ApexerER

You can change strings and cables on any bow....There are lots of videos on how to do it without a press. I have shot and handled a few of the excalibers and didn't care for them. I can't remember what models....I know they are a very well built bow...

There are a lot of things I like reading about the Scorpyd. I have never handled one which I would like too. I really like that you can buy it as a bare bow and from everything I have read the quality is second to none and it is hard to ignore that speed. Bare bow costs more than my BAR with optics which I am having a hard time swallowing. But it does sound like something I would be happy with for a very long time.

Thanks, I don't mind toting the crossbow, just throw it over my shoulder with a sling like a rifle and haul it up. It isn't any big deal in the stand either. I just rest it on the shooting rail. I like hunting with it better than my compound. I am not comfortable in a treestand without the shooting rail down (and we have camo burlap wrap around all out stands) and I always feel like the rail is in the way when I am trying to get a shot with my compound. I know there are some that are against crossbows but if it ever gets full inclusion I would probably never hunt with my compound again.

I would really like a new "good" crossbow. Is it necessary? No, so it isn't like I have to buy one. I currently have a Barnett Gamecrusher with a Nikon scope. It has killed a couple deer but I really dislike it. I bought it because it was cheap and I didn't want to spend a lot of money for a two week season which for me meant hunting twice. (usually just Sundays) Well with my daughter still laid up from her ankle surgery I didn't have to worry about soccer this season and I have also used some vacation time the week before the gun opener the last two seasons and I plan on doing that again next year. I feel like all I have done since crossbow season has ended is read about crossbows and I still have no idea what direction I should go in...I have spoken to two different Encon officers including one that hunts on our lease with us that they aren't bothering people with crossbows that are narrower than the min width. That doesn't mean that I wouldn't run into one that wouldn't give me a ticket for it. I also can't decide what my budget should be on a crossbow. It seams crazy to me that you can spend so much more money on a crossbow than what I spent on my Browning BAR with optics. I am fortunate that I can afford an expensive crossbow if I so choose but that doesn't mean I have money to throw away on a crossbow that is more than I need. Scorpyd crossbows really intrigue me. I like the idea of the reverse draw being more balanced, I haven't ready anything bad about them and they are wide enough that they are NY legal. Tenpoint crossbows are also very highly regarded in all the reviews I have read. Any of the Tenpoint models that I would consider are significantly narrower than the NY min but if we didn't have the NY minimum this is probably the direction I would go. Ravin crossbows seem nice but again, they are way too narrow and from everything I have read if you don't use Ravin bolts and accessories it voids any warranty. I don't like that.... Wicked Ridge RDX 400 is the bow I am really thinking about although it is a half inch narrow of the mind width limb to limb. I emailed Tenpoint to get the width since all the specs are axle to axle. All the reviews on this crossbow seem great and it seems like a bow I would be happy with for some time at a price point that won't make me cry to purchase one. CenterPoint, everyone seems very happy with their centerpoint crossbows and I am not sure how you can beat the price and there are several models to choose from. It seems like centerpoint would be a no brainer if this is a bow I would be happy with long term but I am just not sure about that. I also don't want to buy something then have the laws change eliminating the min width and have that making me wish I purchased something different. I keep telling myself to hold off and use the Barnett and see what the laws do but I am hunting with an implement I dislike for the best part of the season. Anyone have a NY legal crossbow that they absolutely love and will have no desire to change if the laws change?

I think this is exactly what I am going to do for the first hour or so......Then I am going to hit the rest of the pine standings I am aware of on the property....

Not that I have ever noticed.....

Thanks for all the responses, I think I am going to try and hit the pine thickets first from downwind of course. Maybe I can get my first ever deer stalking.... How far away from the pines should I really start to slow down and glass etc? I am a terrible still hunter....More than 100 yds? I assume the answer probably depends how thick it is until the pines....

I don't really have much to add other than my dad told me a long time ago to just look for movement. You almost never just see a whole deer at first in the woods. What you catch is pieces of it moving, legs, ear, tail flick. If I remember it exactly he said, look for chickadees, (yes something that small) movement that small can easily be a deers ear or tail. Everyone else's advise sounds perfect to me... PS: I loved how you wrote out the story, like I was right there while reading it and loved how you said your heart was pumping etc. I can't wait to read what you write in the harvest thread! Good Luck....!

Just sitting at work thinking about this weekend. Dawned on me I should get the snow shoes out of the attic....

I hunted once in very deep snow on Thanksgiving 7 or 8 years ago. It was wet snow and even though it was over a foot it melted quick. I got a call from one of my hunting buddies last night that was down on the lease trying to plow us some parking area's. He had a very hard time and said there was over 2 feet of snow and didn't get a whole lot plowed. He asked me to bring my snowmobile this weekend thinking maybe I could pack down some of the trails we have cause he doesn't think there is any way his 4 wheeler will get through it. I have hunted in a few inches of snow several times but never in 2+ feet. What can I expect the deer to be doing with that much snow? They can't dig for acorns in that much can they? Will they stick to thick pines where the snow isn't as deep? I am a terrible still hunter but thinking that might be my only option this weekend. I can't imagine 2 feet of snow won't change the deer pattern. I am guessing if I find one I will find several....Obviously I will be able to tell where they have been from tracks as well.

I had been wondering why there weren't any more stories. Hope the knee heals up quick and best wishes for 2020!

Thanks for all the replies.....My experience with soy beans and corn is the deer love the beans all summer and then as soon as they dried up they didn't touch them and went for the corn. Maybe they would keep on the beans if there wasn't corn available? In August there would be 30+ deer in the beans in the late evening....In October there weren't any.....

Why would we want to rotate?

Lets see, I haven't asked for anything so I guess I will have to rely on Santa. I plan on sending him a letter...but my wish list includes... New Boots New Pack Good Late season Gear And if the law ever changes I would like a new crossbow....

So the guys on the lease and I have been talking a lot this season about planting some food next year. We have never done this. We actually have two leases that we call the North Farm and the South Farm. We have been leasing the North Farm for 20 years and the South Farm since 2012. They are separated by a horse farm. In 2013 or 2014 ( I can't remember) the land owner allowed a farmer to plant soybeans in the front field of the North Farm. This was my best season, I killed my first 8 point, My first buck with the bow and also a big doe with the bow. That farm only had beans 1 year. That field is now becoming a solar farm and there are several solar panels in that field. Last year for the first time the south farm had several acres of beans and maybe 5 acres of corn. The deer seemed to love the beans in the summer but turned to the corn in the fall. This year those are just overgrown fields and they are going to be getting solar panels as well. It has been a tough year for us on the lease. I am the only person that has gotten a buck. The one I got on opening day. It is unusual for us to not have 4 or 5 "shooter" bucks between us for a season. So we are discussing planting our own food plots next year. To me the corn seemed to be the biggest draw. We could probably plant around the solar panels but we can't shoot into the solar panels so we are thinking of clearing some of the brush and making some more food plots. My only experience is with beans and corn and the corn seemed like a bigger draw. If you were going to make a 3 to 5 acre plot without the use of farm equipment what would it be? We are not against renting a skid steer to clear an area and maybe getting a disc that can be towed behind an ATV. But we want to make the best use of the plot. This year the deer were on the acorns, we only have a couple of places that hold acorns and this is where I shot the buck. Most of the land across the tracks is hard woods and we don't have permission to hunt there. I am thinking the deer spent most of their time in the hardwoods eating acorns this year.

I put a remote starter in my 2000 Chevy Blazer myself. I had to get a module to bypass the antitheft. It was a lot of wiring and reading schematics but I was also able to make the fob unlock the doors so I only had one fob. I never tried it again and I really don't like other people touching my cars/trucks. I know the advertised prices of the aftermarket remote starters that you see in the paper doesn't include the price of the modules that will be needed for your specific car. My last two trucks have had factory remote start. It is great, so I can see why she want it. I am guessing that the factory remote start installed by the stealer ship will be plug and play and you will be able to use a Subaru key fob. It should also be included in the factory warranty. I have no idea what the cost is to add factory remote start but that is probably the way I would go. It beats having some kid at best buy hacking into your wiring. Just my 2 cents...

I have a Cabela's heated best and 3 batteries. If it ever stops working I will be getting another one ASAP

Don't you have to talk about how its balls are going to taste along with proper removal....?

Beautiful home!! Looks like a post card!

I have a scent crusher tote. Been using it for 3 seasons now. I run it 30 minutes the night before I hunt. I notice the smell when I take the lid off the tote but not once I put my gear on. I don't have a face mask but neck gator and hat go in it....

Nothing to offer other than good luck and I hope you share your experience on here.....

That's fine, I was just showing people what I found before anyone ordered. I always feel if something is to good to be true it probably is....If you order from there and never have an issue that's great....Doesn't mean I was wrong to share what I found...

https://wisdomganga.com/muckoutlet-top-review-is-muckoutlet-top-scam/ I wouldn't order from there! Didn't make sense to me that there weren't any descriptions so I googled it and this came up...

Happy Thanksgiving everyone. Hunted the morning. Saw nothing...hope everyone has a great day!

Don't use a face mask but I put my neck gator in my scent crushed and run it the night before hunting (right now). It smells like ozone but has never bothered me