Gator

It's my pleasure, man! Hunting by myself just doesn't give me the thrill it used to, and seeing one of my friends be successful is way more of a reward these days. And since I don't have a kid of my own to pass this sport onto, I'm looking forward to Bradán (I didn't know which of the hundred possible spellings he uses, so I went with the old Irish version) taking his first deer over there. Only a couple more years of my dropping trees on his head until he's ready to hunt lol! At this rate, he'll be expert at setting and trimming tree stands - did you tell him that the buck you shot was out of the stand he helped us to put up in September? I bet he'd get a kick out of that.

If anybody wants to borrow Brian's silver spoon, I'd guess he's done with it for a while . Seriously, the guy shot that killer drop tine on opening day, then the next afternoon had a ten point tending a doe at fifty yards for an hour. He tried to bounce it to me, but it ended up on the neighbor's property where it was promptly dispatched. I'll tell you, it was a stud of a stud. The bottom line is that I want some of whatever Brian eats in the morning. You can't buy that kind of luck.

I get how having a named buck taken by an "unknown" hunter can sit poorly, but a public forum isn't the place to try to parse apart truth from fiction. IMHO, it does nobody any good at all and makes us all look bad. Poaching is a serious word. It should require some serious proof. With respect to all, I would suggest settling this offline.

Way to go Mallory!!

Tomorrow, I may have to take the stand Brian's been so hot for...we call it the boner stand. Because you see a lot of bone out of it, of course. What were YOU thinking?

Both ground blinds collapsed from the weight of the snow. The Barromett blind had two shattered fiberglass poles on side hubs that will need to be replaced. They're only $10 apiece, but it's a PITA to do it in the field.The Primos Double Bull didn't blink. I pushed the snow off the top and it's back in working order. The poles, hubs and fabric are significantly burlier than other makes I've used, but it's also a more expensive blind. I lost ten pounds in sweat getting them fixed, though. I hope this snow compacts by Saturday.

Tough walking, for sure. Lots of tracks by the houses, and my buddy saw five bucks - probably a hot doe around. The neighbor missed an eight. I caught a peek at a buck as he drifted through my shooting lane, but with the snow on the thick stuff I didn't see him until he stepped out, and by the time I registered "Deer!", he took two steps and was gone. Wrong stand to hunt after a heavy snow, I guess. Great breeding thicket, but there could have been a dozen deer in there with me and I'd have never known. Going out to give it a shot this morning until I freeze my woobie off.

You should see the ten point that my neighbor shot on Monday. Brian and I saw him on Sunday with a doe, but never up close and personal. He wasn't so lucky on Veteran's Day. The pic is not mine to post, but he was a stud. Wall candy now.

That's funny! I have a Winchester Model 120 that throws Winchester slugs all over the place, but loves Remington Sluggers. I just put a new scope on her, and at 75 yards I can group three shots so that they are all at least touching the bullseye. So, 3" group? That works for me. And has for 35 years. I have to dig out this morning, but I hope to be in the woods this evening. I will certainly post conditions and a report. I just hope that my parking isn't a snow pile.

Did you dance as a youth, Billy Elliiot?

I had a tick sucking at my waistline a week ago, after running with the dogs at Oatka Park. Tweezers and a quick dose of Doxycycline. I think I got it off within a couple of hours, so Lyme is not a real concern. But there are other diseases that can spread with only 20 minutes of exposure. Scary. Check yourself every time you are out. Although I've never found one on me hunting west of Rochester, I still check. After three days of hunting hard, I can say with some confidence that there are bucks chasing AND bucks in lockdown. Yesterday morning, I saw a series of progressively larger bucks dogging a doe, while a button buck trailed behind. It was either a family member or taking lessons . It started with a steady parade of bucks under my stand, and every time a new buck showed up, he'd either join the party or get run off. It ended with a large eight, who would have been a shooter but for damage/accident screwing up his left side, leaving with the doe for the swamp never to be seen again. I also observed a very large nine tending a doe just behind a leftover hay bale on the edge of a hidden field. That same nine appeared to be chasing earlier in the day as it ran a doe past Brian. And yesterday morning, while I was watching the circus, Brian sat 300 yards away twiddling his thumbs. Feast or famine. I'd be hunting all week if I didn't have meetings and teaching lined up for the next three days. Friday looks good, and with the first fresh snow in the forecast, magic rut or not, it will be a great time to be in the woods. But when isn't?

Way to figure them out!

I'm mystified. I figured that with the lack of deer on our Brockport property to date, during both evening and morning sits, I'd try a mid-day still hunt this afternoon looking for a rutting buck chasing a doe. I've seen lots of this in past years, and in fact shot my buck last year from the ground, but not today. It was dead as a door nail. I wish I knew what was going on there. Three of us are hunting the new property in Albion tomorrow. Hopefully it will be game-on.

Good job on the buck! It was slow for me last night, too. Virtually no doe moving and only a couple of small buck right at dark ghosting past. No grunting, chasing, or other form of activity near me or my buddy. And zero deer on the drive home, standing or dead. I'm scratching my head, as this is generally my best week of the year.

That fisher is cool!! A bear last week, a fisher this week, you're on target for the most off-target species this year. I will pass on the skunk though. I've also been chased by them in the dark, and it's no fun. Anyone here been sprayed directly? And what a great buck!! Unique rack, great shot, love how he ended piled up against that tree. The last two days were slow slow slow for me. I had one ten minute period where I saw four deer come from three different directions, including a scraggly ten that got a pass, and last night I had a single six walk under the stand. That was all she wrote. A couple times I heard some crashes in the thick stuff. No doe at all. Cameras still tell me night time movement. I'm thinking that once we get past this next few days of warm weather, it's going to be game-on. I'm a little disappointed though, because traditionally, the week prior to Halloween is when I see the most movement. I'm blaming the strange moon cycle and massive acorn crop. And aliens.

Yeah, Rob, you should give him a pass this year. If you send me the GPS coordinates, I can check up on him once in awhile and make sure he's getting bigger...

lol

The deer all left to tell all their friends that there's a slightly brain-damaged hunter hanging out in a stand near Northampton Park. At least there weren't any near me tonight.

Slow for me this morning, too. My buddy did take a big buck last night, but the property owner asked that no pictures be posted. It was a beauty though. I shot video of a four dogging a doe through the woods. That and a button buck was all I saw.

I hate when the alarm is set to go off at 5 and you wake up at 2, knowing that it's over: no sense even trying. Some nights are like that. But why does it have to be a perfect day when you've got nothing to do but sit in a stand? Gup - I hope everything worked out for your kid. Golisano is first class. Good luck. The past two days have been awesome to be in the woods, but despite seeing lots of bone, no shooters. I happen to know that our resident rock star who doesn't post here much managed to stick a ten last night. I want to check with him before posting a picture. It's a dandy.

I saw it. Wow. Lots of great bucks lost to cars in that area. I own land near there and have first-hand experience: three of four shooters were hit by vehicles two years ago. It's enough to make a grown man cry.

I imagine that the turkey will see themselves as they get close and try to attack the thing! Be sure to have the camera rolling lol. I bet it will work better in low light/cloudy conditions when there's less glare IMHO. Can't wait to hear.

In areas with lots of apples, the best ones win. The rest rot on the ground. We have 39 trees on our property, about half of which will produce in any given year. Some are spitters and some are gold. You can tell which are which by watching the deer.