wolc123

Loosen up, its supposed to be about love not hate.

Happy birthday Tacs.

I would use the creek to cover my scent on the walk into the woods and choose a location in there, based on the wind direction. The deer are going to use the cover of the woods to move between the two corn fields.

I didn't have enough daylight to finish up everything I wanted to yesterday. I did manage to get in my last two wheat/clover foodplots, and to check the zero on one shotgun and my inline ML The single shot from the shotgun hit right about where I wanted it to (2" high at 50 yards). I had to fire two at that range from the ML to get it dialed in. It is good now (1" high at 50 yards with 100 gr 777 and a 240 gr XTP bullet. I am up north for the long holiday weekend now (working on securing 3 more packs of bass for the freezer), but I will try to trim some shooting lanes after work on Tuesday. Hopefully, I can get the big 9f doe, that I have been seeing every time I have been out back, next Saturday morning.

That don't deserve no answer hoss.

No "surf and turf" with the does, lacking the oysters: I guess I will have to settle for just the fillet mignon for lunch this month.

I finished my last two plots of the season tonight. About 2 acres of wheat white clover mix. I was hoping to add some soybeans to that, but couldn't find any. It looks like rain every day next week, so this was my last chance to get these in before the special September early gun season. The turnip radish mix that I put in in early August is looking pretty good and so is the corn that was planted in May. Hopefully, a doe steps out for a last meal next Saturday. I saw a couple tonight, while I was planting. The wheat won't be too effective until the end of October, and it will be another year until the new clover pans out. The wheat attracts deer and is a great "nurse crop" for the clover. The radishes and corn and last year's clover should provide the best draw this September.

I am taking the whole early ML week off for up in the northern zone, and half a day the Friday before. I might catch the last hour or so of crossbow up there, depending on traffic on the highway. I am taking the Friday closest to Veteran's day off, a day that is always peak rut and probably the single best day to be in the woods with my crossbow in the southern zone. My last vacation day will be December 30 for a little extra Holiday ML hunting (if I have any tags left). All my other hunts will be on weekends or paid Holiday's (Thursday & Friday Thanksgiving weekend, new years eve and day). It should be a lot easier for me to fill dmp's this year, with 4 extra weekend gun days in September at home, and the special Holiday ML season.

My issue with does, is that it takes me a lot of extra effort trimming fat, compared to bucks. Because of that, it takes me about an hour and a half longer, on average, to process a doe. As long as I put in the time to do that fat trimming, then I think does taste as good or even slightly better than bucks of the same age. Our girls definitely seem to like them better. Because my time is always limited, I prefer the killing and processing bucks. Since they are not on the table for the special September gun season, I will gladly "settle" for a doe.

My favorite thing that Trump did as president was the seating of 3 conservative, pro life SUCOTUS justices. Congrats to Texas.

It had been a few years since we ate any doe meat, but the last one that we just started on a few weeks ago is pretty good. It had been in the freezer and vacuum sealed since November 2019. We have been cooking the roasts in the crock pot, and even my daughters are really liking them. There is only one of them roasts left in the freezer now. That gives me incentive to get out there early. I have a busy afternoon planned: checking the zeros on 3 guns, trimming some shooting lanes, and planting a couple of wheat/white clover plots.

It caught me by surprise, but I am planning on it. Hopefully, I can check the zero on my shotguns and ML tomorrow after work. I mowed a path back to the range this afternoon. I saw a nice fat doe on my way back in. She was not the least but scared of me on the tractor. I will load the guns and gear in my pickup and head back there tommorow. I will take a chainsaw and pole saw and trim some shooting lanes around blinds on my way back and put chairs up in my new elevated box blinds. The long range forecast is for rain every day next week, so I got to get the range work done now, while it is plenty dry enough to get back there with my 2wd pickup. I will probably hunt 9f with my shotgun on both Saturday mornings and afternoons (the extra 1/2 hour before sunrise and after sunset will be nice on the field edges), and both Sunday afternoons. I would be thankful to fill one dmp on those 6 hunts, half of which will be at my place, on the NW corner of 9f, and the other half at my folks place on the SE corner. There seems to be plenty of antlerless deer at each spot, so I feel obligated to do my part and assist one or two on the trip to deer heaven. I am not too concerned with the warm temperatures, because my deer fridge is ready to go. There were no bugs whatsoever out tonight, when I was back there mowing.

Damn, I thought I had until mid October, when early ML opens up north. Now it looks like I will have two weekends in September to try and fill 2 antletless tags with a gun at home in wmu 9F. It looks like I will have to get back on the range and check the zeros on my shotguns this week, and maybe thaw out the freezer. It looks like our venison supply is down to one roast and less than 10 packs of grind, so I will try to get out there. I have not needed my deer fridge in a few years but it is ready if needed for warm weather carcass aging in September. I know I have a big doe with a big non-spotted fawn out back that I can try for anyhow.

I am thinking that Gobbler Chaser, Versitile Hunter, and Left Field may all be one idividual, because all have lacked the courage to post a picture of their face. I do have to give GC credit for bumping Jesus Christ and the Bible back up to the top though (hence the like). There simply cant be too much of that on a hunting website where assisting living things into the hereafter is the primary objective of the game.

I haven't needed my deer fridge the last three seasons, because the hanging temperature inside my garage was nearly ideal, after November 2 or so. I haven't hunted the southern zone for deer, until crossbow opens up around then, since they were legalized in 2014. The insulated garage with thick concrete floor helps a lot, in addition to leaving the hide on, to keep the meat in the ideal temperature range. I cover up all the windows, to keep the sunlight out by day, and I often open them up at night, to let the cool air in.

I am averaging the last 4 or 5 years. The ratio seems to be improving and last year I saw just 3 antlerless per antlered.

The area where I hunt up there is right on the border of wmu 6C (antletless or antlered) and 6F (antlered only). Since I see about 5 antletless deer per each antlered one up there, I will hunt the either or side of the main highway, until my antletless tag is punched. Only then, will I cross the road, where the odds of a bear might be a little better.

This is my favorite hand-on stand. It probably came from Walmart, about 20 years ago. It attaches to the tree with a single 5/16" lag bolt and a chain. It weighs about 13 pounds. The nylon seat rotted away after about 6 years. I replaced that with a couple riveted on pieces of seat-belt, and a 1/8" wire rope wrapped around and cable clamped. I carry in a cushion to put on that when I hunt from it. I am not sure how it would be on all day sits. I mostly just use it on opening day of gun season. I have scored from it on that day for the last three consecutive years (that's why it's my favorite). Last year was my longest sit, at about 3 hours. It is only up about 7 feet, which is the height that I am most comfortable hunting at. I got to get over there soon, and check that the chain is not growing into the tree.

It is well worth the extra effort required to skin, to leave it on. If you take it off right away, the outer layer of meat dries up too much through the aging period. Also, that hide insulates the meat from mid day high temps and nighttime low temps. I always split up the workload by skinning and trimming off external fat on one day and processing the next. They dont dry out too much in 24 hours without the hide on. A 3.5 year old deer should age about 10 days at 33 - 48 deg F, prior to processing.

I used Gorilla glue on my T/C Omega 50 cal ML when it cracked in that area about 15 years ago. It has held up well. It has a laminated wood stock. It dont take long to do it. Just pry open the crack, squeeze in some Gorilla glue, run some water over it, then clamp. If you have a spare 15 minutes, you should be able to do it.

How about we adjust get along and pray for a peacefull resolution of the situation over there. All this in fighting isn't going to help rectify things.

Good to hear that (and then there were two). A few others here would have me believe that I am the only one who prefers bass. Those big slob walleyes from the St Lawrence and lake Erie are marginally ok if eaten fresh, but not so hot out of the freezer. Unless you like that peculiar algae flavor. Other than making for some impressive looking stringers, I dont have much good to say about those "water filled" pillow cases. That is about the best description I have heard for a walleye caught on trolling gear. Hooking into one of those 6 to 10 pounders, under the boat on a light jigging rod is kind of fun though. That is the only way I have caught any over the last 10 years. I havent had the (mis) fortune of hooking into one yet this year. This was the last one I caught (opening day of bass season on Erie last June). It was big enough to feed my family of four, with leftovers for me at work the next day. We were able to choke it down baked fresh ok, with plenty of pepper and garlic to help cover up the algae flavor: Ps, I swallowed the cheeks whole and raw, washed down by Genny cream ale. They were about the size of small crappie fillets.

That's ok, I know there are lots of walleye fans here, I just am no longer one of them. When I was young and single, I spent a lot more time chasing walleyes, than I did bass. My biggest boat is still set up better for them than it is for bass, but I have learned how to make it work. There certainly aint no August lull for bass. Last weekend was the best action on them that I saw of the season so far, and it usually only gets better from here on out. I am really looking forward to the upcoming Labor day Holiday weekend. Last year, I was able to take a limit of smallmouth bass on a top water bait (the funnest way to catch them) in seven casts without even firing up my outboard.

Maybe walleyes are tougher for some folks to catch, but I always found them easier than bass. That goes from finding them, to getting them to strike, and getting them into the boat or onto the ice. They just seem like a dumb fish to me, in comparison. I have taken many a walleye from water less than 10 ft deep, directly below the spinning prop of a gas outboard while back trolling. That does not work with bass, where a silent electric motor is much more effective. Walleyes are also more likely to hang out in schools, meaning once you find one, you seldom need to go far for another. Finally, after you find that school, and hook that fish, your odds of getting it into the boat are much higher with a walleye than with a bass (especially a smallmouth). I cant remember many walleye that have gotten away from me after I hooked them, whereas in warm water, sometimes half the bass will throw the hook on the way into the boat. I did loose the biggest one that I ever saw however, just upstream of the round house in front of Buffalo harbor on lake Erie, about 20 years ago. I was long line trolling a large silver hotntot thru there for bass one afternoon, and it felt like I snagged bottom. There is a strong current there, so it was tough to tell, but when "bottom" began to rise, I thought it must have been a big piece of drift wood. I tightened up my drag, and slowly began to pull it up off the bottom. As it got closer to the boat, I noticed the big eyes and very wide body of the giant walleye. Just then it turned its head slightly, breaking my line, and wallowing back to where it came from. I was alone in the boat at the time (I worked on the upper Niagara river then, and often took my boat to work), and there was no witnesses. I bet that walleye weighed more than 12 pounds. I am sure it would have been particularly delicious, had I landed it....NOT. So much for finding and landing them, but when it comes to eating them, I also prefer the bass. As I said earlier, the reason bass get a bad rap on the table is that most people mishandle them after catching them. If the bass is alive, and the fillets are still twitching when you remove them, they taste a lot better than if you let them die in a cooler on ice first. Walleye meat has less fish oil in it than bass. Fish oil is good for you and it keeps the meat moist thru the baking, grilling, and broiling processes. Walleyes are certainly better fried than bass but dry out too much using those healthier cooking processes. Having a family history of heart disease, I try to avoid frying, because it is not so good for you.

I would go with my Remington 870 Express 12 ga. I have a short, smoothbore deer barrel with open sights and a 28" vent rib barrel with screw in choke tubes. That gun would be adequate for any big or small game in North America, and near top of the heap for home defense. You cant beat a slide action for that because the sound of the action might be enough to scare off the bad guys. I also have a 16 gauge Ithaca 37 pump that is a lot smoother, has killed many more deer for me, and has more sentimental value (it was my grandad's). If I could only keep one, it would be the Remington, because 12 gauge ammo will likely be much easier to come by in a lawless scenerio, and I like to be able to look into the chamber from the side, and see if it is loaded.