dbHunterNY

she's a reckless handgun owner. take away her guns and leave mine alone. unless they were chasing her with that SUV she had no reason to shoot at them. someone must be threatening you with equally dangerous intentions. even if they're armed but running away and not shooting the place up then guess what! you can't shoot them in the back. especially here in NYS.

I've got a co-worker who's got "grey" "salt and pepper" hair. he's under 30 and would probably punch you in the face just for calling him old. haha

we had a display that was made by hard working guy that our group used at the local fairs. folks had to match up age to a nice broadsided head up trail cam pic. all local bucks and doe. bucks 1.5 - 5.5+ yrs old. the 3.5 yr old photo was a very nice racked buck and the 5.5 photo not so much. a good half the people that stopped by the booth picked the 3.5 yr old to be the oldest. when explained things to them and covered portions of the deer and especially the rack they just looked dumbfounded. suddenly that smaller racked 5.5 year old turned into a "heifer", "beast", etc.

3.5 all day long to me. doesn't have the mass front to back of a 4.5 year old. if you cover his front end his back looks like a 2.5 year old. neck would have more depth and drop into the brisket smoother at 4.5 yrs old. tarsal staining about right at 4.5 their aim starts to make it run right down the leg just about. too much front end mass, depth of body, and legs look too "short" for even a 2.5 yr old in this northern part of the country. doesn't matter what his antlers look like. i've seen 130+" 3.5 yr olds and others score under 100". guess someone should shoot him at some point and send the teeth in. looks like a clone of our RD's buck.

with the mass he's already got he'll be a gnarly buck!

I've done this a lot but usually only get within 30-40 yards. maybe it's because I don't take hours to do it. weirdest tactic I've used is mirroring a doe's actions acting like I was spooked from her. just didn't make so many sudden movements as her. never taken a shot because they're a little on edge still. I could've probably made it work though. seems it's always mid day heading back to the truck. to do that with a recurve and at 20 yards is crazy.

I've saved all my brass but notice a lot of 9mm brass gets beat up at the ends making it pretty much junk to deal with. I make sure feed ramp is clean and other stuff but it just seems to happen a lot with my one 9mm. no function issues or anything so whatever.

I've done a few. had last one break and ended up going the fake plastic skull route. came out good. years late it's got some dry cracks in the painted epoxy but is definitely fixable. I'm in the process of doing this last one. had a minor set back with a knife. if I had a pressure washer right now I'd be using that. some mild dish soap soaking and a soft bristled brush will is what I use to "degrease" it once it's cleaned of soft tissue. I try to stay away from bleach as it'd make bones brittle and eat into them a little. peroxide paste at a beauty store whitens things up nice. few coats seems to work. I keep the nose bone off the bottom by putting resting the anlters on wood blocks on the pot edge so it doesn't get too much heat. plus the water isn't boiling but a slow simmer for hours while I get stuff done outside or in the garage.

with the warm temperatures and other stuff we saw big concentrations of deer in areas that aren't usually that great and miserably cold. typical areas just didn't have deer.

season here was definitely alright. changed things up from the norm due to the weather and some putting too much pressure in areas. sounds like it was a decent season. I'd probably go out with the smoke pole and just enjoy the view. make it a scouting/inventory thing or shooting session if you see a wounded deer or predator. no pressure hunts are the best kind. bring a HD video cam with you too.

I think his tail is too short too.

Breeding was about the same time it normally is every year. this warm weather really killed deer movement to cold fronts, colder areas of the farms, and very first and last hour of daylight when the temps dropped. historically shaded hollows and north facing slopes that'd get little concentrated movement were hot spots this year. also many are starting to shoot doe versus pass them. so there's added pressure there. another bumper mast crop year for both soft and nut varieties. all this caused decent seasons for those that got in closer to cover versus those who simply gun hunt fields with enough people traffic. yotes and bear weren't any worse than normal. in some areas with local issues be it poaching, predators, or whatever that cause low deer numbers I rarely see hunters change enough harvest wise to not be shooting themselves in the foot. nature slowly rights things though and they blaming others like youth seasons, other hunters, or other stupid reasons seems to lead to nobody being the wiser.

stop a pretty fast arrow I'd think as long as the clothes were stuffed down in there good.

ever try to shoot bowling pins with a 9mm? doesn't have much knockdown power at all. definitely does the job though.

well it's good to see you were all actually on the same page.

those are the stories that keep us going back every fall. hope he lives and one of you get a shot at taking him next season. this seasons almost over so it's a real possibility. judging by the pic (and look at all that tarsal staining) he's seen some fall seasons draw to an end.

perfect. that's how you do it.

like moog said if your 2.5 low at 25 yards you'll be low at 100 yards. at 25 yards it should be really close to your sight height. so at 50 or so yards it'll be dead on and then it'll be dead on again out at around 100 yards. the barrel below and just shooting up to your scope's line of sight.

chiefbkt there's a really good chance your buck was 2.5 yrs old based on what you said. heck there's even a chance the OP's buck was only 2.5 but 3.5 is a real possibility especially with that weight. both nice bucks though. AdirondackBH congrats on both the deer. nice video too.

haha.... easy. just bustin' on ya as I don't know what your experience is. your post was mostly electronics and major things that you apparently (compass) or probably bring (water or means to get it) weren't mentioned. then your post ended with you're totally prepared to get lost.

always pull the neck roasts off. I've done pulled venison in the crockpot. also done slow and smokey outside. last half dozen deer though have just ground it up. use top or bottom round roasts for that now. sometimes use a couple portions of the front shoulders that aren't as tough.

i don't but I don't hand load. if I hand loaded I probably would be because it'd open up options for more guns.

remind me to never leave prepping up to you and go deep into the wilderness with you and all your electronics. lmfao

are you single, widowed, or does your wife know you have this kind of relationship with your firearms?? haha no need to answer really. I feel it probably won't happen but I've got to do some minor work on and clean a win model 94 30-30 to take out again. it saw dad's, mine, and my brother's first bucks fall. since my brother has had it it's been neglected a little. most guns that would hit the woods deer woods with me would be 5 or so. compared to you gentlemen, either I'm too young still or don't have enough guns.

consider this. most bowhunters hunt from a treestand or a blind. your breathe in very cold crisp weather within a blind isn't as visible to the deer as it is to you because you're buried into the darkness. also from a treestand this white cloud stands out because you're probably viewing it with dark tree canopy and such in its background. a deer looking up from below would view it with mostly light sky as a background, so it won't be nearly as visible then either. couple that with the fact it's unavoidable and there's reason not to worry too much. due to cold on the nostrils, momentary fogging of glasses or optics, and breathe having more scent to it I usually exhale only through my nose. this probably diffuses that white cloud of yours as much as it'll get.