wolc123

I use one up in the northern zone and I really like it. It is extremely comfortable and easy to carry. The only time it sucks is in the rain, when it acts as a funnel and collects water from the tree you strap it to, giving you a wet backside. One nice thing about it, is that it allows silent turning nearly 360 degrees around as long as the tree is not too big. The last buck that I killed from it up there came in about 180 degrees from the direction that I expected. I was able to silently turn and delever the shot with my 30/06, dropping him in his tracks. It is so easy to carry, you dont even realize it is strapped to your belt. I like to still hunt and strap it to a tree in nice looking spots. So far, I have only killed one doe up there that way, during the early ML week.

I second that and say skip the treadmill also. I never jogged, but my sciatica issues started soon after I started using a treadmill. Even with that, the joint loading on your knees and hips is horrific. I switched to bikes and rowing machines for cardio (real boat or bike when outside weather is pleasant, indoor/stationary most of the time), and no more trouble. The only jogging I do is in our 4 ft deep pool, where the water cushions the impact loads.

I took "Joe" on a little camping trip yesterday, down to his namesake's old camp. Quite a crowd of friends and neighbors were there to drink him goodbye.

It may be a case of sciatica. I dealt with that in 2015 and it pretty much hobbled me up throughout all of deer season and then some that year. I thought I was going to need a hip replacement but it turned out that a simple stretch, repeated several times daily, was the cure. To do that stretch, you sit down on a chair. Lift up your foot on the affected side, and place it on your knee on the opposite side while seated. Push down on the affected knee with your hand to stretch the nerve. Repeat several times. The first one made me feel a little better and after about a week of doing that every day, multiple times, the pain was all gone. I have added that stretch to my daily workout since then and the pain has never returned. I do that stretch on both sides 5 or so times, 3 days a week. I hope that works for you. The sciatic is the largest nerve in the body so it is no wonder that it can cause so much pain.

I am really looking forward to the NZ hunting this year, especially the early ML week. That is my favorite time up there. It is the only time of year when the hunting and fishing are both very good. This will be the third time that I will be able to stay that whole week up there. I might even catch the last hour or so of daylight with my crossbow on the Friday before. There seems to be a good antlerless population around camp up there this year and I hope I am able to punch that tag. It looks like our venison supply will be gone by then, so I will have plenty of incentive. On past trips up there on that week, I mostly hunted the first and last couple hours of daylight and fished for smallmouth bass on the lake in between. I will do some of that again this year, but I am also going to hit a trout stream that winds around back of a mountain ridge. I always hear deer down in that creek bottom when I am walking along the ridge. This year, I am getting a pair of waders and I will carry my little carbine sidelock 50 cal ML along with my fly rod, as I wade that creek at mid-day. I would be happy with a doe or a few brook trout. Here are a few pictures of doe or two that I saw on trips up there on President's weekend and the fourth of July. Hopefully, we meet up again in October when I am packing. I will probably stay thru the opening weekend of Rifle again this year. Last year I blew a chance at a big Adirondack buck on opening morning when I did not pay enough attention to a twig snapping on that rainy morning. My last trip up there this year will likely be Thanksgiving weekend. I have taken two bucks in the snow up there on that weekend over the last 7 years. The snow makes it a lot easier but I have to get thru opening weekend of SZ gun season with my buck tag if that is going to happen. I may up my minimum for SZ opening weekend criteria from 3 points on a side to 4, just to get another crack at a NZ buck. The scenery and solitude up there make them worth twice as much or more to me than SZ bucks. I tried a little early bear hunting last year up there with no signs of any. From now on, they will probably just be "targets of opportunity", if I happen across one, while deer hunting.

I only ever dealt with one taxidermist who was fast, good, and cheap (well maybe just with family, because one local member here wasn't too happy with him). Unfortunately, he passed away a few years ago. I have dealt with five others, including one who is still in business, that covered 2 of those 3 bases fairly well. Lately, I have been getting by doing euros on deer myself, with a power washer that I garbage-picked from a nieghbor across the street. Free is always good. If I ever wanted another deer shoulder mount, I would likely go back to the same guy that did my last one. His price was just ok, but his quality and delivery times were good. If I ever wanted another fish, I would give it to a young fishing buddy. He has only done a few, but they turned out great. Fortunately, I have never lost a deer, but I have lost a largemouth bass, a red fox, and a bantee rooster (was supposed to go in the fox's mouth), when the taxidermists became sick and died or closed up shop and moved out of state.

That's a lot of mowing. I only cut an acre and even that can be a pain. I picked up a 3rd, low-hour used riding mower this year, and that has eased my pain considerably. The two that I have been using the last 8 years have been needing considerable work the last few years, but all 3 are currently operational. I did pull the deck off the roughest one, because it could use a bit of welding. I also like having a deckless one for pulling the sweeper when the grass gets too thick or for leaves. I may just leave the deck off of that one and build a rack for the back and use it as a "cheap" atv to get back to the range, check traps, etc.. The deck fits the newer one and has all good spindles and bearings, so it will make a handy spare. All three of mine are 15 hp with 38" decks, two hydrostatic John Deeres (150LT & 155 LT), and an old Poulan 4 speed manual shift. I only use that one when the grass gets too thick that it bogs down the JD hydro's, and for mowing around a row of pines that would put the plastic hoods on the JD's at risk. I can usually knock off the acre in under an hour. I have cut it 19 times, so far this season, without a single significant breakdown. I wonder who owned the latest JD that I picked up. It is actually a few years older than the one I had been using but can't have more than a couple hundred hours on it. All of the safety stuff still works on it. I got it from an old guy who buys, fixes and re-sells broken ones. He said this one needed a carburetor. It starts and runs like a new one.

Yes, then it was Leo's, then North End Tavern, then Hickory Hollow, and now Marvin's.

We are getting wolloped in Wolcottsburg.

One thing is for sure, I dont miss raising beef cattle at all. Getting most of the protein that my family needs from free-ranging venison is so much better. Dealing with the hay was my least favorite part about the cattle, followed closely by manure. Clover/corn fed venison tastes better, is way healthier to eat, and is much more fun to acquire. Not having to deal with hay, manure, vets, frozen water in winter, etc., are big bonuses. I pity the fools who rely on domesticated livestock for their food.

Do not despair. Spring plantings are overrated when it comes to food plots for deer. I killed my best buck on our farm the one year in the last 150 when it was too wet to plant any corn. My suggestion would be a few nice big plots of wheat/soybean/white clover mix planted between Aug 25 and Sept 15.

Everything looks good in the basement. I looked at my sump pump receipt. It looks like my warranty is good until 10/19/24. My main sump pump is a submersible but my backup is a pedestal type. Now that the rain has let up a bit, I got to go try the new plug in the rowboat. I love that Hectors hardware on Main street, because they always have what I need. Edit:"like a glove" Ps, I know it's in backwards but the ground is too wet to kneel down for the reach around.

Mine, from Home Depot, is about 3 years into its 5 year warranty. They usually last me 3 to 4 years. I have a cheap ac backup, ready to go in the pit, in case it fails. I keep the box it came in handy, along with the sales receipt to ease the exchange at Home Depot when it fails. I had a water backup sump pump during the October storm, but since we also lost most of our city water pressure during that storm, it only added to the flooded basement. I wont make the mistake of relying on one of those again. I have also had poor results from a battery backup. I keep my generator tuned u and ready to go in case we loose power. Thanks for the reminder Lary, I am going down to check it out right now. I don't ever remember a summer day with this much rain. I just got back from the Hardware store where I got a new plug for my new rowboat. I also found a set of oars for it that I had misplaced. If this rain keeps up I may need that to get to the market for food and beer.

Normally, I look for at least 3 points on a side for the first half of the seasons. I would definitely make an exception for that one if he offered me a good shot. That would make for a very unique euro. The last spike that I killed was a mule deer in Colorado about 20 years ago.

Roast beef sandwich (venison is half gone so time to start rationing), with a side of fresh picked summer squash. The yellow beer goes well with the yellow squash.

If you look up "cupcake", you may run into this definition: "a compound-only bowhunter who is against any deer hunting during archery season with a crossbow".

Another toast to the boys from Rochester, along with a little fresh zucchini:

They usually dont hit them hard until all the standing corn is consumed. Usually by February 1 or so, they eat everything down to ground level. I usually only put in a couple small plots of turnips. This year I am going to mix in some radish. I plant the turnips in early August. If we get a a few days of sub-freezing temps, late in gun season or ML, the greens must get real attractive to the deer. Under those conditions, I have seen them exit standing corn up to 10 minutes before sunset to get at the turnip greens. They never touch any bulbs, even little ones, if there is any corn left around. Since global warming, we havent seen too many sufficient stretches of cold weather during deer season to make that happen where I am (a little bit south of Lake Ontario, east of the Niagara river, and north east of lake Erie. Unless the wind is blowing directly from the east, which it rarely does, all that close big water keeps the cold from setting in until January on most years lately.

It is relatively easy to tell if a buck is 1.5, 2.5, or 3.5, by looking at the size of the skull. Do you have a photo of the euro and can you get one with it next to one from a deer of known age ? There is wide variation of body and antler size thru that range, but skull size if pretty consistent.

I thought the same thing. I always have best luck with brassicas by going light on the seed and heavy on the fertilizer. The purple-tops get to be the size of basketballs when I do that.

We have been going a long time also. I like the Fish Bone grill on Black lake. We also go to the tackle shops down there, which are way more reasonably priced than those on the St Lawrence. They have some crazy regulations for bass on Black lake, not allowing you to keep the good eating sized ones. The water has been almost at record low levels on lake Ontatio and the St Lawrence this year. I hope all the rain we have been and are getting now and next week brings it up a little, before we head up there in a couple weeks

That's the only Labatt product that I like. I think thats because it is the only one that is made with the "geniseecret" (aka "pure Hemlock lake water"). All the rest of their swill gives me a headache at the first sip.

Only if you can promise me that it will be a Genny product.

You really need to look at all the available information. Aging by tooth visual observation alone is a very inexact science that does not take into account what the deer has eaten. That plays a big role in tooth wear.

I am going to give you 3.5 on that one, also taking the 180 pounds and antlers into consideration. I judge them on numerous factors, leaning heavily towards the skull size. That works very well up to 3.5. Looking just at the teeth, I can see how folks could easily be fooled into 2.5. I saved the lower jaw of one that I killed a few years ago, that was just 2 pounds heavier than that one on a "legal for trade" butchers scale (only deer that I have scaled in the last 34 years). I think many folks (especially on this site) put far too much emphasis on deer weight, using uncalibrated, rinky-dink, made in China spring scales. Also, a deer weight varies a lot with time after the kill, and is typically about 75 percent water, which has zero nutritional value. My 182 pounder was killed just after sunrise on opening day of SZ gun season, was hung gutted, hanging in the breeze all day, and was weighed 1.2 hours after sunset. A far more accurate measurement to use for estimating meat volume (the real important number for me since I always know how many quart-sized packs of boneless meat that I need and how much freezer space is available) is chest girth. That is the circumference taken just behind the front legs, asap after the deer gutted. I have to personally thank G-man for turning me on to this method a few years ago. It has helped me out a lot in simplifying my harvest decisions and managing my family's food supply. Here is a close up of that lower jaw, supported by the 3.5 year old skull (3rd from top). That buck had a 42" chest girth. The 3.5 just below it measured 43", and produced several more quarts of meat. The 3.5 above it had a smaller chest girth and produced about the same amount of meat (arrow kill so less shot damage to trim). The ones on top and bottom are 2.5's, and the little skull plate is an Adirondack 1.5 (the rest are all from WNY zone 9F). For me, comparing the skull size is the easiest way to estimate the age.