RangerClay

I did the exact same thing. I asked the kids (son & daughter) when they were about 5 & 8 to blood trail my deer, pray with me, help me gut the deer ( no knives but holding the legs) then they helped my drag it out to the house. IT WAS AWESOME! And will forever be one of my best days ever in the field. They had all sorts of questions like "Where is the heart and what is that?" They were so excited. Now everytime I harvest a deer out back, I text the house, "Release the hounds!"

I have a Marlin model 36 30-30 with a Bushnell scope. I use the Hornady LeveRevolution ammo. That stuff is awesome!

The NY Sportsmans Expo just released a video about their show. A little after 1:30 you will see myself in a camo vest and my kids talking about the show. http://www.newyorksportsmansexpo.com/video.php

Hey my kid got called down to the office for pointing his finger like a gun at a stuffed deer a girl brought for show and tell. Its the world we live in. Get used to it or fight for change.

Nothing better than free guns! Congrats!

Although it's no where as bad as your finger, my latest "Here's yer sign" moment was 4 weeks ago. With extremely high anticipation because I got a new piece of land to hunt, I loaded my ladder stand and all my gear in the truck and drove the 2 hour drive to the southern tier. Once there I realized that I forgot the stabilizer bar. I couldn't set-up the stand without it so I left the stand at my parents, hung a camera and drove back down 2 weeks later to set it up.

I will be down Friday afternoon. Got a new piece of land to hunt this year and I'm really excited.

My southern tier cams are showing the deer on the move until 9:30ish then they disappear till dusk. I live in the northern tier just north of Sandy Creek and I bowhunted all weekend. The deer pretty much stopped moving after 8:30 am.

NO WE ARE NOT LUCKY!!!. We may get to start a few days before you but our season but our season is FAR shorter than yours. This year we get only 3 full weekends to bowhunt, last year was 2. Come early muzzleloader season the gunfire starts and the deer go noctural. We don't get ANY uninterrupted rut to bow hunt. Still think we are lucky?

I cannot do a live from the stand because I have a dumb phone. But here is a pic from my ground blind this morning. I saw one lone dry doe at 40 yards but couldn't get a clear shot.

Classic!

Here is my ritual. I don't mind sharing it with you. Upon walking up to a dead deer, I kneel. I give thanks to the deer for feeding my family (I may add an apology if it took a long time for it to die), then I say a prayer to God and to Saint Hubert for keeping me safe. No tears, no mourning, no sadness....just respect. If my family shows up to help me gut and drag, there will be high 5's, back slaps, and hugs all around. If it's a trophy buck or if someone kills there first deer, the celebration will probably get loud. At dinner there will extended Grace to God for providing food for our table. I never tell anyone how to celebrate. We all know how powerful that rush of adrenline is at the moment we decide to shoot. For some its more powerful than others. And all that emotion, adrenline, and excitement has to be released. Tell the guy who just killed his first deer after 10 years of chasing whitetails to act like he is in a funeral home. This F & S article with phases like, "It comes from an animal who spent its last moments alive bawling in terror in a slaughterhouse." Is nothing more than leftwing PETA propaganda hogwash. I'm glad I don't subscribe to this garbage journalism. Bet you next week they have some article on their page that the guy from F & S agrees with them.

I'm old school and I try to keep it traditional with iron sights. I did however swap out my stock iron sights for fiber optics because my eyes don't work as well when I was 18 years old. I have never passed on deer because it was too far.

Duck hunters!!! Come first light/ prime time they start blasting away like crazy. I know it spooks the mature deer.

Be careful out there those of you who don't call in, wardens are checking after season. Guy I know was steelhead fishing. The warden making small talk asked if he has got his deer. He replied yes. Told him he had to run something in his car and came back with a ticket for failing to call it in.

LOL! I've heard shots in the dark. But I think that unreported tags is the biggest.

Today is the big day! Happy opening day everyone!!!

Take a look at the size of the base that you stand on. One Christmas I asked my mother in-law for a treestand that was $89 at Dicks. The base is so small that I really cannot stand properly to shoot my bow.

You draw so effortlessly. What poundage do you have your bow set for?

I'm going out this Saturday just to be outdoors. With a hot forecast for that day I doubt I will release an arrow. I just need some "Me & Mother Nature Time".

If you don't mind me asking,. What shop measured you? You could have been mis-measured. I'll bet your draw is too long.

With my ladder stands I use the Fall Guy retractor hooked to HSS vest. http://integratedsafety.us/store/video.html http://www.integratedsafety.us/store/ They are kind of expensive but they are worth it IMHO.

I put my clothes in a storage bin with spruce bows. I know I'm not fooling much but I do smell like a Christmas tree.

Glad to hear that everything worked out!

What he said!! Started with Slick Trick Mags, tried the Rage for year and dumped them quick. Been using them for 6 years now and I have no plans to change. A sharp fixed broadhead will never fail to deploy.