wolc123
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Everything posted by wolc123
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I never sweat unless I get nervous. I did on opening day of crossbow season this year, when I struggled for almost an hour to find the carcass of the 3.5 year old eight-point that I had just center-punched thru the lungs (I thought he was a 2.5, until I skinned the skull and put it up against a few others for comparison last night). His rack was huge (by my standards) but his body significantly smaller then the 3.5's that I had killed on the previous two years. I swore that I heard him crash in a nearby thicket, but a last minute false trail and what must have been another deer, had led me in the wrong direction. I'd have got the guts out of him a lot quicker (and sweated a lot less), had I just followed the blood all the way to the carcass like you are supposed to do. I was pretty well drenched when I finally found him and did get the guts out.
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What to do with stand after you get busted in it?
wolc123 replied to goosifer's topic in Deer Hunting
Long tongue or G2's ? -
What to do with stand after you get busted in it?
wolc123 replied to goosifer's topic in Deer Hunting
It happened to me last year, on this very week. On the Saturday morning before gun-season, I got busted 7 feet up in a hang-on stand, by a big buck that came in from down-wind as I was drinking hot cider from a shiney chrome cup. I thought the crunching I heard in the leaves, 20 yards behind me, was "just another squirrel". When I turned around, I saw him there. He was looking right at me and that cup, with those big black eyes and magnificent, high-tined 8-point, 3.5 year old antlers. I stood there completely helpless, holding the cider cup, as my crossbow hung on a hook. He walked off, into some heavy cover. About an hour later, I removed that hang-on stand from the tree it was in. I moved it a few hundred yards in the direction where I last saw that buck. That is where I was the following Saturday, with my Marlin m512 slug-gun and its old beat-up Bushnell Banner 4x scope. Just after sunrise, I saw three small-bodied deer that were too far away to shoot at or identify clearly. It was a cold morning, and I drank my first cup of hot cider, soon after they disappeared. The big guy must have really liked apples. Just after I replaced the cup on the thermos, I heard a branch break far off in the down-wind direction. Looking over there, I saw a large-bodied deer moving thru the brush on the edge of a swamp. Clearly he had a decent rack and was "a shooter" for me which means at least three points on a side. I fired my first shot, from about 100 yards away, when he reached an opening. He kept walking and stopped right behind a clump of trees. I held my gun on that clump for what seemed like 10 minutes, until he finally stepped out. My second shot broke his back, and put him down on it. I saw a hoof twitching, up in the air, and figured he was done for. I had to get around some deep swamp water, to get to where he was. I was not exactly sure I was in the right spot, until I saw him lift that big, high-tined rack up with his front legs. I gave him a third slug, to the neck, from point-blank range. As it turned out, this was the same buck from the week before, but he had lost a couple of his tines and was now a busted-up 6 point, 42" chest girth, 182 pounds field-dressed. I called my brother on the phone and he brought a big plastic toboggan that we used to float him across the deep part of the swamp, from the little island on which he died. I left that stand right where it was and have not hunted out of it during archery season this year. I did see a big buck heading towards it from another stand last Saturday. I know where I will be on opening day morning this year. I feel pretty good about my chances. My shots ought to be truer, with a nice new Redfield scope mounted on the old Marlin. -
So what's your self imposed restrictions for the SZ opner?
wolc123 replied to mowin's topic in Deer Hunting
Antlerless tags are very difficult to fill at my two spots in the southern zone. I have not seen any for sure thru archery season, and I am certainly not holding off if any show up during gun (have (4) dmp tags). Usually, my rule for antlered bucks is 3 points on a side or more up until Thanksgiving (a 3" unicorn is enough after that). I am upping that to 4 points on a side / outside the ears this year, because the freezer is in good shape now (thanks to leftovers from last year and a solid, well-outside-the-ears 8-point) and I really missed having a gun buck tag up in the Adirondacks for my annual trip last Thanksgiving. I would be thrilled with a decent button buck on opening day, and my wife even more so. -
LIVE From The Woods 2019 - Lets hear stories and see some pictures!
wolc123 replied to fasteddie's topic in Deer Hunting
Trouble is, some guys just don't have the balls to try them. -
Lots of good stuff already mentioned: Muff with a couple handwarmers, Bibs, Wool hat and face mask, snacks. A few more that help me: 1) Sip on a cup of hot cider from a thermos (5 minutes in the microwave gets 4 cups to the right temp). Besides the warmth, the cider keeps you hydrated, gives you calories, and sometimes attracts deer to your location from downwind. 2) 3 ft high solid wall around your position in blind or stand. This breaks the wind to keep you warm, and also keeps your movements hidden from the deer, provides a gun-rest, and keeps you safe. 3) Military "mickey mouse" boots - the black ones are good to about -10 and the white ones to about - 40 F. They are also waterproof. My feet have never got cold in the black ones, which are a little less bulky. They can be had for about $ 80 new or $ 40 surplus. 4) Down vest. 5) Stay in shape so you don't sweat your "a..." off walking to your spot. 6) Open up your zippers and take off your hat so you don't sweat your "a.." off walking to your spot even if you are in shape. 7) Shoot a deer and gut it - it is always warm inside.
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LIVE From The Woods 2019 - Lets hear stories and see some pictures!
wolc123 replied to fasteddie's topic in Deer Hunting
I will never leave them in a gut pile again. The pepper is definitely the key ingredient. Hopefully, I will be enjoying a couple more for lunch this Sunday. -
LIVE From The Woods 2019 - Lets hear stories and see some pictures!
wolc123 replied to fasteddie's topic in Deer Hunting
Olive oil and lots of pepper. Don't forget to slit them first or they will explode in the frying pan. "Best" oysters I ever ate this year: -
I am in a shotgun-only zone, and I will let the weather dictate which one I carry. It will most likely be my Marlin m512 with new Redfield Revolution 2-7x scope. That is a good 175 yard gun and my farthest kill with it was 163 yards. The old Bushnell Banner 4x that I had on it crapped out last year, thankfully after I killed a big swamp buck with it. Hornady SST's group very well out of that gun, but their performance inside a deer is not stellar (other than minimal meat damage). I will aim for the shoulder blade this year if that is the one that I use. The extra wasted meat that causes won't hurt too bad this year, because the freezer is pretty full now. If it is super cold, I might use my old Ithaca model 37 smoothbore 16 ga with 1.5x weaver scope, because the firing pin tends to freeze up and stick on the Marlin in real cold conditions, especially after having been dropped in a swamp while dragging out buck. That cost me a doe later in the season last year My range is limited to about 100 yards with the Ithaca, but it has never failed to fire. If there is rain or sleet, I will probably go with my short, smoothbore Remington 870 12 gauge with open sights. That one is always good inside 75 yards, but I have pushed it to 100 a few times. Normally, I would hunt from one of my enclosed blinds with a scoped gun during a rainy opening day, but I have my sights set on a particular buck at a particular location this year. I will be in that open, hang-on stand regardless of weather on opening day morning. Thermals will carry my scent up at that time, especially if I wear a scent-factor jacket and use some evercalm and a cup of hot cider for cover scent, so wind direction won't matter. I am going to take along a tree umbrella, if rain is predicted. The stand worked out very well last year on a good one and I expect that history might repeat itself, based on another good one that I saw headed right towards it yesterday. I have left it un-hunted throughout archery season.
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Having my hair parted by a slug one time and feeling it before I heard the shot effectively cured me of ever wanting to do those again. I am a lot more comfortable out of the crossfire, about 7 feet up a tree.
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Had I not blew it on two does last year (one gun misfire at my folks place, followed by a miss on her caused by a bad scope, then another missed doe up in the Adirondacks due to striking a branch with my ML) , I would have given one to my brother in law. He raises beef cattle and makes awesome jerky from a 50/50 mix of ground venison and beef. The straight beef stuff is too oily and the straight venison stuff is too dry. Hopefully, I can fill at least one dpm tag this year and set him up a little better. Usually he has plenty of folks giving him deer but last year he came up empty. My kids like that jerky a lot and we really missed it last year. In 38 years of hunting, I have never killed a doe at my folks place I had another late season mis-fire from the same gun about 15 years ago, which saved another big one. The place is literally crawling with bucks though, so I am reluctant to try for the only doe that seems to be around over there, until after my gun buck tag is filled. One of her fawns (especially if it is a button buck) is certainly on my hit list though and will NOT go towards making jerky. Hopefully, he makes it to "deer heaven" this afternoon.
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I remember those days. We had to use slug-guns back then (still do in my home zone). The best thing about them is that they are over. It is tough to beat having neighbors who respect the lines and work peacefully with you. It had been a virtual free-for-all over at my folks place for about 30 years, until a new neighbor moved in and laid down the law. That has turned it into a virtual deer-hunting paradise for me. That guy does most of the legwork of posting signs and "throwing the book" at tresspassers, while I kick back and enjoy the "meats and antlers of his labor".
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That is a great answer and it is exactly what I would in that situation with my Marlin 336 BL 30/30 with fiber-optic open sights. I am very comfortable with it out to 100 yards (on one gallon water jugs anyhow), but that is about it. If I happened to have my father in law's standard Marlin 336 30/30 with it's 3-9X scope, I am cranking that up to 9x and taking the 175 yard shot (rested on the tree) all day long. I am not sure how a .44 mag would perform at that distance, but I suspect not very well compared to the 30/30 (my current ammo supply is 150 grain Federal Fusion 30/30). I am hoping that he will let me hunt with that gun this year if the weather conditions are good. I took my time dialing it in on the range last Thanksgiving weekend, since I had no buck tag to work with then and it was too cold and snowy for the bears to come out. He is pretty particular about his stuff and I would not dare ask to take it out if there was any chance of rain or snow. I will use three different guns up there this year depending on the weather: Nice dry, clear conditions - his 30/30, Foul weather with wind-driven rain, sleet or snow - my 30/30 (I am hoping for that), In between conditions - My big heavy Ruger bolt-action 3-9X scoped 30/06. The Ruger is not easy to tote around up there, but has always got the job done when the bucks showed up, dropping them dead in their tracks at impact. Good luck up there this season.
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If the shot passed thru above the spine, as it sounds like was probably the case, then I agree that the mechanical might not have helped. It very tough to refute the evidence of that non-biased study that Culver posted a few weeks ago. That study showed a very significant improvement in recovery percentage, with mechanical broadheads, especially when used with crossbows. Any broadhead will kill with a perfect shot, but the mechanical has been shown to provide a slight edge on the "less than perfect" ones.
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I am glad to see that it kicks more than a 30/30, which I do hope to use for deer this year (if I can hold on to my buck tag until Thanksgiving). Serious question for you: If you were walking to a spot to do some close-range "bush-hunting", and a big-body, heavy-rack buck appeared broadside across an open meadow, 175 yards away, and you had a good tree to lean on : Would you prefer taking that shot with a Marlin 30/30 BL or a similar-sized lever-action chambered in .44 mag ? Also, do you honestly feel that a 170 gr 30/30 would do a lesser job in the thick stuff, than a 44 mag ? What if we were talking about a .35 rem instead of a 30/30 (would that one have an edge over the 44 mag in either case ?). Finally, if you were way back in the bush and ran out of ammo, do you think it would be easier to find 30/30 or .44 mag at the local nearest store ?
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I stop for essentials (including bananas-which I eat two a day, Genny light - which I drink one a day, and milk) at a local produce market, once a week or so. It is owned by an extended family member and is a quick easy & stop on my drive home from work. It is only a couple miles away and I can take lightly-traveled back roads there and back. My wife stops at the big supermarkets, out on the main highway, for other stuff: vegetables, paper products, pork, and often more chicken than I would prefer. Other than fish, which we have one or two times a month to stay within the recommended NY state consumption guidelines, the only wild game my wife and kids eat is venison. Fortunately, venison tacos are the kids favorite meal so we get that a lot. They also like almost anything made with ground venison, like spaghetti with meat sauce, lasagna, stuffed peppers, stuffed cabbage, chile, etc. The ground meat is always the first thing to get used up (I never cut it with pork as many seem to do). I ground all of the de-boned meat from last Saturday's 2.5 year old 8-pointer (except for the tenderloins, backstraps, liver, heart, and oysters), and we still had a bunch of vacuum-sealed left in the freezer from last year's massive 3.5 year old gun-season swamp-buck, so we are in very good shape there right now. We also ate out a lot more than usual last year, so our venison consumption was down a bit. To save time, I always package the grind from the first deer in zip-lock freezer bags (putting something that will be gone in a few months in vacuum sealed bags is a big waste of time and money). Vacuum sealed venison will last at least (4) years with no freezer burn or loss in flavor. I eat squirrels and rabbits, cooked in the crockpot, but my wife and kids will not (youngest daughter tried squirrel once but will not any more. They did eat the breast of the hen-turkey that I killed last fall, but did not act like they enjoyed it. I suspect they would have liked it a lot better if it "magically" had appeared out of a freezer package. I thought the drum-sticks were very good. It has been a few years since I killed a grouse, but that is still the finest tasting "bird" I have ever eaten.
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I will counter with a "crossbow rave". I can hardly exaggerate how much my cheap, entry level crossbow has exceeded my expectations as a deer-killing machine. This season was the best yet, from that $ 250 Barnett Recruit. It accounted for its (5th) buck last Saturday, after (5) years of wear and tear. I really tapped into the crossbow's superiority, over a vertical bow, this year. In that situation, there is no way I would have been able to make the draw with a vertical, without being noticed by the fine 8-pointer. He locked eye contact on me for a long time, from 50 yards away. I patiently waited him out, and only moved in "super slow motion" when he finally started moving closer. He was across an open field, and there was zero cover between him and me, nor was there anything behind me to break up my outline (I was only 7 feet up in a stand). The best part, was watching him walk slowly into the veiwing range of the telescopic sight, as my crossbow was up on a rest and pointed in his direction. When he reached 20 yards broadside, and extended a front leg, the illuminated green "dot" was centered right on the mark. The only move I needed to make then was with my trigger finger. Of the (5), that was my easiest shot. This baby got it done across an open field at 59 yards on it's first year. I will make sure to not shoot it that far again, since penetration was only 8" (fortunately that was enough to get it all the way thru the heart). My new self-imposed range limit is 40 yards. I sprung for a laser range finder a few years ago to make sure of that. My toughest shot with it was a fast walking buck (probably my largest bodied one ever, with a 43" chest girth), at about 25 yards, in fading light thru the woods. I like this weapon so much now, that I am seriously considering using it this year during our late ML season.
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Being a pure meat hunter, opening day is often a high-pressure day for me, since that is the day when about half of our meat usually comes in (our family of four consumes about 200 pounds a year and I am the only one who hunts). Our meat situation is very good right now, so the pressure will be off this year. Normally, I look for a "three on a side" minimum, during the first half of the seasons. I am upping that to: "four on a side", "outside the ears", or clearly 2.5 years plus this season, for the first time ever. I am still hoping to get a fawn on my last archery hunt tomorrow afternoon, to top off the freezer with some of that "fit-for-a-king" venison. It might sound odd for a meat-hunter to be that selective with a bucktag, but dmp's are very hard to fill where I hunt due to heavy pressure on antlerless deer by farmers with "nuisance-permits", prior to October 1. I see at least (6) antlered deer per each antlerless while hunting. 2.5 year plus bucks provide a lot more meat than 1.5's, so I need to be selective, or face more store-bought chicken on the table. I was blessed with a button buck last season, and still have a few roasts from that left for "special occasions". If things go like they have for the last (38) seasons, this will be an "off-year" on those. One way or another (gun, bow, crossbow, ML, automobile, or gift from friend), we have ended up with one of those every other year over that stretch.
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Biz, you guys had a very good run with those fixed broadheads, but this might be an indication that the time is right to switch to mechanicals. The study that Culver posted, using the Navy base data, indicated a clear advantage for mechanical broadheads with a crossbow (and vertical bows), when it comes to recovery percentage . The wider cutting diameter can make the difference on a marginal hit. My own run with mechanicals has been very good at 6 for 6 which includes one with my old vertical bow. The last one was the first to make it farther than 40 yards after taking the bolt. I still don't know how the heck he managed to make it 150 yards, at a walk while center-punched thru both lungs. Sadly, I lost my last "reworked" mechanical on that pass thru shot. Maybe that one went so far because my "resharpening" job was not that great. I think those things are meant for one-time use. I destroyed one of the 6-pack that I purchased years ago on a practice shot I used to check it's zero with my vertical bow. The two-fur on the last one got me a 6th buck from that 6-pack of mechanical, 125 grain, 3-blade, o-ring style broadheads. Sorry about the lost deer, but I think the odds of him being alive are greater than those of him being dead. My guess is an "above the spine" hit, thru the meaty back-strap area behind the shoulder. A broadhead wound to that area typically heals up completely. I know how your dad feels, because the memories of those that I have hit and lost thru 38 years (fortunately none during archery season since going exclusively to the crossbow in 2014), stay with me a lot clearer than any of my successful harvest do. I still think often about my last non-recovered hit, on a basket-racked 8-point with my ML, and that happened about 15 years ago. I can still see that buck like it was yesterday. It is all crystal clear, from when I first saw him, till I last saw him, and most of all, about when I got the news that my shot was a hit and not a miss as I had wrongly assumed. I followed that track for several hundred yards, and never found so much as a hair or a drop of blood on the fresh snow. You never get too old to learn, and you learn from these things and move on. The most important lesson I learned from that mishap was to never assume a miss until proven otherwise. The best way to "prove" a miss is to kill the deer with a follow up shot and count holes. I have done that twice since then, including my first and largest Adirondack buck in 2014, and a monster swamp buck last season, each of which was killed with my third shot (the Adirondack buck only took one bullet but the last on took all three). That Adirondack buck might still be alive today, and that big swamper would have fed coyotes after succumbing to a "below the spine" gut hit from my first shot, were it not for that hard lesson that I learned 15 years ago. I also learned that fresh snow is not a good indicator of blood, because the hot stuff will cut right thru it, leaving no trace on top. Those two lessons lesson also got me one highly-prized button buck in 2010, that I otherwise might have given up on. It sounds like your tracking efforts were enough to almost prove that, although a hit was certainly made, that deer has a very good chance of recovery. Hopefully, you guys will get another crack at him during gun season.
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I finalized my plans this morning and picked out my "target" buck from a group of (4). He looks like a near-match to the 2.5 year 8-point that I killed with my crossbow last Saturday on the opposite corner of DMU 9f. If all goes well, he will stroll by a stand that I have left un-hunted thru archery season. He was headed that way when I last saw him. If he don't, then I will be able to enjoy Adirondack deer hunting over the Thanksgiving long weekend, which is something I really missed last year after tagging out on opening day.
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LIVE From The Woods 2019 - Lets hear stories and see some pictures!
wolc123 replied to fasteddie's topic in Deer Hunting
I was out the first (4) hours at my folk's place, in search of a doe and to see how the morning action was for the gun opener next Sat. I saw (4) bucks, the closest was a 1.5 year "just inside the ears" 6-point. At 7:22 am, he walked slowly by at 30 yards. He will likely get a pass, if he shows up next Saturday, but a "well outside the ears" 8 point that showed up briefly, about 50 yards at 7:30 am, certainly will not. At 9:45 am, I got a glimpse of another one with some decent horn, but too far to tell if it was "a shooter". At 9:55 am, a tiny spike that almost would have fit on a dmp tag, strolled by about 50 yards out. I did not see any does, but my folks reported seeing one and a couple of 3/4 grown fawns out grazing on clover the previous late afternoon. I will be targeting one of those young ones tomorrow. There was roughly 120 pounds of leftover vacuum sealed venison in the freezer when I added about 60 more from the buck I butchered yesterday (he had a lot of fat on him to trim away). That leaves us about 20 pounds short of enough to last another year. One of those fawns would top things off nicely. I am thinking that doe is keeping all the bucks around and she probably will not miss one of her young ones now that mating season is here. I planned on getting out at 3 pm at home this afternoon (on the opposite corner of WMU 9f), but a buddy showed up to visit so I did not get out until 3:30. Naturally, there was what looked like a big old doe standing in the lane and heading towards the stand I planned on hunting when I walked back. I don't think she saw me at first and she disappeared behind some brush. The wind was in my favor, but she flagged and spooked out of the brush when I tried sneaking into position. I did not see another deer until dark. -
I only shot a .44 mag twice and never at deer (Ruger single-action pistol). Remembering "Dirty Harry", I was a little scared the first time and missed the 8-1/2" x 11" target paper clean at 50 yards, due to anticipation of a big recoil. I was surprised at how tame it was, compared to one time when I fired a 12 gauge pistol-grip shotgun with a magnum slug load from the hip (my wrist was sore for a few weeks after that). My second shot with the .44 mag struck the edge of the bull. I gave it a 1, because I can easily come up with (9) better rifle calibers for deer (the whole "brush-gun deal is a fallacy as others have already explained). Here they are: 1.) 30/06 (only one that I have killed a few deer with so the rest are based on "hear-say", ammo cost and availability, and various other factors.) 2.) 30/30 3) 308 4.) .270 5) .308 6.) 7 mm mag 7.) .35 Rem 8.) 25/06 9.) .243 I put the .243 near the bottom of the list due to a horrific amount of "meat-damage" caused by that caliber on a buck that was given to me by a neighbor last year. If you are just looking to kill deer, and not necessarily eat them, it is a pretty good choice however. Pistol calibers are best left in pistols.
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That is what I do also, with triple seven. The pellets make unloading easier: just pull the breach plug and push out the unused pellets. Trying to do that with loose powder makes a mess sticking to the breach plug grease. I expect someone will figure out how to make pellets out of blackhorn by next season. If not, I will probably stay with triple seven until my current supply is exhausted.