wolc123

I got buzzed by a couple of combat choppers, at treetop level, while I was out on the lake fishing yesterday. It also looked like an A-10, or some other jet, dropped a flare up high. Its much nicer out in the woods this morning, than it was yesterday. I am back on top of the north end of the ridge where I killed the old doe last year. Light winds and thermals should carry my scent away. There is nut producing trees nearby. I am going to stick it out here until 11:30 (it’s about a half hour still/hunt back to the in-laws lake house).

Your both wrong. It’s not about inches of antlers and its not about age. Think Arby’s : “WE HAVE THE MEAT” If God wanted man to eat vegetables, He’d have put our eyes on the sides of our heads.

A grouse just flew past 20 yards behind me. If one lands nearby, and I can get a clear head-shot with my .50 cal, I am taking it. I have a decent supply of venison in the freezer now, but it’s been over 10 years since I have eaten a delicious ruffed grouse. Taking that shot is well worth the risk of scaring off any nearby deer. Ideally, one will land at about 50 yards, where I dialed in my T/C Omega ML to hit 1/2” high. My mother in law is a little under the weather and not quite up to her usual par in the kitchen. I would like to cook up a fat-breasted grouse for lunch, and then get back out after the deer in the afternoon. If the current SE wind holds, I know just where to sit, on the other side of the ridge that I am on right now, to get a crack at a herd I saw on my walk back to their house last night.

First chance I get, after deer season ends on January 2023, I am going to drop this one. It is supporting a 4 ft high platform on one end (two 3” steel pipes hold up the other end), from which I killed a big doe in September. That was the first deer that I killed from that stand, which was up for about 5 years. I was going to take it down, but now I want to keep it. My plan is to cut the dead ash tree, about 3 ft above the platform. I think a plastic 5 gallon bucket will fit over the end of the stump. That should slow down the water absorption from that end and hopefully make it last a little longer. I’d like to get 20 or 30 more years out of that stand, or until I am ready for a wheelchair. That upturned bucket will make a great gun/crossbow rest for shooting towards my best foodplots. Much of the bushes, that I need to trim up each year, around that “natural blind” are poison ivy. Some say that poison ivy is is a preferred forage for deer. Maybe so, because that doe was only a 10 yards shot and her smaller “scout” got to within 5 yards. Maybe they stopped by for an appetizer on their way to the corn plot. Back strap momma got more than she expected, with 240 gr of lead thru the heart.

Sunset was at 6:17, and I stayed at my spot, until 6:15. I still-hunted my way back. About half way, I saw at least two deer around 100 yards away, thru some young hardwoods. They must have seen or smelled me first, because they took off with their tails up. The main trail/driveway, that I was on when I saw them gets year-round pedestrian traffic. I hope those deer didn’t realize that I was after them. Hopefully, I will get a more favorable wind to hunt the spot where I saw them, before next week Sunday. It will be nice to have an evening spot, a little closer to the house, so that I can stay there a little longer.

I had to change up my fishing plans a little due to a couple minor calamity’s. First, I couldn’t find the mooring line for my 12 ft rowboat, so I decided to take out the 14 footer with the Johnson on it. Before I finished draining all the water out of that, I located the mooring line (my nephew had borrowed it for his kayak and left it up on the porch under it). I was already committed to using the other boat by that time though. There was still about 10 gallons of rainwater in it, when I stepped inside, to speed the process along with a bucket. The drain hole always plugs with leaves and it takes a long time to clear them and drain it using just that. When I stepped in, the boat tipped on its supports which we’re holding it up out of the lake. I planted one foot into the water that was still inside, to keep from falling out, drenching that shoe. I took off the wet shoe and sock, wrung out the sock, and left them them on the party barge. Luckily, the sun was out and it was pretty warm. I went out fishing barefoot. I don’t think I caught a bass barefoot all summer, but I got three that way here in mid October, all on 1/8 oz jigs. Now , I am back out waiting on a deer. I don’t expect much with the crazy swirling wind this evening but maybe the open stick of EverCalm will cover my scent. The smallest one was a little over a foot and the biggest was about 16”, all on 1/8 oz bucktail jigs (I lost one of those jigs on a snag).

I hit a busted up 2-1/2 year old 8-pointer just like that in 2016 with my crossbow and a mechanical broadhead. I wondered what the heck had happened, when he hobbled off dragging a back leg on the opposite side of my shot. I think that my bolt deflected back off the shoulder blade. He was also slightly quartering to at the shot. After the hit, I watched him walk about 70 yards, right towards my pond. He keeled over about 10 yards short of it. How was the gut job on yours ? The one that I hit like that was definitely the messiest one that I have ever killed with an arrow or gun. A wide open mechanical broadhead, diagonal thru the lungs, liver, stomach, intestines , and ham works wonders. I was glad that pond was so close for cleanup. Are you going to cut that one up yourself or take it to a processor ? I’d be interested to know how that meat tastes, especially the tenderloins, if you try them. The one that I killed like that was pretty good, but at least 2 years younger and I had the guts all out of it and the cavity washed within 20 minutes of crashdown. As I mentioned earlier, I don’t think cutting it up yourself would be worth the risk, when there are so many good processor/sausage makers out there. Every so often, it’s good to use one that does not guarantee your own meat back.

I didn’t see any deer this morning, up on the north end of the ridge. That’s where I killed an old doe last year at this time. The SE wind was good for it this morning. I got up there 15 minutes before sunrise and sat until 9:50, when the wind really picked up. I still-hunted, into the wind, along the upper, back side of the ridge, on my way back. I saw a 2 ft long snake up near the north end of the ridge, and I flushed a grouse form near the bottom. After lunch, I am going to try and squeeze in a little fishing before the rain. I brought up my old, early 1950’s Mercury K-5 outboard, which hasn’t been ran in about a year and a half. Hopefully, it will start today, because it’s going to be tough rowing in this wind. I mixed up some fresh 40:1 for it, which I will use the leftover in my chainsaws. I need to drag one of the (2) little 12 ft row boats down to the water for that. That will be faster than bailing the water out of the 14 footer, which has my father in laws Johnson 5 hp on it. That one has already had plenty of run time this year. It takes a 16:1 mix, just like my 1956 Evinrude. I use that as a kicker on my 17 footer at home ever since I brought the little bit newer Johnson up for him. I brought up my leftover gas for that, which I will burn up in his Johnson, over the next week. My old Evinrude trolls just a little better. Probably because it has the old style, two line “unsafe” pressurized fuel tank, while the newer Johnson has the modern single hose setup. It’s good to run all those little outboards at least once per season. Otherwise, it seems like the carbs get gummed up and they don’t start. I use only stabilized, ethanol free gas in all of them.

Good tip. I am hunting from the ground today, but just about ready for my third cup of hot cider, so I’ll need to watch where I aim pretty soon.

Wow, she must be related. My wife won’t buy ground beef, because she says that that all the fat that comes out of it, while she is frying it up, grosses her out. She gets nervous when our supply of ground venison gets low. Our kids love tacos. I thought were finally rid of them, but the oldest got sick of college after a semester and a half, so now I got to get me another deer or two. I am waiting on one right now in fact.

How is it to carry thru thick cover and can you turn quietly in it to shoot at deer that come in from behind ? This tree hammock seat is also very comfortable, carry’s easy thru thick stuff, and can be turned silently. Drawbacks are that it is a bit of a pain to set up and take down, and it catches water from the tree in the rain.

I know how that works. My wife sends me up to her parents place in the Adirondacks for 9 days each October to help them get things ready for winter. Good thing my mother in law is a good cook and there are plenty of other “fun” things up here to keep me occupied.

You might be on to something there. Why else would they park that many choppers and trucks right next to the main public road that so many Adirondack weekend leaf-gazers use ? Usually, they keep all that stuff far away from public view. The same tactics were used in Britain against the Germans in WW2, using foam and cardboard tanks and trucks. Maybe some of those choppers and trucks are fake. I have taken that route (3A) hundreds of times and rarely seen a single HUMV out there in those open fields.

Trying to bring one in from downwind by deploying scent countermeasures (hot apple cider and open stick of EverCalm deer herd scent). The cider also keeps me warm, hydrated, and energized. There is a strong, cool wind blowing. I really don’t want to burn out too much of my area for the week, on the first day, but a still hunt into it on the way back might work well. The wind is up to about 25 mph now, so that will blow away most of my scent. I will keep touching up my boots with EverCalm every hundred yards or so.

Nothing moving where I am in 6c either. I like the wind direction at this spot, but it’s blowing a bit too hard at about 15 mph, steady from the se. I don’t think they are going to move much in that but we shall see. I just heard a shot from your direction.

Congrats on the nice buck. If I were you, I’d gut it and drop up it off at a processor, who makes good sausage, pepper sticks, and hot-dogs. You probably won’t get your own meat back that way, which might work out to your advantage after the overnight full of hot guts. Looks like you got some pretty good poundage there. You definitely get to keep your cape and antlers however. That one will make a great shoulder mount.

Settled in here also, right at the scene of last year’s “crime” (surgical strike on the old boss doe). 15 minutes till sunrise, nothing bumped on the 15 minute still-hunt in.

I forgot my grunt call this weekend, but I have a rattle bag. I will throw that in my pack and maybe give it a try later this morning. Last time that I rattled up here, I only fooled another hunter. The neighbor thought it was a real buck fight, and tried sneaking in on me. Good thing that he was wearing a bright yellow hat. When I first seen his tall dark form, coming up out of the swamp, I thought that maybe it was a bear on its back legs.

Never say never when there's way too many out there, or one old dominant doe that is keeping others away. That was the case at my spot up here last year. It seemed that many more deer (does and bucks) moved in, after I took her out. I also had both issues going on at home earlier this year. The doe that I killed back there this September had been caught “yellow/green” mouthed several times in my sweetcorn. I saw more deer than ever on my next September antlerless hunt, after taking her out. The does were very skittish, but the bucks were clueless (and sadly off/limits in September). I can’t wait to see what the deer situation is here up North later this morning and the rest of this week thru next weekend. I’ll be very thankful if I can bring a decent sized doe home, processed and in a cooler, like I did last year. A decent buck, during early ML week, could be a bonus. It’s going to be extra tough for me to hold off, on any antlered buck with my gun tag next weekend, because I am really itching to see how the 30/30 works on a deer. I already know how my 50 cal ML works on them, and I want to save my ML/bow buck tag for a good one that I have been watching at home, when crossbow opens in early November.

I’m not sure if she’s if she’s just had enough of downstate, after a semester and a half of college down there. I know that she has been talking to a Navy recruiter. It will be nice having her back home for a while. Bringing her back is going to cost me a hunting weekend, that I had planned at a buddy’s place in the southern tier. Hopefully, there will be plenty more opportunities for that.

Could be, or maybe they are just making sure that a bunch of old stuff still works before they give it to the Ukrainians. If so, that could be the straw that brakes the camels (aka Putin’s) back and ignites a nuclear WW3.

What is a cat from a 2005 Dodge Durango with 148 k miles worth. It looks to be on great shape. The muffler busted off the one I use as a field car but the exhaust is relatively quiet thru that cat. If it is worth more than $ 200, maybe I’ll cut it out and weld a piece of pipe and the old muffler bank in.

Are you going out tomorrow for the ML opener. It looks like it will be noisy. I saw about 20 combat choppers and at least that many trucks parked around the fields on 3A on the drive up this afternoon. It looks like they are setting up for some type of big practice tomorrow.

That’s pretty good. Dicks, down in Lynchburg VA was selling them for $ 60 this week. I didn’t buy any, because I still have a couple years worth. There was 50 or more boxes of them on the shelf.

Some out of state work took a bit longer than expected this week, and I had some issues at the airport coming home. I still made it up to my in-laws place just before sunset today. I am ready for the Northern zone early ML opener tomorrow. It looks like the only thing that I forgot was my grunt tube. It is tough packing for a 9 day hunting and fishing trip in 1/2 hour, but that’s what I had to do to get up here before dark. Tomorrow morning’s weather and wind (8 mph SSE wind 53 deg) looks perfect for the spot where I killed the old doe up here last year, so that’s where I am headed in the morning. My father in law saw (3) antlerless deer back there earlier this week. Hopefully, I run into them in the morning. I can see light though my breech plug, so the touch hole is clear and there is no need to waste a printer cleaning it out. I’ll drop a couple 50 gr T7 pellets down the bore, and press in a black-sleeved 240 gr XTP bullet in the morning. My sling will stay in my pack until I kill a deer. Sunrise is at 7:20. I will start a slow, still-hunt back to that spot at 6:50. Any antlerless deer, over 1.5 yr old, or an antlered buck with (3) or more points on a side will do. I just found out that our oldest daughter is moving back home in December, so I can’t be that fussy, until our meat supply is secure. If I get another antlerless one first, then I will revert back to the (4) or more points on a side for my buck tag. I am bringing binoculars and will try my best to avoid killing a button buck.