wolc123

It has been a tough battle in NY to get the little bit of archery season we have now. There is a small group of bow-hunters who continue to fight hard against it. The tide is against them now, but they continue to resist. I also expect them to back off and accept defeat within the next couple of years. Eventually they will wear down to the point where they struggle to hold and draw their regular bows and the crossbow will give them a few more seasons afield. It is also a fine way to introduce youngsters to the sport. In the mean time, you really don't have to spend a ton of cash to get a good taste of crossbow hunting. We have the "peak- rut" part of archery season, and even a base-model x-bow ($250) is roughly 10 times more effective on deer than a top of the line compound. Check out this 59 yard shot I made last season with a little 300 fps, 135 lb draw model.

Woodchucks will soon be emerging from their winter homes and they can provide some fun shooting. You shouldn't have too much trouble finding some farmers who will let you shoot them out on their hay-fields. There are two "happy times" for woodchuck hunting. First is in the spring when the hay-fields start to green up, but are still short enough to provide good visibility. Second is early summer when the hay gets cut, exposing them again. Woodchucks damage fields and cause damage to equipment. Many farmers have been injured or killed when their tractors broke thru a woodchuck den and tipped over on them. Woodchucks might even make decent cat food. My favorite weapon for them is a .22/250 rifle which is designed specifically for hunting them. A hollow point bullet striking them at center of mass will not leave a mark on their body, but explode internally causing massive tissue damage and instant death. A .22 rimfire will work, but often result in the chuck getting back into its hole before expiring. A shotgun loaded with #4 or 6 shot is another good option to put them right down if you can get close or get between the chuck and his hole. They always run for their hole when alerted. I have shot them out of the hay-mow in my barn with a .410 shotgun as they run for the holes they have dug under the barn. If you manage to get a "mamma chuck" in the late spring, the little ones will usually emerge several days later seeking milk and are easy plinking then with a semi-auto .22, or you can make pets out of them as they are kind of cute for a little while. If you are interested in nearby places to hunt chucks, try looking up "hay for sale" on craigslist. It is a lot easier to get permission from a farmer to hunt chucks in the spring than it is for deer or small game in the fall. Once you get your foot in the door, it can lead to other opportunities. Spring turkey season is also just over a month away if you are into that. You are going to have to wait until September 1st or so for most of the rest. Lots of good fishing around that area in the Niagara River, Lake Erie and such before then though, and cats love fish. Hunting and fishing are almost the same to me, both involve killing and eating and I am a natural born killer by nature.

This Adirondack mountain 8-point buck I took last Thanksgiving weekend was the largest-bodied deer I have ever harvested. I weigh 200 and could only get the front of the field-dressed buck up off the ground, with a rope and pulley, before I lifted my own feet off the ground. We ended up using my father-in-law's atv to make the lift and even that spun the tires a bit. My guess is about 240 lbs field-dressed. This buck carried a lot of weight in its hind-quarters for that time of year (post-rut), probably due to the bumper crop of acorns up there last fall. The shot was also the farthest I have ever taken at a deer, and it looks to be about 350 yards per the "google maps" scale. I was up on a ridge and shot across the valley below. I plan on getting the exact range this spring with gps on Memorial day weekend when we go back up to camp. I marked my shooting position and the tree he dropped under (in his tracks) when struck by the 150 gr. Federal Classic, 30/06 bullet. I had practiced with the rifle, in preparation for a Western hunt, at ranges up to 400 yards. Ironically, my Colorado mule deer buck that year(not quite as heavy) was a much closer shot at a little under 100 yards. Range does not intimidate me too much and every time I have pushed it a bit (except one time with my ML), it has paid off. The ML buck (basket-racked, 1-1/2 yr 8-point) was probably struck near where I aimed with my 50 cal in-line. He was quartering away at 175 yards. He showed no reaction when struck and there was no hair or blood on fresh snow. After the shot, he took off across a creek, and a road. I followed the tracks for about 400 yards, but lost them in a big golden-rod field. I incorrectly assumed a miss, but my neighbor found him a week later, about 50 yards beyond the farthest circle I took after I lost the trail. I am guessing the bullet clipped one lung and all the bleeding was internal. That weapon (50 cal pyrodex ML) just lacks the energy for a good kill at that range and I replaced it, for most hunting in non-rifle areas, with a blot-action, 12 gauge shotgun. Now that sucker packs a wollop at long distance and is every bit as accurate as the ML, plus comes with 2 extra shots. My longest kill with that was a big doe at 163 yards and it literally knocked her off her feet at impact. I am guessing that the energy it delivers at 150 yards is at least double that of the ML. My crossbow buck last year also pushed limit a bit on range and I have taken considerable flack for taking a 59 yard shot. I think the main reason for that is that most NY'rs have no idea how much more effective a scoped crossbow, fired from a rest, is compared to a conventional, vertical, compound bow. I probably wouldn't take a shot at a deer at that range again with that crossbow however as the penetration, with a 3-blade 125 gr mechanical broadhead, was only 7-1/2". Fortunately, the spot I hit was good (with some help from above I am certain) and that marginal penetration took it all the way thru the heart, resulting in a dead buck in less than 40 yards. Here's my bottom line on range for deer hunting with various weapons: 30 yards with my compound, 50 with my crossbow, 75 with my 16 ga. smooth-bore shotgun, 125 with my ML, 175 with my 12 ga. rifled shotgun, and 375 with my rifle.

Maybe not as stupid as you imagine, if your life depended on it. If you had a hungry bear after you, would you rather have a 30/06 rifle and a couple .270 rounds or a 270 rifle and a couple 30/06 rounds? Fortunately, I haven't tried it, but I don't see why it wouldn't work in a pinch.

I have Ruger M77's in .30/06 and .22/250 and they make a very good pair, covering everything from woodchucks to moose. If I was limited to a single gun, a .270 would be a better fit, as I don't hunt the big stuff too often. I don't ever see a need for a rifle bigger than a .30/06 in my future, so my next rifle will likely be a .243, which will give me a finer adjustment in the fairly broad range I already cover. When it comes to similarity in performance, you cant get much closer than a .30/06 and a .270. The good thing is, you will have whitetail deer covered extremely well with that pair, if that is your primary quarry. A .243 would be a better pick for you, or even a .22/250 or .223, as a second gun, if you also go after the smaller stuff. If you see elk, moose, or grizzlies in the future, then a .300 mag would be the way to go for your second gun. One of my hunting partners loves his .270, and I sometimes ask him for a couple spare rounds when I am low on 06 ammo. Those smaller bullets will still fire in an .06, as the cases are the same, but I wouldn't recommend it. Obviously you cant go the other way and squeeze the .30 cal bullets down the .270 cal bore.

We used to fill burlap bags with speared suckers until the state took that away about 15 years ago. That was lots of fun and it is a shame that today's kids will not get to enjoy that sport. I'll never forget my last time out, when I was able to take two big "lake-run" suckers at once with a single jab of my spear. They were laying side-by-side, on the bottom in a shallow, calm pool below a rapids. My uncle used to grind the fillets and make "sucker patties" which made pretty good fish sandwiches in the spring. We always waited for that first "warm rain", every spring that would get the suckers running up the creeks. We also used the scraps and leftovers for fertilizer on our apple trees. After the suckers finished their runs, the carp would come up in smaller numbers but bigger fish. They had such tough scales that it often took several spears to penetrate sufficiently to get them lifted out of the creek. I never did try eating a carp, they were strictly "fertilizer". I remember my first poles were bamboo, and just a few years ago, that's what the rangers gave our young girls to use at a park in the Blue-ridge mountains of Virginia. It is a lot easier for a kid to learn without a reel. It's tough to beat a cane pole for blue-gills in ponds. I also like to mess around with the guys in the fancy bass boats, and cane poles would be good for that. I have a 1950-something mercury 5 hp (the kind you have to spin all the way around to go reverse), on an old green, beat-up, 1960-something Sears, 12 ft row-boat. My "trolling motor" is a set of oars. I sure get some looks from them dudes in the fancy, metal-flake bass-boats, when I start pulling in bass, one after another on home-made lures, while they cast frantically with their fancy modern equipment, usually not getting a bite. A cane pole would add to the drama, over the little light-action spinning outfit I use now. I thought about going with a Zebco 202 closed-face reel on an old white fiberglass rod with a cork handle but the cane-pole would be even better.

I liked the one where Indiana Jones pulled his pistol on the "expert" knife-fighter. I also liked it where the German dentist shot the crooked sherrif in the belly with his pistol, then walked back in the bar to finish his drink in "Jnjango". There was lots of good gun action in that movie. Another I liked, was where the kid blows a big hole thru the center of the Philadelphia mafia hit-man (played Ed Harris), from the back, with his dad's side-by-side shotgun. There's just something about the bad guy's getting what they deserve, and never seeing it coming, that is pretty cool to me. That last movie "A History of Violence", also contains my all time favorite movie line. That occurs when our hero (the kid's father) walks into a PA bar, looks at a big Yeungling sign, and say's to the bar tender: "Ill take a Genny Cream". That's my favorite beer and I guess it was the actor's also. He asked for that the line to be added to the script. I think that movie may even have taken an Oscar that year.

Who's looking out for the vegetables? Living plants all over the world are being struck down in their prime by "killers". Where do you draw the line? When you cook a plant, you render it dead, and even if you eat it uncooked, your digestive tract kills it prior to re-absorption. "Thou shall not kill" is a commandment, and this ignorant woman does not understand that it means "people killing people". He is even ok with that if it is justified. God gave us plants, animals, birds, and fish to eat and the Bible is loaded with examples of that. Remember Jesus filling the fisherman's nets to capacity with fish, until they started to break and the boats couldn't hold them all. Now here is a guy, who by Biblical definition, never did no wrong. I do see where God might have a problem with folks senselessly maiming fish with "catch and release", or folks killing deer just for their for antlers. Now "Killing for food", surely he is all about that. I make sure to thank him every time I do, that's for sure. He has blessed me there so much that it is seldom necessary for our family to visit the grocery store. I am especially thankful to be a "killer", and so are my wife and kids. I definitely prefer to do my own killing over having other folks do it for me.

My two daughters are getting close to legal hunting age, and I will probably set them up with a nice, light-weight .243, bolt-action (likely a Ruger, maybe a Savage). Even if the girls don't take to hunting, that would give me a good middleweight, between my 22/250 and 30/06 Ruger M77's. I will set it up with a quality scope with good light gathering ability like an old Redfield Illuminator or similar. That would make a perfect gun for popping coyotes on moonlit nights, and also a great carry gun for tracking whitetails in the Adirondacks. I also miss my old Marlin 30/30 lever a little for that duty, but I get a lot more use out of the 22/250 bolt I traded it for, on woodchucks, and the heavier 30/06 bolt still gets the job done on the deer. If both daughters take to hunting then one will get a Marlin 30/30, lever. Right now one has a Daisy "Red-Rider", and the other a Crossman 760 BB gun and they are both developing into pretty good shots. A "shooter" M1 Garand would be nice for a little target shooting and just for the nostalgia aspect. No gun is more responsible than that for us still being able to speak English as the primary language in this country. That sure beats German or Japanese.

I have long considered deer to be gifts from God, and there is no better place for them than "deer heaven", or us hunter's food supply. Certainly that is the best place for them to end up and involves considerably less suffering than any other way they could check out. It's pretty much a win-win deal if there ever was one.

Our kids are 10 months apart in age and I lost my job right between their births. They are not kidding when they say it will make you stronger. I ended up with a far better job. Also, NY state has some "premo", health benefits for folks who find themselves in that seemingly unfortunate situation. The hospital stay didn't cost us a dime for our second daughter, and even the expensive baby formula was free for a while. It was nice to be home helping my wife with two infants as I don't know if she could have hacked it on her own. Keep the faith, because God will always work things out for the best, for those who love him. I am very thankful to have stayed in NY, where we have good hunting and fishing and scenery that are second to none. This past winter was a bit of a stretch but it looks like we made it thru now. It would take a lot more than that to force me into those sweltering hell-holes below the Mason-Dixon for anything more than a brief visit.

It was a real slaughter out on the main road in 9F this morning. A large group of "yarded" deer tried to cross at morning rush-hour and 3-4 didn't make it. A guy at work said one hit the side of his car as he was slowing, and he saw several pummeled at 65 mph by the cars up ahead. I imagine the coyotes have forced them onto the roads as the footing is getting good for them now with the melting and crusting snow. Overtaking starving and tired deer must be like taking candy from babies. I saw a monster of a coyote out of my bedroom window last night in the waning moonlight. It was so tall, I thought it was a deer at first, until I saw the long, bushy, hanging tail behind.

I can clearly remember two that got away without a shot. Each was due to a gun-failure caused in part by state-mandated rules that handicapped the hunter and increased the odds of a deer getting wounded or getting away without a shot fired. The first was a "unicorn", buck with 4 points on the remaining antler. The missing horn didn't bother me, as I am primarily a meat-hunter who cares little about antlers anyhow. He was a heavy deer, at least 2-1/2 year old and would have provided lots of meat for our family over the winter. He walked under my stand, in mid-December, right at the end of late-muzzleloader season. Back then you were not allowed to use scopes or in-lines. Kind of like today, where you are not allowed to use crossbows for the first few week's of archery season, or rifles in some zones during gun-season. Some practical jokers just like to make it more of a challenge for folks to gather meat I guess. I pulled back the hammer on my side-lock 50 cal., lined up the iron sights with the top of his shoulder, and pulled the trigger as he passed below. The #11 cap went off and he bounded off. I kept the gun aimed, hoping for a "hang-fire", but the main powder charge never lit until I put another cap on. By that time he was long gone. The previous weekend, I had a hang-fire while shooting at a grey squirrel, right at dusk, but was able to decapitate him by keeping the gun aimed until it went off. Now we can use in-lines and scopes and muzzleloader hang-fires/misfires are largely eliminated. My second failure to fire, was a large doe, This time in early December right at the end of gun-season. I was hunting a zone where rifles are still banned. It had rained on Saturday and I didn't do a good job of cleaning and oiling my old, bolt-action slug-gun prior to the Sunday hunt, when the temperature dropped well below freezing. I saw the doe walk into a patch of cover, well out of range. I got down out of my stand and circled around downwind. As I approached the spot slowly, I saw her there, between a couple small trees, just about 20 yards away and looking right at me. I slowly positioned my gun, putting the crosshairs on the top of her heart. Nothing happened when I pulled the trigger. The firing pin was froze back hard. It wasn't until I brought the gun in the house later and thawed it out that I could get it to fire. I cant imagine something like that happening with a rifle, and once again, it was a long, more expensive winter for us, forced to get meat from the store. Those losses due in part to equipment failure and politics, not withstanding my own incompetence, are the ones that bother me the most. I do feel very blessed to have been able to take both the largest bodied buck, and the largest racked buck (separate deer), that I have ever seen while hunting. I have also been thankful later on many occasions for not being able to get a shot at a particular deer. They say "some of God's greatest gifts are unanswered prayers" (Shout-out to Garth Brooks playing in Buffalo tonight) and he surely proved that to me twice this past season. The first was a small-bodied 4 point that snuck in on me as I was sound asleep in my ground-blind on the second last weekend of archery season. When I awoke to the sound of his footsteps, just 15 yards away, he was staring right at me. I tried to slowly raise my crossbow and get a shot to no avail, he bolted off before I could get it in position. The story had a happy ending however, as I caught a mid-week break from work and was able to take his bigger brother to fill my archery buck-tag and a significantly bigger part of our freezer. I just pulled the last of his liver out for lunch today and it was delicious. The second lost shot opportunity was another, even smaller-bodied 4-point that bolted off before I could stalk within shotgun range on opening day. Had I been able to plant him there, my tag would have been filled and I would not have had the opportunity to take the largest-bodied buck I ever took the following weekend up in the Adirondacks. "Real-guns" are legal up there. Thanks to that "moose" of a deer, we probably have enough vacuum-sealed venison for a couple years, and my father-in-law got the mount he wanted for his new cabin.

I just saw a group of 5-6 on the drive home from work. I watched them from less than 50 yards away in the broad daylight. The adults look ok, but the only one that looked less than a year old in the group was a pitiful sight. It's hide was hanging loose and it was visibly trembling after each leap. "Leaping" is the only way it could maneuver in the 30" or so of loose snow. I doubt it will make it thru the night. It looks like 1-1/2 year bucks and does, in this part of zone 9, will be few and far between this coming season. They are calling this the coldest, snowiest winter ever recorded at the Buffalo Airport and it looks like the winter kill of deer may reflect that. I am glad I made plenty of hay while the sun shined last season. I'll have to see if I can get me some bear this year.

I do moderate resistance training (bench, curls, abs) 1/2 hr on Monday, Wed, Fri Mornings, and 20 minutes on rowing machine + abs on Tuesday, Thursday mornings before work. Also do 1/2 hour of cardio (bike or treadmill) + crunches (250) each weekday evening. That hour or so a day is well worth it when hunting season comes around. I substitute real work like hauling or splitting firewood, or outside biking, snow-shoeing, skating, skiing, etc, whenever possible and always on weekends. I change up the routines slightly on a monthly basis to avoid the "plateau" effect. Something simple like switching from incline to decline bench presses/pushups, or grip position on dumbels/barbells or rowing machine is all it takes. I also keep an old low-letoff, high poundage compound bow in the basement that I start drawing as part of my morning routines, starting around April, thru the end of archery season. I draw it left and right equally, although I only shoot right. Keeping in shape definitely makes hunting easier and more enjoyable, especially in the mountains. Your legs should get the most attention if you want to make hill-climbing easier. Once you get your legs into shape, you can ditch the ATV with no problem, and go places you cant even think of with one of them. I am in better shape at 50 than I was at 25.

Largemouths don't put up much of a fight thru the ice. I did catch my largest ever in NY state that way however. It was so fat I had a hard time squeezing it up out of the hole in Brantingham lake. It had to be between 8 and 10 lbs. Smallmouth bass, on the other hand, seem to fight almost as much thru the ice as they do in open water, as do rainbow and lake trout.

I am mainly a meat-hunter, so I doubt I would ever pursue the brown bears. I cant imagine them being very good eating. I know the black bears over 300 lbs or so ain't much good. I don't expect we will have too many bucks survive this record-breaking winter in upstate NY, so a 250'ish pound black bear is number one on my target list now. Finally there is some warmer weather in the forecast. It won't be too long now until lots of them that size should be coming out of their winter hide-outs. I think my odds of encountering an eating-size bear will be better than just about any buck for a while anyhow. I am going to switch my 30/06 over to 180's prior to making the fall hunt this year. I will save my 150's until the buck population gets re-established in a few years. If not, it's been a long time since I hit a deer with a 180 and it will be interesting to give it a try again. The last time was a spike mule deer out in Colorado about 15 years ago that field-dressed about 140 pounds. He got back up and staggered off about 30 yards prior to expiration, after taking one in the shoulder from 100 yards. Eating that mule deer sure made me appreciate the taste of our NY whitetails and black bears. I'll take the Adirondacks over the Rockies any day.

I would go along with the 130 gr 270 as a close to perfect deer load at least. I would consider the 180 gr 30/06 to be a so-so load for deer, elk, and moose, and close to perfect for black bear. With that pair you could indeed cover all North American big game but they are too close in performance to make a good pair. A couple better classic American "pairs" would be a .243 and the 30/06, on the low end, or the 270 and a 300 Win mag on the high end. Either of those pairs would widen the spectrum a bit over the 270 30/06 pair. My favorite deer load is a 150 gr 30/06 and I would rate that as a little closer to perfect than the mentioned 270 load. The main reason for that is ammo availability, and more capacity for bigger loads on larger game. I used it last fall on my largest bodied whitetail to date, shown in the photo. That big Adirondack buck field dressed well over 200 lbs. I know that because I could only get the front of him off the ground with a rope and pulley before I lifted myself in the air and I weigh 200. Thankfully we had an ATV to make the lift. He was quartering away at 300 yards and I struck him high on the second last rib. I had at least 100 ft of elevation on the buck when I fired the shot. The bullet passed diagonally thru his chest, above the heart, destroying both lungs. It lodged inside the opposite arm-pit. He dropped dead on impact, never taking a step or shedding a drop of blood from the entry wound, and there was no exit. When it comes to dropping deer on impact, it depends more on when the bullet strikes than most other factors, including bullet energy or design. If the arrival in the boiler room coincides with the power-stroke of the heart, the resulting over-pressure of the cardio-vascular system will end up in an immediate "lights out" of the brain. I would guess that's about 1/3 or the time based on the numbers I have seen myself using various calibers and loads over the last 35 years or so. Certainly that buck with the destroyed heart at 100 yards in a prior post took a lot more energy than I delivered at 300 yards with my 06, but the timing was just off a little.

My grandpa always wondered why people liked to crap in the house and eat outside.

One thing I have learned to bank on, is that any text or spoken words, no matter who's fingers or mouth it came from, outside of the Bible, is bound to contain lots of fiction. I am blessed to come from a long line of threshers, and have never struggled much to remove the "wheat from the chaff". My ancestors actually had a couple big Oil-pull tractors and a giant threshing machine that they would haul around in the early part of the previous century to do that actual job. That was before everyone switched to combines. I still have the manuals for some of those machines. The more time one spends in front of a TV, computer, or smart-phone type device, the easier and faster they can loose their ability to separate truth from fiction. That is why we are seeing such a sharp uptick lately in the number of people who can so easily be "sold a bill of goods".

I had my first road kill rabbit a couple weeks ago, and it was the best tasting one I ever had. It came hopping over the snow bank just after I turned out of my driveway. I took evasive action but still felt that distinctive thump as a tire rolled over it. I threw it in the trunk and gutted it when I got to work with the little knife on my keychain. I skinned it when I got home, let it soak in saltwater for a couple hours, and it went into the crock-pot the next morning, with a few potatoes and some cream-of-mushroom soup. That made two good meals for myself, supper that evening and lunch the next day. The snow has been to deep for me to chase any rabbits off the road this winter so it was a real treat, and a welcome diversion from an almost straight venison diet, with a little smallmouth bass mixed in from time to time. Over the years, we have eaten close to a dozen deer that were struck by cars, including several that I had to dispatch myself with my pocketknife. One time a big doe must have just knocked herself out cold when she ran into the side of a car. Her rump was cold when I felt it, so I was going to just cut off her tail and use it for bass jig-tying. With my knife in my right hand, I grabbed her tail with my left and it was like turning the crank handle on my old Allis Chalmers tractor. She leapt to her feet, I jumped on her back, getting her in a half-nelson with my left hand, and knifed for her jugular with my right. She bucked me off just as I got that warm stream of blood across my arm, kicking me hard in the leg as I fell. When she bled out, and we butchered her there was not a mark on the carcass, and it was the cleanest butcher job I ever had. It did look like a bloody massacre had occurred on that snowy front yard however, and my leg swelled up so much from that kick that it was tough getting my jeans off later. Deer are regularly struck near our house, but fortunately we never hit any of them ourselves. They taste just like the ones I kill with my gun or bow, are easy to get, and save me some ammo and arrows. Only one time was there a lot of bloodied up meat, with the vast majority requiring less trimming than most shotgun or rifle kills. Many times I have been able to be a little more selective about what buck I took with the bow or gun, thanks to an unfortunate motorist or two. I would estimate that about 15% of our venison has come from road-kills.

I read a bunch of that stuff about dove hunting in NY and I would definitely be for it. Keep up the fight and you will likely be successful as there is really no good reason not to hunt doves in NY. The crossbow battle is not completely won yet and wont be until we get full inclusion. I am thankful we got the peak-rut period at least, which enabled me to fill my buck tag. As it turns out that was a blessing in disguise, with this mega-winter we are getting. I am thankful now to have not killed any does with the crossbow last fall. We are going to need all the pregnant does we can next spring to make up for what certainly looks like will be the largest winter-kill in modern times. God works in mysterious ways, but he clearly runs the show and determines the final outcome. Keep him on your side and you will get what you want, but not always right away.

.22 LR semi-auto (squirrels, rabbit, coons, fox, porky's, coyote-night), .22-250 bolt (woodchucks, coyote-day), .30/06 bolt (elk out west, deer/bear - NY zone 6), 12 ga bolt (deer - NY zone 9), .50 ML (deer/bear). Those 5 cover all the bases well enough for me. If either of my daughters get into it in a few years, I will get a .243 bolt.

We saw two just like behind that Fed-ex truck on the way to church 5 miles away this morning. One looked to be a large, but thin old buck that had dropped its antlers prior to the crash. Like Doc says, those that starve won't show until late March or April so you will have to wait a while yet for off-road pictures. There is no end in sight for the extreme freezing temps in the long-range weather predictions. The one saving grace may be the bumper-crop of acorns we had last fall which will hopefully give the mature does enough reserve to deliver their fawns. The antler-worshiping crowd may be in for some slim pickings next season however. Only a small percentage of the bucks alive now will likely make it till summer. Those that don't starve or get run-over will be easy pickings for the coyotes.

I am very thankful for the two bucks I took at extreme range last season (59 yards with my x-bow, and approximately 300 yards with my rifle), as they may be the last I see for a while. I just returned from snow-shoeing out back on our farm in Western NY and it don't look good for very many bucks making it thru this horrific winter. The snow is so deep that deer are being forced onto the roads, where they are falling to vehicles in greater numbers than I saw during the rut. It certainly didn't help things there that other hunters took the fewest deer locally last season as they did in any I can remember. I was wanting the crossbow early next archery season to concentrate on does, but the way it looks now, I will be best off letting them go and focus on just filling my buck tags again. If I do get any antlerless tags next season, I will try and use them on button-bucks only. We are going to need all the does we can get to make up for what may be the largest winter-kill in recorded history. I read today that the February temperatures have been the lowest in 145 years. I don't have too much trouble killing bucks with my compound, as they usually travel alone, and I only have to wait for one set of eyes to look away or pass behind a tree when I make the draw. That don't work so well with groups of does, where eliminating the need to draw with all them eyes in close, would greatly multiply the effectiveness of the crossbow.