wolc123

How so ? If you look up the PA chart, you will find that 35 in (clear on my photo) equals 99 pounds field dressed. Also, WNY deer have always weighed more than that chart predicts when checked on a scale, so 100 pounds seems conservative for that one.

I grow them big. Lots of clover and wheat went into that one.

I think most folks are smart enough to realize that, which explains why Biden's lead in the polls has fallen since he made that pick. Ms Harris as VP is the best thing to happen to Trump yet, when it comes to his chances of re-election.

The 4410 is a little smaller and lighter at 2900 pounds without the loader (the 4120 wieghs 3700 pounds without the loader). The thing I liked most about the 4120 was the JD Power-Tech American-made engine. I think that JD has stopped making their own engines, for smaller tractors since Tier-4, and now uses the far-eastern Yanmars in them. You probably need to go up to 75 hp or so to get a Power-Tech American-made engine in a JD tractor today, unlike the Tier-3 days, when I got one at 43 hp. 75 hp would be a little too big for my food-plotting.

Easy now boys, somebody got banned over making fun of that fawn. The last buck fawn I killed field dressed at nearly 100 pounds per the PA chest girth chart.

I am more of an "if it aint broke dont fix it" kind of guy, but to each his own.

I used new ones, until last season, when I tried sharpening one for the first time (a mechanical). Maybe it is just a coincidence, but the (5) previous bucks, that I killed with those mechanicals, expired less than 40 yards from where they took the arrows (or crossbow bolts for the last few). I took the best parts from my "used" ones last season, and sharpened the dinged-up blades with a small soft arkansas stone. The buck that took that one made it over a hundred yards before expiring, center-punched thru both lungs. I am going to go with new ones from now on. I was thankful to go 6 for 6 on bucks with those old mechanicals, including one used (and destroyed) checking my zero, and parts of different ones used twice on last year's buck. My advise would be stick with new and don't worry about sharpening.

It is a 4120 that I bought new in 2005. I looked at Kubota, NH and JD back then. The JD was tied with the NH for lowest price (same hp, similar feature Kubota was a bit more). The main reason I went with the JD was because it was the only one that was American-made, including the engine, (NH and Kubota engines were from the far-east). It has held up good for 15 years. I did need to change out the starter at around 5 years, but the aftermarket one that I found on-line (Power-strike) was less than $ 200 and has lasted much longer than the OEM Bosch. It is also on it's second battery, but that is it for parts, aside from oil filters every 100 hours. It is getting close to 950 hours now, when it will be due for another oil change. I had up to (5) tractors at a time, which is why it has so few hours. Now, I am down to just that JD, and the old, 1951 Ford 8n, which was my first tractor. I paid the widow of the original owner $ 1200 for that one, back in 1989, and it only had 1200 hours on it. All her husband used it for was working a half acre garden each year. It had a burned out valve (the OEM ones can't handle unleaded gas) when I got it. I fixed that one, got a year or two out of it, then burned out a few more when I used it to dig a 1/4 acre pond. I used that lead substitute crap but it did not help. I got a buddy to do a full valve job then, and it did not give me any more trouble until last year, when it needed a distributer, and a new 6 volt battery. Now it has 2200 hours on it. I like it for food plots. It will still out work any $ 10,000 side-by side.

It is actually kind of boring. I much prefer hunting in the mountains, and I am very thankful that my in laws chose to move up there when they retired. They almost went to PA. An Adirondack spike buck or doe is worth more to me than a flatland WNY 8-point. The scenery and solitude up there make all the difference. Having that Adirondack option has caused me to be more fussy with my buck tags. So far, that has panned out ok. Had they moved to PA instead, that would not be an issue, but it is nice not needing to purchase an expensive, non-resident licence. I am hoping to spend the whole early ML season, a day or two of cross-bow, and Thanksgiving weekend up there this year.

I started working on this plot today. The first step was Bush-hogging the buckwheat and sweetcorn that was holding the spot. I picked about 2 dozen ears of sweetcorn from that patch today. We got about 3 more dozen off it earlier. The coons got at least that much, but I got 3-1/2 of them. I count the one as 1/2, because it escaped with one of my Duke dog-proof traps. Most likely it was "freed" by a coyote because I don't think any coon would be strong enough to shear a no 10 grade 5 bolt. I saw a big coyote run out of the corn one day while I was checking traps. At least they did not dig up any of the coon carcasses this year so far. After Bush-hogging, I went over the plot a couple times with a serrated blade disk. I will hit it once more with that, after a good rain. Hopefully, I will get it planted in early September.

Certainly this should put the emphasis back on meat where God intended it to be. Maybe they will do away with antler restrictions and let us tag bucks with dmp's again.

That is a sure way to stop trespassers. Signs do just two things: nothing and sh1t. Sometimes someone else can do the dirty work for you. I depend on a highly motivated neighbor for that over at my folks place. Over there, we were plagued by trespassers, and piss-poor hunting, in spite of posted signs, until an energetic guy bought the over-grown field that provided the easy access from the trailer park. Since he laid down the law, it has almost been like hunting a high-fence game preserve. I have not scene a trespassers in 3 years. Prior to that, it was rare to complete a hunt without seeing at least one. My family has paid the taxes on that land for almost a hundred years, but I have acquired more venison on it in the last 3 years than the total of the previous 97. That included big-bodied mature bucks on 2 of the last 3 years. My biggest buck over there prior was a scrawny 1.5 year old 4-point.

Based on the poll numbers I just saw on CNN, Bidens lead has dropped since the Harris pick. Could it be that the dem's grossly underestimated the intelligence of black voters and women ? Can they honestly believe more would vote for Biden because of this ? Back in 2016, I remember thinking that Trump might pick a black woman as a running mate. Instead, he picked someone with a proven track record in Pence, one of the most succesful Governers in modern history. Should a person get a job based on color or qualifications ?

Happy b-day Larry.

To post or not to post depends on location. At my place, I have had more trespassing issues on the years that I posted. To your average simple-minded poacher, "posted" means "good hunting". The more signs, the better the hunting. Putting up those signs is a foolish waste of time for me. About 15 miles away, at my folks place, they seem to work ok however. My sister lives on the edge of "the homestead", and she feels more comfortable walking her dog when I put up signs over there during hunting season, so I do it for her. There is a trailer park adjacent to that property and lots of aborigins (strangers) around there which may have some effect.

The smallmouth bite was a bit off on the upper Niagara river this morning. I think the musky were spooking them out of my favorite drift. We broke off a big musky and landed this 40ish inch one. Just 3 keeper smallies (14,16,17 in), and 4 shorts.

I am waiting for a good rain before clipping mine again. It looks like they are predicting some for sat, sun, and mon in wmu 9f. The turnips I planted in July sure could use some. Also, it is much nicer mowing the clover after rain because that keeps the dust down.

And Teddy Roosevelt became the youngest President ever at 42 (a record that still stands), up at an Adirondack hunting camp, when Filmore got shot in Buffalo.

I prefer to use my dmp's on the button bucks in that situation. Leaving the doe increases my odds at a mature buck later. More importantly, there is no better eating buck than a 6 month old. I am not a big fan of doe meat because the fat takes a lot of time to trim out. If you miss some, it sticks to the roof of my mouth, putting a damper on my appetite for more.

This pick will certainly make it tougher for him in some of the toss-up states like PA. She is considered the farthest-left Senator. That means pro-abortion (anti-Christian), anti-gun, unrestricted immigration, universal health care, and green new deal. Had he picked a conservative leaning choice (not sure there are any of those left in the Democratic party), he would have had a better chance at the toss-ups. Now, his only "sure-things" are NY and CA. Covid gave him a shot, but he really blew it with this pick.

I spent a bit of range time today with my Centerpoint Sniper and Barnett Recruit. I got them both dialed in good with 100 grain field points and I will be hunting deer with each of them this fall. I had been using 125 grain tips with the Recruit and it cost me a bolt today when I fired the first 100-grain tipped one over the top of my backstop. It is definitely shooting a lot flatter with the lighter heads. So far, the Recruit is my favorite. It's primary advantage is it's lighter weight, better balance and much easier handling. A close-range, offhand shot would be iffy with the Sniper, but a piece of cake with the Recruit. Other advantages of the Recruit are: crisper trigger, eaiser loading (can do it bare-handed without a pulley device in a pinch), and illuminated dot-site (better for low-light conditions). It was a bit too windy for shots over 40 yards today, which I certainly would not take at a deer anyhow with the Recruit. The Sniper should have the advantage there, because it was holding tighter groups at 40 yards and really burying the bolts in the backstop, compared to the Sniper, which was only doing about half the penetration into the "block". I will have to see how that factory Centerpoint scope does in low-light conditions of the deep woods, but not needing a battery is an advantage in well-lit situations. I really like having (2) cheap crossbows, compared to one mid-priced one, mostly because I should always have a backup, if something goes wrong with one of them during the 2-week season. It is also nice to have ones with different strenghts: The Sniper should be great from stands with good rests and where 40-50 yard shots might be expected. The Recruit will shine for close range work in low-light conditions, or for still-hunting deer in standing corn (something I have always wanted to try but have yet to do). That is all about close-range off-hand shots. This might be the year for that, because my corn is looking as good as it ever has. I Besides the Sniper, my other big crossbow-season purchase this year was (3) new 100 grain NAP spitfire mechanical broadheads. Hopefully, one of them can fill my buck tag and the other two a couple of my (5) antlerless tags this fall. I was able to take (6) bucks with my last (6) mechanical broadheads, which included one used and destroyed to check the zero compared to field tips, and one resharpened and mixed and matched from the best "used" parts, to take a second buck (last fall's big 8-point). Those were older o-ring style mechanicals designed for slower vertical bows (that is what I used on the first kill with them). Then I went 5/5 using them with my 300 fps Recruit. They are all gone now, but probably would not work as well with the 370 fps Sniper. The NAP's are supposed to be top-of-the-line and designed to work with the fastest crossbows. We shall see this fall. For the price of the NAP's, I ain't going to waste one checking the zero. The research I have done indicates that they impact identical to field tips.

Outhouse ?

The purple tops are up a few inches and the distribution looks ok. They were seeded on the light side with plenty of fertilizer. If we get some decent rain over the next couple weeks, they ought to do good. The buckwheat to the east (white flowered) is about 4 ft tall and will get Bush-hoged in about a week. I use that for weed suppression and to build up the topsoil. I will disk that up and broadcast a soybean, wheat, white clover mix in early September. The sweetcorn beyond that buckwheat is just starting to ripen. We had some for lunch yesterday. I lost about a dozen ears to coons and have trapped and buried 3 of them over the last few days. The rr fielcorn to the west is now fully tasked and making ears. It is almost weed free, unlike the non-RR sweetcorn which I was too lazy to hoe.

Do you run ethanol free gas ? 10 % corn liquor gas is murder on old outboards. I don't mind spending the extra 50 cents a gallon on the good stuff to keep all my old, seldom used little engines starting and running good. That includes chainsaws, splitter, power washer, snowmobile, etc.. I do run the cheap ethanol crap in our automobiles, lawnmowers, and old tractors however, but they usually don't sit idle for long periods.

It would be about a 2.5 hour drive from Syracuse, but Johnson's in Lockport is still in business. They mounted a Weaver 1.5 X on my Ithaca 37, 16 gauge in 1983 and it has held up very well. I used it last season on this doe in fact. It has never needed any major adjustments, since it was mounted, and that is definitely the hardest kicking gun that I own. This "featherlight" 16 gauge pounds the heck out of your shoulder because it is built on a 20 gauge action but packs a 12 gauge wallup. The scope mount, that Johnson's used, is bolted to the thick curved section on the top side of the receiver. This is a decent short range gun, but certainly no "tackdriver". It holds a 6" group at 75 yards with Remington sluggers.