wolc123

I won't be hunting the southern zone until November for many reasons: First, that is the only time the crossbow is legal and I no longer use my vertical. Second, I like it colder, because it makes it easier to properly care for the meat and holds the ticks at bay. Third, I dont like burning out my spots. Fourth, I like using October for other stuff like fishing, small game hunting, and ML and rifle deer and bear in the northern zone. 5th, the rut is my favorite time to deer hunt.

Could be, things did not go so well for the guy I knew that killed one, rest his soul. I miss his deer hunting stories. He once traded me his old, 8 ft cultipacker for a case of Genny cream ale. I have killed a pile of deer off the food plots I planted with the aid of that cultipacker:

Thanks for providing a clear, concise answer. If only the three other Biden supporters could be so cooperative. We dont know if they are real, because I have never seen any pictures.

Do you have any candles laying around the house ? Wax is also good for your string.

There is lots of good in global warming and melting polar ice caps. I like not needing to waste money on expensive, heavy, high-maintenance, fuel-wasting 4 wheel drive vehicles to deal with deep snow. High water levels help me get over shoals and into good fishing spots easier on the St Lawrence river with my boat. Later fall frost is great for food plots and gardening and lower heating bills is nice. Bring it on I say. To think it is caused by mankind seems clueless to me. There has been climate cycles as long as there has been a universe.

G's looks like a 2.5 and a shooter for sure. i would still hold off on the 1.5 for the first half of the season's anyhow. I need to make the most out of my buck tags. Meat quantity is more important to me than a color oddity and they all taste the same. A local legend of a hunter, who passed away a few years ago, killed a slightly larger 1.5 year old piebald buck about 15 years ago. He took some flack about that from a neighbor who had been watching it that year in his hay fields. I dont know that the dispute that resulted was worth the unique little shoulder mount or the 45 pounds of meat. I have only ever seen one, which was antlerless, while I was out back picking sweetcorn about 20 years ago. I always have plenty of antlerless tags, so one of those is a shooter for me at any time and no matter what size it is. I would get the hide tanned and hang it on the wall.

There are a few around my place this year. I am startling to appreciate them a bit more. They are doing a very good job of keeping the coons out of my corn. I trapped (4) male coon earlier, when my first batch of sweetcorn was getting ripe. I lost half that batch to the coons and all of my second. I saw a large black coyote a couple of times while I was checking the coon traps, and a smaller reddish one a week ago. They dug up the three large coons that I burried 2 ft under, leaving only a small one that I suppose did not give off enough scent in decomposition for them to locate. It seems like the coyotes have taken most of the female and young coons, because I have not got any of those in traps this year. Thanks to the coyotes, I did not lose a single ear of sweetcorn to coons from my last batch. That provided lots of meals for my extended family, friends and coworkers and enough to stock our freezers. It was also silver queen, my favorite variety. Just for kicks, I tried to raise my gun on the big black one a couple weeks ago, and he was very quick to avoid a shot. I may or may not have pulled the trigger had I been able to get the cross-hairs on his chest. A few years ago, it would have been sss for sure, but now I appreciate them a little more. I also like how they keep the deer population in check in the nearby town of Amherst. That is a silly-ass place that allows no deer hunting and that I need to drive thru every weekday to get to and from work. It is nice not to have to worry about hitting a deer with my vehicle, thanks to the coyotes. We are also entertained by their night time lyrics while we are around the campfire. My only problem with them this year is that they stole one of my expensive dog-proof coon traps, along with the coon that must have been held in it. No coon could have sheared off the number 10 bolt that held it to the stake on it's own. I do know the location of a den. Hopefully, I can find that trap on the bone pile next to it.

I agree. He has a cool looking coat, but a small 1.4 year old rack and body. He will be a shooter next season. You are looking at about 40 pounds of useable meat this year, but around 80 if you can hold off another year.

I don't have that many, but I am mostly in agreement with you. My only exception would be a Browning sweet sixteen semi auto. I borrowed my dad's once and went 2 for 2 on grouse with it. They still talk about those shots, more than 30 years later, at my buddy's hunting camp. My all time favorite shotgun is my Ithaca model 37 featherlight deerslayer pump (also a 16 gauge). I could never hit grouse with the modified barrel on it. I have not missed a deer with the cylinder bore barrel on it since I put a Weaver 1.5X scope on the reciever 37 years ago. I have a couple of doubles (my old Ithaca 12 ga is now a mantle piece, since breaking during a round of trap 20 years ago), but a J Stevens Springfield 16 is my go to rabbit and grouse gun. Most of my trap shooting was with a Remington 870 pump, with a 30 in full choke barrel. I still use that on occasion for deer with a short open-sight smoothbore barrel and for turkey with a 28 in extra full choke bird barrel. I have just one Ruger 10/22 (my only semi auto), and it is a real tack-driver. It is all-stock with a Simmons .22 mag scope.

Sounds like your already pretty well fried.

It is definitely a handy thing to have and you never know when you will need it. My brother in law gave me that one when he moved out of his apartment, 30 some years ago. They don't make them like that any more. It can sit unplugged more than a year, get plugged in, and runs like it did when new. Sometimes, I use it for beverages when we have a big party, but usually it just sits there unplugged. Those old ones used more juice, but they were very dependable. The time it worked the best for me was about 20 years ago, when the temperature got up in the eighties on opening day of gun season. I shot a large-bodied spike buck, shortly after sunup, skinned it, cut it in half, and put it in the fridge by 9:00 am. There was not room for another in the fridge, so I squirrel hunted that afternoon. That was the best squirrel hunting I ever saw, prior or since. Every deer hunter can relate to being pestered by squirrels. It is almost like they somehow know that you are there for deer, not squirrels. I turned the tables on them that warm November afternoon, armed with my Ruger 10/22 (aparently they thought it was a deer gun). As they made their feerlessly up to my tree, they got quite the surprise. I ended up with a limit of greys that day, and few bonus reds.

It depends on how old the deer is. You can skip that step with 6 month olds. 1.5's should age 5 days, 2.5's a week, and 3.5's 10 days. As long as the temperature is kept in the 33 - 45 F range, it don't hurt to err on the longer side. Sometimes it is tough to guess the age of a doe. Most years, it has not been difficult to keep the meat of a skin-on carcass in that range, for those times, hanging in my insulated garage. I cover all the windows, to keep out the sunlight by day, and open a window at night, to let in the cool air. The concrete floor helps hold a cooler temperature and the hide insulates against temperature rise. A probe thermometer can be used to measure the meat temperature if you are nervous or afraid of spoilage. In 35 years of doing this, I have never had one spoil. I always check the long range forecast, prior to starting the aging process, to determine if the deer fridge will be needed. I no longer hunt early bow, so it seldom is. If it is going to be too warm, then I skin the deer, cut the rear off and hang in the fridge as described in my earlier post. I have always used an antique, non-frost free fridge, and the skinned carcasses don't dry out too bad in there. The hide keeps those hung in the garage from drying out too much. Except for the tenderloins , which should be removed prior to aging so they dont dry out too much. They also get more tender, if you leave them in the fridge a couple days before eating. You can tell when the rigor motis has passed by feeling the meat. When first killed, the meat will feel soft. As rigor motis takes hold (starts immediately at death and peaks about 8 hours after, depending on temp), it will get harder, like a pencil eraser. The meat is ready to process and freeze after it gets soft again, similar to when it was fresh killed. Last year, it was cool enough after November 2 to hang this 3.5 year old 10 days with the hide on. Note the insulated wall, cardboard covered window behind and the antique GE non-frost free "deer fridge". We still have a roast or two left from that one and they have been as tender as those from any 1.5 year old buck that I can recall. That was my first deer last year, so the grind is long gone (I always zip-lock) the grind from the first deer of the year (used first), then vacuum seal the rest.

He said "anyone but Trump". Why would he lie ?

After getting the birds under control in my new pole barn, and lots of beer can cutting practice, I am running low on bb's. I don't suppose the hoarders are hitting them too bad. Time to get another can of 6000. The last one I bought cost me $ 5.00 at walmart.

I scored a box of Winchester XX 150 gr 30/30 at Runnings in Lockport a couple weeks ago. They were only letting folks get one box of any type ammo including .22 rimfire. The guy said I was lucky, because they just got a couple boxes in. I only used one of them to check my zero, and it hit right where the Fedetals I used last season did. I still have (5) of those left, along with (10) 170 gr Remington core-locts. I should be good for early bear in a couple weeks and my annual Thanksgiving weekend Adirondack deer hunt. No store in Lockport had any ML bullets/sabots either but I did not have any trouble finding them on-line in unlimited quantities. Apparently, the hoarders are not into muzzleloaders.

Thanks for the reply. Have you ever shared any hunting-related pictures on this site ? It seems to me, and a few others, that you are here only to cause trouble in the political section. Do you realize that almost an order of magnitude more abortions have occurred in this country, since Roe vs Wade, than executions that were carried out by the Nazis thru WW 2 ? Hopefully, that tide will begin to recede after Trump and Mconnel get a few more conservative judges on the Supreme Court. Gaining some better protection of our second amendment rigjts would be nice also. On that you must agree, or I would humbly suggest that you find someplace else to waste your time. You would not want to give up that Baretta I assume. Try to enjoy hunting season this year even if your team loses the election. As always, I plan on treating it like it could be my last, because you never know.

Do you believe that new human life begins at conception, birth, or somewhere in between ?

That is about where I am. The body looks to be 2.5 years old, and the odd rack would make for an interesting euro. Those are the reasons for. In my 38 hunting seasons, I have yet to punch a buck tag, and then see a larger bodied buck, or one with a better rack, while I continued hunting with just antlerless tags. Killing that buck on opening day would create a good opportunity for that. I have read here about a few folks who have complained about the feeling they get, when getting a chance at a much bigger buck, and not having a tag. That does not sound to me like such a bad problem to have. I can relate a little, in that 2 years ago, I killed a 3.5 year old buck on opening day of gun season, at home in western NY. The rack was busted up, but the body was large, such that we just finished the last of the vacuum-sealed grind a few weeks ago. I was a little sad that year, to miss out on my normal, Thanksgiving weekend Adirondack deer hunt. My buck tag was punched at home, and there is no gun-season doe hunting allowed up there. On the plus side, that gave me more family time, and a chance to sight in my father in law's scoped rifle, that I had long been wanting to try up there for deer hunting. They say a bird in hand is worth 3 in the bush. The same thing might apply to bucks.

I guess I need to change to "I can count the forum Biden supporters on one hand". That will allow one more to crawl out of the woodwork. I do think that a few, and maybe even all 4 of you guys, will be back on team Trump within 5 minutes of the start of the first debate. If you are worried about that, consider an early mail-in vote.

Same here, in fact the last three years I have killed mature bucks (3.5 year olds), during the rut, and none had any of that "off" flavor that some of these folks have mentioned. Only last year's had no visible fight damage on his rack. The previous 2 had significant damage. I think that 90 percent of the trouble these folks have with eating mature bucks, is with the texture of the meat, not the flavor. Most of that is due to failure to properly age the carcass after harvest and before processing. Any red-meated animal is affected by rigor mortis, and the older the animal, the longer it should be aged, to allow that stage to pass. Killing an old deer and getting it processed and frozen in 8-24 hours, as many do, almost guaranteed maximum toughness of that meat. Most seasons, the weather during late rut is cool enough for me to age skin-on carcasses in my insulated garage. On years when it is too warm, I skin them, cut the rear off, and hang in my old non-frost free "deer fridge". The rear hangs from hooks on the leg tendons and the front rests on the bottom, supported by the neck. No one in our family has been able to tell the difference on texture or flavor of any 1.5 to 3.5 year old buck that I have aged this way. We can all pick out the 6 month old's however, which are definitely in a class by themselves when it comes to flavor and texture. Hopefully this will be the year for a tender, delicious "fatted calf".

That makes at least 3 of us. My "Irish twin" daughters are also pro-life.

Only because you are one of just three forum members who seem (to me) be leaning towards Biden. When do you believe life begins ? Are you concerned with losing 2nd amendment rights if Biden/Harris win ?

I'll go along with that. If Kamala and Joe take my guns, I wouldn't starve, so long as I could keep my crossbow.

That would be a distant 2nd (no pun intended) for me.

Has Biden always been pro-choice ? Maybe he has been pushed that way by folks who are taking advantage of his declining mental state. Clearly, that position is contrary to what Christ would prefer, and is an indication that he is out of touch with Christianity. Science and Christianity are in perfect agreement on the fact that new life begins at conception. That makes abortion the same as murder (actually worse because the the victims are defenseless). When do you believe new life begins Versatile ? How about Chef and Left field ? It is never too late to get your house in order and a vote for Trump is a vote against abortion. I think on that we all agree. RBG's life departure makes this election particularly important in this life battle. All of the other issues are insignificant in comparison.