wolc123

About 20 years ago, I dug a small pond (just under 1/4 acre x 6 foot deep) using a 3-point scoop and my old tractor. That took about (2) 50 hour weeks on that very dry summer, and the tractor needed a valve job after I finished. I dug it at the lowest point on our farm, and it has held water thru every year but this one. About 15 years ago, we had a dry year and it got down to about a foot left on thanksgiving weekend, but started filling back up after heavy rains that weekend. When I went back there this morning, all the water was gone, with just a few feet of mucky sediment in the bottom. As the level has dropped over the summer, the great blue herons have been cleaning out all of the frogs and fish (bluegills and bullheads). In a couple hours this morning, using a larger, 4wd tractor with a front loader, I was able to clean out all of the sediment and dig it about a foot deeper. It took almost as long to pressure wash that tractor afterwords as it did to clean the pond. I am kind of thankful now for the drought we had over the summer, because I did not need to rent a backhoe or pump the pond out in order to clean it. The deer use that pond a lot, so hopefully we will get some heavier rains now to fill it back up (Come on Matthew). Hopefully it will also get cold enough to freeze it this winter. We all missed skating back there last year when it never had safe ice due to the mild winter. It feels good to get that, the last of the remaining big , pre-winter jobs done. We just used our last package of ground venison, and all that remains in the freezer is about 30 pounds of vacuum-sealed roasts and chops. I definitely have some incentive now for a trip up to the Northern zone next weekend for some ML hunting. If I can do well up there, then I can leave the doe and two fawns alone who were watching me clean their bath tub this morning at home.

My 2000, 3/4 ton Silverado is still going strong but only has about 90k miles on it. I stopped using it as my daily driver about 10 years ago. Road salt has damaged it a little, with the break lines, calipers, fuel line, trans cooling lines, driveshaft, and rear diff cover all needing replacement. I drive it a lot in the winter when the snow is to deep for my car. I never had any non road-salt related problem with it, and it has never left me stranded. Even when the driveshaft rusted out and dropped, I just pulled it out and drove home in 4wd.

I have had lots of good experiences with Bass Pro. Mostly it has been internet and and catalog purchases going back quite a while. I still use the Garcia Ambassader 5500C fishing reel and Eagle silent 60 flasher that I bought from my first catalog purchase there in 1981. By charging all of my business travel expenses and gas to my BPS card, and paying it off every month, most of my sporting equipment has been free for the last 10 years or so. I have also been up to the store in Niagara-on-the-Lake Ontario a few times and the staff there is extremely helpful. I did visit the Auburn store once, and the service there was ok, but certainly not stellar like it has been up in Canada, every time. About 15 years ago, I ordered a pair of weatherproof insulated camo bibs in preparation for a western hunt. When they arrived, they were way too big. I called the store and they sent me out a new pair the right size, which arrived 2 days later (just in time for the trip) at no extra charge. They even covered the return postage on the big pair. That was the only time I tested their return policy. Everything else I have "bought" there including the Bass Pro brands (Red-Head, etc) has performed very well. I just got a new, lightweight, BPS brand spinning reel this summer, at a very low price, and it has been great. Bass Pro Shops has been my favorite store for a long time. Hopefully this deal will make them even better.

Thanks guy's, that is very helpful information for me. I am down to my last couple boxes of those Federals so I would like to make every one count. It sounds like I can hold on the backline and be good to about 350. I think I can live with that. After the leaves come down, I will use my new Laser rangefinder to be certain of the range at that hot-spot.

The problem with iron sights is that your eye can only focus at one distance at a time. Do you focus on the rear sight, the front sight or the target? This gets a lot worse as range increases. A good scope makes up for that with lenses. Parallex can be corrected to make everything crystal clear at various ranges including the cross-hairs and the target. The only time I prefer iron sights is for short range work (less than 50 yards) in foul weather conditions.

Where would it be at 300 yards Pygmy? I ask because I am shooting similar 30-06 ammo from my Ruger M77 (Federal classic 150) and today it was also dead on at 100 yards. For many years, I had it hitting 2-1/2" high but a couple weeks ago it fell out of my truck and hit the dirt when I got back from the range. After tightening all the scope mount screws and shooting it again today, the 100 yard 3-shot group was centered right on the bull. I have a hot-spot that offers a good 300 yard shot, after the leaves are down, so I would like to know what holdover to use (if any). With the 2-1/2 high zero, I did not have to worry about holdover out to 350 yards. I decided to leave it where it is for several reasons, first I am somewhat of a cheapskate and I hate to waste ammo. Second, I am going to hunt the Northern Zone Opener on October 22 this year and there will likely be lots of leaves on the trees, limiting range. And third, I always tend to aim a little high on long shots anyhow.

Where would it be at 300 yards Pygmy? I ask because I am shooting similar 30-06 ammo from my Ruger M77 (Federal classic 150) and today it was also dead on at 100 yards. For many years, I had it hitting 2-1/2" high but a couple weeks ago it fell out of my truck and hit the dirt when I got back from the range. After tightening all the scope mount screws and shooting it again today, the 100 yard 3-shot group was centered right on the bull. I have a hot-spot that offers a good 300 yard shot, after the leaves are down, so I would like to know what holdover to use (if any). With the 2-1/2 high zero, I did not have to worry about holdover out to 350 yards. I decided to leave it where it is for several reasons, first I am somewhat of a cheapskate and I hate to waste ammo. Second, I am going to hunt the Northern Zone Opener on October 22 this year and there will likely be lots of leaves on the trees, limiting range. And third, I always tend to aim a little high on long shots anyhow.

That's an awesome buck for sure. My blood was already pumping, in anticipation of a hunt up in zones 6C and 6F in a couple weeks for ML and rifle. Now I am probably going to need to get on some blood pressure meds. I just got back from the range out back, making sure my '06 is still on. I had it and my 50 cal ML hitting right where I wanted them a couple weeks ago, but it flopped out of my truck, onto the grass, when I opened the door back up at the house. It was hitting 2-1/2" high at 100 yards, prior to the fall and now, after tightening all the scope mounting screws, my 3 shot group was 1-1/2" diameter, centered on the bull. I left it right there. Hopefully that is a sign that I will have a nice easy close-range shot this year. I also picked up a new hard case, and will definitely handle my weapons more carefully after that mishap. Good luck hunting up there this fall.

That is why I would like to see the season on them be eliminated and let us hunt them year-round. It would not take long to get them under control if they did that.

I just looked it up in the regs book and it say's that coyotes can actually be hunted from October 1 thru March 26 so that includes most of fall, all of winter, and a little bit of spring. I used to be a coyote "hater" myself, but I have learned to live with them. They fill an important role in the harvest of the weak deer. That makes the surviving deer stronger and healthier. Coyotes are fun to hunt after deer season ends. My favorite method is to shoot them at night, from my bedroom window, over a pile of deer carcasses out back. I even pick up a road-kill deer when I find them after deer season ends, to add to that pile. There are plenty of coyotes around now, and I would prefer the season be open all year. The pups are most vulnerable in early summer before they learn the ropes. I could easily pick of entire litters with a semi-auto, .22 rimfire while cutting hay.

I just looked it up in the regs book and it say's that coyotes can actually be hunted from October 1 thru March 26 so that includes most of fall, all of winter, and a little bit of spring. I used to be a coyote "hater" myself, but I have learned to live with them. They fill an important role in the harvest of the weak deer. That makes the surviving deer stronger and healthier. Coyotes are fun to hunt after deer season ends. My favorite method is to shoot them at night, from my bedroom window, over a pile of deer carcasses out back. I even pick up a road-kill deer when I find them after deer season ends, to add to that pile. There are plenty of coyotes around now, and I would prefer the season be open all year. The pups are most vulnerable in early summer before they learn the ropes. I could easily pick of entire litters with a semi-auto, .22 rimfire while cutting hay.

I am waiting for the October 15 Northern zone ML opener this year before I go out. Two years ago, I was not able to practice with my bow, due to some major surgery. Fortunately, that was also the year that the state let the cross-bow in for the last 14 days of archery season in the Southern zone and the last 10 days in the Northern zone. Since getting a taste of crossbow hunting, I doubt I will ever hunt with a vertical bow again. It is so nice not to need to draw with deer in close, and to be able to fire from a rest with a telescopic sight. I can't imagine a situation where I could get a bad hit on a deer under those conditions. While I would love to see "full-inclusion", hunting both zones and having the openers about a month apart makes it bearable for me the way the rules are now. I do feel sorry for those crossbow hunters who don't have the opportunity to hunt both zones however. Maybe the state will get things straightened out and allow full inclusion prior to next season, but I won't bank on it or upgrade my entry-level crossbow equipment until they do. It may be a while yet before the current crop minority of elitist, selfish anti-crossbow bow-hunters are old enough to realize that full inclusion would give them a few more years in the woods. They still have a lot of fight in them as we will probably soon see in response to this post.

I don't care for manual digging much either. We had our septic tank pumped last week and the top of the 4 foot diameter, 500 gallon tank is 4 feet below grade. I took out the first 3 feet in about an hour with my loader tractor, but that last foot took twice that long by hand and gave me blisters. I can only imagine what my hands would look like after digging twelve, 4 foot deep holes. I understand the manual requirement under the house. The last time I used a backhoe near a house, I managed to cut an electric line, and a water line that were not close to where the homeowner thought they were.

4k sounds reasonable for that work. You could probably rent a backhoe and do it cheaper yourself, but that would involve some risk (buried electric, gas, water, and drain lines), and I am certain you can find better uses for your time at this time of year. I would look for a contractor who is not a deer-hunter, or his mind won't be fully on the job. It makes sense to get it done now, so you have time to get it ready for a spring sale. I think your spring sale would be at least 5k less if you don't take care of the problem.

The smaller they are the better they taste, and the easier they are to get out of the woods. That one sure looks like a shooter to me. I will guess 143 pounds live weight.

I ordered on from Amazon yesterday ($17). I have a couple nice waterproof blinds at home in the Southern zone, but I need something for early ML up in the Adirondacks in a couple more weeks. I borrowed one from a friend last year and it worked pretty good. It is especially good for ML hunting where you must "keep your powder dry". I did not see any deer while sitting under it last year, for a couple hours during a heavy downpour, but I did get a glimpse of a bear in the distance. The only deer I saw on that hunt was a 1-1/2 year forkhorn, just after the rain ended. He needed another year to get a shot from me, but it was nice to be dry and in position for the shot while stillhunting, thanks to that umbrella. Had I waited out the storm in the cabin, there would have been no sightings for me up there during ML season last year. I only had a long weekend up there then, but it looks like I will have the full week this year. I expect that new umbrella will get a workout with rain in the long-term forecast as far out as it goes right now.

Having a nice comfortable ground blind makes those occasional rainy, cold, windy days very bearable. Even if you don't kill the deer from the blind, being out there, "pre-positioned" thru the storm, allows you to quickly move into a better spot (ie treestand) the minute the storm ends. Immediately after a hard rain storm is definitely a period of maximum deer activity. That is a great time to be in a spot that offers a good view of a food source. The rain also hinders a deer's hearing, both by the additional background noise and by softening the crunchy leaves and twigs. As others have mentioned, that makes it a good time for still-hunting. It also seems like rattling works better for me in a light rain. As far as loosing a blood trail in the rain, I am actually looking forward to that a little bit. I picked up some "bloodglow" a few years ago, that is supposed to make blood glow bright under the moonlight when mixed water. If only the deer would stop dropping in their tracks or after a very short run, like they all have since I got it, I could give it a try. If nothing else, having it available has removed any fear I had about hunting in the rain or right up until legal sunset.

Most of my butchering is done during gun season, when the temperatures are more favorable for "out of the fridge" aging. I just keep the widows covered in my insulated garage by day, and leave the hides on the carcasses. I use the fridge or cut up and grind right away if the outside high temps are predicted to be above the lower 50's in the 10-day forecast. The fridge is real nice for late summer "nuissance-permit" and early archery season deer however. Controlling the temperature is easy for me.

I have noticed that the grind is chewier if I don't age the venison. With older deer, that is very important (you are now learning that lesson the hard way). It takes about a week at 40 degrees for rigermortice to break down on a 1-1/2 year old deer, and 10 days for a 2-1/2. Your buck was likely 3-1/2 or older, which means he should have been aged for 2 weeks or more. Last season I ground a 2-1/2 year buck two days after he was killed and the grind is a little on the chewy side (that is the one we are eating now). At 3 days after killing, you ground and froze that older buck right about when the rigermortice had the maximum effect on the meat. Also, your grind probably consists mostly of the lesser parts, including the lower legs, front shoulder, rib meat, etc.. How were the tenderloins and backstraps? As someone already mentioned, the crock pot will take care of it. I like venison-barley soup made that way. This season, find an old refrigerator and take the racks out of it. Skin the deer, cut it in half, just ahead of the rear legs, and hang in the fridge prior to processing (1.5 yr = 1 week, 2.5 = 10 days, older 2 = weeks). 6 month old deer can be processed immediately. You won't have any more trouble with chewy grind, or other cuts. Those who don't age their venison just don't know no better, and they have no clue what they are missing. Red meat is red meat, and it can all be improved by aging (google it if you don't buy what I am selling). When it comes to sharpening the grinder, it is not worth my time these days. The plates and knives are mostly standard sized (#10, #12, etc) and you can buy them new at Bass Pro or other large retailers very reasonably priced. A plate and knife costs less than $20 and may grind 100 deer before they need replacing. I know I have put close to 50 deer thru my last set and they are still chopping as good as new. The grinder has not plugged since I put them in. That old grinder takes the chunks of meat as fast as I can drop them in. It probably started out as a hand-crank model, but my grandad fitted it with a gearbox and 1/2 hp motor about 70 years ago. Prior to putting in the new knife and plate, I had to take it apart and unplug it once or twice on every deer.

They both look like 2.5's. As a pure meat-hunter, that is my favorite age to shoot them, when you get the best combination of quantity and quality venison.

I am not sure about the fireballs, but I know that spitting the dip can work. I killed my first buck many years ago, on opening day of gun season, while his nose was on the little brown spot in the snow below my stand. I had been spitting my Hawken juice there since it got light enough to see. He came in from directly downwind. I had seen that buck three times prior, during archery season, but never within range. I guess it took that dip to give me the chip-shot under the stand with my scoped slug-gun.

I have been to most of the lower 48 and never run across any with scenery that rivaled NY's Adirondacks. There is just something about that combination of mountains and lakes that takes your breath away, especially during archery season when you can catch the peak fall foliage, or late in rife season when the snow blankets the mountains. What that adds to the hunting experience can not really be put into words, but must be experienced to fully appreciate. Killing a doe up there (in archery or ML season) is more memorable to me than a record book buck in the flatter parts of the state. I cant think of a better place to head to after I retire. The deer up there may be fewer and farther between than in other parts of the state, but the lack of hunting pressure, coupled with the unsurpassed scenery, more than makes up for that.

I prefer to hang the deer in my garage, with the hides left on, but only do it if the outside temperature over the 1 week stretch has predicted high daily temperatures not much over 50 degrees. When it hits 50 outside, the temperature of the meat with the hide on and inside the insulated garage, with the windows closed by day and covered, stays well below that. The concrete floor really holds the cold and I sometimes open the windows at night to cool it down. The insulated garage and the hide also keep the meat from freezing when daily night-time lows get into the twenties. I cant recall there ever being a stretch during hunting season when it was too cold to hang them for a week in my garage, but there have been many when it has been too warm - that is where the old fridge comes in. Most refrigerators can be easily adjusted to keep the temperature inside in the optimum 32 to 42 degrees F range. Venison is red meat, as is beef, and just like beef, the texture and flavor can be improved by aging. You may like the fresh froze stuff but most folks prefer the aged stuff. I know some hunters who really like the flavor of older bucks after they have been aged for two weeks or more. Being a pure "meat-hunter", I don't kill too many that are more than 2-1/2 years old, so a week hanging usually does the trick for me. Even the grind is significantly better after the carcass has been aged a week. After you gain a very little experience with aging the meat, you will be able to tell when it is ready to be processed just by feeling it. It will feel like it did when it was fresh killed. Rigermortice begins to sets in within hours of a kill and that is what makes the meat feel firm, almost like a pencil eraser. After a few days (depending on temperature and age of the deer) it begins to break down, with a 1-1/2 year old deer, aged at 37 degrees F, taking about a week to return to that "just-killed" feel. Older deer take longer and warmer temperatures move the process faster but can also cause spoilage.

Walmart has got a lot of good deals going now at the stores. I just picked up a waterproof/windproof, medium weight insulated real-tree camo jacket for $40., and a bunch of other stuff. The selection was excellent, including arrow heads, muzzleloading and gun-cleaning supplies.

That looks like a good eating size one to me (about 200 pounds live weight). I am getting hungry just looking at that picture. The larger ones are not so good from what I hear. I ate some from a smaller one that a buddy killed a few years ago and it was excellent. I am hoping for one about that size up in the Adirondacks with my ML in a couple more weeks. There has been many sightings of one around camp up there over the last several years, but I fear it may be a little on the big side for good eating. You don't get a lot boned meat from any bear (only about 10% of their live weight), and the crock pot and some spices can make any meat taste good. If a bear offers me a good shot, I am taking it no matter how big it is.