nyslowhand

Not a big fan of Grylls, but this show is interesting because he takes a celebrity on a 48hr survival trek. Lot of climbing up and repelling down cliffs, shelter building, fire starting and food gathering. All are way out of their celebrity lifestyle & comfort level. Recently streamed on demand episodes from last season. What makes this interesting is to see how the celebs face their fears and who meets them head-on & who is the biggest wimp. JMO, Courtney Cox is a whinny "B", Kate Hudson moved thru her demons. Michelle Rodriquez is a fearless, tiny beast, Spice Girl Mel B did a decent job after a lot of complaining, James Marsden & Micheal B Jordan did a respectable job of meeting their fears. "Biggest loser" , constant bitching and MVP whimp was NFL superstar Marshawn Lynch Go figure, huh!?! Hudson & Rodriquez put him to shame, literally!!! Also had some interesting campfire conversations where celebs divulged personal info. This survival show is a little more realistic than most of the other reality (??) survival shows that are mostly scripted for the drama effects. Worth a watch, esp since these are single 1hr episodes and not prolonged multi-episode shows! Believe 2nd season premiered 11/5 on Nat Geo.

Good enough at practice to give you confidence and esp at the moment of truth to visually transfer the Block's bulls-eye onto a deer's vitals area. Do NOT become a client of our beloved retrieval guy & his doggies! Exactly what Daveboone said, also know you limitations. Paraphrased - do not let bone dictate your shots! "Gotta know when to hold em, know when to fold em and know when to walk away!" Ala Kenny Rogers. You only have to take one or regrettably a couple not so good shots to learn this lesson the hard way. Any lost deer, esp a nice buck will make a grown man cry! Finally here's some food for thought and a deer hunting anomaly. Some of the best & most successful deer hunters might not qualify to the above consensus of 1"/10yrd rule of thumb. I'd be naive if I thought I'd be a good deer hunter if I could consistently shoot the bulls-eye of my Block target in my backyard!

IDK, aren't there bad reviews &/or experiences with many 2-blade mechanical BHs? Wound slits re-sealing slightly after shot and not producing expected blood trails??? I'm strictly an elevated stand hunter, so my shots have an exit wound lower on the body than the slightly higher entrance. Meaning the blood will run out the lowest point, the exit wound. Hope some other blind hunters will chime in, but I'm assuming a horizontal shot from a blind might not produce any gravity aided blood trails. Obviously no expert, so love to hear from others!! My 2¢ worth of advice - Try 3-blade mechanical BHs. I've had good luck with my 10-pt Turbo using NAP Spitfire &/or Maxx mechanical BHs. Mine are also 100gr BHs, but I use a heavier Alum arrow. A little disclaimer - know of others that used Spitfire BHs & were not happy with blood trails!

FYI - You only need to fill out this cert once per DEC regs. Although it is actually dated when you sign it, it is NOT an annual cert w/updated signing. See 2nd paragraph in bold type: https://www.dec.ny.gov/docs/wildlife_pdf/19crossbows.pdf

Most of these reverse draw crossbows have a really narrow profile & do not meet the NYS min outer limb-> limb 17" requirement. Not all, most! That law for 17" min width was a blatant attempt to keep these types of Xbows out of the woods by an anti-Xbow group and our dumb-a$$ legislators back in 2014.

Promise...?

Most durable, HD and obviously built to support lots of weight - screw-in tree steps. AND cheap too! Clearly for private property only and established stands. They are a PITA to get the screw end started, but once fully screwed in they'll support anything? I'm a big advocate of having your weapon of choice laying across my lap, so mainly fanny pack & quiver get put onto hangers.

Two things come to mind. #1 - Check your Xbow manual. Lot of Xbow Mfgers don't suggest dry firing their Xbows. Check yours! #2 - This (below) and an old practice arrow/bolt don't take up much room in a vehicle! Target is only 10"x16"x8" for ~$15 on sale.

^^^ Choose your priorities wisely, grasshopper!

Things are different when leaves are still on the trees. When they're off, the tree you select may look like a utility pole out in the open. Not an expert, but doesn't a deer's line of sight consist mainly ~4'high & horizontally. Makes it challenging putting a stand on an incline, esp if they travel up/down same incline. If you can't sit still, fidgeting, standing/sitting - gonna get busted whether you realize it or not. Time to get out of the stand if you can't sit still! Here's one final phenomena I encountered a couple years ago. Had own property with 10/11 ladder stands placed around it, with many re-located yearly. Never had deer notice me, they even came underneath my stands, bucks too! In last 3yrs after selling old property, it has changed hands 2X with multiple hunters/year/owner. I began to notice while I'm in a stand & on cams, the deer are actually starting to look up at stands that have been in same location for ~8 years on adjacent property I now hunt. New situation..WTH!!! Assuming new hunters are fidgeting around and deer have a "learned response" of checking out the stands. FYI - Just to reinforce this learned response, none of the 5-6 new hunters on that old property have had the success for last ~3yrs that I had when I hunted alone there for ~11yrs! Clearly, I'm no whitetail behavioral scientist, just some deer behavior I've seen that's hard to explain!

As you get older your tolerance for these self-proclaimed "anything" experts decreases greatly. I usually reply to their gibberish with "Oh really..?" and try to walk away. Bad enough when it's a customer at one of those big box outdoors stores spewing crap, but often it's the store employees. Not to mention most of the TV show hosts &/or pro-hunters!!!

Still vividly recall my dad's monthly poker nights with his buddies. Sardines, anchovies, hot peppers, real "store" blue cheese and saltines. Of course, whatz poker night w/o beer, whiskey & stokies! Naturally the windows needed to be opened the following AM to air-out the poker night odors.

When I was hunting out of a blind I used a 25-36" adj monopod. My ladder stands have gun rails &/or arm rest that make any aide unnecessary. BTW - These shorter versions are handy for off-hand shooting while walking/stalking. Simply place bottom in your belt/hip area and it gives a little more support than free-hand. Not as cumbersome walking around with a shorter one compared to those full length shooting stick types.

Doesn't seem like much of a hunting challenge, JMO!

... Now try using a climber in the dark. You'll probably be either going up or down in darkness.

Trick to using a rope cocker is getting it s/u to the proper rope length for your height &/or body build. Most of the work should be done with your back as you go from being bent over gripping the rope handles to a fully vertical body position. Only last amount of draw length done with either your arms or shoulder muscles. Only reason I opted for the ratcheting cocking device is I thought it would be a little safer & easier to re-cock while up in a tree stand vs using a rope cocker. Ratcheting cocking devices do add some weight to Xbow, they tend to make a rather loud ratcheting sound and $$.

FYI: from DEC's crossbow regulations/hunting; Crossbow Specifications A legal crossbow consists of a bow and string, either compound or recurve, that launches a minimum 14-inch bolt or arrow, not including point, mounted upon a stock with a trigger that holds the string and limbs under tension until released. The trigger unit of such crossbow must have a working safety. Minimum limb width: 17 inches (outer tip of limbs, excluding wheels and cams, uncocked) Minimum peak draw weight: 100 pounds Maximum peak draw weight: 200 pounds. Minimum overall length: 24 inches from butt-stock to front of limbs.

^^^ Oh yeah, agree with mowin!!!!! Applying Kentucky windage to an arrow's flight in the wind - way over-thinking this situation. I'd be more worried about un-clenching the stand to shoot while the tree & stand are swaying. Not to mention the possible movement of the stand while aiming at a standing target or esp a walking deer.

Still remember local diners opening up early (4AM) on SZ opening day of regular deer season, Places were packed! Sadly, so were the bars after about 10AM..

When deer can jump an 8' fence, a stone wall/fence won't provide any deterrent to their travel routes. I owned an abandoned farm land parcel until a couple years ago that was checker-boarded with stone fences like the OP mentioned. Like a naive fool I tried to move stones around & dump dirt/gravel on top of remaining base stones so there was an easier path for the deer to get across these obstacles. Guess what ... the deer still continued to use their traditional paths jumping across the fences making me look like an idiot. Hint - look for beaten paths to/from each side of the stone walls/fences. BTW - You can slightly influence a deer's travel patterns when you cut small paths thru super thick brushy areas, clear-up areas with a lot of branches or tree tops littering a woodlot or install large plastic/metal drainage pipes with gravel on top to cross a large run-off ditch or small creek. But in the end it benefits the hunter more than changing a deer's travel routes.

Last I saw, the officials weren't sure hunter died of the goring or a heart attack. Not to make light of the hunter's death, but as life-long hunter I can think of worse ways to go to the happy hunting grounds!

Yet another awesome piece of chainsaw artwork!!!!! You need to promote sis to be your PR and contact Stihl for some endorsement $$.

Super fresh, opened-up with arteries trimmed, sliced, slow cooked with tons of butter. Butter &/or bacon makes everything edible, right? I've even eaten fresh venison liver prep'ed the same way and I normally hate liver.

Okay, so you do what you have to do with what you have available, but in the living room is a little over the top!

For fixed blade BHs, they are easily cleaned & re-sharpened or blades replaced. IF there is no major damage to BH tip, etc. Mechanical BH are a whole other issue regarding re-use. Sure, a lot have replaceable blades, but JMO I don't have a lot of faith in re-using them. May sound wasteful ($$), but all arrows and BHs in my quiver are virgin. When I do get the opportunity to take aim at any deer, I want all the continence my equipment will perform flawlessly. Me on the other hand, not so flawless, but am prepared to take the shame if a FUBAR happens. No reason to blame my equipment.