phade

You seemed insistant that spray and pray is buckshot only...apparently you've never seen slug-only hunters fall into that category? Again, it goes back to the hunter. A safe hunter is a safe hunter. You nearly fell victim to the hunter's bad decision, not the buckshot itself.

If you are spooking deer off the fields in pm on way out, then thats your answer.

Right. You know that hunters using buckshot dont sight in their guns? If someone doesnt sight in their gun, I have a surprise for you...it aint the gun or the projectile that is the problem. Its the hunter.I have a secret for you, those idiots shooting remington sluggers at 150-200 yds after only sighting in at 50 and doing a SWAG holdover are crazy and should be burned at the stake. That foster that zipped by my head was just as dangerous as your story of two buckshot pellets. Youre letting fear and emotion rule over logic.

Juat as dangerous as the slobs that lob fosters or sabots or any other projectiles. Spray and pray at 40 or lobbing one skylined 150 yds out. Thats the pot calling kettle black.

I have hunted and killed deer with buckshot and have zero problems with it and wouldn't mind if legalized in NY. As stated, many people deem it a 40 or 50 yd max weapon, which it generally is, but you can get effective patterns further out a bit at VJP alluded to. Fears of its use are akin to peoples concerns about rifles or any other weapon - its how you use it that determines safety/ethics and generally speaking it doesn't do anything different for wounding animals than lobbing pot shots with slugs or a ballistic tip from greater distance. Conventional loads in a smoothbore where I grew up was to load a slug followed by two 00 buck when not using dogs and most loads when running dogs were either slug/00 buck x2 or 00 buck x 3. We could only load three shells legally in VA. I would love it for the times where we decide to do a 1 or 2 man push or if there's a good old fashioned drive planned. A well executed soft bump with a deer coming down the pipeline to the pinch you set your shooter up is much more in line with this type of projectile.

I don't think there's enough info to make a suggestion here. You set it mainly for access in the evenings but you want to hunt it in the morning when access is less ideal. Forcing a spot to work for you is peeing in the wind in all honesty. Might be a good way for you to get in, but be sure of it. Sometimes a spot is an evening spot for a reason and vice versa.

Terretorial or frustration scrapes. Probably a sign of having two or more bucks of equal stature roaming same ground.

Noticed this too. First opened up scrapes are not being used as much or at all. Different bucks. I think the range shift happened after scrape use increased. I have a couple scrapes that can back this up based on pics. All but one of the 3.5+ bucks using it in Aug-Sept are gone to different places.

Lots of rubs and scrapes on one property...a little sign on each of a couple others and one that's behind last year with minimal sign. Probably logged 10 unique bucks at one scrape and another with 3-4 on one cam check. While I think there will be big deer shot this year (every year) this year isn't going to be as productive with top end bucks (volume, not necessarily antler score). I think last year was one of the better years for bucks in a very long time.

If that grass wasn't in front of him he'd be our second buck to make Covert's marketing material and commericals. Gotta get this one this year...he was had last year and our buddy simply put one through him high way above the spine. So the challenge is on. As far as posting pics...Larry has it right. We're pretty selective on posting pics of target bucks. The giant one's pic was posted on Covert's FB page and made some of its marketing materials and it spread around the country. One person on this forum even let me know someone in California put a bounty out on the buck's antler sheds if found - another d-bag used it in a scam to say the buck was on his farm in Ohio. Stupid crazy stuff happens. So as much of the info as we put out, we try to protect without drawing attention to our spots. I doubt I'll be sharing any other pics here this season unless there's a smiling hunter behind the buck. This was done just to appreciate the beast that he is.

There isnt a problem. Im just not posting as many pics.

Should gross somewhere 145-155. Rare to get an 8 over 140. It happens from time to time. When you start talking about 150" 8s...you are getting into really rare company.

I'm not posting pics here as much as I used to, but figured this one might be worth posting just for enjoyment purposes. This is a guy we believe has been on our radar for a few seasons and we have some history of pics and one arrow through him already. He should be 5.5 on our math. And yes, those are indeed brow tines. Every last single inch of them. A velvet pic we have puts the longer brow at right around 9-10 inches with the other 7-8 inches. Not many 8's break 140....this guy is going to shatter it when me or Moog kills it soon.

http://www.qdma.com/articles/no-link-between-moon-phase-and-rut-peak

There's a balance of telling someone what they should do against kindly suggesting something and why you believe it to help them get over some ignorance - face it, guys at times might not want to admit they're too old, sick, broken, etc. to do something. Letting them do something you overtly know is dangerous is not something that would weigh lightly. Sure it's their decision, but I've known more guys than I can count who couldn't come to grips with a task until they messed up. Same reason why ball players play too far into their careers or a boxer can't stay retired. Eventually reality punches them in the face for the worse.

Breeding peak in NY is right around mid November (15th specifically) according to the DEC. Problem is that it varies a bit statewide. The moon's impact in my opinion is minimal on the actual breeding. Not non-existant, but minimal. Moonlight and weather fall into the same bucket. Breeding will still take place, but our observation of it (hunters) could be influenced by those factors. Our southern zone gun season is also an impact. When does it start again this year? Oh yeah. November 15. Photoperiod drives this machine in large. As it stands I prefer the two weeks leading up to our gun season for hunting. It's exciting, but alot less specific hunting logic. At that point you bank on funnels, bedding, and trails to/from, and hope to play the volume game. In all preference, the first week of November is nice if cold and huntable because as the seeking turns into chasing, getting a shot off is more of a lottery situation. I have screamed at the top of my lungs at bucks bigger than what are on my wall and had zero luck getting them to stop. When they're moving, they act alot like coyotes in the woods, constantly on the move and only idle for a second or two, to get bearings if alone, and good luck if they are trailing a doe. Problem with most years is that we get a warm spell that first week and most of the action takes place in the dark or right at first/last light. Get a couple crips days and its a world of difference with day-long sits being exciting.

My FIL is 64 and I bet he only sits one stand this year and its a 12' larger platform/larger ladder. Other than that, he's on the ground now. He's lost his general sense of balance and has fallen several times with me around. He's probably done hunting in another year or two in reality, though he won't admit it. He is ALOT of work now to take hunting and I've scarificed alot of personal success to get him hunting - he doesn't drive and is an hour away from me.The Sh!t eating grin on his face last year when he shot his first buck in a very long time was worth it. Guy was jumping around like a teen boy who imagined hitting a walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth in game 7.

Congrats! ALways fun when a buddy punches a tag. I honestly get as much enjoyment out of it as when I do the same.

If he doesnt meet the personal standard, he doesnt meet it. Potter knew this deer already. Look at that body. I think he might be a super 3.5 potentially. His rack has serious potential for being a typical beast.

I think you made the right call. That guy will pack on the mass and length next season. Probably a blessing you connected on the CT buck. Bet it made you think just enough to pass him. I wish there were more bucks like that in the pipeline.

5-12 is an excellent selection for the southern zone of NY. I am off Nov 1-11.

Nothing beats a small young deer for table fare. I dont care if it is YOY. Even managment looks at it as a numbers game at some point. If the need or desire is there to take it legally...so be it.

Weve lost a camera already this season. Sucks.

I waffle on things like this...I certainly think I wouldn't use a bow made in China for the aformentioned quality and safety. Yet, I'm usually 15ft up in a stand made in China. I think I feel better in that it's usually a quality control made by the wholesaler/retailing company that imports them. This seems like there's not a strong U.S. distributor who owns this product per say. I wouldn't waste the money on that. You could get a lower level bow used one year for that price that in my mind, would be a better, safer option. Bear/PSE offer alot of low end packages that will work wonderfully with a few swap outs of the accessories.

But they don't. Back to the original point...time to move on. You got ten years out of it and sounds like the stand-offish comment means that your effort is likely wasted. Time to simply move one.