wolc123

Bull moose probably

Today was the best of my 9 day hunt/fishcation so far. A little hunting action down in the stream bottom this morning, when a grouse landed 15 yards from me. I missed the head shot with my .50 cal. Should have went for a center shot. Oh well, it lives and I learn. The sun came out before lunch and the southwest wind was blowing, so I spent a little extra time fishing. They were biting very good. I caught more than a dozen smallmouth including 18, 19, and 20 inchers that I used the net on. I also needed that for my hat when it blew off. The fat 19 incher in the first picture was the “fight of the year”. The 20” in the second is my longest of the year. I released all the bass. I’m only going to keep one over 22” to mount if I get one. I caught (3) perch by accident (everything on the same 1/8 oz bucktail jig) that I kept for my mother in law. Two were 10” and one was 12-1/2”. They are in the fish cage now, which I tied to the dock. I’ll clean them tomorrow, along with any more that I might catch. We got the barge into its winter spot and pulled in the small dock. Tomorrow is the last day I’m fishing, so I’ll bring up the 5-1/2 Johnson and put it in the shed, haul up the 14 ft rowboat, and pull up the last dock after I finish. It’s supposed to rain Saturday and Sunday. I don’t mind hunting in the rain but I don’t care for fishing in it. Im skipping the evening hunt. I was going to go to a spot along the lane to the neighbors place, who is currently involved in a property dispute. He’s down at his place on the south end of the lake now and I don’t want to escalate the situation. I let him know that the pie he baked for my father in law was very good. If he’s gone tomorrow night, I’ll hit the spot along his lane then. Tomorrow morning, I’ll be back on the spot that is almost as far from his place as I can get, the north end of the east ridge. He’s into hunting and hasn’t seen much on his trail cameras lately. I explained my “their all in the standing corn” theory to him. My only hope is to catch a buck traveling back and forth between the corn fields to the east and to the west.

Wow, here’s something I haven’t see too much of so far this week. Looks like I’ll have to spend a little extra time out on the lake today, in search of the elusive 22 incher. That usually heats up the afternoon smallmouth bass action pretty good, at this time of year:

A little bit of excitement here about 15 minutes ago. A grouse flew in and landed about 15 yards away. Not sure what my mother in law has planned for lunch today, and I thought that might make a nice treat. The last time I shot one of those up here while deer hunting, on center of mass with my 30/06, it left just barely enough meat for one person. I went for a head shot with my 50 cal ML this time. It looked like it was down, so I walked over to get it without reloading (Big mistake). No, a big buck did not pop out from a tree at 20 yards. My shot must have been a very near miss, just close enough to briefly stun the bird. When I got within a yard of it, it scampered off into the thick stuff. I chased after it but could not catch it. I gave up the chase and the search after about 15 minutes. I would not have shot at the grouse, if I was badly in need of venison right now. There’s about (3) average sized deer in our freezer back at home, so that’s not the case. Ive killed maybe about a hundred deer in my lifetime but only about a dozen grouse, so that was the bigger “prize” this morning, than a deer which “might” show up here if I hadn’t shot. I’m reloaded now and back in my tree hammock chair till 11:30. Hopefully, it’s not PB&J for lunch. I had my empty ML in my hands, as I was chasing after the grouse. When I lost track of it, I reloaded from the speed loader, that I always carry in my pocket. There were two more loads in my pack, so I used one of those to reload the speed loader for my pocket. I’ll chalk that up as another lesson learned the hard way. No more head shots. Some meat is better than no meat and a center lung shot provides much more margin for error. I don’t even try for head shots on squirrels, except for the time one showed up at sunset when I was deer hunting with my side lock .50 cal. I had a hang fire on that shot but I held steady and after a half second that one lost its head.

It’s getting to be the time of year (pre-rut). When these techniques start to work pretty good. The most important lesson I have learned about them, the past 42 deer seasons, is that they SHOULD NOT be used with archery equipment. The reason that is that only ALERT deer will respond. An alert deer will always move 1-3 feet, between the time an arrow is released and the time it arrives. I can personally attest to that from (3) shoulder blade hits and one gut hit. I did not recover any of those deer. Most likely, only the gut hit one succumbed to his wound. I know for certain that one of the shoulder blade hits lived (3) more weeks because a friend killed it later with a gun and it was nearly healed up by then. That being said, even with those lessons learned the hard way, I’m still going to start using a grunt call and rattle bag this Saturday. That is opening day of gun season where I am at, and I’ll be armed with a 30/30 rifle. I might even use the grunt today or tomorrow, if I see a buck. I’m armed with my ML, which also fires a supersonic bullet. That means it will get to the deer before it hears the shot. Ive rattled in two during archery season (one wounded and one killed) and grunted in (3), which were all wounded. Most were 2.5 year olds but the one that was later killed with a gun was 3.5. I grunted in tge 2.5 year old buck that I killed, on sz opening day of gun, in 2020. That one walked by, thru some cover 20 yards away and I couldn’t tell for sure that he met my hardest criteria (sure 2.5 year old or older or minimum 3 points on a side). When he disappeared, I grunted him back for a closer look. He turned out to be a 6 pointer and I heart shot him at 25 yards with my 12 ga slug gun. So if you are looking to kill a 2.5 - 3.5 year old buck, a grunt call or rattling might help, just wait till you can use a gun if possible.

I didn’t see any deer again yesterday, hunting down on the south ridge from 1/2 hour before sunrise unroll 11:30. There was light rain on and off throughout the morning, so I had my tree umbrella up most of the time. There is an old logging road that loops around to a dump up there. I hunted from the same tree, overlooking a deer trail down into the valley to the north, on the east side of the dump, yesterday and three days prior. I missed a chance at the largest antlered buck I have ever seen at that spot, on opening day of gun season, (3) years ago. That buck popped up out of the valley in the rain, just 15 yards from me, and disappeared back into it before I could get off a shot. My current “every three day hot spot rotation” is going to work out for that spot again on this Saturday’s gun opener. I’m going to mix it up a little this year and hunt on the West side of the dump, overlooking the valley, a couple hundred yards closer to the main camp road. Ive rarely hunted that spot, but there is thick cover there and deer always seem to head for it when pressured or shot at. I grazed a one-horned buck with a high back hit with my 30/30 the weekend after Thanksgiving last year and that’s where he went. So did the old boss doe (which I killed up here the early ML season before last) and her fawn, when I missed her two late ML seasons prior, due to striking a branch. There is a large state forrest and a huge hunting camp directly across two-lane road to the south, so any deer pressured from over there might head for that thick cover on opening day. I’ll pick a tree, overlooking it, that will be determined by the wind direction on that day. After lunch yesterday, I helped my father in law work on moving a post out front, the location of which is currently under dispute with the neighbor. We had a little setback there, and had to leave it unresolved. Thankfully, nobody got hurt. After that, a light south wind was blowing and I drifted the west shoreline of the lake, catching just (3) smallmouth on jigs only one of which was just barely over 12 inches. I did miss a big one, back at the dock with a black Zara puppy, on my last cast. Wr had leftover smoked brisket, taters and Lima beans for dinner, then I hunted the shooting range meadow till 1/2 hour past dark, seeing or hearing nothing. Im headed into the center stream bottom deer hot spot this morning. That’s where I wounded the unicorn late last fall, and where ive seen the most deer up here (usually not until there is snow and all the local corn is down).

I’m going extra light for the last hour tonight: Wallet with tags, pen, pocket knife, speedloader with (2) 50 gr T7 pellets, (2) extra 209 primers. All fits in two pockets of my jeans. I’m only 100 yards from my in-laws lake house though. I’m hoping that a deer or bear steps out onto the shooting range meadow before 1/2 hour past sunset. Things get pretty quiet around here mid-week, so today is probably my best shot at that. The Bog bipod seems pretty steady. I passed up a small spike buck, from this very spot, on opening day morning of gun season last year. I’m hoping for a 6 point or better buck (till Sunday) or a mature doe (till Friday) on this trip.

I don’t like carrying a bunch of junk on hunts. Excess baggage slows me down more than it’s worth. All my stuff needs to fit in a small Fanny pack, in my pockets, or clipped to my belt. Starting from the 9:00 position here, the Gerber folding saw is for cutting thru pelvis bones (I always open them up and make sure everything is cleaned out real good in there) and trimming shooting lanes. The quart zip lock bag at 12:00 is for hearts, livers, and candy bars, so I don’t need to deal with those noisy wrappers. The bottle of Repel at 3:00 is for ticks and skeeters. Fingertips from the gutting glove at 4:00 keeps the rain out of my muzzle. The buttout tool at 6:00 works in conjunction with a short rope to drag out carcasses. The original Leatherman tool in the middle can handle almost any other task. Somewhere under all that stuff is a compass, which can also be used to tell time, and some waterproof matches (probably the only single purpose item I carry). A quart thermos of hot cider warms me up, hydrates, energizes, masks my scent (a little), and attracts deer (sometimes). I’m still waiting on a bear, but that’s another forum section.

We are getting blessed with a little more rain up here in wmu 6C. I put the top up and sacrificed the little finger tip of my left neoprene gutting glove. Much better fit than the thumb from the right that I lost walking into my spot yesterday morning. It’s good to see that my old Buck 110 is still nice and sharp. I only use it when I’m hunting up here because I much prefer my Shrade Sharpfinger at home. That holds a better edge and is easier to clean up after use. I didn’t sharpen the Buck 110 this year, because I didn’t get a deer up here last year, so it was still sharp from then. My father in law gave it to me for Christmas, about 20 years ago, and I’d never hear the end of it if he caught me using something else. We get pretty good cell reception up here. He can usually be at or close to the kill site, with his atv or tractor, by the time I finish gutting. I’ll need to purchase another pair of long wrist neoprene gloves, when I go to pick up a couple more wmu 9F dmp tags, at Walmart or Runnings on November 1. We are going to need at least one more deer, to add to the those that filled my first two 9F dmp’s, during the early antlerless gun season. It’s not looking like that is going to come from up here in 6C. I’m now at the half way point of a 9 day huntcation and I have not even seen one yet. Oh well, they all taste the same. It’s just one heck of a lot prettier scenery to get them in up here:

I’m strapped onto my tree down on the south ridge 10 minutes before sunrise. No rain now, but I brought along my tree umbrella, just in case. Ive also got another neoprene glove that I can sacrifice a finger tip from to cover my muzzle. At the rate I’m going this week, it don’t look like I’ll need it for gutting.

I’m getting ready to pack the old plow truck for the drive down to the south ridge. There’s a south wind today, which is the opposite that I prefer for that spot. Since I didn’t see anything there with a north wind last time, there’s nothing to loose. Maybe I’ll catch deer from the outside coming into that spot. It looks like a chance of rain in the forecast early, so I’ll bring along my tree umbrella. I’ll probably hang out until 11:30 or so down there.

I didn’t see any deer up in the ridge this morning. I did see 4-6 turkeys up there. I think that season closed the Friday before Saturday’s ML opener. After lunch, back at the house, We helped a neighbor pull out his docks. I did some fishing after that, landing (10) keeper sized smallmouth 12-17” long on bucktail jigs. They were feeding on the bottom, along the shoreline. I lost (9) jigs on snags. Good thing their cheap (cost me less than 5 cents each because I tie my own and only need to buy the hooks). The coyote tail ones didn’t seem to work quite as well as the bucktail ones did. Im skipping the evening hunt tonight because it’s shower day (every other day for me when I’m on vacation, wether I need it or not). I like the “dead down wind” scent free bar soap, it lathers up real good, compared to the Irish spring, that I use on work days. Tomorrow morning, I’ll head back over to the south ridge with the plow truck. Ive got (3) good spots on the 250 acre block I’m hunting, do I will hit them each (1) more time over the next (6) mornings. I’m also going to hit the shooting range meadow or the ridge behind it (2) more times. I have never not seen any deer up here on early ML but I may not this year, based on the lack of sign that I’m seeing. I think the main reason for that, is all of the standing corn, within a mile of here, this year. I think my best odds of seeing deer, is to minimize the pressure in my three hot spots, so that’s what I’m trying to do the rest of the week. It is odd that last year, I saw the most ever deer up here during ML week, and this year the least (so far anyhow). It only takes (1) “stray” to fill a tag though. It ain’t over till it’s over. I’m not hunting as hard as usual up here, because our freezer is in pretty good shape at home right now, thanks to early antlerless gun season.

Ive never owned see-thrust mounts, but I did shoulder several rifles owned by friends who had them. I did purchase some high standard mounts one time, for the 4-12 Weaver that I put on my .22/250 Ruger M77. I thought I needed them, because that scope had a big diameter on the front. I took those off and replaced with medium mounts, which gave a much better eye alignment and cheek weld. I still have those high mounts in a drawer somewhere. The blocks on them looked to be about 1/2” and I can see where they would be about the same as required for see-thru mounts. I can’t imagine hunting deer with a scope up that high. I couldn’t stand it for woodchucks. I can also understand the need for backup iron sights, especially on pack in Western hunts where you are limited to one rifle. I damaged a scope alignment on a Colorado hunt once, when I fell down on it, trying to get over some rocks, while dragging out my mule deer carcass. I still had an elk tag and a day or two left to hunt. Fortunately, that was a drive to “walk in” hunt and I had my spare (also scoped) rifle back at the ski resort condo.

My radar (ears) just picked up a couple of hits about 100 yards out at 9:00 position. Turned out to be 4 to 6 turkeys . Usually the season for them closes the Friday before opening Saturday of ML, but there was some misprints in the regs this year from what I understand. Makes no difference to me. I wouldt waste the ammo on meat that tastes like dry cardboard to me anyhow. Now if a grouse were to appear, I would definitely consider a head shot on one of those, if I thought I could make it. That is the only white meated bird that I like. Lots of flavor to them. There wasn’t much left to eat on the last one I hit on center of mass with my 30/06 though. If and when I get another crack at one of those with a deer gun I’ll definitely aim for the head.

I walked quickly to my spot, up on the north end of the east ridge at 30 minutes before sunrise. I didn’t still hunt because I wanted to get up here before sunrise . My tree hammock seat is strapped in up here, with 5 minutes to spare. Im near the top of a local rise so the morning thermals ought to carry my scent up and out of play. Deer may arrive from any direction up here, to get at the hickory and beech nuts. I’m strapped to a smaller tree that will allow for full 360 degree shot rotation. When the daylight gets a little better, I’ll throw on my camo head net to dampen the mandatory blaze orange hat a little, and hide my shiny shooting glasses. Two minor setbacks, first I lost my right glove thumb muzzle cover on the walk up. It was too loose of a fit anyhow and it’s not supposed to rain today, so no big deal there. Also, I got up here and realized that I didn’t have my binoculars. Worst case scenario there, is that I end up using my buck tag on an unseen spike. I can live with that, since it’s mostly about the meat for me. My Evercalm stick is open and stuck in an overhead branch. I wiped some on each boot prior to the walk up. Ive got a quart of hot cider and a bunch of candy bars. Shouldn’t be any trouble hanging out here until 11:00 or so. It would be nice if a deer or two arrive on scene before that.

I’m thankful that most of the leaves are down up here. There’s still enough to make for some nice scenery though. The white birch are still holding as are a few other red and yellow late-droppers, plus there’s lots of evergreens for contrast. Im hoping for some snow before Sunday. That makes the deer hunting at least 10 times easier, and makes the scenery even better. It looks like they are calling for a wsw wind today and no rain. We haven’t had that direction yet since I got to here last Friday. That will be good for hunting the spot up on the north end of the east ridge, where I got my last early ML doe up here, two years ago. I’ll be still hunting my way up to that spot, staring 1/2 hour before sunrise, and hang out up there until 11:30 or so. There’s lots of mast yielding trees up there. Hopefully, the deer get sick of all the standing corn around here this year, and stop by for some nuts today.

Last year at this time, the deer up here were feeding in the shooting range meadow at night. I got out there an hour before daylight Saturday (opening day of ML), and none showed up. I tried again tonight and no deer showed but it sure sounded like there was a bear, up on the ridge behind me. It sounded like it was ripping a log apart up there, starting about 5 minutes after sunset. I don’t know what else could have made that noise. Maybe I’ll try and get in position up there tomorrow night, if it’s not raining.

Well good for you, I’m glad somebody likes them. Whenever I’ve shouldered a rifle with them, the scope lined up with the middle of my forehead. I like a good cheek weld. That helps me get on target faster. I can’t remember too many situations, when getting a good shot off at a deer, didn’t come down to fractions of a second. This last one, that I killed a few weeks ago, was a rare exception, and see thru mounts would definitely have worked. I’d probably have to go back 30 or more before I could find another though. It’s definitely been a long time since I killed a deer with open sights. I screwed up on my last attempt by trying it while wearing progressive bifocals. I found out the hard way, that they don’t work any better with open sights than they do with scopes.

I can smile now, because the rain stopped, sun came out, and they were hitting on topwaters this afternoon. As Pygmy say’s, smallmouth on top waters is about as much fun as can be had with your clothes on:

The see thru mounts always put the scope up way too high. Check our the Warne removable mounts. They may do what you are looking for, based on AD’s post on top of P.2 on this thread.

It’s raining and no deer in sight but at least the Bills eeked one out last night.

Say hello to my little friend:

The rain picked up again so I had to put the top up:

I’m setup in my tree hammock chair, down in a stream bottom area in wmu 6f, this morning. The rain was light during my walk in, 15 min before sunrise (7:15), but it has let up now. I brought along my tree umbrella in case it picks up again. The roof is getting real bad on that long abandoned lean-to in the background, so that wouldn’t offer much rain protection. I’m planning on sticking it out here until about 11:00, then lunch back at my in-laws lake house. After that, we are heading into town for supplies. No signs of deer so far this morning, only squirrels. I’m amazed at how those little reds can break sticks.

In a way, I’m thankful for that “void” a little bit today. Had I been able to find a decent, new, mid-range scope, I probably would have put it on My Remlin 336BL, this past off-season. Instead, I’m sticking with the fiber-optic open sights that I put on it a few years ago. I got a bad hit on a buck late last season with that gun. My usual reaction to such a mishap, is to blame the equipment and spend money on new. If Leupold had not dumped the Redfield Revolution line, there would be one on it right now. Fortunately, I discovered the real root cause of that bad hit back on my range a few weeks ago. A few years prior, I discovered that wearing no-line progerssive bifocals adversely effects the vertical impact of bullets, when using a scope. The problem showed up and caused (2) clean missed on deer with my old 2-7 Redfield on my T/C Omega ML. I rectified that issue by getting several cheap pairs of straight prescription glasses to use while shooting and hunting with scopes. Using those same cheap glasses with the open sighted Remlin 336BL put the first shot at 50 yards 7” high. Two more shots and I had the rear sight dialed in, but I now know why I got a high back hit on that buck. Not only are progressive bifocals bad with scopes, but the same holds true for open sights. I verified the issue by switching back and forth between the bifocals and straight prescription glasses, using my adult stocked Daisy Red Ryder shooting cans on the back deck. From now on, it’s cheap , straight prescription glasses for me wether I’m shooting with scopes or open sights.