Caveman

I'm hoping. The only problem is that although it's a simple fix, with my vehicles, when it rains it typically pours.

Whereabouts in Catt county are you? My usual spot is my cousin's land in Machias.

Right on fasteddie...I care more about keeping planes in the air where they should be than anyone's feelings.

I never hunt on an empty stomach. I'm scared the deer will hear my stomach growling and think it's a bear lol. No really though, if I don't get a nice big breakfast, some eggs, hash, homefries and some toast...I'm useless What really sucks though is when you overdo it and your big breakfast puts you to sleep in the stand!

I'd rather not talk about gun opener lol. The brakes just went on my truck so Saturday morning instead of hunting I'll be in the driveway replacing my calipers, pads, and rotors.

I can tell you this. I sell guns at Dick's sporting goods and they are incredibly uptight about making sure all gun sales are legal. There is no NICS check to buy a muzzleloader therefore no way to know if you are a felon. To this state it's no different from owning a pellet gun.

That's a tough one, I suppose for me it depends on the seriousness of the wound. If it looks like a survivable wound and is only a minor inconvenience to the deer then I would claim it as mine. If the deer looked like it wasn't gonna go far anyway I would put it down and wait for someone to show up, if no one did I would take it. The deciding factor for me here was the fact that I had met the guys and I knew they were making an honest hard effort to recover the deer

I tried it two days in a row last week with no luck at all. Here's the problem I see with it, the sent dispersion is nice, but the longevity just isn't there. It sprays all over the place but it all gets launched and spread so far out that it becomes useless because it's spread too thin. Stick with something with a scent wick so at least you know it's staying where you hang it.

Yeah I'm going to scope it. I used to be a pretty good shot with irons but my shooting ability outlasted my eyesight unfortunately

Yeah next year I'll be in region 9 again since I'll be graduating in May and no longer living in Albany so my DMP selection was focused more on this year.

Yeah I know I figured it was worth a try.

The bloodtrail was almost non-existent. The initial shot caught the top part of one lung and got there through the no man's land between the spine and the thoracic aorta. Almost all of the bleeding was inside the chest cavity. I wasn't following the blood trail, I was following the water source I thought he would head to. I can't blame them for not finding him themselves.

Anyone have one in 4H they'd be willing to trade for 2 4J's? I'm doing 2 for 1 since 4J is bow only

Lets hope the hunting gods saw that and send me my own deer. I can count the number I've seen this year on one hand and that's out of close to 40 stand hours.

So I was out hunting today and was approached by two men who said they were looking for a deer they had wounded. They described it as "a huge 12 point with a spread like this" (at this point he motions with his arms a spread that was obviously an exaggeration) I told them that I hadn't seen anything come through but I'd keep an eye out on my way back to the truck. On the way back I decided to follow the creek since most wounded deer I've dealt with headed to water. Sure enough there was the buck. I was really surprised when he weakly lifted his head and revealed a huge 12 point rack with an impressive spread (not quite as big as was indicated but very wide nonetheless). He made a weak attempt to get up so I knocked an arrow and put one more in him for good measure. I figured if he got his second wind and took off he'd never be recovered. So now I'm kneeling over the biggest deer I've ever see in person, I put the kill shot in him and I happen to have a buck tag in my pocket. What a dilemma right? Well I wound up backtracking a half mile, finding the guys, and leading them to the deer. I gave away the biggest deer I've ever seen. I figure the trophy is worthless without a good story and fond memories right? What do you guys think you would have done?

The ones they tested were Barnes Spit-fire TMZ 250 gr., Hornady SST 300 gr., T/C Bonded Shockwave 250 gr., and 295 gr. Powerbelts To answer your other question I think I want a sabot for the added range and flatter trajectory.

Well the manufacturers instructions are going to be somewhat biased since CVA makes Powerbelt bullets lol. I was hoping to get a more objective opinion than, "Use the bullets that we make!" Especially since I've heard such terrible things about them. Field and Stream actually did an article about the top four muzzle loader bullets on the market and Powerbelt came in last in terms of weight retention. The top performers were actually the Barnes Expanders.

I just ordered my new CVA Wolf at work and I'm already like a kid before Christmas. I've never hunted with a muzzle loader (or even shot one for that matter) but I can't wait to give it a try. I know every gun is different but what do yo9u think is a good place to start as far as a load/bullet combo?

All the aforementioned reasons and one more. For me the trophy aspect is big but not in the antlers sense. I consider the meat a trophy if that makes sense. It's an opportunity to hold my chin high and call myself a provider in the most basic, primitive way. Couple that with my vegetable garden and I am damn-near self-sufficient. That is what I am proud of more than even the biggest antlers on the wall and that's why I continue to freeze my cheeks off in the stand for countless hours every fall.

I'm not exactly new here, I've been posting since the beginning of the summer but I just realized I never really introduced myself. I'm 20 years old and a senior at SUNY Albany. I'm hunting the capital district this year and when I graduate in May I'll be heading back to where I grew up in Buffalo and hunting two properties in Cattaraugus county.

I'll be out there Saturday morning and afternoon. I'll be trying out the Buck Bomb too. Maybe I'll at least see some deer since I can count the deer seen on previous outings on one hand lol

I actually called the DEC and asked this question. They transferred me to a Lt who told me after conferring with other officers that the consensus would be that it is illegal. He said that federal conservation law includes pellet guns in the definition of firearms and that NYS conservation law states that no person bow hunting shall have in their possession a firearm of ANY KIND. Thereby making it illegal.

After conferring with Lt. O'hara of the NYS ECOs the answer is no that would not be legal. He said that federal conservation law includes pellet guns within their definition of firearms and NYS conservation law states that no one bowhunting shall have in their possession a firearm of ANY KIND. This was after a talk with more ECO's. His initial response was, "That's a good question....Ummmmm...." He had no idea at first lol.

I'll beg to differ. I've seen them killed with pellet guns and if the DEC says 600 fps I'd assure it's an effective velocity. Besides with how close they've been to me a headshot is not extremely difficult so penetration isn't a concern.

Lately I've been seeing a ton of squirrels while I'm in my stand. I know you can use a pellet gun to kill squirrels as long as it's 600 fps or better. So if I were to pick up a pellet pistol that met this requirement can i stuff it in my backpack and shoot the squirrels with it while I'm bowhunting?