Pygmy

I took a nice doe with my Garand this year....Double lunged her at about 50 yards with a handloaded 150 grain Winchester power point.. My one complaint about the M1 as a hunting rifle...The safety ( at least on MY rifle) is difficult to release without an audible CLICK...Might cost me a shot sometime in a close encounter..

Season is till open for small game, varmints and game birds... Or perhaps someone was just out shooting for fun... Judging by the amount of coyote tracks I have seen in the last few days, I hope SOMEONE is out hunting them.. ...

WNY... Good luck in your search for a better 20 gauge bullet... There are a good number of good high performance options out there today.. Back when I was hunting with a 20 gauge ( 60s, 70s, early 80s) there were only a few options to choose from..Rifled Foster style slugs from Remington, Federal or Winchester, and a couple of brands of Brenneke slugs, Fiocchi and RWS if I remember corrrectly... There were no 20 gauge rifled barrels or 20 gauge sabot slugs available at that time... That is why I switched to a 12 gauge slug gun around 1990.. I was able to buy a fully rifled cantilever barrel for my ( 12 gauge) 1100 and sabot slugs , which gave me a significant accuracy advantage over the smoothbore 20 gauge that I had used for 20 years..

Sorry to hear you lost your deer....That always sucks.... If you lack confidence in your slugs, you should definitely change to a projectile that you have more faith in.. However, a 20 gauge that does not expand at all still would leave a 63 caliber hole through the deer... Seems like that would be enough to do the job with a good hit... I killed quite a few deer with 20 gauge slugs in past years ( probably 30-40) and I don't remember many of them leaving exit holes a whole lot bigger than the entrance wounds.. I'm guessing that perhaps you hit your deer in a non-vital area, considering the amount of white hair you found...Hopefully he will survive the wound..

Reeltime... Yeah, it's me, Lee... Good to see you on the forum... Kill any big ones this season..??..

Same back at you all.... Have fun and be CAREFUL out there.....!!!!!.....

I don't think there has ever been a dove season in NY.... It has been proposed many times, but has been shot down easily by the antis, because it has had little support by sportsman, due to the fact that there is no dove hunting tradition in New York.. I know there has not been one since I have been hunting ( early 60's)... Are you remembering further back than that..??..

FIFTY 30-06 factory loads for $7.99... ???? You might want to re-check the prices... I think you may be mistaken... Even $ 7.99 for 20 rounds it would be a great deal.... I'd about pay that just for the new brass..

I do the instant oatmeal thing...It gets a little something in my stomach without ( hopefully) triggering the urges that always come after a REAL breakfast of eggs, bacon, ham or whatever... In ANY case, when I go to the woods.... My toilet paper is like American Express... I don't leave home without it....

Doc... Sounds good to ME..!!... However, a lot of people may not know how good a cold fried egg sandwich can taste.... I might " improve " mine with a couple slices of very thin shaved ham... DAMN...!! I'm getting HUNGRY...!!... ....

Culver Creek.... ;D ... ;D ... ;D .... Good point... Maybe I should start carrying the bayonet on my M1....

I went through two red checked woolrich coats and a pair of trousers that matched... I could leave my home and walk as far as I wanted and never be on land where I wasn't welcome...A few areas were posted, but neighbors all let thier neighbors hunt, along with most other folks who had the courtesy to ask permission... My first hunting license cost $3.25..My first duck stamp cost $3.00.. I still have them and an old party permit armband from 1969.. It was a landowner preference permit and still required 3 people for one antlerless deer. Hardly anybody had a scope on thier shotgun...The only guns you saw with adjustable rifle type sights were Ithaca Deerslayers... Many , if not most hunters just used the bead on thier shotgun barrel..A few had recievers drilled for peep sights, and used the bead for a front sight.. The only shotgun slugs available were Remington, Federal or Super -X ( Winchester) Foster type slugs and Brennekes, which most guys called " German" slugs... Most hunters drove deer..Almost everyplace got hunted..There weren't many unhuntable or lightly hunted " sanctuaries " for deer to hide undisturbed in, as is the case today... You saw lots of deer....

I generally rely on candy bars, granola bars ( or trail mix bars) and water.... I buy packs of the small Halloween type Snickers, Baby Ruths, Payday, Almond Joy and Reese Cups... Sometimes I take jerky also... Since PA season opens after NY season, sometimes I have some leftover deer heart...If I get lucky in NY, the first day of PA season I'll often make myself a leftover deer heart sandwich, with mayo and coarse black pepper... Just seems like the perfect sandwich to eat on deer stand...

I'm ready..Got the rifles checked, the gear together.. I'm just getting some last minute things around, like snacks and handwarmers... Got my pack already to go.. My hunting area is a 10 minute drive from my house, which is a bonus...In some ways... It's certainly convenient, but the hunting camp scene is fun too... Good luck to everyone, and be careful out there, ESPECIALLY climbing in and out of those stands...

Some hunters don't pay much attention to details..They just dump a bunch of cartridges or shells in a pocket and go hunting... Others, myself included, tend to do things a certain way, each time, like take the same number of number of shells..It's almost a superstitious thing, or perhaps a "rite of preparation".... When deer hunting with one of my bolt action rifles, I carry ten rifle cartridges, because that's how many my cordura cartridge holder holds...If I am hunting with my Garand M1 I carry two five round en-bloc clips... If I am hunting with my slug gun I carry two 5 packs of sabot slugs.. With my muzzleloader, ten rounds would be unecessary overkill.. I usually hunt with one charge in the barrel and three spare charges in speedloaders.. How many rounds do you carry...??...

OK... I just Googled Swiss hound and learned something... Very interesting... Are many people running rabbits with these hounds..??.. Perhaps they are used more for snowshoe hares..??..

A SWISS hound..??.. That's a new one on me... I love beagles and ALL hounds for that matter... Educate me on the swiss hound.. I have only ever run rabbits with beagles & Bassets and perhaps a few crosses of them with something else..

Congrats.....I have a soft spot in my heart for springers... I had 3 over the years..All 3 were liver & white... Great dogs... Good job with your training...Keep us posted..

Good luck to you folks checking out new spots.. That is always fun, especially if it turns out to be productive... I am fortunate in having lived in the same area for 60 years and still have access to places that I have hunted for 45 years or so.. I know some places that I KNOW I can kill deer.. Hunting unfamiliar places, it sometimes takes several years before you really figure out what is going on....

Hmmmm..I think the only places I have hunted that require a backtag are NY and PA... That includes a bunch of states and several Canadian Provinces.... I would tend to agree with Lawdwaz that they are outdated, unecessary, and generally a pain in the ass..

Hmmmm... There's a difference..??.. Us old retired hunters just get up and go to bed by the sun... ....

You did the right thing, my friend... You can share my hunting camp anytime...

I've seen pictures of a big ol' slob of a bear taken in Caton.. Supposedly weighs 545 lb. I don't know how to post pictures, but have received some email photos of it..

Gotta due a little trail maintenance.. so I can get my ATV to the stand( I use it for game retreival only).. Gotta stop by my buddies range and fire a ONE SHOT group with the mountain rifle to make sure nothing has changed since last year.. I also have to re-zero my muzzleloader for NoExcuses conicals..Last Year I ran out of them and had to reisight it for round balls...Got a new supply of NoExcuses.. Plenty of time for that, though..I only use it during the special late season after rifle season..

I didn't vote..The categories are much too restrictive... I do hunt over 50% of the time by myself... The rest of the time I hunt with somebody, but not necessarily a select few.. I have a lot of friends....