wolc123

After 4 consecutive "big woods" afternoon sits with zero deer sightings, I decided to stay on the water and concentrate on the smallmouth bass this afternoon. I didn't find the 22 incher I was after. The 1/8 oz bucktail jig came out on top today, landing (11) 12-16 inch bass. Trolling between drifts with the little shad rap yielded (3) more. On Tacs recommendation, I finished up with the ned rig. Ned came back to life a little today and two 13 inch smallies hooked themselves on it. Only one was hooked good enough to land however and the other flopped off before I could lip it. Final tally of (15 ) "keeper" sized smallies (all released) in three hours was not too bad. I will probably only try for a 22 incher for an hour or so at midday, over the next (4) days, because I need to concentrate on filling a deer tag.

That's what I did after 4 consecutive afternoon "big woods" sits with zero deer sightings. Will post results in fishing thread. Definitely more action on the water than on the land. Only two more days to fill antlerless tag though, so next two afternoon's I will be back on the ground. At least the weather looks a lot better.

The timing usually works out good for lunch and I have not had to leave any TP in the woods yet. Fortunately, there are 4 bathrooms at my in-laws place although the outhouse is now closed for the season, so they are down to three. Thst works out good, because there are just three of us here this week. It did not rain over night, and I got to my spot 1/2 hour before sunup. There was a heck of a deluge right before sunup, but at least the wind let up then, so the rain fell straight down. The worst times have been just before and after the real heavy rains, when the wind is blowing hard and it comes in sideways. It is very warm though, so I am not complaining. My gortex rain jacket stops everything that blows in under the umbrella. I will need to throw my bibs in the dryer at lunch time again though. I wore them instead of my rubber rain suit bottom, because they are all I got that has been treated with Sawyers. I am more afraid of tics than rain. The last deer I brought home from up here had hundreds on it. I have not seen any yet this year though. My only insect trouble was a skeeter bite the other day and gnats in my cider cup.

I will be shooting 150 gr lead nosed Winchester XX 30/30 if a chance comes up on Saturday or Sunday. For now, I am hunkered down under my tree umbrella/snare drum, hoping to catch a group of antlerless deer on their way back from a power line cut that is on the other side of that pole barn. A Canadian fella owns that, but he has not been here all season due to the Covid lockdown. The only thing mowing the grass growing up around it has been the deer so far this year. I got to use the ML thru friday, but am allowed to take an antletless deer around here with that. I have electric tape over the muzzle of the stainless barrel to keep the water out.

I do the same. I had to eat my gun season buck tag a couple years ago because I did not shoot a young buck that was about 10 feet onto "the prick's" field. It was the last Saturday of the season, so a definite "shooter" for me at that point. Those paper tags provide very little nourishment. It would have been a standing, broadside, 50 yard, chip shot for my scoped, 16 gage, Ithaca model 37 slug gun. The neighbor was gone away that weekend, but he surely would have learned of the misdeed, as it would have been nearly impossible for me to hide all the blood evidence in the snow. I can't say that I did not contemplate it. In the end, it turned out ok and I am glad that I held off. I ended up getting a big doe at home the next day, so starvation or store bought chicken was averted that winter. Best of all, is that we are still on good terms with that neighbor. My folks let him tap their maples and he brought us over some damn good syrup this spring.

That is some good stuff. The goose feather fetching would be nice on the rainy days. I can't wait to see you take a deer with one of those stone broadheads.

That is a situation, that I can relate to. I owned a similar sized piece, in a good area, for about 10 years. It was about 1/2 way between my farm and my folks, so having the three spots gave me lots of options. Everything went well, until the year following a year when I was able to take two good bucks off that center spot (one on opening day of bow and the other on opening day of gun). It was narrow, and really only had one good stand location. The next year, two different neighbors put up stands less than 50 yards from my hot spot, right on the property lines. That was the end of the good hunting there. I ended up selling it and using the cash to buy a new tractor and make improvements on my other spots. I don't know another way out of such a predicament. I mainly just hunt the weekends, and my folks place is spread out enough to hunt twice per weekend. Now, I usually just hunt three of four mornings/afternoons per weekend. By improving my other spots, my overall deer production has gone up, I have more free time, and pay less property taxes. Sometimes, what you think is a problem, is really an opportunity.

I liked it when you could tag antlered bucks with doe permits. They should at least give out 3 antlered tags to those who purchase gun, bow. and ML privledges.

I put fiber optics on my 30/30. Not sure how they will work on a deer yet (might find out Saturday), but I have been able to hit gallon jugs, very consistently with them, offhand at up to 70 yards. They seem especially good in low light conditions and dark timber. It seems very easy to just center that red dot between the two green ones, and unlike scope, they are unaffected by rain, sleet, or snow. It took me sevetal attempts to get them properly adjusted. I was surprised how much I had to raise the front sight. It did not help that I used a front, taken off my T/C omega (I have a scope on that), and an off-brand rear. A matched set would have made it easier. Fortunately, ammo was cheaper and easier to find back then.

Lead, 240 gr XTP with ML.

This is my current location. If the wind on opening day of gun season, this Saturday, is from any direction other than NE, then this is probably where I will be sitting that morning. I will be hoping someone pushes something across the road from the big chunk of state land on the other side. I am really wanting to see how a 30/30 performs on a whitetail. I took my last one up here in 2016, from this exact spot, with my 30/06. That heavy thing is no fun lugging around these hills, nor is my 50 cal ML. The two little Marlin 336's that I have to pick from handle like a dream in comparison. Got to go, just heard a twig snap in the gully.

The rain stopped at 10:30 and I headed in for lunch. After filling up on my mother in laws hot pork and noodle casserole, washed down with a Doseques Especial, I headed down to the lake with some additional "ned rig" gear. The lake was smooth like glass and the boat had about 40 gallons of water in it from 2 days of rain. The old cider jug bailer I made worked good to empty it. My friend from the end of the lake was out in a boat with his wife and daughter in law and it looked like they were catching a few bass. I fired up the little Johnson and trolled slowly across the lake so as not to disturb them with a wake. No hits on the perch finish countdown Rapala on the crossing. I tried the Ned rig over there but Ned was pretty dead. I did feel something once, like a fish swam into my line, but when I jerked the rod, nothing was there (instincts took over, I had read earlier that you are supposed to just reel and let them hook themselves). I went back over that spot with my usual 1/8 oz bucktail jig and this little 15 incher was still hungry enough to hit that. A north wind picked up right after I turned him loose. I had been waiting for that, to hunt my favorite spot, on a ridge along a doe bedding gully. I am camped out there now till dark in my comfy tree hammock chair.

I can see both arguments (overpressure/timing vs bone hit) partially explaining the DRT's. If it is strictly rib/bone hit, then a higher percentage should result from a large diameter, like a 12 ga slug, or a 50 cal ML, compared to a .243 diameter rifle bullet. If it is strictly an energy/overpressure deal, then the rifles would have an edge. My own center - fire rifle/whitetail chest hit experience is limited to just the two DRT's explained above, and both of those syruck bone (rib and neck/spine). Dozens of combined shotgun and 50 cal ML chest hit kills have only ran about 1/3 DRT however, which more supports the arrival time argument.

Thanks, and congrats on that beauty that you just killed. Sorry to hear about your father in law, and may he rest in peace. I am going to keep on trying thru Sunday, but I think my odds of posting a picture of s 23 inch plus smallmouth on this trip may be better than a deer. There just had not been much daylight activity.

That is definitely what it takes, presence and follow thru. A neighbor like that has eliminated all the trespassing issue over at my folks place. He bought the land between where all the trespassers come from and their place. Prior to him moving in, my half-assed posting attempts never slowed down the trespassers. I have not seen a one since "the prick" bought the field ut back. The hunting over there is a ton better than it ever was, since he moved in. He real nice to me, since my folks own the woods on two sides of his field.

I will call opinion rather than fact based on my own observations. Of the dozens that I have double lunged with 4/5 oz, 16 ga Remington sluggers, about 1/3 were DRT, while the others ran off, up to 150 yards. It seems that arrival timing must have an effect. The only way I would go along with that is if you would consider a rib to be a major bone. If that is the case, then I could be talked into your argument. That would be reinforced by my first Adirondack rifle buck which was definitely DRT from the centered, second last rib hit. The open space between ribs is probably 2 times the rib covered area across the chest, which would also explain my shotgun chest hit DRT frequency

One interesting thing is that all of the deer that I have seen this week have been within 10 minutes of legal sunrise. The 3 Sunday were 5 minutes after and the 3 today were 10 minutes before. I can't say there had been much daylight activity, so still hunting thru the bedding areas might be a good option I dont want to do that yet, on our limited area and with my one-shot ML, but it might be a good option for Sunday, if the conditions ate right. I will be looking for wet leaves and a steady, strong wind. Opening day Saturday morning, I plan on sitting close to the edge of a state forest, and hope some aborigins (my word for people I dont know), push something my way.

I have heard that the DRT thing, from a chest hit, has more to do with the time that the bullet arrives, than anything else. If it strikes on the heart's power stroke, the system pressure overloads and it is "lights out" instantly. If the bullet arrives on the heart's relaxed "intake" stroke, the animal will run until loss of blood flow to the brain, regardless of bullet type or caliber.

I saw some movement in the pines off to my left, but I suppose whatever it was was frightened off by the snare drum that forms my "roof". It started raining a bit harder again, but the closest weather station (about 20 miles east) is calling for a 10:00 stop. Hopefully, it won't be too much longer. I am down to my last cup of hot cider. The south breeze has also picked up a bit, so hopefully that will make things warm up for out on the boat. I just finished reading up on the fine points of ned rig fishing (thanks for that tip Tacs). I also just completed a field modification of my camp chair drink holder. After carrying that space blanket around I'm my pack for 10 years I finally found a use for it. The drink holder must have been designed for a beer can, but now it works a lot better for a little thermos cup:

I might have to, I lost my second last, non-rattling deep diving crankbait on a snag on Sunday, shortly after landing an 18 incher on it. I have a perch finish countdown Rapala that I was thinking of trying, from the same batch of my buddy's grandpa's lures. Glad to here that. Are you and your dad coming up to camp for the gun opener this Saturday ? I was wishing I had my fiber-optic open sighted Marlin 336BL under the tree umbrella yesterday afternoon. I had to keep wiping the fog off my ML scope lenses every 10 minutes or so. No trouble with that this morning though. The humidity must be lower. The scope had not needed wiping yet. I am currently waiting for the rain to let up, so I can go back to the house for a warm, hearty brunch, and then head out on the lake to try for that elusive 22 inch plus smallmouth. This tree umbrella is keeping me dry but is very loud. I wonder if anyone has been able to kill a deer from under one while it was raining.

My wife is happy that I travel half way across the state to hunt at her parents place for 10 days and I am just about half way thru that right now.

My own personal experience with whitetail bucks and centerfire rifles is just two and both had one bullet hole. The first was quartering away and had an .30 inch diameter entry hole, thru the hide, and over the second last rib. The bullet did not exit, but lodged in the armpit on the opposite side. The second had no entry hole, but exited the front of the deer chest near center, making a 3/4 inch diameter exit hole thru the hide. Both bucks were DRT, and both bullets were 150 gr Federal classics.

It is mostly the spray and pray guys that want the two holes. If you put your bullet on the right hair, one hole is always enough.

I am back out under the tree umbrella this morning. I slept in a little. I was not real excited about heading back out in the rain after about 7 hours of that yesterday. It is supposed to stop raining at 10:00, so I am sticking close to the in-laws lake house so that I can get out after that big smallmouth again. I think I had a buck in close to me yesterday, based on a freshly worked scrape that I found and sounds that I heard. I am set up on a powerline cut this morning, maybe 500 yards from that scrape. I have seen lots of antlerless deer at this area, later in the seasons on Thanksgiving weekends, when there has been snow. They must like to browse on grass and other greens that sprout up here. I have yet to hunt this spot in the morning, nor have I ever seem any antlers here. Hopefully, this will be the day for two firsts. Three unidentified deer must have been watching me walk in just before sunrise. I saw 3 white flags go up (one longer and taller than the other two), and heard some snorts as they bolted deeper into those pines on my left. I am guessing they may be the same big doe and two fawns that I saw Sunday, less than a mile away. They were about 50 yards from me when they took off.

I had a Ruger model 77 mk2 22/250 for a long time (I traded it for the Remlin 336BL 30/30). It was an extremely flat shooter and super accurate with a 4-16x Weaver scope. It was great for woodchucks. I thought about trying it for deer, but the scope would have sucked in the woods with it's super fine crosshairs. It was also just as big and heavy as my model 77 30/06, so there was really no point in me using it. I miss that gun for chuck's. Most that I shoot have been less than 70 yards away, and none ever even flinched after I hit them on center of mass with that. Now, I aim for the heads with my 10/22, which works ok bit is a little bit tougher shooting.