wolc123

I am definitely planning on trying for some smallmouth this weekend. The water has got to be much cooler now, so the fights won't be as good as on my last trip a couple weeks ago. Maybe I can catch an elusive 23 incher, and get it mounted for my father in laws place up there.

To most in America, it was a stunning victory last night, but to almost as many, it was a bitter defeat. Now is the time to come together as a nation. Only together, can We make America great again. As we head off to work today, it is important that we not gloat over this too much, over those who are sad now. In the words of my favorite singer (see shirt), remember: "The road to happiness thru Love and Charity".

Big loss for political corretiveness , Obama-care, climate-change, gun-controll, liberalism, and huge gains for the Christians in America. Time to go to bed now. Goodnight all.

Hopefully Trump doesn't have too much trouble adjusting to the cut in pay.

The only thing wrong with the polls was the numbers.

It is shaping up to be a Trump Landslide now, he just retook PA.

The collapse is averted now. No worries folks, now America will be great again.

Trump just made his final pass for the win with Wisconsin added to his take

Hillary has got to be getting pretty close to throwing in the towel. Anyone want to guess what time she does? I think it will be before 11:30. She seems like a nice lady who would want to let the working folks get some sleep tonight.

cnn just said they cant find a path for Hillary to win.

Thanks Bionic, he will get a break this weekend, when I head up to the Northern zone (with my gun season buck tag and my rifle). If he is still around the following long weekend (I took next Friday off from work also), I might get a crack at him with the crossbow, or the shotgun on Saturday or Sunday. I prefer the crossbow, because it destroys less of that meat which is almost worth it's weight in gold. My crossbow and my rifle are my only weapons that I have not taken a button with, so it would be nice to break the ice. Did you save the liver?

Way to go Bionic. I was after a button all last weekend with my crossbow but could not get him in range. Nothing is better eating (I hope you saved the liver). Don't feel bad about shooting a button. I don't like it when folks complain about others killing them, but think nothing about taking a late-season doe (which are often carrying two bucks) themselves. I have killed a lot of buttons thru the years, including my first deer with a gun, bow, and during late ML season. I have no regrets. If I did, they would disappear at the first taste of the meat. If anyone is heartbroken over taking a button in WNY, shoot me a pm and I will take him off your hands. My wife and kids, who like venison as much or more than me, always get real happy when I bring one of those home.

Does this mean I will be able to keep my guns?

I have this Friday off of work, but I was not really looking forward to crossbow hunting at home over the long weekend. My own family's venison supply is very good now, but my sister's family and some coworkers would like a little more. I still have (4) DMP tag's for around here ( zones 9F and 9A). While I am very thankful for my crossbow buck last Sunday, I keep having visions of a much larger one showing up this weekend at home and not being able to legally take him. The rut is certainly in full swing right now. In 35 years of hunting, I have never seen a larger buck after my tag was filled, but it just feels different this year. That is the main reason why I was not looking forward to hunting at home. I don't want to see them if I can't kill them. My father in law solved that problem for me an hour ago. He needs help this weekend moving a freezer up at his place in zone 6C. At first I thought ok, at least I can do a little bear hunting up there. Then I realized that I still have a valid buck tag for gun season, which is open up there now. I was up there on opening day a couple weeks ago but did not see anything that day. I did see lots of sign, and was able to take a doe a few days prior with my ML. I am also taking the family up there again for the long Thanksgiving weekend. That will give me (6) full hunting days up there, hopefully enough to get a crack at a big Adirondack buck or a bear. The buck will have to be real big, otherwise I am saving my tag for gun season down in the Southern zone. It is hard to imagine being much more exited for the weekend than I am now. Hopefully there will be some tracking snow. The scenery up there makes any deer worth about 10 times as much as they are at home, when it comes to making memories.

I have a couple two-story blinds that I made out of old construction-style truck caps and snowmoble trailers. I build a 3 foot high, 2x4 wood framed wall on both sides and the front of the trailer, sized to fit the cap. The cap sets on that wall, with the second deck built up on the ladder rack (also has a three sided, 3 foot high wall, but no top.) The front of the caps and solid wall faces the prevailing wind direction (south west). In rainy conditions, I hunt from the enclosed first floor, with the hinged side doors folded out. Those provide additional rain protection and the 3 foot walls provide perfect gun rests. There is padded, swivel office chairs on the first floor and plastic swivel chairs on the second floor. I shot my crossbow buck yesterday afternoon from the open upper deck of one in fine, warm, calm-weather conditions. I past years, I have taken several more deer from the the lower enclosed sections (mostly antlerless) during rough weather conditions including wind driven sleet and rain and heavy snow. I leave these out year round and they are very durable. They were also cheap as all the materials were free (I even garbage picked the office chairs). A few spray cans of cammo paint, and some hardware was my only expense. They are kind of fun to build and easy to move around. I just jack them and block them up level when I get them into position (long before hunting season).

The recruit is impressive at close range but not so much further out. I always want a pass thru and 50 yards appears to be about the limit for that. As far as crossbows go, it is very quiet and that helps eliminate string jump. Also, I have not yet fired it at an alert deer and I know that makes a huge difference as far as string jump is concerned. If and when they give us full inclusion, I will spring for something with a little more power, probably the Centerpoint sniper 370. That ought to be a legitimate 60 yard crossbow. I don't think string jump is a big issue beyone 40 yards because that is beyond a deer's "danger zone". The 59 yarder I shot a couple years ago certainly never flinched until after the bolt had pierced his heart.

I bought a Halo with angle compensation at Bass Pro last year. It works very good and I think was less than $200. When I am in any of my stands, as soon as it gets light enough I range various features all around. My crossbow has 3 dots which are for 20, 40, and 60 yards (I don't shoot past 50 anymore, due to poor penetration beyond that with my 300 fps entry-level setup). It is real nice to know exactly where your bolt will strike and the rangefinder makes that easy. Yesterday morning I unloaded my crossbow when I came up for lunch into a target bag at 20 yards using my 20 yard dot. The bolt stuck center on the bull. That afternoon a buck walked out of a corn plot and stood at a spot I had previously ranged at 20 yards. I was able to pick out a hair I wanted to hit and that is where the bolt struck. It was not a real easy "quartering to" angle, but thanks to that rangefinder, and the unloading shot I had taken a few hours prior, I was about 99 % certain on making the shot. The buck dropped dead within sight. Whenever I see a deer during a hunt, I note landmarks nearby and range them after the deer go away. Even though most have been well out of my crossbow range, I will know where to aim later if one shows up in the same spot during gun season. Besides hunting, the rangefinder is very handy on the target range. I used to measure distance from my rifle bench to the backstop with a tape measure and place wooden stakes at various ranges, out to 350 yards. The stakes were always a pain to mow around, and the tape measure was a pain to use alone. Now I just use the rangefinder to verify my distance and it is very repeatable and matches the tape measure. With the crossbow, I just move my target bag to various ranges behind my deck and verify the range with the rangefinder.

Was he quartering to you at the shot? The buck I shot at a 20 yard range with my Barnett recruit yesterday was quartering to me and he also up with a hole in his hind quarter thru the femoral, where the bolt exited. It entered just behind the front shoulder and passed diagonally thru his body, then buried about 2" deep into the ground behind him. I was real surprised to get that much penetration from this entry-level, 300 fps setup. I used a mechanical, o-ring type, 3 blade broadhead that cut a 2-1/2" diameter swath all the way thru. I only got 8" of penetration into the prior deer I shot at (two years ago) with this setup, but fortunately that took the bolt all the way thru his heart and he did not go far. The range on that one was 59 yards. The one yesterday hobbled off, dragging the damaged leg after the hit. I wondered why he was dragging a leg when I had aimed at his chest, not suspecting the exit wound. He walked out across an open field but only made it about 50 yards before falling down. I only had a few minutes before legal sunset, so I got down, loaded another bolt, and walked up to him immediately after he stopped moving. He was dead when I got there.

I think it is on full bore right now in WNY. I killed a busted up 8-point (only had 5 points left) yesterday afternoon that I could smell when he was about 70 yards up-wind. I almost hit a terrorized doe with my car as she bolted across the road on my way to work today. A friend there killed a 152" 9-point on Saturday that was in hot pursuit of a doe. This action was all in zone 9F.

It is hard to beat just tossing them whole into an iron frying pan on the stove, with a little olive oil, and searing them lightly, so they come out a bit on the rare side. It don't get much better than whitetail fillet mignon. We have our third set in the fridge right now this season and it will be time to cook them in a few more days. My youngest daughter really liked them that way. I give her the ends that are a little more "medium rare" and I eat the center sections. I would take those over beef fillets any day. Any spices you add just takes away from the excellent natural flavor. I might toss a pair of "oysters" in with these ones (couldn't on the last ones from does). If you try that, slit them with a knife first or they will explode in the pan.

Has anyone ever tried Bluestar trackem (bloodglow)? The problem with the dogs, as you are all seeing now, is that they get overwhelmed on weekends during archery season. If you had some bloodglow, you might be able to get out there tonight and find your deer. If you can't find it with that, you probably missed the vitals and the deer will recover ok. Enough bloodglow to track 4 deer costs $25 and can be bought on-line.

I have never seen a fawn with spots during hunting season. A friend did take an un-spotted doe-fawn on our farm many years ago that probably would have fit in the game pouch on my upland game jacket. I helped him butcher it and the meat quantity was pitiful (probably very tastey though). We used my mother's hand grinder, and my arm didn't even get tired.

I shoot when I am 90% sure of making a clean kill. I can keep my bolts within a half inch, from a rest at 20 yards with my crosbow so, yes 2" is a go for me. I have yet to have a "flyer" with this setup ($250 Barnett Recruit). I was a little surprised that it drove that bolt all the way thru the deer at that angle and a couple inches into the ground. A half blind person could have followed the blood trail. What do you look for on your shots? If you are shooting a vertical bow, I can understand your need for a larger kill zone. Crossbows, from a rest, are a lot more accurate (in my hands at least).

No, I am saying that I helped Him get that deer to deer heaven. He got the goal and it was just an assist for me. There is no way I could have killed that deer (or any other) on my own. The shot angle was tough on that one, but Jesus has a way of making them bolts strike right where they need to. One inch forward probably would have deflected off the shoulder and one inch farther back would have stuck behind the diaphram, catching nothing but gut. What weapon could he like more than a Cross-bow. So far he is 2 for 2 with me, putting that bolt exactly where it needed to be.

God took good care of us this afternoon (check out the crossbow harvest thread). Thanks to this thread (which I read right before going out), I remembered to give Him thanks first. Once again, without any shadow of a doubt, He played the main role in getting that buck to "deer heaven".