BrookTrout

thats a tank

Thanks. It went pretty well but between it being a small deer and having damage to one hindquarter and shoulder (exit wound) and my total inexperience didn't end up with as much meat as I probably should of. I think one issue was being too selective in my trim pile. I know most say to take off all the fat which I did but how much connective tissue can you throw in the trim pile for making regular ground meat (not sausage or anything fancy)? Next time will be more efficient for sure. Good luck to everyone still trying on the last couple days...

Longspurs, nice job man. I had similar scenario yesterday I was out looking to top off the freezer with a doe and sure enough a nice one came out of the brush around 9am. I was waiting for a good shot when a yearling came out behind her. I was mulling over the decision to shoot her with the little one when I see another yearling come out but this one was hopping on 3 legs. Knew I couldn't leave him like that so I turned to set up on him. Doe musta seen me and bolted with first yearling. The wounded deer knew he couldn't run so he just froze but I had a good shot so I took it. Got him in the heart and he dropped. Felt a little strange shooting a button buck (first deer with a muzzleloader) but seemed like the right thing to do. He had a bullet wound in left rear leg which was broken so no way he'd make it through the winter. The bright side was I had been planning on processing one myself for the first time so this guy will be perfect for that. Got him skinned and washed off in the garage, gonna head out soon to process (with the help of you-tube haha)

thats tough man, sorry to hear, you put in some serious time on that buck

Nice buck, love the view from the blind, nice setup

Im working the long weekend so looking forward to living vicariously through you guys, good luck, stay warm today!

cool story, that one trail cam pic with him walking in the snow is awesome, If I saw that on my cam I wouldn't be able to sleep

Damn, what a beast

What a great experience for both of you! Awesome buck!

I see tons of deer keds here in 7S. This year I even had a couple land on me et em in the stand (they fly) and the deer I've harvested have always had an abundance of em. As far as I remember that don't carry any disease which is good.

Reel Chaos, no I shot it in Owego.

So I have been lurking on this thread all season and felt I should contribute after a successful day yesterday. I bought a 27 acre parcel behind my house in 7S that I have hunted for 4 seasons. Its all timber with a thick understory of honey suckle and autumn olive. There is an old orchard that has been choked off for yrs that I have been trying to open up but no apples this year so had a slow bow season with no good opportunities. Had numerous bucks on cam and saw a couple during bow so went into the weekend optimistic. Out early Saturday, heard about 70+ shots (about 20 before sunrise). Saw 2 does and several fawns early and late (took midday break) but that was all. That night I rethought my strategy of hunting in the am then taking a midday break and back out pm. Cant quite make the all day sits but my hats off to those that do. I tended to see does/fawns moving during these times but none of the bigger bucks I had on cam. I had also noticed that several bucks had been moving around midday on cam. So I slept in Sunday (that part was easy) and headed out at 10am. Snow was crunchy so made my slowly to my best stand at northern edge of property which sits at the intersection of my main woods road and 2 smaller trails that I had cut over the past couple years. Wind was good. Felt optimistic. Sure enough about noon saw movement to my left through some timber and brush. Made out horns and my heart started pumping as it was a nice 8. He was angling off a ridge behind me but headed down and away. Had similar scenario week before but he was tailing a doe and I couldn't turn him with the grunt call. Today he was alone but I could barely see him anymore and had the grunt tube ready but he made a turn back towards me (later found he had crossed a doe trail). He got onto the smaller trail that goes out of sight behind thick brush then pops out right in front of the stand so now my heart really starts thumping.... However he crossed trail and worked perpendicular to my stand in deep brush about 75 yards downhill, not presenting a good shot. He finally came out on main woods road where he made the wrong choice and turned right, headed towards a big 30 yd opening that would bring him broadside at 40 yds. I tried to slow my breathing and prepared for the shot. Sure enough he walked right out into the opening and I gave him a quick "meh " which stopped him in his tracks and I put a 30-30 win right behind his right shoulder. He jumped and kicked hard, made a desperate 100 yd dash and crashed off the woods road into the brush. Got him through both lungs. He's not a monster like some I have seen on this site (congrats to all by the way) but one of 2 eight pts I was hoping to get a shot at and only the 5th buck I have ever harvested. What a great feeling to put in so much time and have it all come together. I am relatively new to hunting as I didn't grow up in a hunting family but so happy I have found this sport and now have my own property to hunt. Next up is to get out with the girlfriend and help her her get first deer...

very cool, nice job!

Sorry Nick, no down temp. I had 67-70 at the surface.

Got out Friday morning solo to do some trolling. Last trip resulted in a broken downrigger clutch and a failing transducer so it was nice to have everything back up and running. Wanted to run a bit north but an early south breeze kept me on the south end, not much action for the first 1-2 hrs but finally got into a nice salmon on west side which proceeded to put on an aerial display, tangle into the leadcore and come unglued behind the boat! Circled back again and this time landed a nice 20" salmon which went in the cooler. Subsequent passes produced a nice laker, a smaller bow and a smaller salmon which all went back to the lake. Finally left my hot spot and headed farther north for a bit and just as I was getting ready to pull lines and head home the rigger line popped and I had a great fight with an aerial rainbow that made it to the net at 4.5 lbs, 23.5" . Not a bad morning for me. Most of the fish came off the riggers at 38', laker was at 60', depths at 125-200, chicken wing and alewife pattern spoons. Speed 2-2.5 . All fish hit heading north on downwind side of points Yesterday morning headed out with a friend back to same area. Found the fish bagain ut couldn't get em to bite, tried different angles/depth/speed/colors/etc but only got 1 legal rainbow on the leadcore. A neighbor fishing in the area did one salmon. Oh well. Seneca is looking OK after the flooding. Visibility is still limited to 5/6 ft but debris wasn't bad except closer to shore and weeds were sporadic and not a major issue, no fleas. Got out Friday evening for some bass fishing and had a nice sunset

nice pics! Im jealous

great report and pics, awesome, some really nice fish!

What a nice looking pike, great pic

BTW I got out yesteray and I was fishing a point and had the boat in really shallow (2-3ft) and was watching some smaller fish when I saw some BIG bass shaped shadows in 15-20 ft that were cruising back and forth and seemed active. They were a bit spooky (topwater wouldn't produce) but once I started drifting shiners through I started hooking up. A couple of these smallies looked to be in the 4-5lb range and I hooked one bruiser that broke me off but ended up landing half a dozen nice 15-17" bass. Eventually I switched to the dropshot and although I couldn't get the big ones to bite I did drift a ways and picked up a few in the 10-13" range including a small largemouth which was strange. The bite is so much harder to feel than with bait when they seem to grab it. The kietech was the one that worked after a few changes. I was pumped to get a few on the plastics, I would rather do that then get bait every time. I'm improving, thanks for the advice! I also spotted a huge sheepshead (drum) and some bug catfish, pretty cool to watch. Also got a few perch.

nice bows!!