wolc123

In a good many years of hunting, I have long lost count of the deer I have killed, but only (2) were on public land. My first was a young buck on Allegheny state park, and the other was a year or so older mule deer buck on a Federal park in Colorado. Most of the rest were taken on our family's land in the flat portion of North-Western NY. The last few years, I have been spending more time hunting in the Adirondacks and that awesome scenery sure does have a powerful draw. I fully understand your situation. My in-laws have been building a camp, and plan on retiring up there. That has given me access to a plot of private land adjacent to the 6 million acre Adirondack park. Two years ago, I killed my oldest, and largest-bodied buck up there with a rifle, and big doe with a ML a few years before that. Although the deer may be fewer and further between up in the mountains, the quality of the experience more than makes up for it. I have taken a few larger racks at home, but the odds of killing an older deer are better up there due to the almost complete absence of hunting pressure.

I keep the hearts from all of them for pickling (hopefully my wife will do a couple for me for valentines day again this year). I keep the livers from 1-1/2 and 1/2 year old deer (those tender morsels are the best, fried medium rare, with olive oil and onions, a meal fit for a king, better even than tenderloins). The livers from older deer are tough and not worth bringing out of the woods. My mother in law even cooked up some "Adirondack mountain oysters" from a 4-1/2 + year old buck, a couple Thanksgivings ago, and they were ok. If you give that a try, I would recommend slitting them with a knife a bit before frying to reduce the mess in the frying pan when they "explode".

That's right, I forgot about that extra antlerless tag the bow permit could get him. If only they could figure out a way to keep the antlerless deer out in the daytime after they start detecting all the extra human scent in woods, one could really rack them up with a crossbow during them two weeks.

You will need to purchase your regular big game license in addition to your ML permit to hunt those 2 weeks with the crossbow. This will also allow you to get 1 or 2 DMP antlerless tags in some zones immediately, and another 2 after Nov 1 in the zones where the DEC is really struggling to get the deer population reduced. This means that you could legally harvest (5) deer total during those two weeks in some zones, but only one with antlers. In theory this might work, but the sad reality is that a few weeks of archery pressure puts most of the antlerless deer in those zones into the full-nocturnal mode prior to the opening of crossbow. The only way I see the DEC getting the population under control in these areas is to allow the crossbow at the start of the archery season. If they try letting the ML in early in these zones, as many think will happen, it will literally "backfire" with a bang, putting the antlerless deer "full-nocturnal" even earlier.

I use the saw for splitting the pelvis because I am a little anal (no pun intended) about making sure it is real clean in there. If I did not butcher my own, I would not worry about that as much. If I ever did loose the knife, I am certain I could get the whole job done with the saw, just a little slower and messier. What would you do if you lost your combo unit and that was all you carried? Maybe an old-style car, truck, or house key would work in a pinch. Those new electronic fobs wouldn't do you much good. A broadhead would probably work ok during archery season, especially if it were a fixed blade type. Speaking of gutting, a buddy once told me that he knew of someone who gutted rabbits without a knife. He said he just squeezed them in his hands while slamming downward against his knees and the guts just flew out the back on impact. Although I am not from Missouri, this I had to see. The next time I shot one, just a few days after hearing the far-fetched tale, I immediately drove it over to his house. Outside of the entertainment, he was completely unsuccessful in his attempt, and my Buck 110 was required to complete the task. That poor rabbit would probably have been a bit tastier if I had gutted it immediately like usual, rather than 30 minutes or so after the kill and the squeezing.

I also use an old "made in USA" Buck 110 and an "imported" Gerber folding saw (I think they sell for less than $15). The saw comes in handy for quickly opening the pelvis while field dressing as well as easily trimming branches around my stand up to 3" or so in diameter. I also like to minimize cost, weight, and space. The Gerber folder is cheaper and takes up less room in your pack or pocket than one of those plastic but-out tools. If you must limit yourself to just one tool however, that Buck combo you posted looks pretty good. I see that it is made in USA and given that, the cost seems reasonable at $75. It would not be for me because I like redundancy on critical items. I could complete the field dressing job, a bit less efficiently, with just the Gerber folding saw or the Buck 110 knife, if the other was lost.

In my opinion, the single most effective thing they could do, in the zones which have consistently fallen short of antlerless harvest goals, would be to allow the use of the crossbow throughout early archery season. The crossbow would be particularly lethal if it could be employed in the early part of the season, before the deer realize they are being hunted. As it stands now, the antlerless deer tend to be driven mostly nocturnal by the last two weeks when the crossbow is finally legal. I would be ok with a compromise, to appease the small but well-connected group of selfish anti-crossbow bowhunters, that would allow the crossbow to take only antlerless deer until the last two weeks, while they could take either/or with a conventional bow throughout the season. I would expect a crossbow to be at least 10 times more effective at killing antlerless deer in these overpopulated zones than a conventional bow. It is rare to find antlerless deer traveling alone in these zones and it is very difficult to make the draw of a regular bow when so many sets of eyes must be avoided. By combining the silence of a bow, and removing the need to draw with the deer in close, the crossbow may represent "the ultimate weapon" to finally get these populations under control. Letting the muzzleloaders in early, as many seem to think will happen, will backfire with a "bang". That will only force the deer to become nocturnal even earlier.

My favorite cold weather waterproof boots are the US Army, black "mickey" boots. Sportsman's guide sells them new/unissued for $80 or used/reconditioned for a bit less. They are quite warm and very durable, being made to US government specs to hold up for combat usage. They do not have a removable liner though. They are kind of goofy looking, but very comfortable to wear and walk around in. Since using them the last couple seasons, I doubt I will ever go back to "normal" winter hunting boots. I have never had any that offered comparable performance, even at much higher cost.

I was a little disappointed to learn last year that they stopped production of Genesee 12-horse after the brief re-introduction a couple years ago. The killing of another big Adirondack buck just won't be the quite the same without a few of them to celebrate with. The Genesee Scotch-ale is good, but just a little pricey for me. As long as they keep making Cream-ale and Light, I will be happy. I never had much fondness for high-priced, hoppy, fruity, foreign or even out-of-state brews. Beer does not improve with age like wine, and the closer it is made, the faster it can be delivered and enjoyed.

It is too bad they cant market it a little better and take some of the tax burden off those of us who don't play. Maybe they could even eliminate the Federal and state budget deficits using the willing contributions of the players.

The kick from almost any rifle is insignificant to those of us who grew up using shotguns for deer. The hardest kicking gun I own, and also the one I have killed the most deer with, is a 16 gage Ithaca deerslayer featherlight. I have shot a neighbor's Ruger #1, in 458 Win Min magnum caliber, and it felt tame in comparison. The reason that 16 gage slug gun kicks so hard, is it is built nearly as light as the 20 gage model, but fires loads nearly as heavy as the 12. That adds up to a punishing combination on the shoulder. For all my range work with that gun, I use a recoil pad, filled with silly-putty type material, between the gun and my shoulder. That takes all the "bite" out of it. I have never noticed the kick on a deer and have taken dozens with it including my first and my two largest racked bucks. The light weight makes it a real pleasure to carry and it is ridiculously dependable. For shots under 75 yards, there is nothing I would rather use and I still hunt with it when that is all I expect. The bottom line here, is that if you can handle the kick of a shotgun slug gun, the 300 Win mag should be no problem what so ever. Personally, I would never consider using one for deer in NY because of the limited advantage in ballistics compared to a 30/06 or .270, and the far greater cost and limited availability of the ammo.

Those "close-encounters" with big doe and a muzzleloader are definitely cool. Your story brings back memories of one I had about 5 years ago up in Zone 6C. It was a very remote area, and I think that the group of 6 antlerless deer that walked up on the oak ridge I was set up on had never seen another hunter. The lead doe was the largest of the group. When she presented a good broadside shot at about 40 yards, I hit her behind the shoulder with my 50 cal T/C. She did not even flinch on impact, and the rest of the group did not scatter from the "bang". She walked to within 10 yards from me and just kind of stared me down. I will never forget that sight. Soon her legs began to wobble, and she toppled over, falling down a steep incline. When I moved quickly then to reload, the other 5 deer ran off. When I finished reloading, I slid down the steep incline she had descended. I got to the bottom and found her struggling to get back up on her feet. I ended her struggle there with a second shot to the neck.

Once, during rifle team practice at high-school, while shooting from the kneeling position, my rifle discharged when I closed the bolt. It was pointed upward a bit at the time. I thought I felt something hit my jacket and the shooter to my right, who was somewhat of a jokester, clutched his chest, shouted out "I'm hit" and slumped forward. Fortunately, we were all wearing those heavy canvas jackets and eye goggles, so no actual injuries occurred from what was probably small chunks of concrete that the bullet knocked out of the ceiling part way downrange. The rifle I was using was an old Winchester, probably WWII era, and it had a trigger so light you could almost fire it by breathing on it. Following that ceiling hit, I always made sure I had it pointed at the backstop when I closed the bolt. I also closed the bolt a little more carefully and never had another misfire. That hair-trigger likely helped my scores a bit, and that was the only one of the old Winchesters, with which I could occasionally keep up with our top two shooters. The school's only two fancy Anchutz match rifles were reserved for them.

With guns, the run on .22 rimfire ammo put a damper on my own practice time for a while. Now it is back up to an all-time high, since I bought BB-guns for our two pre-teen daughters two years ago. With those two $30 outfits (scoped Crossman 760 and an open-sighted Daisy red-ryder) ammo is basically free. Each will put a BB thru one side of a beer can, so you can pour it out and re-use it multiple times. I shoot quite often, year round, probably averaging 50 shots per week or so. I am also blessed with a 500 yard range out back but, for the most part, I just check the zero on my deer rifle, slug-guns, and ML a time or two in the late summer or early fall. I use more "real" ammo on game than practice these days, including .22 rimfire. The only time I shoot my chuck rifle (22/250) at a paper target is when I buy a new 20 round box of ammo every other year or so to check the zero. With bows, I skipped hunting and practice with my vertical compound bow the last couple seasons after NY legalized the x-bow. I only fired enough practice bolts with my x-bow to verify the zero at various ranges because the bb-gun practice was also applicable for that weapon, even matching the trajectory fairly close. If I don't hear that the x-bow will get "full-inclusion" by April 1 or so, I will probably start practicing again with my compound, to get back in on them first 3 weeks of deer season. I was unable to fill my archery tag in those two weeks this year because the local deer had gone mostly nocturnal by then. I try to minimize the cost of wild game, after subtracting all input costs including licences, fuel, equipment and ammo. The BB-gun practice goes a long way towards making that happen, by maintaining proper shooting form for negligible cost. While most folks spend lots of money on hunting, I often manage to save a little by doing it. That makes my wife much more supportive of that hobby. I am also extremely fortunate that her and the kids love venison and fish. By making my own lures (bucktail jigs), I always come out money ahead on fishing.

Has anyone eaten reds? I have not shot many, but they seem too small to mess around with. They like to chase the grays away, which is the only reason I shot the few that I did. They are also much tougher to hit because they seldom stand still long enough for a good shot like grays always do. As far as eating goes, I like gray squirrels much better than rabbits. Many times I had them both cooked in the same crockpot at the same time and the squirrel is always tastier than the rabbit. They are almost my favorite small game to eat, behind only ruffed grouse. I don't remember eating any pheasants, as they pretty much disappeared locally a few years before I was old enough to hunt.

I stopped at a buddies cabin one time to pick him up to go to a pig-roast at another buddies cabin a few miles away. While I was there, we went back to his range, him with his cooler and me with my ML. After a few successful shots and several beers, a patched ball got rammed down the "powderless" barrel. After removing the nipple and pushing a little pyrodex in from the back side, re-installing the nipple and another cap, 3 or 4 times, we were able to get he ball to exit the bore. Lesson learned - save the beer until after the shooting. Fortunately, nobody got hurt and nothing was damaged. Another time I was sighting in my 30/06 on the range at the back of our farm, from the 100 yard bench. I walked over to the target, leaving the rifle on the sandbags, pointed down range. There was no one else around, so I assumed the it was pointed in a safe direction. When I looked back up-range, I saw a buck walk out of the brush, and right over to the bench. For a short time, he had his nose next to the muzzle. I hoped the gun was not loaded but you never know for sure, which is why you treat any gun like it is loaded. A picture flashed through my mind of him knocking the gun off the bags and it going off, hitting me. What a story that would have been. The anti-hunters would have a field day with that one "DEER SHOOTS MAN".

I did miss out on a wide-bodied, single-antlered buck with the side-lock/pyrodex. The load finally lit with the third cap when he was long gone after having walked right below my stand. He did give me a funny look from down below when the first cap went off. I switched to the in-line (TC Omega) the following year and never had any firing issues with that. It fired every time and hit about a dozen deer right where I aimed, killing them all. It was so much more accurate than the rifled slug-gun I had then (Rem 870 with Hastings cantilever scope barrel), that I even used it during regular season. I would probably still be using it if I hadn't located a rifled 12 gauge (Marlin 512) that shoots just as accurate, hits with twice the energy at 160 yards, and gives me 2 extra shots.

WJ: I'll be willing to bet you were using a "substitute" powder & not real Black Powder. Yep, Pyrodex. I am using 777 pellets now in my in-line, and when that runs out, I will switch to that easy-cleanup 209 stuff. For the squirrels with the .22, I also prefer the subsonic target stuff. Increased accuracy and less noise is a tough combination to beat. I shot on the rifle team in high school and the coach would always let me sweep up after practice and matches. I am hoping I can talk my daughters joining the team and doing that in a few years to "refresh" ammo supply. Back in the day, the girls were always the best shots on the team and it seems they still are by the write-ups in the paper. That last squirrel was one of very few that I did not recover after a hit and almost all were shot behind the shoulder. For many years, I used a Remington 510P single shot with a peep sight, then a 3x Bushnell banner scope. About 10 years ago, the accuracy went on it for some reason and now I use a Ruger 10/22 carbine. That is a real tack-driver inside of 50 yards. It shoots better than the old Remington bolt-action ever did.

WJ:"22 LR standard velocity solids are all you need if you know how to shoot. If you didn't recover the squirrel, how do you know where you hit it?" In this case, I had a good rest, clear broadside shot and had just verified the zero on the gun out on the range. I am quite certain the bullet struck near center lung. On any game animal with a gun or bow, I aim center lung, if available, because it provides the greatest margin for error and does not take out much meat. I do make some exceptions, such as a shoulder shot on a lead doe from a group when I have multiple tags. That has produced "doubles" for me on several occasions. I hate loosing the couple of chops that shot placement costs, but getting a whole extra deer makes it well worth the price. You make a good point on aiming forward of the shoulder on squirrels and I will give it a try at the next opportunity. I will then be able to see for myself how much meat it cost me. I consider head-shots on squirrels to be "unethical". Just because they are small does not mean they should not be respected. That said, I did disrespect one a few years ago with my side-lock 50 cal hawken on the last day of ML season for deer. The unlucky squirrel showed up right at dusk when it was time to unload the rifle. I had a bit of a "hangfire", but held steady until he literally lost his head completely.

I am a little upset right now that I used the wrong bullet yesterday on a squirrel hunt. Squirrel stew would have been better than the scrambled eggs I had for lunch. I hit a fat gray, behind the shoulder, broadside from about 20 yards, with a .22 LR Remington thunderbolt. He fell from the branch with a thud, but was able to crawl somewhere into a rock wall, so no food for me. If struck there with a higher velocity, hollow-point "yellow-jacket", I would have been eating better for certain. Most of the meat is in the hind-quarters anyhow, so until we get some "tracking-snow" I will now go with the higher-velocity ammo. With snow, I also like the low or standard-velocity, solid bullets because the quite report usually yields faster follow-up action and they destroy less meat. The shot yesterday was right at dusk, and I was wishing I would have had my "bloodglow" with me. It would have been a perfect opportunity to give it a try. That is CSI-type stuff that, when mixed with water, makes blood glow in the dark. I bought it prior to deer season two years ago. Every deer I have hit since has dropped dead within or just out of sight. Squirrels provide great marksmanship practice, but a little more "tracking-practice" could not hurt.

I also live in a low-lying area where a sump pump is critical. I had a bad experience with a water-backup sump pump during the infamous "October-storm" in WNY a few years back. I got stuck out of town for work when the Buffalo Airport was closed. Rochester remained open, so I got a flight to there, then rented a car, finally arriving home about 5:00 am. The power was out when I arrived. I was dead tired, having been up more than 24 hours. I trusted our water backup pump and crashed for a few hours without checking the basement. That was a big mistake because the storm was widespread enough that it caused problems at Erie county water authority, knocking out the big pumps and dropping the water pressure so low that our water backup sump-pump only added more water to the flooded basement. The water got about 3 feet deep down there, taking out the furnace, hot-water heater, and our big freezer. Fortunately, there was not much meat in that yet because it happened right before deer season. We were also very fortunate that the freezer, furnace, and hot water heater all came back to life after they dried out. That Montgomery-Ward upright freezer in the basement, that my grandparents purchased nearly 40 years ago, continues to run today like it did when new. They sure don't make them like that anymore. I sold the water backup sump pump cheap at a garage sale my wife had the next summer, and bought a battery backup model. I did not have much luck with that either. It was cheaply made and only lasted a couple years, costing us a couple of soaked carpets in a minor flood one time when the primary pump failed. Now I just use a 5000 watt portable generator, and keep an extra 120 volt sump pump next to the installed one in case it fails. I instructed my wife how to set it up if I am away. It will easily run the sump pump, 2 refrigerators, a big freezer, lights and a TV or two. This has worked well for us. I do keep it regularly used and maintained, operating electric string trimmers at the far corners of our yard, and also power tools in the woods working on stands, blinds, and such. A stand-by, installed generator might be a bit better for power outages, but far more expensive, harder to maintain, and less versatile for our uses.

Bait is legal for coyote hunting and can tip the scales in your favor. During deer season, I pile carcasses, hides, heads, etc, about 75 yards behind my bedroom window, in an open field. I butcher 3-4 deer a year to feed our family, getting them from friends and neighbors if I can't kill them myself. Even whole roadkills occasionally end up on that pile, especially when there is snow and a full moon. I also throw trapped raccoon and possum carcasses on the pile, as well as remains of winter small game including rabbits and squirrels. The coyotes are getting smarter however. Last winter, I tried cracking open the window a few times when one showed up but was not able to get off a shot before they bolted off. Several years ago, about this time of year when we had good snow and a full moon, my wife woke me up about 3:00 am asking me what all the noise was out back. I looked out the window and there were two coyotes gorging themselves on the fresh carcass of a late ML season deer. I had a .22/250 and a.22 rimfire at bedside. I loaded the rimfire, since it was a school night and the kids were asleep down the hall, and slid up the window. Looking back, I should have targeted the smaller one (probably a female), but I aimed behind the shoulder of the big one as I squeezed off my first shot. He let out a yelp indicating a hit. I fired short, 2-3 shot bursts at both of them from the semi-auto, as they ran off. I found the 55 pound male 40 yards away the next morning when I went out to check the damages. I doubt I touched the fleeing female as there was no blood on her trail. The male was hit once thru the lungs and again in the rump. One odd thing about coyotes is that they must be terrible tasting to scavengers. Even the crows wont touch their carcasses placed on that same pile. By contrast, every last scrap of deer, raccoon, rabbit, squirrel, and even fox has been quickly devoured. Coyotes just shrivel up and dry out over the winter until I turn them under with the plow the following spring. I have also tried going out at night with a dying rabbit mouth call but the only thing I have taken that way were red foxes. They are getting scarce now as the coyote population is growing.

If you keep up the rpm's and don't stop, they make pretty good jet-skis. It looks like that is all we will see this year.

As hunters and fisherman, we are in especially good position to enjoy God's blessings. Can it be a coincidence that his first four followers were fisherman? At this time of year, when God gave us that greatest gift of all, it is important to remember that it is better to give than to receive. May you all have a merry Christmas.

You wont have to worry about deer getting up and running off after they are down if you just check one thing. Are the eyes open or closed? If they are closed, then you had better place a second shot in a good spot quick because the deer is still alive. That big prostrate buck in the earlier post clearly had his eyes shut. Personally, I don't take any chances here. Fortunately, I learned that lesson from someone else (my own godfather) who learned it the hard way. Now I always walk up to the kill ASAP and stick the muzzle of my loaded gun into the open eye. If it closes, I am position to easily deliver a killing shot. Many years ago, my uncle knocked down the largest buck he ever saw, with a shotgun slug from close range. He leaned his gun against a tree and walked up to the "dead" monster buck with his knife. As he reached it, it sprang to its feet and disappeared into the heavy cover, never to be seen again. I felt especially bad for him, as he taught me much of what I know about hunting (besides this critical lesson) and was even with me when I took my first deer. In a separate issue, somewhat related to the OP: Last winter, I did use my own ML antlerless carcass tag on a road-kill button buck that I dispatched with my knife at the end of our driveway. This was a rather unique situation, and I did not want to bother law-enforcement getting a "proper" tag. I would think they have more important issues to deal with like keeping drunks and texters off of the road. I may have committed a violation, but I would do it again, if it could put some of those brave, hard-working folks time to better use. It was the last Sunday of late ML season and I had no more hunts planned anyhow. I reported the kill with the DEC phone-in system. I may have said "ML" rather than car/knife (there was no selection for that), but at least the date, location, and sex were correct. A neighbor across the street called on the phone, just as I returned to the house in my truck from my last hunt. She had heard a crash a few moments earlier. She saw a car stop, then take off, and saw a deer kicking around in front of our house. I grabbed my knife and my daughter grabbed a flashlight. She found the deer laying "eyes-shut" right next to our mailbox. Unfortunately, my knife was very dull having several good "workouts" during deer season, so it was a sloppy, somewhat dangerous deal trying to finish off that little buck. My daughter was fearful for my safety with the flying hoofs, but eventually I ended his suffering, without suffering any blows myself. When I butchered the deer a few days later, there was a little bruising on one side but 90% of the meat was in excellent condition. It was the "tastiest" of the (4) deer we had that year, especially the liver. It is hard to beat them young ones, way better than "tag-soup", that's for sure.