dinorocks

I got lucky after yesterday’s afternoon hunt! I was hunting behind my house from my ground blind I just fixed up located in the oak trees (and on the fringe of some wild apple trees). I was using my Bear Montana 45# longbow and one-piece three blade broadhead (I have been switching back and forth between my Bear longbow and my primitive self bow with stone points). Around 6:00PM I saw a deer slowly feeding into the oaks toward me...I was able to take a couple dry (practice) draws getting comfortable with a potential shot as the deer had no clue I was sitting about 20 yards away. The deer then started to slowly turn and walk away…as soon as the deer turned, I was ready and took a quartering away shot. I was using an LED nock and I saw that my shot was right where I wanted it when the deer bolted out the oaks, the same way it came in. After about 15 minutes (and hearing that the deer crashed off in the distance), I slowly got out of the blind to see what kind of blood trail I would be dealing with. I noticed that the arrow did not completely pass through but did partially exit on the other side (the LED was not visible when the deer took off). After walking about 10 yards down the trail the deer took, I found 80% of my arrow (with the broadhead) …covered in bright red blood, but no blood on the ground. At this point I couldn’t tell if the deer either continued straight down the trail or made a sharp right turn off the trail and through some very thick brush. I backed off, regrouped, and returned after about 30 minutes. When I continued tracking where I left off, I started to take the easy route (straight down the trail) hoping to find some blood…nothing at all. I was not yet discouraged as I knew I hit the deer good and it would eventually start to lose some blood. Based on the crashing of branches I heard when the deer took off, I figured it must have headed into the thick brush to the right of the trail. Knowing my hunting area very well, I decided I would take the easy trail and then cut to the right through the hard woods toward the creek in hopes I would find blood on one of the deer trails that I was going to cut across. If I didn’t find any blood, my plan was to then head back up to where I found the arrow and start crawling through the thick brush in hopes I could pick up the trail (I really do enjoy tracking deer). As I got about 50 yards down the trail, I just about stumbled on the deer. The deer did make a hard right through the brush and then circled back around to the trail before it expired. I was not expecting to see any “antlers” as I thought I was shooting a doe...but when I pulled him from the tall grass, I saw two very little spikes…after eyeballing the length and then taking an official measurement, I tagged him with my DMP. While I field dressed the deer, I was thinking that the broadhead had broken off inside so I took my time…I felt part of the arrow and when I pulled out the arrow section, my blood-covered hand was glowing a very bright red…in all the excitement (and maybe the beer I had while I “regrouped”) it took me a minute to figure out what I was looking at...I realized that I was holding the glowing LED nock with blood-soaked fletching and then remembered that the broadhead was on the section of arrow I found previously. I did a little inspection of the organs and saw that I hit at least one of the lungs...no other organs. I dragged the deer home, quartered it, and put on ice…I’ll finish processing the deer in a couple days. As much as I like to track deer, I was just as happy this time to have been lucky enough to have stumbled on my deer...it saved lots of time which was good because it was too warm to hang the deer over night. Below are a few picts from the hunt. Thanks for reading and good luck harvesting your deer(s)! Dino

Heading out with daughter soon. One of my best friends 12 yr old harvested his first archery deer in 9H yesterday afternoons hunt...he setting his standards pretty high! good luck this morning!

Well if I would have known my son and friends were getting up so late, my daughter and I could have hunted out back...and would have had a posie to drag back a deer if we harvested!

Need to wrap up for the morning...very windy and warm...no deer. rain this afternoon but looking good for another sit with my daughter in morning. good luck!

Out with my daughter this morning hunting on different property...I gave up my hunting grounds to my son who camped out in the woods last evening with some of his friends...always encourage the kids to spend time in the great outdoors. Good luck to all and extra luck to all the kids out this weekend!

Just got back from zig zagging for about 5 hours...no deer. Very bummed. Broadside shot within 20 yards. Thought the shot was a tad bit high and a tad bit back. My game camera caught most of it and confirmed my shot...viewed the video when I got back to the house. Next to no penetration...was using my 45# Bear Montana with a 3-blade fixed solid broadhead. Maybe hit a rib straight on?

Both brothers connected with does this morning...looks like a butcher party later! (Got my brothers monogrammed butcher coats for Christmas a few years back...and of course one for myself!).

Need to call it a morning and continue splitting wood. A red fox stopped by to eat some pears from under the tree. No partridges in the pear tree yet.

I wrap strips of burlap around the exposed metal where I would typically hit my longbow to dampen the sound. Good luck!

Hoping the rain holds out until I let this free as I don’t want my sinew to rehydrate!

Mixing up a bit...trying my new stand over a small plot of radishes with my Bear Montana.

Almost had an opportunity at this doe...she is still milling around out of reach.

I found this set up at one of my sites last year...DEC wanted nothing to do about it due to the proximity to tribal land.

Good luck and be safe! Trying my new ground blind out this morning with the longbow. ...hoping my friend wants to visit!

Very nice mount! I just got mine back the other day (my first bobcat)..very happy with it! I did the skinning and my taxidermist “brought it back to life”! before and after Picts

Thought you might like to see how I egg tanned a squirrel I caught the other day. Photos of the steps below. After you skin and flesh, put up on a board fur in and dry for a couple days. Wipe off any beads of oil that form on the leather side as it dries. Once dry, put in warm water with dawn dish soap to get any oils off leather. Swish it around once it softens up. Let it sit in soapy water for a few hours...any longer and the fur will slip. I changed the water/soap once during the process. If there are oils (and fat) on the leather, the dressing will not penetrate properly. Rinse with clean water and squeeze water out. If you wring the pelt, the fur may get damaged (slip). Hang until tacky to the touch, turning inside out a couple times during the drying process. To make dressing (the tanning solution), I used one egg yoke (remove the white of the egg), a few tablespoons of warm water, and a little squirt of Castile soap. Mix up and rub onto leather side. Massage into both sides and the tail. Turn fur side out making sure you limit the dressing on the fur side. Roll up and let sit overnight. Thats as far as I got tonight. Tomorrow I will flip pelt and rub dressing in again...stretching leather as I work the dressing in. After letting it sit overnight again, I will then do the stretching phase and smoke the leather. I’ll post a description and photos when I get to that step. If you tan other critters, the process is slightly different. I hope I got you inspired to try this! Rabbits, squirrels, and fox are easier than the thick-skinned critters. I would be happy to answer any questions if you want to give it a try. Note, this is the way I have tanned with success...there are lots of ways to tan. Good Luck! Dino

Sure! I’m just east of Buffalo. Season ends next week so it will need to wait until next year...be sure to reach out to me !

Just came up with number seven...tendons for sewing. just finished preparing tails. Looking forward to tanning them and making stuff!

The beavers were both between 45 and 50#...one was just over 45 and the other just under 50. My largest was 65...caught on a nuisance job behind my kids school during a blizzard a few years back. I’m always surprised how many fleas beavers have...one would think they didn’t have many spending so much time in the water. ...but I’ll take fleas over deer ticks any day!!

...not knife handle but a bow wrap. The "scales" on the tail have a nice grippy feel when I hold the bow. I actually use the tails green on the bows (tanning not needed as long as I get all the oils out...I typically dry them on cardboard and rehydrate before I use them). I also made cool medallions with the beaver tail leather for an archery event last year.

Thanks! Beaver can be prepared like any other meat except it needs to be completely cooked...i.e., no red as I was told that there could be a potential for giardia. I personally prepare by cutting into medallions, soak in butter milk for a few hours, dry with a paper towel, apply a little olive oil, and dry rub. I like to cook in cast iron skillet on my wood stove with a little onion, mushroom, and of course, bacon!

I nuisance trapped a couple nice beavers yesterday! In the perfect world, I try to time my nuisance work with the open trapping season so I don’t have to dispose of the critter…I always like to use as much of the animals I harvest as possible. Thought I would share, along with photos, six things that I typically do with the beavers I catch. 1. Skin out and sell or tan the pelt. 2. Remove the backstrap and hind leg meat to eat. If you have never tried beaver meat, I highly recommend you give it a try! I rate beaver as some of the finest meats I have eaten. 3. I keep the skulls and either clean them up myself or give to my beetle guy…they typically get donated to schools, Scout groups, nature centers, etc.…I have a bunch that I use a props when they fit into various presentation I give. Sometimes I’ll remove the teeth and use as decorations/trimmings on bags, etc. that I make or use for medallions or trade at the primitive rendezvous. Fun fact, beavers have “metal teeth”. Instead of magnesium in their enamel like other rodents, they have iron…this increases the strength of their teeth and makes them more resistant to acid. They are also orange because of the iron…just like our blood is red (because of the iron). Beavers teeth also grow continuously. 4. I skin the tail out and use the leather for bow grip wraps on the bows I make…or tan to make stuff. Last year I tanned a small beaver with the tail (and claws) still attached…it worked out great and I plan to do that again. Some people extract the oils from the tail and use for lure making. 5. I remove the castoreum, dry and either sell or use to make lures. Beaver castoreum is used in both food and perfume industries…look it up, very interesting! 6. I then chunk up the rest of the carcass and use for bait! So there you have it…lots to do with a beaver! I challenge you to get the most out of your harvests, whether it is a bird, deer, or other critter! It is not only a cool learning process and respectful to the animal, but also very rewarding knowing that you maximized your harvest. Take care, Dino

I use them as beer koozies at the primitive rendezvous I attend to conceal my beverage. Below are Picts of my summer-weight koozie. I use the ones with fur in the winter (didn’t have that one handy for the photo shoot).

Ha! Traveling to sell my fur...I’ll post a picture tomorrow when I get home of what I use the squirrels for...any guesses ???

Thanks guys, a labor of love! A Real quick tutorial if you are interested...after I remove the pelt and as much meat as I can from the skulls, I simmer them until the remaining meat, brains, etc. comes off. I remove the teeth and then use an air compressor to blow out the brain and sinus cavity as well as all the nerves holes, etc from the skulls, including the lower jaw. I then put the pieces in water with a surfactant (Dawn dish soap) and heat the water to 85 F for several days, changing the water frequently. I scrub the skull, jaw bones, and teeth along the was as this helps remove the fat from the bone (even if the skull looks clean and white after the “bleaching” step, the fatty oils will start showing up down the road if there is no effort to remove fat...this will cause yellow blotches on the skull). My next step it to air dry the skull and then put in H2O2...NOT bleach! I have been using 27% (pool clarifier) with great success (the brown bottle you buy at the pharmacy is 3%...it works but not as fast). I also heat the H2O2 with a fish tank heater so the H2O2 is more reactive. After a few days, I remove the skulls and let air dry...I don’t rinse because the H2O2 continues to whiten while it dries. The last step is gluing the puzzle back together (If you are doing more than one skull at a time, it’s best to segregate the teeth for each critter). I use elmers glue to reattach the teeth and lower jaw because if I make a mistake, I can soften the glue with water and straighten my mistakes. I do deer skulls a similar method but need to take great care not to get H2O2 on the antlers. I have a skull from almost every species of mammal in NY...with the matching pelt (I use these as teaching tools when I present at schools or Scout groups). My surplus skulls go to my beetle guy. I collected lots of skulls this past season...see pict below. Send me an email if you have any questions on preparing skulls that I might be able to answer for you. Thanks for reading! Dino [email protected]