Five Seasons

So I have shot lightfield hyb. expander sabot slugs for almost 20 years out of my rifled barrel browning autoloader. I've killed many a deer with it. My grandpa passed away several years ago and he had some extra in his closet that i grabbed. Last season I had a delayed fire issue while trying to drop a doe. I missed and took 3 more shots at the doe (she wasn't too smart). All misses that i believe were the result of this delayed fire/flinch combo. My only theory is that i had a bad batch of slugs that maybe were exposed to moisture at some point. Anyhow, I decided to start fresh this year and bought some Hornady (love their ammo) SST slugs. https://www.hornady.com/ammunition/shotgun/12-ga-sst-300-gr-ftx-slug#!/ I have some potential 150 yard shots but most are under 75 if not closer. I settled in on sighting the new ammo in at 1" high at 100. I know that this means I'll be a little low at 150, but I feel for a whitetail that this plan will keep me in the vitals from 20 to 150 yards. I didn't like the idea of being 2.4" high at 50 and 2.7" high at 100. I'll add that these grouped really well for a shotgun, and while over 246gr. lighter than the lightfiled i like the energy and accuracy. http://www.litfld.com/products/hunting/ thoughts?

i know gal bladders are coveted. would it be worth my time to save it and sell it if i'm successful?

awesome. really wish we could bait bears in ny. seems it's allowed everywhere else and all i ever see them killed.

just pulled my targets out over the weekend. maybe the latest i've started shooting, but i haven't changed a thing on my setup and will start religiously shooting soon. Most if not all the stands are prep'd and after the wind storm and wet summer it was a bitch to say the least. clothes washing will come soon. checked both the slug gun and rifle at the range saturday. getting eager!

delirious? bad shrooms?

interesting. i swear i heard it was illegal somewhere. but this is all i could find via google. http://codes.findlaw.com/ny/environmental-conservation-law/env-sect-11-1733.html

not illegal to sell rugs? I thought taxidermy was illegal to sell?

NY is not a great place to find hunting land. When 5 acres is a lot, you know you're fighting an uphill battle. Lease hunting is a piece of cake down south. Those farms that are left (see comments above) are long spoken for. They're not making new land. And i think processing videos and hunting tips are more easily available than ever before. Lots of tips here on this site alone. Sites like carbontv and countless magazines and articles to help new hunters. I myself would be glad to help, just pm me or start a new thread.

meat or rug?

I plan to cut out the back straps and tenderloins. Might be the first guy I've seen hunting for the meat and NOT the rug lol.

well seems like enough time has passed and with your recent development, why not reach back out? I guess I don't see the downside? Assuming your boy is older and you MOL can see the value of the bonding time and maybe some meat for her? Is it the fear of denial again?

not many folks will let you in their favor spot. That may seem unfriendly but it's just the nature of the beast. Many of us spent years doing just what you mentioned "trial and error". Even with a long line of hunters in my family, there is something to be said for putting in your time. Now don't get me wrong, I was blessed and well educated. But after the honeymoon teen years of "sit here boy". I was expected to help with prep and scout. And i have always been a dragger lol. When I moved, the trial and error of unknown land was frustrating but highly rewarding. I think many hunters here love to help new hunters if they're open minded. But I don't know of many who will bring you onto their property. It's too expensive, too rare and deer are too sensitive to pressure. It's been said 1000 times, but hunting decline is by and large the result of less good public or open land to hunt. Hunters are partly to blame. We find a honey hole, lease it and post it up. So are lawyers scaring every little old lady with some land that she will be sued if a hunter gets hurt. And then of course there's the obvious urban sprawl. finally there is A LOT to learn, which seems intimidating. I've taken many hobbies over the years and my head always starts to spin at first. And with hunting, the beauty is that it's not meant to be easy. That's the best part!

Then why they make them fancy rifles everyone pays big money for? Why doesn't everyone including army snipers shoot a cheapo?

evolve and cyclical need to be paired here. There was a huge boom in gadgets and tech over the last 20 or so years. The hunter of 2005 looked nothing like the hunter of 1993. But what I also think has emerged over the last maybe 3 to 5 years is a push back against all the tech, gadgets and junk we ate up by the handful in the early 2000's. I see people openly refuse the ozonics and other nonsense being pushed on tv. Heck, i see most hunters avoid the tv shows all together. I see hunters accepting that their 5 year old compound is just fine and they don't need to drop $2k on 3fps improvement. I see guys picking up the recurve even. The only new tech i'm interested today is stuff that keeps me in the stand longer. You get my money if you keep me warm with less bulk, otherwise I'm not spending money to change the color of my harmonic stabilizers lol.

i don't think any wolf owner will claim their gun is better than a TC. To your point, it comes down to value and if it's still worth it.

this isn't always true. suppliers constantly fail to make things to spec. sure it's CVA's responsibility to do final inspect. I can tell you that the company i work for sends stuff into space and suppliers still dont meet our spec all the time.

2 thoughts. A lot of manufacturers have had recalls (see remingtons 700 nightmare). that one is 20 years old. Other thought is that I muzzle loaders aren't as simple to shoot as some guns. And lets not discount the fact that there are many idiots out there. My optima came with special tool to tighten the breach. I can see some idiot overloading powder, not tightening the plug or any other countless mistakes that could lead to incident. The smokepole is not just, load bullet, squeeze trigger.

have had some amazing second rut activity during that week. Like you said it's even more fun with snow on the ground.

not buying a scope will save you for sure. I have a cva optima and i really like their guns. the wolf is highly regarded. Mine was a gift and if i could do it again though I would really recommend the stainless barrel. None of my long guns are stainless, and they're all fine. However, i think smokepoles or least my optima (not v2) regardless of how well i tried to care for it and how quick i cleaned it, the barrel has rusted some. i'd also say to look new, not used for smoke poles.

I see a trend with some millennials to go back to our roots. You may very well be surprised with the hipster movement if hunting stays pretty primal.

that's a crazy picture. Spent all day sunday in the woods. A decent amount of chainsaw work clearing approach trails, runs and game trails. Lots came down this year but thankfully no stands. My dad has spent countless more days just clearing the growth from the great growing conditions. The positive being that all the crab apple and pears are loaded!

have the wife and mom made up? maybe water under the bridge?

I enjoy the Saturday morning kill too. Sunday football in the garage makes it enjoyable. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

And why I butcher myself. Just saying that I get it. There's other factors besides time as well. No barn or garage with hoist, cold barn, wife not liking the mess, cleaning up, remains to dispose of. A few hundred bucks for knives, grinder and sealer (yes it pays for itself). In the end it's worth it for me to do my own, but I can understand the appeal of dropping off your deer and $80 and coming back a few days later to an apple box full of frozen packaged and labeled meats. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

I see what you did there, and I'll reference my comment about policy writing... because there's always a culver out there! Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk