wolc123

My favorite seafood: baked largemouth bass.

The main area I hunt up north consists of two mountain ridges with a wide valley in between. A creek winds through that valley and it often gets dammed up by beavers. Much of the valley is swampy and overgrown with thick brushy cover. I often hear deer snorting from there, when I am walking the ridges above and my scent drifts down. More often than not, whenever I spook a deer up above, they run to and disappear in that swampy valley. My father in law has shot a few of those beavers, and a professional trapper has taken out many more. The creek was flowing pretty good when I was up there this summer. I am going to try something new this year on early ML week. I bought a pair after camouflaged chest waders. I am going to wade that creek with my carbine sidelock ML and a telescoping fly rod. If I can’t find a brook trout, maybe I will be able to surprise one of the deer that always seem to be down there during that week.

A bear shouldn’t be too much trouble for me to get out, because there are lots of old logging roads near where I hunt, and my father in law just got a new loader tractor. Three of the 4 deer that I have killed up there died within 10 yards of a logging road.

I know what you mean by that and that is part of the attraction for me also. It is hard to beat having nothing much to I worry about for over week, but hunting and fishing. I am gathering up my gear for my trip up now. I will probably bring my in-line and side-lock ML’s, my smaller crossbow, a side by side I6 gauge (for grouse), and my open sighted 30/30. My father in law lets me use his scoped 30/30 when the weather is nice. I have a couple of spinning rods up there but I am bringing up a fly rod to try for my first ever stream brook trout on a dry fly. They just legalized “catch and release” for them using “artificials only” after October 15. I will hunt mostly just the mornings and evenings and fish the middays. Most of that will be out on the lake for smallmouth bass, and I will only keep one of those if it is over 22” (father in law wants one to mount). I released one that size up there a few years ago and he was not too happy about that (he likes to decorate their place with “native species”. I set him a up with my first Adirondack 8 point buck in 2015 and am still working on a bear rug. They have been seeing a few this year so this might be the trip.

It is tough with no snow, but if you can find what they are eating and where they are bedding, your odds improve a lot. I would have never found those deer up there 30 years ago, had I not spotted the deer hair on the fence as I crossed the pasture behind the barn the day before. I wasted lots of time that day, hunting deep in the woods, and trying to explore remote areas using a compass and a topo map. The deer were probably feeding in the grassy pasture around that barn at night, and bedding in the thick brush near jthe highway by day. The land was not posted private back then, but I don’t know about today. It might not be a bad idea to drive the highways, looking for a similar spot (grassy area with adjacent thick cover). You don’t need to go deep to find deer up there, especially antlerless ones. Highway shoulders are usually mowed and that grass feeds deer, even without a pasture.

Galushas cottages are on the South east corner of Lewey lake. They have a barn on the other side of the highway, across from the cottages. The brush patch that I am talking about was just north of there, on the east side of the highway. Indian lake is a few miles farther north. I have no clue where Mason lake is. It might be all grown up into mature timber now, depending how it has been managed, but there were at least 3 deer in there 30 years ago. The two that I got my scope on lacked antlers, so no shot was taken. I am fairly certain that the third one was a buck, based on the size and shape of the tracks in the mud. I knew there were deer in that brush patch, based on finding hair on the old barb wire fence, that was behind Galushas old barn. My encounter with the group of deer happened on the day we left. The other guys were too hungover to hunt that morning, after a night of drinking at a joint up near Indian lake. I had spent the previous days of that hunt deep in the woods, finding no signs of deer whatsoever. The only deer that I ran into were those 3, which were bedded within 100 yards of the highway. None of the other 4 or 5 guys who went on that hunt with me saw any deer or found any sign of any. We even organized a drive of the swamp south of Lewey lake one day, turning up nothing. Another guy in camp got a small bear that week. The owners son also claimed that his dad had killed a bear across Lewey lake, at very close range, a few years prior with a shotgun loaded with birdshot while he was small game hunting. Deer seemed few and far between back then. I think there is a lot more around now. Hopefully, you can get into some.

No

Thanks for tipping me off, I was going to try some. I didn’t really care for their Octoberfest this year either. I still have about half a twelve pack and won’t be buying another. It looks like I will be sticking to cream ale, light, and red-eyes until the spring bock comes out in February. I don’t buy any brand of beer besides Genny. I am willing to drink certain others for free though, and will soon be “suffering” through 9 days of Modello and DosEquis up at my in laws.

If you are looking for another place near there, give the little patch of brush, just north of galushas camp on lewey lake, on the east side of the highway from Indian lake a try. My first sighting of an Adirondack deer while hunting happened right there about 30 years ago and I know that camp is still there. The Adirondacks are not only my favorite place to hunt deer in NY state, but also in the lower 48 or Canada. None of those places can match the scenery or solitude that I have found up there, while not even needing to purchase a non-resident license. I too am looking forward to getting back up (quite a ways north west of Indian lake where I get free lodging thanks to marrying the right woman), in just 5-1/2 more days. Early ML is my favorite time to be up there, when the fishing is still very good. My Mother in law’s cooking alone is reason enough for me to go, and they always appreciate me helping to get their place ready for winter when I am up there on that week. It looks like almost all of the Adirondack are opened back up for antlerless deer with a ML this year, so the herd must be doing well. I know that I have seen more than usual the 4 times I have been up already this year. I am hoping to bring one or two, maybe even three, home packaged in a cooler, two weeks from today.

Thanks to a few good for nothing democrats, there won’t be too many of those smiles in my home county of Erie this year. I will not forget that and will vote straight republican in all elections henceforth. I encourage all others here to do likewise, especially left field, versatile hunter, gobbler chaser (who may actually all be be the same individual because none has posted photos showing their face), as well as chef and bowman Mike, who at least have the balls to post photos of themselves unlike that/those other fella(s)/gal(s).

I have hunted deer with shotguns (slugs) for 39 years, compound bows for 30 years, a sidelock ML for about 5 years (never connected), and inline ML for about 25 years, rifles for about 23 years and crossbows for 7 years. Of those, my preferred weapon is the crossbow, by a very wide margin. So wide in fact, that I will probably use one a bit during the southern zone gun and late ML seasons this year, and maybe even the northern zone early ML season. #2 would be the rifles. I would certainly rather use those in my home WMU, but NY DEC wont allow that. Fortunately, I have a couple of slug guns which I have been able to do pretty well with. One of those is a rifle "wanabe" with a rifled barrel, and the other (a 16 gauge smoothbore) just seems to have some sort of magical ability to kill any deer that I aim and fire at. The crossbow is my favorite for many reasons, starting with the fact that it is legal to use at my favorite time to hunt deer (the rut). The lack of a "bang" is a huge advantage over any gun or ML, and that is another big plus. Being able to use it legally, within 250 ft of a building owned by an "aborigin" (person I don't know) is the reason I will likely use it some in the gun and ML seasons this year. After all the "bangs" associated with opening day of gun season, the deer activity in the areas I hunt in the southern zone, drops off big time. Those bangs, combined with human scent, is like throwing a switch that turns the deer from partial nocturnal to full nocturnal activities. Not needing to make that quick draw motion, like you got to do with a bow, is another huge advantage of the crossbow, as is being to shoot it while supported on a rest and with a telescopic sight. Minimal meat damage is an often overlooked advantage of a bow, and that advantage is shared with the crossbow. Meat is far and away the main reason why I hunt, and wasting it is to be avoided. Finally, the crossbow is not subjected to politically motivated ammo shortages, like has been reeking havoc on gun and ML hunting this season, where the value of a 209 primer is fast approaching the value of its weight in gold. Less meat waste is one small consolation I get at home, because I am forced to hunt with a shotgun rather than a rifle. Those much slower-moving, heavy shotgun slugs do not tear it up nearly as bad as most rifle bullets. Better shot placement capability of the rifle cancels out that advantage, which is why I prefer the rifle over the shotgun. On the "close to" a hundred deer that I have killed with all weapons, I know for certain of only one projectile that stuck exactly where I wanted it, and that came from a rifle. I have taken what was likely my largest bodied deer ever (43 inch chest girth) with the crossbow, along with my largest racked one in the last 20 years. A scoped, rested crossbow provides near pin-point accuracy, approaching that of a rifle, at ranges under 50 yards. I would give up all of my other deer weapons, before I would give up my crossbow. That said, I am going to make a concentrated effort to break in my old sidelock ML next week, up in the northern zone. I am also bringing along a crossbow, just in case that don't pan out, or if it rains a lot. I got both of my crossbows zeroed in earlier today.

I am all ready for the November 6 southern zone crossbow opener now. Both of my crossbows are dialed in. The little Barnett Recruit took a little adjustment to raise the point of impact, but the Centerpoint Sniper 370 was right on. On the Sniper, the top 3 scope lines are on at 20, 35, and 50 yards. I suppose the forth from the top might work at 60 plus but I won’t shoot over 50. On the Recruit, the three dots are on at 20, 32, and 45 yards. The Recruit handles a lot easier and would be way better for offhand shots or from hang on stands with no shooting rails. The Sniper is very front-heavy and needs a shooting rail or sticks. All but one of my stands are now equipped with those. My corn plots are looking good this year and I might try still hunting thru them with the Recruit on a windy day. It is so light and narrow, that it would be almost as good as a vertical bow for that duty. I also drove around out back with my tractor to fetch some milkweed pods, and check out my stands and plots. I saw 3 buck scrapes on that ride.

It looks like the bucks are getting active. I took a tractor drive around the back 40 and ran across 3 fresh scrapes. Most is the white oak acorns are down now and the they are starting to hit the corn.

Happy birthday and good hunting.

I ran into my old buddy, who is part owner of the trailer park, at a party last night. I asked him if it was ok if I backed up that dead end road for carcass recovery and he was good with that. He said to just mention his name, If any of the elderly residents gives me any trouble. My family has been paying taxes on a 7 acre block of hardwoods back there, for almost a hundred years, but we have never really used it for much. I was thinking that it would be a nice place to put up a little retirement home for my parents. it wouldn’t take much effort to slide a new, comfortable low-maintenance double-wide into those woods, right at the end of that dead end road. One dump truck load of blacktop, half a day with a chainsaw, and I could have it done. They would have easy access to gas, water and electric. I mentioned that to my old buddy and he said just let him know when they are ready. My dad still enjoys mowing acres of lawn around their big old house. When he gets sick of that, now I know where they can go.

At this point in my life, I enjoy surprises a little more than knowing whats around. Someday, after I retire and gain a bit of “free time”, l might end up with a camera or two.

Sitting in a parking lot waiting on a train. Shouldn’t be long now because I just heard a whistle blow.

I am not a camera guy but welcome back.

I hope the warm weather holds off the peak fall foliage up north until I head up next Friday. Ideally, those pretty leaves will last through most of the early ML week and the first good snow will hit just prior to the following Saturday, for opening weekend of gun season. I can’t make up my mind which is better up there, as far as the scenery goes (peak fall foliage or first snow), but the hunting is at least 10x easier with the snow.

This is what happens when anti-hunters are allowed to reach places of power. Is it "just a coincidence" that all of them seem to be affiliated with the democratic party ? My biggest question is how can any hunters, especially 4 or 5 outspoken members of this forum, align themselves with such fools ? Have they no regard for the Bible and God's will where it is specifically mentioned that He populated the earth with animals to feed mankind.

I am about in the middle on the stand move thing and willing to experiment. My climber days are behind me now, but I know they can be effective. On more than one occasion, in my younger days, I had mature bucks come in to investigate, just minutes after I reached altitude in my home-made climber (Baker copy). The sound of a young whippersnapper climbing with that must have been similar to two bucks locking horns or something. Finding the right tree in the right spot was the biggest problem with that. The key for me now, seems to be minimizing usage of a particular stand. The first hunt of the year, from any of them, is usually the best. I have scored on three consecutive years from my gun opener hang-on, but I don’t hunt it prior to that day. I have good confidence in the short ladder stand that I placed last weekend. I trimmed some good shooting lanes from it, but I won’t go back there until early November peak rut time. I have one hang on in reserve. I may experiment with the “just on time” deal with that this season, depending on my observations, and if I have any tags left after my 10 day trip to the Northern zone next week, and sticking with the “old reliables” and my 3 new stand locations at home for a while this season.

I am glad to hear of the delayed foliage turn report. It is usually a little bit post-peak, by the time I head up for opening of early ML. The best scenery up there for me is a dead even tie between peak fall color and first good snow cover. The hunting is 10x easier with the latter, but the fishing is better with the former. Hopefully, this will be one of those rare years, when both of those happen in the 10 day span when I am up there starting on Friday October 15. I am also glad to hear of the missing coyotes this year. I noticed the same thing in my trips up to the NW corner of the park this year. I had an encounter with one up there a few years ago and I think they put a hurting on the deer numbers when there are too many around. That also hurts themselves. Rumor has it, that distemper has wiped most of them out.

My buddy Joe invented it, about 35 years ago, near the end of a long weekend snowmobile trip, to Allegheny state park. All of our beer was gone on the last day, but someone found a bottle of vodka. The only thing we could find to mix with it was milk. Fill a cup with ice (or snow), pour in a shot or two of vodka, top off with milk, and stir. Not half bad, and it has been my go to mixed drink ever since. At fancy joints, cruises, etc., I always ask for a White Russian, but tell them to hold the Kallua (I don’t think they have that in Russia anyhow). My favorites are made with crushed ice, Finlandia vodka and 2% milk. This is the only mixed drink that I have found, that I am able to consume in fairly large quantity, with little to no “ill effects” the following morning. If it ain’t broke, I ain’t fixing it. Also, much of my family and friends are in the dairy business, so I like to support them any way I can.

The devilrats and the traitor are coming for you.

I can handle, and often do very well, when fishing in any two of the following three conditions: rain, high winds, and cold. The three combined is a definite no go however. I always bring my full rain gear when we do our annual summer trip to the St Lawrence (cold is rarely an issue then), and have taken some of my best fish up there in the rain. The good things about the rain is that it eliminates all the pleasure boaters and most of the fisherman so that you can have any spot you want all to yourself. The Buffalo Bills playing has a similar effect and I took full advantage of that last Sunday. Also, the clouds reduce the sunlight into the water, making the fish feed more aggressive at mid day, than they do in sunny conditions.