OldNewbie

Mixed bag for me. Set a goal to harvest three, ended up with two, but passed on several near the end because I was holding out for antlers that never showed up. Had several firsts -- first kill from a treestand, first tracking and recovery in snow, first pass-throughs with the compound bow. Low point was hunting alone the whole time, wife and daughter not interested, son interested but now lives out of state. All in all nothing to complain about, I hope to be back at it next year.

This was my fourth season overall and third with a bow. I'm still very much a newbie. So yeah I learned plenty: 1) treestands aren't that hard to put up by yourself if you only go 12 feet instead of 15 feet. And they still work well enough. And aren't as scary. But I still used a harness and safety rope for climbing up/down. (60+ yrs old is just too old to recover from a fall without some lasting damage.) 2) button bucks can look an awful much like a doe on the last day of archery at 4:30 PM. I will use binoculars to verify no buttons before shooting henceforth (they are tasty, though...). 3) I learned that if your first shot on a deer hits left by six inches, then your next shot probably will also, if you don't take time to re-check and adjust your bow sight. 4) A friend told me, and I tested and verified, that deer don't spook much at sounds ("the woods are full of sounds") as long as they don't see or smell you. 5) Grunting and rattling actually works. It helps if you have done enough sits to hear real doe bleats. I found I had to cup the end of the call in my hands and squeeze it tight to get that soft, muffled doe bleat that I have heard real deer make. Like humming with your mouth closed. 6) micro food plots work great.. for a week or so.. until they are totally eaten up. 7) lighted nocks (Lumenocks etc) aren't any help in tracking a deer if you shoot pass throughs. And they don't help recovering the arrows either, if there are a few inches of snow on the ground. 8) tracking a deer in fresh snow is really really easy! Even in the dark. 9) don't push a liver shot deer. Just don't. Even if gun season starts in the morning and the deer is heading toward a neighbor's stand and its getting dark and the coyotes will be out soon. Just.. wait. There's probably more but I have to go cook dinner..

I haven't heard many people saying machine guns should be legal, though they clearly are firearms and essential to any 'well armed militia'. So if you are OK with machine guns being illegal, why would you make an exception for bump stocks? Why do you draw a line between the two? Is a full auto AR that much faster/more accurate/more lethal than a semiauto with bump stock?

And this is stronger than NY's restrictions on AR-15s and similar.. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives 27 CFR Parts 447,478, and 479 [Docket No. 2018R-22F; AG Order No.RIN 1140-AA52 Bump-Stock-Type Devices AGENCY: Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives; Department of Justice ACTION: Final rule. SUMMARY: The Department of Justice is amending the regulations of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) to clarify that bump-stock-type devices-meaning "bump fire" stocks, slide-fire devices, and devices with certain similar characteristics-are "machineguns" as defined by the National Firearms Act of 1934 and the Gun Control Act of 1968 because such devices allow a shooter of a semiautomatic firearm to initiate a continuous firing cycle with a single pull of the trigger. Specifically, these devices convert an otherwise semiautomatic firearm into a machinegun by functioning as a self-acting or self-regulating mechanism that harnesses the recoil energy of the semiautomatic firearm in a manner that allows the trigger to reset and continue firing without additional physical manipulation of the trigger by the shooter. Hence, a semiautomatic firearm to which a bump-stock-type device is attached is able to produce automatic fire with a single pull of the trigger. With limited exceptions, the Gun Control Act, as amended, makes it unlawful for any person to transfer or possess a machinegun unless it was lawfully possessed prior to the effective date of the statute. The bumpstock-type devices covered by this final rule were not in existence prior to the effective date of the statute, and therefore will be prohibited when this rule becomes effective. Consequently, under the final rule, current possessors of these devices will be required to destroy the devices or abandon them at an ATF office prior to the effective date of the rule. DATES: This rule is effective [INSERT DATE THAT IS 90 DAYS AFTER PUBLICATION IN THE FEDERAL REGISTER]. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Vivian Chu, Office of Regulatory Affairs, Enforcement Programs and Services, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, U.S. Department of Justice, 99 New York Ave. NE, Washington, DC 20226; telephone: (202) 648-7070.

Rattled up no less than three bucks this AM.. Wouldn't you know it, all were buttons! Nice big mama doe hung around, just out of shooting distance. One little guy hung around for at least 30 minutes. I was about ready to give him a name and put a collar on him. In the end, no shots taken, but had a relaxing couple of hours in the blind.

They taught us that in Boy Scouts.. they called them 'widow makers'.

If one of your tractors is up on blocks, it counts.

The snow gives you so much information, also. It's been very interesting seeing my own tracks to and from the blind behind the house pile up on top of each other, makes you realize how much scent you must leave hunting the same spot repeatedly. Also really enjoyed the still hunts I did on state land, seeing all kinds of tracks in the snow - deer, rabbit, squirrel, fisher, bobcat, grouse, turkey, fox, and coyote. I found one spot near me where no less than five different deer trails intersected. Putting a tree stand there next year for sure. I do wish we'd had some warmer days, I might have spent more time in the tree stands vs. the ground blind.

I learned to fish, shoot, hunt, tie knots, build a fire, cook through Scouts. I still try to do a good turn daily. You and your son both have something to be proud of.

I got out on some state forest land this afternoon.. Walked down a nice horse/snowmobile trail in the woods, downhill across a creek and up the other side.. started to look like good deer woods.. and BLAM goes a shot, not that far away. I stood still for a minute or so then BLAM. Another blast. Figured whatever deer were there were either dead or running scared, so reversed my steps.. coming back up the hill saw three guys just getting set up.. about 50 yards from the road.. Whole thing looked Deliverance sketchy.. so I left. Drove down the hill to the apple orchard, walked a trail, saw some tracks.. but no live bodies. And on the way home I saw 8 does and a buck, less than a mile from my house. Of course!

That right there qualifies as Too Much Information...

Sitting in my ground blind, I have a limited field of view. I often hear a footfall or twig snap, then another 3 min later, then another.. when they finally come into view I already have my bow at least on my lap or at the ready. I do sometimes scan the far woods with binoculars, but more from boredom than anything else. Can't say I ever spotted a deer through glassing that I didn't see first without the binos. Tried a ladder stand this year and shot a doe from it. Visibility is much better, but its just not as comfy as the ground blind with the padded swivel office chair (a curb alert find).

Last one I did I butterflied it if you call it that.. sliced it like a loaf of bread, but not quite all the way through, then put in a pyrex baking dish overnight in the fridge with a marinade making sure each 'slice' was coated with the marinade. Next day drained the marinade, covered top of dish with alum foil and baked in the oven till the outside was done and the inside still pink. There were no leftovers.. Marinade: pretty common recipe made from soy, worcestershire, steak sauce, salt pepper vinegar oil and whatever.

What part of 8W are you in NYtracker? We got three inches last night, had to shovel this morning. (On a hilltop near Beaver Dams).

I have tried to use a Butt-Out on several deer and each time it has ripped a hole in the poop chute. I just stick it in turn and pull it back out. Is there some trick to making them work?

As a beginner I've found it helpful to tie the back legs to nearby trees to hold them apart.

I just think Dick's management made some bad decisions. Why on earth would someone build a huge new Field and Stream less than a mile from a Dicks, which continues to carry a lot of the exact same hunting, fishing, outdoor gear etc. Big increase in operating costs and probably debt.. Did they really think they would make it up in increased sales?

I agree, on mornings when its very cold they sit a bit longer before getting on their feet. At least until there is some sun to warm their backs.

I agree, and so does my seventeen year old daughter.. She loves deer heart. Last night we had it sauteed in olive oil, slathered in Baby Ray's BBQ sauce and served over white rice. My minature dachshund got the scraps. Smiles all around. I am definitely trying the marinade recipe next time! I always marinate back straps and other roasts before grilling.

They were out and about today in 8W from about noon onwards... after the snow stopped and things settled down.

8 to 12" here in 8W depending on where I measure. Mostly done snowing here I think.

Does Tink's make Bigfoot Estrus?

My neck of the woods also. Welcome! If you or hubby works for Corning Inc Arnot Guthrie a school or maybe the gas industry.. no matter which, you can count on meeting people at work who are deer hunters. Good sources of info... BUT having just started deer hunting recently myself... I will say the hardest part BY FAR is finding someplace decent to hunt. There are tons of state forests around but come gun season they will be overrun with people and the deer will flee (if they survive opening day). If you can get yourself invited to hunt someone's private farm/woodlot/whatever, it will improve the odds and the quality of the experience greatly. But don't expect just because someone has land that they will invite you to hunt it. People can be pretty particular about if they allow it and who they allow and. many just don't apart from family. I have lifelong friends... like since 2nd grade... who won't let me hunt their 100+ acres.. One other comment... get a bow. Opens up so many more possibilities, and is such an adrenaline rush when the deer is 10 yards away..

Hmm. Some ideas there.. so it might be better used as a cover scent, especially on the rare day with an east wind when my own scent would be blowing out into the woods/bedding areas. And maybe just in the kill zone to get a buck to stop and sniff for a few minutes vs. walking right by. And not so much as a long distance attractant. Tried rattling and grunting multiple times and nothing to show for it either.

I've been experimenting with the aerosol spray lures available now like Buckbomb and Tink's 69 Hot Shot.. It occurred to me that if you set up facing the wind like you are supposed to, and set off one of the bombs or liberally spray the kill zone in front of your stand/blind, the scent will just blow back toward your stand, and the deer that are further upwind of you won't get a whiff. You could go walking around in the upwind area where the deer are and use a drag or spray can to create a scent trail leading to your stand, but I've been staying out of that area for fear of spooking/flushing the deer. So under what conditions/set ups are these products really most effective? Calm days? Windy days? Hillsides vs. flat fields? Do you worry about wind direction when using them? Make a scent trail or just spray near stand? Anyone have rules of thumb or tricks of the trade to share?