momay4000

Cool! Thanks for posting the follow up! On a side note - I've yet to find a good game camera in the $60-100 range that has quick low light shutter speed at night. So many of my nocturnal pics are blurry even when deer are simply walking and I've tried dozens of different makes and models of trail cams. Thanks for solving the mystery. Chris

Great job Dylan, I'm sure you are still sky high today with adrenaline. Be safe, Chris

Man - incredible deer Dan. What a superb story!! Sent from my iPhone using Lake Ontario United

Nice job Pap

Wow! Delicious!! Congrats on the doe and being the first person in LOU history to say " butter sherry reduction" in a post!! Looks superb!!! Sent from my iPhone using Lake Ontario United

Good job on the recovery - glad you found her. Chris

That's fine - didn't mean to ruffle your longbeard feathers. I hope you find her and harvest the beautiful buck you are waiting for. Good luck afield, Chris

You "know you hit her on the 3rd shot" but you are not going to look? What if you wound another one and have two blood trails crossing in the same patch of woods? Just my two cents, Chris

Great job. Love the bloodied hands!! Sent from my iPhone using Lake Ontario United

Thanks Dan - BTW I'm just getting back from camp and catching up on this thread. I am SO SORRY about the loss of your Dad. My thoughts and prayers are with you and your family. Stay strong, Chris

You too Gene!! I'm sad it's over!!

Another great season in the books. This was a great thread and I thank Legacy and all the great posters who made it so informative. After taking a smaller buck on my last bow hunt of the year in 8F and wanting to get some meat in the freezer, I took a nice big doe and a nice eight point in 9H, the doe on the gun opener and the buck sitting on the ground on Tuesday. The eight became a resident buck on my property once the rut kicked in. I saw him multiple times chasing and after the 1st week of November he became a "regular" on my trail cams. Opening weekend of gun was surprisingly quiet, both with deer sightings and shooting. After the inclement weekend weather passed (rain, sleet, crazy high winds and blizzard like conditions - and sitting all day three days in it), Tuesday was a much better high quality day with clear skies and FINALLY no wind!!!! I wound up hitting the ground after seeing a concentration of tracks in and out of a large hemlock woodlot and last light on Tuesday was stellar when he made his mistake trailing a smaller 6 point. He trailed the six point about 75 yards from my ground blind and the six turned around to face him, almost as if they were going to spar. That's when I shot. He ran 75 yards, much like the doe, without a drop of blood. Both the doe I shot and the buck had lethal internal damage with complete lung and upper heart vessel destruction, but only a puny .270 entrance hole and no exit hole. I switched to Federal Ballistic tip rounds this year, and the fragmentation internally is excellent, but the entrance hole is nothing more than a pencil eraser with all bleeding occurring internally. I will be returning to Remington Core Lokt bullets next year. The theme this year was a nice rut with many smaller buck sightings, but a season filled with crazy winds and a gun opener with little activity and crazy weather. However, the snow was very helpful in patterning travelling following the bad weather. Good luck to all in the filed - be safe, Chris BOW BUCK GUN DOE GUN BUCK

Do you ever wind map your properties in the off season using talc powder or bubbles? Many times I'll have complete opposite wind directions from ridges, tree deflections, hills causing vacuums, etc, etc. It was quite an eye opener for me after doing this but it gave me more confidence sitting in certain stands Chris

Man - stud! Love the thick neck

I have had 20 sits this year on two different properties, on a total of 6 stands. I have seen 107 deer YTD, and 49 buck sightings (not different deer but different sightings). Only two absolute beauties and the remainder have been small 1.5 to 2.5 yr old deer. Doe galore early season, bucks have outnumbered doe 8:1 the past two weeks during the rut. Deer sightings have gone down substantially the more scent I have put in my woods and my first sits in virgin stands have been superb. I wash my clothes pre and post season, but try and shower with scent free shampoo before each hunt. I do not wash my clothes after every hunt unless soaked in blood. I always wear rubber boots. I always wear a facemask I hunt the wind every single hunt, hunt a trailing front when accompanied by building high pressure and I follow Jeff Sturgis' rules on "high quality" vs "low quality" sits. I have never followed moon phases because I do not believe in it. All this being said, given our complex personal lives including kids, jobs, etc, etc, many of my hunts revolve around these restrictions rather than the 35,000 different rules on when to be in the woods. I have become a much better hunter the past ten years b/c of forums like this and paying attention to details, reading everything I can get my hands on, wind mapping my properties and hunting perimeter stands early season to save my best stands for quality November sits. This has paid great dividends in seeing many more mature bucks and being able to harvest them. I agree that this forum is great. To harvest one mature deer is luck, two is even luckier. However, to do it more times than that IMO takes dedication to the sport, paying attention to the tiniest of details, and skill. Just my two coins - good luck in the field, Chris

awesomeness - good luck

Scotty - yet another beautiful deer taken by you! Congrats buddy. Lots of great 9H action this year.....but still waiting on a big boy Be safe - thanks for sharing brother, Chris