wolc123

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.

I tried that, but I had to manually drag that one down from near the top of an Adirondack mountain ridge. Considerable twisting and rolling of the carcass was involved, resulting in the loss of the heart and liver. The doe had to have been at least 3.5 years old, so they probably would have been tough anyhow, based on how chewy a tenderloin was for breakfast the next morning. I retraced my drag path several times looking for them, but it was about half a mile of mostly wet brown leaves, so no luck finding them. It wouldn’t have been a problem at home in wny, where I can usually drive a tractor or side by side right up to where I gut them.

At least he didn’t squash the Holiday ML season. I am planning to hit that hard in Erie county.

I am really looking forward to seeing how a 30/30 does on a buck. I have only killed three with a center fire rifle (all with my 30/06). That thing is way too heavy and bulky to carry up in the dacks, but it flattened every one, on impact. I passed a chip shot on a small buck here in wny, with my shotgun on opening day, as I will over the upcoming 4 day Holliday weekend, to save my tag for another chance at a buck up north with a 30/30. I was going to head up there this weekend, but delayed the trip until the following weekend. I went with a 30/30 because it has probably killed more deer than any other caliber in NY, and I thought amok would always be easy to find.

I have the blacks which are rated to -14 F. My father in law has the white “ bunny’s” which are rated to -60 F. They are too bulky for hunting though, and my feet don’t get cold in the blacks on the coldest days, unless I break thru the ice and fill them with water.

Hopefully the hearts are not on the gut piles.

I can’t wait to see what happens in the mid terms. If the VA governors race gives us any clue, then we shouldn’t have to deal with them too much longer.

This was my grandmas recipe for beef heart and tongue. I like the tongue the best from those and I may need to supplement my venison heart this year with a couple of those If I don’t end up with a few more. I lost my doe heart and my bb is not going to cut it on its own.

I only once got a cold foot in plain old army surplus Mickey Mouse boots and a single pair of medium weight wool blend socks. I have worn the same pair for the last 10 years and they have held up very well. The time I got a cold foot, was in mid December when it was about 20 degrees out, and I took water over the top on my third deep ditch crossing. If you pull the laces tight, you can make a couple deep water crossings without taking on too much water. My wet foot was numb by the time I made it back to the house. Sportsman’s guide used to sell them for $ 40. I imagine you could still find them on EBay for comparable inflation-adjusted cost.

It depends on your taste. If you like the way un pickled heart tastes (some folks do), then you cant eat it too quick. It keeps for a couple weeks in the fridge, taking on more and more of the sweet “pickle” flavor. I like it best about 24 hours after it hits the juice.

Do you need a tooth from the lower jaw ? I saved the whole thing from one I killed a few years ago (it is hanging from the busted up 8 point middle on right). I also weighed that one on a certified butchers scale (182 pounds), and measured the chest girth (42”). I guessed his age at 3.5 but maybe I will send in a tooth to confirm.

Pork fat does not freeze and when mixed with ground venison, the taste gets worse in direct proportion to the time it is in the freezer, even if it is vacuum sealed. 100 % venison tastes the same, when it has been vacuum sealed in a freezer for 5 years, as the day it was ground. If you want venison hamburg patties to stay together on the grill, mix a raw egg in with it and form the patties a few hours minimum before grilling. We recently finished the last of some vacuum sealed pork mixed ground venison, from last season, that a buddy gave us. Our tacos are tasting a lot better, now that we are back on the pure stuff, from a doe that I killed 3 seasons ago.

Glad I work in Niagara county.

X3 They wrecked my plans for wading the streams for deer, while catch & release brook trout fishing, during the early ML week up north this year. Also, I hear they are pretty good eating.

.44 magnum in a Henry or Marlin lever.

Did the two biologists give their credentials ? I have heard that antler size is a terrible way to age deer, but tooth wear is supposed to be pretty good. My first guess would also be 2.5, but that does look like a pretty big head, so he could have been 3.5. Maybe they are starting the count at conception rather than at birth. I think that is why we can’t get a concrete answer on even Milo Hansen’s world record typical. Some of the data indicates that it was 3.5 and some 4.5. Did you get a dressed weight (heart & lungs out), or a chest girth on him ? Those are the most important numbers in my book.

I just saw a turkey out of this one. Last time I saw turkeys on opening weekend of gun, there was a big buck with them. Too bad I spooked this bird away, reaching for my phone, to take its picture.

A tom turkey just came out for some winter wheat, but spooked when I reached for my phone to take his picture.

30 mph wind driven rain now , so I had to abandon the upper deck. The visibility isn’t quite as good down below, but way more comfortable.