Cabin Fever

I've had the best luck laying a scent trail on the way to my stand. I've used various scents, but haven't found any that really shine. I use the Retract-A-Drag for laying scent trails, then wind it up like a fishing reel, and hang it up in a tree near my stand. I love the retract-a-drag, as I never have to touch or put my scent on the pad strips. http://www.cabelas.com/scent-accessories-retract-a-drag-combo.shtml

That is amazing!! Great pics BTW!! So you trap a wild hawk and it's that easy to get them accustomed to you, hunt with you, return to you after the hunt, and live in a cage/pen? Then you release them at the end of the season and they can go right back to being a wild bird? Do I understand you right? That is amazing!

I'm with phade on this one... great ground/good deer #'s make all the difference! You can hunt your ass off putting in your time, but if the deer aren't there, you're SOL! Or, if the deer have gone nocturnal. I had 5 cams out last fall and they were on fire until Nov. 1st. I never got a "daytime" pic from Nov. 1st until late December. I don't have many deer in my area anyway, and when the few that I do have go nocturnal, I feel like the area is void of life or I'm on another planet! There's ag fields bordering the thickets, so the deer don't have to travel in between, just step in and step out. They don't have to leave their beds early to "travel" to a distant food source to arrive at dark, nor is there much (if any) opportunity to catch them after they leave the ag fields, as they just step back into the thicket and bed by daylight. October has always been the best opportunity for me to fill tags, while they are moving around and before they go nocturnal.

Very nice! You sure have some good bucks to look forward to this fall also! What did you use on the overhanging branch? You're making me want to open up my mock scrapes now! I was gonna give it another week or two! I find in very interesting how some guys have different results with the bucks reaction to the cams. Remember last month there was a video posted about how bucks freak out when they encounter cams? I don't think any of the bucks on your videos had any sort of negative reaction! I seldom see any negative reactions on my videos either, but every once in a while. I think they are cautious/curious the first time or two that they encounter a cam, but after that, they just get accustomed to it. I've been using cams for ~10 years, so possibly every deer on my property or using my property has encountered a cam or two in their lives.

You don't need 1" groups to kill a deer either...

Young bear

I shoot a smoothbore with Remington rifled slugs. You're not limited to 75 yards, just because you shoot a smoothbore! I have a 3x9 scope on my Rem 1100 and Rem 870 and don't hesitate to shoot out to ~150 yards!

Nice bucks! You should have some luck there!

Yeah, seeing the first hard-horned pics sure gets the heart beating a little faster!

Been wanting a rangefinder for some time now. I haven't seen the Nikon Prostaff 3 on sale, or for any less than $179, very often at all, anywhere (Has Nikon Lifetime Warranty). Nikon just started a $30 instant savings promotion from 9/2-9/29. Looks like not everywhere is offering the savings though. Midway USA is honoring the program and also has free shipping. I just ordered one for $149, with free shipping. NICE!! Nikon Prostaff 3 & 5 $30 Instant Savings http://www.nikonpromo.com/prostaff.php Midway USA Nikon Prostaff 3 http://www.midwayusa.com/product/1320698417/nikon-prostaff-3-laser-rangefinder-6x

Looks GREAT! Talk about a buffet!!

Hmmmmmm.... Good question.....

I have apple trees around a few of my stands. It seems like the deer come out of the thicket earlier in the evenings to be the first ones to get to the apples that fell during the day! Or it's the last stop (dessert?) they make before heading to bed for the day.

I plan on dusting off the traps (after many years) and thinning out the raccoon population on my property. They've destroyed dozens of tree tubes to get to yellow jacket nests/larvae, and while doing so, killed the majority of the trees that I planted. http://huntingny.com/forums/topic/10635-damn-raccoons/ I'm gonna use their pelt money to recoup some of my losses!! In addition, I want to reduce the number of nest raiders on my property as well. They've gone unmanaged for far too long now! What baits do you have the best luck with for raccoons? I recall using cheapo/Dollar Store sardines, canned fish, and marshmellows. BUT, I also recall smelling like fish all the time also during trapping season, because of the baits that I used. (Can't be having that during bow season!!!) I've been reading that dried dog food is very good and easy. OF COURSE, I will ONLY use this in my cage traps! I have ~18 live traps, so I might only use those.

Nice bucks! Are the pics from your camp?

That is such a funny pic!!

OMG! Great bucks!

Neat! Looks like that crows gonna get a whoopin'!!

Yeah, baby!! It's coming!!

Leaves are changing and falling here, weeds are dying off, nip in the air.... Gotta love it!! I wonder if the bucks are starting to think the same thing? LOL

Ya got some nice bucks on your side of the pond (Cayuga Lake) there Sam!

So far, so good!! Thanks for the suggestions! That Redirect Virus is a pain in the ass!! I hope it's gone for good this time and doesn't rear it's ugly head again!

Probably raccoons. They love yellow jacket larvae! Every year, they tear the hell out of my tree tubes to get to the yellow jacket nests/larvae inside! http://huntingny.com/forums/topic/10635-damn-raccoons/ I found a yellow jackets ground nest (the HARD way) last summer while brushhogging. The hole was about 2" in diameter. I sprinkled some Sevin over the hole to kill the bees. The next day, all the bee's were dead. The following day, I thought I'd finish mowing, and the hole was now ~12" in diameter and the nest was destroyed! Raccoons tore it up to get to the larvae!

I suppose you could wash it like I do my HSS. I just fill up a plastic tote, add scent killer detergent, and soak/wash in there, rinse, then hang out to dry.

Ahhh, yes! tdsskiller! That's what I used a long time ago to get rid of the redirect virus! I remember deleting it when I was done, but this time when I got it, I couldn't remember what the name of the program was! Thanks!