Pygmy

In more arid climates, like places I have hunted in New Mexico, Colorado, and other places out west, water holes are a big draw... However, here in NY even relatively dry years, like this year, there are few places where a deer has to walk more than a few hundred yards to find a water source....Spring seeps, creeks, rivers, ponds, lakes etc. etc. are everywhere.... That's not saying that you can't create a water source that the deer will use...Just don't expect it to be a major draw like a waterhole in New Mexico or Arizona, where the animals might have to travel many miles to the nearest water source..

Over the last 10-12 years I have hunted ( mostly turkey but some deer) from Ameristep Doghouse blinds... They are low end,, but usually you can find them for $75 or less and that is a reasonable price for a product that you can get 4 or 5 years service from... They are quick and easy to set up, keep me concealed and relatively well protected from the elements.... For the money I think they are a good option..

In the 1950s, the last day of gun season was "doe day" and anyone who had an filled buck tag could use it for a doe ..There were no "doe tags" per se... There also was no late bow season or muzzleloader season The early bow only season was one deer of either sex, one tag per hunter.. In the early 1960s or thereabouts, the party permit system was initiated...A group of hunters, could apply for a "party permit" which was one tag good for a deer of either sex..An armband was issued with the party permit " the armband was actually the tag" and only the person wearing the armband was legally allowed to shoot the party deer... In the mid 1960s when I started hunting deer, my Dad , my Uncle and I went together for a landowners's permit, which at that time required three hunters..The " regular" party permits in our unit required 5 or 6 hunters at that time, IIRC....

Cool picture !!

Happy Birthday, y'all !!......

Depends on the bullet....I'm betting that an all copper 6MM bullet at 3000 FPS will do much less meat damage than a standard cup&core copper jacketed .30 cal at 3000FPS....

I don't shower, but I like to sit on the floor of the shower stall while a fat blonde showers.. I call it "cover scent".....

I checked this post expecting to see my picture.....<<sigh>>...

I'm with Cooper....Who in his right mind would be out sitting in a tree waiting for some silly ass deer to walk by when he could be hunting ducks, ESPECIALLY when he has a fine dog like Cooper....i I am dissappointed with you, Jay <<SIGH>>.......Poor Cooper.....

27 degrees here in Dogpatch...I'm headed out the door to the local river river for the duck opener. I'll probably won't see anything but mergansers, as usual... Except for geese...Goose season doesn't open until NEXT Saturday, so we'll probably be covered up with them...Hehehe..

I live just across the border from Tioga County Pa nd hunted there many, many years, as well as Potter County.....Never saw or heard of anything like that locally.... It's an amazing buck if it is legit...Pardon me for being somewhat skeptical...But it's pretty hard for me to believe for a free range buck from Tioga County PA... Perhaps a high fence freak...??...

Nailed it....Little bughole groups are great for bragging rights at the range, but not necessary for hunting medium to large game... My most useful rifle and the one that I have killed the most game with, from pronghorns and deer to large Alaska bull moose, has never been a tack driver..It is a Win M70 in .280 Rem, and day in and day out, groups around 2" at 100 yards off the bench.. However, with well constructed bullets, Nosler partitions, Barnes X, and yes, Nosler BTS, I have killed lots of stuff with it, some on the far side of 300 yards, and mostly with a fixed 4X Leupold scope..

We should all be shooting what our rifles like best, Partner... As far as preferences in projectiles YMMV....Good hunting, My friend...

The EARLY production ballistic tips were more lightly constructed and in some calibers they tended to be too explosive for medium or big game, similar to varmint bullets... However, in a short period of time, Nosler addressed the problem and beefed up the jackets....For at least the last twenty years or so, Nosler BTs have been equal or superior to any of the standard cup and core type bullets, such as Sierras, Speers, Rem Coreloct, Winchester Power Points and others.... I have killed a lot of game with Nosler BTs, including whitetails, mule deer, pronghorns and caribou, and have never had an explosive " bullet failure" such as those that were described by some hunters using the early BTs in the first 2-3 years of production.. Most of the game I have killed with BTs has been with the .280 Rem and the 7MM08 pushing a 140 grain BT from 2800 to 3000 FPS... One thing about the Nosler BT..If you want to find the most accurate bullet in your rifle, the BT is the first one to try..You probably won't have to go any further..

I agree that this isn't the proper thread to discuss this topic...My apologies to the OP....

I will grant you that ENOUGH energy will kill them, but it is silly to compare the energy imparted by a 110 grain bullet moving at 2600 FPS to a 3000 pound vehicle moving at 50 MPH... That is like comparing an infantry rifle round to a 16" naval artillery round.. People talk about " knocking down" a deer with a shotgun slug or a rile round...Bullshit !! When you shoot a deer and it falls down immediately, it is because the projectile struck OR CAME VERY CLOSE TO the CNS or major supporting skeletal structure..

The "V" in V -Max stands for varmint....Many deer have been killed with varmint type bullets and good shot placement, but IMHO there are better choices ... Like Larry, I belong to the " 2 holes are better than one" school, rather than the " dump all the energy in the animal" school... Energy doesn't kill big game animals, tissue damage and hemmorrage does, and if you do happen to end up with a tracking job, the exit hole helps a lot.. Now, I remember a girl many years back who had a reputation as a " 3 holer", but that is an entirely different subject <<BIG smile>>....

Nice buck...Too bad he lost the cape...

There is only one rut..It begins in September and continues until all or nearly all does stop coming into estrus, usually in January or thereabouts... There is usually a period of time from late October to mid November when the majority of does are in estrus, generally referred to as the "peak" of the rut, but often it is influenced by weather....Some years there is a noticable spike in breeding activity a month after the "peak", if a significant number of does have not been bred for whatever reason, and come into estrus again.. I think this is what is sometimes called the "2nd rut", but it is a misnomer....

Barnes X.. Talk to Lawdwaz and he will tell you about the effectiveness of that bullet on deer in the .243....

No..He just wants to ask that doe where she is finding the sweetest acorns...

Hell yes, Biz..This IS pre-rut... Back in the day when I was bowhunting I had better luck both rattling and grunting early... Avoid noisy noisy smash-bang rattling, but just tickling the antlers is very effective early...The last four bucks that I killed with my bow were all grunted or rattled in early/mid October...

You definitely did the right thing by leaving her overnight...Keep your fingers crossed and good luck in the morning..

I never could figure out why anyone would want to sit around in a tree waiting for some silly deer to come by when they could be hunting upland birds or ducks...

He'll be a dandy in 4 or 5 years.....<<grin>>....