phade

It'll be hard to draw blood on a fox in those conditions.

Sitka was a good buy for me. I rarely have more than two layers (base and Fanatic). Every once in a while I'll put on the celsius midi jacket but I can't recall a time where I needed to put on a midi under the bibs. Makes life easy. I usually go in, in my base layers, with the fanatic set in my pack and I throw them on just prior to the stand. I too struggle with working up a sweat regardless of my walks in - so I get down to just bare minimum base layers and it seems to offset really well. I did buy a battery heated vest for $50 this year on a whim and that has worked well and in fact used my lighter Stratus and Fanatic vest several times this year where I would have historically used Fanatic bibs/jacket. A few hot hands/feet and good to go. People make fun of Sitka or the similar expensive lines, but I've seen a huge ROI on the cost in my opinion. I am wayyyyyyyy more capable of spending stand time in this colder weather than I used to be.

Scout and collect/digest info more than hunt at this time of year, even if you have to observation hunt, if you're not going to the deer. These colder temps and pending snow are a God send for this time of year. It will force deer to thermal cover or thick bedding and narrowed food sources that you can try to get in between. Oftentimes you only get one or two chances in the MZ season before deer respond to the pressure, which belies the scout more than hunt part. Historically for me my encounters with good bucks are at first light or in the afternoon. The commentary on still hunting is also relevant for those with the ground to do so. Our ground isn't set up for still hunting due to parcel size much, but that is an option above all else if you have to and cant get zero. Might as well go to them if you can't figure them out. Worst case, you learn. Late season hunting can be super fun; it's one of the most underrated times of the season to connect. We spend alot of time in summer with work in mind for late season - IE food plots for late season, specific trails or paths to get to spots that can be hard to get to with deer on a plot or field, etc.

Seal the blind and sleep in it overnight.

Usually LR is long range in MZ terms.

Hunting partner and I covered some ground with sectioned one-man push/still hunts to the other. Set out for a doe to process for snack sticks/sausage/hot dogs. Managed to give one the ol’ Razzle Dazzle on the last push midday before taking the evening sit in our only remaining unpushed property. Plan came together as a group of six read the script. Even better is she died in a spot where we could drive the truck right up to so zero dragging. Hate to admit it but the NY gun season has me ready for some rest. We will still make it out for a handful of hunts with the MZ; although I’m not sure I’d shoot another doe at this point. Might just be armed napping in the stand or blind. Seeing some snow and deer moving through sounds relaxing and gives me time to appreciate/reflect on the memories made. 2020 has been a sh!tshow for a lot of reasons but just as many to be thankful for.

I wouldn't disagree in premise, but they are ever so slightly a littler better on expansion and load really well in the field. Shoot very well, too. Barnes seems to be the bar setter for common man's MZ bullets though, no question about it. I've had a few SST kills that I scratched my head at about expansion but been happy with the PT Golds so far and drove me to switch to begin with - started with regular Scorpions then PT Gold about 4-5 years ago. I'd probably switch if I had more time/interest in using a MZ - they're exclusively my late season option here in NY so the $ investment to tinker just isn't validated for me. I'm just on my second tin of BH209 since 2011, so that's about 65 shots per tin or so over the years between hunting and sighting in. If they put in the early season MZ time then I'd probably get more interested in it, too. Also if I can convince myself to take time for an early out of state MZ season, ha. No idea why but I struggle with taking time off work for early season to go out of state. If I am burning PTO its going to be for all-day sits.

Been using Harvester Scorpion PT Gold for a bit now. Put Traditions Carnivores in an old CVA Wolf and it shoots very well, too. Took a doe last season with it and had a short track job. The PT Golds are nice but hard to find locally. I stocked up when I found them in a Cabela's in Indiana on the way home last month. Have enough to do some range sessions and hunt for next two seasons or so.

On Saturday we shot close to MOA groups using BH209 that was purchased in 2011 with a hastily organized field sighting-in session.

buck beds FTW.

I think you know by now that any topical jab I can take at you I will in light-hearted fun, hence the whiskey comment. Don't die, bro. But for the remainder, it sounds like you haven't really lost property before and maybe even property that means alot. I think alot of the people who are replying similar to me have. And, I think that experience gap is what is driving a different perspective than what you are sharing. Losing property was one of my biggest motivators and honestly, losing meaningful property drove me to get what I needed or wanted out of the passion. I think most of those who respond similar to me found the same compass direction, if you will.

I'm in agreeance with the poking the bear. You're poking it. Stop or understand the risk if you continue. Treeguy is 100% right. Better yet, do something about your passion to reduce the drama. Working angles sounds like a half-assed solution to me. You have means. Make it a priority to give you what you need out of the passion. You've commented here alot (my perception) this year of not getting out or staying up late due to wine and this/that the other (at least say lie and say whiskey on this site for Pete's sake). But, then this is what bothers you? If that's really driving you not getting out as much, go change it man. You're smarter than this, I know that for sure. I remember you posting about this guy a couple years ago. You've had lead time to have a Plan A, Plan B, Plan C. Just calling it like I see it - opinion.

I've had to do it three times in the past two years (we had three dogs), and two of them on the same day for completely unrelated health issues, which was my birthday, of all days. There are not much crappier things in life than this. I hope all goes as well as possible.

One of the things I might look into is the why and how. Does this person have the ability or relationship with the farmer/landowner to get that done? My personal experience has been in these situations where common users start to go down this path - people don't always agree/align and it heads down the path of someone consolidating access, either via leasing or improving the 1:1 relationship with the decision maker / farmer / owner. My suggestion is to get on the same page or get a back up plan.

@WNYBuckHunter passes 140”+ deer. Just saying. Crazy!

By the time it gets to the realty market, it's often overpriced. You want to find private party or find those tax driven sales as noted. Networking - whether in person or sending letters. I'm in the market too and I'm really starting to think about buying land out of state for hunting - the taxes, quality of hunting and pressure, etc. vs. the density and high property taxes here. I can be in NE Ohio just under three hours.

Ohio has their version of a venison donation program. I bet you could loop into that somehow. Hunting around Columbus is intense and competitive and alot of antler hunting there. I believe they even have urban programs. I would think you could find somebody there willing to donate meat. Go onto FB and look for the Ohio hunting groups and you'll have much better luck.

Couldn't agree more on that. I learned that early on as a kid at threat of violence, lol. This guy Vic was one of my uncle's friends who pushed and drove with us when I was young and mostly a pusher. We were walking out along a narrow brushlot after a drive and walking side by side. As we were halfway back to the truck a nice 8 was bedded ten yards in and we both saw it at the same time. Before I could stop to shoulder he told me if I stopped he'd wrap his SKS around my skull - keep in mind we were talking 30 feet from that deer and he stayed put. We walked another 10 yards and Vic swung shot that buck in its bed and it never moved. Every time I have one deer jump when I stop and it gets away I think to myself I'm thankful Vic wasn't there with me.

That fear is one of the top reasons why hunters who want to target mature bucks don't actually kill them (and deer in general sometimes). This is proven by new or young hunters who go out and kill a giant haphazardly, because they don't know what they don't know. They're not afraid of walking by or into that brushy spot, or sitting on a stump on that way out hedgerow or clump of tree Islands in a grass or ag field. I think many hunters are eventually fooled into being too scared to get close to or into bedding and as a result become too passive to reliably kill good bucks. If you walk into a bedding area daily, deer will change behaviors. If you walk into their bedding area once and they escape and survive, they only know that their bedding just worked to keep them alive. See the difference?

I'm not a great still-hunter or tracker. I try but I just haven't made it a priority. I have done my fair share of drives both large and small. Doing as noted using the soft bump with wind and circling back in a large loop looking for fresh tracks as noted by someone earlier is a good tactic that can be done while scouting in-season, too. A handful of times during drives we'd have a trailer person. Drivers and Standers do their thing woodlot to woodlot and the trailer follows behind 15 minutes or so. I was only a trailer a few times since I was often a driver, but I was amazed at how many deer will loop back in only a few short minutes later. They feel safe as the escape worked. I killed a few does that way; never a buck in my younger years but that was more because I shot poor on those instances in my younger years getting all excited. Killed some bucks in recent years that way. In fact killed my 2018 buck that way and my hunting partner killed the other buck that was bedded with mine on another escape route.

Post-season scouting is invaluable, but so is in-season scouting. Doing one but not the other is just limiting your knowledge and success IMO. If you don't know where they are bedding this time of year, you should go find them, even if you blow them out of that spot once. Then you can use that knowledge when the conditions match in this season and future seasons. I find deer bed in different spots right now than they do when it's late season and/or the snow has piled on. Food sources are more available now then they typically are with material snowpack. There's likely more pressure-based bedding being done. Late season pressure drops and deer bedding becomes more hinged on thermal cover, the food, and the path to/from. This is also the hardest time of year for hunters who have food (IE plots) but not safe bedding/cover due to property lines. Deer have enough food options to not move as much staying tight to bed in daylight and only making the destination food source after nightfall.

Some do, some definitely don't and stay put. Hunters likely walk by as many deer that stay put vs bust.

Larry, good plan - The aerial tells me you likely have alot of wind-based bedding if the crops are not in play. The box blind is a good spot and good plan; I'd be more confident in morning and evening action there but certainly possible you get midday action if they feel safe in that interior field as their bedding is not far away. One challenging piece is I think that drainage that runs N/S and then cuts through the woods presents alot of potential buck bedding on predominant winds. A few things to really look at would be that little island in the field. You might see alot from that spot - more risky but could pay off. Also, what and where are they crossing that drainage. I'd use that as a gauge to zero in on a guesstimate where the bedding would be in relation to that. Match that up with your entry points into triangular woods and you have "the spot" to pay attention to. I really like that area around the island on a SW - bucks could be bedding in that corner/tip of the woods along the draining to see the field and scan for does and threats while the wind whips over their backs from the woods.

Get well soon.

Same to you sir, nice way to close!