dbHunterNY

I process my own. double lungs if possible. ruins less meat. on occasion before I'd square up on the shoulder and it'd take the deer off its feet. didn't matter the gun. did it with a 30-30 and 150gr ammo. last 10 years or so I always try not to hit shoulder blade or leg bone. otherwise it's like a frag grenade going off in the shoulders. bone shrapnel everywhere. multiple deer I've made two shots into both lungs and nothing else. 1st one is sufficient but 2nd one anchors them. benoits had it right. keep shooting until it falls if you can. just don't shoot up the whole body and waste meat.

crazy Hooks and the kid's buck almost look the same. I'm taking they definitely are different deer though. sounds like charma has come full circle to that one guy and kicked him in the rear. our QDM area has the biggest buck so far this year taken by a youth hunter. anyone that loses sleep over just the idea of a kid taking a buck you've been after needs to have their head removed from their rear and ego deflated often. as for your day it sounds like it couldn't have gone much better. congrats on the freezer filling and memories no 4.5+ yr old buck could match.

yea the 10 looks pretty light in the rear and heavy in the front. legs aren't short amoung other stuff. I could agree with 3.5 y old. ever hear of "buttons to booners"? that little guy could prove his worth if he gets older, especially where you are. you've got nice hunting out there. keep enjoying it as well as sharing the pics and stories.

I've chewed over the difference for years in the past. a nice 2.5-3.5 year old doe is better than even a "tender" yearling buck driven by the rut he doesn't even understand yet. I don't shoot deer of the year fawns. processed a button buck once that got clocked cold in the head by a car. no meat wasted. still didn't get much. processing was the same amount of work a bigger deer was it seemed. they're always safe by me.

not much of any habitat management takes place their that I know of. any other preserve or wildlife research areas get habitat work done, including inland pine barrens. mature forests don't produce much for food and cover. it's got to be federal entities giving blessing to state and then working together though. no group can touch the place even NYS DEC.

tomorrow those distances won't matter. good luck hunting and on the property closing.

i back them into edges of cover. try not to put them where they'll be silhouetted. other than that brushing them in has minimal effect unless you really do a good job. even then the deer know it's something odd. I have a couple ways I use them to make them work wonders but it's specific situation stuff. I also always use cork screw tent stakes when setting them up on the ground.

I didn't know people hunted with punt guns still.

I'm shooting pellets and 130 grains. I've got 50gr (black label box) and 30gr (green label box) of triple-7 pellets. let's me load in increments of 10 grains.

I must be one elusive SOB. I only go for boston crème filled and never jelly. glazed works at times when I'm scent trailing a box brought into the office. about the only time I can justify leaving the safe haven and comfort of my desk. I'm basically nocturnal this time of year. come and go only at dark.

yea. it was a buck that given all the info about it was 3.5 yrs old and field dressed at 176 lbs with a live weight at 219 lbs. kind of lean too when I skinned it out.. figured with soybeans all over it'd be more bulked up with fat.

don't know your situation but I'd probably sit all day for a 130 as if it was older and bigger in your case.

I copied the actions of an alert mid aged doe in a wide open field before. I was going in and she was out early along the way. I basically acted like she alarmed me and I was her. I came to full draw and she got within just under 30 yards, ranged after the fact. she was so on edge and so distraught figuring out what was happening I elected to not shoot. I felt like an idiot but it technically worked despite I didn't release an arrow.

hunters get flat out lucky, but scouting kills more deer than hoping and wishing. even if the season is here, productive observation stands/sits are invaluable. I missed the first week of bow season due to anniversary vacation and was itching to just hit my favorite spots. instead of going into traditionally great spots without a plan I sat in low probability stands to watch and learn what bucks where there and doing versus before I left. if I went in there how I typically would I would've gotten busted or just not seen and educated them. instead I saw a good buck. changed up setup and location from a historically perfect spot. I harvested the buck I was after. now I've got a euro mount to do and 80 lbs of venison packaged in the freezer. it takes too much luck to kill a deer even with a plan, so I can't justify anymore going in expecting luck and past experience to do it all.

by the size of his noggin at the end of that neck and compared to his body he must be big. don't have much experience with bear but most shot around here are 200 lb dressed. 300+ is a great bear I'd imagine?

even in areas with more ATV use deer do get spooked. you see deer standing there as you drive by but others ran away before you got there.

a lot of really good hunters out there never kill nice deer because they hunt in poorly managed habitat. easier to pass bucks when you give them cover to hide and thrive.

seems like I've seen him do videos on habitat management. they were pretty good too. scanned through the video and a lot of good points.

heck of a story to tell during the holidays. glad you got him. nice buck at that so congrats!

my last five cams I've specifically gotten with field scan or time lapse mode. my cams before that didn't have that option.

all the bucks now have shed and are out there like the wind. when I've seen them it's usually in a travel corridor that is getting a lot of activity. as a buck passes through he rubs a tree next to another rub to say hey I'm here too. you get clusters along the path of travel.

Deer have been chasing each other around a bit more and not sticking to feeding patterns I've changed up trail camera use and setup. Cams in cover are all now switched to burst mode to take multiple quick pics once triggered and in locations of tree stands instead of say in bedding cover. also any field edge on say a scrape are now point out into the field and on time lapse/field scan mode taking a picture every 5 minutes. Anyone else change up their cameras like this to be less intrusive or observe more area once the season starts? seems like most I know leave their cams in the same spots or rarely use field scan mode.

still have yet to see a wild one while out hunting or get a trail camera picture. they're somewhat around my hunting properties though. not a whole lot of den sites where I am.

...what WNYBuckHunter said. haven't yet seen a buck 2.5+ that doesn't grow some later on. I've seen bucks hold very short ones for a couple years before they get some length.

somehow I missed this thread. congrats to your son! good to hear the effort put in all summer payed off. sounds like it was a learning experience too this season. getting busted will make him a better hunter than having everything fall into place right away. awesome.