wolc123

Spot on there. Veterans day is always the peak of the rut (Sat Nov 11). I put in for that Friday off, two more days earlier in October for northern zone crossbow/ML season, and a half a day for Friday of the last weekend of late southern zone ML season. Hopefully, I will be tagged out by then.

I am sorry that you are scared. Nothing drives out fear like belief in Jesus Christ.

It's good to see all the posts on this thread, which is clearly all about religion. This is very relative on a hunting websitse, because I would have liked to know at 25 what I found out at 50, concerning the connection between Jesus Christ, and the fate of every living creature. If I knew then, what I know now, the (6) deer that I wounded and lost more than 10 years ago would have ended up in my freezer. If I can help someone else avoid making those same mistakes, then that is great.

I wonder what lesson He was trying to teach you and JR with that one ?

garden hackle

That's interesting. I hope Olcott and Wilson will be open for launching. My brother said that the St Lawrence was down about 1.5 feet last weekend, from it's peak earlier this year, at his place up on the St Lawrence. They are just down-river of Alex bay.

Welcome to a great site. What part of the Adirondacks are you from ? The only problem I have with the Hunting up there is it makes what we have back here in Western NY loose much of it's appeal. I would take a small Adirondack 6 point over a big flat-land 12 point any day. The scenery up there, and the lack of pressure makes all the difference. It definitely gives you a taste of what the hunting must be like up in Heaven, that's for sure.

Nice king. We are hoping to get out of Olcott or Wilson on this Saturday afternoon (as long as the big waves and thunder holds off). If it is too windy out on the lake (or hopefully if our arms get sore from reeling in all the big kings), I hope to bring back a bucket full of bluegills and a largemouth or two from in the harbor in order to re-stock our pond that I re-excavated last fall after it dried up in the drought. Is the lake level back down a bit now ? .

He was a heck of a singer/songwriter and could act pretty good also. He and John Wayne were a lot better in the first "True Grit" than the couple of modern-day Hollywood actors (who's names I can't recall) that starred in the remake a few years ago.

That would be my biggest problem. I buy an average of (2) 12 or 6 volt batteries a year now for various boats, tractors and vehicles, so the last thing I need is another. Another thing that sucks about batteries is that you never know when they will die. Sometimes they last 12 years, and sometimes just 2. I can't recall ever burning out an A/C electric motor, or wearing out a rope on a hand-powered block and tackle. I don't even like battery-powered portable power tools for that reason. I will take a drill with a cord any day.

One of my most memorable running shots was one that I took offhand, from a range of about 80 yards, on a 10 point buck that was running full tilt thru thick hardwoods. Right at the shot, the buck folded up, just like a pheasant hit with a full pattern. That scene will be forever etched in my mind. The reason that I took that shot, from high up in my treestand, is that I knew it was safe (In case of a miss, the trajectory would take the bullet into the ground on the pancake-flat land), and I could not believe that my first shot had missed. The buck had stepped out into a shooting lane, about 70 yards away. With my gun well-rested on a rail, I calmly placed the crosshairs behind his shoulder, and fired. He wheeled around and bolted. The second shot was perfectly timed with his expiration, but it never touched him. The hair at the site of the first shot, and the side that the entry wound was on, made it clear that it was the first shot that got the job done. Another one that I will never forget, was the first deer I ever killed, 36 years ago. My uncle and I were hunting up a steep hill in Allegheny state park. We heard a shot up on top, and soon two antlerless deer came barreling down. We had a party permit, along with my dad, so I found an opening between the trees, about 60 yards away and pulled the trigger when the first deer reached it. The family still talks about that shot today. Looking back, it might not have been the lead deer that folded up, struck perfectly thru the front shoulders. More likely, it was the twin button-buck following close behind it, and my lead on the first one was about 6 feet short. It would not bother me at all if I never took another running shot at a deer. I will continue to practice them on targets though, because it is more fun and challenging. I have no problem with challenging myself on paper, but I have no need or desire to do it on a living animal.

I can't argue that one, and it was certainly the main theme of the movie. One of the main characters (the little girl's father) must have told his wife "You got to have faith" about half a dozen times or more. I don't think anyone is born with Faith, but it is available to all. If you lack it, you can still act like you have it and someday, when you least expect it, you will be pleasantly surprised when the Holy Spirit gives it to you. The first thing I did to "act like I had it" was to try and get my family to Church on most Sundays. Next, I started some regular Bible reading (I like the NIV best). Over the last five years, at least two deer made it into our freezer as a direct result of that Bible reading, along with (3) more probables. The first "confirmed" kill happened when I "accidently" dropped my Bible from my treestand and went down to get it with just a few minutes of remaining daylight. Immediately a flock of turkeys decended on my position in the bush-patch below my stand (I was wearing blaze orange cammo so they would not have got close had I still been up the tree). A wise old buck was with them, which I was able to kill from point blank range with my slug-gun before he knew what hit him. The second "Bible deer" was my ML doe last fall (see last season's ML harvest thread if you want to see that story). The three probables also happened on days when I took my Bible with me and read it up in the stand. You can even see what was the last verse that I read on last year's crossbow harvest thread. I call them "probables" because they may have happened without the Bible, while the two "confirmed" would have been impossible for me to kill as I did without it. Another, and maybe the most important thing you can do to "act like you have Faith", is to do things for others, expecting nothing in return. There is lots of truth in the saying "it is better to give than to receive" Prayer is another big one, and the more your faith grows, the more of those will be answered. It gets a lot easier to recognize the little miracles around us everyday as that Faith grows. That movie did an excellent job of portraying that in the closing scenes.

I mostly avoid running shots these days, but it does make sense to practice them a bit. Many years ago, down at my buddy's southern-tier camp, we would run a cable down a hill between a couple trees and slide a deer-shaped piece of plywood, hung from a couple eyebolts. Drives were the go-to technique down there, and running shots were common. I practice hitting moving targets a lot these days from our deck with a bb gun, shooting at a beer can hung from a wire attached to the clip. The length of the wire and the speed of the wind mostly controls the speed, as well as the impacts from previous hits. This is about the cheapest way and most convenient way that I have found to get lots of practice. It usually costs less than 10 cents to cut the cans in half, including the loss of the 5 cent deposite, and the cost of the bb's. I modified my daughter's Daisy red-ryder with an adult-sized stock and "big-loop" to make it dimensionally similar to my new Marlin 336 BL. Hopefully all that bb gun practice will pay off in the deer woods this fall. I have also practiced a bit with with the Marlin 30/30, by shooting gallon milk jugs filled with water, and plan to do a bit more from now until deer season. They explode pretty good when hit with 170 grains of lead. Maybe I will hang some of those in front of my big backstop and get them swinging to practice moving shots. It would be cool to cut a seperate supporting string with a still shot (or several) from a rest , then pop the jug as it swings down.

I don't think He would be a liberal, because that would make Him "pro-choice" and we all know that He is "pro-life". I think He would take about 75 % of the popular vote, based on the percentage of American's who identify themselves as Christians today, and most of the electoral votes except maybe NY and CA. The last election showed that there is still a lot of work to do in those states. Things are not so bad upstate in NY, but downstate where you are, I definitely understand what you are hearing.

I am glad that your buddy is doing ok. Have you asked him why he thinks God let him loose those birds ? Turkey is a lot less appealing to me than venison, but that would still hurt for a while if it happened to me. The key is the part where "all things work to the good for those who love Him". The "good" is not always immediate. Fire tempers steel and pain and suffering can make one stronger. He will be a better hunter now. We all learn by making mistakes. Believing in Jesus will not eliminate all bad things from happening, but it will give you more patience to wait for the good. Nothing bothers me more about hunting that the loss of game that I have shot at. I am very thankful that it has been more than 10 years since Jesus Christ has let it happen to me with a deer. A gray squirrel that I lost in a rock wall after dropping it off a limb with my .22, two seasons ago still bothers me. It was right at dusk and I regretted not having my "bloodglow" CSI-type night-time tracking agent with me. Where was the "good" in the loss of that squirrel ? That ugly experience contributed to my holding off on small-antlered, small-bodied bucks last fall with both my crossbow and rifle. The much larger bodied crossbow buck showed up less that 5 minutes after I passed the little guy (Jesus delivered quick that time). The slightly larger rifle buck showed up over a month after I passed the smaller one, but also allowed me to make the only "perfect shot" that I have ever pulled off on a deer. He took his sweet time on that one (almost to the end of the northern zone season) but really used it to prove to me that He calls ALL the shots.

There is enough room in Heaven for everyone, so it would be selfish of me not to spread the word. To answer your question, I believe that the answer would be a negative number, meaning that there would be more wars had no one spread the Word about Jesus Christ. I am extremely thankful to live in a country that identifies as about 75 % Christian and I have no intention on letting up the pressure on that other 25 %. I love them too much for that. They just don't know no better and it is not their fault. Politics does have a special section but I welcome any personal attacks you care to deliver on me about my religion. Every bullet I take for Jesus moves me one notch higher in His Kingdom someday, so thank you very much. I have asked that the moderators let them continue and they have kindly obliged. Carry on my friend and happy hunting this fall. That was not me. Mine involved a head-on collision with a pickup truck. I did not break any bones, but did dislocate a hip and suffer a concussion. The doc said at the time (28 years ago) that I would probably need a hip replacement within 5 years. It has not bothered me at all since that time.

One who may have a lesson to teach. All things work for the good to those who love Him.

You sound like someone who may have shot at a few. Care to answer that question ^ ?

I also don't know how many deer you have hit and lost or failed to hit when you shot at over the last 10 years. How about it ? The world wonders.

It is nice that the moderators have placed no limit on the amount on Jesus Christ that can be brought up here. Also, it is a very a very target-rich environment for locating those, such as yourself and FSW, who could use a little more convincing. How many deer have you fellas hit and lost, or failed to hit when you shot at, over the last ten years ? I have asked that question to several doubters, but none has offered up a reply. My number is zero, unless you count my first two shots on one three years ago, (you gotta hate those unseen, bullet-deflecting branches). I did manage to drop him dead in his tracks with my third shot. Also, one of two doe that I killed last season required a second finishing shot. Those three "non-fatal" errors by me did not prevent the meat from getting into our freezer because The guy in charge decided that He wanted them there. The good news is that Jesus Christ paid for all of us sinner's mistakes up on that cross long ago. If you are able to find a Bible (or google it) you can look up that He knows where every sparrow falls, so you best believe that He knows where the deer end up. I lost several deer in my younger days, before I connected the dots and realized who was running the show. I would feel guilty keeping that a secret when we are all blessed with such an abundant source of fine protein right here in NY state.

I have not but I did hear about it. Maybe I will check it out if I can find it.

I watched this movie (starring Jennifer Garner) with our two girls last night. I encourage anyone, who may be questioning their own faith and the existence of Jesus Christ, to give it a shot. It was not too hard for me to accept Jesus and the miracles that He puts out, because I was blessed with two "world record class ones" myself. That includes fully recovering from the most severe snowmobile wreck (about 28 years ago) and brain tumor (3 years ago) that any human has been known to experience (at least in Western NY). I understand why others, who have not been as fortunate as myself and Annabell Beam (the little girl in the movie), might struggle with their faith. It was a 50 year struggle for me, and it took the second miracle for me to buy the whole deal "lock stock and barrel". The good news is that it is never too late. The movie is based on a true story, which you can easily research and verify on "Youtube" or other internet sources. It is a first-class, Hollywood production with good acting. My wife and teenage daughters loved it. I would have liked to have taken them to see it at the theater, but watching it for the first time with them in the living room was cool. It held their attention better than Star Wars. One little dividend that accepting Jesus Christ can pay is how much better your hunting can get. Missing or loosing deer can easily become a thing of the past. No amount of practice or "magic bullets/arrows" can do that for you, but it is a piece of cake for Christ. I can say with absolute assurance that it is impossible for anyone to prove that Jesus Christ is not the truth. Hopefully this movie will help Him prove to a lot of skeptics that He is. What have you got to loose if He can make your hunting better in the process ? As important as that is to all of us here, it is near the least of what you stand to gain.

I am leaning towards an 8 x 30 Leupold BX-1 for Adirondack still-hunting. Amazon has them for under $ 100. I have not heard of many bad reviews on these. Is anyone using them ?

That is another good suggestion and I also have a surplus of WW (it was only $ 8 a bag at Rineharts in Middleport), so I will definitely have to give that one a try. The good thing about the brassicas or the wheat is that anything above ground that is not eaten off by the deer thru hunting season and winter can be mowed down in the late spring with a bushog. The nitrogen that it sucks out of the ground in the meantime will make it tougher on the grass competition to the clover next year.

I tried it when I was a lot younger with my first archery kill (a button buck of about 85 pounds field dressed). It was no problem the first hundred or so yards (going down hill or on level ground), but as soon as I had to go uphill, it was a no-go and I switched to dragging the normal way, with a rope with a stick for a handle.