wolc123

What is your address there ?

I started using my daughters BB gun for most of my marksmanship practice. 5000 for $5.00 is what I paid last time. The adult sized stock and "big loop" that I bought for her Daisy Red Ryder did set me back $ 40, but that made it nearly identical in dimensions to my new Marlin 336BL 30/30 deer rifle. I might have to stock up on some more .22 rimfire ammo however, as I have been going thru a bit of it lately on "nussance coons", and squirrel season is now upon us. The BB gun don't work to good for that service.

I sighted in all of my deer guns, and my squirrel rifle over the long holiday weekend. I ended up using almost a full box of the 12 ga SST's with my Marlin 512. The vertical adjustment on Bushnell Banner 4X scope was a little coarser than I assumed. The half turn down, that I did after the poor hit last season, put the first shot low and just off the 8 x 11 paper target at 100 yards. 6 clicks up, put the second shot 4 " high. 3 clicks down, and the last (2) shots formed a 2" dia group, centered on the bull, which is where I left it. There should be no excuses for a poor hit with that gun this season, but it cost me almost $ 20 worth of ammo to get there. The 5th slug from that box will be the one in the chamber on opening day, and I have (3) more boxes in reserve. The only other gun that needed a major adjustment was my new Marlin 30/30 with open sights. It came from the factory with the ramp set in the middle, and when I first tried it at 40 yards with some old 170 gr bullets, I had to aim low to pop some jugs. I am using 150's for deer this season, so I adjusted it to the second lowest position before taking my first shot on the range last weekend. That shot struck right at the top of the paper. I adjusted the ramp to the lowest position and it printed a 3 shot, 3" diameter group, centered 1-3/4" above the bull from 50 yards. That is where I left it. I also checked my smooth bore Ithaca mod 37 16 ga with Weaver 1-1/2X scope from 50 yards and it printed a 3 shot, 3-1/4" diameter group centered 3/4" above the bull. Suprisingly, my open-sighted Remington 870 smooth-bore 12 ga turned in the best performance at 50 yards, printing a 3 shot, 2" diameter group centered 2" above the bull. My Ruger M77 30/06 with Redfield 3-9X scope was the clear winner at 100 yards with a 2 shot, 3/8" diameter group centered 1-1/4" above the bull. My T/C Omega 50 cal ML, with Redfield 2-7X scope, placed second at that range, with a 2 shot, 1" diameter group centered 1" above the bull. The two Marlins were the only guns that needed adjustments.

Welcome to the site. Here are a couple of free tips: 1.) Aim low on the deer (for the heart area). If they catch a glimpse of your draw, they get very alert. That causes them to drop fast (just in time to catch the arrow mid-lung) when they hear the bow release the arrow. If you aim much higher, your arrow may hit too high, in the shoulder blade or the thick meaty area above the spine, just behind the shoulder, neither of which is fatal. 2.) Get yourself some of that CSI-type tracking agent (bloodglow, etc), that makes blood glow in the moonlight or starlight. It is almost always best not to go after a deer for at least a half hour after you hit it, and this stuff lets you wait until after dark, even if it is raining, on afternoon hunts. The best thing about having it in your pack is that it lets you hunt right up until sundown, and still have confidence in a recovery. Deer activity usually peaks at dusk during most of archery season.

That worked very well for me for quite a few years, up until the summer that a little doe fawn took up full time residence in the row of spruce trees between our yard and the pumpkin patch. Her mother must have got hit by a car or something, before she learned to fear people and went nocturnal like they usually do. She would walk right up to the "invisible" fence in broad daylight, calmly step thru the strands of mono, and eat until full. Our girls had to buy their pumpkins that year, and I have not tried to grow any since. They named the little doe "Daisy", but we did not see her after archery season opened. That was at least 5 years ago, and I did not shoot a doe at home after that until last fall. I doubt that one was her (it looked more like a 3-1/2 year old), but it may have been. If it was, then at least our girls got to enjoy some of the jerky that my brother in law made from that venison. I don't recall it tasting like pumpkin.

Sorry to hear about your accident. I sent up a prayer for your full and speedy recovery. I understand the dangers of forktrucks very well and I appreciate your posting, because it might help save a few others (and me) from a similar accident.

When the temperature dips below freezing, I pack a thermos of hot apple cider. It tastes good, warms me up, and it's smell may actually attract deer, otherwise just a canteen of water. Apple cider don't tip them off that a hunter is close, like coffee might. Coffee is so smelly, that I can almost smell it from 50 yards upwind. On western hunts, where I did not have access to a tractor or ATV, I brought along water purification tablets and hunted near a creek, because I go thru gallons when I have to drag or pack a carcass out. A quart of water or cider will easily keep me hydrated thru a morning or afternoon hunt otherwise.

I only have one primary interest and that is Jesus Christ. My family, job, and hobbies mostly just provide outlets to absorb the blessings of His grace. It sure is a lot easier that way, and there is always plenty of time for the stuff that really matters.

I did not make it out, but I did spend some time over the weekend out on the range sighting in (6) deer guns and my squirrel rifle. I probably would have got out this morning, but I had a few too many beers at the Fireman's picnic last night and was not quite up to it. Hopefully, the action will be good next Saturday morning, over at my folks place.

The first few weeks of archery season are usually pretty slow anyhow, and the proper control of the aging temperature for the meat is a little more difficult in the warmer weather. You should be good to go for "prime-time" peak-rut week, which always starts around November 5 (the day after Crossbow opens) in these parts. I will send out a prayer for your speedy and full recovery.

Happy birthday Tacks.

He sounds like my brother in law, who I have hunted deer with occasionally over the last 25 years. He has also not managed to kill one himself, but is a very good cook and he makes the best beef/venison jerky for miles around. He raises his own beef, but is completely dependent on others to come up with the venison. The jerky is too greasy when made with 100 % ground beef and too dry when made with 100 % venison. I am convinced that the only way I will be able to help him kill deer is if he first demonstrates the ability on some squirrels. Maybe after I retire, I will have a little more time to school him on that. He just has not demonstrated an ability to get it done on "live targets". He is a heck of a nice guy though, who will do anything he can to help anyone (including netting lots of fish, and setting me up with all the RR corn seed that I need). He finally did manage to outproduce me on Largemouth bass one day this year on our summer vacation at their camp up on the St Lawrence. Someday he may do that with smallmouth, northern pike, or walleye, and maybe even deer, but he has a long way to go.

If he does take the buyout, for what you get, you could cover the rent at Galusha's (just a few miles north) for many years and still be close to the spots you have scouted at your old "no-dogs" camp. I am pretty sure they would be ok with dogs, but I have not stayed there since the current owner's folks passed away. Their daughter runs it now, and she seemed to be nice when we made a day-trip there a few summers ago. She told us that her brother Andy, who would always stop by and visit us after we got in from hunts when he was a teenager long ago, had moved to another state. He would always tell us stories of his dad's hunts up there in the old days. My favorite was one about a grouse hunt, across Lewey lake, when he killed a bear at point blank range with birdshot.

Pappy Boyington use to hunt in a F4U back in the 40's in the South Pacific.

He is talking about zone 4U where gun season opens on Sunday September 3 * just kidding, I think he meant "for you", but I was also a little bit confused by the question.

If it were the last day of gun season, we still needed meat, and I had a tag, then I would not let any legal deer walk. Even a single hot-dog provides more nurishment than one of those paper tags. That said though, in 36 seasons of deer hunting, I have never killed a doe-fawn. I lost count years ago of the number of buck fawns that I killed however, and they have made up about 25% of my antlerless deer. When filling DMP tags, I always target the largest antlerless deer first, which is probably why "little sister" has always gotten away. My wife really loves those button bucks. For me, it is worth killing one just to see the smile on her face (along with the "other" rewards she provides) when I bring one home. That is a lot better than the complaining I get when I have to take a big-antlered one to the taxidermist and get her to surrender a little more wall space. In the old day's, when deer were scarce, I never passed anything legal, but these days all 1-1/2 year bucks are pretty safe from me for the first half of archery season and up until Thanksgiving day during gun season. After that, anything goes. As a pure meat-hunter, my favorite deer to harvest are 2-1/2 year old bucks, which I feel offer the best combination of quantity and quality. Last year I was rewarded with one of those with my crossbow, about 5 minutes after passing a cute little 1-1/2 year old 3-point. Unfortunately, a younger guy next door killed that little buck a few weeks later. He was genuinely upset about it, and said that he did not see the horns and thought it was a doe. If that is not a good reason for mandatory AR's then I don't know what is. I would like to see a 3-point per side restriction if for no other reason than to help folks be a little more certain of target identification. I think slowing folks down a little bit would make us all a lot safer.

It don't look like I will be able to make it up to the Northern zone for the gun opener this year, but if I can, it will be my Ruger M77 30/06 with 3-9X Redfield widefield scope. I still have about a box and a half of 150 gr Federal classics for that and I hope to use a few on the range this weekend out to 300 yards, with zero set 2" high at 100. That is my fair-weather, "sit and ambush" gun if the wind is light and there is no rain or snow. If it is windy with rain or snow, then I will be still-hunting with my new open-sight Marlin 336BL 30/30. I was a little rusty with open sights, but am doing a lot better after several thousand practice shots with my daughter's Daisy Red-Ryder, which I set up with a "big-loop" and adult-sized stock, to make it almost identical dimensionally to the Marlin. I will be using Federal Fusion 150 gr in that. Our late-season Thanksgiving trip to the Northern zone looks good to go, so at least my time will not be wasted sighting in those two rifles. For the Southern zone opener, it will probably be my Marlin 512 with 3X Bushnell scope and 2-3/4" Hornady SST's. If I decide to head into the thick stuff, where shots are all under 50 yards, in the afternoon, then it will be my grandad's old Ithaca 16 ga deerslayer with 1-1/2X weaver scope and Remington foster slugs. If it is raining or snowing in the afternoon, then it will be my Remington 870 12 ga with short smooth-bore slug barrel with open sights and Remington foster slugs. I am hoping to get all (5) of those guns, and my ML and crossbow out on the range by Monday (I just finished mowing it out to 500 yards). I will zero the two open sighted weapons and the Ithaca 16 ga at 75 yards, and the Marlin 12 ga, along with my T/C Omega 50 cal ML at 100 yards.

I could keep them out of the pumpkin patches pretty good by putting in "t" posts, about 40 ft apart, all the way around. Run a strand of 20 lb test mono up about 15" and a second at 30". Tie some white ribbon at a few locations on each strand. That will show you at a great distance if a strand has been broken and it will show the deer where to avoid the area where those invisible "ghosts" push them at night. Their eyes are not good enough to see the line, and it spooks them when they bumble into it. I would always replace the line on my salmon reels every year anyhow, so this was "free". I also had a bunch of t posts, a small pile-driver for putting in the posts (you can also push them in with a tractor bucket loader), and one of those cheap Harbor-freight jacks for pulling them out. Labor and time was minimal and cost was nothing.

Sevens are cool but sixes not so much. The only picture I can find, with the 17 foot Sylvan that I bought new in 1989 in it, is this one of a 37" northern that I caught on a rainy day up on the St Lawrence a couple years ago. That boat was slightly under-powered with the Johnson 60 hp 3-banger that it came with. I used it a lot in the early years (before I got married) and wore out that 60 in about 10 years. The new 70 hp Johnson that I replaced it with is just right and I have not desired a larger boat or motor since then. This sized boat is just right to take advantage of almost all of NY's fresh-water fishing. It does not do anything quite perfect, but it will do it all: Trolling the great lakes with a couple of downriggers and/or planer boards, pushed by the 70 hp main engine (trolls down real good and keeps the electronics charged), chasing largemouth in shallow backwater bays with the bow-mount 30 lb thrust electric motor, and back-trolling wind-swept structure for walleyes with the 15 hp Johnson kicker are all things that it does pretty good. Thousands of fish have made the journey to "fish-heaven" (our family's and friends food supply) over the last 28 years on that vessel. If the twofootitis sets in, Stone may be looking for a 27 footer in a year or two.

If I get out this weekend, I am taking a small cooler with an ice-pack and a couple quart zip-lock bags and skinning & parting them out as soon as there is a lull in the action. I have to remember to sharpen up my pocket knife before I go, and there is no time like the present. I usually hunt them after deer season when keeping them cool is a lot easier.

The opposite side rear leg does not look quite right (considerably thinner), maybe a car-hit from the year before. I killed a 5-point many years ago that had a shriveled, cut-tendon rear leg (from the prior year) on the opposite side of a funky-looking drop beam, similar to that one.

Here are a couple of screamers from Monday morning. I always liked pounders but all I had was a standard 12 ouncer for comparison. The king looked to be between 16 and 18 but I did not weigh it.

I only shoot at them from up there if they are on the ground or if they are on the front side of a tree such that the basic rule of "know your target and what is beyond" is not violated. Getting up in a tree on level ground directs most of the shots towards the ground, which makes it considerably safer than shooting at them from the ground. I appreciate your concern for safety.

Thats odd, I just almost the same thing around the corner from our place in WMU 9F yesterday. The poults were about the size of a fat robbin. There were about a dozen of them with a hen on the shoulder of the road pecking at bugs or gravel.

I hope to get out over this holiday weekend and hang a stand over at my folks place (about 20 mi away). There is a spot in the oaks over there where I always see lots of greys. It is kind of tough hunting them with so many leaves on the trees. I like shooting them from a stand with a .22, not only to eat, but also to get some "live target" practice for deer hunting. The kill zone is so small on a squirrel, that after taking a few, it really helps my confidence when shooting at deer later. My little 410 would probably be a lot more effective at this time of year, but it would not provide as good of practice and the pellets would complicate the eating. I like the idea of taking a cooler and an ice pack and processing them in the woods, especially early in the season like this. Most of the squirrel hunting I have done the last few years has been after deer season, so keeping the meat cool has not been an issue. I have often mixed squirrels and rabbits together in the crockpot and the squirrel always tastes a little better. It just takes a few more of them to make a meal. I also think that the backstraps are the tastiest part. I am getting hungry now just thinking about it.