phade

Was a tough week last week for the overall market, but I did spring for some 12/23 $20 options on CCL....score today. 33%....

Congrats to her and to you, even if you don't get any of the credit. Step parenting might be one of the most unsung actions in this day and age.

He is a buckeye.

This guy is giving me heartburn at this point. I hope to see him tomorrow morning.

Cams on scrape fire up in the first 10 days of December. Hard to pin down which scrapes and when based on my experience. I don't see all scrapes fire up - it doesn't even appear to be the community ones or ones closer to bedding consistently, either. Invariably one or two scrapes get hit a few times after periods of little or no action. In terms of any second rut action I've only ever seen it with doe fawns getting pestered. It's a hard thing to capitalize on but something to be aware of. I would hunt based off of pressure/conditions/bed to food and back. I've set up on scrapes (off a bit, etc.) and haven't picked the right one over the years that ends up getting hit,

I'd appreciate the straps - I can use them to hang my shed racks in my man cave. If nobody else needs them for actual ducks first, so I'll defer for people to chime in. If you can use them for ducks, take them! Nice gesture.

I believe that setting a hub blind with care isn't going to run deer out of the county. C'mon, let's be real here.

Friday night

Same here in NY

Day 2 Survivors of the Ohio season. Bucks 1, 2, 3 on one farm. Other farm was pretty quiet overnight. While middle of the night or after dark I’m just happy I’m picking these bucks up on cam at this point. 110 acres or so and I have 7 cams on it, with five in about. 15 acre section. The Spypoint is in my blind spot and where I suspect and hope these bucks are spending time as it’s the safest place on the farm from neighboring hunters / Amish. Buck 1 loses context on size by himself, but the last image shows him with Buck 3 for example. Let’s get to the weekend already!

You can go set a hub blind now. Brush it in well and don't be careless. Fear of making moves is one of the top three mistakes a hunter can make IMO. It bites everyone from time to time. Sometimes you make a move and it is the wrong move, but I can't recall many times not making the move has worked out for me or most anyone else I know. The ML season goes into January this year. What does he have to lose with a bonus property? If a hub blind gets him seat time or more of it, I can't see too much negative. Heck, maybe all he does is learn more about the property this year to leverage next. Maybe he learns where not to hunt. Maybe he shoots a Booner. But not wanting to put up a hub blind with a month of season left, one in which there is a period of no hunting? I just don't understand that logic personally.

I had light strikes on primers in my CVA Scouts in 243 and 350 L. Both were directly related to Medium rings on the scope along with the bell housing of the scopes themselves. Visual inspection and testing showed clearance - enough so that you can work it fine. But when actually shooting, light strike and a failure to fire. Moved to high rings - and the extra clearance makes the difference. No marks were left on the bell housings, either. It's such a minute contact but enough not to start the fire.

Four days of work coming up for me. My time off work is pretty much exhausted. Spent Sat midday to yesterday midday in Ohio. So close on Saturday PM to getting a shot at two bucks that would have been my PB, but wasn't meant to be. Sunday was some of the most miserable weather I have sat in, in years. 32 degrees and snow that sticks and melts, and the process repeats with heavy snow and sun, melting the fallen snow. I was soaked morning and PM. I kind of regret it because I got a bit of frost bite on my left hand fingers and my middle finger is still darn sore. Monday was the regular season opener. I could have tried to hunt all day and boogie home but I'd get home late and be a waste here at work. So I hunted til Noon. Had to choose between two stands. Chose the one I sat Saturday PM, which was harder to get to, but felt like it'd hold the deer once pressure hit. Didn't see a deer. Heard one blow at me when I got down, but that was it. Of course, the easy stand, the other option, had the third largest buck on the farm walk in, in daylight, about 30 minutes after sun up for what would have been a slam dunk shot. Meh, go figure. Good news is the big guy got his first day survival wings. Another good buck at the second farm showed up just before light. No idea if he made it.

Make sure you read the regs on shooting antlerless on public.

Two back surgeries, so I can relate. Rest up.

Yes, lots of movement last 24 hours. Saw him from the stand yesterday PM. Chose south this AM. 32 and Snow, but snow is melting. Everything is wet down to base layers. Bah, made it to 10 at least. Have to dry out but will be going back in as soon as possible. Probably should have chose North based on the lone BB I had come in at 5 yards and hang out. Did see one doe about 100 yards out around 830. North was probably it this AM. Dang.

North or south stands. Have to choose. On way.

I’ve been hunting deer since I was 12. Today’s hunt though, in Ohio, was the wildest 2.5 hour sit I have ever had. Cams have been up ticking and gun season starts Monday. I shot down here and got in town this afternoon. Hoping to beat the guns. I got some daylight images this morning on a ridge with a now empty apple grove. I have a few stands in the bottom, one in the middle of the bottom and one low in a field corner. I snuck into the field corner one and within 10 minutes noticed a doe, then two, then three, and a deep guttural grunt behind them. Immediate shooter about 60 yards out. For the next thirty minutes this wide 8 that we have pics of tends these two adult does while a doe young of year hangs out. A satellite basket rack was kept at bay the whole time. The wide 8 made scrapes, rubbed a tree, and while doing so one of the does bedded 20 yards from me in the clear in a shooting lane through the brush. The wide 8 finally came toward her but was behind a large oak. All of this over 30 minutes. By now my blood pressure finally settled and ready to go. One. More. Step. Out of the corner of my eye I spot a sixth deer drop down the ridge. Immediately I could see it was the buck from the morning images. A true giant. He was 60 yards out, closing fast. The wide buck immediately turned around, and those two bucks hit antlers so hard it sounded like a .22 going off. The other deer scattered as if I had sent a slug down range. These two bucks get into an Ali-Frazier brawl 35 yards from me and I have no shot through the brush and branches. I kept trying to find a hole but every time I did, they moved. Eventually after 30 seconds-minute, the wide 8 gets run off with the taller buck en route. I sat there dejected and in shock. 30 minutes later, the taller 8 comes back with the two does and makes a U circuit around my other stand that is in the bottom. They disappear into the thick stuff and it was silent again. Two more does in the field to close out the evening but in the end, I saw two very mature bucks get into a huge brawl. I still cannot believe I couldn’t get a shot. Never seen anything like it and doubt I will ever again. Would have been nice to send it.

People just can’t say congrats and leave it be.

Congrats, and hell of a 1.5 yo dink, too! Same Kool Aid, different flavor. I’m learning, and I have a long ways to go, but it just seems better to congratulate the hunter and leave it be, whether it be on the dink or slammer sides of the spectrum, or in between.

When the main beam lines up or beyond the tip of the nose on a profile image…you got a big deer.

Work. Work. Work. Lameeeeeeeee.

That’s why they got cited I guess.

Yes that is the park in reference there

Its definitely true. I don't know anything about the case/people but have awareness to the bureaucratic details if you will.