wolc123

Here is a fun, cheap, convenient way to get that open-sight practice in these days of high priced and ammo shortages. You can still get 5000 bb's for $ 5. Get yourself a $ 30 Daisy Red Ryder, put an adult-sized stock on it, to match your hunting rifle's draw length, and use it to cut suspended cans in half. For added challenge, try dropping the top half off the clip. You get practice at moving targets when the can swings from the wind and/or previous shot impacts. Friendly competitions with kids and/or drinking buddy's can be had over how long it takes to cut a can, or how few shots. Getting to know those sights and how to use them to hit little moving targets at close range, makes hitting bigger ones at longer ranges a lot easier.

You dont see as many posted signs west of the Missisisipi. It seems that easterners have a hard time knowing where they are and the signs help them out with that.

Many poachers won't bother playing their game on land that is not posted. To them, "posted" means "good hunting". If you want to attract them, put up signs, and the more signs, the better the hunting must be. It gets kind of like a dog chasing it's own tail. A big waste of time, in my opinion. Them signs ain't worth the paper they are printed on whether they are signed or not. It is kind of like gun control laws. You will keep out the honest folks who you wouldn't mind there any how, but you will give the hoodlums what they are looking for - less competition from honest folks.

That is quite a bit further east than I have hunted. I hunted a bit further to the west of our current location, around the Antertp/Theresa area, for about 10 years, prior to the move here. The local deer population is pretty good now, but always gets better as it gets colder and they move in from Tug hill. We are in a narrow band that does not get much snow and they like to winter here. There is so many around thru the winter, that it looks like professional landscapers trim all the branches on trees all the way around the lake below about a 6 ft height. That makes it nice for shoreline casting, when the lake is not froze. Not much worry about snags. I heard 4 distant, single shots on opening day of ML, but nothing since, and I have not seen any signs of another hunter. I have seen 3 antlerless deer since Saturday, and definitely a fresh buck scrape today. I am pretty sure I heard him working that one this morning. No signs of coyotes this year, which is a good thing.

I had to modify the plan a bit after lunch because the rain picked up a little. I took the plow truck back to the end of the trail where I saw the fresh scrape from this morning. I holed up in an old cut off fuel tank blind for a while. The 1/4 inch steel handled the heavy rain very well. Now it has let up a little again, so I moved back under my tree umbrella in a new location, directly down wind of the scrape, with my back to the swamp again. I tried a little rattling but no success. Good thing nothing came in, because I had forgot to re- cap my ML, after I got out of the truck. It's all set now, but I am just going to hang tight till dark and hope a buck, doe, or bear bumbles into range. Visibility is good here, to the scrape, and there is lots of fresh deer scat in the area. All loose balls that appear to be from doe.

Back when my father in law lived on Lower Mountain road in Cambria, he found a native American stone hand axe when he was tilling his garden. Someone told him it might be a thousand or so years old.

I am roughly half way between Lows lake and Black lake, on the wmu 6c/6f line. Lunch was some excellent home made New England clam chowder, sent over by a nice lady at the end of the lake, washed down with a Doseques Especial. Bibs are dry, cider thermos is refilled, battery charged, and I am ready to head back out after that buck, doe, or bear.

I agree with all of that. Back when I thought maybe one or both of my daughters might take up deer hunting, I considered purchasing a .243. I was leaning towards a Ruger American. When it became clear that hunting was not in the cards for them, I went with a 30/30 instead, as my second centerfire deer rifle. I am still waiting to see how that does with the deer meat damage. Maybe I will find out this weekend. Ought to be less than my 30/06, given the much lower velocity and comparable bullet weights. The meat damage that I experienced on the two whitetail bucks that I killed with my 30/06 (both with 150 gr federal classic bullets) was minimal, however both of those bullets were perfectly placed, from the given shot angles. I am used to the recoil of my Ithaca 16 gauge featherlight shotgun, so I barely notice any of that from the 30/30 or the 30/06. They both feel like p-shooters to me, compared to that slug gun. I pretty much just shrug it off when I hear folks talking about recoil from center fire deer rifles, or even pistols for that matter. My buddy brought over his 44 magnum Ruger pistol for me to try and I was a bit intimidated by it at first, remembering the Dirty Harry movie. It literally felt like a cap gun, compared to the time I tried a pistol grip on my short-barreled 12 gauge Reminton 870.

I am in here now with my bibs in the dryer and lunch on the stove. Not sure what it is yet. Saw a freshly worked scrape on my walk out. That might explain the breaking branches I heard while I was hunkered down under the tree umbrella for a few hours this morning. Apparently, there is something other than does around.

No, but they supposedly release trouble-making trap and transfer black bears, right across the road from my current location. The hair stands up on the back of my neck every time I hear a twig break over the sound of the rain drops. No more fawn bleats from me this morning.

I am thankful that I put a lot of time into getting that thing sharp enough to shave with, prior to my trip up here. I have used dull knives to dispatch road-hit deer, with such a move a time or two, with less than stellar resuls. I will take a short, sharp blade over a long dull one for that kind of work every time.

What side is the juggular on, on a black bear ?

Good deal and best of luck to you. There is no place on God's green earth that I would rather be than right here, right now. Now if only the fat doe that I saw yesterday would step out into this shooting lane:

OK round for women and children, but many better choices if you weigh more than 110 pounds.

I just sent out a few fawn bleats but I am a bit scared of a bear with them big old claws and teeth, having just my single shot ML. At least it is a .50 cal, but that did not work out so well for old hatchet Jack. I unfolded my old razor sharp buck 110, just in case it goes hand to hand.

We are getting low on grind and I am after a big doe for that purpose. I am being a little too fussy and blew a great chance on one of those yesterday morning. Sort of reminds me of the lyrics an old Hank song: "Now's the time for patience. Don't fire on the first one. Don't waste your bullets on a little bitty baby, get a full grown wowowoman." Hopefully, she shows up before noon or the time I run out of hot cider. Maybe I will try a fawn Yelp with my combo grunter. Heck, that might even draw a bear up out of the swamp.

Snug as a big in a rug in the rain. Only problem is the bugs. Got bit my a skeeter on the back of the hand and just picked 5 gnats out of my cider. They are not as bad, now that I moved it off the log to the drink holder in the arm rest. Sure am glad people can't get ehd.

Actually there were two. They were both given to me by the same neighbor, rest his soul, and shot on the same day. I butcheted and ate them. The first was a doe fawn that was struck with a single bullet thru the lungs. No meat damage complaints there and she died instantly. He was not so fortunate on the 2.5 year old buck. That one took 3 bullets. An old "riddler" like yourself is certainly well aware at how those things go at times. His first shot was at a flat out run, which he did not lead enough. That shot struck the hip and knocked the buck down. The second shot, while it flopped around, was to the shoulder. The finisher was to the neck. The bottom line there was the 60 pound field dressed doe fawn yielded almost the same amount of useable meat as the 160 pound field dressed buck. Few know better than you, that you can't always put the bullet in the perfect place. Heck, I only pulled that off once myself with my 30/06. That is why I would never use a .243 for deer.

X duplicate post

Could be. If I had to use one on deer, I would also look for the heaviest bullet I could find.

None, Ditch it and get a .30 cal. Way to much meat damage with those light little bullets.

I am on my vacation shower schedule this week (every other day). I took one with scent free soap last night and I used scent free antiperspirant. As I type, I am backed up against a swamp to my north, with a steady south breeze blowing in my face. I am also wearing a scent-lock jacket, and just poured my second cup of cover scent/attractant/hydrator/nurisher/warmupper, from my thermos - hot apple cider. The only thing that sucks about the scent situation is that I forgot my evercalm on this trip. Hopefully, the plan still comes together on a deer this morning. The last time I sat near here, I missed a nice doe after I struck a branch with my ML. I just finished trimming a couple of lanes to help prevent a repeat of that. I just got bit by a skeeter and it is beginning to rain. Soon I will deploy my tree umbrella. I should have brought some deep woods Off. At least it is warm and comfortable. I aim to stick it out here until noon. Bring on the rain and the deer:

It is great that you have a hunting partner like that. It is about 5 times easier for 2 guys working together, to get a deer in the big woods, than it is by yourself. It is also about 4 times easier to get one one when there is snow on the ground. The odds are stacked against a guy by himself when there is no snow. My father in law was never into deer hunting , but he is very eager to help out on the carcass recoveries and that helps out. He also let's me borrow his scoped Marlin 336, which I hope to put to use on a buck this weekend. I will use my own open-sighted one if it is rainy. He is very particular about his stuff, so I won't dare take it out if it might get wet. When it comes to teamwork, I was very blessed to have been helped out by a great guy who showed me the ropes in this area of wmu 6c. He was a young real estate agent, and he sold my in laws their spot up here. He was very energetic and competed in iron- man events. He loved to walk and "push" deer, which I suppose helped keep him in shape for those contests. I will never forget my first hunt up here with him. He dropped his elderly uncle and myself off, near the end of the ridge and told us to stand at the edges of the point. Then he walked back to the other side and pushed the swampy bottom, all the way back towards us. A huge doe walked out and passed leisurely by, just 10 yards from me. It was gun season and I had no doe permit, so I could only watch her. Both those guys have passed on now. The uncle passed the following year of natural causes. Thanks in large part to my friend, and the hot spots he showed me, I was able to take my first and best Adirondack buck while he was still around. He got to see pictures, but he was not up here when I killed it. Unfortunately, he drowned before I got the mount back. It is not my biggest buck, but is my most cherished and my first from the "big woods". I named it after him, and it hangs alone on a wall up here in his honor. RIP Jake:

My back feels good today. I got to test it pretty good, loading the bed of the plow truck with sand bags. The pile driver my father on law had, for putting in the snow fence stakes, worked great but man was it loud. Fortunately, he had some ear plugs in his shop. I can't afford to damage my hearing, because I hear about 4 deer first before every one that I see first. This morning's big "plywood sheet" doe was a rare exception.

It seems like the deer can be found in the same places, at the same times, almost every year. The more years you get under your belt, the more you will learn. I probably wasted my late afternoon hunt, because I sat in a spot where I have never seen deer until mid November when there is snow. It is just such a comfortable spot, and close by so I could not resist. I did not want to be too late for my mother in laws outstanding dinner. The coolest thing tonight was hearing a big widow-maker crash down in the wind. No deer seen after lunch however, and just one 18 inch smallmouth caught on a short mid-day troll. I did not have much time for fishing because my father in law had a few "extra" tasks for me to get done prior to all the rain that is predicted for this week.