wolc123

Everyone makes mistakes and leaving it in the woods overnight was the biggest one he made on that hunt. He was understandably afraid of being mauled by the wounded bear. When it comes to deer, there really is no longer a good reason to leave them overnight. A gut shot deer will normally expire within 8 hours and tracking them in the dark with "bloodglow" is supposed to be a piece of cake. I picked up some two years ago and I hope never to need it. I do feel a lot more confident hunting until legal sunset with it available however, knowing that it should be very easy to find a hit deer after dark.

I was never one who sought to challenge myself when living creatures are involved. When I hunt (or fish), I simply want to make those living creatures dead as quickly and humanely as legally possible, then get the meat prepared for my family's consumption. That means that I will always choose the most lethal, affordable weapon that the law will allow. I respect my quarry an I feel I owe that to them. If others choose to hunt with more primitive weapons, I don't have a big problem with it, providing they put in the time and effort to become proficient with their weapon. Hunters are born into one of two groups: Killers or Fighters. One way to tell them apart is to watch them fish. The killers will usually take their catch home to eat, while the fighters will usually release them to possibly be caught another day. The fighters like a challenge and seek to maximize it, while the killers seek to minimize the challenge. There is room for both in the sports of hunting and fishing, but the two groups will never see eye to eye on the "best" way to get the job done. As far as that spear-chucker goes, pure fighter, and there is nothing wrong with that.

She is in God's hands now and no longer suffering. Your love for her will never end and you will see her again someday, and then have eternity to spend together. My prayers are sent and may God bless you and your family.

I agree with Grow that doe are much harder to kill with a vertical bow than bucks. The main reason for that seems to be that the doe are almost always in groups thru archery season, and more than one set of eyes must be fooled in close while making the draw. That quick motion is exactly the type of thing those deer are wired to detect with their excellent periforal vision. Usually it sends the group high-tailing it into cover immediately or at the very least puts them in a state of high alert, which greatly increases "string-jump". I see the crossbow as the ultimate doe-killing weapon for three reasons, with the most important being the elimination of the need to draw with groups of deer in close. The second reason is it's silence, equal or nearly equal to that of a vertical bow. This gives it a big advantage over the ML, who's blast would alert other deer at great distance. Finally, I think most would agree that far less time and effort is required to attain lethal accuracy with a crossbow, especially if fired from a rest using telescopic sights, than a vertical bow. That means there will be more efffective hunters in the woods. The key is to let those hunters in the woods when they can do the most good at lowering the antlerless population. That would be the start of archery season, before the bulk of the population has gone nocturnal after detecting the early archery pressure. I would even settle for a compromise with the anti-crossbow bowhunters whereby the crossbow could only be used on antlerless deer for the first two weeks in the overpopulated zones only (those that had 2 week antlerless only last season), and ether sex for the rest of the season. They don't seem willing to give an inch however. I guess they would rather keep the automobile as the best control of antlerless deer in these overpopulated zones.

I will give it a try and let you know how it works out in a couple months. Anything that can speed the skinning process a bit would be good, especially with all the deer ticks we are seeing lately. I saw some on all three South-western NY (town of Centerville) deer that I skinned last fall. I just picked up an extra air compressor for the garage, so it should be quick and easy.

Wouldn't one of them little needles that you stick in a nozzle for blowing up footballs and basketballs work for that, assuming the deer was not gutted? I also would never delay gutting a deer, but I think I will give one a try on a gutted one for skinning the neck, forward of the shoulder, and the rump area. Those areas always take me the longest to skin using the conventional method.

How can a Bible help get you a deer: I had killed a large button buck early in the morning on opening day of gun season (those are the best eating). A good friend killed another, almost identical one that morning and had called my wife asking if she wanted it. These are her favorite to eat, so of course she said yes. Now, with plenty of butchering to do and well stocked with top-quality venison, I was not overly excited about the afternoon hunt. The woods behind the house had sounded like WWIII that morning with all the shots (only one was mine), so after hanging the second BB in the garage, I grabbed my Bible and headed for my stand across the road, hopefully to spend some quite "reading time" until sunset. It was still opening day after all, and I still had my buck tag. It was a very warm afternoon, and the hours were ticking away as I sat up in a stand in a pine tree above a little patch of brush. Not much activity, other than a few squirrels and another hunter passing by at the far edge of the woods, about a hundred yards away. I am anal about the sunrise/sunset times, never loading my gun until sunrise and unloading it at sunset per the times printed in the paper for the date. With 5 minutes of legal daylight remaining, for a reason which soon became very clear, the Bible I was reading slipped out of my hands, falling to the forrest floor below. Had I not already had 2 deer hanging in my garage, I surely would have stayed up in that stand for the final minutes. I decided to pack it in early however, but I did break a cardinal safety rule and left my gun loaded as I carefully climbed down the tree. As I reached for the Bible, with just 3 minutes of daylight remaining, a flock of turkeys descended right on my position in the patch of brush. There were birds less than 5 yards from me. They surely would not have landed there, had I still been up that tree in my blaze orange cammo. Suddenly a wide rack, head and neck appeared from behind a bush at about 10 yards. I quickly raised my gun, centered the crosshairs on the base of the neck, and flopped that old boy down right there with two minutes to go. You can see a picture of the european-mount in the taxidermy section in the DIY european mount thread. I would post the picture again, but some folks here get offended by multiple posts of the same picture. In those woods, I had often seen deer and turkeys together. No doubt that old buck felt safe with the birds due to their superior eyesight, and I am sure they tolerated him thanks to the power of his nose. Because the Bible fell when it did, his line of turkeys got breached this time, giving him the surprise of his life and effectively ending it. That was not the first nor the last time that JC showed His cards while helping me get a deer. The fact is, I never got any on my own.

The straw is a great idea. I can relate to it from years ago when I was on a Western mule deer hunt. I killed one 5 miles from the trail head and I drank several gallons of water from the creek while dragging the carcass back to the truck. I used purification tablets added to my canteen but the straw would have been nice. I never got that thirsty hunting in NY though, where the drags are much easier. My go-to item here would be the small Bible I carry in my pack. I know for certain it helped me harvest one of my largest-racked whitetails a few years back.

The tenderloins are very close, and yes I always eat them. Those never make it to the freezer at our house. I do not rinse the cavity with water as I fear that would do more harm than good.

I see that Amazon is selling them for less than $10 this year. If they get down to $5, I might give one a try. For those of you who use them and do your own butchering, have you ever split the pelvis later to verify that everything was removed? I am sorry if I hurt your feelings, and I realize that many folks don't have the time to do their own butchering. Don't fret about calling me names etc, as there is nothing anyone can say or do to piss me off.

I also saw thru the pelvis with a small Gerber folding saw that is about the same size and weight as a Butt-out II. It costs about the same, but can do many other jobs such as trimming limbs from shooting lanes, quartering a deer, building a shelter, etc.. The best thing about cutting thru the pelvis and opening it up is that it allows you to see clearly that everything is cleaned out. With a Butt-out, its pretty much just "poke and hope". Splitting the pelvis allows the deer to be opened up further for faster cool-down after gutting, which improves the quality of the venison. For me, as a pure "meat-hunter", who does all my own butchering, it is all about the venison and doing all I can to maximize it's quality on the table. I suppose for the guys just looking to get their deer dropped off quick to a processor, the Butt-out would be a valuable tool.

The biggest difference when comparing Ohio and NY is full inclusion of the crossbow. Ohio was one of the first states to make that happen. The archery season deer take there nearly equals the gun season take for that reason alone. That should provide plenty of proof that the crossbow is a very effective tool for controlling antlerless deer while a vertical bow is not. Here in NY, a small, elitist, selfish group of bow-hunters has been able to prevent full inclusion yet again this season. The crossbow is far more effective at controlling antlerless deer than a vertical bow because it does not need to be drawn with groups of deer in close. For killing lone bucks, that advantage is not as great, as one only needs to fool a single set of eyes with the draw. A lot less time and effort is required to attain lethal accuracy with a crossbow compared to a vertical bow. Also, the relative silence of the crossbow gives it a significant advantage over the ML. NY will continue to struggle to get antlerless deer under control in some overpopulated zones until they find a way to get crossbows in at the start of archery season.

I have heard that the size of the bear makes a big difference in flavor. Those under 200 lbs are good, while those much over that, not so hot. A friend shot real big one with a record-book skull up in Canada a few years ago and the guides just brought the hide out of the woods, leaving the carcass for the scavengers. Another friend took a 180 lb (field dressed) bear down on the PA line the same year. He gave me some of it and it made excellent crock-pot stew, slightly better than your average venison.

We definitely got a good soaking on the Erie/Niagara county line today, with the last heavy downpour ending about 30 minutes ago and the gauge showing just under 2" total over the last 12 hours. Just in the nick of time, as my field corn is just beginning to tassle but was looking as thirsty as I ever seen corn. Now with the sun peaking out a bit you can almost see it grow. I am going to try and plant turnips tomorrow or Wed if it is not dry enough. Winter wheat/soybean/white clover mix will get planted around August 15. I was not going to bother with any more planting until the drought ended but it looks like a safe bet now. I thank Jesus for this rain which will surely put some meat in the freezer this fall. He always comes thru when I need him.

Sorta like Buckmaster7600, I always start my range sessions with a few 16 gauge slugs from my grandad's old Ithaca 37 featherlight (I have a nearly inexhaustable supply of slugs for that, purchased dirt cheap when a local sport shop closed a few years ago). That gun is built on a frame almost as light as a 20 gauge, but fires loads almost equal in energy to a 12 gauge. That adds up to maximum recoil, making everything else feel very tame. My Ruger 77, 30/06 feels almost like a .22 rimfire in comparison. Folks who are bothered by recoil from any centerfire rifle should try firing slugs from a lightweight shotgun to get a "real" taste of some heavy recoil. No centerfire rifle has impressed me much with recoil, including a Ruger Number One in 458 Win magnum. I do "cheat" on the range with a cheap recoil pad that pins onto my shirt, but I have never noticed recoil on deer, and dozens have fallen to my old Ithaca.

I add soybeans to my late summer planted plots (late July - mid August), which also include wheat and white clover. Those spouting soybeans quickly draw deer to the plots but are normally picked clean by October 1. The deer then hang around thru winter, to feed on the wheat (tastier than rye), and the clover feeds them for the next 3-5 years. The only problem you got with a big bean field, is the deer will only use it at night after detecting some hunting pressure. An adjacent, standing corn plot is what you need then if you want daylight action on your land. Hopefully we will see enough rain to make some decent corn this year. It certainly has been touch and go to this point in Western NY. I have a 1-1/2 acre corn plot, planted the weekend before Memorial day, on some poorly-drained, mucky soil. That one looks great, shoulder high, dark green, and relatively weed-free after spraying and cultivating. My larger, 2-1/2 acre plot, planted on the same day on some higher, well-drained soil, don't look so hot, about knee-high now.

I used to shoot my 10/22 a lot more before the "active shooters", politicians and horders made ammo more expensive and difficult to find. Now it is pretty much one squirrel, coon, rabbit, fox, woodchuck or coyote per .22 LR round, and I do most of my "honing" with the BB guns. I do give possums a second round thru the lungs, since missing one of them little "pea brains" a few years ago and having one get away with a head wound, after playing his name for a few minutes. The 10/22 sure is accurate for a semi-auto, with a great trigger, and handles easier than any other rifle I have tried. Ruger's are also the only center-fire rifles I use. The great thing about the BB guns is the ammo is still nearly free. With a Daisy Red-Ryder or Crossman 760 with 4 pumps, the BB's go thru only one side and end up in the can. Then you can just pour them out and shoot them again. These guns are not rifled, so the range is much less than the Ruger, but accuracy is respectable for $30 guns.

I have yet to run into anyone who could say or do anything to piss me off. When folks try (and many have), I tell just tell them: "There is one thing you are lacking, the ability to piss me off" That almost always takes the wind out of their sails. Life is too short for "pet peeves".

How was the meat? I have heard that the ones over 200 pounds are not so hot. Any truth to that? Did you make a rug or mount it?

The fish always used to stay pretty shallow in Cuba lake over the summer, so a good pair of polarized glasses would probably do you more good there than a fish-finder. They make the weedbeds easy to see from the boat. I have done ok during the day there on walleyes, using a weedless bass jig, tipped with a live leech, inside the weed-beds. Use about 3/8 oz and let it sink below the surface weedmat. Now they have installed sewers around most of the lake however, so that may allow more oxygen down deep where a fishfinder would work for you, and they are almost a necessity on Erie.

I have had good luck on Cuba lake during the day, fishing the edges and deep inside the weedbeds, with a big rubber weedless bass jig tipped with a rubber shad bait. Black, purple and blue are the best colors. There are some monster smallmouth and northern pike in there, plus the occasional walleye or largemouth bass. On my last trip there with a canoe, I got beat up a bit from all the boat traffic on a Saturday, but hooked into a fat 21" smallmouth, deep in a weedbed. I did not have a camera, so I hooked it on a stringer and pulled it across the lake to a friend's cottage for a photo, before releasing. It was strong enough to spin that canoe around a few times before I reached the opposite shore. Another pattern that works well there is a Heddon torpedo or tiny torpedo cast along the shoreline after dark. Largemouth bass and even an occasional walleye have gone for that. With heavy boat traffic by day, the action picks up after dark. If you boat does not have lights, you can pick up a pair that work on flashlight batteries fairly cheap.

Nice gun, great shooter and best caliber for deer hunting in NY state. The family history adds a lot to the deal and will add even more after you kill a few deer with it. My two largest-antlered bucks have fallen to my grandad's old Ithaca, model 37, featherlight, 16 ga, deerslayer. Even today, I can't look at those mounts without remembering him. My largest bodied buck fell in his tracks a couple years ago to my 30/06 however, and I can testify to the effectiveness of the Federal Classic 150 gr round at approximately 300 yards. That is all I use now in the rifle zones but grandad's old Ithaca still sees occasional service at home in a shotgun-only zone.

The big ones are fun to catch, but I also release most of them. The smaller the legal "keeper", the lower the health risk from eating. While the bass pro's try and locate the largest fish, I aim for those that are just barely keepers. Out on Lake Erie during the summer, smaller bass are often found near the bottom, with larger ones suspended above. I liked "the special early season" a lot better when the (1) bass allowed had to be over 15" to keep. 15 - 18" bass are still relatively young and good eating, while the larger ones carry more health risk from consumption. I don't often fish that season now, since bass over 20 inches are not worth the risk, and I don't ever target something I don't intend to eat. The round gobies have made the bass fishing tougher, but they have significantly improved the growth rates of the smalmouth bass. The 19-20 inchers we took in the St Lawrence last week looked healthier than 16 inchers from 10 years ago, and were likely younger due to the massive new food source they now have. What makes fishing and hunting so superior for me compared to other "sports" is the "free" and delicious meal you can get, in addition to all the fun. If you don't eat what you target you are not getting the full benefit. That is the main reason you will rarely find me on a golf course.

Apparently the "rakons" like bananas too. I re-baited the trap after removing the chuck carcass yesterday evening and this morning there is a big one in there. Looks like the buzzards will be eating good. I think I will keep them traps set around the house and take out all I can before the sweetcorn in the garden starts getting ripe. I would rather feed buzzards coons than feed coons sweetcorn.

We had one living under our front porch. I placed two live traps out there this afternoon, one baited with a whole banana, the other with a whole apple. I also put some small pieces of apple near the doors of the traps. Less than 2 hours after setting the trap, the chuck chose the banana as his last meal. I dispatched him with a .22 to the head and threw the carcass out back to feed the buzzards.