G-Man

where you mowed your trails you destroyed some great security cover, thats too bad but abandon it and it will grow back up, way to many people see great sign in the thick stuff and destroy it cutting shooting lanes/paths to gain access. concentrate you efforts on the edge of it that is downwind from the perdominate wind direction. let the deer come out of that into your food plot and harvest them there.for example if the wind comes from the upper left of your pic, that nice area to the lower rt of the circle you drew looks promising especially with hedge rows in place on the outside edge(good stand locations). divide that area into thirds, a year round crop like clover/alfalfa in 1/3, perhaps a late season crop like brassica, or some sorgum/corn/winter peas and the last 3rd into wiinter wheat/oats for spring / early fall. leave the deer in the thick stuff alone and let the food/does draw the big boys out!! takes som patience but well worth it. that circle you drew should become the sanctuary where no deer is shot at or recoverd untill after dark. the sanctuary is of more importance than the food plot in my opinion. and the thicker the better!!

For truly accurate shots loose powder is the way to go and speed loaders, 90 grains to 120 will prolly work best. you don't have much time to work up a load so you'll prolly go with pellets this year(they never weigh 50gr)) but it will get you close enough to hunt with. sabot with 240- 300 grain bullets will work as well, your barrel twist is too fast for roundball. do not buy hot 209 primers, look for remiingtons or 777 primers. a hot primer will push your charge down the barrel before it can ignite resulting in inaccuracy as well as a potential "pipe bomb effect". best of luck and get out there and sight it in!!!

clover,(year round) overseed with winter wheat or oats, (fall or spriing) and turnips (plant late summer(brassica) they say late but they seem to eat mine year round hittin the bulbs in late winter.

Lot of camps had banner years this year, but did u think its because there is no food and deer are forced to travel more to find it? Yes numbers were up due to a mild winter, but food or lack there of is the biggest reason for deer to move and expose themselves. If the deer only have to move 100yrds to a standing cornfield, you wont see much movement unless your on the corn field. Now if they have to move 1 mile to food, a lot more

A good dye job on them is the best, victors go for the best $, double coils prefered over long spring. any trapper would buy them rusty or not as long as its surface rust, no pitting. always keep a few to get rid of unwanted critters around the house.

My 7 acres of corn normally lasts untill spring, was gone by early november, no mast at all hard or soft, deer are in fields at night eating anything green they can, if we get any significant snow fall and it stays the herd will have winter loss. Yes they are fat now, but the bucks aren't they are just entering their rebuilding phase, and there are slim pickings already. We are only in the first week of dec. Winter doesnt end for the deer till spring green up, sometimes late april early may if we have a late spring. Yes some animal will make it through but antler growth will be effected next year beyond a doubt, as may fawning rates. Not to be doom and gloom but the writing is on the wall for a bad year for deer next year....

nope , farmer or land owner knocks down corn without harvesting is fine...

take him to a good taxidermist , a good professional cleaning will do wonders! you also need to keep mounts cool and dry, and out of sun and excess heat..

pistol permit regs state once you have means to load and fire the pistol it must be registered... loop hole lets you buy but not shoot, comes in handy when you already have gun for when you take permit class, as you are only alloted so much time to put gun on permit...

from dec regs......The legal firearm for this season is a muzzleloading rifle or pistol (including smoothbore muzzleloaders) loaded through the muzzle, shooting a single projectile and having a bore of .44 inches or larger. Double-barreled muzzleloaders and percussion cap revolvers are not legal during the special muzzleloading season. If you hunt with a single-shot muzzleloading pistol, you must have a New York State Pistol License.

they are refering to a modern hand gun, a single shot pistol that is a muzzleloader is a muzzleloader. you can call the local office and they will tell you this. it is also in the description of a muzzleloader in dec regs. although you still require a pistol permit to fire it. it can be bought with out a permit in nys "yes its a loophole" in pistol permit laws.

I like the like button option we have in lew of commenting on a post "congrats!" but would be nice to have a dislike button as well... keep from ranting or posting inappropriate things... just click dislike and move on...... lol

"Muzzle loaders who wish to carry multiple guns must see some deficiency in their choice of firearm. If you cannot feel confident with your muzzle loader...give it up! Just think....originally, the "muzzle loading season" was for "primitive weapons". We have come a long way, have we not?" .................................................................... You can carry a pistol as long as it is a single shot muzzloader, as for a deficency with a firearm, my guns and i shoot just fine, i like having a pistol with me and can and have taken deer with it out to 75 yrds. i also like my long rifle that shoots well out to 200 yrds.and by the way they are both flintlocks!!!I also have inlines pistols and rifles, side hammers pistols and rifles, and muskets!! Its legal to carry both or all and i will, although i have a full buckskin outfit i prefer to wear orange and that isn't mandatory. just because someone wants to hunt one way or another is not a reason to question their ability with their weapons, if you want to take that challange come to one of the rendevous shoots and put your money where your mouth is!! no optics allowed ......

not greedy, prepared! Greedy would be taking in excess of my own legal tags would allow.

Good job! I am always amazed at the lack of ability some people have in tracking, if it doesn't fall where they shot at it its assumed they missed. especially with rifle... learn to track if you think you hit it you probably did, better go look again...

hit with first shot ye,s but 2 shots is 2 deer then, without reloading

Exactly, the pistol must be a single shot. You can carry as many single shot muzzleloaders as you wish, but that weight can be immense. I always thought of dressing like black beard and carrying my 3 single shot pistols and my rifle that would scare off some trespassers !lol! You must also have the pistols listed on your permit to legally hunt with them although you can purchase them without a permit..(damn loopholes)

Well i have shot a buck with my rifle and then shot a doe with my pistol in under 2 seconds, still havent learned to reload that fast can do 4 shots in under a min with speed loaders. Or if something is close i use my pistol.BY the way neither of which is a cheap gun or do i worry about a misfire. or how about you knock down a monster buck and before you can reload it gets back up? its nice to have a nice legal second shot handy fast! i will say i prefer a pistol over a secong rifle as the extra weight would be a burden...

2 individuals are fine, i actually carry a 50 cal single shot pistol and my rifle... been doing it for years!

def looks photoshopped or stuffed, but funny!

look for shady, cool spots.. think of where you would go if you were locked in a fur coat on a hot day...

Some target shooting at high speed is always fun, 10 targets and knockem down as fast as you can... assuming the gun is already sighted in, good way to learn to aquire targets in your sights, scope quickly.

I'd do thurs am after temp drops,scent washed away by rain/snow deer will be up and moving..windy and warm stay home...

Saratoga nursery is good as it your county co-op. Where ever you decide to buy from try to get. From a northern nursery, example : although red oak are cold resistant, one grown down south is not as adapted as one grown in a northern state. Buy them from down south and they take a few years to adapt to our climate and growing season, if they don't shock and die.

Hunted all over and nothing is harder than an eastern adult tom off public land, and that holds true in every eastern state i've hunted in!