LTC24

Was it a good year or bad year? That all depends on your perspective. If you got to spend some quality time in the woods with your son, son-in-law or buddy then I count that as a good year, if you got a deer that's a bonus. In my neck of the woods, there is no shortage of deer. Trail cameras and sign all over the place prove that. Were they scarce during the SZ gun season - sure they were. 90 acres of standing corn on the farm next door, acorns galore and 60 acres of 6ft high golden rod gave the deer all food and cover they needed. We didn't get the two big eight points that showed up on cameras during the rut, but with patience and some luck we each shot good deer. The one thing I did notice is that some of the fellas that hunt nearby didn't give the season much of a chance. They were usually out of the woods by noon and packed it in after the first weekend. In my area there are so few bow and crossbow hunters that if they all got deer it would not make a dent in the population. With predictions of a mild winter the herd should be bigger next year. It will be interesting to see what kind of spin DEC puts on the season. Merry Christmas to all.

Pulled cards yesterday. Got these two deciding who is going to be boss. Got the entire fight in a series of photos. Both look like shooters. The one on the left won!

I have seen these two multiple times which one do I shoot.

I hunt 4F Roseboom area. hunted opening weekend, almost no shooting, only saw 6 yearlings in three days. Hunted second weekend, even less shooting, no buck sightings yet with three of use working the woods. All movement to and from feeding areas seems to be at night. Also lots of Coyotte sign. Fresh Coyotte tracks in the snow on Saturday were all following the deer that had moved during the night. Prospect of filling the tags dosen't look good :'(

I am with BuckHunter I to wish they would do away with this nonsense.. I remember the one year, I think was the Carter administrtion, when to save gas & energy we did not change the time. It certanly helped hunters that have to work during the week.

a few years back my dad & I were in yard after a early morning hunt when a large doe came down along the fence line in the pasture. When she stopped to look back at what had distrubed her we could see see was missing the lower part of her front leg. Thinking that she just been shot and was injured at I quickly put the cross hairs on her a dispatched her at about 75 yards. When we went to retreive her it became apparent that the leg had been mising for sometime. It was well healed and calloused over and she was fat.

Finally got the big guy camera that hs been chasing my does and a cute little guy.

Two of the best bucks taken on my property occured after late summer logging operations. Tops with leaves still attached were attractive to the deer as easy browse and I suspect the frequent exposure to human scent from the loggers conditioned the deer to be somewhat less afraid of humans.

This morning about 6:20, 37 degrees, I had a decent sized 4pt in the field behind my place following two does and two fawns. He was acting all kind of excited. Kept tryig to get close to the girls who would have nothing to do with him and pushing one of the yearlings around - probably a button buck. Anyone else seen signs of the rut starting up yet?

I have Mossberg 500 with a 4X scope and have routinely killed deer at 75 to 100 yrds with the "slug barrel" cycl bore. I picked up a rifled barrel from a gun shop a few years ago - didn't shoot worth a damn - traded it back for a 30" turkey barrel. Tried all kinds of fancy expensive sabot ammo in 2 3/4 and 3". I went back to the slug barrel. Federal 2 3/4. 1oz seem to pattern the best - three shot groups inside a 6" pie plate with no problem. I think the key to success is a good recoil pad and practice to get used to the recoil.

Hi All, I live in Tompkins county. Hunt deer in my back yard in 7R and on my farm in 4F Otsego county. Been a NY hunter for more than 40 years, hunt mostly with my two sons and son-in-law. Fish Cayuga lake and Otsego lake. Goose and ducks up along the eastern side of Cayuga. Favorite guns are my Rem 788 tackdriver in 7mm-08 and a trusty Marlin 336 in 30-30.

My property is half woodlot and half leased to AG use , with corn, soybeans and alfalfa, neighboring properties are very similar, so I don't try to compete with food plots. However, I do manage my timber. Every fall before first frost I cull out some weed trees and unmarketable timber for fire wood. I find that felling trees with full green leaves is attactive to deer and has the added benefit of providing winter browse. Deer seem to like beech which will hold the leaves all winter and has little timber value. I pull the logs and tops the following summer and start over.

I have several 16' ladder stands, all bought from Dicks as seasonal closeout for less then $100 ea. They are much safer than climber's and do not damage the timber like permanent wooden ones. The added benefit is that they are easy to relocate to match changing deer habits. If you are going to leave them up all year, I do, just remeber to loosen the ratchet straps at the end of the season. Tree growth and tree movement can weaken the straps if left on tight to the tree. Getting them up and down is no problem, just follow the instructions that come with them. One man can do - teo is better and quicker. We have even moved them mid-season with out disturbing the deer patterns. Good luck this season.

Spend some time looking at others trail cam pictures. they often display the camera make & model. Pretty soon you will get a sense of which cameras take good pictures. All technical stuff is great, but want you want in the end is good pictures.

I use Remington 140 grain core-lokt PSP in my 7mm-08, zeroed at 250 yds with a MPBR of 285yds. Most deer drop on the spot or only go a few steps.

I hunt in two DMP's 4F - little or no permits and 7H tons of permits. Numbers are steady or gowing slightly in both areas. The big difference in my opinion is the coyote population. In 4F you see a doe and twins in the spring, by late summer it's a doe and fawn. In 7H, far fewer coyotes - you see a doe and twins right into hunting season. The bear population is also growing in 4F. We only hunt during short season, these predators hunt all year long.