wolc123

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.

Grinding is my favorite part of the butchering job. It is a lot faster and more fun than trimming all the meat off the bones. Bucks usually are not that bad, but trimming all the fat off the does usually sucks.

I am going to try some rain rattling this afternoon.

This is what I use. It has got to be almost 100 years old. My great grandfather made it from parts, back in the 1920's. He and and my grandfather raised hogs and cattle and likely put hundreds of those thru it , up until 1981. That was the year my grandad passed away and we got rid of the livestock. The year prior, the old farmhouse burned and this old grinder was in the cellar. It was submerged in water a week or so, until we pumped out the water, and fished it out, along with a bunch of other half burned up stuff. It sat out in a barn a few years, until our local burcher was not able to cut a deer up for me one year while I was in high school. The motor was seized up from rust, but I found another off an old table saw, or something my dad had. I struggled thru a dozen or so deer with it, but it would plug up often and was a chore to use. Around 1990, I ordered a new screen and knife for it from Bass Pro shops. Since then, I have put close to a hundred deer thru it, and it will still take the meat as fast as I can drop it in. I put the switch on it last year, and a new belt about 10 years ago. I am afraid to look inside that gear reduction contraption on the right. I always make sure to take the grinder section apart and clean it good after grinding a deer. We still have about a deer and a half left in the freezer, but I am looking forward to putting 3 or so more deer thru this old grinder this year. They dont build them like they use to, and I am certain that this old sucker will turn when I plug it in and throw the switch.

Back when I hunted with a side-lock, I used to do it, but never with an in-line. I have never had one of those mis fire or hang fire. With my T/C Omega, it is real easy to just roll down the hammer assembly, point the muzzle towards a light, and see clearly that the breech plug is clear. Absolutely no reason to ever waste a primer.

I am looking forward to hunting from it tommorow after church. They are calling for west winds up to 65 mph. It is well aligned for that. I will open up both side sliding windows (face north and south), and the back door, which faces east, towards a good looking clover plot. Hopefully, a deer or two will brave those conditions, but I ought to be comfortable anyhow. I have killed a few, from my other truck cap blinds, on days like that. The 8n is a 1951. I bought it from the widow of the original owner in 1990, and it only had 1200 hours on it. He only used it to work up a 1/2 acre garden each year. I have put that same number of hours on it, mostly putting in foodplots, over the last 30 years. With 2400 hours, it is just getting broken in. My favorite thing to do with it is plow, but it also works great on a 2-row corn planter and cultivator. Most of the time, it has that little carryall on the back, which has hauled out lots of deer. The only things it sucks at, is bush hogging, and front loader. I got another tractor for those jobs.

I was in the fields most of the day and didn't see anything until the last 10 minutes of legal light. It looked small, and was quite skittish. I assume it was a young doe. Tommorow, will be my last chance of the year with the crossbow. I will put on my rain suit and head to truck cap blind for the afternoon. I have not killed anything out of this one yet, but came close to a big tom Turkey this spring and a coyote last winter. I have been waiting for the right weather conditions to deer hunt from it (high winds, cold, rain), and that's what we are getting tomorrow.

This looks like a good week for hanging. If you leave the hide on, most of the meat does not dry out too much. Just remove the tenderloins first, or they will. I hang them for a week or so, if the temps are good, and usually remove the hide, the day before I process, to split up the workload a little. The meat dont dry out too much, after one day with the hide off. Most red meat like venison, is better, if aged prior to processing. If the temp dont cooperate , an old fridge works good, like that shown in the old thread you found, with the big 8 point hanging next to it.

I picked up a gallon on the way home from work yesterday and will be bringing a quart along tomorrow. It is always cheap and readily available at this time of year. On this same weekend, in 2018, a big 8 point snuck in from downwind, just as I was putting the shiny silver cup back on my cider thermos. He must have really liked the smell of that cider. He got away that day, as I was not able to get off a shot with my crossbow The following week, I was a little better armed, and I managed to do him in with my shotgun, as he came in again from down wind. I had moved my stand a few hundred yards from where he caught me the week prior. He was fighter, had busted off a couple of points that week, and was a down to a busted up 6 point. That saved me the expense of a shoulder mount, and I got away with a "free" power-washer euro. To have a better chance of getting them big bucks into crossbow range, I have wrapped the shiny silver cup on my Stanley cider thermos with black electric tape. I also try to keep it behind my blind walls, so they dont catch the movement.

I have an old Eddie Bauer goose down vest, that I wear over my bibs and under a jacket, and that helps out a lot. To keep your core warm, you got to control the heat loss from your extremities. A chemical handwarmer in a muff takes care of your hands. Mickey boots and wool socks takes care of the feet. A good, winter face mask and wool hat takes care of the head. A good wind break helps a lot. I have a few blinds that have solid walls towards the prevailing wind direction, but even a big tree will do the trick. One last warm up trick, that has a few side benefits (hydration, nurishment, deer attractant, cover scent), is a quart thermos of hot cider. 6 minutes on high on the microwave heats it plenty, prior to heading into the woods. I have also used a pot on the stove in my camper, at remote locations, to heat the cider before filling the thermos.

Young face & crazy mass. .

I surprised that anyone can't tell that is not a free range whitetail by one look.

Looks like a good one. Throw a tape measure around, behind the front legs, and see what he measures. Hopefully, you guys saved the liver from that one.

We will have to see how he does in his second term, after the Supreme court gives it to him. I will give him an A minus after his first. Obama gets a D plus from me thru two terms. Ike was my all time favorite, with an A plus thru two terms. I will bump Trump up to an A, if he can do away with Obama care. He may have already got the ball rolling there, with his latest SCOTUS pick.

Happy birthday.

The Brit with the metal detector is cool. Hopefully, he gets lots of "top pocket" finds this season.

Anything exciting happen in the 8th season premier last night ? I fell asleep about 10 minutes into it, but it is Dvr'd, so I can catch up later. Oak Island is the only thing I watch somewhat regularly. I probably wouldn't have started, if it were not for a personal connection with one of the regulars on the show. I will admit to being somewhat hooked now however. Most of the family thought my granddad's step brother was crazy when he went up there, in the late 60's, to look for pirate treasure. Now he is on tv almost every week. He gave one of his closer relatives a fancy pocket knife that I got to look at the family reunion, two summer's ago. He has been living on that island since the late 60's. I imagine he will have a much bigger role this season, seeing as how no non-essential border crossings are allowed.