wolc123

I am in for the last 3 hours of daylight plus 15 minutes. It’s past the mid-way point of my crossbow season, and that ends my “fussy” archery hunting. The first antlerless deer, or 3-1/32” unicorn that presents a good shot, is going to draw a bolt out of me. My parents have been seeing a large bodied deer come out and feed on this clover plot, every other evening, for the last month. I’m hitting this stand today and tomorrow to up my odds. I’d be out of buck tags right now, had I not been so fussy, passing a chip shot at a spike buck on the first Sunday morning of gun season up north, and a 4-pointer, on the first Sunday morning of crossbow down south. I am not overly concerned with the light rain that’s falling. The tree umbrella is doing a good job of keeping it off of me. I am not too worried about recoveries either. I heard or saw (4) of the (5) bucks that I have shot and killed with this Barnett Recruit crossbow and mechanical broadheads crash. The one that I had to blood-trail, about 100 yards, probably would have gone down closer had I not reused one of my old broadheads after a feeble re-sharpening attempt. I’ve got a brand new laser-sharp one on now.

Power steering is really not necessary without a loader. Live hydraulics is especially nice for pto implements though, so something like a Ford Jubulee or 600/800 series would be a step up from an n-series. I used this 8n on a bush hog, for a couple years, and it worked ok on a 5ft, light-duty, after I added an overrunning coupler. I actually like it better than a modern CUT, for almost all of the other tasks you mentioned, which is why I will never get rid of it. It is great on a plow and planter, but a little so-so on a disk or cultivator, compared to my modern 4wd turbocharged diesel. That’s because pushing the “dead” front wheels thru soft ground waste significant energy and fuel.

In for the last hour in my ssw wind stand.

Too close to the piss sack, lower intestine, and other guts to not pick up any “off” flavored after that much time. All of the outside meat should be fine though.

All good except the tenderloins.

I was wondering when you’d chime in: I had a few beers, with a couple of folks you know/knew at the Parker House, the evening after that episode occurred. The older one couple really put them down.

I only did it once, on my very first archery harvest, when I was in my early 20’s. My shot was low and forward, and taken early in the morning. My buddy (a few years younger than me) was hunting with me that day. We got after that deer right away, more so because we were “young and dumb”, than it was the “proper” course of action. The blood trail wasn’t great, but we were always able to find a few more drops, and we kept going for miles. By the late afternoon, we were on the edge of a hilltop meadow, in the next town. I stayed at the last drop of blood, and my buddy circled around, looking for another. I was getting hungry and ready to pull the plug at that point. I cut straight across the meadow, to where my buddy was, to tell him that. About halfway across, I stumbled across the wounded buck, laying down in the tall grass. It’s head was up, but it was too weak to stand. My buddy couldn’t see the deer, but he saw me nock an arrow and aim in his general direction. I put one thru it’s lungs, from about 10 yards away. That gave it enough adrenalin to get up and bound off a few yards, before going down for good. My early morning arrow had passed thru its upper left front leg, and the Wasp 125 3/blade fixed broadhead had stuck in the bone of its upper right front leg. All of our pushing, had kept it bleeding. I don’t know if we would have found that deer, if we had waited before pushing, but I will guess that we wouldn’t have. Most of the time, we were tracking thru mature hardwoods and dry leaves with very good lighting. It’s almost like that buck knew that, when he headed up to that grassy meadow, where following that blood trail would have been nearly impossible. There’s only one reason why that buck ended up in my freezer, and that is because that is where JC wanted him to go. It certainly had little to do with our tracking or my shooting skills.

Every hit is different. The deer is only “dying” if the arrow struck vitals. We don’t know that happened here. I’d give it about a 50:50 chance. It all depends on if the broadhead passed over or under the spine. Due to the close range and steep shot angle, it may have passed over, but the broadhead could still be lodged inside the opposite front upper leg. That is where pushing it could keep it cutting and increase blood loss. The odds of recovery are still slim in that case, but slightly better than they would be with a ; hour wait. Let’s hope the arrow got under the spine, in which case the track shouldn’t be too long regardless of how long he waits.

I don’t see any advantage in waiting, with that shot location, especially if there is a fixed broadhead still in him. If you can get on a blood trail, and keep pushing him, it could keep cutting. If you wait, it could clot up and make recovery tougher. If you recovered the broadhead already, or if it was a mechanical, then a wait would be ok, but I still don’t see where it would help much.

I didn’t get to hunt as much as I had hoped to, on opening day of SZ crossbow, just the first hour at home and the last two over at my parents. No deer seen in either spot. I saw a nice sized deer out in the clover plot, behind my parents, at sunset the day prior, when we picked up my mom to take her to our daughter’s college playoff field-hockey game. They lost that game, so I will get a little more crossbow hunting this year, than I did last year, when I lost most of it for the NY state high school tournament. My parents said that deer has been coming out every other night, so I guess I verified that, when it didn’t show on Saturday evening. I am going to try and hit that spot Friday and Saturday evening this week. That way, if it keeps up the pattern, I’ll be in position for a shot on one of the days. I officially logged my first buck “pass”, in the SZ this year, when a 4-pointer that had a decent sized body, offered me a 15 yard broadside shot this morning. I was up in my two-story blind at home. He came out of the heavy cover at 7:22 and took a few bites of clover. It didn’t look like he was rutting yet. His neck wasn’t swelled up and he showed more interest in eating clover than scent trailing does. I’ll take that shot, if he shows up again next weekend. This Friday evening, is going to be my last crossbow hunt of the year when I am “fussy” with my buck tag. I am most certainly not one of those guys who will pass the same deer on the last hunt as he will on his first. A deer with tiny antlers and a small body has a lot more meat on it than those paper tags. That said, it has been more than 10 years since I “settled” for an antlered buck with less than 3 points on a side. I have now passed a chip shot at a spike, on the second morning of NZ rifle season, and todays at that 4-pointer, on the second morning of SZ crossbow season. I would have shot the 4-pointer with my rifle up north (they count at least double to me up there, due to the superior scenery and lack of hunting pressure). He needed at least another point on a side, to draw a bolt out of me, in the first half of my SZ crossbow season. I hunted the first two hours and the last 5 hours of daylight today. I didn’t see anything but fat squirrels tonight. It was kind of comical watching a big grey climb up the tree right next to me and not pay any attention to me. About an hour later, another one came by. I removed my broadhead bolt and reached for one with field tip. That motion sent that squirrel scurrying for cover. I was liking the way that my Centerpoint sniper was shooting, my last practice session, so I used that for all of my hunts this weekend. I’ll probably use it next weekend also, because of its extra 10 yards of effective range.

Just a few scattered clouds, out here near the nw corner of wmu 9F. It’s about 70 F and the wind is 5-10 mph from the sw. I am in a fairly comfortable, 10 ft high double ladder, on the ne corner of my woods, from which I have never seen a deer. I have hunted from it 3 or 4 times, since I put it up (2) years ago, after a former site member sold it to me at a good price. It’s about time that I got my $ 20 worth out of it. I guess maybe I already did, during the early antlerless season this year. I killed a big doe off an old boat dock platform, lagged to a dead ash tree, that I accessed with the bottom section of the ladder. I can see that poison ivy shielded “natural blind” from where I am right now, exactly 220 yards down the gas line (Laser range finders are great). I removed the bottom ladder section, before I put it up, because 15 ft would have been too high for me. I am not even comfortable at 10, but at least this thing has a good solid rail all around. I could rest my Marlin 512 on it, in 2-weeks, and shoot a deer almost all the way to that natural blind. I think that is what they call “enfilading” fire. I passed a freshly-cleaned scrape on the walk back here, next to a thick cover area, about 75 yards to my north. I made it up the tree at noon. If I stay until 15 minutes past sunset, it will be my longest sit of the season so far. I hope a mid-afternoon cruiser (buck with 3 or more on a side or a mature doe) shows up before that. My next hunt will probably be Friday afternoon. That will be my last crossbow hunt of this season, where I am “selective” with my buck tag. If I get another chance at the solid 130 ish pound field-dressed 4-point, that I passed at 15 yards on this mornings hunt, he’s going to be in trouble next weekend. I’ll even “settle” for a scrawny 3-1/32” unicorn, on those last 4 hunts, next weekend. I’ve read a lot about mid-day peak-rut deer activities, but I have never seen much of it. We shall see. At least its easy to sit out here, in these weather conditions.

At 7:22, a 1.5 yr 4-Point crossed slowly by, offering a 15 yard standing broadside shot, which I passed. Hopefully, that was the scout and big brother will show up soon. That’s happened twice before from this same stand. I didn’t try and take his picture , because I didn’t want to spook him, like I did with a spike up in the adk’s a few weeks ago.

I hunted the first hour yesterday (at home) and the last two over at my parents place. I did not see anything, not even a squirrel, at either spot. I am up in my two story blind at home, for the first two hours today, and I’ll likely hit a big ladder stand, at the front corner of my woods, for the last (5) hours. It’s about 65 degrees now, with a 5-10 mph south wind, cloudy but no more rain in the forecast for the rest of the day, here on the nw corner of wmu 9F. Hopefully, a “cruiser”, with (3) or more points on a side or a mature doe, will offer up a shot. At this point, I’d be happy to just see a deer.

My truck thermometer said it was 82, when I got here about an hour ago. It feels like it has dipped into the upper 70’s now. Time for the t-shirt. The deer fridge will definitely be running this week if I manage to bring one down. I saw a big-bodied deer out in the clover plot, that I am watching over right now, yesterday, when I stopped to get my mom for our daughters field hockey playoff game. She lost, so I have a little more hunting time now. Hopefully, that deer comes out again tonight and has no antlers, or at least 3 points on a side.

There is very little that you can do to improve the taste of an animal, that’s preferred browse was sage brush, the last few weeks before it was killed. I bet mule deer would be pretty tastey, if you high-fenced them into a corn field or an oak woods for a while before knocking them off. Even the east-coast pilgrims knew enough to fence their hogs in the oaks for a while, prior to butchering. Just for kicks, I did a quick Google search on the whitetail / mule deer taste comparison and I did find a few instances of folks saying that they were equal, but many more saying whitetail is better. My own opinion, is that it is mostly what they eat, that makes the taste difference. None of the locals, in the CO high-desert town where I hunted, likes the flavor of mule deer, no matter what age or sex the deer were, or what side of the rut they were killed on. On my trip out there, with (3) buddies more than 20 years ago, we brought back three mule deer bucks. Our local host killed the biggest of those (a wide, tall-racked 5x6 or so that had to be over 4.5 years old and probably field-dressed close to 300 lbs). He couldn’t load that meat into our coolers fast enough, when we drove home. He didn’t even want to keep the back-straps for his dogs. He loves coming out to NY, for our tasty white tails, and he always brings back all of that he can. He usually takes a cow elk out there every year, for his own consumption, but he likes our corn-fed whitetail better than that. My local buddies and I all put the flavor of elk from our there, and whitetail from here, about equal, so we never minded trading him, when he comes out here. I never killed an elk myself (it was too warm for them to come down out of the dark timber on the year I went out west) but I have eaten plenty of that “traded for” stuff.

Was there any milk in her ? The one I killed this year, in the early antlerless gun season, was loaded with fat. I think most of that was due to the coyotes getting her fawn, and her not needing to make any more milk. Last year I killed an older doe, just a couple weeks later in the year (during early NZ ML). She had two fawns, was loaded with milk, and had very little fat on her.

You must have a modern, frost-free deer fridge. They don’t dry out too much, after even slightly over a week, in this old non frost-free, 1950’s GE model: There was an awful lot fat trimming to do though, on this corn-fed, 3.5 yr old doe. She must have lost this year’s fawn to the coyotes. She didn’t have any milk in her, but was really loaded up with fat. I trimmed as much of that as I could from the outside right after I skinned her, and before I put her in the fridge. She was only in there for 4 days though, but I have left others in there as long as (10) days, and they didn’t dry out too much. If it’s cold enough outside over the stretch, so that I can hang them whole in our insulated garage, I always leave the hide on until the day before I process. That keep them from drying out too much: This 3.5 yr old buck hung out in our garage for 9 days, last November-December, and that meat was just about perfect as far as moisture and tenderness. It’s a lot tougher getting that hide off, after hanging that long, but it works great for insulating against daily temperature swings and for keeping the meat moist. Except for the tenderloins, which I always pull, right after I get them into the garage.

I just did a little more shooting with the Centerpoint Sniper 370. Top crosshair was right on at 13 yards: Second from top was right on at 30 yards (no picture) Two shot group with third from top crosshairs at 40 yards: Two shop group with bottom crosshairs at 50 yards: All using the oem scope and 100 gr field tips. All shots were from a rail, similar to what is on most of my blinds. The wind was blowing from the right side at about 6 mph.

I’m on the fence on that one. It’s too bad that they always have the playoffs, during the peak two weeks of the rut / crossbow season. I missed the bulk of that hunting last year, when our daughter’s high school field hockey team made the final four in the state championships . It was cool getting to meet fellow site member cdbing in Long Island, during the games. Her college playoffs start this Friday. If they advance to the next round, odds are that the game on Sunday will be half way across the state. I’ve already opted out of that one. If it turns out to be a home game, I’ll do my best to make it.

I finished dialing in my Barnett Recruit tonight. I had to crank it down 1/2 turn, on the factory green/red dot sight, to get it where I wanted with 100 gr field tips. I switched from 125 o-ring type mechanical broadheads to 100 gr NAP Spitfires, after I used up all that I had. I killed two deer with the last of my 125’s, but the last one (using it resharpened) wasn’t the best blood trail. I had to pull out my pocket New Testament and pray for help from JC to find that 3.5 year old 8-point, back in 2019. I went with 100 gr NAP spitfires because it was hard to find 125 gr. My Recruit is now right on at 10 yards with the top dot, at 20 yards with the middle dot (first photo), and 3” low at 40 yards with the bottom dot. I would not shoot further than 40 yards at a deer with it. My Centerpoint Sniper 370 is right on at 15 yards with the top crosshairs, at 25 yards with the second from top, at 35 yards with the 3rd from top, and at 50 yards with the bottom. I would not shoot further than 50 yards at a deer with it. Of these two cheap, entry-level crossbows, I definitely prefer the 2014 Barnett Recruit. It is not at all front heavy, and handles offhand as easy as my Ruger 10/22 carbine. I can also reload it much faster with a direct pull, using those two little chain/clip T-handles I made up after I lost my rope pulley device (in the excitement after killing my largest bodied buck with it back in 2017). I will most likely hunt with the Recruit, until my buck tag is punched (needs to have at least 3 points on a side or clearly be 2.5 or older). After that, I’ll see if I can fill a doe tag, or (4), with the Sniper. I can use the Recruit from any of my stands, blinds, or even offhand, while the front-heavy sniper would be limited to those with good rests. That, and a proven track record, are more important to me than the extra 10 yards of effective range that the Sniper gives me. I didn’t crossbow hunt as much as I would have liked, the last couple years, due to our youngest daughter’s high school playoff field-hockey schedule. That may or may not let off a little this year, depending on how they do on the college games this weekend. Im ready to hunt now, just not sure how much I will be able to do.

Got my (2) extra 9Fs at North Tonawanda Walmart today. The cashier there even figured out how to take my $ 10 donation for the venison coalition. The one at Lockport Runnings couldn’t figure out how to that, when I picked up my first two, in August. It would be nice to get another fat doe into the deer fridge with my crossbow this weekend.

Thanks for the reminder. I’ll hit Walmart for a couple 9f’s on my way home from work.

I miss that part, now that our girls are both off to college. The loot they picked up on Halloween always gave me enough snacks to last thru deer season.

If one is recoil sensitive, wouldn’t a 7mm-08 be a better selection for deer, than a .243 ? I wonder which one has better ammo availability right now ?

I didn’t get as much firewood made, as I usually do this season, because of the big barn demolition project that took up most of my free time. Fortunately, there is hundreds of standing dead ash trees out back. Those can be cut split and burnt on the same day, if I run out of seasoned firewood. I don’t know of any other tree species, that you can do that with.