reeltime

the rut is still going on during gun season, most of the gun season I Still carry the bow and have killed some decent bucks during gun with the bow. my thoughts on this whole issue may be off base but I will give my 2 cents on it. the woods are the deer's home, basically for 10 months ( other than spring turkey) the woods are void of human scent. around sept. the deer start smelling human scent in their home a little more, from people fiddling with camera's, setting stands, clearing shooting lanes, cutting firewood etc. beginning in Oct. they start sensing more human presence, generally bow hunters are more aware of scent control, access/exit routes, wind, stand placement etc. Its fairly common knowledge that your best chance at killing a mature buck is your first sit in his honeyhole stand. Its also pretty common knowledge that the more times you sit in a stand overall your sightings go down. Now roll into gun season, for the prior 6 weeks the human scent was at a tolerable level for the deer and they just simply changed their movement pattern depending on the level of human invasion into their home. Then one morning the deer think they are standing in the middle of the mall on black friday, what I mean is the woods (their home) is SATURATED with human scent. Lets be honest very few gun hunters pay as close attention to scent control, wind, stand placement etc. how many times do you see hunters at the gas station strolling through the store in their hunting gear, see them in wal mart, sporting goods stores, etc. walking through gas, oil drippings in the parking lots and saturating their hunting gear with foreign smells only to then go out in the woods and see very few if any deer. A large majority of hunters do not do their homework, they simply pull off the road and either go to spot A because that's where I have set for years, or they walk around till they find a spot that suits them at the time, again most of these folks do not take into consideration wind, travel to and from their spot or scent control. They are simply hoping a deer gets pushed by them by other hunters. There is no denying the fact that deer in their most natural movement patterns happen during archery season simply because of less human interactions. there is no denying the fact that there are far more humans in the woods come gun season, deer are not stupid, your in their home, they live there 24/7/365, they understand wind, they know how to avoid danger afterall they are in full survival mode 24/7/365 humans are only 1 of their predators and they have more than 1. There have been extensive studies on radio collared wild deer and its amazing how quickly they react to the human invasion into their home. I can see it in the deer where I hunt, it does not take them long to get into the safe zone and many of those safe zones are used year after year by deer. People are always so quick to call bow hunters elitists, are there some? of course but is it being elite or just passionate? The same can be said for gun hunters, are there elitist gun hunters? of course or is it just being passionate? Or does all of this dissension between different groups simply stem from jealousy? I would lay odds that if gun season opened nov.1 in the "peak" of the rut the average joe blow gun hunter would not kill a mature buck. I know I said 2 cents worth but maybe ended up a nickles worth lol.

well the only buck to walk the line was not legal, but i called in a monster 10 that just would not take one more step to clear the big poplar tree over his chest ( I think he could hear dad breathing cause I had no trouble hearing him, lol ) I also called in a nice 8 that was working into the open when the doe train started down the hill and he was off to chase live deer lol. dad's comment after the 10 turned and walked away was "did you see the rack on that thing?" lol yup, he said next year we gotta do this earlier before it gets so cold. Maybe having that buck so close finally got the fire started for dad.

getting ready for the last set of the pa archery season with dad, i have a sick feeling it may be his last archery sit. At 84 he doesn't have the fire he says, I thought it would be rekindled when I had 3 shooter bucks at less than 5 yards on 3 consecutive sits but he just could not get on them for a shot. He will not hunt mornings because its too cold for him. but he did light up when he said he has never been that close to 3 big bucks in his life. going to try a fresh stand that I never got to sit this season, hopefully I can draw one out of the sanctuary before dark. it wont matter the size, as long as its got 3 up he has a green light to shoot.

they do make aluminum crossbow bolts, some of which are far cheaper than the carbons. post a picture of the nock and what the total length is. bolts are generally 16-20" in length. as far as over draw arrows go they are generally only 5" shorter than the common 30,31" arrows, and for the most part the overdraw fad faded away years ago when the bows advanced in technology.

I could care less if the season is open all year, even if it was open all year I doubt the added hunting time would add much to the harvest totals Again with the human deaths caused by deer, the numbers are so small its barely worthy of a consideration in regards to deer management. Coyotes do not kill as many deer as people think, yes they do kill and eat deer always have and always will but their primary diet is mice (which by they way are primary carriers and transmitters of the Lyme virus) and other small mammals. While I have no issue with the venison donation program but to use it as an excuse to just kill more deer and make it easier on their pets??? Where do you come up with this stuff? I have no problem helping people in a time of need and have always been one to help, but We have reached a point that there is a growing number in our society that just simply refuse to help themselves and just want everything handed to them for free. Sent from my LGL58VL using Tapatalk

this nonsense coming from the person that just a week or so ago was blaming fellow hunters that passed up deer of causing more vehicle/deer accidents.

Got dad in the stand we were in Mon. Afternoon an nd had a big 8 at 3 yds and he could not get on him. Hope this hunt ends better than it started. He forgot his crossbow. I had Jason at camp bring it, we get all the way to the stand and he forgot the rope for cocking the bow...... I will say I hope he don't miss cause I am in no hurry to pull that sob back by hand again!! Sent from my LGL58VL using Tapatalk

Grow, grab an old spray bottle and fill it with peroxide. With goldenrod you should get blood smears. Go slow look for discoloration mist it with peroxide and if it blood it will instantly foam up. Just go slow, and let your eyes rest every so often. It sounds odd but a lot of time when you search and search you can look right at a quarter size drop of blood and not even see it. Just take a break relax regroup and start again. Good luck. Sent from my LGL58VL using Tapatalk

Confirm no one else gained permission first of all, then either put a note on it or take it down if that's what the land owner wants done. Some land owners just want a note on the stand but some will go the distance and have them arrested for trespassing. Sent from my LGL58VL using Tapatalk

most of my hang ons are comfort zones I believe ( bought piles of them after season sales at dicks sporting goods) They are ok, padded seat decent platform wide anchor strap and a base strap, I would guess I have probably 25 of them. I have 15 or 20 loggy bayou cheap seats, they are small, low seat, lightweight and small platform, but they nestle into multi truck trees nicely. we have 10 or 12 chain hang on stands that I can not recall the name, the platform is ok size, the seat is ok, but I just don't care for the chain style and I always make sure there is a limb or burl/knot on the back side of the tree to have the chain above and I add a platform strap to help stabilize the platform.

Jason said I remember you saying to shoot them twice if given the chance. His first shot at yards quartering away and the buck ran a half circle and stopped quartering away at 15 yards so he shot again. G5 montecs on 32 inch carbons did the trick. I told him nice grouping. Lol. Btw he is still bouncing off the walls. Lol. Sent from my LGL58VL using Tapatalk

Anybody got extra rope, lol his 4th deer ever he is jumping around like a 6 year old... I think he's scared every deer out of the county. Lol. I am so happy for jason his first ever pa buck. Sent from my LGL58VL using Tapatalk

Just got the call. Jason says chocolate walked right under him just like I told him he would........ We are off to track. Sent from my LGL58VL using Tapatalk

yup I physically live in ny, , as soon as my verbal commitment i made is done I will be gone and back to pa. yes our season is quite long here, my goal number 1 the rest of the week is to try and get dad in range of a good buck, or any legal buck. He will go if I go with him but that means taking one of my loggy cheap seats and standing on the main stand seat i put the 2nd stand above him then crawl up the tree into the second stand, saturday he was mumbling something about me being part squirrel lol. But he saw 2 really nice bucks and seemed to rejuvenate his desire to hunt and that is why he wanted a double ladder stand put up in the same area. he said yesterday he didn't want me crawling up trees just to set a 2nd stand so I could set with him.

pa

well turkeys should be easy to spot today as they all should be wearing bright orange life jackets, minga did it ever storm here last night. the lightning was unreal and the amount of rain has caused all kinds of flooding. Once it gets daylight I need to go check on some of our elderly neighbors to make sure they are all ok. I set a double ladder stand for dad yesterday but the wind wont be right this morning, I talked him into going saturday afternoon, dads 84 and he says his get up and go got up and went, lol. we may set that stand this afternoon if the wind is right. If everything is good to go after daylight I will be hitting the woods in search of turkeys.

730 am called a decent 8pt in and when he stopped at 6 yrds my pa archery season ended. He walked 20 yards stopped and tipped over. Now to chase turkeys. Sent from my LGL58VL using Tapatalk

the top section ends with a T so i cut that off flush, my stepson works in a fab/weld shop so I have him sleeve crimp the verticals. Bought piles of them from dick's sporting goods after season close outs for 25 or 30 each. That's the last unopened set I have Sent from my LGL58VL using Tapatalk

the top section ends with a T so o.o cut that off flush, my stepson works in a fab/weld shop so I have him sleeve crimp the verticals. Bought piles of them from dick's sporting goods after season close outs for 25 or 30 each. That's the last unopened set I have Sent from my LGL58VL using Tapatalk

The climbing sticks are 4', 10 sections equate to 40' that stands seat is even with the top T of the sticks. Yes its a tough shot, but all 6 of the bucks shot out of that stand never made it more than 50 yards. The last big 8 walked a 10 yard half circle around me and dropped less than 10 yards from the tree. Again, not everyone wants to be that high or shoot them that close and that's fine but it works for me. Sent from my LGL58VL using Tapatalk

Here come more heavy rain time to scram. Sent from my LGL58VL using Tapatalk

Got just under 1/2 inch of rain here from 5 till 630 radar cleared so I beat feet for a strip mine highwall. About 50 foot above a narrow pinch point between the wall and the creek. The youngsters are on their feet 7 small bucks so far and 14 doe. Not sure how long it will last as the fog just rolled in off the river and visibility is about 10 feet. Sent from my LGL58VL using Tapatalk

I fully understand and would never condemn someone for passing a shot they don't feel comfortable with. Confidence in your accuracy, shot angle, anatomy, distance, deers temperment etc. All play into the shot. Sent from my LGL58VL using Tapatalk

the lungs just about fill the chest cavity, most of the autopsy's have shown both lungs sliced or 1 lung punched along with the heart. blood trails start right at the arrow.

best part is Ihave never found evidence of someone hunting one of my stands,,,,,even on an invite. lol. and most of my stands have a max shot of 10 yards. one of my best rut stands is 38 feet to the platform and 6 yard max shot from base of tree, I love that stand! I have one set above my barn at camp that is on a steep hillside right on the edge of a logging road cut into the hill. the platform is 28 feet high off the logging road to the front but the creek crossing off the back side of the stand its a little over 60 foot down 10 yards out.