Zem18

Just finished up a DIY buck boiler. I found some plans searching on BING. I put in DIY skull boiler and it came up to a forum called Ifish.net and it said $25 skull boiler. The only thing I actually bought for it was the electric hot water heater element for $9.98. I had the container (an old trash can from a paper shredder) and I got the 1" watertight conduit hub from the electricians at work. The power cord was also made by maintenance at work. I,'ll take some pics tomorrow before I put it to use and then some while it is working (fingers crossed) I have some chores on tap for tomorrow and have missed the daughters soccer games the past 2 weeks so no hunting tomorrow. My buddy asked me to go out but I told him Sunday morning I'm good to go. We will head to his hunting area where we will sit for the morning until 9 or so then do drives for a bit. Just looking to get my buddy a deer so he has some meat.

High percentage shots is what you are looking for, that will put the deer down or strike a vital organ and make it only run a short distance. The Texas heart shot (the butt)is not a high percentage shot so stay away from that. If you hurry the shot, chances are something can go wrong so my suggestion is to wait the deer out. If he is behind the tree and can't see you, wait for him to move first, then take a broadside shot or quartering away. It's a learning process and you've come to right place for advice. If that deer fell over and then just flopped down the hill and not ran down the hill, you need to check the area again and again until you are sure he isn't down there. The blood may not show up until 20, 30 , 50 yards depending on the hit. It,s only 5 days into the season so there is plenty of time left. Just don't rush it for the sake of killing a deer. Make it an awesome story with a perfect shot you took your time with and then post pictures of that first buck!

Sweet brother. Congrats on staying persistent and getting it done. He is HUGGGGGGEEEEE. That is a wall hanger for sure.

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Dad is a trooper for being out there today. It was chilly. Those deer get cold too and have to move even in crappy, windy weather. Hope your luck changes and see the big 8.

He's a brute. Textbook shot placement too. Congrats.

Awesome read. Thanks for sharing.

Dang, he is a slob of a buck. Tell your son congrats. Can't wait to see your pics of a bigger one.

Congrats on the does there boys! Always feels good to get one early and takes some pressure off as you know you have some meat for the freezer. Good luck out there and hope you get a nice buck.

Nice doe. She will be good eating. Congrats.

I only heard a few shots(less than 8 ) before I fired at 7:58am. After that I lost track. They are out there. Seeking and chasing is what we saw and a few small groups of doe, with bucks either with the group, or following a few minutes behind. Only saw one doe being chased by another 8pt but no clean shot for the hunter who saw it. Keep at it though.

They must've all been on our property then. My BIL saw 15 deer between Sat & Sun. I saw 12, another saw 5, another saw 6, and my FIL saw 4. That's 42 deer in two days between the 5 of us.

Noodle, check out the hunting journals for my story and pictures. (Thread is called Every now and Zem) I shot an 8pt on Saturday morning at 8am. Was the 10th deer I saw that morning and also saw 3 bear. Will probably head down Thanksgiving weekend and then for the turkey party the Friday after that. Gotta fill the doe tag.

11-16-14 Day 2 Well I get to my Hemlock on day 2, and within 5 minutes, this happens. Btw, the commentary was for my wife and kids so don't laugh too hard. https://m.youtube.com/?#/watch?v=qJqY7D0xhYY For the next two hours I was on edge as Mom and her cub hung around not going very far at all and coming back. At one point, the cub was coming pretty close so I fired two rounds from my pistol to scare them off. Wish I could have gotten the cub on camera but it would hang back and then when Mom would get closer to me, it would follow so filming was not high on my list plus my phone was below 20% and forgot my charger for car. Here is part two https://m.youtube.com/?#/watch?v=K6yA14D0MTg They finally left after 9am when a flock of Turkey's flew over my head to wards them, wings a flapping so they fled. My phone was below 10% and I couldn't film the 15 to Turkey that came in to within 15 yards. One when helped and clicked for over 40 minutes and a Jake or Tom would gobble his head off every time she sounded off. It was another action packed morning. Only saw 1 doe around 3pm Sunday and then 1 tail a little while after that.

Eagle - hey neighbor. If you go through the back of our property, there is an old grown over road that used to go to the French Woods. By the way all, that turkey party is the Friday after Black Friday. It will always be the first Friday after the PA Monday deer opener. I'll be wearing my red and white Cabelas hat so come up and say Hi if you go.

Check out my hunting journal for the entire story and more pictures. Zem

Thanks Burt. It was definitely a fun, action packed morning. Not a monster but a respectable deer from down there. And best of all, meat in the freezer. Yummy backstraps hanging in the butchering area My buck and my BILs doe

Reload the page, they are there now

Luck seemed to be on my side as I had the best opening day I have ever had. 11-15-14 My BIL picked me up at 5:15pm Friday night and we headed down to camp. We made a stop at a house about 100yds from the entrance to our cabin. We met with another hunter in our group and all of us had a shot and a beer to toast for a good hunt the next morning. Finally made it to the camp around 8pm. My FIL was already there and had the cabin all toasty warm. We ate a little and then played poker until around 1am. Woke up at 5:30am and stated getting ready. My BIL and his buddy were going to hunt fairly close to my favorite spot so they left just before me. I rushed to get out in case they bumped anything my way. I crossed the creek and started up the mountain to a small flat that I hunt. I just crested over the top and I heard footsteps in the leaves so I froze. There was a mature doe walking right at me less than 20yds away. I think we surprised each other. I had the rifle up but she was facing head on to me and I didn't like that brisket shot. She looked me over and turned so I followed her in scope but she didn't stop. I caught movement to my right and saw her two skippers high tail it from my right to my left and mommy followed. I was confused by what made them run until I heard the leaves erupting and limbs and twigs snapping. I look to my right and here come to black furry bears running straight at me. They got to within 35 or 40 yards and saw me, so they veered off and headed down the mountain I just climbed up. I decided to move forward, thinking I can sneak up on the does who made it to the next flat I usually hunt. I take 10 steps and hear more rustling to my right. I look and here come the male bear, again running straight at me. He wouldn't have stopped if I didn't shout at him, but he hit the brakes about 25 yards from me and was staring at me. I could see the brown patch on the tip of his nose with my bare eyes so he was close. He looked left then right and I twitched a little and he took off the same way mom and cub went. I wasn't in the woods 5 minutes and saw 3doe and 3bear. I snuck to my spot about another 100yards up and was sweating and heart racing from the climb and all the action. I cleaned the leaves out by the base of the Hemlock and grabbed a Mountain Dew from my pack. I just finished chugging the dew and see deer coming my way. It took them about 3 minutes to get out of the brush where I could see them. I scoped both, one was a spike, and the other was a half rack 4 or 6. As I am watching them, I hear footsteps from behind me so I turn to see a yearling doe walking past me on a deer run at 30 yards. She never saw me and then dropped over the ridge towards where I ran into the bear. I look back at the buck and they turned straight away and headed back the way they came. 5 minutes later I see two sets of legs to the left of where the bucks first came out. They circled a small rock outcrop and went back away for me, like the bucks did. Another 15 minutes goes by and here comes a doe from the same direction the bucks were. She is coming in on a run headed right at me. She holds up at 40 yards and scent checks the air from behind a few trees. I am scoping her and decide she is small and watch her turn and walk back away from me. Now I'm thinking they can smell me from all the sweat but I could have shot, so I just stayed put to see what else would come along. It didn't take long and I see another deer headed my way on the same run the doe had come in on. This one was bigger and not holding up. I was kneeling so I just sat as low as I could get with my back to the tree. I get the rifle up now that the deer cleared the brush and I see antlers, so I focus on the left side and count at least 3, that's when I see at least 3 on the other side. He was a decent body size as well so I just let him keep coming. He got to 20 yards headed straight on to me and then turned to his right and stopped broadside. I settle my crosshairs and squeeze the trigger. The buck takes off like I missed so I chamber another round and take another shot quartering away. At 40 yards away from me, he starts to stumble and falls over. At this point, I start thinking, man, I have seen 3 bear, 7 doe, and 3 buck. I check the time and it is 8:00am. In the woods for an hour and twenty minutes, and I've just shot the 10th deer I've seen today. WOW! What a morning. Ok now for all the pictures. (Sorry for the long read but I like details) This was just day 1. I have two videos to upload from day 2, which was just crazy. I'll post up again later.

He thinks quitting cold turkey is the way to go so no body suit or blind with heater. I too remember I would be numb and he would have his coat unzipped and no gloves. He used to use those metal handwarmers in the Red felt bag that took lighter fluid. Loved that smell when he started them. Get them close to the skin though and it was painful.

The tax map says approximately 330 acres. Since 74, only 2 bear have been taken back there. The new owner does not want any shot on his property and all of us are ok with that. Sorry I didn't mean to hijack your thread too. I did send you a PM earlier. If you drive by and see any of us, stop by and ask for Zem. We'll have you up for a beer.

Yes it does go way back and there are trails to 97 but I have not hiked that far. On the left side, we border Tomar hunting club. They are huge, thousands of acres and over 30+ members. The do drives and only shoot bucks, so we have been told. We own to the top of the mountain on the right, where all the little 5 acre parcels are at the old camp on top. Here's a pic of our cabin back [/url]

Yes the black gate with the orange paint on the corners. Our cabin is in about 1/4 mile. Very rustic, no electric or water. Propane lights and stove, old plastic porta John, but we do have a urinal inside piped to a dry well. Woodstove for heat. Home away from home but 5 days max, then home for a real shower, not boiled creek water. LOL Joyce was her name. She was a character. That Damn goat climbed into one of our guys minivan through the side door he left open. He went to open the back hatch and got the crap scared out of him when the goat was in his face inside his van.

The landowner is not a real go getter and we never see him until we drive over to pay him so it doesn't surprise me the places are falling down. He used to rent that yellow house out to an old lady that was a retired school teacher from NYC. We got to know her and would stop in from time to time. I went in one day and she had over 300 baby chicks INSIDE. place smelled awful and the textured ceilings were actually smooth. It was mold hanging down to give it the textured look. Such a shame. That would have been a great cabin for us. The coyote ate really well that year. She had goats, chickens, guinea hens and peacocks. Notice I used the word HAD. Found most of the remains up in the woods while hunting that year.

Frank Corbett is a licensed electrician who lives/lived on Bouchouxville rd. Right above the entrance to our place (the newer trailer that sits back in the woods by hairpin turn). We haven't seen him in a year or so but may be worth checking him out if he still lives there. He stated he bought some land in Arizona and may move there last year. That might be why we haven't seen him. I noticed on Saturday that their was a place for sale next to the pink and purple house the gay guys lived in. Might be cheaper in the long run. Also the Red place just before the pink and purple place has been for sale for a few years. Might get a good deal. Only suggestions.