TheHornHunter

100%. Totally forgot to mention use for clothes. It’s fantastic for that Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I’ve experimented with all the scent stuff over the years… evercalm, ozone, smoke, etc. Ozone by far is the best but even that isn’t guaranteed. I usually will have deer get down wind and look like they hit a brick wall as soon as they hit the ozone and then will either sit there for a minute sniffing around and go on their way or will turn right around and go back where they came from. I’ve only ever had a few instances where one freaked out. The best thing to do - by far - is put wind in your face and don’t walk in where you expect deer to travel. I never use evercalm anymore and only occasionally run ozonics just to be safe if something manages to get downwind. The ozone is way more effective in a blind but I’m usually running and gunning on the ground or doing hang and hunts so it’s just another thing for me to drag along. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

He was a hoss last year. Still big this year but looks like the injury led to some weight loss. Corn and soybean diet does wonders for the body! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Damn that’s too bad, that’s a really unique buck! Don’t come around triple beamed bucks too often Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

One of my top targets from last year either got shot in his rear leg or hit by a car and his entire rack shrank with one side now looking like a trident. He’s still covering ground and hitting scrapes but looks awkward as hell moving around. Such tough creatures Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Warm weather definitely suppressing movement in 8H/8F but tbh my hunts last couple days have been better than I expected. I’ve seen a handful of 2-3 year olds chasing does and more movement in general than I’d expect being so warm. Cameras have slowed significantly so haven’t been expecting much but they are missing a good amount of action…. the other night I was in a 2-3 acre thicket with 2 cell cams on either side and had 4 bucks in there with me but not a single picture. Doubt they are aware of the cams, seemed like using more random trails and just more chaotic movement right now. So long winded way of saying don’t rely too much on cams. That said, all my mature bucks have disappeared across multiple properties. It’s been close to a week since I’ve got a picture and had been getting each buck every 1 to 3 days. Not sure if they are locked down or maybe my cams just missing them…. but very strange as we’re talking about half dozen or so different properties all seeing the same thing. Hopefully incoming cold front gets the big boys moving again Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

For real! He was a stud of a 2 year old last year and this year he packed on another 10-15” despite going from a 9pt to a 8pt. Really hoping he can make it another year Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Cold weather definitely has them on their feet! My cameras are popping like everyone else and home ranges expanding quite a bit…we had one buck on cam last night in spots almost a mile apart in less than 2 hours! I’m also starting to see signs of first does cycling. I had a lone doe fawn wander by me this morning on one of my private spots and an hour or two later had a nice 3 year old 8pt I know well push a doe out of a thicket, through the nieghbors cut corn field and right by me with a smaller buck not far behind. I’ve been looking for a bruiser that’s been here the last few years but starting to think he’s dead since I’ve got no pics this year and seeing that buck with what’s probably the first hot doe here. Oh well, cool hunt! Back to public tonight, hopefully still active. Good luck to all heading out Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

This is pretty close to rush too Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Got out for the second time tonight and had some dog walkers come by right at prime time… the unfortunate downside of hunting public. Cell cams at other properties were popping so going to try and get back out tomorrow AM. I’ve got some toads on cam on public land including one I’ve got history with back to 2018 so I’m dedicating most of my early season to chasing them. Hopefully my private stuff will marinade and be fresh for November. I got a cell cam pic of a bear yesterday which is pretty cool, literally 100 yards from a bunch of houses in a pretty suburban area of 8H. Never thought I’d be sharing my hunting ground with a bear haha Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Good luck with this! Make sure you true up the assessment value to what you're planning to pay to adjust for what your actual tax load is going to be. I've pretty much given up on buying NY land at this point, math just doesn't work

I think that's what most places do. My home is every 3 to 5 years. Idk if they tried to reappraise it and he fought it or what, but it hadn't changed from his original purchase price. I asked the town treasurer about it and he made it seem like it wasn't uncommon.

I think people underestimate how much taxes can be on some of these properties and what the means for the economics on the parties involved. Can't blame landowners for not wanting to eat the tax bill themselves and a lot of folks including myself have decided it's a better use of capital to lease vs. buy. I've been in the market to buy land for several years and had a few deals fall apart because of what the taxes were going to be once the appraisal value on the town books repriced to what I would have paid. Rough #s but usually was working out to about 3-4% of my purchase price in taxes per year... latest example was 110 acres near Rochester that I could have got for ~$250K but was going to run me ~$10K per year in taxes. The previous land owner was paying $3,500 in taxes and that wasn't a terrible deal but his appraisal value hadn't changed in the 20+ years he owned it.

I’m looking at getting the grinder attachment for my kitchen aid for just that reason. My grinder is great if I’m running multiple deer through it but takes forever to clean and isn’t fun at all with how much everything weighs. Would be nice to have something smaller to do like 10-20lb batches Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I’m glad this is a common thing because we couldn’t figure out if it was just our area or not. Part of me thinks people pass the ugly bucks for lack of antlers so they have an easier time growing old. Our two biggest bodied bucks were PY but barely This one is my biggest bodied… not super long but really fat, which is kinda hard to tell in this picture This is my bow buck from 2020 and is one of my higher scoring NY deer but he was 30 pounds less than the buck in the last pic and taken 10 days earlier. He was a public land buck though with no meaningful ag around so was surviving off acorns and suburb landscaping Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

He’s trying! He was my #1 target this year but he shifted his range after spending the last 3 years as a homebody on my farm and we only ever got night pics and one sighting in the gray light. Pretty sure I know where he moved so will be knocking on some doors and hopefully catch up to him next year Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

That's what I'm thinking. I was always a little skeptical about how hard rut impacted our bucks because our ratios are so off and they don't need to work hard for does, but this one definitely lost a ton of weight from even the pic I have of him in late November. I'm surprised how much, but no December harvests so nothing to compare it with

Some real beauties there... which area if you don't mind me asking?

Beauty of a buck... looks like we have the same chain hoist. Sure does it make easy for getting them up on the pole

Those are some beauties! I'm glad I retracted my comments about putting more on the pole.. if you've been stacking them up like that since the 70's you've got me beat by a LONG shot... I'm not even a decade in lol. Isn't it funny the things we do in the moment of excitement after a big buck kill? I haven't left the heart/lungs in but I've let my knife in a deer and lost lord knows how much other stuff that got left on the ground. I don't usually get buck fever before a kill, but it sure hits me hard after the kill. My friends actually have a running joke about the amount of stuff I lose after I kill something

Watching those big boys move is a thing of beauty, especially working does. Always blows my mind how they can move thru the woods in almost silence yet a little squirrel can make a noticeable ruckus 100 yards away. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I guess the numbers make sense then. If he lost 20-25% and is 155 he’d have been 190-200 pre rut. I’ve never killed one or even been around one that I can remember in December before. I didn’t recognize him the first time I saw him in part because how much weight he lost but I’ve shot does that were 140-150 so I was surprised he came in only a little over that Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Our biggest bodied bucks have been on the lower end of our antler spectrum and our highest scoring bucks typically haven’t had much for bodies. Weird dynamic Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

That seems similar to us in 8H, all the ones I killed and weighed were 4+. We’re in prime ag though and always have a few pigs that are 200+. Interestingly, it’s never the ones with the biggest antlers. Like this one from this year, just a mean fat old slob. I think my buck this year was just rutted down. I’ve never killed one close to this late before to have anything to compare it with Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

He was a fat slob. Antlers didn’t come close to matching the body though. My buddy killed a bigger one but we never got a weight on him. When I was in Kansas someone killed one just under 300 dressed and that thing was a horse! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk