wolc123

I have long struggled with the virtue of patience. Those “special” characters over there really do help me to get over that problem, even though they know not what they do. Take, for example, the one over there, who chimes in against full inclusion of the crossbow, every single time that it comes up. Thanks to his opposition of that, and that of a very small group of like-minded others, we now have an early antlerless gun season in my home wmu. Never has it been easier for me to secure our family’s food supply, than it is now (as the current harvest threads here clearly illustrate). Had the DEC been allowed to implement full inclusion of the crossbow, like they wanted to, then we never would have had that special early season. So you see, even a dedicated troll like that fella, can and will serve a higher purpose. No matter how hard you shake the milk, the cream always rises to the top, and evil never prevails.

The only thing I struggle with is my boat. My other tractors and equipment have the fill location in spots where the new spouts cause no trouble. If the pump is less than $40, it would be worth getting just for my boat.

I don’t think there’s anyone over there, who doesn’t have something good to offer, but there are a few who make it very difficult to separate the wheat from the chaff.

I can definitely attest to that. I only got my bigger boat in the water (3) times this year, which is definitely an all time low. I’m really looking forward to at least (9) more days out on the water with a little one though. The size of the boat don’t matter nor is one even necessary, but the size of the fish does. I hope to get one, just a tad bigger than this one, from back in 2014. I let her go then. She should have put on a few inches anyhow, over the 22 that she measured then.

I’m doing much better so far, with posting harvest threads on this site, than on that other one. (Sorry about the bb on the first one FSW, I honestly thought that one was a doe). I made damn sure that the second one was. The harvest threads are less than a day old over on the other site though, so hopefully they will make it work. Thank you WNYBH and FEddie for keeping those harvest threads going here. I hope you are able to get the other issues resolved with the site owner, welcoming new members, etc. May you all have an enjoyable deer season this year.

The Good Lord blessed me again on the second Sunday of the early antlerless gun season. I “doubled down” on the “Jesus first” thing in the late morning, after a short uneventful early morning hunt with no deer sighting, church and adult Sunday school. After that, my wife had a heck of a honey-do list for me. I knocked off everything she asked for and then some. Then I drove about 20 miles to my parents place, on the opposite corner of wmu 9F. They had lots of work for me to do also, before I could go hunting. Once again, I knocked all of that and then some. This is where the “Others second” came in. I was much later than I wanted to be, back in the double ladder stand that goosifer sold me for $20 a couple years ago. That’s where the “Yourself last” thing came in. I thought I blew it again over there, by picking the wrong stand, as I had the previous Saturday afternoon. My dad had mowed the clover plot out back, during the week, to a short stubble. Between that and hearing the old boss doe blowing downwind, 1/2 hour before sunset, I thought for sure I was in for nothing. Once again, I decided to give up before sunset, and started to pack up my stuff. Just after I pulled off my camo face mask, I heard the unmistakable sound of hoof steps, in the tall goldenrod upwind. She stepped out, 45 yards away, 2 minutes after sunset. I cranked the old Redfield scope up to 7x and verified the lack of headgear or buttons, then settled the crosshairs on the back lower corner of her inboard shoulder blade. When the smoke cleared, there she laid: The J.O.Y. doe, 28 minutes before the closing buzzer of the early antlerless gun season. T/C Omega 50 cal, 240 gr XTP, (2) T7 50 gr pellets, Redfield wide field 2-7x. Ive only eaten her fillet mignonettes so far (made tacos with them) and once again, they were “to die for”. She was about as close to perfect of a “grinder doe” that a guy could ask for. With both of my first draw dmp tags punched now, and our meat supply in decent shape, I’m going to be a bit more selective than usual with my (5) remaining deer tags.

The good Lord blessed me with this wmu 9F button buck on the first Sunday afternoon of the early antlerless gun season. Marlin 512, 2-3/4” Hornady SST, Redfield/Leupold Revolution. 2-7x. I got into my favorite two-story truck cap blind about 5:00 that afternoon. At 5:45, a smaller antlerless deer appeared in the clover plot behind me, 40 yards away. I saw it when I turned and made eye contact. My gun was laying on the opposite side rest. I attempted to make a super slow motion turn and reach for the gun, but if detected the motion and high-tailed it into the thick cover. As sunset approached, the mosquitos got very intense. I had a camo face mask on, but they were even getting in under that. I decided to give up under their repeated attacks, about 15 minutes before sunset. I removed the camo mask and packed up my other gear. When I looked up, I saw the little buck feeding on foot high Timothy hay, about 90 yards away. I mistook it for a mature doe, because the head looked long and it looked significantly larger than the deer that I saw earlier. It was very good size for this years deer. Must have veen born early and definitely has been eating good. The liver alone made two “to die for meals”. The rest of the meat will be saved for “special occasions”. I’m thinking of bringing one of the butt roasts (made (6) of those from that little guy) up to my in-laws for early antlerless week, so that she can stuff a Thanksgiving Turkey with it. My wife did that a couple years ago, and that was the best tasting meat I ever had on Thanksgiving in my 58 years.

One of the things I like best, about my 300 fps Barnett Recruit, is that the draw weight is so light that I can easily pull it without any type of “mechanical advantage” device. That makes getting off a second shot a definite possibility (not that it was ever needed). I usually have two-four dmp tags, so someday an opportunity for a “double” is likely. The direct draw is a little tough on the finger tendons though, so I made some handles using a couple of hinge pins, carabiner hooks, and a few links of chain. Only trouble is, I misplaced them this year, so I’m back with the rope pulley device that came with my “backup” crossbow (CP sniper 370). I lost the rope pulley that came with my Recruit, in the excitement after killing what might be my largest bodied ever buck with it, back in 2O16 (43” chest girth). Those direct draw handles were a big improvement, over that factory rope pulley, because they cut the reload time in half or more.

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.

Not sure what the cost would be today, but I’d guess about 1.5X. This Stockade Buildings (ships from Ohio) 36 x 50 x 12, with (2) 10 x 25 porches was $ 27k in 2018. I would have made the side porch the full 50 ft length, but it was to close to my old timber framed barn. When that leaning old barn fell over, it landed within 1/4” of the new pole barn’s 25 ft long side porch. The rubble in front in the picture is the old barn, after it fell. One thing I like about the Stockade building compared to some of the others, is the 10 ft truss spacing, which makes for lots of useful overhead storage space.

I see that you got a mixed bag of smallmouth and largemouth. Smallmouth are my favorite fish , mostly because I haven’t caught anything else that out pulls them, pound per pound. They seem to at least double the pull of a largemouth, in that respect. Did you notice that on this trip ? Even though they lack comparative pulling strength, I wish there were some largemouth in the small Adirondack lake where my in-laws live (who we will be visiting this Holliday weekend). I like to eat bass and I find the largemouth to be a little easier to clean and just a tad better tasting, than smallmouth.