wolc123

Thanks for your service and thanks for posting all those great videos of your canoe/camping/deer hunting trips. Watching them is the next best thing to going up there. Your videos help us all see that the real wonder of that area, is the beauty and scerentity of it.

I knocked a red squirrel out of a tree last Sunday with my pellet gun, but I could not find the carcass. No big deal, since they are too small to eat anyhow. I don't like them noisy little bastards and they seem to chase the greys away (which I do like to eat). The cheap scope on my $39 Dick's sale price Chinese Marksman .177 cal pellet gun has got to go. Horrible light gathering in the woods (it looked ok in the bright sunlight of the yard when I was sighting it in). The fiber-optic sights on that gun look pretty good, and those are what I will use on my next hunt. The view thru the scope was so bad, in the dark woods, that my only option was to aim for center of mass of the squirrel (at a 15 yard range) and hope for the best. The scope is going in the garbage. I was surprised that it seems to hold a decent group, in the bright sunlight, because it is mounted to the receiver and the barrel has to be tilted down and cocked to load the cylinder. The sights are both mounted to the barrel, which should result in better accuracy.

The last few years, I have been using (2) 8 foot, camo-painted ladders to access (4) stands over at my folks place. They are kind of noisy to carry around the woods. I am going to paint up a couple more and get them out there by the time Southern zone crossbow season opens. I completed my last stand move over there last Sunday, finding a cherry tree that was about 12" diameter, in just the right location. It is about 5 yards from the spot where I killed a big button buck last year, from a pop-up blind, with my crossbow. The shooting lanes I made for that are still opened up and will work good from the stand. The tree has good cover behind it and even had a burl in just the right spot to support the bottom of the stand, so that it does not sag and wobble on the strap. That one is on the edge of a clover plot where several nice bucks have been feeding regularly. It is going to be tough deciding if that is going to be my opening day of gun spot this year, or if I will go back to the one deep in the woods by the swamp, where I killed a nice 3.5 year old buck last year. I suppose that I will let the wind and weather make the call. At home, I still have to get the shooting lanes bush-hogged around a few stands. Maybe I can knock that off this Sunday afternoon if it is dry enough. All of my deer weapons except my crossbow are sighted in. That has never taken more than a half-hour, but I will try to get it done soon, just to make sure it is still in good shape. There is still time to get it repaired or replaced if necessary, prior to the October 16 northern zone opener. Until it breaks, or full inclusion happens, I am just going to see how many deer I can kill with that cheap, entry-level crossbow. If I keep my practice shots to a minimum, it might be good for another 5 or 10 years. Not bad for a $ 250 investment. It has produced nearly half of my family's venison since 2014 and has yet to let me down on a shot, or make me track more than 40 yards to find a carcass.

Coon hides are now worthless, but NY state allows landowners to trap "damaging" coons without a permit with no limits on number and no closed season. Outside of the normal trapping season (starts October 25), the carcasses have to be buried or burned. After October 25, you can just chuck them out in the fields for the buzzards. "Damage" is not clearly defined, but as long as you can show a nibbled kernal of corn and or a few downed stalks with coon tracks nearby, you should be ok.. They are not real fussy about enforcing that "damaging" definition, since the collapse of fur prices and the resulting demise of most trapping. If you don't bury them deep, the coyotes will dig them up. They burn good, because they are always loaded with fat.

I no longer hunt with a vertical bow, but since a crossbow is often considered "archery equipment", my first day might be October 17, up in the northern zone. If it is too close to dusk, by the time I get up there, my first day will be Friday, October 18, then it will be three more days of ML hunting before I drive home (no sense hunting with a 50 yard single-shot weapon when one good for 150 yards is legal). My second (or third) day of "archery" hunting will not be until around November 5 , when crossbow opens up in the southern zone. In between, I may head up north for a few days of rifle deer hunting, and I will definitely try to punch that fall turkey tag, at home with the shotgun, on a nice young tender hen. Those drumsticks were delicious in the crock pot last October.

I don't keep the livers from deer that are more than 7 months old, because I have nearly unlimited access to baby beef liver. Those from older deer are always a little on the tough side for my liking. Button bucks livers, on the other hand, are definitely in a class by themselves. They are so tender that they almost melt in your mouth (if cooked medium-rare or rare) and have better flavor than the finest baby beef liver. If my "free" supply of baby beef liver ever runs out, then I might keep and try a few from 1-1/2 year old deer again. I am thinking that those livers just might be tough because, like other red meat, they are subject to rigor-mortis. A week or so in the fridge, prior to freezing, might let that rigor-mortis work its way out, much like it does for the rest of the carcasses. I am changing my expectations just a bit, to hopefully include a 1-1/2 year old deer, so I can give that a try. The secret to the cojones (per Steve Rinella) is frying them in butter, and lots of pepper. Remember to cut a small slit in them prior to frying, or they will explode, making a mess of the Mermaid's stovetop.

I have struggled with that a bit over at my folks place the last few years. My dad is too worn down to help much and he does not have a loader tractor. This porker from 2017 had to be more that 190 pounds field-dressed (per the PA chest girth chart) and it was not too difficult to get it up on that rack without any help. It was a bit easier for me to get a 182 pounder on that rack last year (weighed on a "legal for trade" scale to shut up the PA chart nay-sayers). Throw the rear end up first, then the front or vise-versa. (It is only about a 10" lift). Those two were considerably easier than quite a few smaller deer, that I pulled a lot higher up into the bed of my pickup truck by myself, using the removed tailgate as a ramp. Loading deer at home or up at my in-laws by myself is much easier, thanks to having tractors with front loaders at both of those locations.

Lots of movies have mistakes that make the final cut, but no other that I know of, rose to the degree of naming the movie "The Deerhunter" and not showing any deer. Had I forked over the cash to see that one at the theater, I would have felt like I got robbed. I think that the mountain hunting scene, that Steve posted above, was filmed out on the West coast in the Cascade mountains. I suppose that was a lot easier on the budget than traveling east to PA would have been. Times were tough back then. These days, they can afford to travel east and almost shut down a whole WNY town for a month to make a movie.

Given the title of the film, it would have been nice if a "real" deer (aka: a PA whitetail, as the author of the book surely intended) at least made an appearance, don't you think ? At least they found a few old shoulder mounts to display in a few scenes, but a live whitetail or two would have moved the movie up a few notches for me. I also did not care for the Russian roulette stuff. The movie had some good stuff, but almost as much bad. The single biggest strike against it for me was the absence of any "live" whitetails. I am sure that went unnoticed by most of the non-hunting general public. The title was the only reason I watched the film. The only consolation for me was that I watched it on a free VCR tape and did not have to pay for a movie ticket or sit thru any commercials. At least one was apparently not bothered by the missing "deer".

Plus, you will be saving some Christmas trees. They do a lot of damage to those, starting their second year when they sprout horns..

I was disappointed with that one. Too bad they substituted European stags and Western elk for PA whitetails. Clearly, the Hollywood types have not got a clue when it comes to real hunting. On a scale of 1 to 10, I would rate that movie about a 6. At least the steel-mill scenes were realistic and the acting was good. I will go along with that and rate that movie a 10. The acting and directing was about as good as it gets. That is probably the movie that turns more people off from hunting than any other and has likely caused many to go vegan.

That is always my goal also. Other than with my crossbow, I did not do so good at that last season. The buck I killed with my shotgun took three shots (fortunately those three hits did not wreck too much meat). The bad hits there, and what I am 98 % sure was a clean miss later on a doe, were caused by a bad scope which I have now replaced. A branch, that I did not see, saved another doe from my ML later. I really feel the need to get back on track.

Our venison supply is still pretty good, for this time of year, so I could probably get by with one large deer or a couple of average sized ones this season. I have not seen many around home, but a "border-line" buck showed up here in fog behind the creek this morning, right at sunrise. His antlers were fairly thick and extended kind of far forward, but were not quite as wide as his ears. It was definitely a unique looking rack, that would make a nice euro. I could not quite make out if there were 3 points on a side in the fog, but if there was then he would be a shooter for me. The body looked to be a big 1.5 or possibly even a 2.5 year old. In the first half of crossbow and gun seasons, he might get a pass, but he would be a shooter for sure in the second half. I am planning to get out after squirrels with my pellet gun, over at my folks place tomorrow, on the other side of WMU 9F. They have been seeing quite a few deer over there, where I still need to reposition one hang-on stand. It is currently in a good squirrel spot, but before dark, I am going to move it to a better deer spot. My first hunts this season will be 1 day of crossbow, followed by 3 days of ML up in the northern zone. I am hoping for a doe or button buck up there for my antlerless tag. A buck would have to be a 2-1/2 year old or older, because I do not want to miss out on a chance at a bigger one with my crossbow at home. Fortunately, there is a fair amount of Ag around my in-laws place up there, so the deer are just as tasty as those killed around the crop fields back home. Punching that antlerless tag early up there would be great for our food supply. If I have to choose between a mature doe and a button buck up there, I will go with the doe, because there is still a clear browse line around the lake which tells me that the local deer population is above optimum. It is a different story at home though, where does seem to be few and far between probably caused by relentless "nuisance" permit hammering by local farmers. Since my venison supply is ok now, I will go for quality over quantity and give the button buck the first shot at home for a DMP tag, if an opportunity for an "either/or" pops up. I will be a happy camper with one 2.5 year old or older buck and one avg doe or button buck this season. I would be a bit happier with one more so I could give it to my brother-in-law. He raises beef cattle and makes the best jerky from half ground venison and half ground beef. He does not hunt and I let him down last year by blowing a couple of chances at does.

I killed my first antlered buck when I was 17, wearing a pair of those that were my grandfathers, and using his old Ithaca 16 gauge deerslayer. They just barely fit me then, and I outgrew them by the next season. My wife found a pair in in my size at an antique shop a few weeks ago. I am really looking forward to wearing them this season. If it is cold up north, during the early ML season (starts October 19), that will be my first chance to try them. I sighted in my ML last Sunday, along with that old 16 gauge Ithaca. I hope to get out at least once during gun season at home in the southern zone, with that old Ithaca, on my grandad's old farm, while wearing those Woolrich pants. I remember them being very warm, even if they got wet. She got the matching jacket also (size 44), but that is a little tight and I don't think I will keep it. Send me a pm if interested in the jacket ( $ 20 local pickup in WMU 9F)

5 low ladder stands (4-8 ft high), 3 low hang-ons (6-8 ft high), 1 "slightly" elevated box blind (5 ft high) and 3 "almost" ground blinds (2 ft high), on 100 acres of land in the southern zone that is almost as flat as a pancake. I am more comfortable hunting closer to the ground (never use a safety harness but have 3 ft safety rails all the way around most of the "higher" stands - except for the hang-ons), and staying low makes a "double-lunger" a lot easier. Last archery season, I killed one from a pop-up blind, right on the ground. I don't think I will ever try that again, because a spider (possibly a brown recluse) got me in there on my next hunt, and the snow load busted one of the poles during gun season. In the mountains up north, it is all on the ground, either still-hunting or seated in a "tree-hammock" chair. I find that the older I get, the less comfortable I am high up in a tree, and the easier it seems to be to kill deer from close to the ground.

I agree, and it was. It is also good to assume that every gun is loaded. That was the thought on my mind, when I looked at that little buck messing around with my rifle, as I stood down range. The gun was pointed in a safe direction (at the target backstop which consists of a huge mound of topsoil). There was no one else around, but the little buck was the "wildcard". I had killed lots of deer by the time that incident happened (maybe even that little buck's mother and/or brother) so I do not feel very comfortable downrange while it was standing next to my rifle. As far as your little agitator goes, I would shoot it with a paint-ball gun. Invite some kids over on youth weekend or crossbow season and see if they can take it out for you. That way, they will know for sure that they got the right one ("look for the big orange mark on the center"). Maybe offer a cash or prize reward if they get the job done.

I did not put a tape on it but it looked to be pretty close to that. I could only get the head into my 24" diameter rubber net and it seemed like close to half of it's length was hanging out of that as I held the tail with my other hand while lifting it into the boat. It was pretty well played out, using a light action spinning outfit with 8 pound line. I did not want to mess around with it any longer than necessary in the boat, to give it a better chance of survival, so I did not put a tape measure on it. I wet my hands before touching it, and it swam right down to the bottom when I tossed it back so I think it probably made it. They have to be 54 inches to keep out there now, and it was certainly no where near that. I just put a tape measure on the one that is up on the wall in our billiard room (I got that idea from George Bolt from the one at his place on Heart island up on the St Lawrence). I caught it in the same same spot, on the upper Niagara about 20 years ago (when they only had to be 44 inches long). It measures 47" dried out and mounted (I think its "live" length was 48"). The one from labor day was definitely shorter (and lighter) than that one. My best guess would be 39-1/2 inches or so. That particular spot (just a little upstream of the South Grand Island bridge, near the island shore) must be a real hot-spot for them. Last year, during a bass tournament, one about the same size came up and pulled a decent sized smallmouth right off my jig up on the surface before I could get it in the boat. That bass looked to be at least 15 inches long. In my younger days, I fished for musky's a lot but these days they are all "accidental" catches. They really do love those little 1/4 oz bucktail jigs though, probably seeing them as an "after dinner mint". Musky's are a smelly, not particularly good eating fish (I ate a few back in the day when thye only had to be 30" long to keep), but they are fun to catch. I don't think there are any smarter fish, when it comes to knowing how to get away after they are hooked.

I had a doe charge me multiple times, coming within about 5 feet before veering off, snorting the whole time. That also happened in early September, back by my pond. I was wearing some old camo coveralls, that had been hanging for about a year out in the barn, so they were pretty scent-free. It was early goose season, so I had a shotgun in one hand and my fishing rod in the other when I walked back to the pond. I don't think the doe had any clue what I was. It was very hot that afternoon, and she was cooling off in the water with a fawn. She charged, when I got within about 50 yards. I tried to ignore her and sat down on the bank and made a few casts. She kept up her bluff charges, until I hooked a bass and it began flopping and splashing around. That got her attention and scared her. She and the fawn promptly high-tailed it into the brush. She did not scare me one iota (maybe because I was very well armed with my 12 gauge pump, loaded with 3" steel # 2's). I was just a little scared of a little buck back there one time however. Not scared of being charged but scared of being shot by my own rifle. It also happened in early September, on Labor day weekend. I was back at the range, sighting in my 30/06. It was up on a shooting cradle, pointed down-range, and I was at the backstop changing targets, 100 yards away. I saw the little buck (spike or fork-horn) walk out of the brush. He walked right up to the shooting bench. He must have liked the smell of burnt powder, because his muzzle was right next to that of my rifle. I hoped it was unloaded, and that he did not knock it off the cradle, resulting in an "accidental discharge".

It has been about 20 years, since I hunted that area, but I had my first encounter with Adirondack deer there (in a little patch of thick brush about a hundred yards off the main highway, across the road from Galusha's camp on Lewey lake). I knew there were deer in the area, because I found some hair on a barbed-wire fence at the back of an old pasture. I got down wind of the area where I figured they were holed up. When they busted out of the cover, the three that I got my crosshairs on all lacked headgear. Another one (left a much bigger set of tracks), ran off in another direction, and I was quite certain it was a buck, based on the size of the tracks that it left in the mud.

Are you going for the early ML season ? What areas are you looking at ? I will be up there (on the North-West corner of the Adirondack park) in October, for a couple days of crossbow and the first three days of the early ML season. Does are legal then in zone 6C, but not across the road in zone 6F, so I will spend most of my time in 6C. If I do manage to fill my "antlerless only" tag, I will cross over to 6F, because there are more bears on that side of the road. I have taken a few does up there at that time of year, but never had a good chance at a buck at that time. They are a lot easier to find after the first good snow (I have killed a couple up there over the long Thanksgiving weekend). This has been a much colder than average year so far though, so maybe we will see some snow up there in mid-October It sounds like you will be near water. If there is a distinct browse line, on the pines around the lake, then you will know you are in an area with a good deer population. If there are green pine branches hanging down to the water, it would be best to move on to a different spot. I also look forward to the fishing at that time of year, especially when it is a little warmer. A few years ago, I caught my biggest smallmouth in a long time up there in mid October (on a bucktail jig). A day or two later, I killed one of the does that was keeping the "snags" trimmed all around the lake shore for me. I usually hunt the mornings and late afternoons and fish mid-day. I can't think of any place on the face of the earth where I would rather be at that time. Certainly there is no finer scenery anywhere else. It is a toss-up, as to which is better up there - peak fall foliage and spectacular fishing, or first good snow-cover in the mountains and great buck hunting.

Those are some very nice looking flies you have made. I am also looking forward to tying some more this winter after my "free-time" schedule opens up a little. A bass-fishing buddy called me the other day and said his dad retired and is moving out of state and he wondered if I wanted his old fly-tying equipment. I have not done trout flies in many years, but it might be time to try that again. Back when I was a kid in 4-H, showing livestock at the Erie county fair, there was often an older gentleman from Trout unlimited tying trout flies in the conservation building. I would head over there every day, after feeding the animals, sometimes bringing him fancy hackle feathers that I found in the chicken barn. He taught me how to tie and I would spend hours up there every day. His favorite pattern was the "Royal Wulf" which he said worked wonderfully down on the Wiscoy creek. I think that pattern, a slight variation of the "Royal Coachmen", used calf's tail hair for the wing. We stayed very close to the launch, probably burning less than 3 gallons, so the cost per pound of fish was kept to a minimum. I had to run some stabilized gas thru the boat anyhow, to get it ready for winter, so I thought a short jaunt out on the river would be better than running it with muffs and a garden hose in the driveway. I don't waste much cash on modern equipment either. Notice the Eagle silenty-sixty on the dash next to my box of bucktail jigs. I paid about $ 80 for that back in 1981 and it is still going strong.

I tie bucktail jigs, mostly for smallmouth bass fishing. That saves me lots of cash (don't need to buy bait or much tackle and family gets to eat "free fish" throughout the year. The deer tails are "free" (If I cant shoot enough, I pick some off road kills) and I pour my own heads. I only need to buy the hooks and I get a couple years out of a $ 5.00 hundred-pack. On Labor day, I used a few of those jigs to finish securing our winter's fish supply, with a limit of smallmouths from the Upper Niagara. I did loose one jig out there on a snag and almost lost another on a 40 inch musky. Fortunately, he was hooked on the outer lip and I got him into the boat to remove it with the needle-nose pliers.

I use those cheap hand-held Earthway bag/broadcast spreaders for fertilizer on plots under an acre in size, and for seeding wheat and soybeans, even on larger plots (up to 3 acres). For broadcasting fertilizer, on larger plots, I use an old 3-point Cyclone spreader that holds a couple hundred pounds. I paid $ 25 for that at the Alexander Steam show about 15 years ago. The Earthway slipped off the hood of my tractor and got crushed by a loaded rear tire on Tuesday night, just as I was getting ready to sow wheat and soybeans. No big deal, because it was on its third season anyhow and ready for replacement (fertilizer is kind of tough on them). Fortunately, I had an old Cyclone bag/broadcast spreader in the barn (I think I got it for $ 5.00 at the Alexander steam show a couple years ago), that had never been used on fertilizer. After patching a couple holes in the bag with duct-tape, and re-tying the broken strap, it worked very well on the soybeans and wheat. For tiny seed like clover and turnips, I like those little plastic Scotts hand seeders the best, regardless of plot size. It seems to me that many foodplotters go way overboard with their seeder/spreaders, when a $ 19 , hand-held Earthway would get the job done just fine. I can't believe all the ATV mounted spreaders out there. By the time they get that out and hooked up, they could have the job done with the Earthway.

Wheat costs $ 8.00 for a 50 pound bag at Rinehart's in Middleport and is significantly more attractive to deer than cerial rye. With some difficulty (broke and "farmer fixed" a drag and wrecked a cheap broadcast seeder), I was able to get a couple acres planted last night, finishing up just before 9:00 pm. September 10 is the earliest date recommended for planting winter wheat in NY, to reduce Hessian fly damage. That wheat was seeded light at 30 pounds per acre, but I also broadcast 20 pounds per acre of soybeans and 5 pounds per acre of white clover. Normally, I cultipack after spreading the wheat and soybeans, then again after the clover, but I seeded all prior to cultipacking just once last night to save some time. Cultipacking by moonlight with no lights on tractor was not overly difficult. If I had more daylight available, I would have done it twice, because I have always had great germination results on the clover and the wheat and beans when doing it that way. I am a little worried that the clover seed might have got pushed in a little too deep, but I won't find out about that until spring. Frost-seeding another 5 pounds/acre into the wheat then might be a good idea. Big rain (about 3/4 inch) that came in after midnight should get all that was planted going now. I spread 50 pounds/acre of triple 15 fertilizer (leftover from no corn planting this spring) prior to last pass with disk on those plots yesterday afternoon. That should give the wheat a boost. The small areas of purple-top turnips that I planted at the end of both plots in late July are over a foot tall now and I hit them with a bit more fertilizer last night before the rain. The deer by me never touch them until the first hard frost.

There is quite a variation in the size of button bucks. I rarely shoot the little ones. The one that I killed last year with my crossbow yielded more boneless meat than many of the mature does that I have processed during gun season. Very little fat, and no gun shot damage conserves meat. That was the first one I shot since 2012, and I actually thought it was a mature doe at the time. I was happy to find out that it was not, because, like I said earlier, I do not enjoy all the extra time it takes to trim the fat from doe during processing. Do you enjoy the flavor of doe fat ? Do you like it sticking to the roof of your mouth ? I would like it if I never had to process another doe, but that is not likely unless NY allows three bucks for those who purchase ML, archery, and gun hunting permits. Another big advantage of killing button bucks is that they can be processed much sooner after killing because the younger the red-meat bearing animal, the faster rigor mortis releases. If I allow the carcasses the proper time to age, then I can not tell the difference in the meat from a 1-1/2 thru a 3-12 year old deer (I have killed few if any older than that). 6 month old venison is definitely in a class by itself however, literally a meal fit for a king (or a prodigal son who has returned). It is too bad that you and many others have such little appreciation for such "fine dining". I feel very blessed to have had the opportunity of enjoying at least one every other year for the past 36 seasons that I have been hunting (In 2014 a buddy killed on for me and in 2016 I finished off one that a car hit at the end of our driveway with my knife). I cherish the memory of all the button bucks I have killed as much or more than many of the antlered bucks and more than all but two of the does (Adirondack ML kills). They include my first gun deer, my first bow deer, my last crossbow deer, my only late ML kill, and a fair number that got to make that short trip to "deer heaven" (my family's food supply), as part of a "double" along side of their mommas.