wolc123

For me to take such a shot, many variables would have to be almost perfect: short range, standing deer, solid rest, good scope, powerful rifle, good bullet, correct angle and elevation, no obstructions, light or no wind, and good lighting. It all came together for me in the early afternoon, this past Saturday up in the Adirondacks. The snow was too crunchy for still-hunting, so I set up in my tree-hammock chair, along a deer trail at the edge of a valley, on a forest edge where hardwoods met evergreens. A light breeze was blowing up from the valley and I knew there were does bedded down there from sign I had seen earlier. For about 10 minutes after getting set up in the chair, I was watching the trail to my left, because I thought that was the most likely place for a buck to approach from. When does it ever go like you plan? I heard a twig snap over my shoulder, then I swung slowly over to my right. There was a buck, walking towards me, just 40 yards away. He must have caught the motion and turned around, back the way he came, as I was lifting my rifle. He stopped at 50 yards. I centered the crosshairs just below "the spot" and squeezed the trigger. The 150 grain Federal Classic 30/06 bullet put him down there in his tracks. There was no entry wound, and the bullet exited near the center of his chest. I walked over to him and noted blood flowing out of the exit wound. He held his head up for a few seconds but had no use of his legs. His lights went out quickly, without a need for a second shot. I expected the gutting job to be a mess but was pleasantly surprised that it was not. The Butt-out 2 even worked well (after failures on the last two boiler room broadside shot deer I used it on. The stomach was not punctured at all. The bullet must not have expanded until it struck some vertibrae in the neck area. He will be skinned tomorrow and go in the fridge for a week. I will find out how much meat damage there was when I process him next weekend. The buck was a 6 point, probably 1-1/2 year old and looked and felt to be in the 150-160 lb range field dressed. I was hoping for a larger buck this year during gun season, but I took that shot for three reasons: First, I was 99.5% sure I could kill the deer cleanly with the shot. Second, there are a few folks at work who really want some venison, including the top boss at our plant who asked me personally on my last day of work prior to Thanksgiving vacation. Lastly, in 35 years of deer hunting I have seen a total of one buck after the long Thanksgiving weekend. That was during the late ML season and he got away, after walking under my treestand, when my old sidelock misfired.

I heard twice as many shots this morning, at home in zone 9F than I did on opening day. About (4) were before legal sunup, but most were between 7:30 and 8:30. There has been no shots over the last hour. I saw no deer, but the neighbor fired twice within a couple hundred yards of me. The only deer I saw here, since opening day of gun, other than the button buck my buddy shot (in my freezer now) is the doe I shot that afternoon (in my sister's freezer now). I am happy to still have my buck tag as we head up to zone 6C for the long Thanksgiving weekend within the next hour. That makes the 4-1/2 hour drive a lot more enjoyable.

You get a real good idea of the power advantage of a crossbow compared to a vertical the first time you fire one into a foam target. It buries the arrows much deeper into the target, usually requiring a beefier one than is made to be used with a vertical bow. It is also a lot harder to pull those deep buried bolts out of the foam. I no longer use a foam target with mine because a bag full of old rags stops the bolts better, makes them a lot easier to pull out, is lighter and best of all, did not cost me any cash. After every hunt, I unload my crossbow into a dot on that bag, That keeps me sharp and able to "hit that hair" throughout hunting season. You would be surprised how much it helps your confidence shooting game when you know you have just hit a dime prior to going after them. That power advantage also helps the crossbow reduce wounded and unrecovered deer during archery season. Although I would never target the shoulder blade, I am confident my "entry level" 300 fps crossbow would penetrate it easily from under 30 yards. Shoulder blades have cost me the recovery of (4) deer over 30 some years with a vertical bow. All of those were struck due to "string jump", which also becomes less of an issue with a crossbow, due to increased likelihood of shooting at "relaxed" deer.

I shot at and killed two deer with my 300 fps crossbow. The first (aprox 140 lb, 1-1/2 year buck) was at 59 yards broadside, struck thru the heart. The bolt only penetrated 8" into the deer at that range which caused me to limit future shots to 50 yards max (I bought a laser rangefinder to make sure of that). That deer ran 40 yards and expired, just out of view from my stand (I heard the fall). This years deer (aprox 170 lb, 2-1/2 year buck) was quartering to me at 20 yards and struck behind the shoulder. The bolt traveled diagonally thru the chest, exited the opposite side lower buttox, and buried 2" into the ground. That buck staggered across an open field about 50 yards, dragging the injured hind leg. I watched him wobble and fall, try to get up twice, then go down for good. The crossbow has 3 advantages over the vertical bow. First, no need to draw with the deer in close. That greatly reduces the need to shoot at "alert" deer, which often happens when they get a glimpse of your draw. Second, they can and should be fired from a rest. That greatly improves accuracy compared to shooting offhand as any rifleman knows very well. Third, they alow the use of a telescopic sight which allows the deer and the sight to be in near perfect focus at the same time. With a vertical, two of three ( peep, pin, or deer) will be blurry, hurting accuracy. All those advantages improve accuracy thus reducing the odds of a miss or a wounded deer. That is why I will not use a vertical anymore. I can pick out a hair on a deer and hit it every time with my crossbow with under and hour of total practice time. Not so with my vertical. A pie plate at 30 yards was the best I could do with many hours of practice.

I will get out at home for a couple hours, while my wife packs the van, before we head up to her folks place in the Adirondacks for the long weekend. I would like to save my buck tag for hunting up there, so it will have to be a pretty big one if I fill it here. It would be nice to leave one hanging, hide-on in the garage, because the temperatures look nearly perfect for that over the next week. I don't think we will get up there in time for an afternoon hunt on Thanksgiving day. Many years ago, I killed my largest antlered buck at home on Thanksgiving morning. Just two years ago, I killed my heaviest one up at their Adirondack camp, a day or two after Thanksgiving. Hopefully, history will repeat in one place or the other this year. Even if it does not, I still could not be more thankful for the record amount of venison the Good Lord has already blessed us with this season. Good luck to all you folks who are hunting tomorrow and stay safe while hunting and traveling.

I am against mandatory antler restrictions, but I am a pure "meat-hunter". The only reason I pass 1-1/2 year old bucks, is because the 2-1/2's and 3-1/2's taste the same but have a lot more meat on meat on them. I understand why those who are fixated on antlers rather than meat like them. In NY state at this time, those folks seem to be in the minority. I also prefer killing bucks compared to does, because they are easier for me to butcher (less fat to trim away), come with nice grab-handles to drag out of heavy cover, and nice "reminders" of past hunts. I also prefer the local deer population to be a bit on the high side, and taking a buck over a doe is a good way to help maintain that population for future years.

If I manage to fill my buck tag (which is highly unlikely because I am holding for a 2-1/2 year or older buck now), I would definitely consider carrying my crossbow while working thru my last two DMP's. I have killed a couple of bucks it, over the last three years, but no antlerless deer yet. What I would like most would be to get a button-buck with it. There is not room for much more venison in our freezer now but I could always make space for one of those, even if it means throwing out a big turkey my wife got on sale. That button meat is so darn good that it is a shame to waste any of it with a gunshot wound. What they lack in quantity, they more than make up for in quality on the table. The liver and tenderloins of the one we killed Saturday morning were "to die for". There will be room for anther one, on the hook, when I process the rest of that one Wednesday evening.

Grouse are about the only bird that I like the flavor of. Their breasts are proportionally huge, compared to most other birds, and the white meat has a much better flavor than turkey or chicken. There is more meat on the breasts than the rest of the bird. We have usually baked the whole bird in the oven, like a chicken, but I have even cooked them over a campfire on a stick. It is pretty hard to mess up cooking a grouse.

I also carry 3 with the ML (one loaded and two speedloaders in jacket pocket), but I only use that when shotgun or rifle are not legal. I also reload the ML prior to tracking the deer and only one time, out of about a dozen killed with it, did I use the second shot. One time a doe that was hit thru the lungs started to get back up when I caught up with her so I gave her the second shot in the neck. My bolt-action shotgun shoots just as accurate as my ML, plus it gives me (2) extra shots and more than double the energy at 150 yards. With that and my rifle, I nearly always carry 10. It has been a long time since I have shot at a deer moving any faster than a slow walk. I still remember the last time, maybe 15 years ago. A 10 point buck presented a standing, broadside shot at about 75 yards. I calmly centered the crosshairs behind his shoulder and fired a 12 ga sabot slug, from a solid rest. He bolted over a ditch and into the woods on the other side. I tried to follow him thru the woods with the scope, looking for an opening. When he reached one, about 50 yards away, I pulled ahead a bit for a lead, and fired. He folded up dead and skidded into a stump, just like a pheasant hit with a full pattern. As it turned out, it was a pure coincidence that he died immediately after that running shot. It never touched him, but it was timed just as he ran out of steam from damage suffered by the first shot (thru both lungs). I am not sure where that second shot struck, but I know it was safe because it was fired at a steep down angle, towards the ground. That is one big advantage in hunting from a treestand over level ground, you always have a good backstop.

rachunter: The last time we stopped in there was while we were on a summer vacation, about 10 years ago. The daughter and her husband were running the place then. She said the son (Andy?) moved down to Florida or something. Back when we hunted there, he was a few years younger than us, and would always stop by our cabin and tell stories about the old days, hunting with his dad.

I had not seen a deer on opening day for the last three years. This year I saw one (a doe), in the afternoon and killed it. A friend hunting a couple hundred yards away saw two in the morning (a doe and a button buck) and killed the button buck. For me, it all comes down to how much corn is left on the stalks in the plots. When it is gone, so are the deer. It is going real fast now, and probably won't make it past Thanksgiving weekend. I feel very blessed to have plenty of venison now, and any additional will probably get donated to feed the hungry.

I always seem to have more luck when I pack light, and it makes it a lot easier getting into and out of the stands and blinds. Still-hunting is definitely better with a light pack.

We hunted out of Galusha's cottages on Lewey 26 and 27 years ago. I had my first run-in with an Adirondack buck on the second trip. I never got a shot off, but he was certainly a bruiser, based on the tracks. He was bedded in some heavy cover, just about 100 yards off the road, next to the old pasture, across the road from the cabins. I located the bedding area after finding a little hair on the barbed-wire fence around the pasture. I circled around down-wind and got within 30 yards of him when he broke out. I could not find an opening to get off a clean shot. We drove that swamp on the South end of Lewey with about 5 guys one afternoon but did not see anything there. The only deer sign I saw was right there next to that pasture. Most of the guy's hunted a long way from camp, but I was the only one who saw anything and it was only a stones throw away from the cabins. There does not seem to be a lot of food available up there, other than the road-side and old pasture grass.

Would that be from the swamp at the south end of Lewey lake?

I forked over $6.99 for the thing this year based on some good reviews on this site. It worked well the first two times, on a 1-1/2 year old doe and a 2-1/2 year old buck. The first failure occurred yesterday morning when my buddy killed a fat button-buck. I stuck it in to the stopper flange, gave it the recommended 1-1/2 turns, then pulled out. It latched on to a bit of intestine then broke free. I reached into my pack for the old reliable Gerber folding saw and cut thru the pelvis with that, getting everything cleaned out well. I tossed the Butt-out next to the gut pile. That afternoon, at 4:00 pm milking time, a mature doe came looking for her long lost son. She soon joined up with him in "deer-Heaven", when I dropped her right next to that gut-pile. I tried the Butt-out on her, with nearly identical results. In fairness, there was still some of the BBs intestine fouling the points and that may have contributed to the second failure. This ain't baseball, and that "wonder-tool" just lost it's place in my pack on the second strike. I think I will clean it up and "re-gift" it to one of my hunting buddies at the work Christmas gift exchange.

Just about any taxidermist will give you a green score for no charge. I am sticking with 140 +/- 5". Keep us posted when you find out.

I scratch my head when guys talk trash about folks taking button bucks or spikes like that yet think nothing of killing late season does that are often carrying two bucks. Remember, life begins at conception and most of the does are bred by now. I would love to fill my last two DMP's with button bucks, but I live in an overpopulated zone, so I will just take them as they come. If momma doe shows up with a BB, BB is going to get the first shot now. Antlers are a secondary consideration, it is all about the meat for me, and BB's are definitely in a class by themselves. I will pass 1-1/2 year bucks, but only because they are no tastier than 2-1/2's or 3-1/2's but have a lot less meat on them.

Approximately 140", 3-1/2 year old would be my guess from the pics. Conrats on the great buck. I am saving my own buck tag for something of that order of magnitude now. I like Federal classic 30 cal ammo. A couple years ago, I hit a buck that was a bit heavier than that one (smaller rack though), that was quartering away at about 325 yards. The bullet entered, centered on the 2nd last rib, traveled diagonally thru his chest, and lodged inside the opposite side upper front leg. That dropped the heavy buck dead in his tracks.

I will have to throw on a sweater when we go to Church this morning. Hopefully the boiler is working there.

I was wishing I had a cheaper slug with me yesterday to finish off the doe I spined in the afternoon. It was hard to watch her surfer, so I gave her a second $3.00 sabot to the head. At home, in a shotgun only zone, I am going to start carrying a few old sabots leftover from when I was trying different brands to see what worked best in my gun. None of them grouped as well, but would be great for point-blank finishing work. I hate to use the cheap fosters for fear of lead fouling of the rifling. It looks like the a consensus has been reached here, that TEN is the proper number of bullets to carry. I am going to up that to 12, with a couple of "finishers" in my pack. I will throw a couple odd-ball /mismathed 30/06 bullets in there for my Thanksgiving weekend hunt in the NZ next week. I have a drawer or two full of those.

This is perfect weather for hide-on hanging in the garage. Who needs a walk-in cooler? The meat pole is full now.

I am heading up to the ADK's for Thanksgiving weekend. I managed to get thru opening day today in the Southern zone with my buck-tag. If I can get thru tomorrow afternoon's hunt, then I hope to score on a bruiser like that up there. I nailed one up there in 2014, but no such luck last year. One thing is for sure, killing a big one up there is at least ten times better than doing it on the flat-lands down here. The scenery makes all of the difference.

I heard about a dozen before sunrise in 9F. My buddy shot a button buck about 1/2 hour after sunrise. That was the first legal shot I heard. I always have a vision of a game-warden going immediately to the sight of the first illegal shot. They could get the unlucky poacher on two charges: hunting before season and shooting before sunrise.

4 pm must have been the time for whopper does today. That is exactly the time I pulled the trigger on one when she came out to investigate the gut-pile of a button-head that my buddy had killed this morning. She looks to be in the 140 - 150 pound field-dressed range. She still had milk in her and I suspect that may have been her fawn. At least they are together now, on the meat pole. It has been a few years since I have been blessed with a button and man was that liver good for dinner tonight. My buddy gave me the button, and I am giving the big doe to my brother-in-law.

My two-story blind, at the edge of the back corn plot, has been the meat-hole this year. I killed a 2-1/2 year old buck from the upper deck with my crossbow, just as he stepped out of the corn a couple weeks ago. My buddy from work took a button buck from up there this morning (I just ate 1/2 the liver from that one for dinner, man was that good). I rode out the rain/wind this afternoon in the enclosed lower deck and killed a big doe when she came out of the brush at 4:00 pm, to investigate the BB's gut pile. Our family really can't use any more venison, but my sister's family was very thankful for that last doe. The DEC wants a lot does killed here in zone 9F, so I did my part. All three of them deer had stomachs loaded with corn. I still have another DMP for here plus one for 9A. Does anyone know if and where they are taking donated deer this year in WNY to feed the homeless folks?