DanceswithSkunks

Lunar cycles. Not solar.

The rut occurs the same time every year. Moon phase has absolutely nothing to do with it's timing. When buck shed their velvet in late August early September their testicles descend in to their scrotum and they are ready to breed. Mother nature keeps the family jewels tucked away safe until it's time. Breeding is determined by the female, ie doe. Sound familiar? As the photo period decreases buck produce more testosterone where as doe produce melanin. When a doe's level of melanin reaches a certain level she comes in to estrous. Not all doe come in to estrous at the same time. Young of the year, doe fawns won't enter estrous until they obtain a body weight of 80 pounds. In Pennsylvania records have been kept for decades involving fetus studies of road killed doe. The fetus are aged and conception date is determined. In Pennsylvania the peek of breeding occurs between November 2nd and November 9th. It hasn't changed in decades despite what date the moon is full. The time period I see the most buck activity during shooting hours is the 3rd and 4th week of October. The buck are ready and few if any doe are respective. This is when buck will be scent checking doe. As a buck's level of testosterone increases he will become more aggressive in his search. Once doe begin to enter estrous a buck will hole up with them for 24 - 36 hours breeding her every time she stands up. This usually takes place in a secluded thicket but I have seen buck lay with doe in small patches of trees out in the middle of an ag field. There are five phases of the rut. 1 Rut preparation. Rublines, territorial scrapes, and sparring with other buck. 2: Seek phase. Actively looking for a doe in estrous. 3. Chase phase. Running a doe that is in estrous or soon will be, to separate her from her fawn{s} and other deer. 4 Breeding. self explanatory 5 Post Rut. Conserving energy and focusing on food to regain body weight lost during the rut..

By some of the books written by the Benoit family. They hunt NH VT and ME big woods. http://www.benoitsbigbucks.com/

A hat does not male a veteran.

RT them white oaks have acorns this year? Is there a low spot on that rockwall they cross at?

At some time or another we've all endured a day afield under windy conditions. Deer and other game don't like high winds anymore than we do. Deer will seek out areas with little or low wind velocities and hunker down till it subsides. Softwoods, ie pines, swamps, laurels and the lee side of a hill or ridge all come to mind. We can go to these places and setup a stand or still hunt through these areas. However, sooner or later the need to feed comes in to play. When it's unseasonably cold and/or windy my hunting buddies and I refer to what the deer will be doing feed wise as "Power Packing" This is when deer basically leave the sheltered areas and head for the nearest standing or cut unplowed cornfield. Corn is high in carbohydrates and is the fuel that mammals use to power their bodies. Carbohydrates are converted to sugars but that is another subject. Many a deer we've taken on cold mornings following brutally cold night had theirs stomachs packed full of corn. We always inspect a deer's stomach contents while field dressing to see what they've been eating. I've done this starting with my first deer, which was an unintentional inspection at the time What can we do as hunters to prepare us for these same weather conditions? Carbohydrates. It's been a long tradition with my family to have a pre gun season dinner of spaghetti and meatballs with pasta piled high and fresh baked bread. Being diabetic now a dinner like that would have me in near coma conditions. Carbohydrates are converted to sugars and the time required for this process depends on the individual and type of carbohydrates consumed. A glass of orange juice will take 10 to 15 minutes. A piece of chocolate will take longer to process the carbs because your body will metabolize the chocolate first. A big pile of pasta will have you fueled up in 4 hours and keep you going for a good 12 - 16 hours. Taking snacks with you should be more than grabbing stuff at the mini mart on the way to your spot. Crackers Cheez It Lance cheese crackers with peanut butter filling come to mind along with a trail mix. I've found trail mix's have way too much salt and usually require a quart of water as a chaser. Sandwiches with an extra slice or three of cheese work well also. Now that we got good stuff on the inside let's discuss the outside. Why do we get cold in the wind? Wind chill. Wind chill is evaporitive cooling. You skin is moist and wind coming in contact with it removes the moisture along with the heat. That's why we sweat when are body get's heated. It's a basic anatomical function. No way we can stop it but we can control it. When I was in the service I undertook cold weather survival at Ft Drum. The instructor beat in to our heads one thing a dozen times a day. If you get wet, you're dead. Hiking in to your spot when it's cold dress light. I see many a hunter huffing and puffing along a trail with their parkas wide open and wiping sweat from their face. They're done hunting before they've even started if it's a cold and or windy day. Unless it's in single digits, I wear a pair of sweatpants, no insulated underwear, a T-shirt and my outer parka. The rest is in my pack. I change into my hunting garb at my spot. I also change socks. Your feet will sweat whether you realize it or not. Take your boots and socks off let your feet air dry put on fresh dry socks and your boots. Make sure you put them stinky socks and T-shirt in a Zip Loc bag. Outwear. I use two different outer garments depending on the weather. The first one is a parka made by Marc Bardger designer of Predator Camoflague It uses an outer material of Wolfskin. and is lined with Thinsulate. http://www.graywolfwoolens.com/store/pages.php?pageid=3 The second set is a GI surplus ECWS parka and pants. http://www.ebay.com/itm/USGI-ECWCS-WOOD-LAND-CAMOUFLAGE-CHEM-PROTECTION-PARKA-MEDIUM-REGULAR-/141125890837 The ECWS is by no means a quiet outfit but it will keep you warm and dry in the worst of conditions. A quick and dirty trick that I have used is to put a rainsuit, the cheapo viinyl sets, on just under neath your outer wear. This works if your stationary and really blocks the wind. Don't go walking around with this on. You'll sweat in no time and then freeze. "You get wet you're dead"

4WD ? Chains ?

Hang a piece of TP off her rump. Show's wind direction and acts like a come here big boy wink.

Look for their sails above the brush. They'll be tacking towards a cornfield or pines.

My buddy uses Lightfields in a NEF 12 gauge. When I sighted in with him we had to tape the hole because @ 50 yards it was in the same hole every time. That gun is amazing. Kicks like a mule but the deer he's killed with it never ran ... err stumbled flopped more than 20 yards.

These numbers you speak of, are these designated parking areas or zones in the forest?

I got to clean up the garbage at the church.

3.5 130 B&C

I've seen what women carry in a small purse. I can only imagine what they got in a backpack

Muck Woody Bayou. One size larger and use a good set of Merino wool socks.

I would wager to say the spike smelled scent left by a mature buck he had a bad experience with. The coyote would be a close second

Coyotes get shot on sight. No ifs ands or buts about it. Most of my Yote sightings are near dark late afternoon. In the hills of North Central PA at noon time when the fire whistles blow at noon, the yotes start howling. Great time to be in the woods. A few years back I hunted yotes with a group out near Erie that ran them with dogs. We were very sucessfull but also very tired after a long night. I'm not in shape for that now. I picked up a WWII surplus air raid siren that is hand cranked. I have it mounted on a receiver hitch and go to a mountain top at night and give it a 5 to 10 second wail to see what ridge the yotes are running on. If you ask the local farmers who have livestock permission to hunt in a respectable manner you will not be denied. It makes for a great foot in the door for deer hunting privileges My most successful method is to find a fresh gut pile from a deer kill and setup downwind from it. In February there's a coyote hunt contest with prizes for the most first and largest yote.

Recovered Powerbelts with pictures. http://www.huntingpa.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=3161509#Post3161509

Anyone have experience with this area? Access? Pressure? Clowns? Lodging near by? I live in PA just outside of Genesee. I figure it's a good two hour drive one way. I'm not up to that after a day in the field.

Unable to find price info. What are the rates ?

The cabin in the pictures, is that one of the park rentals?

I believe I saw a figure of around 92% for all of NY. I need to go dig through my browser history to find it. At those rates, closing doe for one year would give yo a 150% overall population increase the next year, assuming "normal" mortality rates.

BK you have a PM

That place on 206 is near my place it's 50 acres 5 acre field old camper the rest is wooded and goes to the top of the hill and borders state land 169K There's pine trees on it that generates $3,000 / year at Christmas time.

10 feet ? You using rocks today instead of a gun?