wolc123

Probably so, but I will miss the pellets. Maybe by next season someone will figure out how to make them from it.

The firing pin is hanging up on my T/C Omega. It seems to be a corrosion issue. I have been using triple seven pellets for a few years and loose pyrodex before that. If I don't get time to take it apart and clean/fix it prior to late ML, I will be packing my Barnett Recruit crossbow that weekend. No big deal, other than dropping my effective range down to 40 from about 150 yards. I will just move into thicker cover, where long shots are not possible, and more likely there are more deer. If that happens, I will spring for some more mechanical broadheads for it. Next season, I will get the ML fixed up and switch to the Blackhorn powder.

I was out for the first (2) hours, about 2 mi to the south in 9F. I only saw one deer this morning at 6:52 am. It was an adult for sure, and I am guessing that it was a 1.5 year buck, probably the same 3-pointer that I saw last Saturday. He was half-way back to our house and I was way out back in my two-story blind. It looked like he had freshened up the scrape next to my blind, sometime during the night. He was about 200 yards away when I saw him, way too far to make out the tiny rack. I am about half way thru cutting up the 8-point from Saturday right now, and just finished up about 1/4 of it's liver for lunch. After aging a week in the fridge, it is pretty good and not as rubbery as I remember those from older deer, eaten fresh, in the past. After hearing "pygmy" talk about liver from older deer (I am about 90 % sure this one was 2.5 yr old), I had to give it a try. Those from fawns are good fresh, and melt in your mouth, but only make about one meal. Hopefully, I can finish butchering and grinding (backstraps are already in the freezer) in time to catch the last couple hours of daylight. Where are the does ? There ought to be does. I have (5) tags for them and have yet to see one for sure. As far as crops go, I planted several aces of wheat/soybean/white clover mix and have a couple decent turnip plots, which seem to be getting some action right now based on tracks, but no corn this year.

Same deal here. In 38 seasons I have yet to see a larger buck after punching my tag. The odds are good because the rut should be in full swing today. I am hoping to get a chance at an antlerless deer (have 5 tags available for those in 9F). A button buck would be great.

I always use the crockpot for them, sometimes mixed with rabbit. The squirrel is always the best tasting, but it takes about (3) of them to equal one rabbit.

This does sound high back, well above the spine and maybe not even cutting any skin. That range is just right for her to hear your crossbow release it's energy and drop down enough to take the bolt over the back, especially on an uphill shot. I was afraid that might have happened to me on last Saturday's buck, when the blood petered out on a "false lead" and I could not find him for about a half hour of grid-searching a small thicket that I thought he must have died in. I heard what sounded like a crash in there, but it must have been another deer. I followed very good blood for about 50 yards before turning into that thicket, but no more once inside of it. When I could not find him, I thought a high back wound might have stopped bleeding and he might be ok and long gone (as I am fairly certain your doe is). Fortunately, I went back to the "real" blood trail and continued the pursuit. When he fast-walked off after taking the bolt, he made a short move towards the small thicket, then turned away and disappeared behind it. I thought he went into it, but it turned out that he did not. He actually made it about a hundred yards farther, across an open field, and about 5 feet into a much larger thicket. The difference was, my shot was from 7 feet in the air and from a 20 yard range The closer range and downward angle did not give him time to "duck" the shot, and it did pass below the spine. When I got back on the "real" blood-trail, I found him in short order. Tree-guys advice about aiming low is a good idea to help avoid those high-back, string-jump issues, especially when you are hunting from the ground.

I saw similar results on this Saturday with a young and an older buck . A 1.5 year old 3-pointer came in just after sunrise. His neck was swollen and he worked a scrape 10 yards upwind of my stand. He even stood up on his back legs and licked an oak branch up above the scrape. About 10 minutes later, this 2.5 year old 8-pointer came in on the same trail. After hanging up at 50 yards for a 30 minute "stare down", he began to slowly work his way closer while gorging on clover. I arrowed him at 20 yards, broadside. His neck was not swelled up and he did not smell "rutty" and there were no busted up tines on his rack. I am very thankful that I passed on "the scout". I prefer killing them pre-rut when they still have "heafty" rear ends, intact antlers, and don't stink as much.

Thanks Biz. I never hunt more than 8 feet up anymore, but I have only killed one from the ground with my crossbow. That was the other "center-punch" lung broadside shot and he only went about 15 yards after taking the bolt. Are the "Boltcutter" fixed or mechanical, and how many grain ? I am in the market now. My ML has been acting up a bit (fireing pin is sticking), so I might be toting my crossbow this December, especially if I still have my gun buck tag by then.

Thanks Larry, I put a hanging shot in cb harvest thread and a nut-shot in beer thread. He was far from my heaviest buck (just a 39-1/4" chest girth) but he might be my best "antler score" 8-point. I already have one of those shoulder mounted, so he will get the old power-wash euro. I did that with another, almost identically sized 8-point but with slightly less symmetry. This one is just about perfectly matched, with all the tines within 1/16 in length side to side. The rack almost looks fake due to that symmetry. The "gross" score would probably equal the "net", but I ain't much into antler scores. Maybe I will make some type of "bookend" style display with the two 8 point euros. Congrats on your kill today also.

It is cool, how you were able to kill him so cleanly, with a somewhat unorthodox shot angle. Hopefully your taxidermist will be able to highlight that in some way with the mount (some cut hair in the shape of your broadhead maybe). What broadheads did you use by the way ? Ironically, a similar buck that I killed on the same day with my crossbow, was by far my most difficult recovery despite what seems to be the universally-accepted "best" point of impact and shot angle. This guy was standing broadside in an open hay field, 20 yards away and took my bolt right on the very hair where I had aimed. I was 7 feet up, on the second deck of a two-story blind. After taking the "pass thru" bolt, tipped with a reworked, o-ring style, 125 grain, 3-bladed mechanical broadhead, he whirled around 180 degrees, and fast walked back from the way he came. He made a short turn towards a 2 acre thicket about 75 yards away, then turned back and continued on across the field towards a larger, 5 acre thicket. I could not see him then, so I missed that last part. He expired about 5 feet into that one, having traveled approximately 150 yards after taking the bolt in the "best" spot, from the "best" angle. My recovery took much longer than it should have, because I had heard what must have been another deer crashing in the small thicket. I took his "false lead" into there, where the blood petered out and I spent about 1/2 hour grid-searching the whole tangled jungle-like mess. I started having some doubts and thinking I may have hit too high, above the spine, despite what looked like a perfect hit. I found him shortly after returning to the last good blood and getting back on the "real" trail. The other (4) bucks that I have killed with the same crossbow and broadheads (all factory new) had dropped within 40 yards of taking the bolts and only one of those was lung "center-punched" broadside (others were: center heart - broadside, front lung - slight quartering to, and rear lung - slight quartering away. Maybe this one went so far because my sharpening job was not that great on the "reused" broadhead. That was the last one I had, and I could not find it after 15 minutes of searching today. I will have to spring for some new ones next season (I will go with fixed muzzy's the rest of this year while trying to fill dmp tags because they impact identical to my used-up mechanicals). I will have to add your "shirt pocket" shot to my bag of tricks if a chance to use it ever comes up. I do have a bit of experience from the other end with my 30/06 and that one piled up right in his tracks.

My place is about 2 miles from the border in 9F. Action was good yesterday but nada today. Sat from 2:30 to dark and just seen a squirrel. The vermin had my gut-pile completely cleaned up though, and I picked up the all the surveyors ribbon that marked my blood trail, except the first piece that was about where he stood when shot. I could not find my "pass-thru" bolt and will have to send the kids back there in the spring to see if they have any luck. Not easy to find in a 12" high hay field.

By weight or antler size ? I am not sure on the antlered ones, might be a three-way tie on weight. This was likely my heaviest BB however, of the dozen or so that I have killed over the last 38 seasons. Per the PA chest girth chart, with the NY WMU 9FA correction applied, his dressed weight must have broke 100 pounds:

It don't look like I will need to fire up the deer fridge this year. I am glad that "global warming" has backed off a bit the last couple of seasons. I ain't had to fire up that fridge since 2016. It sucks quite a bit of juice but always starts when plugged in. With nighttime lows outside in the low thirties and daytime highs in the fourties, I can hold the skin-on carcasses at 32-42 F. inside that insulated garage, with no trouble. I had the "oysters" for lunch yesterday. They were spectacular, fried in olive oil with lots of pepper. Way better than any sea oysters that I have had. I still have not had time to run the numbers on the 39-1/4" chest girth. I am guessing around 160 pounds dressed. The buck was heavy in the rear and difficult to hoist up by myself with the cheap little hand pulley. It was not rutting hard yet and it was feeding on clover as it approached my two-story blind yesterday morning. I will probably skin it next Saturday night and cut it up Sunday. Hopefully it will yield 60 pounds or more of boneless meat. It looked to be pretty lean, so there will not be much fat to trim away (I hate processing does for that reason) and there is no wound damage to worry about.

Thanks, and good luck to you today and the other three forum members, who still have their archery buck tags after yesterday's slaughter. It is not often that I fill mine this early. Maybe this year, for the first time in 38 seasons, I will see a larger antlered buck (and wish I still had a tag) while I am out there trying to fill doe tags. I got thru yesterday afternoon's hunt with no more deer sightings. I have (5) more archery hunts planned before gun season and (5) antlerless tags available. Filling those at my place (where I got the buck yesterday) or over at my folk's place on the opposite corner of 9F, is extremely difficult, due to heavy pressure on them by farmers with nuisance permits prior to October 1. One more average sized deer will give us plenty of venison for the year, and the rest will get donated somewhere if I am so fortunate to get more chances.

You are right, and I am not (I am a Genny guy). We had a confirmation party for my daughter last weekend and my wife picked those up in case some of the beer snobs, from her side of the family, who were invited did not want Genny. There were quite a few left and I got to get rid of them, to make room for more Genny in the beer fridge. I got to admit they are pretty good, almost equal to Genny Octoberfest. Rinella is right about the pepper on the "oysters". I used plenty and they were very good. I skipped the butter, which he recommends, and went with extra virgin olive oil instead, which I always use for my tenderloins . The pepper is the key ingredient for sure.

This 2.5 year old 8-point may have been my easiest shot with my Barnett Recruit, since 2014, but it was the scariest recovery. For the first time, I did not hear a crash within 40 yards or see him go down. Chest girth was only 39-1/4" and I still have not calculated the dressed weight, from the PA chart (with the 9F NY correction factor applied), but definitely my highest scoring crossbow rack and the first in a long time with no "rut" damage. I passed up a 1.5 year 3 point at 8:00 am. This one followed the same path, but hung up 50 yards out and stared at me without even a twitch for almost 1/2 hour. Finally he started moving closer and I moved my crossbow into position in "super slow motion" When he entered the view in my "green dot" Barnett sight, I put the center dot on the spot and sent the bolt. It looked good but I waited a half hour to pursue. I thought I heard a "crash" in the nearby thicket. I said my usaual prayer for an easy recovery before getting down. I followed good blood, to the point I last saw him, where it appeared that he turned and entered the thicket, but the blood petered out at that point. I then did a 1/2 hour grid search of the thicket with no success. I had marked last blood with surveyors ribbon and I went back to it. I pulled the little red Bible out of my pack, opened it to a random verse in the book of John, said a quick prayer, and started looking for more blood. It turned out that he did not enter that thicket where I heard noise after he disappeared. There must have been other deer in there (maybe his little brother had circled back in there). I found blood leading across a field, and continued to mark it with bits of orange ribbon. He was headed towards another, larger thicket. I looked up, and there he laid, belly up, just about 5 yards into that one. My uncle lives next door. He is my God-father and is recovering from some recent surgery. I gave him one of the tenderloins and just finished up the other one for lunch. It looks like a good week to hang the carcass in our insulated garage.

They were big but the chest girth was only 39-1/4".

Just Out of October but goes good with filet mignon and "oysters".

BBD (8 pt 110ish C and

Same thing happened to me. I got my (2) 9F tags but the cashier did not have a clue when I asked if I could donate $10 for the Hunters feeding the hungry program. He tried to find something on the DEC site with no success. The computers were extra slow noon, probably due to volume traffic. I felt sorry for the long line of folks behind me, trying to score free tags on their lunch brake. Now my plan is to pay for the butchering, if I get an extra deer to donate. It is too bad the DEC cant get this deal straightened out. I have heard that others had similar results when they tried to make donations at various retail outlets, besides just Walmart.

I am wondering why you would release them alive ? Now that trapping season is open, you don't need to bury or burn the carcasses, you can just throw them out in the field to feed the buzzards. Dead coons save turkey and grouse eggs, and reduce the rabbies threat to pets. I cant think of any good reason to release one alive.

The nats are making some history tonight.