Rebel Darling

"Is that dog hair in my sausage?" Ha...

I'm going to go with "Yes."

Maybe it's due, in part, to laziness, or the easiest path to "success." Lots of folks like short-cuts, and will seize any opportunity available to "get ahead." I don't know either...

There's a fella over this way in the Capital Region that does "mobile deer processing." He came up to the house and cut up my first harvested deer. Showed me how to do it, too. He modified a covered tool trailer to be an insulated, full butcher shop on the inside with a generator. On the outside, he had a fabricated arm on a swivel that hung the deer while he skinned and quartered. Quick, clean, efficient. Pretty amazing. I thought it was a great idea...

Here's a poaching story from our neighbors over in VT: http://www.wcax.com/story/33808555/colchester-man-caught-shooting-robo-deer-from-truck

Here's a tick-related resource web page provided by the NYS Department of Health: https://www.health.ny.gov/diseases/communicable/lyme/

Thanks for sharing a great story! I got a good dose of the "feel-goods" reading it...

Have yet to take advantage of it for deer. I've only gone in for squirrel, and that was last year. I'd like to get to know the terrain better before I still hunt the place. I had planned to scout it this summer, but life pushed aside many of my plans... I'm very fortunate in that my neighbors have been very generous to allow me to hunt their property, and that's pretty much where I spent my bow season if I was hunting 4L. I did buy a topo map for Capital District though, and think I have a couple/few decent spots to scout on foot now. Good luck in there, and let me know how you make out! Hope you lay one down... I'm all thumbs when using Tapatalk

Cheers from up the mtn. on Taborton!

Nice, another 4L hunter... I'm up near Taborton. You hit up Capital District WMA? I'm all thumbs when using Tapatalk

Way to get it done, Eddie! Congrats! I'm all thumbs when using Tapatalk

About two feet, give or take an inch or two, up here on Taborton Mountain in 4L.

I'm honored by the responses, fellas... Thanks!

The wife used: Toasted sesame oil Ginger Garlic Powder Chinese Five Spice Soy Sauce It was delicious, but I think that next time I'll use more soy sauce, and less of the others... I'm all thumbs when using Tapatalk

Deer heart stir fry over cous cous. I'm all thumbs when using Tapatalk

That's how my venison looks after soaking it in water. Based on looks only, I'd say it's fine, but like Mayfield wrote, smell it to determine if it's still fresh or gone a little bad.

On Friday (11/18) morning, I perched myself up in my friend's daughter's tree fort. I'm serious. Their property borders a preserve of a few hundred acres, and the deer trample and dig up their lawn, eat the tree fruit, harass the garden, and because of the proximity of the preserve, are at ease and persistent daytime visitors. The deer travel across their property on their way to and from evening field feeding, and use the preserve for their daytime bed and browse. At about 7:45 a.m., frost on the grass, I catch sight of a deer about 100 yards out, about to cross their lawn, walking right towards my turret. Before long, I noticed he was a young four-pointer, but it being the last day of bow, I had settled on "any deer will do" and that was the same approach my buddy and his folks took for their property. He would be a suitable shared harvest for us all. He took a while to work his way over the the row of locusts, but once he did, I knew that he'd present a clean broadside shot at 30-35 yards. I positioned myself for the draw, drew, pinned him at 35, and as I released, he stepped forward. Thwack... He trotted off. Gut shot. Damn. My first. I think I pulled the shot as well, and that combination made my heart sink. It was 8:05 a.m. I stayed put for 30 minutes after watching him walk off into the thicket with difficulty, and losing sight of him. I got down, and checked the arrow. Definitely a gut shot. I knew he'd die, but it was a question of when, and having no experience with gut shots, I started searching the web for answers. It was like looking up health symptoms online: one site tells you it's a bruise, and another says it's a carcinoma. I knew I'd have to wait a while, but the suggestions ranged from 6 hours, to 12 hours, to 24 hours. Those are considerable differences. I also knew that with a shot like that, the deer likely made it to the preserve's property. That turned out to be a whole different set of difficulties interspersed with some fortunate accommodations that I'll avoid detailing here. After waiting several hours (which is much harder than I thought it'd be), and getting approval to track, I flung out what I thought would be a Hail Mary, and reached out to Grampy for advice. He got right back to me and set me forward with a solid plan, and even offered his help when he was available (we live in the same region, and I was hunting an area he was familiar with). Truly generous with his time and experience. The conversation lifted my spirit and gave my mindset a much needed realigning. At 3:30 p.m. (7.5 hours post-shot), I returned to the shot site with a friend who lives in town. He picked up the blood trail about 50 yards into the thicket. The abundance of deer trail and sign made those first 50 yards very difficult, and a stomach bug settled into my gut, which ended up in nausea and diarrhea in short order. I wondered if they might have been "sympathy pains" because it came on so quick. I felt terrible for that deer all day, and started to feel worse. I stuck with tracking, though. By the time the last light disappeared, the two of us were also joined by my buddy (who's daughter's tree fort I was in), and his teenage nephew, who went to tracking school over the summer; this was everyone's first blood trail, except for me. Everyone was awesome, with the young fella really stepping up and paying close attention to snapped twigs and scuffed leaves / pine needles, and at one point picking up the thought-to-be lost trail. Eventually, and a few hours into darkness, we lost the trail, and backed out for the night. The stomach bug won, too, and I had difficulty getting out of bed the following morning. It was a night of, umm..., violent illness. I felt weak, but knew I had to get back out to track. My request for a dog was denied, and I was given Saturday as the last day I could track on the preserve. I had to get the deer, regardless of how I felt. The temperature was rising quick, and I wanted a good shot at getting some meat before it spoiled. So on Saturday morning, we headed back in and picked up the trail where we last taped off a tree. We picked up the blood again. The trail was scant, and there were a few drops every 10 to 15 yards, so we did a lot of circling through some thick blow-down. But having been gut shot, I figured the deer would be headed for the closest water, and the track's general direction brought me confidence in this assertion. We continued in that direction. At about 1:00 p.m., my wife yelled my name. She was standing lake-side with two ladies who had been kayaking and stopped to check out a thrashing deer in the tall grass around noon. The deer expired just as they were getting out of their kayaks. I walked up to it. Still warm and limber, there he was the four-point buck. He was probably close to 1,000 yards from where I shot him, down by the closest water. As I stood there, feeling weak and sick, the sun beating down on my neck, I also felt sadness for the deer's struggle. I brought over 24 hours worth of pain to him, and I knelt down next to him and apologized to him. I felt no better. Then, I put my hand on his side and thanked him for his offering, lightly smoothing out his fur. It was not a proud and happy moment for me as a hunter, as my other deer have been. For me, it was sorrowful, and I don't think that those who joined in the track quite understood my feeling at that moment. It was a beautiful day by all accounts, and I felt like hell, but it was time to move on. My agreement was that I'd drag the deer off preserve property before I cleaned it, and considering the shape I was in, I'm very grateful I had extra hands to help with the drag; It would have taken me hours to drag it all the way back, uphill. Once in a good, clear spot, I dressed the deer, showing both my buddy's daughter and his nephew how to go about the dressing, and showing the different vitals. It was as I looked at these kids and their fascination that I started to feel better about the ordeal, and my part in this situation, and I became even more grateful for the deer's offering. The kids paid close attention, and the nephew, a recent young hunter learned a few lessons about the importance of a quick and clean harvest. He asked a ton of questions about the tracks, and the cleaning, and I was very glad that I was able to answer them to the best of my ability. He's a studious and curious kid, and will do well when afield. I hadn't anticipated my role as educator until this moment. Now, with the temperature around freezing, the deer still hanging, and me on the mend, the wife and I will get to cutting the buck up in a day or two. We just finished a deer heart dinner, and I can now say that I feel pretty damn satisfied with all my fortune, and all the challenges that pressed me to learn this bow season. It was the best yet.

Good luck, Eddie. I hope all works out well, across the board. I'm all thumbs when using Tapatalk

Thanks, fellas! I'll have to check out Stealth Strips.

My bow buck hunt has turned into "any deer will do," and Friday is the day for me. Didn't hunt today, and not hunting tomorrow. It seems that, around me, anyway, the bucks have the does bedded down and all is locked down with very little movement. Friday I'll start the day at a friend's parents' yard. They are asking for some doe removal. Bold does that arrive twice daily and return minutes after you run them off. I believe I have a more potent fear to disrupt movement for a bit. They are in 4H.

Just checked the trail cams for my little slice up here in 4L. Nothing moving by (marsh and food plot) during daylight for the past week, and nothing moving at all after the 13th. Lockdown up here on Taborton Mountain. Below, you'll find a pic of what I think is a 3.5 8-point, but he only moved through at night. He started showing on 11/9 and was a guest every night until 11/13. And Buckmaster... Man, that's a bad vibe that fella brought in with him, and I feel that disrespect. I'm fortunate in that I've been allowed to hunt others' properties, and I get nervous about doing something wrong, or disrespecting wishes while there. I hate that feeling, and I feel for ya in your current situation. I love this hunting experience, but without an accompanying respect, it's freeloading and wanton killing, and I can't abide by that behavior. But on a lighter note: Congrats on the buck, Grow! I bet those meals will satisfy beyond any fleeting moment of bragging... It's one heck of an effort you've been putting in to get it done!

Curious to know if there are any other folks on the forum that hunt 4L. I haven't seen anyone else posting in the Live From the Woods... thread.

Great day, and pair of bucks, fellas! Thanks for sharing that story...

Put one down tonight, Grow!

My head and mind are buried into my phone. I'm clearly not in it today. Getting down, heading to work. Might not get back out until Friday. I'm all thumbs when using Tapatalk