dropped....which they did at an early age. After traveling overseas and seeing the incredible poverty, hunger and REAL political strife, I am amazed by what we offer. Now we just need Ronnie Reagan to return to pull us all back together again.

Other than feeding them to possums, I had several boxes of shells stored carelessly that were swollen/etc. I cut the cases open , poured out the lead to recast, and the powder is actually very benign. spread it on the lawn or mix it in kitty litter, etc. You could put a drop of oil on the primer, but I wouldnt worry too much about that.

helping this topic stray a bit, but...I always wondered ....wth? How many opossoms to people see around to start with? The occaisional highway pet, but otherwise I fail to see them making much of a dent in the ol' tic population...and if I was a 'possum myself, I be thinking its a lot less work to shimmy into a Mcdonalds dumpster for lunch than turning over a yards worth of Kentucky blue grass for a mouth full of tics. What was the original topic? Moldy bullets. Put em on the porch and the 'possums will lick them clean. Really, just shoot them up for plinking or some such. As long as the casings are fine and not swollen, they should be ok.

I dont believe in waterproof. Goretex is great, and is as close as it gets, but once the boot is saturated water finds a way in. I prefer a full leather upper that I treat with a bees wax base leather treatment. You have to keep it up, but I think it actually works better. And cotton socks in a boot suck. They soak up the sweat and wick moisture in. I wear merino wool socks year round (insulate against heat as well as cold) and keep my feet drier. If you want real waterproof for hunting...rubber boots of some sort.I put wool sole inserts in, and change my socks several times a day to keep ahead of the sweat. If I am hiking, I always wear gators. They keep the boot /pant leg dry. and remember, no matter the boot, it can only be water resistant/etc.. as high as the tongue extends. Make sure it is a fully closed tongue, going all the way to the top of the boot with no fold cuts.