stubborn1VT

No doubt! Those are beautiful fish and amazing sport fish. Congrats. Nice to get on them right from the get go!

Deer love poplar shoots, so I'm suckering them. Yeah, they need to go. I got a pretty good start last year, but there's more. I'm not so sure the deer cared for the elm, but I will probably stack the brush up anyhow. I have had good luck with clover/chicory. Don't think the chicory will grow here since it's so dang wet. I have some poplar logs stacked up from last winter. I'm hoping I can block them 2 foot and sell them to someone who sugars or has an outdoor furnace.

I decided I would start a log of my habitat work. Hopefully I can make some good progress here at my house. We have 12 acres. I only hunt here a few times a year because there is tons of ag around us, and a fairly low deer density. I'm trying to complete with corn, soy beans, alfalfa etc. My current plan is planting soybeans and brassicas in an old pasture, and establishing a clover plot in the woods. Our soil is pretty heavy, and tends to stay wet, so that has been a bit of a challenge. I won't be tilling any new ground for awhile, so I'm focusing on the woods plot. Today I cut a few elms that I girdled in the spring. I burn and sell firewood, so my woods plot is also my wood lot. I burned a brush pile from last winter. I will spread that ash on the woods plot before I till in the spring. I cut a few smallish ash along one edge of the plot, mostly to get more light to a 9" white oak. I'm trying to do away with the elm and the big poplar, while leaving the better firewood and the oaks and beech. I cut a couple yellow birch and used the limbs to start another brush pile for the deer and rabbits. Last winter the deer seemed to prefer the birch to browse on. I stack my piles up high so they can get at them, even in the deep snow. I also dropped a larger poplar, just for the deer to browse on. We have 6" of snow, so I can see what the deer do as I work on my plan. All in all, I spent 6 hours at it with the saws, the fire, and my 32HP Kubota. My general plan is to expand the woods plot, use the brush piles to feed & steer critters, get out some firewood, thin the wood lot, and extend my little log road further. I'm happy that I saw more deer in 2017 than I did in year's past. I'm pleased that the resident does utilize the 1/3 acre of soybeans and the few turnips I planted. I'm kind of bummed that most of that is gone already. I'm puzzled that the deer don't spend any time in the 1/4 acre woods plot. There was good patches of clover by late summer, but they only seem to walk through the woods plot to get to the soybeans. I went from seeing 2 resident does in 2015, to 4 does in 2016. In 2017 I saw the same 4 does and had the occasional buck visit. I got pictures of a spike, a 4 point, a big 5 point, and a bigger 6 or 8 point. None of these bucks hung around. I don't have any interest in shooting the does, so I would like to see bucks on a more consistent basis. Until then, I have other spots to hunt that have produced year after year. Mostly, I'm keeping this log for something to do. It would be great if others had similar projects to share. Today was great. Progress is slow, but over the years I have carved 1/4 acre out of the honeysuckle, buckthorn, ash & elm saplings. I've taken 5 or 6 cords of firewood out. It's a process.

I hadn't watched any Randy Newberg in a couple years. He's a hard hunting, down to earth guy. I've been enjoying some of his stuff (Thanks chrisw.) I just wish he did more whitetail. The Western hunting is neat and all, but I don't hunt elk or muleys. Another thing I like about Randy is that the marketing crap isn't in your face like so many other shows. Good stuff.

They make real a wide variety of boots, from cheap "winter boots" for kids, to pac boots that you could wear mushing a dog team. I have owned some very good Sorel pac boots with a rubber lower and a leather upper. I have switched to Baffin Trappers for ice fishing, which are an all rubber boot with a removable wool liner. If I did buy a pair of pac boots for hiking in the snow (not slush), I would most likely buy Sorels. I like the Sorel Caribou and "1964".

Nobody said anything about forcing anything. After doing further research, some powder manufacturers also suggest it, using a bit the same size as the flash hole in order to clean the carbon out.

So it looks like I won't be switching to Blackhorn 209. They recommend using a different breech plug with the loose powder, but my CVA is an older model (Kodiak) and they don't make a Blackhorn breech plug for it, just the 3 newer models. Some say it doesn't matter. CVA says that the way the loose powder packs can effect ignition. I also talked to a local gun shop owner who warned against using Blackhorn without the recommended breech plug.

Buckmaster, Do you mind telling me where you get your cast lead bullets? I need to switch scopes on my CVA and would be nice to sight in and practice with a cheaper bullet/sabot combo. Thanks!

Nothing political about it. Just clarifying that your most American of beers isn't produced by an American company.

Still made here, but the company was sold in its entirety for $52 Billion. For my money I will buy local.

The red, white and blue can is the only thing 'Merican about Bud Heavy. The company is owned by a conglomerate from Belgium/Brazil.

It's a suit, and despite the name, it isn't heated at all. It is more of a sleeping bag with feet and suspenders.

Biz is right. A hunter could easily shoot a bow using the Heater Body Suit. If you look up a video of this piece of gear, then you will have seen a way to archery hunt in very cold temperatures. It isn't awkward at all. I shot my biggest buck using one at 22 degrees, and could have easily hunted in much colder weather without bulky layers affecting my accuracy. Real life experience!

You're from Belgium?

Positive thoughts to you and yours TF.

All good info. I'm up in the air about switching powders. Pellets are awfully convenient, but cleaning between shots isn't. I was impressed with the accuracy I got out of 250 grain Hornady bullets with a sabot and 2 pellets of Triple 7. I tried some No Excuses bullets that Pygmy was kind enough to send me, but my CVA seemed to spit them out. They grouped, but quite a ways to the East for some reason. Thanks Dan. I'm still figuring out the muzzleloader thing. Kind of bummed I didn't fill my doe tag. It will probably be 4-5 years before I get another one in that zone. Ah well. That's hunting.

Thanks for the responses. I have a can of air, now that I think of it. I have used a pin in the past, but the correct sized drill bit seems pretty fool-proof. A clean nipple is a happy nipple!

Thanks for the info. I'm using Triple 7, but I'm thinking of switching to Blackhorn next season. I've heard nothing but good things. Think I will pick up a can of the foam. Soaking the nipple makes sense.

Yup. And that's gencountyzeek in Predator camo. (Who is that masked man?) Didn't realize it was Treeguy who replied with the +2.

Blends in way better than your pink "blankey".

Predator camo rocks!

Congrats Eddie! You sure put in your time.

What to do you use for tools? So far, I've done the best I could with Qtips. Someone must have a better way. The muzzleloader isn't filthy, but I want to do a good job putting it to bed for the winter. Next year I will do more shooting and put a better scope on it. If I treat it nice, maybe it will help me put some venison in the freezer next time!

Couldn't have said it better.

All of a sudden it's winter, and deer season is over for me. Does anyone have any recommendations on hunting videos on the Youtube that are worth watching? I follow Midwest Whitetail and the Hunting Public on Youtube. I've watched some Growing Deer TV and most of Jeff Sturgiss' stuff. I've seen every episode of Meateater at least twice. I know I'm probably not going to learn much watching hunting videos ("So you think sitting inside all day watching internet videos is going to make you a better fisherman? C'mon". -KVD) but you never know. I might be surprised. Whatd'ya got?