Zem18

Thanks for sharing your stories too guys. I did ask my Dad to just come down to camp but he said he would be bored. And the third party in all of this should be mentioned as well, Mom. Her health isn't great either and she hates to be alone for 2 nights when Dad would come down with us. He will still be the first guy I call whether I was successful or not and I can share my hunts with him, just over the phone now.

Obviously you haven't spent a lot of time in Lordville then, LOL. There are definitely some characters out there. I couldn't handle being that far out though. Somewhere in between would be better.

Think it is 3rd weekend of season. I'll check with my FIL and let you know. It is on a Friday night so we drive down, eat there, then go to cabin across the bridge. We are right on the 1st hair pin turn (black gate) across from yellow house and barn that is falling apart or down I should say. I see the barn fell this past year.

So my Dad told me yesterday, not today, at breakfast, that last year was his last year of hunting. He is 76 now and had a heart attack about 3 years ago. His eyes are getting worse, and now his kidneys are weakening. He sleeps like 3 hours a night and gets up to go about 4 times a night. Since the heart attack, he is on blood thinner medication, so the cold really gets to him now. He laughs and says, "it's hell getting old" but the decision hurts him for sure. I'm sad about it and jokingly said to him, "hmmm I could hunt with a new to me rifle this year" and he said, NO it's not yours YET. I know he would love to be out there with us at camp but like he said, it will be too much for him. I will try to see if maybe he will go out close to home. I have a few spots that he might be able to get to easily and we can leave if he gets cold. Hopefully he will want to go. If not, I guess my teacher is retired. Going to miss him at camp and like he said, " who's money you guys going to steal playing poker"

Nice job. My father in law and his buddy are headed home from out there. They hunted the 3rd rifle season, DIY, on public land. Don't know the unit but it is in the northwest corner near Craig,CO. His buddy shot a 5x5 mulie. If I get some pics, I will post up.

He is a tank with a awesome bleached rack. Congrats on your success. Hard work does pay off!

Holy crap, I thought nobody knew where Lordville was. We have a camp on Bouchville Road,( bottom of Lordville road then take a left) Was just down there Saturday to clean up for next week. Didn't walk the ridges as not to disturb anything. Great little place out in the "boonies". Any of you Lordville guys go to the Equinunk Firemans turkey party? If not, check it out sometime. $1 for all the beer you can drink, free food, and $1 per hand of poker to win chickens and raffle tickets for Turkey's. Great fund raiser and a good time. Go across bridge into PA from Lordville and got to stop sign. Take a left, then a quick right and firehouse is right there. Good luck out there.

Just get the hide off and the meat is fine. All deer have ticks and/or keds. Just skinned a 5pt last weekend and it had a bunch crawling on it. No issues with the meat though. Also went to camp Saturday and had a tick on me when I got home. Sucker crawled up my sleeve and latched into my forearm. Wife got it out with tweezers.

Wow, I'd say it was an awesome week for you. Congratulations on two brutes.

Action is picking up out there. Good luck the rest of the week.

I didn't feel too bad and know I was at fault. Had high hopes for this morning. No rain over night and was overcast but 42 degrees. Just after Sun up it started to drizzle and continued on and off until 915 and then the sun came out. We sat from 6 til 10 and I didn't see a single deer. My buddy saw 3 but all small and no shots, all out at a distance. He has Tuesday off but today was my last bow hunt. Kinda sad but looking forward to the regular and especially the late season. Had a blast last year, late. If my memory is correct, there were only 2 hunts this bow season, that I was skunked and did not see a deer. Damn good year for sightings. Let's hope that continues into the regular season. Ill be heading down Friday night after work with my brother in law, father in law, a friend of my bils, and two other members from southeastern NY. 6 guys on 328 acres equally a lot of hiking and tough hunting but it's great being out there. I only took Monday off so hoping to get something in the first three days. Then there is always Turkeyday and that weekend so no worries. Good luck to all and be safe if I don't post again before Friday. Thanks for reading thus far and will update when I get back.

11.8.14 Went to 2nd property with my buddy this morning. We were in the stand by 545 but it was getting light quick. Light dusting in a few spots so no help from the snow God's. Was super quiet out there and in the mid 20s so standing still was not an option. Around 715 I get a text that a deer came over the hill above me. I waited and watched but nothing appeared. I then heard a can call and some grunts about 755am from my buddy. Two minutes later the leaves are rustling and the deer are coming right too me. I grab the bow and clip on and the first two doe are past me with the third just about to pass me. I look and a fourth is coming and it is a buck, so I get to full draw and start mouth calling to get him to stop. No luck until he stops about 40yds away. The four of them stand there for 3 to 4 minutes and decide to continue on across the road, when something spooks the lead doe and she turns to run the trail 10 yards in front of me. She is headed straight on at me with a little skipper right behind her. No shot and she stops right behind some brush only 8 yards from me and probably the only spot I don't have a shot from this stand. At this point the 4pt with a big body is coming straight at me so I see steaks on the grill in my head and draw as he is only 20yds away and closing. He stops head on, slightly quartering to so I hold and he turns broadside. I am anchored and I slam the trigger in all the excitement. He jumps and walks off unscathed as I shot about 2 yards over his back. It was cold and I had some buck fever and forgot to squeeze so I am very thankful for the clean miss and not a wounding shot. Man were my knees knocking. Recovered a pristine and clean arrow, except for some dirt on the broadhead. No blood in area or on trail he walked up. The fourth deer, a doe was coming on the same path as the buck so I nocked another arrow but she stayed out at 25yds and didn't stop until she was behind some brush. No shot as she walked up into the woods. Saw one more doe running out of the pines behind me around 910am and that was it. My buddy saw 11 deer from his stand and a flock of about 15 turkey. I saw 4 doe and the 4pt. Plan to hunt same spot in the morning and stay a little later. Had to leave around 920 today to head down to the cabin and get a few last minute chores done before next weekend. Everything is ready to go for the gun opener. My buddy hunted this afternoon and he saw the 4pt from this morning cruising the area still. Have two nice 8's on cam from this week so maybe, just maybe one will move during light tomorrow. Hopefully I can keep my composure. If I ever lose that adrenalin rush, I will quit hunting.

Congrats on a great buck and being persistent.

http://www.spiedie.com/ Go to the site above. Place an order for the state fair spiedie sauce. Marinate some venison for 2 days in the fridge. Fire up the gas grill and go to town. You won't be disappointed. Or check your local stores.

I had a deer that looked identical to him at 15 yards on Saturday evening. IMO, he is not 1 1/2.

We didn't have a soccer game this Saturday so I was out there and it was windy. Sunday was even windier but I saw 10 doe a 4pt, and a gobbler ( he was going crazy with all the wind) all before 7:15am. It was down right chilly too. It is only just beginning so get out there and make it happen.

Maybe it's a test to see if she is wifey material. The holidays are coming up and it is a good time for proposals.

I know. I passed on mom n the twins and now nothing has come into range of any size. I've seen deer almost every hunt so I can't complain there but I've been picky this year. Should be able to get morning hunts in next weekend and that will be it for bow for me. I might not be as picky then. I have another video to upload and will post later of the 4pt I saw Sunday morning.

11.2.14 Buddy called me and said he wasn't going so I went alone. Hunted same property as last night but I sat in the 10ft ladder stand (my buddies stand) versus the 15ft stand I was in last night. Thank goodness as that wind was brutal and gusts were whipping. I dressed in several layers and never got cold. Within minutes of being in the stand, I could hear a turkey gobbling on the ridge. He was going nuts. I saw him come booking down the ridge and run to my left as it was getting light just after 6. By 6:30am I had 3 doe come by, two of them passing within 30yds but both were small. About 5 minutes later a 4pt came by and followed the 2 doe that went by fairly close. A few minutes later, the 4pt came right behind my stand and proceeded to mill around within 5 to yards from me. I shot a quick video I will post up later. I was tempted but passed as he was small and deserves to get bigger. Just before 8am I saw deer off to my left about 70 yards out. Thought they were coming my way but they changed course and fed up a ridge away from me. There were 7 total in the group. Got a call from my daughter that the wife was having stomach pain and felt like passing out so I had to get down and fly home to make sure all was OK. After about an hour after I got home, she was feeling a little better. Not sure when I'll get back out but hope to get at least one more bow hunt in before gun starts. With everyone's busy schedule we still haven't made it to the cabin so that is the plan for next Saturday. Nothing like waiting til the last minute.

11.1.14 pm hunt So my buddy and I left the house at 2:30 this afternoon. Made it to the property just before 3. There are 5 stands and we chose to sit the lower two as this is where we saw the deer this morning. Well me made the right choice, both of us. We were covered up in deer from the time we got there until 6pm. My buddy saw 4 doe and a 6pt and a large wide spike. I had the spike sneak in behind me to 15 yards and when I turned my head to see the squirrel making all the racket, I was surprised to say the least. Also had 3 doe and either a 6 or an 8 come in within 30 yards but lots of twigs and brush between us. Buck chased mommy doe away and the little ones followed. Saw 7 more deer on the ride home. Even though it was windy as all get up and I was numb, it was an awesome night. Going to be in the same stand in the morning and will take the first good shot possible as I may not get to hunt next weekend so this may be my last chance. Got a call from another buddy when I got home and he shot a 4 or 5pt at 4:30 this afternoon. Leaving in 5 minutes to go help butcher it up then get to bed. 5:30 is going to roll around quick.

11-1-14 My buddy and i decided to hunt my in laws this morning. We were in the stands by 6:45am and could hear the deer walking in the leaves behind our stands. Once it got light it was super quiet until the squirrels and chippies started moving. Those suckers are so loud that I almost missed the Momma and two little ones who walked within 30 yards of me. Had my bow in hand and thought mommy was headed my way so I clipped my release on and she busted that small twitch and took off. The little ones followed, only to come back within 10 minutes right underneath me without momma. The bigger of the two babies was bleating away.Was loving the live decoys but they were running and skipping around and didn't stay long. Stayed out until 10 but nothing else showed. Drove to another property and got out to speed scout for this afternoon or tomorrow morning. Had four doe bedded under one of the four stands, right off the driveway. Put a small stalk on but they were onto us. Checked the other stands and walked right past a bedded doe. She got up when we passed, and just walked off. We are headed out to the other property this afternoon and possibly lying tomorrow morning. Hopefully a change of scenery and give the other spot a rest will be beneficial to everyone. The pic of the 8pt above in the Orange leaves is on the same hill as this other property so maybe he will cruise on by. Keeping my fingers crossed.

I too use a .243 for deer hunting (buck in profile pic was shot with it) and I use 100 grain soft points. A well placed shot will do it's intended job so use what you are comfortable with and enjoy the outdoors.

Congrats on the double.

I downloaded an app called hunting calls for free. Pick the call you like (I use the turkey gobble) and press and hold for a few seconds and it saves to your ringtones. Then I changed my text sound to the gobble and it sounds better than a beep. Deer grunts are available as well.

Fletch - this is the first I have seen a bear or sign in my area. That pic of the bear is the same spot that the small buck is walking by in the video (next to the blue pool liner) as that is where the cam is, 21yards away. First - It did look like he was making a face. I would be stoked to get a shot at that buck but not counting on it. I've had lots of bigger deer on cam in the past and it seems they are just cruising and never come back during daylight or at all. So now that you've seen the bear pics, is it just me and my buddy or is that bear huge? The first pic makes it look giant but can't figure out if it is just the angle and how close it is to the cam or if it is really that big. I have no interest in taking the bear but my buddy might if he gets the chance. He still hasn't decided.