Gill-T

I hear you can drop them out of a hoist-strong.

Strange but I can’t tell you the elation I feel on a day when I check my rat traps along my house foundation and find I caught one of the little buggers.

Nice work. I wonder how many bad shots are happening during non-legal shooting hours. I was on Darien Lake State Park gutting my doe last night and I heard a distant shot at 5:15...way too dark to descriminate the crease in the leg IMO. I also heard a two shot barrage which is s little strange during muzzle season!

My girls have finally reached the age that they are done with travel soccer! Those of you with kids in sports know the journey. With soccer it was two practices and at least one game each per week for each kid. With the soccer schedules cutting into hunting, the past decade I had given up any notions of QDM and worked to fill tags during my limited hunting time available. I might have one sit (am or pm) per weekend. The good news is my tags would get filled, the bad news is I would be tagged out before the rut started and would miss out on all the glory of chasing and big buck opportunities. This year I had some time to hunt and returned to selective harvest. I got to enjoy the first week of November and enjoyed two days of hard chasing. I had one opportunity on a 120" symmetrical 8 point at 12 yards but alas he took the "wrong" trail and I had no clear shot. Just to be in the woods when the big boys are patrolling was fun again. The draw back to QDM is tag-sandwichs! I am eating two buck tags this year and it tastes like crap! I did my part as conservationist and filled three doe tags so the freezer is full but there is an empty feeling of not feeling antlers in the hand. Lets hope the rest of the winter is mild. Seeing yearlings out in the middle of fields during daylight hours makes me think deer are stressed already. Next year I am turning 50 and I am treating myself to a bucket list Kansas bow hunt with a friend that lives out there. Can't wait.

First estrous cycle on 1st year does 30 days after primary estrous sometimes can be an early Xmas gift. Last kick at the can with the bow tonight in my East wind tree. Good luck everyone

I know there are not many women on this site, but we officially become a sausage party.

I think it is a petting zoo deer, his eyes are open.

You had a feeling a farmer in a truck was going to enter the field.

You just jinxed yourself, shoot a doe.

Let the great statewide deer drive begin!

Agreed. I also have a Leopold 2x7 on my 30/30 Dan. Love it.

Best shotgun value is the savage bolt action (tack driver). Most scope companies contract out to Bushnell for their glass.......so buy a Bushnell and rest easy. My set-up is a H&R ultra slug in 12 gauge that I had magna-ported.

My slide divers are set up with wire to braid to mono all tied with knots. See Casey1 ‘s video on slide diver site for knot connections.

Thats a yeti.

Beauty of a dog!

Hunted Allegany Co state land tracking deer in the snow with the Marlin 30/30 Saturday......,good for the soul. BTW there is NOBODY hunting down there. I had 3,000 acres to myself.

Passing on small bucks is an investment

This year was a spoon year. I took very few fish off flashers. Why??.....the water was very cool this year IMO with all the wind changing direction every other day. I could count on one hand the times I had to fish below 80’. Spoons tend to shine in the top 60’. Lots of guys run sticks for kings in the spring. If I had a choice between spoons or sticks I would chose spoons every time due to better flash attraction, array of glow colors and better hook up and land ratio due to hook configuration. Flashers shine 70’ and deeper.

So he became less horney. I get it!

Nice buck!