phade

There are some people who are big into retrofitting the .410 to shoot those 41s....and they get some impressive performance #s. I think there's a few people who do it that participate in the H&R/NEF forums.

Bingo. People toss around the 800 ft-lb as the measuring stick for a deer kill...but that's probably the ultra conservative side of things. .410s have killed more than one deer where legal. I would still love to take a deer with a .410 someday (where/when legal). Don't know why I have that desire...but I do.

I honestly fear that day...hopefully I've got a handful of decades to go before that point...but still. Most of it probably springs from my first job as a teen working in a nursing home. I also watched a family friend go through L.G. disease over time and it was heart-breaking. My FIL is 63 and I'm hell bent on getting him a deer this weekend. He's the hunter in everyone's group who tries real hard but never gets a deer...the kind that overpacks, shoots well at the bench but gets nervous when there's a deer in the sights, and is always hopeful that this year is "THE" year that one drops. In fact...I'm letting him sit in my typical opening day funnel stand. The wind be good and he's going to at least see some deer up close and personal. My stepfather hunts with a group of guys and they're all getting long in the tooth. About 6-7 years ago one of the guys in the group never made it out of the woods. He was the older guy in the group and they found him at the base of his stand slouched over on a log with his gun in his hand - died of a massive heart attack. I can't help but think that short of being with loved ones, that he went the way he wanted to go....in the deer woods, gun in hand, on opening morning. Cheers to Gus - hopefully you can relive a nice buck harvest to him this season.

Here's one NY and one Ohio kill. I ended up shooting a small buck right before leaving for Ohio...it's was essentially my last day to bowhunt here in NY and was actually the first rutting action I saw all season. I rarely get to the "anything goes" point for my buck tag...but it was a tough season here in NY. Passed a ton of bucks but never had a bonafide 3.5 or older within shooting range. He'll do just fine for the tough season. Ohio was a challenge based on the amount of corn still up and the weather. Passed on a 2.5 8 and kind of regret it as the back end of the week that looked real good weather-wise turned out nice and cold...but with 25 mph winds gusting to 35. It kept the deer in the corn for much of the day. The game cams revealed a ton of nice bucks at night...an unreal b:d ratio on unmanaged private ground. My hunting partner/mentee took what is his biggest bow buck...a real nice hard quartering double lung shot. Shot looked bad at first when I saw it, but the angle was actually perfect. You can see the type of corn we had to deal with. I actually hunted in the tree on the other side of the lake to the left of his head...3 acres of woods around that lake and corn as far as the eye can see from 20 ft.

I grew up hunting there...hunted Oceana and Dam Neck with my Dad...spent some time on Back Bay with the lottery hunts. Most of the time was at Chickahominy or at the club in Emporia. Running dogs is not for most people...but I think it's one thing that hunters should try once in their life. It's certainly not my preffered way to hunt but the sound of a dog hot on the heels of a deer coming your way is something to be experienced.

I feel a little tougher with more shells on my person when hunting. Every time I go with 3-5 shells...I get a bit nervous. Been on a few drives that involved some shells changing hands, none recently, but there were times...

I found a dead deer from a bow in Ohio on Saturday. First one I've ever found that was clearly bowkilled. It was an awkard shot angle (almost straight down) with an exit...but it had to have died pretty quickly (within a couple hundred yards). My best guess is that it was shot in a nearby small woodlot when the corn was still standing about two weeks ago. I bet they lost blood in the corn since it was a vertical shot (nothing left/right) to rub off on the stalks. The lot the buck was in was less than 4-5 acres total. My hunting partner shot a buck in Ohio and I was nervous as heck because we were in about as big of a corn field as I've ever seen and the deer went in there pretty fast. Thankfully it was a great shot and an easy track. I don't think it is a bowhunter issue as mentioned...it's a hunter ethics issue.

Shot during the live stand thread. Way to go!

Wow! Ive met garett and know maggie since ive done some work w them. Crazy!

Beat a large mature buck to his bed this morning by 5 min. He passed thru a lane at 15 yds. He bedded 60 yd nw of me. Tried a tending grunt/can series w/no luck. I cant see him but i know hes there since hes in a corner of a lot and i can see both sides oc the area he bedded.

Good luck western. The spine dips in that area....could have knicked a lung or over the spine. Morning has been quiet except for a yearling doe.

For the money its good. Some problems noted but for 100...its pretty solid.

I doubt it happened at auburn. This shot has been floating around various forums for a while. Still nasty.

I regularly hunt a stand set the same day based on sign. Theres a reason its called "first time in".....

Whatever it was, it was a great deer repellant. One guy got a tractor stuck and everyone kept dancing while the driver worked to get it out.

Btw. I didnt see a deer last evening. I did however see some great dancing farm hands.

Jumped a buck bedded with a doe right off the driveway of the house where i hunt. Been in stand and had a 4 pt sweep in to scent check a bedding area. Nothing else. Pretty quiet.

Drove to lease....neighbor farmer is plowing the muck field with 10 mexican or latino farm hands. They are blaring mariachi like music out of a loudspeaker. Been this way since i got here at 3. Im only 60 yds from them. Wind wont let me hunt another stand.

Why would you adjust scope higher for that bottom group? I think the box has zero right at 50 yds. That puts on par for 100-125 yards kills (assuming shooter skill).

Slow last night. In the stand now. 2 does but thats it so far.

In the stand for the afternoon in 8h. Wind looks good. Lets see what develops.

Never saw mention of the lead issue for slugs at Monetzuma. We had to sign in/out at the check station...nothing about it in the regs that I remember. The really crappy part about hunting that place is the no access except to hunt...scouting has to be done while hunting practically. We still hunted the evening to try to cover some ground for this coming season...probably will go back there one day during the last week of gun season.

8F has a fair amount of state land and I think 8G has some too. There's actually a part of Montezuma that falls inside 8F - a separate track from the main park/refuge. It's on their map. Hunted it one day late last season and there was a bunch of sign (no sightings, but I would certainly hunt it again).

Nice job! Big deer is right!

October 30 doe.