WNYBuckHunter

Ive had them in range everytime I hunt one particular stand so far this year. I will be in that stand this weekend for sure. We have a couple of real big toms and a ton of jakes hanging around. Hopefully Ill put a Rage through one.

If you ever want to unload that million pound slicer, let me know. Im looking for a bigger one than what I have now.

I havent perfected smoking it yet, and my smoker just took a crap so it will be a while before I try again.

Good luck out there today guys. In my neck of the woods, things are starting to fire up. Between the drive home last night and heading to work this morning, I had 5 young bucks blast across the road in front of me. One of them this morning chased a doe right in front of me. Its still gonna be a bit before the big boys join in, but the little ones are always fun to watch. Ill have my butt in the stand tomorrow afternoon.

Looks pretty good. I cleared out most of the roasts in my freezer about a month ago and made a bunch of jerky. I am not a fan of using ground for jerky, I like whole muscle cuts. If I wanted beef jerky, Id make it out of all beef, If I want venison jerky, its all venison. Ive gotten mine pretty much down to a science at this point. First, I do not use those premade seasoning packets EVER. They are horrible. I have a few recipes that originated from a website thats no longer around, and Ive modified them slightly to suit my taste. I always use the freshest seasonings as possible along with sea salt instead of table salt. I use a slicer to cut the meat into 1/4" thick slices. Make sure you pay attention to the direction of your slicing. With the grain of the meat is going to make for a tougher, more chewy piece of jerky. If you cut across the grain of the meat, it will be easier to chew. Its much faster and easier to slice if you thaw the meat, then put it back into the freezer for 3-4 hours to firm it back up a tad, but not completely freeze it all the way through. Once you have your slices, set them aside, get a large mixing bowl and mix up the marinade. Put the slices in the marinade, making sure that they are all fully immersed in the liquid. Put a cover on it and let it sit in the fridge for 2-3 days. I use an older, round type dehydrator, where you stack the trays on top of one another. Do not let the slices touch each other and make sure theres room for air to move through each tray, meaning dont completely cover each tray. 6 hours is the magic number for most of the slices. To avoid some getting too dry, youll want to shuffle the top trays to the bottom at the half way mark. When I make large batches, Ill break each one up into 2 lb portions and vacuum seal the ones I wont be using right away.

During bow, Ill get there an hour before it starts getting light, by the time I get to most of my stands and settled in, Im there for 20-30 mins before it gets light. During the first part of gun season, Ill use the same approach for most stands. I have other stands though, that I will wait until shooting light to walk in so that I can still hunt my way to the stand. Ive taken a few deer over the years doing this.

Ill pass on the fast food farm raised venison. I still have plenty in my freezer at home.

Ive used this rub before, cooked the steaks on the grill, but I did mine just to the point of well done just in case. Its friggin delicious.

Not yet. Time will tell.

Ive put Rage heads right through shoulder bones before at around the 20 yard mark. The only mechanical I can say that Ive ever lost a deer to would be an old Rocket Sidewinder, and that was back when I shot 70lbs but had slightly lighter arrows, IIRC they were in the 400 gr range. The penetration of those heads was terrible. Was it my arrow weight, or the way that the broadheads opened? Im not really sure, but I will say that on the 2 deer I shot with them, neither was a pass through. One I recovered, as it was a dead on heart shot, the second was a double lung that offered no blood trail. I found the deer about 2 weeks later 500 yards from the stand in a corn field, and was able to see where it was hit. Arrow was still in the deer. That experience prompted me to move over to fixed blades, and I used Crimson Talon XTs, which I never lost a deer with. I stopped using them as the blades became tough to find locally. I then went to Rage, and never lost a deer, but hated the rubber bands. Back to fixed I went, and I went with Montecs. I liked them but moved back to Rage after they changed to the shock collars. I still havent lost a deer to a Rage, and have yet to not get a pass through with one. In my opinion there is a big difference between a forward and rear deploying mechanical. I also think there is a big difference between the styles of tips on mechanicals. I prefer the bladed tip over a chisel tip. I havent tried the Hypodermic style and honestly probably wont bother. No need to fix whats not broken.

You guys might not be able to get the knock off Rage broadheads much longer http://www.deeranddeerhunting.com/articles/deer-news/feradyne-wins-sweeping-ban-imports-rage-broadhead-knock-offs Everything Ive read says Rage makes their broadheads in Wisconson.

I just got a pack in the mail last night. Ill look when I get home.

Just do a search for trailcam security boxes. Lots of manufacturers make them. They are usually brand and model specific.

I just bought a pack of Rage on eBay for $22 shipped. Shop around, you can find them for less than $40 any day.

I shoot 63 lbs and have @ 450-460 gr arrows and have punched a Rage all the way through a 3.5 year old buck at 40 yards. He dropped 40 yards later. The broadhead went through multiple ribs with no issues and a blind kid could have followed the blood trail. I also know a few guys that use them shooting 50 lbs with similar weight arrows and have no problems with pass throughs. Im not saying theres anything wrong with fixed blades, but saying you need to shoot a 70lb bow and 500 gr telephone poles for mechanicals is not accurate at all.

comfort is in the eye of the cork holder....

Backwards? He always told me it was Tammys House of Pleasures.

I think it was Pygmy that said that

Depends on where the cork goes

I just want to reiterate that this thread is for YOUR bow season harvests from this season. We will make exceptions for your kids or wives/husbands, but anything other than that will be removed. If you want to show pics of your buddys, cousins, etc harvests, please start your own thread and put them there. Also, please only "like" others posts. Using emojis to diminish another persons harvest will not be tolerated, and will result in a one week suspension from the site. There will be no exceptions to this at all.

As long as Pygmy doesnt pick them, they should be ok. He would have them wearing walnut shells connected by dental floss.

Wait, youre supposed to put doe estrous on your boots? I thought it was like a 5 hour energy drink for when you go hunting. Always smelled and tasted funny to me, but I kept going with it because I hear about all of the great luck guys have with it. No wonder i never have any luck using scents.

Good soil and agriculture.

I hate black walnut trees. I used to live in a house that had a pole barn that sat under a black walnut tree. I cant tell you how many times Id be working under my car and one of those damn things would fall and hit the steel roof and scare the bejesus out of me. A few times it made me jump up and I banged my head on the bottom of the car. Another time I was mowing the lawn and the mower sent one of them through the window of my camper.

I did an all day sit yesterday, and remembered why I usually dont bother until late October. Once late October rolls areound, Im doing all day sits unless I absolutely cant. Last year i killed my buck on election day at around 4pm, but there was action going on all through the mid day, just not right by my stand. Another week and a half or so, and we will be right in the prime time to start all day sits!