Will_C

My best memory was on the first day of Pa season. I hunt on my cousin's farm-he died of a heart attack last April @69. When I got to the milking parlor that morning at 5:30am I noticed that his 11 year grandson had Bob's orange vest on. Before I could say anything his 9 year old grandsoncame up and said "Look Will, I got Pop Pop's knife." I have to say, I walked to my treestand with a couple of tears on my cheeks. Will

Can't go wrong with that X-bolt. I don't have one but have 2 A-bolts and can't say enough about them. Long action BLRs never appealed to me-but I have lusted after a BLR in .358 for quite awhile. Will

I am using the Yosemite 8x30s and have been very happy with them for a pair of $100 binoculars. I don't know the weight, but they are not uncomfortable to wear.

Didn't get a single hunting think this year-must be the first time in 35 years I wasn't gifted something for hunting. Must be I have it all!! Will

I have a Gatco-similar to a Lansky. I used it and got good results for years. I bought Work Sharp belt sharpener a few years ago-I am sold on it. I have heard people say they take too much material off the knife, but I am not a butcher-if I wear out a $9 boning knife in 4 years instead of 8, I can live with that.

I have found that when it very cold, felt lined PAC boots work the best for me-when it comes to stand hunting, insulated hunting boots can only do so much-I have pairs from 200-1,000 grams of thinsulate. The only thing that comes close to pacs are a pair of Muck Arctic Sports for me. Will

Saturday in PA, Sunday in NY, and the next weekend with the Encore. Plenty of tags to fill! Will

I do just the opposite during deer season-I gain weight if I don't watch it. I mostly stand hunt, and am guilty of eating too many snacks while I stand. My cousins wife puts on lunches for us when I hunt in Pennsylvania, and they are ample and good! Will

We have taken and weighed several throughout the years. Weights here in the Southern Tier have ranged between 55- 68 pounds dressed.

People have no idea of the value of "free" work. It's a new world, where people don't appreciate what is done for them but think what they have is worth something.

I would recommend some sort of PAC boots or heavily insulated rubber/ Muck style boots for those temperature in the teens and below. Will

I have strong feelings about this topic. As Doc posted, I think we have trouble getting people interested in hunting, and the fewer people involved, the fewer people care about keeping hunting alive. Making it more difficult to have success means fewer hunters. I am what I refer to as an "old school" hunter. I don't have time to use trail cameras, scout very much, and I only gun hunt-I bust my tail before deer season getting ahead at work and with personal chores to have some time to hunt during gun season. I am happy to see some deer and maybe shoot a buck and/or a doe. Despite hunting for over 35 years, I still get pleasure out of shooting a small buck. I don't shoot more than I have tags for and don't have anyone tag my buck so I can keep hunting. I shot a spike the first day this year, and am spending my time now trying to fill a doe tag. If I were to see a slammer, oh well, it sucks to be me-but it's not something that will keep me awake at nights-I made my choice. i hunted for 15 years before I shot my first "trophy buck" an 8 pointer that probably would score 95-100. If I couldnt have shot some smaller bucks along the way, I might have lost interest. I miss the days when people would congratulate you on any deer harvested- not laugh about it being a spike or even a button buck. Will

I use the Kinko gloves when I walk in or ride my ATV to the stand, and when I climb in-that keeps the snow and rain on those gloves. I change into leather shooting gloves on stand. Will

If you looking to cut back on recoil, the .308 isn't much less than a .30-06. I'd say your search starts at 7mm-0& and goes down to a. .243. That gives you those two, as well as .250 Savage, .257 Roberts, .260, 6.5 Creedmore, and a few others. All of those will use 100 grain bullets, which is where you want to be. The 7mm-08 can go as low as 120. All these choices will kick much less than your '06. Will

I'll be out tomorrow. Will

I am sure I carry too much stuff, but my hunting isn't physically demanding (no long hikes), so I take everything I might need to eat, drink, and stay warm. Will

I'll be in the same stand I have used for the last 22 years-a permanent stand in a cherry tree located on a hedgerow between 2 3 acre fields. It's private land. It overlooks 1.5 acres of food plots. Will

I am torn. The Monday opener sure seemed more "magical" for reasons other posters have stated. I hunt PA, and their Monday opener has that feel. Saying that, I do enjoy getting a chance to hunt 2 days without using any vacation time. Will

Really the only practical to buy vacant land is to have the cash or some sort of equity you can borrow against. If you can secure financing at a good rate, you probably don't need it! Will

I rarely shoot more than 150 yards. I make sure all my rifles are 1-2" high at 100 yards. I know I can hold dead on out to 200-and I won't shoot any further. will

Decisions, decisions-I have 4 rifles ready to go-Browning A-bolt in .30-06 and .243, a Remington 7in 7mm-08, and a Savage 14 in .250 Savage. Between NY and PA at least once-I'll decide Friday night which one will get the first day honors! Will

My family has them in all their stands in PA and I use them when I use their stands late in the season. These are permanent stands, overlooking wide open fields, open hardwoods. I have shoot several deer out of them, never noticed the smell, and enjoy hunting in my shirt. The only problem is one I fell asleep and melted my socks!

You have made the 7600 that Remington should make!

Shots at Whitetails by Larry Koller. It is dated, being written in the 1950s, but contains lots of wisdom as well as detailing hunting in the Catskills in that time period. Will

For me, the .270 and a Winchester 70 featherweight just go together. Never owned one, may have to fix that someday. Will