wolc123

I went with a 30/30 (Marlin 336 BL), mostly due to better ammo availability, but my second choice would have been a .35 Rem. I finally got to carry it on a rainy day up north a couple weeks ago, but I have yet to fire it at a deer. It is a real pleasure to carry up and down that steep terrain and thru the heavy cover compared to my full-sized, scoped bolt-action 30/06. Hopefully, I can get a shot at a deer or bear with it over Thanksgiving, the next time I go up there. Currently, I am using 150 grain ammo but when that is gone I will switch to 170. The lowest I could get the 150's to strike at 50 yards was 3-1/2" above the bull. The factory iron sights are ok ( I could probably get the elevation right on at 50 yards with the 170 grain ammo, but I am going to put fiber-optics on it prior to sighting it in with those. The "big loop" is real nice for fast cycling with gloves on, and I really like the looks of the laminated wood stock. The fit and finish were pretty good on this Remington built Marlin that was made in the summer of 2017.

That is awesome news. Thanks for making it crystal clear this time. My own confusion was due to a basic biological understanding of the difference between a buck and a doe and the original contest rules that said "two bucks and two does" may be entered.

Not per the printed contest rules. Hopefully, the administrators will permit an exception to the "two bucks and two does" part, in this special case, due to the limited availability of DMP tags in his hunting zone (3 preference points required).

My wife and kids and myself all love 100 % ground venison. My wife (who does most of the cooking) likes it the best. She has been "spoiled" by cooking venison and now gets "grossed out" frying beef hamburg due to all the fat that cooks out of it in the pan. A couple years ago, my brother in law gave us some venison that had 20 % pork added and she did not like that as much. Adding pork to venison will adversely effect the flavor, the longer it is in the freezer, because pork fat is mostly oil that does not freeze. We mostly use the grind for things like tacos, or spaghetti meat sauce, or chile, so there really is no reason to add the pork like there might be when making hamburgs to grill. When and if I make those, I just add a little raw egg to the ground venison, form it into patties, and refrigerate them for at least a couple hours prior to grilling. That makes then stick together good on the grill, unlike freshly formed pure venison patties, which tend to break up on the grill.

Maybe, but you would still be getting jipped out of your "doe" points that way.

I thought so to, but the moderator made it clear to me that was not the case when I asked prior to the entry cut-off date.

Since this was an honest mistake, and Chef has no more antlerless permits, I would be ok with him being allowed to enter a 3rd buck with his gun tag, including any "extra points" for the antlers. I do not want such an exception myself (if I happen to kill a BB), but I have (4) DMP tags so it should not be as big of an issue for me. It does not seem fair that one "mistake" may take Chef out of the running, when he was off to such a great start on this contest. It is not his fault that doe permits are so hard to get in his zone and he needed three preference points to get one. Especially when you consider that so many others in the contest hunt zones where they are handed out like candy. I have killed more button bucks than I can recall, and none of them were "mistakes". Antlerless deer sightings are few and far between, where I do most of my hunting. I will seldom pass a shot opportunity on one, if I have a tag. I always target the largest antlerless deer first, from a group. If there is not a mature doe in the group, that is usually a button buck. In 35 seasons I have yet to kill a doe fawn. A few of the button bucks were "doubles" after their mother was "anchored" with a shoulder blade shot. Did you save the liver Chef ?

I worked the 10:30 pm to 7:00 am shift a few times, but only for two weeks at a time. What worked best for me was a (2) hour nap when I got home, and a (5) hour sleep before I went in (I set the alarm for those times). I tried sleeping 7-8 hours before work, but that did not work nearly as well. I would almost fall asleep at the wheel, on the half-hour drive home, when I did that (usually when I was almost home). That was what convinced me to take those short (2 hr) after-work naps, and they corrected the sleepy driving issues.

Plus, taking the high road pays eternal dividends, while the low-roaders often roast in hell.

Chris Collins, The US Senate many Governors and anti-abortion gun owners everywhere owe this woman a huge Thankyou tonight. Way to go Miz Ford.

Slightly below average, in terms of deer sightings. On first trip to the northern zone (when an antlerless deer would have been legal for me to harvest with my crossbow or ML), I did not see any. On the last trip up there with my rifle, I saw 4 deer but no horns on the two that offered me a shot. In the southern zone, I only deer hunted this past Saturday and Sunday. The wind and rain made Saturday a bust at our place in the morning and my folks in the afternoon. I did see a nice shooter (2.5 year old) buck at home on Sunday afternoon. He was too far for me to take the shot with my crossbow, but would have been a chip-shot with my slug gun. I now know what stand I will be in on opening day of gun season in a couple of weeks. This was an old ladder stand that I recently lowered, making it a lot more comfortable to hunt from. Also, it is now well-hidden by the underbrush in a hedgerow between corn plots. It kind of stuck out like a sore thumb when it was up higher. The buck Sunday afternoon had no clue that I was there. I got my crosshairs on him twice as he crossed shooting lanes well within shotgun range. Unfortunately, he was on a mission and did not show any reaction to a couple of grunt calls I made from 60 yards away. The only thing he would have heard if I had my shotgun would have been it going off, and hopefully he would have felt the slug before hearing that. So the tally for me at this point is 6.5 days hunted (5 northern zone, 1.5 southern), no shots offered, (2) antlerless, (2) unknown, and (1) antlered buck sighted. I am excited about the rest of the season, based on seeing evidence of a good buck in the area up north (I have three more days to hunt up there over Thanksgiving), at least one at home, and a couple over at my folks place. I have all day Friday thru Sunday to hunt this weekend and the rut should definitely still be in full swing then. "So far" does not mean a thing, for the best is yet to come.

I got 15 years, and about 50 deer from my first foodsaver, before it finally crapped out last fall. I also started using it for fish 5 years ago (aprox 20 quart sized packages per year). I thought it was shot back then, when it would not lower the pressure enough in the bags for the sealer to activate. Before trashing it, I took the pump apart and removed a tiny pice of grit from the diaphram, The repair worked and I got 5 more years out of it. Prior to fixing it, I asked for and received a new one from my folks for Christmas. That new one started service this year, when the old one stopped sucking properly again and I was unable to fix it. You a right that It is more time-consuming than stuffing zip lock bags. We go thru 4 average sized deer per year. I save some money and time, by stuffing the grind from the first one each year into zip lock bags. Since that is usually consumed within three months, vacuum sealing is not necessary. There is no difference in "fresh taste" after three months in the freezer, between ground venison from a zip locked or a vacuum sealed bag. Long term storage is where the vacuum sealing really pays off. I have thawed out 4 year old vacuum sealed roasts and backstraps that tasted like they were freshly killed. The difference in freshness is far more noticable with fish over shorter terms. One year old vacuum sealed fish (bass or walleye) tastes just like fresh caught. The additional time required for vacuum sealing does not slow me down that much because my wife usually does it. That, and cleaning up the equipment, is the limit of her contribution to the deer processing job. I am not sure what my new foodsaver cost (it was free to me), but I hope it lasts 15 years like the last one. It sure is nice to be able to have fresh tasting meat whenever you want it.

They are only tough if you put your shot in the wrong place. I hit that big one from my bedroom window behind the shoulder with a .22 rimfire yellow-jacket, fired from 100 yards away. I heard that tell-tale "yip" at the shot, and he piled up dead in the snow after a 30 yard sprint. That time a pair came in on a moonlit night to my carcass pile. I should have targeted the smaller female with my first shot. Killing the big males does not put nearly the dent in their numbers. I squeezed off 2-3 shots at her as she ran off, but found no blood on her tracks. It don't take much to kill them if you can catch them broadside behind the shoulder.

I would like to see them add a third buck tag, for those of us who purchase gun, archery, and ML licences. A recent poll on this site showed that for every hunter who say's antlers are more important to them, there are 2.5 who say meat is more important. As far as the suggestion of "just kill a doe for meat", that is easier said than done in some areas, such as my home zone (9F). Here, farmers hammer the antlerless deer on nuisance permits, prior to October 1st, the bulk of which are left lay where they fall to feed vermin. By the time bow season rolls around, it is not unusual to see three antlered deer for every antlerless. The DEC has been handing out (4) DMP's per hunter for many years in this zone, but you can't kill what you don't see. As far as letting the bucks get older, that is all about antlers and (like the poll showed) they are loosing popularity. A 2.5 year buck offers the best combination of quality and quantity. I killed a 3.5 last season, and the meat was more but tougher than the 1.5's and 2.5's that I am used to. I try and pass 1.5's early in the seasons, just to save the tag for a chance at a 2.5, because there is a very significant meat quantity difference between 1.5 and 2.5, and no noticeable loss in quality.

Did you name that deer Pat or Chris ?

You were told wrong. If it has even one antler that is more than 3" long, you have to use your buck tag.

How did everybody do with their crossbows on opening weekend ? It looks like there were a few kills and a miss in the "live" thread. The weather was tough with all the wind and rain on Saturday. I got in a few hours in the morning and late afternoon (mostly inside enclosed blinds) but did not see anything. This morning would have been nice but I had something better to do (church with the family). I wanted to put in a lot more hours hunting afterwords, but the maples in our yard all dropped their leaves today and I have no daylight "free time" during the week. Cleaning them up left me just an hour before sunset for hunting. I sprinted back to the closest stand and saw my first buck of the year (looked like the wide-bodied 2.5 year buck that I saw from the car on Wed night). He was on a mission at 4:40 pm, and walked briskly in a straight line along the edge of a corn plot, 60 yards away. That was about double the distance that I would take a walking shot with my crossbow. If he pulls that stunt during shotgun season, he will be toast. I tried a grunt but that did not even slow him down. My next crossbow hunt will be on my last hunting vacation day this year, this Friday. That was the day I scored last year so I am hoping for a repeat performance.

Yes Turkey closed Friday at dusk in the Southern Zone and a few weeks earlier up North. I got the envelope in the mail yesterday for my hen-leg from opening weekend (a couple weeks ago). It will go out with the mail on Monday.

Is that a monkey up the tree in the second photo ? "Meateater" Steve R. says they taste like wild turkey drumsticks. If so, and its a young hen, they are good eating. I am not sure if there is a primate season up in the Northern zone.

Did the butt-out work ok on the bb ? The first failure that I experienced with mine happened when I tried it on one that my buddy killed on opening day morning of gun season in 2016. I suspect that the wall thickness may not be well enough developed at that age to let the teeth engage properly. I threw the thing down next to the gut-pile that morning. In the afternoon, when momma doe showed up at milking time, I shot her right next to her fawn's gut-pile. Since the butt-out was handy, I tried it again on her and experienced my second failure. That was probably due to some of her fawn's liner material fouling the teeth. I cleaned the thing up and it worked perfect the next time (on the infamous Texas Heart Shot buck). I owe it all to you Chef, for talking me into buying that tool when the price dropped down to $ 7.00 on Amazon. Without that "bore" gauge, I never could have proved the perfect shot-placement. Although the shot placement was perfect, the results were not because the bullet took out a good neck roast on it's way out.

Buckmaster, Did you think you were on the trail of a monster buck ?

You got some good eating there, but the contest clearly states you can only enter two bucks. If you use that as your second one, you could wind up screwing yourself out of some points. I asked for clarification on this before the cut-off date and a moderator made it very clear that only two bucks and two does were allowed, regardless of "headgear. I hope you saved the liver. There is no wild game meat (short of moose tongue) that is better eating than fresh, medium rare button buck liver. Congrats on the spectacular kill. I have not been able to shoot one myself since 2012. Watch out for FSW.

Thanks for posting this. It takes guts to post your own f-ups and many of the keyboard warriors here lack those. By "going public" with this, you will help countless others avoid the same mistakes and hopefully get some good suggestions on how to avoid a repeat yourself. It sounds like you already figured out one way (aim low on an alert deer). Just how low is the question. I think you grossly underestimated how much he ducked at 8". I can tell you from recent experience that a mature buck (est 3.5 year old), measures about 43" around the chest behind the front legs. Looking at last years shed, which you posted, that buck was probably even older and bigger this year. That means that if you held for a center lung shot, he had to duck at least 20", for the arrow to miss clean over his back. The most important factor here is the attitude of the buck at the instant you released your arrow. When you grunted earlier, you told him that there was another buck in the area. That got him "ready" for an attack. You also "stopped" him with a bleat. It is hard to imagine a situation where a buck would be on a higher state of alert than that one was after hearing that bleat. That is the instant you released your arrow from a range of 25 yards. That is the exact range where the effect of "string jump" is the greatest. Closer don't give them as much time to move as far and farther is more out of the "danger-zone" where they react to the sound of a bow's release. In more than 30 bow-seasons, I have seen all this before, unfortunately multiple times. I was never so lucky as to have my arrow "miss them clean". I struck 3 in the shoulder blade, not getting any penetration, in my early years. They always duck down and back. The last deer I killed with my vertical bow must have been alerted by the sight of my draw. That stopped him about 25 yards out. When I released my arrow, aimed at the center of his chest as he stood quartering away, he ducked way down and back, taking the arrow thru the neck. That made for an easy recovery but was certainly not where I intended to hit him. I have two suggestions for you. Aiming low on alert deer is the one you already figured out. The second is to avoid shooting at alert deer altogether. You might be able to eliminate the "stopping" of walking deer, by practicing at moving targets with your bow. A balloon, tied into the middle of a tire swing, in front of a round bale might be good. You could tie a rope to it and release it, trying to pop the balloon with your arrow at various points in the swing when you release it. That would give you experience at different speeds. It is a lot easier to hit a target moving at a steady speed than it is to hit one that accelerates quickly and unpredictably after you release your arrow. I eliminated the "alerting" of them catching the draw motion by switching to a crossbow at the earliest opportunity (like today). Throughout the year, I take thousands of shots at moving targets. It is easy, cheap, fast, quiet, and convenient for me to do that by shooting at a can hung from the tab by a wire from a tree branch behind our back deck, with an adult-stocked Daisy red-ryder bb gun. All that practice made killing two moving deer last season a piece of cake with both shots striking very close to my point of aim. I had called the buck in from about 100 yards away, by making a sound like a buck clearing a scrape (I pawed the leaves out of my tree blind). He approached at a fast walk. Cruising along 30 yards away and without warning, he caught my crossbow bolt thru his chest. During gun season, I heard a doe approaching at a fast run. I aimed at an opening she was headed for and hit her in the shoulder blade, with a 12 gauge slug, when she reached it from a range of about 40 yards.

I am ready for my first deer hunt in the southern zone this season. Good luck to all those heading out for some archery hunting this weekend no matter what type of "bow" you choose.