The_Field_Ager

Getting closer, that's for sure. If I don't get him, and he makes it into late gun, I think I know his way's well enough to get him after some heavy snow. Don't wanna wait that long tho!

So I just had the best, most fun and most disappointing morning sit of my life.Here's what happened. I get to my new stand location just before 6am. This is the spot by an Oak tree with lot's of muddy moose size hoof prints from the Big 10 in my woods.A trail cuts right through the center section of my property and past a couple of Oaks. My stand is closer to the larger Oak at 15 yards distance. About 6:20ish a deer comes snuffling right by my stand. It's still dark, I can just make out a shape. My camera covering this trail goes off. It is a flash style. I get a glimpse of the Deer, it's a Buck but no monster. He comes over to the oak and begins to take a long luxurious pee. Then, to my surprise, he starts to crunch on the acorns. It's a Red Oak, so my perception was that deer didn't like 'em that much and used them as a last resort food source. Boy was I wrong. He spent the next 20 minutes munching his way around in front of me. The camera got a bunch of pics. He is a young deer, small rack but has 7 or 8 points. This is a new deer for me on cam. As he wanders off, sun-up begins . Everything goes grey. 15 minutes later there is good light, we are almost at 7am. I decide to see if I can rattle him back for a closer look. The conditions are perfect. nice temp, and no wind. The Knight and Hale sounds awesome and the noise reverberates through-out the woods. 10 minutes later I hear unmistakable and loud crunching of branches coming right at from the opposite direction the other deer left in. It is the Big 10, with his devil-may-care attitude to making noise. I remember the exact same noises from last years encounter with him. I stand up, grab the bow and my heart starts pounding. It looks like he is going to hit the trail and is coming my way.For 60 seconds I actually believe I am going to shoot this guy. Then, he stopped, about 40 yards out. I can't really see him too well, as the foliage is pretty thick. He spends the next 20 minutes crunching around at the same distance. I think he may have been at the other Oak. At one point I am feeling desperate. I give a light rattle on the K+H, just to remind him why he came over in the first place. This illicits some more crunching around but he isn't stepping out. 20 minutes of silence follow. I am gutted. I slowly climbed down with my bow in case he may have simply bedded down after a snack of acorns. I creep around the whole site for about 30 minutes. No sign of him. This is not my first day time encounter with Big 10. We faced off when he was an 8, and I nearly got him in a snowstorm last year as a 9. This however was the closest I have had him while being in a stand. Heart poundingly cool but feeling quite disappointed. I am delighted with the new stand set-up though. It seems to be a hot spot of action.

I am using Bob's scents too this year for the first time. They are working really well.

Went out too early for the evening sit. Being cold and wet meant I couldn't stand to be out there past 6pm, which is the beginning of that magic half hour when our woods seem to come alive most evenings. Tomorrow is another day.

I'll be joining you. Two new stand sites to test between now and nightfall.

You are defined by your enemies as well as by your friends, and the more idiotic your enemies are, the better you look to the sort of intelligent, open-minded individuals whose opinions actually matter.

I am warming to the Knight and Hale Pack Rack Deer Call. It is certainly lighter and less bulky then my usual bag of wood. If you strike the K+H correctly it makes a decent noise. Got to trim some branches after moving a stand yesterday into the heart of deer track country. This will be my stand for the evening. Big 10's muddy prints all around it.

Came in for coffee. Some doe action this morning, had one wander about at 30 yards. Not shooting does this year due to low numbers I am seeing. The Big 10's tracks are everywhere. Now I just need to find him to stick an arrow in him. Heading out later for a long day/evening sit.

Headin out in a few . Windy again this mornin...

Another excellent short evening sit. I used my new Knight and Hale Pack Rack Deer Call for the first time. To be honest I was not overly impressed with the sounds it makes. They are not very loud. In any case, a young 6 pointer came in. I had also dragged some scent in and that seemed to have his attention. He gave me a 25 yard broadside but he is not the Deer I am looking for right now. Some doe cruised by a little later too. I have seen more deer in the first 2 days, than all of last years Bow season combined. Great and promising start. I sat in a stand I haven't been near all summer. 2 giant rubs about 10 yards in front of it. It will be my morning stand tomorrow, for sure. 2015 is looking good so far.

What does this even mean? What's wrong with you?

Ex-employee exclusively tells Infowars that college voted against armed security just last year Former Security Guard at Oregon College: Lockdown Procedures Were a “Deathtrap” http://www.prisonplanet.com/former-security-guard-at-oregon-college-lockdown-procedures-were-a-deathtrap.html

The Families should sue.

Armed Air Force Vet Was Prevented From Stopping Oregon Gunman https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2I93N6H_eM

Of course it is not possible. That was my point. Screening would likely be ineffective , especially for someone who is not already officially nuts and on the record. Had there been armed campus security, or a student carry policy, the shooter may not have felt so emboldened, or a lot less people might have died.

And how do we screen for people who are just plain old bad-to-the-bone ?

Apparently the shooter was asking folks what religion they practiced...

I did just this. I have a mock scrape in front of this stand which I was trying to lead the animals toward.For some reason the 8 went round back instead though. Maybe I could have freshened the rag as I got closer to the stand. The 5 point followed the script however.

I was listening to a report on the radio home. The talking head made they observation that the gun-free zone was obviously no deterrent to someone looking to do harm. He wasn't trying to make a political point. It sounded like an off the cuff remark. Amazing that people don't see the inherent problem with such zones.

Dragging my scent rag up into the tree with me so a nice 8 that turned up could sniff it and look right at me. See here: http://huntingny.com/forums/topic/29242-live-from-the-woods-2015-edition-sixth-year-going-strong/?p=406257

Excellent ending to my opening day. This morning was super windy and nothing happened. After work, I had some batteries to change in a camera , but brought my bow and decided on a mini sit before dinner. I never use scent drags, don't know why. My first bow buck came in on a scent trail I made using one for the first time. This evening I cobbled one together with an old rag and rope and poured some Bob Kirschners scent, the Roam lure and Silvertop, which I combined on the rag. 15 minutes after a short drag to my stand a little 5 point comes right in and walks directly under me. He never winded me and wandered about for a while. I was pretty pleased with the outcome. I was thinking of heading in, when another set of horns comes poking through a dense stand of saplings. pretty much following the same route as the little 5. He wasn't the Big 10 I was after, that much was clear, so I was relaxed and not planning on trying a shot. He came up behind and once he rounded the bushes I could see it was the nice 8 point I had on camera rubbing off his velvet. He was actually pretty respectable. As I was taking in his points his head snapped right up and looked me in the eye. I squinted and remained immobile. He was a little wary but didn't run, but made a slow prancing retreat, down wind from me. He sniffed the air a few times. He knew something was up. I had brought the pee covered rag into the tree with me as cover scent. In hindsight, I should have tied it to a tree below at deer-nose level. It may have acted as a distraction and perhaps we could have avoided the stand off that followed. In any case, as he was wandering off I wondered if I would see him again and perhaps regret not being more ready for a shot. This is the problem when you know a Big 10 is in the area. He is ruining my hunting! Seriously though... a really great opening day, and I shall be using scent drags quite a bit. Just call me the Drag Queen from here on out.

Quiet in my woods this morning...and very windy.... and fricken cold. I under-dressed and called it a day about 9-am. I did find the mother of all fresh rubs however on the way back in,smack dab in the middle of the property. Guess who is moving a tree-stand tonight!?

I got tired of being drip fed 2 or 3 episodes while then having to wait a zillion months for new ones. Will wait till the show is over and catch 'em all on Netflix in one satisfying chunk

I think they are 1 inch thick, so you cut a board into 3/4 sections and add slips of cardboard in-between each stacked section. I find this thick enough to stop the arrows going through all the way, but thin enough to screw the head off on the backside to allow easy removal of the shaft.Never had a full pass-through.

I have lost broad heads, full or in part, inside commercial block targets. These then damage new heads going in later on. You would have to destroy your target to get the pieces out. I did this once. Never another commercial block target for me.