Core

Get yourself a nice crossbow and get in at start of crossbow season. Don't bother with gun. That's my recommendation. My favorite time to hunt is October, but between halloween and gun season, with a hard hitting, accurate crossbow you can't go wrong. Because most people only gun hunt, and they are all scrambling to get in before day 2 comes around and the deer have been scared into their thickets!

I have the sherpa game cart that makes my summit viper into a cart. I like it. I did buy a jet sled, though, the white snow one (don't buy the tiny one) and it works very well. Well built and won't get caught up on crap. I've given up taking my recovery tools into the woods, so I'll just go back to the car for them. As such the bulk doesn't really matter.

If you really want to guarantee you can pull a deer into a truck get a cheap hand winch from harbor freight, mount it at the back of the bed, and run the deer up a plywood ramp. You could probably get away with a thinnish piece of plywood with 2X4 on either side of it screwed in to function as joists so that it does not bend, to keep weight down vs a fat piece. Or attach them at the bottom so that the plywood doesn't slide into the truck as you start to winch the deer up. Alternatively, instead of mounting the winch on the truck bed, attach it to the front of the plywood, with the plywood deliberately extended a few feet over the lip of the bed. As you winch the deer up, it will get closer to that pivot point and eventually get enough of the mass over the bed of the truck that you could then go to where the ply is touching the ground and quite easily lift it up vertically, then slide the plywood into the bed.

Yes. It's not too hard with a minivan. I'm youngish and strongish. I had a hell of a time getting my first buck into the trunk of my sedan. After the drag I was exhausted and thankfully somebody on the side of the road helped me. In retrospect I should have used my brain and pulled it into the backseat, which is much lower, and I'm sure i could have done that. Now that I'm using a cage on a hitch it's no problem at all pulling deer up that foot or so.

But look at sodfather he's never even heard of Sawyer or given any thought to ticks and he does not have any. If that's true it's just because he hasn't walked past any, which is why you've not had any, either.

That product is total bollocks. The only way you can use your kinetic energy to ward off ticks is by actively moving away from where they are. You can't put up a magical magnetic barrier. I guarantee this company does not have one scintilla of evidence hinting at any efficacy whatsoever, any way shape or form, for this product in warding off ticks. https://0bugzone.com/pages/how-it-works

This is one of the reasons I wish I didn't have to use mechanicals. It's just impossible to test them and know for sure they'll open.You simply have to trust that Rage knows what they are doing. Most likely Rage does know what they are doing and these will open as planned. They are my go-to mechanical. The five deer I've hit all had no problem opening.

I believe high odds I get a freezer deer (doe/buck don't care) within three weeks of bow open. Also fairly confident I have two deer total by end of Xbow and if that's the case I'll call it until gun. Most likely i will not get a gun deer because I'm back to public land where pickins' are slim, but at that point I don't need the meat and it's more about the challenge then.

It's shooting around 245 fps or so, chronographed. Those cheapy decimator arrows from field/stream. I can hear a whoosh as the montec flies, but no whistle. I'm getting it to hit pretty consistently out at 30-40 yards, but the angle is still slightly off--though certainly better than it was last week. Last week the montecs were wiggling like mad in the air and POI was good but really canted on the target.

Forget POI, but how many of you are finding your BHs hit at the same angle as field tips? Spent a while last weekend bareshaft tuning but I'm still finding that montecs tend to be off a few degrees from my field tip arrows, the latter of which always seem to hit at precisely the same angle. This tells me the broadhead is planing the arrow a bit

Xbow shooters start whining about full inclusion again

I guess I should clean my clothes this weekend and permithrin them. Only thing I've yet to do is this year I'm bailing on the climber + backpack thing I always do. Sick of carting it all in, but I do need some room for my coffee, etc. so going to pick up a couple of the sub $10 bags they sell at walmart and look into lashing them onto my viper SD. This will be cheaper than buying the official summit climber bags.

I think it was in the 40's yesterday morning or day before. 11 days left. It's almost time I can start looking at the weather forecast for Oct 1.

True. It's plausible that if I had been using a different arrow during these tests I'd get consistent hits. I may try some more when xbow season is near.

So are we going to do the pink bunny thing or not.

The standard font is fine, that's all we're saying.

My dad got in a minor fender bender years ago. A few grand or whatever, like OP. He wasn't at fault, but there was some friction by the other side and his insurance company just ate it. As far as they are concerned it's simply not worth the time and effort to fight a small thing, even though as the person involved it's injuring not just money wise, but being screwed/lied to. We know it's wrong and it is infuriating. This is why dash cams are the very best tool one can use in avoiding being screwed in situations like this.

Damn it, people, PLEASE get a dash cam for all your vehicles. NOW. TODAY. Go to Amazon.com and order it. No more excuses. OP you got absolutely screwed. I'm really sorry to hear it. But next time it won't happen because you'll have a dash cam in your vehicle. Buy it from amazon, wire it up. I don't care the brand. Just do it. Everybody should be rolling a dash cam.

I taped around where the stock slides on the "buffer tube", and then also taped the stock lever in snug. I also got rid of the sling. I do not plan on replacing string until it looks worn. I also wax it and use the rail lube. I found that the G5 montec were off several inches at 40 yards vs field points, which is why I won't use them. I'd be okay adjusting for a different BH impact, but it's not just that impact was off, but it was also inconsistent. Realistically out to 30 not a huge deal but my hunting is based on confidence and I need to know that the implement is up to whatever task, hence Rage mechanicals.

My favorite early season food is the same as my favorite late season: Pizza

Well, OP said it was a bobcat. Now personally i think it's probably a cougar.

True, there definitely is that to think about!

I've dragged two good-sized deer out of the woods by myself around 1/3rd (maybe a touch more) mile each time, with a net gain in altitude. Same spot both times at at the end there is a drop off and then a final 45 degree incline just to ensure total exhaustion. After the second time doing this alone, without any equipment, I purchased a game cart and a sled and most importantly some tackle. I still hunt that spot alone and next time I will have a two or three to one purchase system with paracord and climbing gear. As the gulley is extremely sharp I'm even contemplating stringing up a pulley between trees on the opposing hill and sending the deer across. If I ever do this I promise I'll post pics on the forum of the deer zip-lining. I get those who get creeped out at night. I have no problem going in pitch black in the morning but when you're in the stand a healthy walk from the car and it starts getting dark it's a bit unsettling.

It's also impossible to list a scope on craigslist or facebook, even if it's clearly for a crossbow. I have had some success getting a listing up by deliberately misspelling it and being very cagey in the listing title about what it is. Eventually amazon will ban all this stuff too.

I can certainly appreciate that if the arrow hits at a bad angle (say 10 degrees) a vast amount of energy is being lost as the side of the arrow pushes into the target instead of all behind the head of the arrow.