Five Seasons

Besides the obvious "access and time"... there's a lot of comments about luck here. I've had one hell of a season. Had 2 or 3 130+ class bucks taken a step or 2 in another direction I'd have a deer at the taxidermist right now. Over the years I've had strings snap at full draw, guns jam, forgot my release... you name it. I don't blame any of it on luck. 90% of hunting is prep work. My family spends more time in the off season scouting and prepping stands than they do actually hunting some of them. You need to play the wind, pick the right stand based off scouting and patterns that you understand from camera usage. You need to practice with your gear, constantly check and double check scopes, guns and equipment. Not just at the beginning of the season but throughout. Minimize movement and scent. All of these things "build luck" in my opinion. The other 10% for sure is lady luck, ain't no 2 ways about it. Last tip I've learned about myself this year is to put down the damn phone. It was a nice distraction during long sits that's become a habit and I've been caught with my pants down more than once. And I've been missing the real pleasure of hunting and that's the peace and quiet outdoors.

I'm saddened by both sides here. Believing in God and following his preaching's doesn't give you the right to just wing it through life and trust it all works out. God guides, he doesn't "do". Not believing in a higher power doesn't mean you should criticize those that do. The insults and insinuation by a few in here tell me more about you as a person than what Wolc's beliefs tell me about him. Many successful intelligent people believe in a higher power, Wolc doesn't speak for us all.

I don't believe it's shear numbers that lead to extra clowns in the woods during gun. Bow hunters are certainly not immune. But the level of difficulty in gun hunting isn't anywhere near what it is for bow and therefore can draw a greater percentage of clowns. Not a blanket statement about gun hunters so don't get your panties in a bunch. But it shouldn't be overlooked.

I've had an optima for sometime now. It's a heavy gun and not stainless but it was free for me. I too shoot shockwaves. Was not a fan of the powerbelt groupings, even the polymer tipped just didn't do it for me. I've killed 3 deer with it, including my second biggest ever. I really suggest buying some of these products from CVA for cleaning. Some are hard to find, but in particular you cannot oil your mz (hope all the noobs know that), so the rust preventer patches was a good find for me. Also the breech plug soaker and the nipple pick make cleaning a lot easier. Of course don't forget the anti-seize on the plug threads if you have that style. I find the wondergel does ok for cleaning between shots when siting in the gun, but the barrel blaster does a better job for storage.

It's been a particularly trying year for me. I passed on a number of small bucks and doe during early bow, and then when I was ready to shoot a doe the last 1.5 weeks no shots were presented, only a small 5. I saw some of the biggest bucks of my life during bow, but never had lady luck on my side and they always seemed to veer off the run or turn for no reason. I had some doe present shots during opening day but decided to wait for horns, fast forward till this past Friday and all the deer had disappeared. literally was voided from several different stand for about 6 or 7 sits. Unheard of on my land. Friday night thankfully I had this large doe cross the creek and gave me an 80 yard broadside shot. This was my first chance to use my new ruger American 30-06 with a vx-3 mounted and hornady superformance 165's. I'm blown away at the devastation. Having only gun hunted with bp and shotgun I'm very thankful we can now rifle hunt in 8F. She's the biggest doe I've ever harvested at 124lbs dressed. Need at least one more for the freezer, but happy it's not empty and proud I restrained myself on the yearling bucks. camera tip. standing IN FRONT of your harvest makes it look a lot smaller lol

I used to skin quarter and then bone, but started doing this method a few years ago and like it a lot more. It's not as easy on a fat doe but still easier then flopping a hind quarter around on the table. I also bought a set of loppers from homedepot for the head/neck and legs. much easier then a saw.

Cabin Fever, I manage the EHS program for the north region of a large employer in Rochester. My counterpart currently has a role open, and I will have one hopefully at the beginning of the year. I'm sure you have probably posted for the current open role, but if not I might be able to help. Curious though, are you in construction or industry?

Glad to see things haven't changed. good luck in life.

The company I work for did a lot of work on this project. Several of my employees have spent months down at Johnson. What's crazy at what the cost of this telescope started at and what it ended up being.

yep. didn't see me around after that did you? I'm not back or anything, just checking in to see some archery harvest pics when I saw this thread and kind of chuckled. When you ask a mod to remove a post about your family and he attacks you... well call me overly sensitive but that's not a group I want to be a part of. It's a shame because there's some really good people here when you sort through the few political instigators. So yeah I deleted all my pictures and took my ball and went home. lol.

Been doing really well. Passed a few small bucks and a bunch of doe so far this season. Was a step away from a 130 class on 10/2. Wasn't meant to be I guess. Both boys are healthy and there's another bun in the oven due in April.

are we talking crossbow?

So I was able to filter out the political section from showing up on the front page. How can I filter it out from the "view new content" section? And will any of these filters ever be implemented in tapatalk? edit. why can't I upload pictures anymore?

Just wanted to say I missed these stories. Much better than the local grocery store owner who is a pedophile Muslim extremist supported by liberals. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

I had a shot Saturday but it wasn't a great shot and after losing a bird this season I decided against it. I really wanted to go out Monday morning but had too many margaritas the day before. No tags filled for me, but I'm not a diehard and still enjoyed my time in the woods.

I'm not sure I disagreed with that. I was simply trying to make the case for why that level is acceptable to most and not just a small minority. String powered is the key word. One has locked energy the other requires human power. Both shoot "arrows", but yet many disagree with the air-bow. There has to be a line and the argument shouldn't be about the fact that their "is a line".

There is a point where 2 lines intersect on a graph. One line is effective humane harvesting ability and the other is time. as time increases we begin to plot. first we start with the gun, then the crossbow, then the compound and finally the recurve. Not everyone can afford the time, some don't have the patience and yet others will wield the weapon they're not proficient in and wound an animal. The compound of today fits in that nice sweet spot on the graph for many hunters. It's efficient and deadly, yet still requires practice enough to weed out the weekend warriors. It still requires skill enough to make it a challenge and one that is enough of a challenge to really distinguish it from the gun. The crossbow seems to blur the lines too much for many. Your argument which has been used a billion times in this debate isn't a bad one, but it speaks to the level of challenge and the efficiency of the hunt. The spear hunter could debate with the recurve hunter and the knife hunter with him and the argument never ends. To be able to kill any size or sex deer with any weapon is an accomplishment that most of the world doesn't know. We are a minority. Being able to get any size or sex deer close enough shoot and recover with a compound is a great accomplishment that we sometimes forget about as we chase the trophies. Unless you're in a highly populated, low pressure area be happy with the challenge the compound provides. Take up the recurve if you want, but truly honestly tell me you don't see the difference with the bipod, scope and trigger the crossbow offers when compared to the compound vs the recurve.

I have yet to meet anyone besides some nut jobs in NYB who don't believe disabled and elderly shouldn't be allowed to easily obtain a permit to hunt with a crossbow. I will disagree with you on "juniors". No kid should start the easy way. I'm sure someone will counter with "a kid in the woods with a crossbow is better than no kids in the woods" and I will agree, but if you really want to hunt that bad and will be a young hunter who will stick to it, you'll pick up a compound. Heck, most of us kids started with a 12 gauge and picked up the bow after we fell in love the sport.

you don't know wood spiders till you hunt in the south. One overlooked benefit of our cold and snowy winters is that we're not dealing with crazy spiders and venomous snakes. be thankful.

Long story short I had gobblers in all directions and go figure when one gets close I'm facing the wrong side of the tree. Then was calling in a Tom when a hen flies down and that was that. Great action, will probably make this an early one today

This morning reminds me of turkey hunting back down south. But I'm ok with that because they have far more birds. I was hoping I could save some butane for later but I have the thermacell fired up already. No gobbles yet

Tree trimming is something I enjoy, but large enough branches have created some close calls and I don't get as excited to run the chainsaw or pick up the big mess after if it's hot. So usually this becomes a later winter task

Looks great. Nice work!

They're dropping/dropped. Sucks

Only papist brings Islam into a discussion over gun rights into America. I don't even see where the segway to this was.