WNYBuckHunter

Great story with an awesome ending! Congrats!

You can change your username if you wish

Maybe, and yes its usually genetics.

The first chunk of my vacation is looking good so far!

Warm, fuzzy murder...

Took my 308 out yesterday and got it checked. Heres my 3 shot group from 100 yards. I was sitting on the ground using my bipod. The third shot thats a little high and right was my fault, as I pulled it to the right a bit. Id say shes shooting great as ever, and I love how well these Federal Fusion 150s group. I also checked my 30-30, which was shooting a bit high at first, but I got it sighted back in. I will be using that rifle for any drives I do with the guys this year. Iron sights and Remington Core-Lokt 150s for that one. 5 days and counting....

Usually the stand Im in depends on a few things, deer activity, weather, winds, etc. This year though, Im bringing my 4 year old son with me opening day. We will be sitting in a ground blind over looking a food plot in the morning and possibly a different blind in the afternoon. That one sits on the nose of a ridge overlooking a large bottom and 3 other ridges where the deer typically travel. Morning blind

Hornady SSTs are what I last ran in a shotgun. I had mixed results with copper soilids.

I use the scent free soap, shampoo and deoderant from a week or so before season starts until its over. I wash my hunting clothes, washcloths, towels in scent free laundry detergent and scent free drier sheets. I spray down my base layers when I get out of the truck. My boots, outer layers and equipment are kept out in the garage in sealed tubs, and get a quick spray down while Im putting them on before I walk in to the stand. I play the wind as best as I can. I dont think these products completely get rid of my scent, but I think that they do help reduce it, and cause the deer to think I am further away than I am, or was in the area a while ago rather than right then. I know that when I spray my boots and pants down thoroughly before I walk in, I have never had a deer spook from crossing my tracks, whether they had their noses to the ground or not. I have seen the opposite reaction quite a few times when I did not. When I used to smoke, I watched deer bed down less than 50 yards from me on my downwind side. As soon as I lit up a cig, I watched them jump up, and leave pretty quickly afterwards. My decisions are based on personal experience, not marketing gimmicks.

But the dogs you are referring to are trained to track people. Theres a difference between a trained working animal purposely trying to find you, and an animal in the woods that catches a whiff of you.

Well, it looks like bow season is a wrap for me this year. I doubt Im going to be able to get out this weekend. The sitter for my son bailed on me today, and tomorrow I really need to take my rifles over to my dads place and sight them in. Maybe Ill get a sit in tomorow morning, but if not, its ok. It was a fun season even though I didnt connect on a deer this year. On to gun season.

Id be really careful with this. If you look up who thejonesco is, they primarily create media for brands, which means anything you would say during this "interview" could be chopped, cut, spliced and twisted into something you didnt mean. Who knows what "brand" they are doing this for. Could be some animal rights whackos that want to make hunters look bad. Who knows.

Its out of bow range from the blind to the deer. The pic is deceiving. That blind is where my son and I will be opening morning of gun season. Cant wait for that!

Thanks Eddie!

Congrats Joe!

Thanks! It really was. Ive just been getting a bit frustrated that I cant seem to seal the deal on a good buck during bow season. One of these days. Still one more weekend to go!

Happy Birthday!

2, maybe 3 but thats a really hard angle to judge from

The last cusp on the 3rd molar is always concave. On this one its not worn down the side of the tooth at all, which is why Id go with 2.

Looks like 2 1/2 to me

Ive never heard that before. Interesting

Ive been seeing chasing for quite some time now. Mature bucks in broad daylight in the middle of fields locked onto does. This past week we saw multiple mature bucks on their feet seeking and chasing pretty heavily. I think this week and weekend is going to be all out peak followed by the breeding phase going into gun season. The point when seek/chase move into breeding is what I refer to as the peak. I could be wrong, but Im just speaking about what I have seen personally.

Our licenses are fairly inexpensive

Oh I know. Ive been out all bow season, and the main part of the rut this year will have gone by before gun season starts. Im not saying the hunting wont be good. Ive killed the vast majority of my deer after the rut.

I dont see it as selfishness. Archery (whether it be recurve, compound or crossbow) is a more demanding and difficult style of hunting, and it requires that the deer be less skittish, so leaving the season before the main gun season makes sense and really is fair. I wont get into season lengths, but gun season accounts for the vast majority of deer killed, both bucks and does, so I dont honestly see what the gripe is. If the argument is about who gets the first crack at the big bucks, well, let me tell you, between all of the farms I hunt, and all of the long time bow hunters that hunt them, I cant remember the last time one of the mature bucks was taken during bow. They all fall during gun season, and we arent bow hunters that only go out once or twice a season. We all seem to get close, but sealing the deal is a different story. Just my opinion and experience. Speaking of which, I love bow season, but Ive had about enough of the bow season frustrations for one year. Im really looking forward to gun season at this point.