wolc123

January 1, 2023

Nothing yet:

January 1, 2023

24 minutes ago, bruno1 said:

I appreciate the feedback. You and @DoubleDosejust sold me on these. Would you recommend getting one size large to allow for air circulation with heavy socks?

I wouldn’t get too carried away with over sizing. Maybe a half size larger. These boots are so warm, that I have never “doubled up” on socks with them. A single, standard weight pair of wool-blend socks works best for me most of the time and a heavier weight pair on real cold days.

The only thing I don’t like about them, is that they are only good for about 10” of water. If you do go in deeper than that, and have an extra, dry pair of socks with you at the time, you could dump out the water, put those on, and probably be good to go (if the socks are wool or wool-blend).

I have also found that if they are laced fairly tight, and your bibs are not “tucked in”, you can take a quick step into deep water and not soak one. I got into trouble that one time after repeated steps into a deep ditch with loosened laces.

I like the regular black ones for hunting or ice fishing, but bulkier white ones are available for even colder conditions. My father in law has some of those. He spent his whole career working thru the winter on cold concrete dairy barn floors all day long, and he liked the white ones, when it was real cold.

January 1, 2023

48 minutes ago, bruno1 said:

You’re the 3rd person this week that I’ve heard mention about Mickey Mouse boots. Are they warm or what’s special about them? I’m only asking because I’m in the market for new boots. TIA

I really like them. My father in law gave me a pair, that is stamped “1989”, as a Christmas gift, about 20 years ago. I’ve used them on most cold weather hunts the last 15 years. My feet have never got cold in them, except for a time when I submerged one several times.

Mine are showing no signs of wear, and I expect they will last quite a few more years. I have not heard of any non-military style boot, they can equal their performance at any price, and I think they only cost around $ 40, back when he bought them.

They work very well with the snowshoes since I cut the openings in the rubber bindings 1/4” wider all the way around. My feet got real cold wearing those Sorrel packs, the first morning of Holiday ML season. No trouble with that the other cold days in the Mickey Mouse boots.

I think the folks who spend big bucks on fancy cold weather boots are nuts.

December 31, 2022

No luck at home, trying for a last minute 2022 buzzer-beater. I stayed in my stand until the last minute of legal light, seeing only a rabbit crossing my shooting lane at sunset.

My neighbor saw me walking back and texted that there were at least 5 out there before dark yesterday. I am guessing that they scent check the plot from downwind before they leave the surrounding heavy cover. He killed a big doe in his woods yesterday and saw the herd on my plot ad he was hauling it out on his wheeler.

Our creek is at flood stage and fully navigatable now. I could use a motorboat or canoe up the far drainage ditch, to haul a carcass back from my turnip plot, if I needed to. I wore a pair of black rubber knee-high boots for the walk back and forth this evening.

The coyote I killed back there during crossbow season, well over a month ago, is still laying untouched next to the bridge.

Member Hunting Journals · December 31, 2022

Just killing time, back in my truck cap blind, since there’s no deer out to. On the walk back to the house for lunch, I’ll check out the rubbish pile that I burned yesterday.

It was still smoldering a bit, when I walked past it 45 minutes before sunrise this morning. The all-day rain should put it out very well. I always like to burn before a rain for that reason. Also, I thought that might smoke some deer out of the front wheat field and sanctuary areas, to the back plots, that I am hunting today.

I’m planning out next years food plots right now. Most importantly, I need more corn. Standing corn is the only sure fire way that I know, to hold deer on my ground through December. The 2 acres that I got in this spring only lasted until October.

I’m going for (6) acres next year. I have the leftover seed for that right now, but I will need to spring for (6) 50 lb bags of fertilizer next spring. I cheaped out this spring, and only bought (2), because it was so damn expensive.

I will split that up into (3) 2 acre plots, one in front of this truck cap blind, one on my front field, and one next to this year’s corn, over on the west side. All of those will be planted on old clover plots, which really minimizes the nitrogen needed to get decent corn yields.

I also have plenty of gly left, to spray the rows of those 6 acres of corn. If diesel is still way more expensive than gas next year, then I will have a couple of gas-powered tractors, that can do most of the work.

I try to keep the cost of my boneless venison under a buck a pound, after subtracting all foodplot input costs, but that is probably going to be tough next season.

December 31, 2022

58 minutes ago, First-light said:

Talking about blood trails.....that Doe I shot the other day was hit in the neck. It got the jugular for sure. Ran 30 yards and left a spraying blood trail. Where the deer died looked like a brutal crime scene. Worst I have ever seen. Snow completely covered in a circle around the deer. I wound't even post the picture its that bad! lol

I left a scene like that one time, on a corner lot, over in the next town. No hunting is allowed over there, and it was grossly overpopulated with deer. These days, the coyotes and a well-regulated bait and shoot program keep deer numbers in check over there.

I slit the jugular on a big doe with a knife, after she had been struck by a car, knocking herself out temporarily. She came too when I tried to cut off her tail (for making bass jigs). I then jumped on her back, and had her in a hammer lock with my left hand, as I cut with the pocket knife in my right.

She made it into the center of the guy’s front yard, bucked me off, and spun around spraying blood just like a rotary crop-sprinkler. I still wonder what the guy must have thought, when he saw that bloody scene on the snow the next morning.

The town cop, who was working the desk that night, wasn’t very happy when I walked into the station splattered with blood. The resident had called it in earlier, when it was laying next to his mail box.

He asked me: “did it have to be shot”. I replied: “no, I killed it with my knife”. He said: “that would be NO”, and wrote up my carcass tag. There was not so much as a bruise on the body of that deer, according to the butcher who cut it up for my buddy.

I had already harvested several deer that season, so I really only wanted the tail and the heart. No sense in wasting a fresh kill though, so I gave it to my buddy who now owns the service station, up on the next corner.

December 31, 2022

No deer showed up in wmu 9A, where I stayed until 1/2 hour past sunset. I’m rigged for rain at home in 9F this morning, holed up in the lower level of my two-story truck cap blind, watching over an old clover plot. They are calling for rain all day today.

I’m thankful to have made it back here without soaking a foot or both. My Mickey-Mouse boots are only good for about 10” of water and I had to have gotten close to that a few times crossing the low spots. The creek is at the top of the banks from all the snow melt-off.

There’s quite a few deer tracks, scat, and signs of foraging on the adjacent clover, but it’s probably all happening at night. It’s quite comfortable in here, with a very light sse wind and about 45 degrees. I’ll probably stay until 11:45 or so, hoping to catch a deer dumb enough to come out in the daylight for a bite.

At sunset tonight, I’ll strap my tree umbrella to the dead ash tree and hang out in my natural blind, by my turnip plot, on the other side of the farm. That will be my last shot at making 2022 a 4-deer year.

December 30, 2022

I’m on some new ground, up in wmu 9A, for the last 2 hours today. Weather is good with a light ssw wind, cloudy and about 52 degrees. I’m seated about 200 yards from my wife’s mini-van, but it would be an uphill drag, if I killed something.

I brought a sled, but there’s not a bit of snow left here. I’d probably call my brother in law next door, and see if he could bring his atv back, unless it was a real small deer. My sister in law might get pissed, but she’d get over it.

The neighbor on the other side took deer (3) out of here thru archery and gun season. No one has hunted these woods since regular gun season ended. He just pointed out a run that the deer use back here and said to get ready for them around 4:30.

I might not see anything, but at least I’m giving my home herd an evening off, until I get back after them in the morning, and I got rid of a van load of barnwood.

Member Hunting Journals · December 30, 2022

Killing two birds with one stone today: Deer watch / fire watch:

December 30, 2022

3 minutes ago, DoubleDose said:

LMFAO!!! No Ricky or Bubbles?

Not yet. Maybe I’ll run into them, when I go back over there on New Year’s Day afternoon. That trailer park is pretty empty now, because most of the residents are snow-birds who winter in Florida.

I did see them both (the real actors who played the parts), along with “Julian”, at the Riviera theater in North Tonawanda a few years ago. Julian is almost completely bald now and Bubbles is a heck of a guitar player. Ricky still looks the same. I think I heard that the actor who played Leahy died.

Member Hunting Journals · December 29, 2022

I am planning my last (5) 2022 and first 2023 Holiday hunts right now, as I sit in the upper deck of my comfortable 2-story blind, over at my parents place. I don’t expect to see anything tonight, because this is my 4th consecutive hunt, in their 60ish acres of woods over here. I have been staying out of the center though, working just the edges, so something might still show up in the half hour after the sun sets.

I have not seen a deer during daylight hours, in the southern zone, since Thanksgiving morning. Who said that hunting pressure don’t make deer go nocturnal ?

I thought maybe the week off around Christmas might get some back out in the daylight. It ain’t happening on the three days that I have been out so far.

Here is the plan I came up with for my next (6) hunts:

Friday morning: Home front Poplar tree stand. It’s the closest stand to where my kids saw (3) deer including (1) with antlers, (2) nights ago. If the sw wind continues, hunting that stand will have the least impact on my other home spots.

Friday evening: My tree hammock chair, set up on buddies land adjacent to my brother and sister in laws place up north of me in wmu 9A. The deer concentration has always been heavy in that area, where I was kicked out of (by my sister in law) about 15 years ago.

I’m bringing my buddy a van load of barnwood and he said I could hunt his woods. There is light rain in the forecast Friday, so I’ll bring my tree umbrella. I’ll bring that out with me in the morning at home also. It works real well in my poplar tree stand.

Saturday morning: My two-story truck cap blind at home. There is more rain in the forecast Saturday. I’ll stay upstairs if it stops, and hunt the bottom when/if it rains.

Saturday evening: My natural blind on the west of my turnip plot and best wheat/clover plot. That’s where I missed the doe, 15 minutes after sunset on Holiday hunt 2022, day 1. This spot is probably still my best bet for filling a tag. As long as the winds stay south or west, my earlier hunts shouldn’t impact it much. I’ll bring along the tree umbrella for the rain.

Sunday morning “hangover” hunt” (My wife said she’d be the DD for the New Years party, so I anticipate a “slight one” for me that horning): My bedroom window. I have not hunted that yet this year, but did take a nice button buck from there durning the regular ML season, about 10 years ago.

I’ll bring my uncapped but loaded ML in the house from the barn the night before, without worrying about condensation. If that saves a deer, then it just wasn’t meant to be. If no deer shows by sunrise, I’ll fire a shot into a topsoil pile from the window, to help wake up our kids for church (no deer move now when the sun is up anyhow).

Shooting a deer with my ML from that window is legal, because I have good relationships “and shooting permission” from all neighbors with buildings within 500 ft.

Sunday evening: Trailer park stand at the back of my parents place. ML will be unloaded and illegal there, so my crossbow is all I got. Also, I seen more deer sign back there this morning, than any of the other spots where I have hunted this Holiday season. My Barnett Recruit has a geen/red dot sight that should work well for that full last half-hour after sunset.

I’ll be very thankful, if I can fill just (1) more tag, but I’m still going for (5).

December 29, 2022

I held out in my trailer park stand, behind the swamp, until 11:45 and didn’t see any deer. That must be another one of them spots, where all the deer action is pm or the very early am. I stopped at McDonalds after, and brought lunch over to my parents place.

I had planned on hunting my little hang-on stand, on the south side of the swamp this evening, but my legs said no. They are too sore from 3 days straight of snowshoeing and trudging thru deep snow.

I won’t hunt that little swamp/edge hang-on again until opening day of southern -zone gun season 2023. Right now, the little trailer park ladder stand, on the other side, is the leading contender for my last Holiday Hunt on the afternoon of January 1. I got one on that day this year, with my ML, but it looks like it will be the crossbow this Sunday, next year.

I only made it back as far as my two-story truck cap blind, near the front of their woods. It’s over 300 more yards back to the swamp and my legs just don’t have that in them, let alone if I killed something back there, and had to drag that far.

Also, after more than (4) hours in that uncomfortable single ladder stand this morning, I was not yet ready for (2) hours in a marginally more comfortable tiny little hang-on stand.

Its an almost perfect hunting temperature, at about 50 degrees, cloudy sky with a light sw wind. It don’t seem like late December weather. Too warm for hot cider, so staying hydrated with bottled water.

December 29, 2022

The squirrels are getting active, hopefully the bigger stuff gets going soon:

December 29, 2022

I couldn’t remember if I locked my wife’s minivan this morning. My ML, which I plan on using tonight from my stand on the other side of the swamp, is in it locked in a plastic case.

I just got done still-hunting to “remote-range” of it and back, so that I could make sure it was locked. The heaviest concentration of deer tracks is about 100 ft of where I parked. I’d need a vertical bow to hunt that spot.

Im hoping that if I can see a buck at long range, maybe I can draw it in close to my stand with my grunt call. I called in a 2.5 year old buck in these woods with it and killed it on opening day of gun in 2020, so I know it works.

The weather conditions are the most comfortable so far of this season, but my stand is the least. I’m going to try my best to hold out here until 11:45 or so. Deer tracks as far as I can see in almost every direction will help with that.

December 29, 2022

I stayed in my clover plot edge stand, on the south edge of my parents woods, until 1/2 hour past sunset last night and didn’t see any deer.

I drove into the trailer park around the corner at 1/2 hour before sunrise this morning. I am now in my small, very uncomfortable ladder stand that is in the high part of their woods, north of the swamp.

This stand is only 300 ft from the nearest “double wide”. I don’t know the owner of that, and about 4 others, that are less than 500 ft away, so I am armed with my crossbow this morning (250 ft setback per NY DEC).

I did meet the guy from the last trailer on the dead end road where I park (I’ll call him “Julian”), and the trailer park supervisor (I’ll call him “Mr Leahy”) is an old school buddy of mine and he gave me the ok to park on the end of the road that buts up to my parents woods.

He did a nice job of plowing a good wide space for me there after the blizzard. Usually, Julian has his suv parked there but it’s up next to his trailer now.

It’s been over a year since I hunted this stand and it took me a while to find it in the dark. This end of the woods is high and dry and I am surrounded by the heaviest concentration of deer tracks I have seen yet this Holiday season.

There are lots of oaks back here and it looks like the deer have been foraging on the acorns that the squirrels have burried under the snow and leaves.

I have only hunted this location about 6 times and have only seen one deer from it. That was a big 3.5 year old 8-point, during crossbow season in 2018. I blew my chance on him that day, when he busted me at 15 yards with my shiny chrome cider cup in my hand.

He got busted up by a bigger buck later that week, loosing (2) of his points. That saved me the expense of a shoulder mount, when I killed him the following Saturday (opening day of gun) with my slug gun from my stand on the other side of the swamp (600 ft from the nearest trailer).

One nice thing about no firearm this morning is no orange hat needed. Now if only a deer or two would show up looking for acorns.

December 28, 2022

I’m in my clover-edge stand at my parent’s place for the last (2) hours. There are several sets of tracks across it, from last night, but it don’t look like the deer have been hitting it too hard. The last one that I killed on this farm, was from this stand 362 days ago, so I’m due for another.

The clover was starting to look pretty lame this fall. I am definitely going to start reworking it next year. It tried a little frost-seeding last spring, but that didn’t seem to help it much.

I am going to roundup and disk the front and back 1/8ths of it next summer, and plant the front part with heavily-fertilized turnips in late July and the back part with a wheat/clover mix in early September.

in future years, I will plant the prior year’s turnip 1/8th with wheat/clover, and the next back 1/8th of old clover with turnips, on the same schedule. That’s a similar rotation as I do at home, but substituting turnips for the corn, that I use there.

No need for corn here, because the neighbors always plant plenty of that, and it’s a pain getting the equipment over here. My neighbors at home didn’t plant any corn this spring, which is the main reason that the little bit I put in got completely wiped out by early October.

The permanent stand that I’m in now can cover the front part of this clover plot good and I’m going to move a double ladder stand from home, to cover the back part.

The conditions right now are the best I’ve seen so far this Holiday season. Light sw wind, partly cloudy sky, and about 40 degrees. The snow has melted down to about 6” depth and a walk back without snowshoes was not bad at all. All I need is for a deer to show up in range.

December 28, 2022

13 hours ago, Lawdwaz said:

No argument from me on the 243.

This reminds me of a story your buddy Al told me, a bit over a year ago. Many years ago, a woman who boarded her horse at their farm, asked about the dead and skinned “horse” that was hanging from a beam down on the far end of the barn.

The “horse” was actually a moose that his mother had shot out west with her .243. They had gutted it out there and hauled it whole, all the way back home to WNY, in the bed of their pickup truck.

December 28, 2022

1 hour ago, GreeneHunter said:

Been shooting my Winchester 30-30 for almost 50 years now , unfortunately its a Top Eject and never had a scope - I just became used to Iron Sights . At my age a scope would probably help alot !

That’s the main reason I went for the Marlin 336 over the Winchester 94. My father in law has 336 30/30 with a scope on it, but I only use that when the weather is nice, because he is supper fussy about “his stuff”.

With his permission, I put a hammer extension stud on that last year, which makes it much nicer to draw back with the scope. I’ll be needing to get one of those for mine also, after I put a scope on it. They cost less than $ 10.

The pistol grip Marlin 336’s are heavier than the straight stock Winchester 94’s but that little bit of extra heft is nice for limiting recoil.

My 336BL model is definitely as or more compact and easy handling than any Winchester lever I have held. It just needs those damn semi-useless fiber optics sights swapped out for a low power scope.

After I put the scope on my 336BL, on Adirondack rainy or sleety day deer hunts, when scopes are trouble, I’ll bring my open-sighted, short smooth-bore Remington 870 slug gun.

December 28, 2022

The snow is just as deep over at my parent’s place as it is at home. I am glad I brought my snowshoes for the 200 yard walk to my stand this morning.

I walked back 1/2 hour before sunrise and I crossed at least 10 sets of deer tracks. Several of them looked quite large. With all the leaves down and snow in the woods, I can see more than 200 yards in almost all directions. So far I seen 4 or 5 grey squirrels but no deer.

Maybe all the deer action is pm or early am over here also, the same as it seems to be at home. It’s quite comfortable in this big roomy upper deck. The temp is about 32 now and rising and the wind is sw about 5 mph. I’ll stay here until 11:45 or so, go have lunch with my parents, then hit my clover plot edge stand for the evening hunt.

December 28, 2022

I am up and getting ready for the 20 minute road trip to my parents this morning. My wife just confirmed the full nocturnal activities of the home deer herd.

Our daughters got home from a party after midnight last night, and there were (3) deer, (1) of which had horns for sure (they didn’t say how big) in our yard, when they got home.

My plan is to give that group the next (3) days off and get back after them after Friday. We are hosting a New Year’s Eve party for our friends, so I have to stay home and help get ready for that, meaning no road-trip hunts for me that day.

I think there is a pretty good chance that the antlered buck they saw was the wide 8-point, that came and licked my ground blind while I was in it, during the early September antlerless season.

He hung out with (2) smaller bucks out back thru August and September. Their little fork and spike horns (one had broken one side off the last time I saw him) were probably not visible in the dark to our girls last night.

December 27, 2022

34 minutes ago, airedale said:

The main reason why I have not yet got around to owning an old style top eject Winchester lever rifle

My old eyes have made scopes almost a necessity on my rifles for precision shooting and that is pretty much the way I have gone on my Marlin 94s and 95, the 94 357 mag has a 4x, the 94 44 mag has 2.5x, and the 95 45-70 has a 1x4x. I use all three of those rifles in the woods where my ranges may hit 100 yards, I am wanting a large field of view in close cover and that is what those lower powered scopes provide. I can still shoot these rifles with lower powered scopes accurately at longer range if need be.

I too like American made scopes, the problem is Leupold is about your only choice these days for new, both the 2.5 compact and the 1x4 have worked well for me and are in the $300 range.

Another option is good old ebay, good used American made Burris, Redfield and Leupolds can be purchased at decent prices, although these days even used are going for big bucks. I am constantly scanning ebay's inventory for a buy on American made scopes.

Al

Thanks, I’ll look for a used Redfield. If I cant find one by fall, I’ll go back to my 30/06 Ruger M77. That does not carry nearly as nice in the mountains as the little Marlin 30/30 lever, but it has a nice 3-9 Redfield on it, and has always got the job done for me, on deer.

It probably makes sense for me to give my 30/30 a year off on the deer next season, because I doubt much ammo will be available for it before then. I have a very good supply of 30/06 ammo.

December 27, 2022

Why not go with a 7mm-08 instead ? Maybe a slightly better deer round, with less recoil, and cheaper and easier to find ammo.

December 27, 2022

As expected, nothing seen tonight. Too much pressure on this spot, over the last (2) days, has the deer full nocturnal again. Hopefully, there will be little more daytime action on some fresh ground over at my parents place, on the opposite corner of wmu 9F, tomorrow.

It looks like that should be the last day that I need the snowshoes. I’ll hit the upper deck of my 2-story blind over there in the morning, and my cherry-tree blind on the edge of the clover plot, in the evening.

December 27, 2022

I couldn’t help but notice that all those levers have scopes on them. I think if I had one on mine, there would be another deer in our freezer right now. That’s definitely something I’m going to rectify before next season.

What would you recommend for a scope on a Marlin 336BL ? I’m thinking of something with a fixed low power (2X or 3X) and a wide field of view and good light gathering.

The fiber-optic sights, that I put on mine, didn’t work out so well for me this year. They are especially disappointing in those extra 1/2 hours of hunting tine that we now get, before sunrise and after sunset. They are only visible for about 10 minutes if that.

I can clearly see the reticles on my old Redfield scopes, for those full half hours, and even beyond that with snow. My new Redfield Revolution/Luepold is not quite as good in low light situations, and my old Weaver 1-1/2 X is particularly bad.

I prefer to stick with American made.

December 27, 2022

I am out for hunt #4 of the Holiday ML season. I’m up in my front poplar tree stand for the last 2 hours today. No fresh tracks on the way back and not expecting much but slightly better chances out here than from in the house 200 yards away.

The conditions are the best they have been so far: 24 degrees and 8 mph sw wind. I’ve got a fairly fresh powder charge in my gun and I am hoping to get a chance to use it.

I don’t want to deal with a long track in this deep snow, so I’ll be aiming for a shoulder blade if I get a chance.

It definitely feels weird to be deer hunting when the daylight hours are increasing by a minute or two each day. I’m legal until 5:16 at this wmu 9F location. You don’t get much clearer proof than that, that Christ really is the light of the world.

Now, if He’d just set me up with a fat tasty deer, to top off our freezer, all would be well.

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Posts posted by wolc123