wolc123

I don’t go to quite that extreme with them, but I do write the purchase date on the boxes, and use the oldest ones first. The SST’s also grouped better than any other slugs that I tried in my Marlin 512. I always carry some off/brand “finishers” in case a point blank finishing shot is needed, but it seldom is.

That can be good or bad, depending on where they hit. I put a couple thru a buck’s chops, mid way back, a few years ago (due to a busted scope) and I was very surprised at how little meat was destroyed. Tracking is definitely tougher on center-lung hits, because the expansion is negligible and the exit hole is small. A plain old, full-diameter foster slug leaves much better blood trails on hits like that. I usually try to aim for the shoulder blade with the 12 ga SST’s. They are DRT every time, if I hit it. The meat damage on those shoulder blade hits, with that 12 ga SST, is no where near as bad as when a .243 hits there.

I ran over to Runnings this morning and picked up shooting sticks. They still don’t have any 12 ga Hornady SST slugs, nor does Lockport Walmart. Those have always grouped ok out of my rifled Marlin 512, except for the last time, on the range in adverse conditions (real hot, lots of mosquitoes). I have less than 20 left. Hopefully, I can get that gun hitting right where I want it, using less than half of those. I would like to try a few from the shooting sticks, at a 150 yard range. That is about double the range, where I am comfortable with my smoothbore Ithaca 16 gauge. I have plenty of ammo for that one. I plan on simultaneous squirrel hunting, during many deer and turkey hunts this year (especially the September antlerless ones). I will bring along my open-sighted pellet gun for that, and limit shots to under 15 yards, when there is no deer around. I got that Marksman dialed in with (6) .177 pellets this morning, off the back porch. Hopefully, I will need less SST’s than that, to dial in the Marlin 12 ga deer gun, back on the range. If not, I will be using the Ithaca 16 ga, and keeping shots well under 100 yards. I guess I could break out my in-line T/C Omega ML, if the September does won’t get in close enough for the Ithaca 16 shotgun. I also have plenty of bullets, powder, and primers for that. It was right in the mark on a deer I used it on last year and one on New Year’s Day this year (as was the Marlin 12 and the Ithaca 16 on the other (2) last year). It’s a little more of a pain to clean that ML though, and I am not crazy about the one shot limitation. I will throw it in the Durango, and confirm the 100 yard zero, on my next trip back to the range. I have no intention on going for a double on deer in September anyhow, because I only have room for one in my deer fridge.

We got about 1/16” yesterday on wmu 9F. It looked like that was enough to boost the turnips just a little, that I planted a couple weeks ago, when I checked on them this morning. I am going to wait until we get at least 1/2” of rain, before I mow my old clover plots, or try and work up the spots where I will put in new ones (mixed with wheat) after September 1. This 2 acre corn plot is looking pretty darn good now, but with the deer hitting it as hard as they are, I doubt it will last even until opening day of gun season. It should make for some fine mid-September antlerless gun hunting though. It definitely seems to be their preferred browse right now, judging by all the chewed up ears and tracks leading to it. There was a bachelor group of (3) bucks in it Sunday morning, including a decent 2.5 yr 8-point. Knowing that I would be lacking standing corn this year, I left a few acres of tall grass/hay, that I normally would have bush-hogged. Hopefully, that will provide the cover, and the wheat and turnips will provide the food, to keep some deer around thru the Holiday ML season. The odds of there being any corn left back there by then is slim to none. That 2 acres of grass to the right of the big Poplar tree (where I have a very comfortable blind) is extremely thick and over 8 ft tall. It probably would of taken 10 gallons of $5 diesel fuel to get it cut, so leaving it for deer cover this year was a win win deal.

I took the day off from work, to take our youngest daughter to college, so I had a little time to kill this morning. Her and my wife are late risers. I got the .177, $29 Marksman model 90 sighted in with the oem fiber optic sights. (2) 3-shot 1” groups, from 11 yards, and I am good to go. My first two shots (high right) were touching. It put those 7.9 grain hollow points thru 1/4” of yellow pine, from that range, so should be good for squirrels at least up to 15 yards or so. The rear sight was easy to adjust with a screwdriver. I think I used 4 or 5 pellets from that tin to sight in the scope it came with, so I should have about 490 left. If I miss or wound a squirrel or two, I’ll sight it in again. Otherwise. I should be good to go for quite a few years, as far as the ammo goes. I was glad to see that my rangefinder is working again, after replacing the $ 5.50 battery. I will need that for some more sighting in work on my Marlin 512 bolt action deer shotgun, that I hope to get done back on the range, over the next couple weeks. It’s nice to be able to sight in the pellet gun from the back deck without waking up the wife and kids. The hard trigger pull on this pellet gun is a lot less noticeable at short range with the open sights than it was at 50 yards with the scope.

I didn’t cut my hay fields until August of this year. Maybe that’s why there seems to be a lot of turkeys around here now: I don’t see how increased numbers of spring turkey hunters could be hurting the population much, since they are mostly killing toms only. I have yet to kill or even take a shot at a tom turkey. I have only ever killed one turkey (a hen in the fall). Even so, I think they I personally have done a lot more good than harm for the local population. I do that “good” by: 1) never cutting hay before July, 2) eliminating raccoons, 3) Planting clover, corn, and wheat, solely for the benefit of the wildlife. I will admit that there was a time when I did not like seeing wild turkeys around, because I always saw them in my field corn, and I wanted that for the deer. I considered them nothing more than “feathered rats”. This was compounded by the fact that I love the taste of venison, but never cared much at all for turkey (tastes like dry cardboard to me). I have since learned that turkeys will not touch field corn, unless it is first nocked down for them by raccoons. Take out the coons, and the turkeys don’t touch the corn. Now, I like the turkeys a lot more. That young hen that I killed a few years ago, was actually somewhat tasty. I am looking forward to a hunt or two for them this fall (probably on weekday evenings), if I can squeeze them in at home (in the southern zone), around the northern zone early ML week and opening weekend of gun. I am going to do my best to target a tom, hopefully that big one that I saw out in the gas line, earlier this week.

I hope so, and I definitely aim to find out first hand. Besides eliminating boredom, and providing tasty “treats” for the crock pot, the best thing about the simultaneous squirrel / deer hunting, is the additional “live fire” practice that the little nut-eaters provide. All of the same skills are required to kill a deer, which has a kill-zone approximately 13” on diameter, as are required for a squirrel having one of approximately an inch. Too many folks put too much reliance on paper target shooting. Being able to cleanly dispatch squirrels at close range in the woods might be more beneficial to the deer hunter, than punching holes in paper targets from a bench rest across an open field. I haven’t killed many reds, and I can’t ever recall eating one. Their smaller kill zone and increased figitiness, makes them a greater challenge than greys, and certainly worth “wasting” a few pellets on. If I can take out a few reds with my pellet gun, my confidence, shooting at deer, would increase significantly. Gaining that confidence, hours or minutes before needing it on a deer, is priceless. I put a sling on my $29 Dick’s special Marksman break action pellet rifle, and there is plenty of room in most of my blinds and stands. Bringing it along on most deer and Turkey hunts shouldn’t be a big deal. It came with a scope (which I have removed) and fiber optic open sites. I still need to site it in with those - hopefully in the next few days. It has a horrible, heavy trigger pull (what do you expect for $ 29), so the scope was a bit of a waste, plus I don’t want to have to handle it very gently. The open sights look like they would be a lot more durable.

Another advantage of the pellets is cost and availability. I have yet to shoot at a squirrel with it though, so the jury is out till I see how it does. I don’t have the .22 ammo to spare though, so no squirrels for me, if the pellet gun don’t work.

I am going to try a little of that this year also, but not as my “primary” objective. I will bring my open sighted .177 cal Marksman pellet gun along with my shotgun, during the early antlerless deer season in September, turkey season in October, crossbow deer season in November, and maybe even with my ML, during the December Holiday deer season. The advantages of the pellet gun, in those situations, would be the relatively silent report, will not spook as much of the “primary” objectives (deer and turkeys). It will also relieve some boredom, and hopefully provide some tasty food.

Thanks for your blessing Larry. Lots of the fish from “your” River recently made it to “fish heaven”, including this beauty:

Happy birthday Lary.

Reunited: I checked by the utility sink downstairs first. That’s where I always wash it after use. It wasn’t there, so I went back out to the garage where I use it for skinning. When not in use, I keep it on top of my old GE “deer fridge”. The last time I used it, was for skinning my New Year’s Day ML bb, around January 5th. Apparently, it had fallen down next to the fridge. An aluminum ladder was jammed into that space, so I couldn’t see it for the last 7 months. I pulled out the ladder, and there it was. I guess I really need to thank Nomad for loosing his shoes. Without that and your helpful tip, I’d have been stuck hunting Wmu 9F does, with the much less preferred Buck 110, in a couple more weeks.

Larry, I lost the leather sheath for my favorite hunting knife (Schrade sharpfinger) after my New Year’s Day deer hunt. Any idea where it might be ? If I can’t locate it by September 10, then I’ll need carry the old Buck 110 folder that my father in law gave me. Normally, I only use that when I hunt his place. At least I will still be able to use the sheathless sharpfinger for skinning in the garage.

Nothing in the traps again today. I saw the bachelor group of three gobblers when I drove back to check them. They had moved from the neighbor’s hay field, where I seen them yesterday morning, to about the center of our place. This one, in the middle of the gas line, looked to have a pretty big beard. Maybe I will try to squeeze in a little fall turkey hunting back there, between Northern zone big-game opening weekend, and the southern zone crossbow deer season. I picked up (3) turkey tags, along with (5) deer tags, when I got my license last week. Only one is good on the fall. I will need to use my 12 ga 870, with extra full choke 28” bead sight barrel, because I put the smooth bore deerslayer barrel back on my scoped 16 ga Ithaca model 37. If I can’t get my Marlin 512 dialed in where I want it, with my limited supply of 2-3/4” Hornady SST sabots, then that old Ithaca will need to be my primary September doe killer. The young fall hen, that I shot back there a few years ago, was pretty good. I imagine that even the old toms would be a lot better eating in the fall than they are in the spring. I bet that the three today were after grasshoppers. They were all over back there this afternoon.

I might be able to swing by during the Holiday ML season, if I have (2) buck tags left, and give you a 2 for one deal. That way you’d be rid of both of them and greatly improve your herd genetics.

if you decide that you want him removed from the gene pool, I would be willing to volunteer my services the last week of gun season, if I still have my buck tag.

Same here. That looks like a solid 3.5 year old and a perfect candidate for a “free” power-washer euro mount.

The same thing happened to one of my old hydrostatic transmission lawnmowers (JD LT-150). The problem was caused by the drive belt stretching, or the motor shaft moving out of position. It wouldn’t even make it up a slight incline after that. I pulled the mower deck and used it for fetching sweetcorn last year, but it was a bit of a struggle. I don’t imagine your tractor has a drive belt, but it sounds like the hydraulic drive is not properly engaging. Hydrostatic tractors (aka “lawnmowers”) are best left on the lawn. Too bad the drought, weeds and coons have got all my sweetcorn so far this year, as my new Durango field car would otherwise work ok for fetching it. It too has a hydrostatic transmission, so I don’t dare use it for any ground engaging work. It did a decent job of hauling my cultipacker way out back though.

I have a good supply of spare poles, leftover from an old 10-man dome tent that I had . It used two different sizes poles. I was able to modify the smaller ones, to use in the $ 29 Aldis pop/up. It’s still a little big diameter, to fit in the pop-up’s holding pocket easily, but I can make it work. The canvas of my old 10-man tent flew away somewhere around Watertown, on Highway 81. I saw it starting to lift up out of my boat, and I put the hammer down. I really hated that tent, and the sight of it billowing out and flying across a valley in my rear view mirror, was most welcome.

I have one just like that, and I am going to set it up and stake it down next week. I want to give the deer a couple weeks to get used to it, prior to the September 10th opener of shotgun antlerless deer season, here in wmu 9F. I got mine at Aldis for $ 29, about (5) years ago. I killed a monster bb (35” chest girth) out of it the first year with my crossbow, so it has already paid for itself in tender meat. A week later, I suffered a brown recluse spider bite on my hand, while I was hunting in it, so I didn’t hunt much out of it after that. 0ne of the poles got busted by the snow load later that first winter. I replaced that broken pole with one from an old tent that I had, and I used it on a few rainy days up in the nz early ML week, the last couple years. No action up there from it yet, but I’ll probably try again this year if it’s rainy. I need to pick up some shooting sticks first (no good gun rest in those), but I hope I can get a mature doe out of it, during this year’s early September shotgun antlerless season.

I caught this one in my sweetcorn last week, a female with a pouch full of wee ones.

I identified the source of the limited damage that I have been seeing in my 2 acre RR corn plot this morning, on my way back to check the dog-proof trap, that I set in it a week ago. There was a bachelor group of (3) bucks back there. The largest one, on the far right in the picture, looked like a 2.4 yr old 8-point. He was standing next to the ditch, a 1.4 yr old 4 or 6-point was about half way between him and the corn, and another 1.4 year old was deep in the corn, when I first drove up in the Durango. Most of the corn in this plot is fairly well developed, but still has a way to go, before it reaches the “full-dent” stage. I have never seen deer damage in field corn this early in the season. I am guessing that the drought has dried up most of their preferred food sources. This plot is a hybrid seed that sets deep roots and it is relatively weed free, making it extremely drought resistant. Unlike my early sweetcorn, which really suffered from the drought and was finished off by the coons, while I was away on summer vacation. Deer are very efficient users of corn. Even so, if they keep up the pressure on this small plot, then it is unlikely that it will last until January 1 as I had hoped that it would. Part of the problem is that there is very little corn around close by this year. Usually there is hundreds of acres within a few miles. High fertilizer, fuel, and seed prices took a huge bite out of that this spring. The larger buck would be a “shooter” for me, starting the last two weeks of archery - peak rut / crossbow time. Hopefully, I can take out a couple of mature does with my shotgun between September 10 and 18. That will help, but I still doubt there will be any corn left back there by the start of ML season, in December. There were also some turkeys out in the adjacent hay field, when I drove back there this morning. Turkeys don’t bother field corn at all, as long as the coons don’t first nock it down for them. I am staying well ahead of that issue, with my sweetcorn, traps, .22, and shovel.

My September 10, opening day of early gun season, target doe made an appearance as I was clearing shooting lanes. She looks like a good healthy momma. Her fawn is almost 1/2 her size. Plenty big enough to make it on its own, after the 10th, if she makes it to deer heaven (my freezer). I cleared a dead ash tree that fell last winter, blocking the view from the upper deck of my 2-story blind, along with some other brush that was obstructing shooting lanes at a few locations. If we get the rain they are predicting next week, I will cut the clover in front of that double decker, and in a few other spots. Then it will be nice and tender on September 10. I will need the bush hog on back for ballast, to move another truck cap blind with the tractor, but it is too dusty to mow clover until after we get a good rain (plus it’s not good to cut it when it is real dry). Here is how that stand looked before. I also replaced the missing sideboard up top. I will be ready to hunt on the 10th, after I finish a few more small tasks: 1) plant (2) more fresh wheat/clover plots, 2) set up my pop up blind, 3) move the truck cap blind, 4) purchase shooting sticks, 5) A little more target practice with my 12 ga bolt action shotgun and my crossbows.

There was nothing in the traps again this morning. I must have crossed one of the ditches a little too fast and I broke the muffler and tailpipe off the back of the cat on the Durango. I heard it dragging across the concrete bridge over the creek on my way back. I couldn’t extract it over the rear axle without lifting the back up a little. All better now. It’s just a little louder than it was before. The cat has a pretty good rear support and hanger, so I should be good to go.

I aim to use about 11 vacation days for hunting this year. That will include Monday thru Friday of early ML week, up in the northern zone, The Friday closest to Veteran’s day, for southern zone crossbow hunting, a Friday for the late northern zone ML weekend (if I still have a buck tag), the last Monday of Southern zone Late ML season (if I still have a buck tag), and (3) days during the Holiday ML season (I will save at least one dmp tag for that). I am planning on being more selective than usual with my buck tags (holding out for 3.5 year olds, or a minimum of (4) points on a side), so the odds of me holding on to at least one buck tag till the end, and using all 11 of those days, are pretty good. That also depends somewhat on my being able to fill at least one dmp tag, during the early southern zone gun season. If I can’t do that, I will probably revert to my usual “at least 3 on a side” rule for filling my buck tags. We need at least (2) average sized deer in the freezer for basic survival, but I hope to fill all (7) tags. I get (20) vacation days all together, but the other (9) are used for summer vacation and taking our girls to college and bringing them home. My “hunting” vacations, up north, also include lots of fishing in October, and helping the in-laws get their place ready for winter. We also go up there for Thanksgiving weekend, when I have a couple paid Holidays, in addition to the two of those that I get to hunt at home down south, during the new Holiday ML season. For me, there is no better day to hunt than a weekday, when I get paid from work, but don’t need to use a vacation day. That is why the new Holiday season is now my favorite deer hunting time, along with the fact that I should have plenty of deer around home, thanks to decent looking corn, turnip, wheat, and clover plots. I use to like Veteran’s day weekend, peak-rut, crossbow time the best, but those work —paid hunting weekdays in the snow, near the corn and the turnips now trump that.