wolc123

I still think about my grandpa a lot also and he had been gone 40 years. I am hunting on his old farm right now in fact, and last year I used his old Ithaca 37 16 ga to kill my first doe here. I was just going to mount the antlers and skull plate of the buck that I killed this morning, but now I will do a power-washer euro, and name it "Joe". Sadly, that won't be the first wall decoration I named for a hunting buddy who has passed.

A very good friend of mine has been in a coma for a while, and I recieved word this afternoon, that we lost him today. That puts a damper on this opening day for sure. I take comfort in the fact that he is in a better place now. I am certain of that, because just after I sent up a prayer for God to give him a good room in his mansion, I randomly opened my pocket New Testament, and this was the verse that my eyes fell upon: This one is for you Joe:

I did save the pair from this morning's 6 point. I will get a picture of the appetizers with tomorrow's tenderloin lunch. Any luck with the 14 pointer this morning. You packing a bow or a gun ?

Those from bb's are the best, and can be cooked and eaten right away. Those from older deer are a lot more tender if you leave them in the fridge a week or so, to let the rigor mortis work out. I saved the liver from the big 1.5 or small 2.5 6 point that I killed this morning and it will definitely sit in the fridge till Wednesday, before I freeze it. I would, and hope to kill for a bb right now. Unfortunately, antlerless deer are few and far between in my spots, due to all the pressure put on them by farmers with their nuisance permits, prior to October 1. I always get 4 dmp's, but am lucky if I can fill more than one on any given year. One fat bb right now would top off the freezer perfectly for the year.

Venison dont get no better than from a bb. Did you save the liver ? If not, go back for it if you can. It is shame to let such fine eating go to the vermin.

I forgot the exact location of my swamp edge hang on stand. The woods were loaded with downed timber from the heavy winds last week, blocking most of the trails. It took me an extra 15 minutes, bumbling around in the dark to locate my stand. I finally found it, by locating the energetic nieghbor's line of posted signs (he posts about every 25 ft). My stand is 50 ft from his corner marker. I wanted to be up in it 45 minutes before light, but I cut it a little closer and it was already starting to get light. I heard 20 shots before dawn, and did not see my first deer until 10, when a doe and fawn passed at 50 yards, not giving me a clean shot. This busted up the 6-point came thru on their trail, 10 minutes later. I let him pass, because I could only see 2 points, but for the heck of it, I gave a few grunts and he turned and came right towards me. I saw he had three on the other side, making my cut, so he got a slug in the "shirt pocket", at 40 yards. After pocketing the slug, he ran 100 yards into the deepest part of the swamp before splashing down, making for a wet recovery. Now, he is hanging and I am drying out, thinking about heading back out to look for an antletless deer.

Swamp edge 6 just made the cut. I am thankful for a bit more meat for the freezer.

A couple years ago, I had a daytime encounter with a big one, on the last day that I could hunt during archery season. That stand was also too close to structures (mobile homes and sheds) to use with a gun. Immediately after the encounter, I pulled that stand. I got on Google maps sattelite feature, and located a spot that was about 550 feet from the closest man-made structure, but within shotgun range of where I last saw the buck. On opening day morning, my second shot from 300 ft away, broke the buck's back and dropped him, just over 500 ft from the nearest man-made structure. It was fortunate that he fell where he did, because he required a 3rd "finisher" shot. Had he dragged himself a few more feet, I'd have had to use my knife to stay legal. Is it illegal to fire guns at your spot ? NY law says that you may not fire a weapon closer than 500 feet from a man-made structure, without permission of the owner, however your bullets may land closer than that. That means that the deer can be closer than 500 ft from a structure but the shooter can not. Maybe you can use google maps to locate a good firing position.

Just remember that you got to use your gun tag on him during gun season, even if you kill him with your bow.

That sounds virtually identical to the spot I am headed to. The last two openers were good there, and I hope to extend my streak. The swamp is pretty dry this year, which should simplify a recovery. Two years ago, I had to float a 200 plus pounder (with guts), out on a big plastic sled to get him to a dry spot. That spot is at my parents place, which is about 15 miles from ours, on the opposite corner of the dmu. I would have stayed at home this year, since my food plots (corn, turnips, wheat, and clover) are looking great. I will on Sunday. Unfortunately, the one nice shooter buck, that I have been fattening up all summer, got wacked by a car a couple nights ago. Someone sawed off the horns and I dragged the carcass to my butcher waste pile. A big coyote was tearing him up after I left for work this morning. My daughter took a video of the carnage. The only other buck I have seen around here is a tiny racked 4 point. The big dead one had gone nocturnal after about October 15 anyhow.

I have my spot picked out. The same, 8 ft high, hang-on stand, over at my folks place, where I spent the last two southern zone gun openers. I am hoping for a buck with three or more points on a side, or any antlerless deer. The last two gun openers there produced those, so I hope to extend the streak. I spent about an hour at midday in that stand, on opening day of crossbow this year. I didn't go near it last weekend, because I want the deer to feel comfortable. This is a shotgun only zone, and I will have my Marlin M512 this year. That took out a nice buck two years ago, but a messier kill than I would have prefered, due to a busted scope. I put a new scope on it last year, but opted for my Ithaca 16 ga. smooth-bore instead. It was very cold that day and the Marlin has froze up and failed to fire in those conditions a few times. The ithaca got the job done on a big doe, but again not as cleanly as the Marlin would have, with it's new scope. It looks like it will be well above freezing this year, so the Marlin should be good to go. The long range forecast is showing 20 percent chance of rain, so I will pack the tree umbrella. I will try for my first deer with the new scope and first from under the umbrella while it is raining on that day.

Trimming off all that external fat is always part of my "day before processing" work, in addition to removing the hide. Does always have lots of it, which is why I much prefer butchering bucks. It seems like does keep getting fatter, right thru the end of gun season, but bucks burn most of theirs off, by opening day. Getting rid of most of that fat takes time, but makes for a lot better grind. It also keeps better in the freezer, if the fat is carefully removed, since fat is an oil that does not freeze. I will be testing that theory soon, because we are almost ready to start eating a doe that I killed on opening day of gun last year. If I got enough of the fat off her, those vacuum-sealed packs should taste just as fresh now as they would have a year ago. If I can score again on opening day this year, then it might be a while till I get to eating much of that doe from last year. I always freeze the first deer of the year in zip lock bags, and eat that before the older vacuum-sealed stuff.

We insulated our garage a few years ago and that has greatly simplified the process. Prior to that I dealt with a few freeze ups.

When the temps are right for a week or longer hang, I usually leave the hide on until the day prior to processing. They don't dry up too much in 24 hours with it off. That helps split up the workload a bit, because it is always more difficult to remove the hide from a deer that has hung for a while. Also, even with the hide left on, remember to remove the tenderloins prior to the extended hang, because that hide dont do nothing to keep them from drying out.

Good advice here, and I would add that doing it when you are in your 30's or 40's is also a good idea. It will still take a few days to acclimate to the low oxygen levels up high, but definitely be easier if you are younger and in good shape. Lastly, if you never end up taking that Western trip, you won't be able to appreciate what we have right here in NY's Adirondacks as much. That alone is reason enough to make that trip once. Being in my fifties now, and having killed a few deer up in the Adirondacks, I don't think that you could pay me enough to take another Western mule deer hunt, but I could still be coaxed into a ML elk hunt out there for a couple hundred (enough cash to pay the cost of the tag).

I see there is rain in the forecast for Saturday. If it is a straight down rain with no wind, I will deploy the tree umbrella and stick with my scoped Marlin M512. If we get high winds and sideways rain, I will go with my Remington 870, 12 ga, with short smooth bore, open-site barrel, and Remington sluggers.

I see a lot guys are using 30/30's. I was not quite fast enough with mine (Marlin 336BL) to get off a shot at a big Adirondack buck on opening day of Northern zone gun season this year. If I can make it thru opening weekend in the Southern zone, with my buck tag, then I hope to get another chance at one with it, or with my father in law's scoped, standard model. We plan on spending Thsnksgiving weekend up there. I plan on passing anything with less than three points on a side on opening weekend at home, mostly to get that chance. I would love to experience first hand, how the 30/30 does on a deer. I will be using Winchester 150 gr, Super X ammo. I used my Ruger M77 30/06 and Federal 150 gr classic ammo on the only two bucks I killed up there and both were DRT from one bullet. That heavy gun is no fun to lug around those mountains. Hopefully, the 30/30's will perform similarly on deer, but they sure are more fun to carry.

I shower with scent-free soap/shampoo, and use scent-free deodorant. I use a "scent-factor" jacket. I wipe a little evercalm on by rubber boot soles, a couple hundred yards from my stand, and a bit more on it when I get there. I try to play the wind. If it is cold, I sip on hot cider, while I am in the stand.

I will be using my Marlin M512 on opening day this year. I have not shot at a deer with it, since I put a new Redfield 2-7 scope on it last year. The old Bushnel, that I had on it prior, crapped out in 2018.

The speed of that shaft is slow enough, that it really don't need a guard. It turns at about the same speed that one could turn a crank by hand. Also, I always sit in front to run it, so my hands never get close to the shaft. The only trouble I ever have with it, is that sometimes the set screw that holds the shaft coupling to the grinder feed screw loosens up. That's why I drilled a hole in the upper wood frame, to keep an Allen wrench handy. You can see that in the photo. That was the also the main reason that I added the switch. When the screw loosens up, I no longer have to get off my chair and pull the plug put out of the wall socket. It could be a #32. It is cool that they still make knives and screens for it. It surely beats the heck out of a hand grinder. I helped a friend grind a small doe with one of those once, and it sure was a workout.

If you have a good ladder stand in a good spot, I would lean heavily towards using that on opening day, as long as you get a favorable wind. Use the climber as "plan b", if the wind is not right for the ladder. Since more than half of the deer harvest each year usually occurs on opening day of gun season, it pays off to minimize things that could go wrong on that day. Lack of experience with the climber leaves more room for errors. I only used a climber on one opening day and I made a big mistake. I lost my bearings in the dark, in some mature hatdwoods, while walking to my spot. I stopped to check my compass, leaning my gun against a tree. I corrected course, and headed off in the right direction. The problem was, when I got to my spot, I realized that my gun was still back in the woods. Somehow, I was able to backtrack and find it, but I lost lots of time, and ended up getting setup later than I would have preferred. I have always used archery season, mainly as scouting to pick the right spot for opening day of gun season. It almost worked out for me this year, up in the Northern zone, but I was not fast enough on the draw with a big Adirondack buck. The good news is, I still have my buck tag and I know exactly what tree I will be up for opening day morning in the Southern zone next Saturday. It also don't hurt that I have scored from it on the last two consecutive SZ gun openers. Wind direction ain't that important on morning hunts, from up tree on flat lands, because the thermals will carry your scent up and away.

I think the neighbor is giving you good advise. Hunting a bedding area is not such a great idea, in the long term. Better to hunt feeding areas or routes between feeding and bedding.

I dont think too many pop up blinds would have stood thru the winds that came thru here a few minutes ago. They must have hit more than 80 mph. I was a little worried about getting decapitated, but I guess I used enough drywall screws to hold it down. A good sized ash branch (see photo) bounced across the top. Good thing the town highway crew cut most of the big dying ones along this ditch line a couple years ago. I don't think the aluminum cap would stop a 24 incher if it came down on it. It seems to be letting up a bit now. I tried a few rattling sequences during lulls but no signs of any deer yet. I will give it to dark. I kicked a little 4 point out of the adjacent cover patch last week and it would be nice if he would show up. He won't be getting a pass again today if he does. Otherwise, I got to save my archery buck tag until late ML season.

I am settled into to my not quite pop up blind now, for the last 5 hours of my 2020 crossbow season. I know this thing is good for at least 80 mph winds, because I had it going faster than that quite a few times down the highway. The mile walk back here was tough, into the 50 mph winds and rains, but I am settled in now waiting for the big one to pop out. I brought along my lucky 7 point rattling horns and I will be giving them a try before too long.