Holiday season

[wolc123]

I can’t wait for Monday.  I’ve been looking forward to this opener, more than any of the other 4 or 5 that I tried to, or did participate in this year.  For the last 40 years, opening day of regular gun has been my favorite day of the year (it was Christmas, which is also my birthday, prior to that).  
 

The Buffalo November 22 blizzard of eliminated opening day of gun for me.  I still have (2) buck tags and (3) doe tags.  I also have that full week off of work.  I just secured a new 30 acre hot-spot tonight, in Wmu 9A, where (3) of my tags are valid, in addition to the 100 acres I have sole access to in WMU 9F, where all (5) of my tags are good.   
 

WMU’s 9F and 9A are both grossly overpopulated with deer so I am going to do all I can personally to help rectify that situation.  I know plenty of people who would really appreciate the meat.  
 

I could really use one more deer in the freezer, since our oldest daughter moved back home.   I will be very thankful if I can add that to the (3) that are in our freezer right now.  I could probably squeeze (2) more in there.
 

 I plan on hunting all 7 days.  If I do manage to punch 2 more of those tags and pack the freezer, I’ll switch from my T/C Omega in-line, to my Traditions Fox-River 50 side-lock.  I’ve never killed a deer with that and I would like to.  

I hope that 130 acres will be enough to minimize the pressure and keep the activity up all week.  Time will tell.  I’ll be happy with (1) but I’m going to try for (5).  My plan is to be totally non-selective on the deer, but I’ll look for shots that I am at least 90% sure that I can make.  

[fasteddie]

Get that freezer filled  ! Good luck .

 

[Pygmy]

Why am I not surprised that Christmas is your birthday..??..Hehehehehe....

Good luck to you, and I hope you get another button buck liver plus a set of  nuts...

As por moi, after processing two deer this year, I quit...Never even loaded the smokepole...

[wolc123]

16 minutes ago, Pygmy said:

Why am I not surprised that Christmas is your birthday..??..Hehehehehe....

Good luck to you, and I hope you get another button buck liver plus a set of  nuts...

As por moi, after processing two deer this year, I quit...Never even loaded the smokepole...

I’ve processed (3) so far this year (one way back in January) but I am ready willing and able to do a few more.  I really like processing them, when it’s cold out, and I don’t have to use my deer fridge.  I much prefer hanging them, with the hides on, in our insulated garage.  
 

I know there are many folks who prefer the back straps, but the inner tenderloins are my favorite by a wide margin.  If folks could just figure out how to rid them fillet mignons of the piss, poop and gut-juice flavor, they’d like them a lot more.  All that takes is a quick blood rinse, when you finish gutting, then a paper towel wipe-down and refrigeration for a week, before eating.  
 

Also, get the guts out of the deer ASAP, regardless of outside temps.  The longer the guts are in contact with the tenderloins after death, the worse they taste.  Minutes make a difference.  A butt-out saves time there.  

 

It is also nice to have some oysters, to go with my surf and turf, so hopefully I can punch at least one of those buck tags.   I still have half of a mini-spike liver in the freezer, but I sure wouldn’t mind one of those from a bb.  Also, I only have two hearts for my wife to pickle for me for Valentine’s Day this year, so a few more would be great.  

[wolc123]

9 hours ago, fasteddie said:

Get that freezer filled  ! Good luck .

 

How’s the knee coming along Eddie ?  Do you think you might be up to getting out for the Holiday season ?

The (5) day break, from any legal hunting pressure that the deer are getting right now, coupled with the ending of the “generational” storm, that’s just beginning today and scheduled to end Christmas Day at 7:00 am, should combine to make Monday one of the best days for deer hunting, that we ever had in WNY.  The timing couldn’t be better. 
 

I have heard that we are supposed to be getting record low barometric pressure during this storm.  Just imagine how hungry those deer are going to be, after hunkering down thru that.  They need food to build those winter fat reserves, as do we.  What better place is there for us to get it ?  Certainly not from vegetables.  

I hunted the weekends pretty hard thru the end of gun season and I was getting pretty tired of the lack of any daylight deer action.  That was just the reaction of the local deer to hunting pressure and the abundance of food.  The only deer that I seen around home since Thanksgiving, was in the last (5) minutes of legal light one Sunday evening.  My old Weaver 1.5X scope was not up to that task. 

 

Come Monday, after 3 days of storm and 5 days of no hunting, we ought to be seeing daylight action, just like it was before Thanksgiving, or back during the early September antlerless season.  How great it will be to see that again, this time with (2) buck tags in my pocket.  
 

I’ve only been able to hunt the weekends mostly.  I have even lost a few Saturdays (in addition to the gun opener), because we have been so damn busy at work.  How great it we be to be to hunt thru a paid Holiday on Monday, when there should be lots of deer out in the daylight.


I am hoping for a light, prevailing SW wind on Monday.  If we get that, I’ll hunt my front wheat/clover field in the morning, my back east clover field at mid-day and my back west turnip and wheat/clover plots in the evening.

Each of those areas draw deer from different, thick-cover, sanctuary/bedding areas, so punching (3) tags thru the day should be possible.     

Tuesday I’ll head over to my parents on the opposite corner of WMU 9F. I’ll try my “trailer park” stand on the back side of the swamp, with my crossbow in the morning.  I have not hit that stand yet this year.  
 

Mid-day over there, I’ll open up the trails thru the woods with my chainsaw.  There were some trails blocked before the storm, so I know there will be lots more after, from all the dead ash trees.  
 

In the evening over there, I’ll hunt the big clover plot, from my super-comfortable stand on the edge of the woods, that got me (3) deer last season:  punching (2) tags on Tuesday should be possible, so I might be able to wrap it up then. 
 

If not, I’ll go up north to the new spot in WMU 9A on Wednesday.  I ran into a retired co-worker at another retirement party last night.  He owns the woods adjacent to my brother and sister in laws place up there.  It is a great deer spot, that I used to hunt.
 

 I lost permission, after my sister in law (somewhat of an anti-hunter) jogged past a gut pile that I left in the lane at our fall vacation rental up in the Adirondacks, about 15 years ago.  My plan is to hunt the edge of my old work buddy’s place.  I told him at the party, that I’d bring him a van load of old barnwood.  If a struck deer runs onto my brother in laws, I’ll drag it off prior to gutting.  
 

I might go down south, to my sister and brother in laws place near Letchworth, on Thursday.  That’s another hot-spot, that I have not hunted in a few years.  It’s too far for me to drive normally, but not mid-week,  when I don’t have to work.  If you need any help dragging one near Genesseo on that day, pm me, because I’ll probably be in the neighborhood.  
 

So thru Thursday, I will be have been hunting (7) different spots and I only have (5) tags.  If there are any tags left after that, I’ll start the cycle again at home on New Years weekend Friday, parents place Saturday, and old work buddies/in-laws on New Year’s Day afternoon Sunday.  
 

Hopefully, I will have a little bit of butchering to keep me occupied on another work paid Holiday, the Monday after New Years. 

 

 

 

Edited December 23, 2022 by wolc123

[wolc123]

It looks like the wind is supposed to be from the SW tomorrow, so I should be able to stick to the plan, and hit my front tree stand in the morning.  A nice thing about the big storm, over the last few days, was that the constant high winds kept a lot of big areas free of any snow buildup. 
 

That should put lots of wheat/clover within easy reach of the deer, on a few of my plots, including one of about (2) acres near the stand I’ll be in 1/2 hour before sunrise.  
 

I’ll hold out up there as long as I can in the morning.  That stand has a nice barnwood wall, that protects it from SW wind, which will help.  Cold feet will probably be an issue, because my Mickey Mouse boots don’t fit my snowshoe bindings.  My old pair of felt-lined Sorrels, that work with them, are not nearly as warm.  Hopefully, a deer will show up in range, in the first hour or so.  

At the end of the morning hunt, I plan on breaking a trail with the snowshoes, back to the stands where I will hunt at mid-day and evening, then go back to the house for lunch (leftover liver and onions).  I’ll wear the Mickey boots on those hunts, which are good all day to about 30 below zero.  
 

SW wind protection is lacking at my midday and evening stands, but good boots, a face mask and wool hat, long underwear, thinsulate bibs and jacket, lined flannel shirt,  hand-warmer in a muff, and a quart of hot cider, should keep me plenty warm.  
 

My in-line ML has been loaded and left out in the barn since last Saturday.  I got all the other gear ready to go today, even my Barnett Recruit  crossbow, which I plan on using Tuesday morning at my trailer park stand by my parent’s place.   
 

 

Edited December 25, 2022 by wolc123

[wolc123]

One hour and 14 minutes until “go-time”.  I am wondering how much snow I am going to have to pull out, from behind the 3 ft barnwood wall, up in my stand.  I think I’ll bring along my wool-lined deerskin snow-plowing mittens for that job. 
 

If all goes well, maybe I’ll get one off the snowshoes, on the walk back, and I won’t need to worry about that.  

[wolc123]

I haven’t got a deer in the Holiday season since the first one.  I didn’t even see a deer during last year’s, which I blame mostly on my own corn plots up north, and my buddy’s down in the southern tier, both being total failures then.  
 

Each of us have bumper crops of standing corn this year and I am more excited than ever for the Holiday season.  I also still have a buck tag, (4) doe tags one of which can be used anywhere in the state, and all (7) days of that season off of work and available to hunt this year.

My primary ML seems to be right about on the mark, after a successful gorilla glue stock repair, after last Holiday season, and striking 3/4” from my aim point from 120 yards on a fine 8-pointer last Tuesday evening.  
 

I’m planning on hitting it real hard and hopefully punching a few more of my (5) remaining tags.  I called in my punched tag from Tuesday’s buck to the DEC yesterday and even that often tedious process went very well.
 

After a dismal, worst ever regular gun season, my deer sightings are definitely on the upswing lately. (4) of my (14) available hunts are planned to be at my buddy’s southern tier camp next weekend.  I haven’t been there in a few years and I am really looking forward to it.
 

 His brother has a new 4wd pickup truck and He is planning on driving me down there.  I no longer own a registered 4wd and getting down there has been a bit of an issue for me for that reason and due to weather the last few years.  

I’m also glad to see a good uptick in the temperatures in the forecast thru most of the Holiday season.  That will make it considerably more comfortable out there.  

Most of the rest of my Holiday hunts will probably be here at home, where my standing corn, turnip, and winter wheat plots are really starting to earn their keep.  My neighbor wants to do a few drives on the last day.  He’s got a couple young son in laws and a son willing to do most of the pushing.

I’ll also hit my parents a few more times, where they are starting to see a little more action on the wheat plot over there.  
 

If I manage to fill my last buck tag (it’s been close to 10 years since I filled both of those), I’ll may switch over to my old sidelock Traditions Fox River 50, to try and try to punch a doe tag with that. I’ve never got a deer with that but it’s a fun little lightweight gun to carry.  
 

Even though our freezer will be in real good shape, after I finish processing Tuesday’s Buck later today, I’m looking forward to this years Holiday season more than any prior.  
 

One other reason for that might be the fact that I got a little score to settle.  I suffered my first ever vehicular damage to my previously spotless Chevy suv on my drive to work a couple weeks ago, when a doe ran into my passenger side fender.  There are way more deer around locally than there should be and I am in as good of a position as I’ve ever been to do something about that. 
 

When it’s all said and done on January 2, I hope to have my cost of boneless venison back down under $ 1 per pound where it should be, after subtracting all input costs.  I love venison and so does my wife and kids.  It will be great to get a break from the ridiculous grocery store prices on meat.  

 

[airedale]

Sounds like a well thought out plan Wolc, and good luck to you, as for me I am pretty much set for meat with one decent adult Deer, just me and the wife. My freezer is just about full of Deer and Squirrel meat so while I have archery, muzzleloader and DPM tags and would love to take another I just can not utilize much more. A few more small game animals will be about it for me.

Al

[First-light]

I'm on Long Island until Thursday. Probably hunt Friday through the end which I think is Tuesday? Weather looks great but its going to take a big racked buck for me to pull the trigger. Like you Al I have enough meat in the freezer in fact my whole group does. It will be just nice to be out there and maybe I'll loosen the straps on the stands?