wolc123

The Good Lord blessed me with a fat mature doe at 2 minutes past sunset this evening. Beat the buzzer by 28 minutes. I’m lovin this early antlerless gun season. Takes most of the “meat” pressure off for the remainder of the seasons this year.

I butcher most of them in our insulated stage. I like to use a cheap little 4:1 block and tackle for most deer or a small come a long for those much over 150 lbs field dressed: I kind of like butchering but only if I can take my time and just do one at a time. I really like this antlerless gun season. I spent about (3) hours trimming every last tender morsel off of that little “fatted calf” yesterday evening. Had to get that deer fridge cleared for hopefully a nice grinder doe this weekend.

I’ve got one but never used it. I like a cheap telescoping rod a lot better for travel. Fits in my suitcase just as well when retracted, yet still gives you a long rod for easy casting and to wear down fish. Had I not had it with me on a work trip when a blizzard stranded me in SanDiego on opening day of deer season last year, I’d have missed out on this consolation prize:

I’m definitely thanking Him for this “fatted calf” that He blessed my wife and I with last night: I can’t wait for a fillet mignonette sub for dinner tonight, and I’m really looking forward to the liver.

That’s the main reason I’m not going to sit in mine this afternoon. Id rather avoid that poison ivy. Also, my food plots are a little better in other areas this year. Last year, that natural blind was definitely the hotspot for foodplot action.

I have had a “natural” blind on our place for about 15 years. I made it by propping an old boat dock up against an ash tree. There are vines (wild grape and poison ivy) growing in front and back. I hadn’t got any deer of until last year, when it produced a mature doe and a young buck (2-3/4” spiker that I thought was a doe and had to use a dmp’s tag on). The ash had succumbed to the emerald ash borer several years prior, but still had live vines all over it. I cut the top off the dead ash this summer, and I hope the rotting stump will support it for a few more seasons. I also added a short barnwood sided wall, for a little better concealment, and a better gun rest.

I dialed in both of mine from the back deck last Saturday . My CP sniper printed a 2” (3) shot group at 60 yards, so I think I’m good to go for the early antlerless season on September 9. I have one stand that is about 300-450 ft from a row of mobile homes, so I got to use a crossbow there (250 ft setback requirement per the NY state rulebook vs 500 ft for a gun or ML). The sniper is damn front-heavy though, so I’ll most likely use my use my Barnett Recruit, which had an effective range of just 40 yards. It’s quite thick back behind those trailers, so that’s about as far as I could shoot there anyhow. I moved the stand to a new spot, 20 yards from a well used deer trail on Sunday. I have not shot my bow since crossbows were legalized in 2014. Prior to that, archery season kills accounted for a much smaller percentage of our venison supply, even though the season was much longer than the two weeks we get for crossbow. It’s great to have all that extra “free time”, for other tasks, and still end up with more meat. Another thing I like about the crossbows, is the “unloading” practice shot I get into a rag bag, fafter every hunt. It’s always a good confidence builder for the next hunt, when that strikes on the mark.

I’m really hoping to start aging an old doe a week from Saturday when our early antlerless gun season opens. My 1950’s deer fridge is ready to go. I’ll give her seven days in there then grind her and freeze to make room for # 2.

I’ve used ethanol-free gas, with regular non-marine Stabil added, on all of my boat motors and other “seldomly used” small engines for as long as it has been available. That’s been around 15 years, and includes more than a dozen engines, counting chainsaws, my newest “antique” tractor, and lots of other small equipment. I had been plagued by carburetor issues on that stuff, before I could get ethanol free gas, but have not had a single one since. Stabil alone, never helped much. I messed up, this last Memorial Day weekend, when I forgot to bring ethanol-free gas for my father in law’s 1960 something Johnson 5.5 hp outboard. He said “no problem, just use some of my gas”. He has a 10 hp Honda on his barge that is impervious to ethanol gas. Not so with the little Johnson. Before I made it across the lake, all (3) internal rubber gas lines had been eaten thru, the motor ran like crap, and gas was running out from the cowl. I got lots of rowing in that weekend. I brought gas line and ethanol free gas up with me on the 4th of July weekend, along with my own Evinrude 5.5 (Lake has a 10 hp max limit), just in case that didn’t cure his Johnson. It didn’t seem to at first, so I used my Evinrude for a day or two. As it turned out, I had connected a couple of the lines wrong on the Johnson. When I swapped them back correctly, it ran great again. The new lines that I installed are probably ethanol proof, but I’ll keep paying a dollar a gallon more (if necessary) for ethanol free gas, as long as I can get it.

I usually use a small gas chainsaw and a pair of loppers. I use the 3 point carryall on the back of my Ford 8n to lift myself up for a little more height. A nice thing about that tractor is that you can reach the lift control handle while you are standing on the back platform.

The hole you dig needs to be larger and deeper for the wolf.

Until NY state admits that they have wolves, it’s going to be an uphill battle expecting folks to not think they are just big coyotes. Combine that, with a high hunter density in most of the state, and it’s hard to imagine the wolf ever gaining much of a foothold here.

I’m guessing more like 1.5 but I haven’t bought a piece of lumber since COVID. I did spend $20 at TSC for nails and lag bolts to finish the lean-to though. I still have a 5 gallon bucket or so of the old iron square nails, that were still in good shape, and I pulled out of those old barns.

The nice thing about metal buildings is that they are essentially maintenance free. I used to keep all of my “stuff” on a couple old timber-framed 36 x 46 x 16 barns that my great great grandad built in the 1880’s. I imagine that the Amish built wood barns of today are similar, but probably don’t use American chestnut as the primary material, like the old ones did. Another thing I don’t miss about those old barns, was all the dust that built up on everything stored inside because wind could blow right thru the gaps in the siding boards. A boat, stored inside thru the winter would have 1/16” of dust in it in the spring. Now, my boat comes out of my metal pole barn in the spring just as clean as it was when it went in in the fall. The wood does have a more comfortable “feel” inside though. I was able to recreate that, with shops and a loft, inside my new metal building using “free” materials recovered from the two old barns that I demo’d. Stockade is very thorough in protecting their stuff during transport. Each bundle of gray steel was protected by a same gauge sheet of green. I used those, and more recovered materials (post and beams, rafters, etc) to add a 7 x 25 lean -to woodshed on the back of the back porch.