2022 Wolc Journal

[wolc123]

This weekend, I am getting things ready for opening of southern zone crossbow season, which starts next Saturday.  I got (3) of my (4) stands & blinds over at my parents place ready today.  
 

I started with the little hang on stand, back on the edge of a swamp, that I usually only hunt on opening day of gun season.  It’s been up in the same tree going on (5) years now.  The hard maple it’s in must be a real slow grower, because the chain isn’t even started to get grown over yet. That stand doesn’t have a rest, so I would need to use my easy  handling Barnett Recruit, if I used it during crossbow.  
 

A tree fell across the trail to my 2-story blind over there.  I cut up a Ranger load of firewood, to open that trail.  I noted the supporting concrete blocks were very crooked.  They must have heaved from the frost.  I went back for a bottle-jack, and straightened them out. 

Lastly, I cleared the leaves from the upper deck of that blind, and my field edge blind, from which I killed (2) buttons and a 3.5 year old buck last season.  I guess I got my $ 8.0 worth out of that padded office chair.  

Clearing leaves is what got me the only buck that I ever killed, from the upper deck of that two-story blind, so I debated leaving them.   That was probably the largest bodied buck I have ever killed (43” chest girth), but the antlers were nothing special.  
 

The year that I killed that girthy one, there was a scrape about 20 yards from the blind.  My hunt that afternoon started in a natural ground blind, about 150 yards away, in the middle of a a clover plot.  It just didn’t feel right there, so I departed for the upper deck of the two story blind in the woods, with about an hour of daylight remaining.  
 

Mt parents witnessed much of the action that day from their house.  They said that the big bodied buck entered the clover plot about 15 minutes after I departed.  The watched it stop eating, lift its head, and stare into the woods (where I was). 
 

He was listening to me clear the leaves from the upper deck, no doubt thinking that I was a rival buck freshening up that scrape.  I had wiped EverCalm on my boots and on the walls of my blind.  Soon he came thru, trying to look “big”, and offered me a 15 yard, broadside chip shot. 
 

The only stand I didn’t check on over there, is the little ladder stand, near the back of the woods, that I access by the trailer park around the corner.  That little platform won’t hold any leaves, so there is nothing much to get ready there.  I did speak to the trailer park superintendent a couple weeks ago and secured permission to park on the dead end road that ends about 100 yards from my stand.  I will hit that stand on an afternoon, when the wind is from the south.  It is too close the trailers, to hunt with a gun. 

Hopefully, I can verify the zeroes on my two crossbows tomorrow afternoon.  All of my stands and blinds are good to go at home.  

Edited October 29, 2022 by wolc123

[Pygmy]

Your two story blind is a redneck masterpiece....I love it...Hehehehe....

[wolc123]

19 minutes ago, Pygmy said:

Your two story blind is a redneck masterpiece....I love it...Hehehehe....

I love those construction style truck caps for making those.  The ladder racks work perfect for supporting the upper deck. The cap in the above pictures is in real good shape still.  The hydraulic cylinders that hold up the doors all still work.  
 

The one I have at home is in rougher shape, and I need to prop open the side doors with boards.  That makes for very good sunshades though, so I don’t get any glare in my scope when I am shooting at deer from it.  I should probably remove the cylinders and use boards to prop open the one over at my parents also:  

Do you like the marine plywood , shimmed sub-floor that I put in the upper deck of that one ? I couldn’t get the floor level enough for my comfort, with the lower supports, so that was the easiest “fix”.  

Edited October 30, 2022 by wolc123

[wolc123]

I hope to get my two crossbows zeroed today.  That’s usually pretty easy and can be done from the back deck.  If I knock that off fast enough, I will also run back to the range and do a little more shooting with my Marlin 512, to get ready for opening day of gun, in less than (3) weeks.  
 

My coworker finally made it back from VA with his car last week, and brought me back the ammo that I bought for that while I was down there.   Now I have plenty of slugs to do a little more tweaking and long range shooting.  I might try a few shots at 150 yards, maybe even 200.  

I have a few spots back there, where a 200 yard shot is a definite possibility.  I need to see what kind of group I can hold at that range with that gun and the new shooting sticks that I recently picked up.  
 

They seemed to work real well from the pop-up blind that I placed at the end of the gas line, in my foodplot court during the early September antlerless season.  I had a decent, steady site picture from them, on a broadside doe at about 175 yards down the gas line, with my Remington 870 smooth-bore, open-sighted slug gun.   That was about 75 yards too far to take the shot with that smoothbore. 
 

How nice it is in a “free” state with no limits on ammo purchase quantity and a pretty good selection.  Only trouble was, I had to fly back, so I had to leave the ammo (and my pocket knife) with him and it took a while to get it delivered.  
 

Before I can get those deer weapons checked, I need to finish a few other outside tasks.  I have about an hour’s worth of wood-splitting left, to finish up what’s left on my big trailer.  I have not used that 20 year old splitter since May, and the little Honda 5 hp engine on it gave me a little trouble yesterday. 
 

It has always ran and started very well, since I started using ethanol free gas in it about (10) years ago, but it started out very rough.  I ended up draining the quart or so of old ethanol-free gas from the tank (poured that into my old Ford tractor which runs on on almost anything).  I put some fresh, stabilized ethanol-free stuff into it, popped off the air cleaner, and squirted some carb and choke cleaner into it as it was sputtering.  It ran like it did when it was new again after a few minutes of that.  
 

After I get the remaining firewood split, I need to get up on the roof of the house and clean the leaves out of the gutters, sweep the wood stove chimney, and put electric heat tape in the gutters, to eliminate ice dams on the roof above the stove.  Then we will be ready for winter and the awesome feel of wood fires on real cold  days.  I feel sorry for those who go thru winter in upstate NY without a wood stove, especially with the fuel prices we will be seeing this winter.

Edited October 30, 2022 by wolc123

[wolc123]

A guy, about 3 miles down the road, killed a big buck with his bow last week.  My neighbor showed me a picture of it at church this morning.  It looked like a wide, tall-tined 8 or 10 point (I took a fast look), that probably scored 150 inches plus.   

Soon after that, he turned around, in the pew ahead of me, and said that his son in law had just hit a nice buck behind his house and it ran onto my place (he must have sent him a text).  He told him to wait and he would help track it when he got back.  He didn’t wait, but found his arrow with no blood on it, so he thinks he missed.

He said it was a 10 point, the largest of three bucks that have been running together back there.  They have been feeding in my foodplot court.  They cross that his place every day and bed in the woods behind his neighbor on the other side.  I have seen them several times, and I think this is the one he shot at.  I only counted 8 points though.

 

I finished up most of what I had planned for today.  I would have got it all done, but the same neighbor told me that his son in law noticed that my pop up blind was down.  It took me a while to make a new top pole, to replace one that snapped, and get it staked down.

Due to that little glitch, I didn’t get as much range work done as I had planned with my Marlin 512.  I fired just two 2-3/4” Hornady SST’s.  One from 50 yards, which struck 1.5” over the bull, and one from 100 yards struck 3” over.  The ballistic chart indicates that would put it right on at 150 yards and about 6.5” low at 200.  
 

I also figured out how to get the Redfield Revolution scope on that gun focused better, with my single prescription glasses on.  It’s just as clear now as the old Redfield Widefield on my ML, and I would feel comfortable with a 200 yard shot from the shooting sticks.  
 

Before I started any of that work, I finished splitting the firewood, that we will need to heat the house this winter, and got all the work done up on the roof (cleared the gutters, installed the heat tape, and swept the chimney).  

I ran out of daylight before I got my Barnett Recruit crossbow hitting where I wanted.  It is hitting a little too high, so I need to adjust the red/green dot sight down a few clicks.  I’ll have to work on that a little more this week after work.  My Center-point Sniper was right on though, and is good to go as is.  

[wolc123]

I took this picture today, of the inside of my two-story blind at home.  I noticed that the back of the floor inside is rotted out, and needs a piece of marine plywood nailed over it.  That will have to wait until next year.  The inner part is still plenty solid enough to get me thru this season.  
 

I built this one on an old snowmobile trailer.  I used to move it around, but this has been its permanent home, for about the last (10) years.  Quite  a few deer have been killed off both levels of this one.  It didn’t cost me a dime to make, from “junk” that I had on hand.  

 

The best feature of these two-story blinds, is that there are no “blind-spots” on the upper deck, and they can be hunted in any weather conditions.  

I guess that’s actually the 2nd and 3rd best features.  The best one was the cost - free.  
 

I've not seen another blind that can match any of that, at any price.  

Edited October 31, 2022 by wolc123

[wolc123]

3 minutes ago, blackbeltbill said:

Looks like you are all set for the Winter.

I didn’t get as much firewood made, as I usually do this season, because of the big barn demolition project that took up most of my free time.  Fortunately, there is hundreds of standing dead ash trees out back.  Those can be cut split and burnt on the same day, if I run out of seasoned firewood.  I don’t know of any other tree species, that you can do that with.  

[wolc123]

I finished dialing in my Barnett Recruit tonight.  I had to crank it down 1/2 turn, on the factory green/red dot sight, to get it where I wanted with 100 gr field tips. 
 

I switched from 125 o-ring type mechanical broadheads to 100 gr NAP Spitfires, after I used up all that I had.  I killed two deer with the last of my 125’s, but the last one (using it resharpened) wasn’t the best blood trail.  I had to pull out my pocket New Testament and pray for help from JC to find that 3.5 year old 8-point, back in 2019.  I went with 100 gr NAP spitfires because it was hard to find 125 gr.  
 

My Recruit is now right on at 10 yards with the top dot, at 20 yards with the middle dot (first photo), and 3” low at 40 yards with the bottom dot.  I would not shoot further than 40 yards at a deer with it.  
 

My Centerpoint Sniper 370 is right on at 15 yards with the top crosshairs, at 25 yards with the second from top, at 35 yards with the 3rd from top, and at 50 yards with the bottom.  I would not shoot further than 50 yards at a deer with it.

Of these two cheap, entry-level crossbows, I definitely prefer the 2014 Barnett Recruit.  It is not at all front heavy, and handles offhand as easy as my Ruger 10/22 carbine.  I can also reload it much faster with a direct pull, using those two little chain/clip T-handles I made up after I lost my rope pulley device (in the excitement after killing my largest bodied buck with it back in 2017).  
 

I will most likely hunt with the Recruit, until my buck tag is punched (needs to have at least 3 points on a side or clearly be 2.5 or older).  After that, I’ll see if I can fill a doe tag, or (4), with the Sniper.
 

 I can use the Recruit from any of my stands, blinds, or even offhand, while the front-heavy sniper would be limited to those with good rests.  That, and a proven track record, are more important to me than the extra 10 yards of effective range that the Sniper gives me.  
 

 

I didn’t  crossbow hunt as much as I would have liked, the last couple years, due to our youngest daughter’s high school playoff field-hockey schedule.  That may or may not let off a little this year, depending on how they do on the college games this weekend.  
 

Im ready to hunt now, just not sure how much I will be able to do.  

[wolc123]

I just did a little more shooting with the Centerpoint Sniper 370.

Top crosshair was right on at 13 yards:

Second from top was right on at 30 yards (no picture)

Two shot group with third from top crosshairs at 40 yards:

Two shop group with bottom crosshairs at 50 yards:

All using the oem scope and 100 gr field tips.  All shots were from a rail, similar to what is on most of my blinds.  The wind was blowing from the right side at about 6 mph. 
 

 

Edited November 2, 2022 by wolc123

[wolc123]

I didn’t get to hunt as much as I  had hoped to, on opening day of SZ crossbow, just the first hour at home and the last two over at my parents.  No deer seen in either spot.  I saw a nice sized deer out in the clover plot, behind my parents, at sunset the day prior, when we picked up my mom to take her to our daughter’s college playoff field-hockey game.  They lost that game, so I will get a little more crossbow hunting this year, than I did last year, when I lost most of it for the NY state high school tournament.  
 

My parents  said that deer has been coming out every other night, so I guess I verified that, when it didn’t show on Saturday evening.  I am going to try and hit that spot Friday and Saturday evening this week.  That way, if it keeps up the pattern, I’ll be in position for a shot on one of the days.  

I officially logged my first buck “pass”, in the SZ this year, when a 4-pointer that had a decent sized body, offered me a 15 yard broadside shot this morning.  I was up in my two-story blind at home.  He came out of the heavy cover at 7:22 and took a few bites of clover.  
 

It didn’t look like he was rutting yet.  His neck wasn’t swelled up and he showed more interest in eating clover than scent trailing does.  I’ll take that shot, if he shows up again next weekend.  This Friday evening, is going to be my last crossbow hunt of the year when I am “fussy” with my buck tag.  
 

I am most certainly not one of those guys who will pass the same deer on the last hunt as he will on his first.  A deer with tiny antlers and a small body has a lot more meat on it than those paper tags.  That said, it has been more than 10 years since I “settled” for an antlered buck with less than 3 points on a side.   
 

I have now passed a chip shot at a spike, on the second morning of NZ rifle season, and todays at that 4-pointer, on the second morning of SZ crossbow season.   I would have shot the 4-pointer with my rifle up north (they count at least double to me up there, due to the superior scenery and lack of hunting pressure).  He needed at least another point on a side, to draw a bolt out of me, in the first half of my SZ crossbow season.  
 

I hunted the first two hours and the last 5 hours of daylight today.  I didn’t see anything but fat squirrels tonight.  It was kind of comical watching a big grey climb up the tree right next to me and not pay any attention to me.  About an hour later, another one came by.  I removed my broadhead bolt and reached for one with field tip.  That motion sent that squirrel scurrying for cover.  
 

I was liking the way that my Centerpoint sniper was shooting, my last practice session, so I used that for all of my hunts this weekend.   I’ll probably use it next weekend also, because of its extra 10 yards of effective range.   
 

 

 

Edited November 6, 2022 by wolc123

[wolc123]

I ended my crossbow season tonight with another pass at home, this time on an even smaller antlered buck than the 4-pointer I passed the first Sunday morning.  This one looked like he had a 3” spike on one side and 4” on the other, just like the one I passed on the second day of rifle season, up in the northern zone.  
 

It wouldn’t have been a chip shot, but at 40 yards, I think I could have made it.  That was the range where I killed this coyote, the previous morning.  
 

I wasn’t feeling  comfortable in my small back woods stand, so I tried moving to my central natural blind, at 4:00 pm.  The little spike was feeding in front of that, blocking my route.  He didn’t see me and I knelt down.  If I didn’t have a 5:00 am flight out of state in the morning, I’d have taken the shot.  
 

I hunted the upper deck of my two story blind for the first hour yesterday morning and today’s.  I saw the biggest buck of the year this morning from there, crossing the hay field about 80 yards away.  He looked like a 3.5 plus year old 10 pointer.  
 

I didn’t see any deer back there Saturday morning but 6 to 8 coyotes crossed that hay field and I was able to kill the one that got to 40 yards and stopped there, dropping him on the spot, with a bolt to the base of the neck.  
 

I didn’t see any deer Saturday evening over at my parents, at the edge of the clover plot, but I saw a 2.5 yr old 8-pointer, and a big 1.5 or small 2.5 year old 6 pointer over there Friday evening.  Both were a little out of range. 
 

I used my Barnett Recruit on all the hunts those last (3) days including the one where I killed the coyote.  Still haven’t killed anything with the Centerpoint Sniper, and I guess that will have to wait till next year. I saw total of (5) different bucks (3) at home and (2) at my parents and no antlerless deer thru (10) hunts.  Only the spike today and the (4) pointer last Sunday at home were within range.  
 

I have to go out of state for work all week, so I’ll have a  buck tag left, for late ML season.  The best thing about this years crossbow season, is that there is one less coyote out back and it looks like the broadhead that I used on him can be saved.  He did bite the bolt in half though, trying to pull it out of his lower neck. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[wolc123]

Thanks to the blizzard, I am stuck out in sunny southern CA and missing my first opening day in 40 years.  My cousin is hunting our farm today.  Hopefully, he gets a crack at that big buck I saw back there last Sunday morning.  That would save me a taxidermy fee and lots of freezer space.

There’s no bear tracks on the beach volleyball courts out here, just pay loader, seagull and people.    They must be scraping up the beach sand to raise funds and/or to lower the sea level and try to compensate for global warming ice cap meltage.  The high is supposed to be in the upper 70’s here today.

Hopefully, the spotted bay bass will be biting at sunrise in about an hour.

 

[Four Seasons]

1 hour ago, wolc123 said:

Thanks to the blizzard, I am stuck out in sunny southern CA and missing my first opening day in 40 years.  My cousin is hunting our farm today.  Hopefully, he gets a crack at that big buck I saw back there last Sunday morning.  That would save me a taxidermy fee and lots of freezer space.

There’s no bear tracks on the beach volleyball courts out here, just pay loader, seagull and people.    They must be scraping up the beach sand to raise funds and/or to lower the sea level and try to compensate for global warming ice cap meltage.  The high is supposed to be in the upper 70’s here today.

Hopefully, the spotted bay bass will be biting at sunrise in about an hour.

 

Not sure if your on the losing end of this stick. Crazy wind and amounts of snow is making things nasty. You might want to enjoy what your facing. Lol

[wolc123]

58 minutes ago, Four Seasons said:

Not sure if your on the losing end of this stick. Crazy wind and amounts of snow is making things nasty. You might want to enjoy what your facing. Lol

Maybe so, I narrowly avoided a skunk literally and figuratively this morning.  I hooked a Spanish mackerel, maybe 13” long, but it flopped off before I could hoist it up to the pier.  The natives down at the other end landed about a dozen of those, while I was out there this morning, putting them in 5 gallon buckets.

At about 7:15, I finally hooked and landed a decent spotted bay bass, maybe 14”, a bit above average size.  Very good fight, pound per pound nearly the equal of our freshwater smallmouth bass, back in NY.  That was the best fish I saw landed on the little Pepper Park pier this morning.

On my walk in, a dude walking his dog warned me of a skunk ,laying in ambush, behind a trash can.  It smelled like one of the aborigins, down in the other end of the pier wasn’t so fortunate, and must have taken a full load of spray.

My wife just texted that they got another foot of snow overnight.  I’m going to run  over to Walmart and pick up some gloves and a warm hat, for my car dig out at the Buffalo airport tomorrow night. I’ll also get some spf 15 suntan lotion, for out at the pool today. I got just a little burnt yesterday.
 

 I was going to go to the beach today, but I don’t feel like dealing with the weekend crowds and traffic.  It was nice out there yesterday afternoon.  I had my best meal of the week at my favorite west coast bar & grill.  Mahi tacos and seared ahi.

It was chilly out there this morning and I was thankful that I had my jacket in the car.  It’s warming up very fast though and supposed to hit upper 70’s this afternoon.  Good day for the hotel pool.  I’m still looking forward to getting back home for some Thanksgiving deer hunting, in the snow.  

 

 

[Four Seasons]

7 hours ago, wolc123 said:

Maybe so, I narrowly avoided a skunk literally and figuratively this morning.  I hooked a Spanish mackerel, maybe 13” long, but it flopped off before I could hoist it up to the pier.  The natives down at the other end landed about a dozen of those, while I was out there this morning, putting them in 5 gallon buckets.

At about 7:15, I finally hooked and landed a decent spotted bay bass, maybe 14”, a bit above average size.  Very good fight, pound per pound nearly the equal of our freshwater smallmouth bass, back in NY.  That was the best fish I saw landed on the little Pepper Park pier this morning.

On my walk in, a dude walking his dog warned me of a skunk ,laying in ambush, behind a trash can.  It smelled like one of the aborigins, down in the other end of the pier wasn’t so fortunate, and must have taken a full load of spray.

My wife just texted that they got another foot of snow overnight.  I’m going to run  over to Walmart and pick up some gloves and a warm hat, for my car dig out at the Buffalo airport tomorrow night. I’ll also get some spf 15 suntan lotion, for out at the pool today. I got just a little burnt yesterday.
 

 I was going to go to the beach today, but I don’t feel like dealing with the weekend crowds and traffic.  It was nice out there yesterday afternoon.  I had my best meal of the week at my favorite west coast bar & grill.  Mahi tacos and seared ahi.

It was chilly out there this morning and I was thankful that I had my jacket in the car.  It’s warming up very fast though and supposed to hit upper 70’s this afternoon.  Good day for the hotel pool.  I’m still looking forward to getting back home for some Thanksgiving deer hunting, in the snow.  

 

 

And a couple shovels. Hopefully you remember what lot you parked in because you probably won’t be able to see the color of any cars buried in the lot. Lol

[wolc123]

24 minutes ago, Four Seasons said:

And a couple shovels. Hopefully you remember what lot you parked in because you probably won’t be able to see the color of any cars buried in the lot. Lol

I was pretty close to the exit of the long term lot, aisle 11.  I picked up a folding camp shovel the other day, and stuck that in my tool bag, which will go in checked luggage on the planes.  Last I checked, the Buffalo airport had 2 ft.  I hope I can dig my wife’s minivan out in under an hour Sunday night / Monday morning, with that shovel.  It has sliding side doors, so getting into it shouldn’t be a problem. 
 

They didn’t have much of a glove selection at National City Walmart, here in southern CA.  I got some thin wool ones for liners and extra large leather work gloves for outer protection.  They had a pretty good “Arctic” hat though.

 

[wolc123]

I wondered who parked their boat in my fishing spot, out here in San Diego bay.  Turns out, it is the 350 foot long seized asset, motor yacht “Amadea”, which formerly belonged to a Russian oligarch.   
 

It sounds like it will be going up for public auction soon.  It has a 60 ft beam.  I couldn’t quite reach it, casting my 1/4 oz jig, but it looked like the hull was very well polished.  
 

One of my favorite techniques for bass, is to bounce the jig off the hull of big shiny boats, and let it flutter down in front of those that are hiding in the shade underneath.  

There was a guy up next to it with a pedal boat that looked to be trying that this afternoon.  I tried fishing the last two hours of daylight from the pier  this afternoon, but didn’t have a bite, nor did I see anything landed by a pretty good crowd on the pier.
 

 I guess all the action is in the morning out there.  It sure was more comfortable in the afternoon though.
 

Edited November 20, 2022 by wolc123

[wolc123]

I got out for the last hour of daylight on Monday and seen one deer about 10 minutes after sunset.  If it had antlers, they were tiny, and it was just a little too far for a shot at that hour.

This morning (Thanksgiving), was the first I have been able to hunt, of sz gun season.  I saw a single deer on my walk back to my natural blind, 1/2 hour before sunrise.  I showered with scent free soap, and deployed Evercalm, when I got to the blind, plus wiped some on my boots.

At 7:30, deer started converging on my position from three directions, all of them antlerless.   I shot, what looked to be the largest, as it stood in the middle of my “tall tine tubers” patch.

Whitetail Institute ought to call those “tiny tine turnips”.  It turned out that deer was a spike, with 2-3/4” on the left and 1” on the right.  
 

Oh well, that’s another filled dmp tag and now I got oysters.  He had a big enough liver in him for (2) meals, and a 37-1/4” chest girth.  Best part is, I can still hunt for a big one, up north later this weekend. 
 

The Good Lord always comes thru when I need Him.  It would be hard to imagine a better deer than this one this blessed Thanksgiving morning. 

 

 

[Four Seasons]

2 hours ago, wolc123 said:

I got out for the last hour of daylight on Monday and seen one deer about 10 minutes after sunset.  If it had antlers, they were tiny, and it was just a little too far for a shot at that hour.

This morning (Thanksgiving), was the first I have been able to hunt, of sz gun season.  I saw a single deer on my walk back to my natural blind, 1/2 hour before sunrise.  I showered with scent free soap, and deployed Evercalm, when I got to the blind, plus wiped some on my boots.

At 7:30, deer started converging on my position from three directions, all of them antlerless.   I shot, what looked to be the largest, as it stood in the middle of my “tall tine tubers” patch.

Whitetail Institute ought to call those “tiny tine turnips”.  It turned out that deer was a spike, with 2-3/4” on the left and 1” on the right.  
 

Oh well, that’s another filled dmp tag and now I got oysters.  He had a big enough liver in him for (2) meals, and a 37-1/4” chest girth.  Best part is, I can still hunt for a big one, up north later this weekend. 
 

The Good Lord always comes thru when I need Him.  It would be hard to imagine a better deer than this one this blessed Thanksgiving morning. 

 

 

Strange how some bucks grow their first set like that. Late born, lack of good eats…Doubtful.. or Genetics. Either way. A Thanksgiving Freebie for sure in the DMP department. 

[wolc123]

Just now, Four Seasons said:

Strange how some bucks grow their first set like that. Late born, lack of good eats…Doubtful.. or Genetics. Either way. A Thanksgiving Freebie for sure in the DMP department. 

 I was very thankful that the spike on his left was not 1/4” longer.  Hunting for grouse and bear up north, later this weekend, just wouldn’t have been as fun, as hunting for bucks.  I had to do that last year, after punching my buck tag at home, and I didn’t see one of either.  
 

 

 

[Four Seasons]

1 hour ago, wolc123 said:

 I was very thankful that the spike on his left was not 1/4” longer.  Hunting for grouse and bear up north, later this weekend, just wouldn’t have been as fun, as hunting for bucks.  I had to do that last year, after punching my buck tag at home, and I didn’t see one of either.  
 

 

 

Don’t do it around Ft Drum without Snowshoes. Still 3ft plus in the woods. The deer are living right in the uncut corn fields now. Crazy Deep!!

[wolc123]

3 hours ago, Four Seasons said:

Don’t do it around Ft Drum without Snowshoes. Still 3ft plus in the woods. The deer are living right in the uncut corn fields now. Crazy Deep!!

You ain’t kidding there.  I never have seen this much snow up here.  My father in law had some snowshoes that he says I can use. 
 

They have been seeing quite a few deer the last few days, but none with antlers.  I came real close to taking out a big buck with our suv, on rt 81 in Sandy creek about an hour ago.  It was standing broadside in the right lane.  I was doing 75 when I saw it.  I breaked hard and swerved at the last minute, probably getting within an inch of it.  Looked like a solid  3.5 yr plus 8 or 10 point.  
 

 

[wolc123]

It turned out to be an action-packed Thanksgiving weekend, up in the Northern zone.  I saw a total of (5) deer, and at least  (2) of them were legal bucks.  One of those was a small spike, probably the same one that I passed on the second day of rifle up here.  I passed him again, even closer on Sunday morning.

I saved my best spot up there for Sunday morning, the day we drove home.  The snow was melted down to under a foot by then, so getting back there wasn’t too bad.  I saw an unidentified deer up on a hilltop, just before sunrise, and the little buck came by about 15 minutes after.  
 

A big doe came by, heading the opposite direction, just after the spike walked away.  About (10) minutes after she disappeared behind me, I heard sticks breaking in that direction.  That turned out to be a buck with one side antler broken off and 2 or 3 points on the other side.  He looked like a 2.5 year old, based on body size.

He was too close for me to lift my gun, so I waited until he made a move, before I did.  He bolted off after recognizing me at about 15 yard range. My first shot hit outside of his vitals and I was not able to get off another, because my Marlin 336BL did not cycle the next round smoothly.   I lost the blood after about 4 hours of following.
 

 I hope he is going to be ok.  I think he might be, because he went up a very steep hill, at least 400 yards into the blood trail.  It was slowing to a trickle , and the blood had stopped completely beyond that.

I also saw a doe, closer to my in-laws house, on my hunt the evening before.  It was only on my first hunt up there Friday morning, in the rain under the shooting range shelter, that I didn’t see any deer.  

Doe close to house Friday evening:

 

Start of buck’s (lost) blood trail:

I’d still be searching up there, if I didn’t have to get my wife and kids home, for obligations back home last night.  I am thankful to have not killed the big buck with our suv on the drive up Thursday night, but it would have been nice to have got that one Sunday morning, with my 30/30.  
 

I suppose I was due to loose one, after killing the first (3) deer that I had shot at with center fire rifles.   Maybe I’ll ditch the Marlin lever, and go back to my 3/0 Ruger 30/06. That will definitely be the case, if I can’t find ammo for the 30/30, and correct the follow up shot cycling issue prior to next season.  

I’m also not impressed with the fiber optic sights that I put on the Marlin.  They are not at all visible before sunrise or after sunset.  That would have been ok 2 years ago.  Now that NY state gave us those extra half hours, before and after sun, I think I’ll put a low power scope on that lever. 

 

If I could have got crosshairs on that buck yesterday for that shot, he’d be at the processors right now for sure.  Two lessons that I learned the hard way are: I won’t hunt deer with that gun again until it cycles a second and third shot smoothly, and it has a scope on it.  

I’ll bring along my 16 gauge side by side shotgun, and some slugs, to use up north for deer in the rain next time.  I know that will put two quick shots right where I want them, inside of 40 yards.  That will also let me do some grouse hunting, if my buck tag gets filled.  Those seem to be making a comeback up there.  
 
 

 

[wolc123]

I saw my first deer in the southern zone, since Thanksgiving morning, on my last gun hunt of the season at my parents last night.  I had planned on hunting my swamp edge stand deep in the woods over there, but they saw a single deer the evening before at about 4:00, crossing the clover plot behind their house.

That’s all I needed to hear, to ditch my plans for the small, uncomfortable hang-on stand in the swamp, in favor of my large comfortable platform stand on the edge of the clover plot.

Unfortunately the deer was late (about 25 minutes past sunset) and I couldn’t quite  make out the crosshairs on my old Weaver 1.5x scope.  It looked like a tall, but thin doe or very small antlered buck.  Had it been 2 minutes earlier, I’d have had a nice, quartering-to, 60 yard shot.  
 

It just walked on by, without stopping to eat.  That clover plot definitely needs rework, and that is in the plans for the off-season next year.  Im going to do about 1/4 of it in turnips, and the remainder in wheat/white clover.  
 

I just finished cleaning and oiling my 3 center-fire deer guns and they are all back on the safe.  Looking forward to ML.  I am hunting with that  Thursday and Sunday mornings and afternoons.
 

 First hunt will be that swamp-edge stand over at my parents Thursday morning, then probably back to the clover plot edge in the afternoon.  If that deer stays on the same schedule, I think the Redfield 2-7x scope on my ML will be a little brighter and maybe give me a shot.  

 

[wolc123]

I made it to that little hang-on stand, deep in the woods on the edge of the swamp, about 20 minutes before sunrise Thursday morning.  The first hour or so was nice with light wind, and a light dusting of snow.  Then the wind started picking up and frozen rain started.  

The wind kept increasing along with the temperature, which turned the frozen rain into regular rain.  I had a rain jacket on, but I was worried about keeping my scope clear, (2) hours of that tiny , uncomfortable stand was all I had in me.  No deer showed up.  
 

I moved to the upper deck of my two story truck cap blind and put up my tree umbrella to keep my scope clear in the rain.  To many “blind-spots” down below, but I held out until lunch time up above, where the umbrella kept out the rain and the maple tree blocked most of the wind:

No deer seen from that spot either, just a few grey squirrels.  I had lunch with my parents, then missed the afternoon hunt because I had to drive out to Rochester to bring our youngest daughter home from college for Christmas break. 
 

No hunting for me Friday or Saturday, because I am downstate getting our oldest daughter home from college.  I am very thankful that she has had enough of that, after 1-1/2 years.  We just had a damn good last dinner at my favorite food-joint out here (the Eldorado diner in Elmsford). Good food and great service but it wouldn’t bother me at all if I never set foot on the east side of the Hudson again.  

I hope to get out ML hunting at home on Sunday.  I’ll probably hit the upper deck of my two-story blind there, for the first two hours.  I’ll try to spend the last (4) hours in my natural blind, which has already produced (2) deer for me this fall. You gotta play the hot hand right ?  
 

There’s no corn left on the plot back by that, but it looked like the deer were hitting the Whitetail Institute “tall tine Tubers” pretty good.   Quite a few of the purple-tops were eaten in half, last time I was back there, and about 1/4 of the green tops were eaten off.