sampotter

I suspect you will like what you see.

I'm surprised you had to pay. I would attempt to get access from one of the other houses on the side road that runs SE. That way you could come in from the downwind side. AND- probably only hunt in the mornings when deer are coming back to bed. Keep an eye out for Oaks- they might be a hidden food source within the property.

Joe- the "dried fermentation product" are bacteria that inoculate the rumen to help aid in the digestion of cellulose and lignin. I have no idea how this would impact a deer if at all. The "certified organic kelp meal" is hilarious! That's like certifying maple syrup as organic... Hey Joe- you better check with your boss before you snag a bag of that mineral mix. Our mineral mixes cost a couple bucks per pound and I'm pretty sure there isn't anything that is certified organic in it...

I can't say I'm happy about it. I think he heard the camera turn on. It's about 8' up in a tree, but it clearly didn't spook him, just caught his attention.

This is Fleur- she's a maniac.

Bushnell Trophy Cam

I left a camera out for 1.5 months and checked it this past weekend. I was pleasantly surprised by what I had.

I prefer to hunt smarter, not harder myself. Deer don't respond well to pressure, so I try to focus on doing it right every time. As far as the predictions go- is it just a coincidence that my crop crew mowed up over 20 fawns at the end of May, 200 days after Alsheimer's predicted peak breeding during the 1st week of November?

True, I have seen 3 piebalds in 7 years on the outskirts of Auburn and heard of albino sightings in Fosterville as well.

Either a young fisher or a marten

I've been a pretty faithful believer in Alsheimer's theory although I will confess- last year didn't seem to work out according to plan. However, the 10/29 rutting moon coincided with Superstorm Sandy and screwy weather, which certainly could have messed things up. I didn't see much action from the stand but I did hit and kill a decent 8 point with my truck on Halloween night. To further support Alsheimer's theory, the rut action in the Adirondacks was very intense at the end of November, about 30 days after the rutting moon (does cycle in 28 day intervals, so does not bred earlier would be in heat again). As a result I was lucky enough to be able to kill my biggest ADK buck on Nov. 28th. However, the best evidence I've seen were the numerous does out in hayfields this past weekend, presumably with new fawns (I saw one fawn for sure and saw some big, full udders on several does). If you do the math the fawns would have been conceived during the end of October/ beginning of November (200 day gestation). The moral of the story- although I didn't see the rutting activity I was hoping for at the very end of October the does still got bred...

Yeah, that's why I was asking, not that its too bad a deal for a low mileage Sporstman either.

Dang- I was hoping it was the Ranger. I already have a 700 Sportsman that I like quite a bit but have my eye open for a Ranger. The new floor mats and air freshener made me think a 2 seater with a cab.

Do you still have it and is it the Sportsman or Ranger?

I found it next to a property I got elbowed out of last year. I seem to find a lot of dead 2 + 3 year old bucks. I have only ever found one that was mature in my whole life.

Common in elk, I read 1 in 10,000 in whitetails.

None were from this past fall, but judging by the chews and color loss on the anlters I would guess one was from 2 years ago, 2 were from 3-4 years ago, and the oldest was mostly chewed up, so many moons ago.

Ha, thanks Wooly. I am tempted to go back after the moose antlers again. I know they are there somewhere!

Time to play catch-up. I went to Iowa the 3rd week of March with a friend. Too bad there was 1' of snow on the ground. In 7 days we each found one antler! Dang! The two previous years I averaged about 3 per day. Since then I've covered more ground in NY and spent a weekend in Massachusetts where I found a matched spike set about 500 yards from where the new NT Archery Record was shot last fall. This past weekend I went to the Adirondacks to see if I could find moose sheds. No luck with that but I did find another crosscut saw and a nice matched 10 point set. I also saw a cow moose and a bald eagle but didn't get pictures of them. I met my goals for the year; walking at least 200 miles in the quest of antlers and finding more than last year (27). I found way too many dead bucks. I found 2 crosscut saws adn antlers in 5 states but finding the matched set in the Adirondacks 7.5 air miles from the nearest public road was the best by far! Iowa: My buddy walked by this one at less than 5 feet, luckily I crossed his trail and spotted it! He made up for it later by spotting this tine tip... Ruby getting it done: I spotted this one while walking with 3 other guys- I was the only one to find an antler that day. A good day near home... Massachusetts: The Gypsy Wagon; how we rolled in the Adirondacks... Matched set! Crosscut saw. A good weekend. Miles: 221.4 WT Sheds: 30 Sam: 25 - New York: 18 - Connecticut: 2 – Massachusetts:2 - Ohio: 2 – Iowa: 1 Fleur: 3 - Ohio: 2 - Connecticut: 1 Ruby: 2 – New York: 1 - Ohio:1 Dead Bucks: 13 - New York: 11 - Connecticut: 1 - Ohio: 1 – Iowa: 1 Dead Does/Fawns: 8

I spent the first 25 years of my life in CT- trust me it is a lot easier to get hunting permission than in NY, at least for a CT resident. There is a inherent distrust for anyone driving a car with NY plates in CT... Also- The chances of finding a CT landowner on this site interested in leasing their land are pretty darned slim. Seriously- go to CT and start knocking on doors. It really is the only option.

I'm going to need to carry a bigger stick! Better watch your backtrail Wooly!

I found this buck a few days ago and when I cleaned up his skull today I was surprised to see vestigial canine teeth!

Judging jawbones and photos only becomes subjective after bucks reach 4 years of age. A biologist that can't accurately age a deer that is 3 years or less by it's jawbone needs to go back to school- all you have to do is check and see which adult teeth are in and you know the age. After they have all of their adult teeth in at 4 years it's a calculated guess based on tooth wear and accuracy suffers. Same basic thing with looking at a buck's basic body type in a photo- once they hit 4 it's anyone's guess. This particular buck is obviously not a yearling and he's also pretty clearly not 4 or older, so that leaves either 2 or 3.

3 and he should be a LOT bigger this year if he is still alive.