dbHunterNY

by now only the later born fawns will need the mother. you're fine shooting the doe. problem with shooting the fawn is very little meat and how are you sure it's not a button buck.

it's nothing to feel guilty about. he'd be on anyone's wall given the chance. that buck is absolutely at least 2 yrs old my guess would be 3.5 or 4.5 yrs old. the most telling tooth is the 1st molar or the 4th tooth back. if you didn't get the jaw bone out ask the taxidermist for it. This video series below is from the QDMA and really clear and concise..... Part 1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2QXoPemYSE Part 2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=35Xc9hzpaFE Part 3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYy4GkHeOz0 ...almost forgot. Congrats on great buck! definitely a buck of a lifetime for most hunters.

probably won't get out until this weekend. then it all depends on QDM co-op business to attend to as it's our first year. Good luck to everyone who will be out and where a harness and climb with three points of contact if hunting from a tree stand!

Did you write them off or contact the company about it. Probably a bad batch. Did you shoot another pack to see?

I used to shoot muzzy 4 blades. Nothing wrong but switched to rage for certain reasons. I acquired a bunch. Had great results. For a while I've shot the titaniums. Lord knows I wouldn't be if I had to pay remotely normal price for for them though. They're expensive!! ALL heads have trade offs but they all work. I think the hypodermic is a good one too. They work. No head on the market is complete junk so don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

There are many that are not proficient enough that go hunt. The vast majority make a commendable effort though. It takes experience/practice to make many awkward shots that come up in hunting situations. Some that only practice on flat ground at a range don't understand. Then others just think they need to aim low when in a treestand not knowing why, how much, or what the heck to do so they can make the arrow go where the pin is at a given distance. Don't need to shoot 100s of arrows to hunt. Just have a range limitation that reflects your ability. However if you think a new modern bow shoots itself and practice very little, spend 20 minutes with me. I'll show you simple hunting shots that will make you wish you'd practiced or make you feel like wrapping your bow around a tree. I'm not the best archer out there but darn good in some minds. I can tell you I'm not too good for practice with a modern bow. Heck my oldest hunting bow is only 3 years old. Lol

Nope only have a bear super Kodiak recurve I hunt with. A true longbow is harder to shoot than a recurve but they're whisper quiet. I think the difference is negligible compared to the jump going giving compounds to instinctive shot traditional equipment. I think it's a lot more to do with personal choice. Still like the look of my recurve compared to a lot of the true longbows I've seen. The hybrids you can still get fancy wood combos with though.

Within co-ops we have check stations. They'll stop in at those now and then to see how everything going. Also a poacher now doesn't get the attention of a couple landowners but several as they're all working together and communicating more. So the ECO would be pressured more than normal to resolve things quickly. Coops develop a working relationship with dec. The ecos will know more about what should be going on so they're more likely to spot something wrong.

Yea I'm just going by what other coop lbs owners have told me. I see and understand both sides. We're Just starting out and lot of land owners are skeptical about stuff like this. For now until we're more on solid on both feet well use an updated map and word of mouth.

It's true that there's more of a presence ECO wise near co-ops. However we were told by other co-ops to not use QDM signs and instead just post. More so the case if you're not surrounded by QDM coop land.

...ditches or creeks behind your stand work well to help you drop down out of view. down sloping ravines and ridges behind the stand work even better for a couple reasons; minimal deer movement happens behind you and in the calmer evening the thermals will pull your scent down over the back side away from the deer/plot.

at the edge of the plot almost under your stand you can plant something like Frigid Forage Plot Screen or Egyptian wheat. big burlap camo sheet works too but i prefer more natural alternatives. windy days tend to make the burlap flap a lot which sometimes can make a deer alert and not relaxed. it'll grow to 7 foot or so which will hide you from view getting down. then when you setup pegs or climbing sticks have them wrap around to the back of the tree. having someone driving into the plot works but if you do it too often it conditions the deer to just show up later.

I'm very particular and shops can only spend so much time on tuning your bow. so I've gotten into it as well. I've done basic stuff for a long time but have now done everything for a handful of years now. I'm an engineer so I think about stuff a lot and understand some things which I think helps most days and then drives me nuts other days. you're not supposed to glue nocks for carbon or carbon/aluminum arrows. aluminum only arrows yes due to design. most drop-away arrow rest manufacturers will tell you to have the odd fletch/vane up for a three fletch shaft, as that gives you the most possible clearance. most fletched arrows from shops are setup with a slight offset (almost straight), as mechanical broadheads are popular these days. if you shoot higher profile fixed blades you're better suited with a helical to get that arrow spinning to further prevent the blades from causing the arrow to plane in any particular direction, not along its natural arch. that's what I've found. i used to be in bow shops all the time, now I'm at my own home shop. i save family and friends money too by having a beer with them and working on their bow opposed to them paying labor at a shop. also i can get materials or gear cheaper for them, because they're not paying the slight markup a shop will have.

Now they have things like the quiet Kat. When we used bikes we did walk them up hills. But getting into the spot that was in general a lower elevation was way faster. Heck my brother left a camp chair and some other gear at the far end. I parked on private land and hiked in to get it to be closer and it still took all afternoon. If you're not going up hill much from point a to b, bikes save a lot of energy.

my parent's farm has ag fields, fence lines, and stone walls. we get all kinds of individuals up there for no good reason.

right now into bow season we can have random bucks cruising around. by second week of bow season into first week of gun season we find a particular buck hang around an area for 2-3 days as a doe on the property approaches and goes into estrous. by last week of early bow season young bucks are going crazy chasing everything around. I don't pay attention though unless the buck has her undivided attention and following her every move. i'll change stands or sections of cover until I do. i'll then usually see every younger buck at least a couple times due to the craziness. if I didn't change things up I'd be in a state of ignorant bliss thinking so many doe were "hot" when really the ones farthest along are hunkered down in cover with more mature but usually more dominant bucks (bigger 2.5 or the rare 3.5 yr old). there's so many doe compared to bucks around here that the phases of the rut can seem almost non-existent if you hunt one spot and wait for a doe you see to come into estrous. first few days of gun season I may see those bigger bucks as they get flushed through funnels and pinch points by the chasing phase and hunting pressure. then it's like mid October again through gun season up until about thanksgiving. after that if you're not on a late season food source you're not hunting but watching the woods, as the late season food sources have the most doe in a small area and potentially out in the open. there's so many doe around that they're coming into estrous all over a spread out area and it's almost impossible to find the right one as they stick to cover and are harder to observe as a whole. that's my experience of where and when the bucks show up which is mostly about the doe in my opinion. seems obvious but most hunters I feel hunt a buck one step ahead, when they should be hunting what he's after.

yea getting into the whole shooting a recurve instinctively thing. fixed position goPro in the tree next to you will help. then seems like your camera is too light for the fluid head settings/tightness or your camera arm needs upgrading. it's very cool what you're doing when you think you can now share your experiences with others who weren't there. HD is a must these days for filming.

yea I think he's 4. definitely 120 class. high racks don't score as much as you'd think but he's got some measurements going for him.

I've had a messed up shoulder that's now on the mend. I think i'll be good to go in a week or so. not practicing much before the season. probably shoot a couple arrows a day as things get closer. just enough to tell that I can still ethically or physically get it done. just started a QDM co-op and have pretty much figured there's a huge chance I'm not going to tag a buck this season. may be a big one still around but I don't have anything evidence of it yet.

only thing is without bending at the waste at 30 your groups might not be consistent. you can't have as good of back tension by just lowering your arm instead of bending at the waist, which can make your pin float in bigger circles.

good for not a whole lot other than driving out honey bees.

Used to do it a lot when I lived out near buffalo and hunted Darien lake sp. saves time and it's still decently quiet. Nothing fancy just a Walmart special with a gun rack on the bars in case it were to roll off on its own.

I could agree with this. Sounds reasonable.

It's probably fine unless you can feel or hear something. If use it sparingly if you do. Usually the axles are just pulled and greased for older bows.

Depends on what info I've got of the buck inventory.