wolc123

I watched (3) bucks and a doe in a clover plot for about a half hour on Sunday afternoon. I hope the biggest one stays around. His 8-point rack was tall but narrow, just big enough to make a nice euro mount. His body was of more interest to me, as it dwarfed the other two bucks and the doe. It looked heavy enough to keep my family fed for quite some time. All of the hides were still of that "summer-red" color, and the antlers were not yet completely cleared of velvet.

What do you think happened with your corn plots ? About 20 years ago, one of mine did not germinate at all, but that was the only miss in the last 25 years. I always use old leftover "free" seed and I think it was bad that year, probably from not being stored properly by the farmer who gave it to me. I do my best to obtain next years supply at the end of planting season each year. When I store it up on the shelf in the our basement, where it is dry and the temperature is fairly constant year-round, germination has been close to 100%, even when it is up to 5 years old. I used to do germination tests prior to use, but stopped that after experiencing no more failures. I am hoping to get in a few more winter wheat / white clover plots this year at home but all the rain we have been getting is pushing my schedule back. I did finish that up over at my folks place, which is on much better drained ground however. The turnips that I did manage to get in here in late July are looking real good however, as is the most of the corn that I got in on the weekend after Memorial day. At home, I kill about 4 deer on foodplots (usually on white clover, wheat or brassicas as they are entering of leaving corn) for every one off. Putting in and maintaining those plots is nearly as much fun as pulling the trigger, and they provide year-round entertainment. I always judge the effectiveness of my plots my calculating my cost per pound of boneless venison after subtracting input costs (excluding equipment). While putting in foodplots is fun, and hunting them is a cost-effective way of filling the freezer, the actual hunting is a lot more fun up in the Adirondacks. Killing a deer on the edge of a flat-land corn plot pales in comparison with up in the mountains. I can't keep four hungry mouths fed on one mountain buck a year though, and those foodplots at home allow me to feed them a lot cheaper than I could by raising beef.

It certainly does. After watching a few of those reality TV shows from Alaska, it looks like it is easier to live a "subsistance" life-style down here than it is up there.

I finished a 1/4 acre winter wheat / white clover plot today, over at my folks place, on a spot where I had turnips last year. As usual, the deer never touched those until spring, when they finally dug and ate most of the bulbs. That was the third time I tried turnips over there and it will also be the last, even though this ain't baseball. They really love the clover over there. About a half hour after I finished the small new section up front this afternoon, (4) deer came out of the woods and started feeding on the mature sections further back. There were two "shooters" for me in that group, including a thick-bodied, high-tined, but narrow-racked, most likely 2-1/2 year old buck. A thin 4-point 1-1/2 year old was hanging close to a medium-sized doe, that was probably his sister, on the other side of the plot. She would be my second "shooter". He would get a pass, unless I still have a buck tag on the last weekend of gun season. A 6-point with tall brow-tines was hanging close to the 8, but he also would get a pass until the last weekend of gun season. I spent about 1/2 hour observing those (4) deer with the binoculars. Hopefully that 8-point hangs close until cross-bow season opens. It would be ok if he gives those two smaller bucks the boot.

That was an entertaining movie. I thought Dwight Yokum played the best part, considering that he is not a professional actor. I don't remember that second line being in it, but I do recall the first and the last lines in your photo.

It looks like you got (6) nice "screamers" there ^. They sure are fast at this time of year. We were up at Wilson harbor on lake Ontario hoping to get into a few, but the lake was too rough to get out on the lake in my 17 footer. We did ok in the harbor on the backup plan (bringing back a largemouth bass and a few bluegills to restock my small pond, that dried up last year in the drought). The bass fishing was so so yesterday morning with about a dozen small largemouth (less than 12"), and just one 13" "keeper".

I have never shot one in flight, but I usually manage to pick off a few with my .22 rimfire, from my bedroom widow each late fall and early winter. They land on or near my carcass pile that is a bit over 100 yards behind the window. I miss about as many as I hit at that range. I always have to play the wind a bit to drop a bullet on them. They are small targets that make great practice. Hitting a coyote on that pile is a piece of cake in comparison. Speaking of coyotes, have you ever noticed that even a crow will not eat their carcasses ? I toss them on that pile with deer and coons, all of which are devoured, but nothing ever touches the skinned coyotes. They just shrivel up over the winter and lay there until spring when they get turned under by the plow. For me, crow shooting is mainly "target-practice" but you got me wondering about the corn. I suppose that a few times, when I thought some big stretches of field corn did not germinate, it might really have been crows that were the culprit. I do wage war against the coons to protect that corn however and I will probably start digging some holes around some sickly looking apple and spruce trees tomorrow to take advantage of the free fertilizer. The NY state asks us to bury or burn coons that are causing damage and killed before trapping season begins. After that, I just toss them on the carcass pile for the crows to pick at.

I think I will sight in my new Marlin 336 BL 30/30 on the bench from 75 yards within the next couple weeks. It will be interesting to see what kind of "precision" I can get out of it from the bench with open sights at that range. My last 336 had about 4" more barrel length but it also had a 4X scope. I don't care so much how this one does on the bench, but if it will give me a 6" group offhand at 50 yards or leaning against a tree at 75 yards, then I will be very happy with it. I could probably live with 12" in each case (but so might the deer). I really am not looking for too much "precision" from this gun, but I am looking for something that is easy to carry thru thick cover and that won't be hindered by rain, sleet and snow. That short barrel and open sights should open up a whole new world in those areas.

You will be sacrificing some velocity. It makes sense that accuracy may improve with a shorter barrel, because the bullets get out sooner. There is a lower limit on that though, because some length of rifling is necessary to impart a spin on the bullet. I am guessing that would take about 12 inches in a .308.

The best thing about getting into shape, is that it makes still-hunting the hills and mountains a lot more effective. It is much easier to sneak up on a deer, when you are not huffing and puffing to catch your breath all the time. That still-hunting is also a great way to stay in shape. Lugging that new BAR up in the NZ, starting October 20 and on into early December, will easily keep you in shape during that month and a half. To get the most out of those, you got to pay your dues over the other ten and a half months though, and it sounds like you are on the right track. It is hard for me to express how much more satisfying it is to kill a buck in the scenic mountains, from the ground, than from a flat-land treestand.

I never use chemicals to control weeds in clover, so sorry I can't help with that one. Do you have a bush-hog ? That is my primary tool for weed control on clover. Grass can't handle mowing like clover can and it usually looses the battle (for several years anyhow) if you keep it clipped a few times per season. If your local population is up, sometimes the deer will keep it clipped for you. Clover also builds up nitrogen in the soil, which grass loves, so over the years the grass competition escalates. When I start to see the grass winning the battle, I know there is lots of nitrogen in the ground. That is when I roll those clover plots over with a plow in the spring, disk them up, and put in a heavy nitrogen user - i.e CORN. That corn grows like crazy on those old clover plots. The best part is, if you minimize herbicide usage on the corn, the clover comes back great the next year, often without even needing to be reseeded. I usually get 4-5 years out of a clover plot, before it is ready to be plowed under for corn. That requires about 3/4 of my foodplot acreage in clover and the other 1/4 in corn on any given year.

Good point on the burying of the topsoil. I use a 2 x 12" plow and try to plow as shallow as I can, usually only 4-6" deep. That saves topsoil and fuel. My biggest usage of the plow is for rolling over old white clover plots in the spring for new corn plots. I have an experiment going now, where I plowed and disked one old corn plot and sprayed and disked another. It will be nice to see which one does better with new wheat/clover mix plots this fall. I am hoping that the "organic" one, where I used the plow instead of the spray does better. As fuel gets cheaper (The last time I bought, it was $1.95/gallon for off-road diesel), the plow gets more attractive than the spray. It certainly can not hurt to minimize the spray usage, when so much of our family's food comes off our farm - mostly in the form of venison.

If you have rocky ground, you will not want a tiller. For food-plotting, I would get a 6 ft bush-hog, a 7 ft 3-point disk (or a 10 ft transport type disk), and a 2 x 14" plow. All those are on the small side for 60 hp, but smaller implements are better for foodplotting because they will work better in less that ideal conditions (that usually means wet). A 6-8 ft cultipacker, boom sprayer, and a fertilizer spreader would be good tools to have also. My favorite tool, when it comes to putting venison in the freezer, is a 3-point, 2-row corn planter, with dry fertilizer attachments. A 2-row planter is ideal for 1/2 to 3 acre plots. Corn usually out-produces all other foodplots, because it provides cover as well as carbs, just when the deer need them both the most. Plots like clover, brassicas and soybeans might keep deer on your ground at night, but only corn will keep them there by day, after they detect a little hunting pressure.

The WW & clover mix should do good for you. Winter wheat is more attractive to deer than winter rye and it will keep the weeds at bay, allowing the white clover to develop good for next season(s). They like oats even better, but the first good frost kills that off and will probably hit early on this "cooler than normal" season. The wheat should give you some good attraction this fall. It is often hit or miss with the turnips. On our farm, they hit them real hard after a hard frost, but at my folks place (about 20 miles away) they never go near them.

I would like to see a year round open hunting and trapping season on coyotes. That way, more folks could get in on some of that "lightning" action, after the hay is cut.

Happy birthday. I will have to try that Hammondsport someday.

We try not to skip too often but like I said, they got more out of watching "Miracles from Heaven" than they usually do from a church service. I am glad to see that you are still following this thread.

Lakers that size ^ are pretty tastey, cut into steaks and grilled over tinfoil and fresh off the cob sweetcorn. Much better than chicken and almost as good as ruffed grouse.

The "church" thing reminds me of another little "miracle" that we got to see last weekend. In addition to clearing the parking spaces at the public boat launch, and calming the river with a couple of well-timed showers on Saturday afternoon, He answered a prayer from my youngest daughter in church on Sunday morning. We had skipped church the week prior due to a schedule conflict. We did watch the movie together that evening (see thread title), and I think the girls got more out of it than they do from a typical church service. I had noticed her and her sister in a conversation before the start of this Sunday's service. There were no other young kids there then, and they had talked about going up front for the "children's sermon" that was shown in the printed schedule. At 13 and 14 years old, they thought they were a little too old for that, but they thought that the guest pastor had probably put a lot of effort into writing his "kids" sermon, and that he would be sad if no "real kids" showed up. About 2 minutes before it was scheduled to start, I noticed her hands folded in prayer next to me in the pew. She whispered to me that she had prayed for some kids to show up, so that she would not have to go stand up front with her sister. Less than a minute later, a father and mother with three young kids walked in, just as the guest pastor was walking to the center to start his "children's sermon". My daughter looked at me then and smiled, for now they were off the hook.

The answers you are looking for may be found in the Bible. No book is easier to find and it has led the national best sellers list for almost 2000 years. It does say in there, that God created the fish of the sea, the foul of the air, and the animals of the earth, for man to eat. It also specifies what types should be eaten. Whitetail deer and smallmouth bass fit the descriptions of the types that are proper for man to eat, but I am not so sure on the bears. Those "rules" on what types can be eaten have lost all or at least most of their significance since the death and resurection of Jesus Christ. He paid the full price of all of man's sin up there on that cross. I would be very interested in your "non-religious, agnostic" take on the film that is the subject of this thread. It would be worth a couple hours of your time to check it out. Your clicking and active participation on this thread shows that you are at least open to a religious discussion, which is a very good thing. The film does a very good job, near the end, of showing how "miracles" are all around us in everyday life. Nothing really happens by chance. For example, those thunderstorms that bracketed the time that we were on the river Saturday served to "calm the waters" by eliminating most of the big boats that usually stir it up into a raging froth on weekend afternoons. The Bible tells us that "calming the waters" is something that Jesus Christ is an old pro at.

I was thinking the same thing. Way too big for deer ticks.

That is why I would stick with the lighter bullets (150 gr) in factory loads. They would keep your pressure down compared to the 165's and 180's. You could probably get away with the 165's, if your rifle is in real good shape, but why push it ? That is way overkill for deer. If I had one, I would feed it with the Federal classic 150 gr bullets that have dropped my last two Adirondack bucks, dead in there tracks, from 300 and 50 yards. I imagine that I would tire quickly of lugging that big 12-pounder around the mountains however. It would be neat to use at home on DMP tags, from a blind with a good rest, if they ever decide to let us use rifles here in zone 9F.

He came thru good on the fishes this afternoon. (10) 14 - 18 " smallmouths, out on the upper Niagara river, between the 2:00 and 6:00 pm thunderstorms, plus a few shorter ones that we released. I just finished vacuum sealing (5) quart packages of fillets. Accu-weather was spot-on with their predictions, which changed our plans (we were going to hit lake Ontario for salmon). Those thunderstorms on the river made for a nice uncrowded, free, public boat launch. They also eliminated a lot of the big cruisers which tend to run up and down the river all day long on the summer weekends, creating wakes that make it very uncomfortable out there in a small craft. Smooth waters and hungry, hard-fighting smallmouth, it don't get much better than that. Thank you Jesus.

It is awesome that we have a hunting forum here that is so open to religious discussions. I can not think of many other hobbies that position folks better to receive blessings of God's grace. Well, maybe one other. Hopefully, He will bless us with a few fish this afternoon.

If you "don't believe in god", then where do you suppose you came from ? Evolution maybe ? Where did it start ? Basically, you are saying that at some point, something came from nothing. Do you really believe that is possible. Sorry, but that sounds just plain dumb to me. Don't worry though, your clicking on this thread, with this title, shows that you are still searching and that there is there is lots hope for you yet. See if you can locate a Bible, read it a bit, and maybe you will find your way.