wolc123

I my not even take my 30/30, but my father in law has one up there that I can use if the weather conditions are ok (no sleet or rain). The one gun that I am taking is my old J Stevens 16 gauge side by side, so that I can try for grouse. I saw a lot of them when I was up there in October. I will bring along some Remington sluggers for it, in case the weather is wet and I happen across a bear, that has not hibernated yet. It has been a long time since I killed a grouse. After about 10 years of nothing but cardboard tasting chicken and turkey, I could really use some white meat that actually has good flavor.

My “go to” bait for smallmouth bass is hand-tied 1/8 oz bucktail jigs. I have a head mold, so most of the material is free. That limits the cost to the price of the hook. My last bass of 2021 naturally fell to one of those. Sometime this winter, I am going to make up 6 “special” ones with his tail and from the lead that this big guy caught for me with his rib cage last night:

I am staying in the big blind with the nice wood stove this morning:

Toes were warm and toasty in them for 7 hours out there in 29 degrees and 30 mph wind yesterday. I was out of the wind for the last 3 hours though, behind the 3 ft barn wood wall of my new stand.

No, if was too tough gutting him in the dark.

Airedale use one now also. I got mind cleaned up now and ready to go on a bear next weekend.

It works a lot better than a rotten stick for that. I used it on the front end first, to drag him about 40 yards out of the woods to a clearing, then on the back end prior to gutting. He was pretty stout, had to be well over 200 with the guts in. Skidded ok on the light dusting of snow. My dad came back with his side by side to drag him to my truck. I took off the tailgate for a ramp and winched him up into the bed with a come-along.

This busted up 8 pointer cruised thru the woods behind my new tree stand 5 minutes after sunset. I wanted to save my buck tag for an Adirondack trip next weekend, so I was looking for one that had at least 4 points on a side. He still had 5 on the right, but only three on the left, having lost that side’s brow and g-3. No big deal for me, being mostly a meat guy, and with a 42-1/4” chest girth, he should provide plenty of that. When he stopped broadside at 50 yards, his front and rear ends were hidden behind big trees. The 1.5 Weaver on my old Ithaca 37 16 ga was fogged over from the cold and snow. I brushed the inside lens with glove, still all grey, then brushed the outside lens. Fortunately, he kept still long enough for me to get the scope cleared. I held as close as I dared to the front tree. The slug caught him right about on the diaphragm, midway up. He mule kicked and left a decent blood trail in the snow from the entry hole. It took me a while to find the trail as there was just a light dusting of snow. He piled up after about 50 yards. I did a quick gut job in the dark and didn’t save the nuts. I found the slug intact inside when I got him home and did a thougrough cleaning. It must have stopped against a rib on the outboard side.

I am guessing 3.5 since he taped within 1/4” of the last BB I killed on that farm (42-1/4” chest girth). I will save the lower insizers just in case I decide to. I still have the lower jaw from that last one. Does it matter if they are a few years old and what do they charge ?

Thanks Otto. I was looking for one with at least 4 on a side. This one had 5 on the right, so I let him have it. Looks like I need to wait another year, to see how my 30/30 works on an Adirondack buck. I will be hunting only bear and grouse up there next weekend. Grandpa’s old Ithaca 37 16 gauge got a nice buck on his old farm tonight. I didn’t trust my Marlin slugmaster in the cold, so that’s what I used.

I know some folks say hunt a stand when it’s hot until you score, but I have way more luck, when I wait a week or so between hunts from a particular stand. The longer and more often you hunt a stand, the more of your scent you leave in the area. Deer might not see you there by day but, being mostly nocturnal, they will always smell where you were later that night and then avoid that spot for a while.

A “cruiser” came thru the woods behind my new stand, scent checking a clover plot, 5 minutes after sunset. I was able to cash in on the new 1/2 hour rule: A BB and bb (during early antlerless gun season) from that stand this year.

I had to press the butt out into service on both ends tonight. Also makes nice drag handle:

I did have two consecutive failures with my butt out a few years ago which also caused me to chuck it for a while. The keys to it working are: put it in the upper hole on a doe, after insertion, turn it 1.5 to 2 times before pulling it out, clean the residue off of it prior to using it on a second deer, do not use it as a grinder stuffer. Hopefully, readers will learn from some of the mistakes I made and not have to make them themselves. It has worked perfectly for me for the last 5 years or so, but that first year was rough. It even worked good this year after I reshaped the tip a little after a grinder accident last year. Definitely one of the better $5 I spent on hunting equipment.

I like dark better but had neither this year. The turkey heart was pretty good though. The turkey wrapped button buck roast was the best. I finally found a good use for a turkey. It makes a great wrapper.

I had to go back for seconds of the button buck roast. It was the best ever. Turkey wrapped was way better than bacon wrapped. The turkey heart was good, turkey liver was tender but a little bitter tasting, and the turkey gizzard was too tough to chew. Everything else was good also.

One little project I need to tackle before I go in the house and help my wife get ready for the big meal. I need to wrap some more electrical tape around the handle of my new $18 Stanley “made in China” cider thermos. Deer can probably hear that thing rattling from a mile away. My old “made in USA” one that I accidentally left up at my in-laws has a rigid plastic handle that doesn’t make any noise. Even with a quart of cider in me now, my stomach is still growling thinking about a turkey wrapped button buck roast for lunch.

Nope, not even Col Sanders can make chicken or turkey white meat that don’t taste like cardboard to me. The only way I will eat chicken willingly is if somebody else buys it and I drown it in hot sauce and blue cheese or gravy.

Slow where I am at. Saw just one red squirrel so far. Heard one close shot just before 8 and a distant one a few minutes ago. I might stick it out until 10:30 if the rain holds off until then. Need to help wife get house ready for family coming over for turkey at 1:00.

I don’t think I have ever looked forward to a turkey dinner more than today’s. Normally, I can’t stand turkey, especially the white meat, which tastes like cardboard to me. It is one step below chicken. I also won’t have to put up with any foreign or extra hoppy beer, having only the three standard Genny flavors in the fridge (light, red eyes, and cream ale). My wife says she will add the turkey giblets (hearts, livers, and gizzards) inside the second turkey, along with the button buck roast. She usually throws the giblets out. My mother in law (who usually has made our Thanksgiving dinner), always dices them up and adds them to the stuffing. She says it adds flavor. Only her and I willingly eat the little “pieces of guts”. Others, on that side of the family, spend time sorting through their cooked stuffing, removing them. My brother in law goes to great length, making a pile of “those little erasers”, which he gives to me. Hopefully, she will still have some of her leftover turkey giblet stuffing, when we finally make it up there next weekend. She always gets extra turkey livers to add to it.

The only real resistance to that season has come from snowmobilers. Politically, I think that he would be more concerned about motorists and controlling deer numbers, than snowmobilers, because that’s more votes. Also, a few of the leaders of the Erie county snowmobile club, are hunting buddies of mine. They certainly know better, than to do something that might alienate landowners, resulting in trail closures. That law indicates that they could still shut it down though. I will try a little harder, to punch the 5 of 7 deer tags I have left, before Christmas. No time to slack I guess.

I am guessing because it is easier to get the hides off of them that way. I hang them from the neck for that reason. If it is a “special” antlered buck that I want to remove the cape from for a shoulder mount, then I flip them, after first removing the half of the hide behind the shoulders. I then hang them from a gambrel (like Huey uses) but attached at the tendons of the back legs, and remove the remaining front part of the hide, down to the base of the head.

I have heard good and bad things about them, but I am very eager to find out how the 30/30 does on a deer. I have never been one to take somebody else’s word about something like that, always preferring to find out for myself. I would likely pass on a big 2.5 year old 6 pointer, around home over the next 4 days with my slug gun or crossbow, just so I can have a chance at a 1.5 year old spike next weekend up in the mountains with a 30/30.

We are having my side of the family over this year (about 18 people total), and my wife is serving (2) 20 pound turkeys. I convinced her to stuff one of them with a button buck roast. That is the part I am looking forward to the most, and I hope it comes out good and rare. Happy Thanksgiving to all.

I have 8 similar decisions to make over the next 4 days. I am planning on hunting our home farm (approx 40 acres) tomorrow and Sunday and my parents (approx 60 acres) Friday and Saturday. The main factor I use to pick a stand is wind direction. With a ssw wind tomorrow, my morning stand will be the closest one to the ne corner. I will use a stand closer to the center in the afternoon, and stands closer to the sw corner on Sunday. Our place is relatively square-shaped and I have 6 stands and blinds on it. My parents is L-shaped and larger, so I think I can get away with hunting it on consecutive days without over pressuring the deer. I have 4 stands and blinds over there, with 2 on each branch of the “L”. The two day break over there, between hunts at our place, will help minimize the pressure here at home. Again, I will start with stands on the downwind sides and work my way upwind. My main concern, is getting through those 8 hunts without punching my buck tag. I am really looking forward to hunting Adirondack bucks, the following weekend, up at my in-laws. It is going to take a good 2.5 year old or a 3.5, to draw a slug or bolt out of me on this 4 day Holliday weekend. My plan is to be in 8 different stands on 8 consecutive hunts . One will need to be with my crossbow, because that one is only about 400 ft from buildings that I don’t have permission to shoot near. I have 3 more dmp’s in addition to my buck tag, and I am really hoping to get a crack at a doe or an antlerless buck. We could probably survive another year on the venison in the freezer now, but one more average-sized deer would be great. I could use some more grind.