ray koziatek

white county east of monon on 16

you need to have 5 to 10 acres with good cover that you NEVER go into..during season.the land i was blessed to hunt in Indiana was off limits to all of us we were only allowed to set up on the edges of the 65 acre of woods..if the wind was west we approached and hunted the east side ...ect..ect the only advantage there was the other 200 acres of land surronded the woods and no one else could set up on the edges..you might even allow a larger "safty zone"..google earth has updated most of its satellite pics,with history back to the 90's for some areas..oh when we did shoot a deer we would wait till noon and drive in with tractor or truck if possable and always gut the deer far away from the woods near the barn seemed kinda different to me, but seeing 15 to 20 different bucks in 65 acres with many smashers ,convinced me that Don knew what he was doing and it worked.. and worked well..oh and when Don was alive he NEVER allowed anyone but his 1 son to bowhunt,after he passed they let us bow hunt 2012 and the first week of gun season was the worst we had seen in 7 years the deer just plain oll locked down ...I could tell ya stories of different "Buck Bedrooms" I have found over the years ,but in 40 years times have changed ,with lands passing hands and posted signs plastered on every tree..If yer not too far from Corning next spring when i return I would be happy to walk the land with ya and give ya some advise..

Big boys are a different breed of animal,they will pattern you faster than yer smokepole,and rarely make a mistake. After the stupid season (mating) is over they usually find good cover and rest all day. Quite often with a smaller buck for a second pair of eyes. Most post season Big bucks I have gotten were at last light moving on their own or with slooow still hunting and lots of glassing along the way.Many of my bigger bucks were just a antler sticking above a log or curve of a hill,with a nerve racking 1 or 2 hour wait for them to stand and streach. 3 times I have shot the big boy with a 8 pt (2) and a 9pt(1) with them and the smaller buck let me walk to the dead deer within 40 yds of them ,as if they felt safe because the big one i shot was not running or warning them. Tho I have hunted for over 40 years ,the last 15 years have accounted for most of my big ones.. Younger hunters like young fishermen have so many more tools (like this site) now a days yer really lucky to be able to learn things some of us did on our own or at a small camp fire...We used to look at a magizine for big racks,(not playboy),,,well that too.Yer right on with the "different travel areas".. now learn to read buck tracks from doe in the snow,and you will learn a lot. Being in the right spot at the right time is all their is too it....you have heard stories of hunters sitting 5 min for their trophy to appear and sometimes its 10 hours..they use those trails because they feel safe on them,and ya ain't gonna get them sitting on the couch at noon..last year I sat almost 10 hrs with a bow for my biggest bow buck, and after sneaking up a hill and sitting for less than 5 min i shot my biggest buck with a gun. BUT their were many many years where i hunted hard for that split second look and saw the deer before he saw or smelt ,or heard me..Kinda like this year where i only saw 1 small buck (earlier story)all season....but I still had a great day everyday I could hunt of which there were many,as I'm almost retired and self employed...P.S. Im still learning,as are the deer. I think,correction I KNOW with increase of bow hunters in the woods now the deer are more nocternal,and carefull. If Iknew 40 years ago what i have learned in the last 40 years (15 more like it). every buck I shot would of been a monster....but you know from my first buck a 4 pt many years ago at 16 ,and every one in between even the does I still get as excited and enjoy the finality of the hunt as i do today and wouldnt trade one memory or wish I did something else with my time on this Earth...yes this year was a doe only year for me ,but after discovering 6 yes 6 new tree stands at the top of the hill I hunt I figured out where the bucks went to hide !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I think,,,,, NEXT YEAR will tell...If the old bones will carey me to my new hunting grounds...

30 bucks

next year.....ok not.............. little alberta buck from where my brother hunts..

done that once was spanking the landlocks at smith park .....then reality set in as i went up 414 hill towards corning towing a 22 ft boat,that was a little hairy with the altitude change and increased snow accumulation

DUDE sammy pac gold is darn near priceless////

Maybe i'm fartin in the wind,shurly not bragging,and maybe a little whining. Well 2012 was my best year hunting as far as big racks ,2013 was the most humbling with no racks...My boots are the same with the "R" on the left and the "L" on the right..Seems like I hear more creaking when I walk and the o'll back sings now rather than just talking...maybe thats the problem...I have put in my normal 40 days plus in the woods and wore out another pair of boots...cut up my lucky shirt for emergency toilet paper ,and paddeled the canoe over 20 miles (1/2 mile each way to my secret spot}.. I have seen many small bucks during bow season ,but a big time hunter like me would never shoot a little buck.(thats gonna be my first change next year)...but i still will dream BIG. Well I decide yesterday to go in the "Brown its down" mode for the last 2 days,I ain't gonna eat no tag soup...How was i to know another hunter was in the same mode as he almost shot me in the ass when i was taking a dump in the woods ,he was upset about the whole thing but after seeing my under ware with the big brown strip I understood his mistake ,guess i might stick with the pink panties during muzzy season too. Today I hit the trail with temps looming in the single digets saw 1 doe and got a service call...........AFTER I had reached the top of the hill,so i shuffled back to the van and became a hero..biggest problem was having to sit down to pee for 2 hours after comming out of the cold,o'll winkie did not want to take another chance of feeling those cold temps and went into hiding. At 3pm I head to a farm I just got permission to hunt and after viewing it on google earth I set out to follow my plan. Walk look for brown and shoot in general direction.. I start down the edge of the field and after 20 min realize Im going in circles ,thats when it dawns on me my wife was having fun with me when she mislabled my boots,after changing them around i feel a sudden comfort with my boots on the correct feet.As i crest the knoll of the field their are 2 brown things in front of me about 130 yds out.I take a tiny step off to the side behind overhanging brush and break a tiny goldenrod .well i might as well of broke a 2x4 they both looked up and the stare down begins..the one just a tad further away starts to feed .then the other does the same..but as smart does do she snaps her head back to me,but I are smarter and didn't move..well after 3 or 4 more times she drops her guard and starts eating . Well the nearest anything to lean on was 5 ft into the goldenrod and I knew it was offhand or bust..so I waited for anything but a head on shot well deer digging in 10in of snow don't move much,she turned almost broadside .I hate offhand with the muzzy do to the tiny delay from trigger pull to that bang sound,not to mention creekin knees and a singing back..Due to the knoll between us i couldnt get a low heart shot so i decide to cap the heart and take out 1 lung....BOOM Hey I Hit Something I could tell by the sound but even Triple 7 leaves a little dust in the air after the shot..So I creek,shuffle and ,sing over to where they were standing,and find brown hair confirming I hit something Brown..Well I should of went for the shoulder lung shot as she plowed through multafloral rose,brush and undergroth most rabbets would avoid ...so I knew I had a dead deer running..it took me 20 min to crawl 30 yds through that crap and the only blood sign was from my face and hands.As I found a tiny opening where I could look up without poking out my eyes there she lay..that was the easy part now I had to drag it back out to the field. Thats the trouble with heart shots not 1 drop of deer blood,but it was better than another yard in that brush.Yes sir another fine hunting season in the books,and the bright side is I have all tender deer meat and don't have to fork out 1 nickle for a deer mount ,tho that doe has me thinking of getting it mounted as a reminder of the hunt..but hey i still will have the scares from all the sticks and prickers...Well hope ya all enjoy my pain ,and if ya hear singing creaking and shuffling sounds next year don't shoot it's probly just me.. Ray K.

I tried them years ago when i first got my T/C could not get a good group at 100 yds 6in...,Another guy next to me gave me 3 250gr. sabots had me drop to 100 gr powder (triple 7 pellets) all 3 were within 1/2 in of each in a 2 in circle. I sight in 1 in high at 100yds and am good to 150 yds....Im about 3 in high at 50 yds ... and at 50 yds the bullets should be almost in the same hole or within 1/4 in...Every gun shoots a tad different as do shooters,and maybe the belts I bought back then have been improved on over the years ...but as the old saying goes if it works for you and yer gun stick with it..

could ya run it down to the Fla. keys for me to test out this winter??

junk,,,,, next question

not upset dude just fillin ya in as to why i left it lay ...with over 40 years hunting ,and growing up in the country, and spending a majority of my youth playing in the woods ,I have seen 1 or 2 strange things over the years..Tell Ya what when i get my return call from around oct 15th.. I will inform the dec of the wounded,sick deer..as far as another big buck Ive always said ...the right place at the right time...Thanks Tho.

't' been trying to get to the bottom of the "Gun" hunting during bow season for a few years. This year I never even got a return call when it started to happen again. So I should call the Dec and say ,I'm the guy who called in the gun shots during bow season. No one returned my call ,well gosh darn I just shot a wounded deer ,looks like a small cal. round busted its lower jaw, too bad their wasn't a law against guys shooting deer in bow season with a small cal.rifle...I would like to drag it 400 yds fill out my tag drive it home ,and wait for you to show up to take the emancapated deer and,re issue another tag..just so i'M legal ..hello ,,hello,,,hello ,,,yes i'll wait...

who ever picked those colors knew what they were doing...and the red eyes are good too..deadly west end combos

the doe is really ugly in the 5th from the bottom pic,at least it weighed over 250lbs

how cool was that eh? thanks.

well last year I shot a 165 class with my bow and a 155 with my gun..well this year has been payback so far..passed many small bucks with the bow and filled my doe tag with the gun. After hunting my secret spot for 5 days without seeing one deer I gave it one last try yesterday ,as i was supposed to leave on a trip till the end of gun season. Well seeing just does all day i was gonna shoot the first deer with horns from spike to whatever... At 355 i tear down my last tree setup and head to the canoe.I'll be darned if a light buck didn't back track my footsteps to the river,Some snow and soft ground and 40 plus years made the ID easy..with only 10 min of time before sunset I see the buck as i approach the canoe getting a drink . I lay down perfect 100 yd shot and squeeze as he turns yup i miss and he runs down river another 50 yds and stands behind brush..So I get in the canoe and let the current coast me to him...yup the fat end of the canoe (me) spins and goes backwards. I slowly paddle around and bump the shore 20 yds from him..at the same time i stand with 1 foot in 6in of water for stability and he bolts across in front of me at 15 yds . I pull up to see my scope on high power. I knew i had to lower the gun and crank down to 3x he had about 1 more jmp to clear the bank at 50 yds away when i pulled up and dropped him in his tracks on the run (in the heart too) . it was a small 8pt did I mention small...well the rack was maybe 14 in but its body was puny and all bones i struggled with all 90lbs of him . I knew it was way way to thin so i disected him to find a small hard belley with almost no food in it . Then i looked it over to find someone shot it in the lower jaw with a small calliber rifle .the woond was heald so it had to be from bow season. somehow this poor thing survived a month or so without eating and it showed ,it looked like a emancapated dog from a TV advertisment. Needless to say I didnt tag him as I felt the meat might be unsafe . But I had the pleasure of putting him out of his suffering.. The good news is the airlines canceled my flight till friday and I have a few more days to hunt...if not i still have my photos from past years...Ya can't say I havent been blessed but hey I got 3 days and muzzy season..................

Dasa my boy,now yer thinkin outa the box..those big boys are a different spieces for shure..even in cold weather them biguns will hold the cover till dark (most times),and near those orchards im surprised they havent dug tunnels.Also Its nice to hit every shot but do some homework where to aim..the ears and tail wont put them down,try the lungs or heart area..Looks like you brushed his eyebrows to match yours ,or he was starting to grow a second set of antlers,are you near the nuke plant? Guess I can't talk much this year tho I have seen 2 shooters this year with no shot within 250 yds, I think im in the tunnel area as every thing has dissapeard where i hunt . spent the last week in Michigan with the family and next week taking my mom to florida,so its muzzy or bust..when i get home.Now ya got something to hang above yer tv..congrats Jerry.

http://www.floridakeysfishingreports.com/ In the keys their are many many good charters,the bigest issue is the weather ,tho normally good ,offshore wind could be a issue. tuff to say who is the best ,due to the different styles of fishing,fly,flats,bridge,troll, pick a spieces of fish then find the best Capt.for that one

their is a parasite that causes this,lives in the meat and can withstand high temps....have you noticed your bone falling off ? or getting shorter?