wolc123

That certainly seems to be the case with older deer. It is easy to do the same thing over and over, but that also makes it easy for them to pattern us. When I got busted by a big 3-1/2 year old buck in a stand on one edge of a swamp this year, I moved that hang-on stand to the other side of the swamp soon after he disappeared. That helped me kill him on my next hunt. It was the first time I had been in that stand at the new location. The year prior, I killed a slightly larger chest-girth, but smaller-racked 3-1/2 year buck with my crossbow. That happened after I moved from a ground blind on the edge of a food plot, to a tree stand in the adjacent woods, with only 15 minutes of daylight left. It was also the first time I had hunted that stand that year. It was almost like he was watching me in the ground blind and did not come out to feed until he saw me leave. The noise I made clearing the leaves from the deck on that other stand must have sounded like another buck making a scrape, and quickly drew him into range. After they survive a couple of seasons, you got to work a bit harder to get where they don't expect you to be.

Overall, I would rank it well above average of my 36 deer seasons, about 4 from the top. Were it not for a couple of mishaps on does late, it would have ranked higher. On the fifth year of trying with my crossbow, I was finally able to punch a DMP tag. The best part was: it turned out to be a giant button-buck, rather than the mature doe that I thought it was, when I released the bolt. Bucks (with or without protruding antlers) are much easier for me to process, with less fat to trim. There is no deer more appreciated on the dinner table by my family than a button buck. On my last day of crossbow hunting, I blew it on a mature (182 pound field dressed) swamp-buck, when he caught me putting the shiny chrome cup/top back on my Stanley cider thermos. He still had all (8) points then, and would have been my highest scoring buck (10" G-2's, perfectly symmetric), had I killed him on that day. In the photo, that thermos is over my right shoulder as I was filling out his carcass tag . A last minute stand move and my slug gun did him in less than a week later, minus a couple of antler points. Those missing points saved me the expense of a shoulder mount anyhow. I would have rather put my archery tag on him though, because using the gun tag kept me from deer hunting over Thanksgiving up in the northern zone. The deer hunting up there was better than last year, on my other three trips, with more deer sightings but none with antlers. That was where I missed my last doe, during the late ML season, due to an unseen branch that deflected my bullet. While it was a very good season for me, it would have been better without those two missed does (I messed up on another one twice due to a mis-fire and a bad running shot - you can read the details of that one in my "lessons learned thread if interested)), and better yet had I been able to fill my archery/ML buck tag. Like He has always done, The Good Lord blessed us with all the venison we need this season (a friend also provided us with a couple, including the first doe fawn that I have ever processed). I would have liked to have been able to kill a few more myself, to give to others in need, but it was not to be. Hopefully those two does that I missed clean will give birth to bucks that will be far more appreciated by someone. I got to assume that was His plan for them.

I am very thankful to be quite regular, and have always been able to take care of that business early in the morning, prior to spending part or all of the day in the woods. I feel sorry for you folks who have to pack the TP. As far as piss goes, this was the first year I let it all go from the stand. It did not seem to bother the deer at all. I guess the warm cider cover scent might help out with that.

The in-season stand move also worked for me this year. I think that most of us hunters tend to be very predictable to mature bucks and does. A last minute stand move is a good way to get them off their game, and into our freezers. The hot cider did its job this year too, keeping my hydrated, full of energy, warm, and providing enough cover scent to allow a group of three deer to make 4 circles around my stand (7 feet high) when there was a very light steady wind.

I am thankful they are also the tastiest

That brings back memories of my first antlered buck about 35 years ago. I had my Ithaca 37 16 ga and it was not loaded yet, near sunrise, when I heard crashing in the brush next to my stand. The buck stepped out, just as "legal" sunrise occurred. I jammed a slug into the bottom, hoping it got into the chamber, as I pushed the action forward (a side opening Remington 870 would have been better). Fortunately it did, allowing me to kill that 7-pointer. Shooting straight down has not happened for me since then.

I think he read until he got the the part about button buck. We had tacos from it for dinner tonight. Man were they tasty. Too bad you folks ain't into those "fatted calves". You don't have a clue what you are missing. I am thankful for that and thankful for folks like you though, that leaves more for me and my family.

No problem, you got plenty of time until October 1 2019.

Now that the fat lady has sung across most of the state, what are the lessons you learned this year ? It is always better to learn from other's mistakes, rather than the "hard way" by making them yourself. I made a few this year, that cost me two doe for sure. Fortunately, with help from a friend who gave us a couple of deer that he killed on opening weekend, my own immediate family's year's venison supply was secured before I paid the price for those mistakes. I would have liked to have killed another doe or two for my extended family and friends, but my mistakes stopped that. Sorry about the length of this post, but I made a lot of mistakes this year. A string of mistakes cost me the first doe, on the third Saturday of gun season. When sighting in my Marlin 512 Bolt-action on Labor day weekend, at 100 yards, I saw two "bulls" when looking at the target thru the Bushnell banner 3x scope. Not knowing which to shoot at, I moved in to 50 yards, where I could only see one. The two shot "group" I fired was centered a couple inches above the bull, so I let it go at that. On opening day, I shot a heavy swamp buck from 100 yards away. My first shot felt bad, but the noise stopped the fast-walking buck. My second shot broke his back and put him down. I walked over and gave him a third to the neck from point-blank range as he was pulling himself up with his front legs. The first two shots struck just under and right on the spine, just behind the diaphram, about 15" to the left of my point of aim. While dragging the 200 pound plus (with guts in) carcass out of the swamp, my gun slipped off my shoulder into the muddy swamp water. Later, I used my dad's gun cleaning rod to push the mud out of the barrel, and I oiled the outside of the gun. The temperature was below freezing the next day I was up in that stand with three DMP's (I had already used one on a button buck with my cross-bow) and no buck tag. About an hour after sunrise, I heard branches breaking and bucks grunting. A small four point and a tiny spike (close to 3") were in hot pursuit of a doe. They drove her in a wide circle around my stand. The range was too far for a running shot at her thru the broken hardwoods but, like good beagles on a rabbit, they brought her around for another lap. This time she passed almost under my stand. I pulled the trigger and "click", no "bang". I ejected the "dud" but was unable to get another shot the doe. The little spike stopped about 30 yards out but I was not willing to gamble that those horns were under 3" so he got a pass. After they all moved on, I climbed down and had no luck finding that "dud" in the snow. I wanted to see if the primer was pricked. After about 15 minutes of searching for it, I climbed back up the tree. About half hour later, I heard that old familiar branches breaking and grunting again. The "beagles" brought her back around for a 3rd and fourth lap. Usually I pull the trigger if I am 90% sure of a shot, but I let one go at less than that because I wanted to see if my gun would fire. It did, and I am about 90 % sure it was a clean miss. The doe showed no reaction of being hit, and I found no blood on the snow in several hours of searching. The one bright spot of this "miss" was that the next day the temperature got up to 60 degrees, so the carcass may have spoiled had I connected, since I always like to hang them a while. A couple weeks later I found that "dud" and the primer was not pricked. The firing pin must have been frozen back on my first "point blank" mishap on that doe. To correct those mistakes, that bolt will get disassembled, cleaned and oiled in the off-season. That cheap old scope will get shit-canned and replaced with a new Redfield Revolution 2-7X. Finally, I will do my best to stick to my "90%" or better rule before pulling the trigger. The week after that miss, I missed another doe up in the Adirondacks with my ML. Much shorter story here. It did not take me too long to find the branch that deflected the bullet. On this doe, I am more than 95 % sure it was a clean miss because I tracked her all the way to where she bedded, about a mile away, and there was no blood the whole way, or in her bed. After killing and recovering every deer I have shot at over the last 14 seasons, the Good Lord was due to teach me a couple of lessons. The bright spot of the last one is that I think this was the mother doe who frequently visits my in-laws house, along with her two fawns, to clean up under their bird-feeders. Now that entertainment will be able to continue up there for them thru the winter.

It's a female. Probably a little heavier than that. She felt like she was pretty well fed. I will guess 15 or 16 pounds. There was a 14 pound turkey on the shelf next to her in the freezer and she felt heavier than that when I moved it to make room.

Thats just the fur matted up from the blood on the exit side. The bullet damage don't look too bad, pass thru .45 dia hole between the ribs. Should be easy to patch.

Shortly after we were married, my wife and I stopped at a buddy's house, and he had a red fox mounted in the seated position, with its tail wrapped around front and a rabbit or something in its mouth. She thought that was really cool and asked me to get her one. It has taken quite a while, but look what showed up tonight, 5 minutes before the end of legal daylight. My brother-in-law volunteered a bantee rooster for it's mouth. This will probably be the best Christmas ever for her, with a freezer full of venison, topped off by this pretty red.

Last sit for me tonight. This vixen showed up in the wrong place at the wrong time (with 5 minutes of legal daylight to go). My wife has always wanted a fox mounted to sit next to the front door. It looks like I am done Christmas "shopping" now, She should be happy with a freezer full of venison topped off by this pretty red.

?

Do you look down upon us nut-eaters ? How about Rinella ? Is it ok that he eats them ? Is that why you like the early seasons better (before you knew he ate nuts).

Send it.

I can relate to that. My own father and brother are not much into hunting and fishing, nor was my grandfather on my father's side. I think I inherited my own fondness for those activities from my grandfather on my mom's side. He passed before I was old enough to hunt, but he took me fishing a few times while I was in grade school. He also left me his hunting and fishing equipment. Even though my dad and brother were not with me on many hunts, those when they were, were memorable. I will never forget the two red rows of corn, that the only buck my dad ever killed ran between, after he double-lunged it with a slug from his Browning sweet-sixteen pheasant gun. My brother and I had pushed it out of some heavy cover and he shot it right in the middle of the lane behind the barn. They still have that little rack on a plaque next to the fireplace, and I remember that hunt every time I look at it. While the memories of hunts that we have shared with our own families and friends on this earth are comforting, they ain't nothing compared to what we have to look forward to. I can't wait to knock down a nice buck up there with my grandad's Ithaca deerslayer 16-gauge, while he is standing by my side. It is a lot easier to not lament past losses, knowing that such a bright future awaits, and that it will last for eternity

Maybe G-man will chime in and back you up on that. He don't seem like the type to joke around with something like that. Nonetheless, I am quite satisfied with the results of the PA chest-girth chart, having finally got one of my own up on a scale and determined a WMU 9f, mature buck correction factor. If you do happen across that big one you are chasing, over the last few days of ML, why not get a chest girth on it ? If you can't beat them, join them. I still plan on taking Larry up on his offer to weigh one for me if I get a doe. I can't help but notice how many of the PA chest girth snipers have backed off a bit, since I finally put one up on a scale. I have to thank SJ, for being brave enough to take a tape measure to his daughter's buck. That gave me the incentive to throw one of my own up on a scale. Have you noticed that in all cases, the NY deer have been HEAVIER than predicted by that chart ? Not that weight means much to me, being that is is mostly water. VOLUME is where it is at. Good luck on your last few hunts this season, and I hope you get that big one.

Well I am a little short of doe data so I might take you up on that if I can get one of those this weekend. I don't want no gun pointed at me though, so you will have to hang her on the scale and read it (I can work the tape measure). I could provide a forklift and/or winch. SJ wants me to pass bb's, so if a pair of siblings shoes up, I will aim for the smaller one. Might as well start with a milk-fed doe fawn.

I am thinking she will taste identical to a bb. It is all about what they eat and milk makes them taste best. I know of a great former President who took up raising cattle after his retirement from public service. He dominated the beef competition in the US, in the early 60's, by finishing his Angus beefers on Holstein milk.

Your still $ 4 short since all the siphoning off of funds for the sheep hunt. The telescoping boom fork-truck out front would make the loading easy right now.

It is not over until it's over, so keep at it. I will send one up for you (a prayer that is), to get it done with you crossbow. I am tempted to break mine out again this weekend, since missing a doe with my ML up in the mountains last weekend. The Good Lord must have had a different end in mind for that big doe, putting a branch in just the right place to deflect my bullet up and over her back. Our own venison supply is secure, but I would like to get another for my brother-in law, who raises beef cattle and makes the best jerky from half ground venison and half ground beef. I don't mind a good steak on occasion, but I know that venison is a lot better for my heart. Also, it is hard to imagine the flavor or texture of any beef topping that of medium-rare, milk-fed, button-buck backstrap. Don't be afraid to take one of those. They say they are the "dumbest deer in the woods". I don't know about that, but I do know that they are the tastiest. To be fair, I have not tried a doe fawn yet but a buddy gave us one this year so I will finally get to try that after the bb is gone. We usually eat them in order of arrival, but I will save some of the bb roasts for "special occasions". The doe fawn was a lot smaller. I did not get a chest-girth on her but it looked like she made about 25 pounds of de-boned meat vs around 50 pounds from the bb. She was killed with a rifle bullet through the heart, so there was not a lot of bloodied-up meat to trim away, but there was none of that on the crossbow-killed bb. That is another big advantage of using the crossbow instead of the ML, you don't end up with bloodied-up meat to trim away.

Fortunately I have done well enough hunting (and fishing) that trips to the store for meat have not been necessary. How's your season going ?

You all can put the whole wad towards Biz's sheep hunt. Now that I have a PA chest-girth / NY correction factor (thanks to putting one of my own on a scale this fall, and a few of the braver scale-owners here breaking out their tape measures), the only way I would weigh another would be at gun-point. I will throw in $ 10 towards that sheep hunt if it is a "button-ram" and you save me the liver.

I think there is a "block" feature you could use to take care of that.