wolc123

One walked to within 30 yards of me yesterday afternoon while I was on a tractor bush-hogging. It did not show any concern whatsoever and acted like a tame dog. I would have loved to shot it with my .22 but until they change the law, I will hold off.

Mostly ground blinds and ladder stands for me although I do have (2) hang-ons over at my folk's place. They are only up about 7 feet and I use a short aluminum, camo-painted ladder to get up in them. Last year I killed a hefty 3.5 year old buck out of one of them on opening day of gun season. My favorite stands to hunt out of these days are built on the ladder racks of old construction-style truck caps. The year before last, I killed another 3.5 (smaller rack but slightly heavier than last year's 182-pounder, based on a 1 inch larger chest-girth measurement) from one of those over at my folks place with my crossbow. That deck was also up about 7 feet, with a 3 foot high wall all around for safety, cover, and weapon rest. I believe that the buck I killed that year was attracted to the noise of me clearing leaves from inside of that wall (I intentionally tried to sound like a buck clearing a scrape when I did that). The older I get, the closer to the ground I like to hunt. If the weather cooperates, I will try and move on of those hang-ons tomorrow afternoon. The one that I killed the big buck out of is staying right where it is, but the other will be moved to the closest suitable tree to where I killed what might be my largest ever button-buck last crossbow season, from a pop-up blind. The pop-up was comfortable to hunt out, but held spiders in the warm weather, and collapsed under the snow load later.

Like tree guy say's, it appears that you are trying to use a finish mower as a bush hog. Those things are designed for cutting grass, not brush. A 5 foot Bush-hog squealer would be just about perfect for your tractor. That is a light-duty cutter designed for tractors in the 25-35 hp range. Rhino makes a pretty good equivalent (I use a Rhino SE6 on my 43 hp tractor), but it does not make quite as neat of a cut as the old Bush-hog 5 foot "Squealer" that I had on my previous 32 hp tractor. For your tractor and usage, I would avoid the "heavy-duty" cutters. They run a lower rpm and do not make as neat of a cut on food-plots. A light duty bush-hog is perfect for cutting brush up to about 2" diameter. and general food-plot maintenance. Finish mowers are best left on the lawns with the hydro transmission mowers. I would also recommend figuring out a way to get tubeless front tires on your tractor. Repairs are a lot easier to make on those, in the field.

Our farm is near the NW corner of WMU 9F, and my parent's is near the SE corner. The drive between them is 13 miles and takes about 20 minutes. That is the farthest away that I have hunted without spending the night. I had a small chunk of land, about half way between these two places, for about 10 years. I sold it shortly after purchasing this farm from my grandmother. The 10 minute drive was nice, becausue I could come home easily for lunch. I can still count on one hand, the deer that I have killed outside of those three places. That includes my first deer (a button buck of course) down in Allegheny state park, (2) Adirondack bucks and (2) Adirondack ML does. Hopefully I can up that number a bit this season. All of those involved several night's stay. I have driven up to two hours away, to fish for the day, on many occasions. I am very thankful for the deer and other wildlife nearby, and for great places to stay far away, so that I never had to do that to hunt.

Happy birthday Larry. Where did TF's thread go ?

4:05

I also prefer winter wheat over rye, because it is cheaper and easier to find, but mostly because the deer like it better. It looks like we are in for a long dry spell now. As soon as I see some rain in the forecast, I am going to get in a couple plots of a wheat/soybean/white clover mix. Those late-summer/early fall soybeans are the ticket to get the deer using the plots right away, and into early bow season, if we don't get an early frost. The wheat should hold them there until late ML season. I am hoping that my ace-in-the hole at that time will be the purple-top turnips. I planted those on about 1/4 of each of those plots already, one two weeks ago and the other last weekend. The two week stuff is up a few inches already. I hope it does ok thru the predicted dry stretch that we are just now getting into. I fertilized them heavy and seeded them lightly so they should have a decent chance.

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Oddly enough, I killed a big swamp buck from a hang-on that was about 6 ft up last season, with my slug gun. The older I get, the less fond that I am of heights. The land that I hunt, in the southern zone, is all very flat. I like to get up just high enough to improve visibility and to get some down-angle for my shots. I am most comfortable on flat land, about 6 feet off the ground. That is high enough to put my own shots in the ground (after hopefully passing thru deer), and to get me out of the line of fire from neighbors (none of my spots are that big). I never use a safety harness, but most of my stands have 3 foot safety-rail/shooting-rest all the way around (the hang on last year did not, but a 6 foot fall into the soft swamp ground would probably not hurt me that bad). Last year, I lowered my last 12 ft high ladder stand, by removing the lower ladder section. That stand is far more comfortable for me to hunt out of now. I just planted some turnips, in a small plot near it today, so it should be a good late ML spot. Now, all of my stands are less than 7 feet high, and all but two hang-ons have safety rails. I am going to leave the one that I killed the big buck out of last year, right where it is . I plan to move the other one to the nearest suitable tree to the spot where I had a pop-up blind last season. I killed what might be my largest ever button buck from that pop-up with my crossbow last season. Nonetheless, I will not hunt from a pop-up there this year, because I suffered a bad spider bite on a later hunt (brown recluse maybe). When hunting with a crossbow or gun, it is not as important to get up so high, since there is no need to make that quick draw motion, when a deer is in close, like there is with a vertical bow. In 2017, I killed a slightly larger-bodied, but smaller-racked 3.5 year old buck from the second story of a big ground blind (deck was about 6 feet up with a 3 ft high wall for cover, weapon rest, and safety), with my crossbow from a range of about 15 yards. The poor bastard never knew what hit him. Nor did the big one last year, but he was out about 100 yards when my slugs hit him.

Ruffed grouse. Top - wing, Bottom - tail.

Prayers sent for speedy recovery.

Being a Christian, I NEVER feel alone. Staying on good terms with He who controls the fate of all living things has certainly made hunting a lot easier, and a lot more enjoyable for me. He never ceases to amaze me with His blessings and hunting and fishing let me see those more clearly than any other activity I have partaken in.

The folks who live next door to my family's place up there bought a small group of islands a few years ago, not too far from the shipping lane. They built a fancy shack on one and have a grill out there. We take the kids there to swim, because the water is much clearer and cooler than in the bay, which tends to get very weedy and too hot at this time of year. Besides the swimming, It is a cool place to watch the sunsets and the ships go by. My brother's girlfriend is a great cook and she whipped up some tasty cassidias while we were out there last week. I will have to try some fish on the grill next time I go, which probably won't be till next August.

8:00 pm at the Regal Transit/Wherle ? Wife and I were there last night. That was the second time she saw it. She thought I would like it and I did. I was never too fond of hippies or karate dudes and it was nice to see them each handled nicely by Pitt and Dicaprio. My favorite part was the Bruce Lee scene. I would say it is my new favorite Tarantino movie.

It really is a beautiful place. That region is tied with the Adirondacks, for my favorite places to be. I feel very blessed to have family with a cottage and a home in each of those spots. It has been about (4) years since I have been inside Bolt castle (usually I drop off the kids and fish nearby while they tour the castle or eat ice cream at the snack bar). Maybe it is time for me to go back inside and check out the progress. Do they still have the musky on the mantle in the billiard room ? At home in WNY, we have a Niagara river musky, along with a St Lawrence pike and walleye, hanging above the bar in our own billiard room. I caught all of those "by accident" while fishing for bass (I have yet to mount a bass). The last time I was at Bolt castle, a couple from Texas was having their wedding there, and planned to do their honeymoon in the area. It amazed me how the folks from down south talked about that place in the summer, like us northerner's talk about Hawaii, or other tropic retreats in the winter. Apparently, there is no place on earth with a more comfortable summer climate than the Thousand islands region. I would say that is true from about July 1 until around August 15. During that time, the main river temperature runs 75 - 78 degrees (perfect swimming) temperature range, and it keeps the air temperature on those islands in that comfortable range. We are already seeing the start of the cooler nights now, so your trip was just in the nick of time to enjoy the best of the best. When I am up there, I spend most of my time on the water or in the water, and I have not been to Clayton in quite a while. A buddy from work asked me to stop over there for the big antique boat auction and flea-market last weekend, but the fishing and swimming was too good further down river for me to leave it. I also don't care much for the touristy/shopping stuff in Alex bay. Prices on fishing tackle and price and quality at the food joints is better down in the nearby Black lake area (The fish-bone grill is my kind of place). If you need boating supplies or service, Shimmerhorn, downstream on Chippewa bay is the place to go.

I hunt alone about 95 % of the time. I have killed about 75 % of my deer on our home farm. When I get one at home, I haul the carcass back to our garage "butcher shop" by myself (with a tractor). The last few years, I have been killing more of them off of our farm, either at my folks place (on the opposite end of WMU 9F), or at my in-laws place up in the Adirondacks (WMU 6F). Although I always hunt alone at those places, it is nice to have my dad or my father in law available with their ATV'e or tractors, just a cell-phone call away. By the time I get the deer gutted, they are usually on the scene. Although neither of them still hunts, they really enjoy helping out with the recoveries. I have invited friends along on hunts on our farm on occasion, but I do not enjoy those hunts as much as those when I am alone. I still cringe when I remember a buddy from work texting me on opening day morning a couple years ago, that he had a buck down. It got back up and escaped, as he was texting. Why he did not use that finger on his trigger, rather than his smart-phone, is beyond my understanding. There were 4 more 12 gauge slugs in the magazine of his Remington 870 as that buck got back up from where it was downed in an open field, and disappeared into heavy cover. We searched for it for hours (not my idea of a fun opening day), and I was out till midnight trying to find it with "bloodglow", to no avail (would much rather have got a good night's sleep). When I am alone, I can apply all of my concentration to the task at hand. I wonder how many deer owe their lives to a smart phone ?

Bolt castle is cool. I like the musky over the fireplace in the billiard room. There is usually a nice smallmouth under the tour boat dock. I have taken a few from there when I dropped the kids off for ice-cream. I did not get a chance to try for one there last week while we were up. The smallmouth bite was off from what we usually see in late June, but the Largemouth bite was very good in Lake of the Isles and Goose bay. We brought back plenty of vacuum-sealed fillets to get us thru winter. Lots of fish in the perfect "eating size" range of 12 - 16". Filletting largemouths is easier on my hands, but they don't fight nearly as well as the smallmouths. The pike bite was up a bit from the last few seasons. I think they do well with the high water levels. The one day that we did not get our limits (there was an East wind), my 15 yr old daughter caught a 13-1/2 inch largemouth off the dock in Goose bay, while casting a broken off yellow rubber jig at a pop bottle that was floating in the solid green weed cover. She screamed when it erupted up thru the solid weed matt to grab her lure. I had just finished filletting our morning catch and really did not want to get the stuff back out for one fish but she insisted that we keep it and eat it. I threw it in the boat's livewell and paddled out with a kayak and a heavy duty rod/reel with a weedless yellow frog lure. Casting that into the weed matt, just past the next dock, yielded a fat 16-1/2 inch largemouth. That one pulled the kayak around a bit then burried in the weeds. Added to my daughters fish, it made another good freezer pack of fish, but still left me one short of my limit that day. Our other daugther turned 16 the day before, and did not have a licence yet, so she could not fish that day (I am a stickler for the rules).

Park where he wants you to, then pay him $20 to drop you off with his pickup truck, back by the woods. During the ride, he can give you pointers on stand locations, etc. It is a win-win deal, he gets to take the wife out to Mcdonald's for dinner and you get a ride and some prime intel.

Different bucks, unless it stepped out of a Delorian prior to the recent photo.

Good memory, that was back in 2014. My range estimate was a bit off and what I thought was a 50 yard shot was a lot closer to 60. That made the bolt strike lower than I intended. Considering that the penetration of the mechanical broadhead from my 300 fps, entry-level crossbow was a paltry 8", it was only the strike in that location (center of heart) that put the 1-1/2 year old buck down within 40 yards from where he took the bolt (that is the 40 yards that I meant), such that I could "hear the crash". The range was far on that one, but it was not the toughest shot I have made with that crossbow. Range is just one variable of many that can make or break a shot. 60 yards is no big deal for a broadside shot at a standing, distracted deer, from a rest, with a telescopic sight, across an open field with no wind. My toughest shot was on this 3.5 year old (43" chest girth) slob that might be the heaviest buck that I have ever taken. The shot was around 20 yards, quartering away but he was walking thru some "unseen" branches in a poor light situation. The bolt held true to course however, and drilled him diagonally thru both lungs, once again letting me "hear the crash" and dropping him dead after a sprint of less than 40 yards. My other two crossbow/mechanical bucks were basically "chip shots" at about 15 yards, but one was a less than ideal "quartering to angle". That was the only one that I watched fall after he staggered off about 30 yards, dragging the hind leg from which the bolt exited, after passing diagonally thru both lungs and some gut. My overall range works out pretty close to the 19 yard average of the OP's quoted study. Confidence in your equipment no doubt plays a big role in recovering deer, but the biggest factor for me has been staying on good terms with He who controls the fate of all living things.

I thought it was a good read and a good study, very "scientifically" done. It was especially interesting how the data disproved the author's "pre-conceved" notions. I am not at all surprised that the crossbow with mechanical broadheads came out on top for recovery percentage, compared to compound vertical bow / fixed or mechanical or crossbow / fixed. That definitely correlates well with my own personal experience although I have yet to try fixed broadheads on deer with my crossbow (and probably never will after reading this study). I see no reason to mess with my current 100 % dead deer within 40 yards that I have enjoyed since picking up the crossbow in 2014.

Someone asked about what to do for one of these in the "General Chit-Chat" section. While out brush-hogging today, I opened up a "hidden 1/4 acre" by a ladder stand, near the front of our farm, so I gave it a go. It took about an hour to find the 2-bottom plow, hook it up to my Ford 8N, get the sod turned over, and return the plow to its winter storage condition (greased the three fittings and coated the blades with used motor oil). In a few weeks, I will get that plot disked and ready to plant with a mix of wheat, soybeans, and white clover, at the same time that I plant another 1 acre spot that is way out back. A side benefit is that this gives me an excuse to use a small (6.5 ft 3-point) disk that I had not used yet this year and make sure that it is properly prepared for winter storage (that will take a full tube of grease). It fits perfect on the 8n. I used my wider, pull-type disk on the larger plot, but that one don't work so well on small plots, plus it is already greased up and ready for winter.

That has always been my favorite thing on the Mcdonalds menu. I had (4) of them last week, down in Virginia, and they were all very good. I did not notice less cheese, but I would be ok with that. The fish, tarter sauce and buns are my favorite parts anyhow. They were all cooked just right and very tasty. It has always taken two of them to make a meal for me. One of the Mcdonald's down there even had table service. You got to love that Southern hospitality. That was my second favorite meal of the trip, and was beat out only by the $ 12 wed. prime rib special at Oroark's in Gettysburg.

I leave them out year round and try to check them for safety and trim shooting lanes by Labor day weekend. This year I am only moving one, and I hope to get that done soon. I killed a deer from a cheap pop-up blind last season, but it got crushed later by snow. I plan on moving a hang-on stand to a tree near that location. It is over at my folks place and I am a bit reluctant to do it. I do not like spending a lot of time in the woods until after a good frost for fear of tics and Lyme disease. My dad just got diagnosed with that, so I suggest anyone working in the woods now take precautions (Sawyers, deet, etc).