wolc123

I can see where using such a weapon on deer when you have a better one available shows some disrespect for you quarry, and could be seen as selfish by many. There is no hunter I know who could resist the temptation of shooting at the biggest buck of his life if the situation arose, even if it meant pushing the limits a bit. Talk and words are cheap, I would have to see that done to believe it. I would only use it on antlerless deer for certain, and only if my meat supply was secure. Then I could easily resist the temptation of taking a shot with less than 99% certainty. Of the hundred or so deer I have killed over 30 some years, I have only taken three shots where I was more than 98% certain of the kill and 2 of those escaped due to failure to fire, once from my slug gun once from my side-lock ML. Thankfully NY state has reduced the regulations that forced us to use those handicapped weapons and my center fire and in-line ML have never let me down. They are on the right track with the crossbow now also, and I am 1/1 for that and eagerly looking forward to this season where I hear a rumor that they may give us the whole archery season in the Northern and Southern zone. That would be great because I use it in both. I am a pure killer, and being such, the last thing I want to do is "challenge" myself with the possible result of a miss or messy kill. I will always use the most lethal weapon available and affordable to get the job done effectively. I know there are lots of "fighters" out there who thrive on the "challenge", but being a pure killer, I cant begin to "relate" to that. I think such folks should stick with better "fighting" sports like golf, football, baseball, boxing, wrestling, Wi/Atari, where "food" doesn't get messed around with. I even consider "catch and release" fishing as nothing but the "sensless maiming" of a good food supply. Maybe you can get a Wi hunting game that lets you mess around with different calibers and you could go all the way and try a "pellet" rifle on elephant.

Younger bears, under 250 pounds or so, are better eating in general. The taste is very good, nearly equal to that of a young whitetail. Proper care for the carcass, and diet also comes into play as mentioned earlier. Compared to deer, there is a lot more waste on a bear. A 200 pounder might yield the about same amount of meat as a 100 pound deer. Lots of fat to be trimmed away, heavier bones, hide, etc.. Kind of the same as wild boars in that respect. The perfect bear for me would weigh about 225 pounds field-dressed, which is large enough for a decent rug, manageable to drag myself from the woods and get onto the ATV rack, yet small enough to provide for some "prime" eating.

I have been on moose and bear hunts in Northern Quebec, and elk and mule deer hunts in Colorado when I was in my 20's and 30's. Now at 50, I am in better shape physically and financially than I was then but I won't go on another out of state hunt. Experiencing those places mostly made me appreciate what we have here in NY. The elk and moose were good but our NY whitetail is way better tasting than the mule deer. The black bear hunting we have here now is also getting to be better than in those places. I have never seen anyplace out of state that had scenery that rivaled that of NY's Adirondack mountains. The "High-deserts" of Colorado just don't do it for me, nor does the marshy, swampy, wooded bush-land of Quebec. Give me the tall wooded mountains, and glistening blue lakes and rivers of NY state any day. How great it is to not have to deal with air-travel, or purchase "out-of-state" licenses. After making me appreciate our NY hunting (and fishing) more, the best part about those other places was meeting new friends and strengthening relationships of those old ones who went on the trips with me. That, and a lot of great stories I can tell my kids, and grandkids someday, do make those out of state hunts something I will never regret. As for my ideal hunt, I had that last fall when I killed the biggest buck of my life up at my Father-in-laws new Adirondack camp. I imagine its going to be all downhill from there but I will love every minute of it. It might get better when and if I can get my pre-teen daughters to go along with me someday and they get to take a deer themselves.

For black bear in NY state the .30/06 is more than adequate. Even on Western grizzlies, it would be more appropriately sized than a .22/250 on deer. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised to learn that the .30/06 has killed more of each bear species than any other caliber. I wish you well with your deer hunting this fall whichever rifle you choose. Confidence and bullet placement are more important than impact energy, and it sounds like you got that covered pretty good with the .22/250. How are you going to feel though if you are holding it when the biggest buck of your life shows you his front shoulder at a 300 yard range? Your 308 would put him down there in his tracks while the little 22/250 would likely explode on the shoulder blade sending him off crippled.

Someday, I may take my .22/250 deer hunting but (11) conditions would have to be met first. #1, my family's venison supply would have to be secure (at this point that means (4) average sized deer in the freezer). #2, my buck tag would need to be already filled with a "big gun". #3, I would need to locate some adequate bullets such as those which have been recommended here. #4-11, The shot would have to be perfectly clear, from a rest, broadside, center lung, non-moving deer, at less than 150 yard range with good light and wind under 10 mph. Had I "jumped the gun" and hunted with it last season it very likely would have cost me the largest bodied deer of my life. For the freezer, that Adirondack mountain 8-point counted as at least (2) average-sized deer, with a field dressed weight in access of 200 lbs. He also provided my Father in Law with a great looking "local" decoration for the wall of his new cabin. My .30/06 got the job done with less than half the above "conditions" met. The shot was quartering away at 300 yards. To the OP, I would suggest meeting the first (3) conditions prior to taking the .22/250 deer hunting, then make sure to meet the rest during the hunt itself.

We ate some of them smallies for dinner yesterday (the fillets were vacuum sealed and frozen a week ago). First "fresh" fish in a while and man was it good. I love venison, but it was time for a change after eating mostly that since mid-October last year. We baked the fillets on top of a layer of onions and thin sliced red potatoes. A little bit of garlic salt, lemon pepper, and a sprinkle of cayenne pepper. Wrapped in tin-foil, 30 minutes in a convection oven at 310 degrees. I cant remember ever having fish that tasted any better. The water up in the St Lawrence was considerably cooler than normal this year, and I am sure that was a factor in making the fish "extra-good". That also made the bass fight less than normal, which was ok with me since only one got away after it was hooked. The rest ended up in the freezer (fish-heaven). Also unusual this year was that none of the fish had eggs in them, as apparently all the spawning was completed during the brief "warm-up" we had in May. I feel better about keeping bass that have already spawned. We are very blessed here in NY to live in a state which offers such an abundance of fish and wildlife. Even Alaska has got nothing on us here in that respect.

You can get (4) hamburgers out of a horse without killing the animal.

The capital equipment required to manufacture rim-fire ammo is very expensive. Manufactures are not willing to invest the cash to meet the temporary spike in demand. For those impatient folks wanting to shoot more now, get yourselves a bb gun. Shooting is a lot more fun when you don't have to worry about finding and paying lots of money for ammo.

The 16 is my favorite gauge also. I have killed all of my grouse with them. The first with my Ithaca 37 pump with a "modified" barrell, and the most with my Stevens side-by-side double with I/C and modified chokes (both inherited from my granddad). My best grouse hunt was a two for two hunt with my Dad's Browning "sweet-16" auto. That gun handles better than any shotgun I have tried. I also used the 37 Ithaca (after mounting a scope on it) to take my first and later my largest racked buck. More than 30 years since the first, I still like to hunt deer with that gun when shots are expected to be under 75 yards. I killed a fine buck with it, from a 10 yard range, just 3 years ago. That "deerslayer" barrel has never let me down.

There is just so many better ways to challenge yourself that don't increase the odds of a wounded and non-recovered deer. Maybe hold out for a deer of a certain age or antler size, or try and hit the heart or center-lung every time. The kill zone on a deer with a .22/250 may be less than half the size it is with the top contenders like a .30/06, .270, or .308. Those slower, heavier bullets will also power thru unseen branches and bones much better. I do like my 22/250 a lot but I love venison and it would be tough knowing that I failed to get some because I was under-gunned when I had far more capable weapons to pick from. I imagine those who love antlers would feel the same way about that.

I am not as white now as I was after 5 days of fishing out on the St Lawrence and trying to take advantage of as much sun as I could when it showed up. Does that count?

That is cool when they start getting into it and putting on their own worms and taking the fish off and such. My youngest daughter (11) just graduated to that level this year. She needed a knife to cut the worms up however, I couldn't talk her into pinching them off with her fingernails. She caught lots of bluegills from the dock up at Alex Bay. I haven't had much luck on LM's this year, but the SM out in the river were fairly cooperative considering the east wind which blew steady for 5 days. We ended up with (37) 12-1/8 to 17 inchers for the freezer over the 5 days. One giant that I estimated at 22", 6-1/2 lbs, broke my jig off right at the boat. It was certainly above my "keeper" upper limit of 18", so I would have turned it loose anyhow. I also kept a 36" northern pike that had a large, hanging gut and when I cleaned it I found a SM bass almost 10" long in the stomach. Almost all the bass had gobies in their stomachs and seemed to be fat and very well fed as a result of that plentiful "invasive" food supply. We only landed (2) that were under 12" long.

The short answer to this question is NO, don't do it if you have a bigger gun to use. No doubt that it will kill a deer if you put your bullet in the right place, on that we all agree. I do admit that I have struggled with not using my own Ruger, M77 22-250 on deer. I have never missed on a "live" target with that gun and every animal ended up dead. Just a few weeks ago, I watched a chuck struggle about 5 feet, with its guts trailing behind, when my shot was a little too far back. I then grabbed my Ruger, 10/22 rim-fire to head shoot it. It was handy, the bullets were cheaper, and I felt sorry for the struggling animal. With a total of over a hundred chucks, foxes, and coyotes, that was the first time a second shot was needed to dispatch one quickly. I have to agree with the guy who questions the logic of challenging oneself by making it harder to kill a deer cleanly. Our family practically lives on venison and to loose some because of a dumb move like that would hurt me bad. If you have a .308 available, stick with it, for it is close to the perfect round for deer. I would call it # 3 after # 2 (.270), and #1 (30/06). The 22-250 would be very close to last place as an "adequate" deer rifle with hundreds of better choices available. That certainly qualifies it as a "dumb" move if nothing else. I apologize in advance if I have offended anyone here with my opinions but they are what they are.

In the central Adirondacks, If you get the chance to check out Buttermilk Falls near Long Lake, it is about the prettiest spot I have witnessed on this earth. It is a waterfall/rapids on the Raquette river upstream of Long Lake (wide spot on the river) Lots of good canoeing spots near there also (Durant Lake comes to mind). Buttermilk is a short hike from a parking area on the main road. There is lots of lodging in the vicinity at Blue Mountain and Long Lake.

No problem, fishing was tough on Honeoye with the water level at flood stage, only managed a couple small LM and didn't keep any. Headed to the St Lawrence today for SM, weather looks good. We always do good up there at this time of year with very few outings not resulting in limits of "eating-sized" bass. It has been getting a little tougher catching the smaller ones the last several years as growth rates have been way up since they have been feasting on the round gobbies. We end up releasing lots of 17" plus, fat ones while trying to get our limits of 12"-17" "eaters". No bass left in freezer now so the fish tacos will have to wait until we get some fresh ones. For those we just bake the fillets in the oven for about 1/2 hr after a short marinade in tariaki sauce. Make the tacos with the fish, shredded red cabbage, a white sauce, and chipoltle peppers to the desired "heat".

That's a big one for NY. Are you talking about Red House lake at Allegheny state park? We used to trout fish there when I was a kid. I can see how bass could grow very large there feasting on all the stocked trout. I am mostly a meat-fisherman however and I usually move trying to find smaller ones if I get into bass over 15" long. There is no fish I like better than properly prepared and cooked bass in the 12-15" range. The younger fish have great flavor and just the right oil content for grilling or baking. Way better that way than less oily fish like walleye and perch. I also move the boat when I get into those species by accident. Grilled bass tacos are about as good as it gets on the table, even better than the Mahi-Mahi ones they sell out in SanDiego.

You got that right. I will stick with my cheap little $250 Barnett Recruit until they give us some more time. It worked for me last year on the one shot I took at a deer with a heart-hit and quick kill at 59 yards. 300 fps and 135 lb draw got-r-done. A little more penetration than the 8" I got on that shot would be nice, but I'll just limit my shots to 50 yards max with the pea-shooter until we get the whole archery season and I spring for a faster x-bow.

Anybody else going after smallies or largemouth tomorrow? Weather looks good. Hopefully Honeoye lake is reopened after they had closed it down for a stretch due to high water. Time to start catching some tasty, good-eating sized 12-15" largemouth. The following week it will be the St Lawrence river for smallies. We are very blessed here in NY to have some of the best bass fishing in the country for both species.

Clearly there are lots of folks, myself included, who take little things like game laws, politics and food gathering a lot more seriously than they should from time to time. None of it matters in the long run. The purpose of life is to gain entrance to heaven and there is but one way to do that - belief in Jesus Christ. Life gets a lot easier once you realize that is the only thing you need to worry about. Go ahead and keep barking up the wrong trees if you wish, but always remember that there is a "better way".

I just got number two, same place, same gun, same range as the male 3 days ago. The 40 gr Federal 22/250 did better this time, striking forward of the diaphragm and putting the fat female's lights out right away. I suppose the young ones will crawl out tomorrow as they start to get dehydrated and hungry. From the looks of the teats, she must have 5 or 6. The 10/.22 Ruger will get some more work then. I buried this one under a blue-spruce that wasn't looking so good. Hopefully that will perk it up like it usually does for the apple trees. There were lots of bugs on that chuck and I wouldn't want to get any closer to it than the length of the shovel handle. I'll stick with eating fish killed in the warmer months.

You can spray the RR corn for a long time yet. I have sprayed corn up to 2 ft tall without a problem. Once it starts to tassle, you might want to stop. I usually spray my RR corn one time when it is about 12" tall. I use a 15 gallon spot sprayer with a 12-volt pump which is mounted on my Farmall cub, one-row cultivating tractor. In a single pass, that tractor mechanically removes most of the weeds between the corn rows, with shovels mounted ahead and behind the rear tires. While doing that, the stream of roundup is directed on the rows to chemically take out all the weeds there. I save some spray that way, using about 1 quart of roundup per acre. With a boom sprayer, which I assume you will use, you will need about 2 quarts per acre of Roundup. With my spot sprayer I mix 2 fl oz of roundup per gallon of water. The amount you mix depends on your sprayer flow and your ground speed but 2 oz/gallon is a good starting point. The Roundup is deactivated upon hitting the dirt, and only kills by direct contact with growing plants. There is no residual carryover like there is with most selective herbicides. As long as it dries on the plant (no rain for 1/2 hour or so), it will kill just about anything in about 7-14 days. I am running a little RR corn experiment right now. Last year I killed a buck with a stomach full of RR corn and all that remained of the gut pile after a couple days was a little pile of corn. I planted 10 kernals of that in a tomato pack last week but it has not sprouted yet. It will be interesting to see if it does, and if it retains the RR trait after passing half way thru a deer.

Since you asked, here's the "Bible Buck" story: It was opening day afternoon of gun season a few years ago. I am a meat hunter primarily and had taken a button-buck in the morning (my wife really loves those), plus a friend had given us another. They were both decent sized (about 75 lbs field dressed), and now hanging in our garage. Our family of four's meat supply was very secure with those and a couple "nuisance permit" does, a neighbor had provided earlier. It was very warm that afternoon and I really didn't want to deal with more meat, but I wasn't going to skip the afternoon hunt. It had sounded like WW 3 behind our house that morning. with all the other shots I heard besides the one of my own, but I didn't hear any across the road. I thought I could spend a quiet afternoon in the middle of the big woods over there, reading the Bible up in my stand. The stand was in a pine tree above a thick patch of brush. As the minutes of legal daylight ticked away, I saw nothing but another hunter sneak by at the far edge of the woods. Then, when there was 5 minutes left, the Bible fell out of my hands. I made a "safety-mistake", and climbed down the tree with my loaded slug-gun in my right hand. Just as I reached for the Bible with my left hand, a flock of turkeys landed, some only feet away. I was wearing bright blaze orange cammo. I glanced at my watch (stickler for the "rules") and there were still 2 minutes of legal daylight. Suddenly the buck's antlers, head and neck appeared from behind a bush, just 10 yards away. I fired a slug at the base of his neck, dropping him there in his tracks. Certainly that hunt was not "by the book", but you might say it was "with the book". Had I not dropped it when I did, them turkeys would have spotted my blaze-cammo from a mile away. The buck was wise enough to travel with them and capitalize on their keen eyesight, while they tolerated him for his nose. Together they enjoyed a nearly impregnable defense. He was finished after his line of turkeys was breached however. That was the most venison we ever had up to this year, when I got some more of that "Holy-help" filling the freezer. Practice, Smactrice, I'll just try and keep things right with the man upstairs and let him worry about how things turn out. It definitely works for me. You cant loose with him on your side.

I'll say a prayer for you JJB, it sounds like you could use it. P.S., no offense taken here by the name-calling.

The muleys have big antlers but bad meat. Not even close to a NY whitetail in flavor. I would give it away and just bring the cape and antlers back if I ever took another. If you have dogs at home, they would be ok for feeding them I suppose. The elk out there are another story entirely however, quite tasty and it is hard to believe they come from similar habitats. What rifle/ammo will you be using? I used a Ruger, M77 & 165 gr Hornady light magnums. I would go with 150 gr were I not on a combo elk/mule deer hunt however. Decent scenery out there, but not as nice as our Adirondack region (unless you are into "high-desert").

Take it up in the stand with you this fall, you may be surprised at what happens. I definitely would not have taken my most symmetric and second largest racked buck ever were it not for reading mine up in the stand a couple years ago. I just wish I could remember the passage I was reading when it fell from my hands, leading to the big bucks untimely demise, after I climbed down to pick it up. Happy reading and hunting JJB.