phade

Oy...facepalm. I'm being sarcastic...murse is a common play on those words. It's rather funny when you do see a guy with a murse. Sort of like jorts or famullets.

Giant bobcat...fur would be worth a good penny if there is a season where this is.

Heh, Steve you crack me up sometimes. I relate it to being more efficient...one item for multilpe purposes. No need to carry additional TP. It's also much more efficient than leaves...been there, done that. A murse is a Man pURSE.

Hah, all you guys with comments about the baby wipes make me laugh. Try it..you'll be surprised. Change is hard...even when it is better for you. Some of the most manly, hard core hunters I know don't bother with TP and use baby wipes. Not only better for the first-thought of job...but they're also scent-free wipes that can be used if you get sweaty or are in the wilderness for days on end with no shower. They disintegrate just as well as TP and can be shredded for blood trail markers just the same as TP. Oh and they're great to use when cleaning blood off your hands from a gut job. Try to do that with TP. A multi-use product that's also better at the original purpose... Sometimes I wonder if certain people hunt or call themselves tough as shoe leather hunters just to try to push off the fear of being a closet metrosexual. You secretly own a murse, don't you Steve? Much man love, Steve...much man love.

Actually, I make it a purpose to do that prior to the season and after the season. This is my time to take - given special circumstances. There were plenty of instances where I completed honey-do's, rearranged my schedule to cater to what she wanted to do, and even tossed in a few surprises (got away for a short weekend this summmer to a place she really wanted to visit). Sure beats missing out on opening day regardless of the weather. The key is that you have to make an effort to do this kind of stuff, whether you do it in-season or around the season....it goes a long way.

As mentioned QDMA is a group...and the group has strong ties to NY. In fact, some board members (past president) are from NY (Dougherty). Certain parts of the state have strong QDM co-ops...obviously done on private land.

Quick! Before the opener... Swap out the TP for unscented baby wipes. Seriously...do this. Way better when in the woods. Because of the rain...dab a little vegetable oil (Q-tip style) on the bow screws/accessory screws.

Confidence is king. Get that new sight dialed in and be ready to rock!

Of course. It's like X-mas Eve for adults!

Heavy rain/downpour makes it hard to bow hunt. I actually don't mind being in those elements as long as I stay relatively dry and warm. I hate those heavy rains when's it's like 35-38 degrees...it'd be better off snowing...I get cold quick in those kind of rains. Gun hunting...probably the usual cold winter temps and a blowing wind. I don't usually have a problem with getting up early, but sometimes it's hard in December when it's 15 degrees and blowing wind. I still make it out, but I'm usually cursing everything under the sun in the process. Funny thing is, if that's the afternoon forecast, I don't seem to have near as hard of a time getting out there and toughing it out. Wind-wise...as long as I feel safe in the stand, I'll hunt. Those afternoons with heavy winds usually have that little period of time where the wind dies around sunset. I find that period, regardless of point in season, to be productive for deer movement.

I don't log it persay, but if there's a specific buck/doe group moving through in a trend, I'll note it and hunt accordingly. I shot two does and a small buck one afternoon during bow (in a season I had 5-7 days of actual hunting time). Camera told me that a doe with fawns moved through there at 2:30 p.m. almost like clockwork. I was able to slip in about 1:45 (October 26...still remember the date for some reason) on a nice wet, quiet woods. By the end of the afternoon I had the mother doe, another one, and a small buck down. I usually entered those woods about that time (2:30) to start evening hunts back then (time constraints). I made the extra time that day and beat her to the spot. This year, I've got a doe w/triplets coming through about 5:40-6 a.m in one area. Based on entry/exit requirements (very small parcel - sub 10 acres), I'm going to need to beat her in, in the morning. Not really out to get her, but I can't afford to be walking in there at 6:00 and meet her on the path.

There's been a few threads about hunting there. They might pull up in a search. There's always some decent deer taken from there each year.

They're a bunch of work. Might not seem like it...but they are. I usually use them for 2-3 hunts a season just to change gears. I rarely do it more than once a season on the same property. I only use a buck or a buck paried with a bedded doe. Usually use them last few days of October and first week or two of November. I've found mornings are more productive for them...but it's also more difficult to set up at O'dark thirty.

I hope to be in the stand (butt planted) 1 hour before official sunrise. So, that looks like heading into the woods in the 6:00 a.m. ballpark. The wind and rain will dictate how long I end up staying in the stand saturday.

A dialed in 20 ga. will kill a deer just as well. I'm not that old but even when I was a kid, shooting a 20 gauge was a cause for group teasing. But, that was when there were few loads for them. Now that the technology has caught up, a nice 20 gauge is no slouch. Heck, look at the performance using a Hornday SST 20 ga...I've was in a blind with a friend who shot a shot at 163 yards...bang flopped stone dead. The friend was a good shot regardless of implement, but still, the performance was there.

The mowing may keep those mature bucks off of that scrape....hard to tell though. Some of them do not have overhanging lick branches? I'd move the came to one that does just to see if there's anything different showing up. Pretty unusual to not see rubs until later in the year. That just adds to the mystery!

Does are hit or miss with scrapes. I think much of depends on their age, breeding state, and whether they still have little ones in tow. I've been fortunate to witness a good amount of scrape activity while hunting because of a few small woodlots. I've seen one doe come in and work it, when one about 10 minutes later will walk by it, circle it, and keep on going - almost as an avoidance. Does with little ones tend to avoid it more often than ones without. Also seem to see single does work the scrape...don't see too many does in groups doing that. It looks like you've got an edge scrape. While large bucks will visit/start edge scrapes early...I find they are not common visitors until further along in the season. It does happen on occassion, however. Interior scrapes or those with cover (along a standing corn field/edge of woods) are more likely to be visited by a mature buck at this time of year. Oddly enough, with all that I said, I've encountered both of those off-chances. I've got a nice buck working three edge scrapes and also have a doe with little ones on another scrape this year. No hard and fast rules, that's for sure. I just wouldn't get too worried about the lack of sightings yet. Any interior scrapes around? Don't forget, if you are in ag. land...patterns can change overnight (corn coming down, harvests, etc.).

Yeah...forecast shows wsw 25 mph winds...high 50's and periods of rain. Saweeet! Rocking and rolling in the stand. Not the most favorable conditions. Might need to move the blind midday if it gets too bad...have it set up more for observation the past few weeks so at the very least, I'll be in a stand in the morning.

Congrats!

I usually hate reading on stand but I'll have to during my two weeks of hunting vacation because of the amount of reading required in my grad class. I'm making pdf files and just uploading them to my smartphone...I'll only read here and there but it's gotta be done. I know all to well that I can't do that stuff after a day's hunt when it's day 8 or 9 of being 20' in the air for most of the time I'm awake.

Yes...today is going by so slooooow. Wrapping up the clothes washing tonight. Looks like some rain this weekend.

Sorry for your loss. As powerful as words can be sometimes, they can sometimes fail to capture just how truly challenging it can be to overcome a difficult time. I hope the best for you.

20, 30, and 40. I've got a couple 5 pin setups and I think the balance for me is three pins and possibly four based on the speed of the bow and the distance between the pins. 5 has shown to be too busy for me....so I usually rely on 3 now.

Found three rubs two weeks ago to the day. Only ones I have found so far...none on the other properties. It's still early.

I hope he's had a lwayer look into that...they may be sucking the gas right out from underneath him. That'll become even more important once fracking is legalized...the and pull horizontally pretty far...they actually pop wells into grouped parcels and you'd be suprised to see how far they can actually pull.