philoshop

No problem. Take a tent and sleeping bag and a few days of rations for the trailing process. And it won't matter in the end one bit what bullet or load you're using. Over and out.

My apologies if I came across as hostile. Not my intention. But I don't like seeing people give the impression that a .44 mag handgun is a 100 yard deer gun. Even in extremely skilled hands with the perfect load and bullet, it's not, and never will be a long range weapon. Don't pretend that it is. And don't give young people on this site the impression that it is. That's what pi**es me off. It's a close-in gun with a hell of a lot of knockdown power. Push the limit and you'll be tracking a deer for a very long time. Do you really want to argue with me about this?

And Fred Bear used to kill animals at over 100 yards with his longbow and cedar arrows. Doesn't mean it's a good thing that Joe Weekend hunter should try. Like I said, I've killed woodchucks at well over 100 yards with my .44 and often freehand. They're a lot smaller than a deer, BTW . But it doesn't mean I would ever try it with a deer. I'm not sure what your point is. Can it be done? Sure. Should it even be tried by most people? Absolutely not, unless you just don't care about the game animal. Carry on.

Good thinking. Most of my handgun kills on deer have been in swamps and places like overgrown orchards, literally crawling along the ground, where a long gun is just a nuisance. The handgun is perfect for that stuff.The deer generally have powder burns on their hides from the shot. ;-) 10 or 12 feet is about average. A .44 Mag at that range? It doesn't really matter what the bullet or load is. And even if the deer get back up they sure don't go far. I really miss that kind of stuff. It was exciting. Oh, to be young and healthy again.

Like stated earlier, it's a lot like bowhunting, It's up close and personal. 30 yards is pushing the envelope with even a 44 Mag, even though I've taken woodchucks at over 100 yards with it. A .45 ACP is a deadly weapon close in. Keep the range under 20 yards and hit what you aim at it won't likely matter what bullet you're using. Try to push that distance and it won't likely matter what bullet you're using either. Bottom line is that if you're going to hunt deer with a handgun, make damned sure you're good with that handgun. The nerves and the jitters will crush you when the moment comes along. On the other hand, it's an amazing rush to take a deer with a handgun..

That kind of thing I understand. In really crunchy leaves i try to sound like a noisy idiot squirrel looking for nuts. It works.

Very true, Doc. But it's a fine line between seeing or spotting a deer and sneaking up on it, and moving through the woods and having a deer appear in front of you before it even knows you're there. Both are cool.

My friend's Dad has a rather advanced Alzheimer's condition. My Dad's is just starting. I've been trying to get the four of us in that duck blind. I can't even imagine the duck-blind and duck hunting stories that would yield. I'll be in tears just laughing. God bless the older folks in our lives. Take your Dad into the woods, even if he doesn't know he's in the woods, or that he's your Dad. He'll probably remember something stupid you did while hunting 40 or 50 years ago, and take you you down a notch. Then you give him a big hug and thank him.

I sit with my friend on occasion in his dock blind on Seneca Lake. It's a lot of fun. I carry a camera and go for the camaraderie and a chance to get out of the house and eat bad hot dogs. FWIW he's a retired NYS trooper. I also climb in the rowboat when we go out to fetch one, but the only thing I shoot is digital photography. It's probably pushing it that I call for him now and then, because I'm really good at it, but someone would have to prove that it was me. A lot of it is also voice calling. I can't quite picture someone saying, "You're under arrest for sounding like a duck," Picture the judge's face in that case. "Material assistance" is the threshold from what I understand. In that sense I suppose I'm somewhat guilty for the calling. But we're taking about taking a couple of ducks home for dinner, not trying to decimate the entire population for personal profit. There are limits. on both sides of the issue.

I suppose I understand calling to a deer that you want to move closer to your position, like if you're in a stand or something. But why would you ever call to a deer that you are trying to get closer to? Doesn't compute. If you want the deer to know exactly where you are just jump up and yell like an insane lunatic. "I hate Trump" would work. I've had deer brush against me and even step on me in thick stuff. The last thing I would ever want is for them to know that I'm even there.

Please understand the difference between "stalking" and "stillhunting". They are not the same thing. Stalking is when you spot game from a distance and then sneak up on the animal. Stillhunting is when you attempt to be stealthy and see the quarry while sneaking through the woods.Two very different things. Both require extraordinary woodsmanship skills , but they are very different. My apologies for being a stickler on terminology here, but it's important to know the difference. Stalking and stillhunting are not the same thing.

I don't believe that my cousin Chuck has ever had a drink of alcohol in any way. Certainly not that I can recall. He also raises and hunts with rescued falcons and hawks, as well as teaching kids how to not die while putting out brush-fires in Texas. He's a pretty cool guy. I would love to be able to spend more time with him. He has some great stories. Laughed like hell when he told the one about his big Red-tailed hawk picking up the neighbor's Dachsund. The poor little dog survived, but he definitely had a new-found respect for the big bird next door and stopped his yapping. Or the time that Chuck and his wife came home from a dinner night out to see a would-be burglar cornered by that same hawk in their living room. Chuck has a very dry sense of humor, and said, "I just called 911 and told the cops not to make any sudden moves when they showed up." Last time he visited the vacation was cut short by a phone call because his coordination skills were needed for a Southeast Texas wild fire. I invite him up for a visit every year.

If he's in the Corpus Christie area he's probably listening to my cousin telling him how to stay alive in dangerous situations. Very smart and dedicated wildfire fighter and first responder guy in that area. When you get into your mid-sixties you help the young guys coming up by sharing your knowledge and experience with them. Chuck doesn't fight the fires anymore, but he's taught most of the young guys who do that how to stay alive while doing it.

21 is so far back I don't even remember that one. It's not my memory that's going either. But 21 is so far back... Where the hell are my car keys, and when I find them what in the hell are they for and why was I looking for them?

Aim at the organ: heart, lung, liver, whatever it is. Not at where they're pictured on a paper target o the outside of a deer. It doesn't matter where you hit on the outside, what matters is hitting the vital organ on the inside. That's all that matters. Know exactly where the internal organs are and how to get the projectile there. Shoot it through the butt hole and hit the heart, you're still good. Hit the ten ring on a quartering away deer and bury your arrow in the off-side shoulder, it's an animal you will never recover. It'a an incredibly simple concept that people often don't get. DON'T JUST SHOOT AT THE DEER. SHOOT AT THE MECHANISMS iNSIDE THAT KEEP THE DEER ALIVE. Sorry for yelling, but this annoys me. Congrats to everyone who scored today!!

Just as an aside: The young lady in my story is black. Not cocoa brown or slightly black, but close your mouth and eyes disappear in the dark black. She's also one of the smartest and most fun people I've ever met. I wish we were closer in age. Fooling around is fun but It's a bit weird. Great chick, and I wish her nothing but the best in life. She'll get it because she is one of the best that we have among our young people.

The fire is going, the humidity in the house is coming down, my creaky old bones are happy, and my girlfriend du jour is sitting in the campstool in front of the stove soaking up the heat while I write political stuff on the internet. And I won't have to send a check to NYSEG for any of that. Hah.

As far as heating with firewood, what most people just don't get is the fact that the cost has already been paid. Gas and oil for the saws and the splitter, maybe 10 bucks, and gas for the transportation from one site to another, maybe 40 bucks if it's close. People think about turning up the heat and the reaction is that the gas and electric bill goes up, often skyrockets. I can keep my house at 80+ degrees for the winter if I want with my windows open and it won't cost me one nickle more than keeping it at 72, or 65, or whatever.

The wood stove will be fired tonight. If it gets too hot I'll open windows. And stinkbugs be damned. I WILL BE WARM TONIGHT.

I've spent most of my life doing construction work outdoors. Every part of my body just hurts now, and being warm helps alleviate that. I stay in this area because my elderly parents won't move no matter what. They took care of me when I was young, and I will help to take care of them as they grow older. Sometimes it sucks, but it's what families do. Would I like to move south to escape the weather? Absolutely. But I won't do it without the family, and the family says no.

I always try to make it at least half way through October before firing up the wood stove. I'm thinking about lighting it today. The house is cold and damp and my poor old bones need to be warm. Anybody want to talk me out of it? It's like an alcoholic asking if one drink is okay. 7 months of wood-burning is a hassle, 8 months will suck. And I haven't even cleaned the stove or chimney from last year. The stove is full of stinkbugs. I hear them rattling down the flue every day and can smell them when I walk by the stove. Screw it, I will be warm tonight and the stinkbugs will be dead.

I've always loved hunting in the rain. Especially when stillhunting. (real stillhunting, not just walking around in the woods) Not a horrible downpour/monsoon, of course, but a light to moderate rain or drizzle does a lot more to dull a deer's senses than it does mine. It quiets things down; it pushes odors to the ground; it greatly affects their ability to detect movement because everything is moving in the rain... I have never taken a long or low-percentage shot in the rain, because that's not smart. But I've taken a number of deer at 8 to10 yards or so in the rain simply because it's easier to get that close. And if a deer walks by grazing at 30 yards, and your woods skills are up to snuff, there's a very good chance in the rain that you can get ahead of that deer and get the close shot. Your mileage may vary.

I believe I've been in Waterport a couple of times. Interesting place...

TP is absolutely necessary for tracking a wounded deer. If you use the surveyors flagging tape you have to backtrack and pick it all up. TP will be gone with the first rain, and/or make some comfy homes for mice and ground squirrels. TP; it's not just for dumping!!

Nice run there Water Rat!!! On a more serious note I'll add this: Victor Davis Hanson offered up the most succinct summary of Blasey Ford's testimony: "The "process" of memorializing Ford's testimony involved a strange inversion of constitutional norms: The idea of a statute of limitations is ossified; hearsay is legitimate testimony; inexact and contradictory recall is proof of trauma, and therefore of validity; the burden of proof is on the accused, not the accuser; detail and evidence are subordinated to assumed sincerity; proof that one later relates an allegation to another is considered proof that the assault actually occurred in the manner alleged; motive is largely irrelevant; the accuser establishes the guidelines of the state's investigation of the allegations; and the individual allegation gains credence by cosmic resonance with all other such similar allegations." This was from Clarice Feldman's piece in American Thinker this morning.