stubborn1VT

I only filled one of the three tags. I was hoping to shoot a doe with my ML to share with some people. Think they would like to share my tag soup with me instead?

What Steve D said. X2.

Killed my biggest ML buck on a snow day, some years back when I worked in the school system. 14"-18" of fresh snow. Even I can track in that! Jumped up an 8 pt. I gave him 15 minutes, then looped around on the downwind side and got to 60 yards. I wish I was out there today!

Sounds like it's worth a shot. I hate like heck to spray. IMO the stuff is poison, and we don't fully understand all the repercussions of it in the long run. I know that's the way ag works in the US these days. Guess that's a topic for another thread. I don't have a weed whacker, but I may borrow one. Like I wrote: worth a shot, especially since brassica are pretty cheap.

Fresh snow out there. Vermont's ML season is closed. I wish I was still hunting. Today I would actually be still hunting with the snow camo (and a blaze camo vest). May just go for a walk with the .22 to look for a rabbit and see what there is for tracks.

I had one that come out and grazed every evening during that last couple weeks of bow season. He would be in the hayfield an hour before dark and I would walk by him on my way out. I named him "Walter" and spoke to him when I walked out. I alternated between asking him how he was doing, and warning him not to chew on my brother's cabin or spring house.

Maybe I should clarify. Has anyone planted long season kale for deer? I have had similar experience with WI products DDT. I hate paying more, but their seed has outperformed other seed I have bought from Agway, a local food plot expert, and Deer Creek seed. With that said, the deer at my house are like the Deer Creek turnips that I planted to break up the clay soil. The spot I want to plant is a power line that has glacial boulders, old stumps, miscellaneous wood etc. I may try to tackle an area with my tractor and box scraper, but I fear for my tires. My brother could scuff it out with his backhoe, but he's too busy running the farm for food plots. A dozer or mini excavator would be ideal. So it may never happen. For now I will just prune the dozen wild apple trees that are growing there.

So Vermont's muzzleloader season just ended, which means we are done deer hunting for the year. It's a bummer, but by now I have usually had enough. The weather is starting to get rugged, and the wood stove starts to act like a magnet. I enjoyed hunting 3 seasons. Bow was pretty uneventful, thanks to warm temps. I swear it gets windier every year. Rifle season was alright, but I had to contend with an excavation crew on the family farm during the season. I managed to kill a half racked 4 pointer once they cleared out and things settled down. I have a hard time getting into muzzleloader season. The deer are skittish and I usually have venison in the freezer already. I did see 10 does my last day of hunting, which made my season. I'm jealous of your longer seasons and your multiple tags. Oh, and you can legally shoot spikehorns. I see people gripe about the hunting in NY. VT aint no picnic either. It's been a wild ride. It was fun to read/see what people experience and think, day-to-day. Some of you really know your stuff. Some of you show serious dedication, even when faced with long days and unseasoned tag soup. It's been fun. I'm not going anywhere. I just thought I would acknowledge the fact that the forum had a small part in this year's proceedings. Now it's on to ice fishing and habitat work. Dreaming up new stand sites and looking at seeds online. Thanks all. Good luck to those still hunting. I'm glad to share a bit of my time with folks who, in some way, understand what it means to hunt (and all the the madness that goes along with it).

Had 4 doe feeding in the back pasture from 4:10-4:30. No tags though.

Out what brand/model muzzleloader? I have heard good things about Shockwaves, but I've never owned a ML that shot 3 pellets worth a dang.

I would rake it up and bury it before I let them ruin my hunting.

I use a poly lawn roller behind a 4 wheeler. I have a tractor, but couldn't justify the expense of a culitpacker. For $129 I have a "cultipacker" that I can drain the water out of and hang up in my barn. It won't rust and it does a nice job IMO.

My deer like PTT better as well. I do plant the Groundhog radishes to help break up the clay soil. They work really well. I have been tilling small strips of old pasture every year. I till 2-3" down and plant a mix of brassicas that I get from Deer Creek. The next year I re-till and plant soybeans. The tilling the second year goes much better. It's night and day. I read about them in an agricultural magazine. Farmers were using them to "till" soil because they were cheap, easy to plant and add organic matter. They work for me!

I will ask a vegetable farmer I know. He always left his at the end of the season and I would see 6-12 deer there most mornings once there was a little snow. I'm hoping my chicory does well. I planted two plots with chicory and clover. I will be interested to see how it comes up in the spring. One plot was planted with WI Fusion. The other was a mix I made based on WI Extreme. Very different plots. It seems like any plot I carve out of the woods is never big enough. I'm leaning toward opening up some areas and letting the raspberries take over instead.

Glad you could get out. Seeing deer is such a bonus. Hope you heal quickly. Fresh air should help!

I hate the full moon. It was too damn still today. Saw one skipper all morning. I ended up getting down from my stand and pruned some apple trees with my hand saw. I kept my muzzleloader close at hand, but got done what I could from the ground on 6 trees. Felt good to be doing something productive. Did see 3 doe this afternoon, but they were behind some serious posters...

I wear a poly base layer, and bring a second top in a quart ziplock bag. If I sweat too badly, I swap out my top and put the sweaty one in the ziplock.

I'm a pretty die-hard Northerner, but I have to admit that I think that a vacation to Smoke's in TN to eat and drink would be a treat!

Impressive, considering he's what, 5 years old?

Some days you're the bear. Some days the bear gets you!

Congrats Jeremy and Grow! Happy for you. Glad you got it done!

Drove back to the farm. First time since I tagged out with the rifle. Vermont muzzleloader starts tomorrow, and I have a doe tag for this zone. Checked a few cameras. Scrapes have almost all been freshened. Not a ton on the cameras, but two nice ones did visit a mock scrape that I made in August. I don't have a stand in there, so I will be on the ground behind a blown over white cedar. If I don't see anything there over the weekend, I have a couple doe spots I can check. No work for me! It's "deercation" once again!

It very well could. The last 200" buck I shot shrunk down to 65"!

I agree about Maine. The guys I know who used to hunt Maine all left and went to Ontario. Then they all went to Ohio...

Gas station sushi... How would you even know if it was "bad"?