Legacy -The 2020 Season-

[brucehookedup]

On 12/19/2020 at 10:02 AM, Capt Vince Pierleoni said:

Well worth the watch. These guys do a test many of us have wanted to conduct and save us lots of money. I love the use of the USPS boxes!  Some good info no matter where you land on the fixed vs expandable debate.

I am shooting the balanced rubber dart next year, thanks vinny interesting.

[Legacy]

[whaler1]

Dude that’s a little creepy. At least he smiles I guess.


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[Gill-T]

He has your smile.

[machzrcr]

Realized I never put up any pics of my buddies deer I helped him get out! Got my first shed buck on cam yesterday! Already getting the itch to start looking lol.

 

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[whaler1]

Great buck!


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[Legacy]

[Gill-T]

6 hours ago, machzrcr said:

Realized I never put up any pics of my buddies deer I helped him get out! Got my first shed buck on cam yesterday! Already getting the itch to start looking lol.

 

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I would love to see the buck that busted his main beams!!  Brute!

[machzrcr]

I would love to see the buck that busted his main beams!!  Brute!

He had trail cam pics of him. 3 days prior to killing it with his whole rack still! Not sure. If it was another buck or a car. Because both main beams ends were broke!

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[fisherman21]

Season in review.
I have been hunting on and off for the last 10 years, but the last 2 seasons I have really focused on hunting and trying to get my hand on my first wall hanger. I put out 6 cameras in August and started taking inventory. The end of September I had a few really nice bucks showing up which gave me great motivation going into the season. The area I hunt is bow only, so the amount of deer around is amazing. I didn’t start my hunting season October 9th, as I was having to much fun casting for kings on the lake. Early season, I’m not being picky. The only things I will not shoot is an immature buck. Anyway, I hadn’t even been in my stand for an hour and I had a spike, and 2 doe come in, one stood broadside at 37 yards and gave me a shot. It was a small doe, but I have no shame in taking a small one. Veal parm baby! Always feels good to get the first one of the season under your belt.

Well a couple weeks went by and I had been keeping an eye on one of the fields on the property every evening to see if the bucks were chasing the does yet. One night driving to check the field, one unlucky doe connected with my unlucky front fender. I had hunted that morning and didn’t have anything in range, and then kill a deer with my car right across from where I hunt with the car. Very minimal meat damage, so I ended up keeping it and cutting it up.


Well towards the end of October I saw a giant out bumping the does around. I moved some cameras around and started putting a patterned together. I moved a couple stands around to get into position to get a chance at this guy.
Over the last couple weeks, I had two encounters with this buck on stand. One time at 80 yards and another time at 90 yards.
Well 7 days later from the last picture I had of him, I got a text that he had been hit by a car. Unfortunate, but it’s part of it.
I have another big 8 point, a nice 9 point, and a decent 10 running around as well, but that one hurt lol.

I opted out of bow hunting opening day of gun at this spot and decided to try my luck at some public land. I had bought a savage 220 last season, and was able to harvest a deer with it, but wanted to put it work alittle more this season. My brother and I headed down to the finger lakes area extremely early Saturday morning. We decided to divide and conquer and hunted 6 miles away from each other. I decided to go in deep on the area I was hunting, and started my 40 minute hike in all uphill. I took my time and moved nice a slow trying not to get too sweaty. I settled up against a tree right around 5AM. As I was sitting there, a few times before it got light I could hear things walking infront of me, but it was so dark I couldn’t see anything lol. That’s always fun. Anyway, I didn’t see any other lights come up the mountain all morning, so I was feeling pretty good about my chances. As the sun came up and I was sitting there, the wind just wasn’t what I was hoping it to be, and was blowing right to where I thought the deer would be coming through. It was only about 745AM and I really wasn’t want to move so early, but I felt like I didn’t have a choice if I wanted to see something. I opted to leave my pack and a few other things at the base of the original tree and slowly worked my way south. I scratched the leaves as I walked and did turkey yelps and clucks. It was a lot of stop and go, but after I made it about 70 yards south, I felt like my wind would miss the path of the deer if they were going to come in. Well, 15 minutes later I see a deer running down the mountain right to where I was originally sitting. It saw my bag at the original tree and trotted right to where I had moved. As it was running, I could see it was just a spike. Well, my mind was flooded with with the thoughts of the buck that had been hit by a car, I’m hunting public land, the bow season has been a disaster(which I’m not going to get into). The buck stopped 16 yards broadside and I had my crosshairs on his shoulder. Well.......I said screw it, and pulled the trigger. The buck dropped right where he stood. I honestly couldn’t have been more happy with the deer. I didn’t care that it ended up only being a 3 point buck, I was proud to take a deer on public land that I had never been to.

I sat until about 1030AM and then decided to go check the deer out, and grab my pack. I sat on my chair and ate a granola bar and had some coffee and water. I then packed all my stuff up and worked further south as I was sitting all day. I found a beautiful thick transition along a pine valley. I set up right on the edge of it and got ready for the long afternoon sit. Well, at 1:45 I could here pretty consistent foot step coming up the mountain from behind me right along the transition. I see the first set of ears coming from behind me. Then 7 more! I put my crosshairs on a nice sized doe, and pulled the trigger. The deer started trotting away, so I racked another one and pulled the trigger again. The deer kept going. About a minute later the deer i shot at comes tearing down the mountain at 100 miles an hour letting out a giant moan. I figured the deer was crashing into the thick stuff about to die. I walked over to where the deer went down the hill. I found blood splattered where the deer crossed the trail. Well, I tracked this deer for an hour and thirty minutes following blood the whole way.
I was seeing bright red blood, so I figured it was a decent hit. After an hour and half, I see the doe stand up out of a bed and start trotting away. It was to thick to take a shot, so I just decided to sit tight for a half hour. At 330 I decided I had to keep after her if I had any chance at finding this deer before dark. After it left the bed, I could not pick the trail back up so I just walked in the general direction I thought the deer went. 100 yards of nothing, and just happened to stumble across a drop of blood, and got back on it. I then dropped the trail again but could hear something faintly in the distance walking away slowly. I charge forward busting through brush and would then listen, and I could still hear the foot steps. They then stopped, but I kept pushing forward. Suddenly I catch movement with my eye and look up, and the doe is laying on the ground 20 yards in front of me. She looked at me and went to get up, but it was to late. I put the crosshairs on here and pulled the trigger and watched her expire. Unfortunately it was a terrible first shot. I must have flinched when I pulled the trigger, and hit the deer in the back leg.

I felt horribly about the shot, but learned a lot from it.
It was quite the experience hunting public land for the first time, and I would count it very successful day. Hauling them both out wasn’t very fun though lol.
My brother didn’t end up getting one, but we needed up going again the following morning. We sat about 200 yards apart, and I had given him my gun to use. At about 9AM, I hear him shoot and almost fell out of my stand. It always make ya jump when you hear a shot right next to you lol. I called him right away, and he told me he dropped a buck. I was really out there for him, as I already have four deer in the freezer and don’t really have a need to anymore. So I told him I would slowly work over to him. He ended up with a nice basket rack 8, and couldn’t be more excited and neither could I. It was his first deer! I got to show him the gutting process and all that fun stuff.

All in all it was a great season, and it ended on Tuesday morning for me. I got out on the last day for a quick morning sit. It was nice and quiet, the sun was out, saw a few deer.

The quest continues! Maybe next year I will get that wall hanger. In the meantime, I will be chasing yotes! Hope everyone had a great Christmas, and I already know many of you had a successful season in the woods! Until next season!



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[Legacy]

14 minutes ago, fisherman21 said:

Season in review.
I have been hunting on and off for the last 10 years, but the last 2 seasons I have really focused on hunting and trying to get my hand on my first wall hanger. I put out 6 cameras in August and started taking inventory. The end of September I had a few really nice bucks showing up which gave me great motivation going into the season. The area I hunt is bow only, so the amount of deer around is amazing. I didn’t start my hunting season October 9th, as I was having to much fun casting for kings on the lake. Early season, I’m not being picky. The only things I will not shoot is an immature buck. Anyway, I hadn’t even been in my stand for an hour and I had a spike, and 2 doe come in, one stood broadside at 37 yards and gave me a shot. It was a small doe, but I have no shame in taking a small one. Veal parm baby! Always feels good to get the first one of the season under your belt.

Well a couple weeks went by and I had been keeping an eye on one of the fields on the property every evening to see if the bucks were chasing the does yet. One night driving to check the field, one unlucky doe connected with my unlucky front fender. I had hunted that morning and didn’t have anything in range, and then kill a deer with my car right across from where I hunt with the car. Very minimal meat damage, so I ended up keeping it and cutting it up.


Well towards the end of October I saw a giant out bumping the does around. I moved some cameras around and started putting a patterned together. I moved a couple stands around to get into position to get a chance at this guy.
Over the last couple weeks, I had two encounters with this buck on stand. One time at 80 yards and another time at 90 yards.
Well 7 days later from the last picture I had of him, I got a text that he had been hit by a car. Unfortunate, but it’s part of it.
I have another big 8 point, a nice 9 point, and a decent 10 running around as well, but that one hurt lol.

I opted out of bow hunting opening day of gun at this spot and decided to try my luck at some public land. I had bought a savage 220 last season, and was able to harvest a deer with it, but wanted to put it work alittle more this season. My brother and I headed down to the finger lakes area extremely early Saturday morning. We decided to divide and conquer and hunted 6 miles away from each other. I decided to go in deep on the area I was hunting, and started my 40 minute hike in all uphill. I took my time and moved nice a slow trying not to get too sweaty. I settled up against a tree right around 5AM. As I was sitting there, a few times before it got light I could hear things walking infront of me, but it was so dark I couldn’t see anything lol. That’s always fun. Anyway, I didn’t see any other lights come up the mountain all morning, so I was feeling pretty good about my chances. As the sun came up and I was sitting there, the wind just wasn’t what I was hoping it to be, and was blowing right to where I thought the deer would be coming through. It was only about 745AM and I really wasn’t want to move so early, but I felt like I didn’t have a choice if I wanted to see something. I opted to leave my pack and a few other things at the base of the original tree and slowly worked my way south. I scratched the leaves as I walked and did turkey yelps and clucks. It was a lot of stop and go, but after I made it about 70 yards south, I felt like my wind would miss the path of the deer if they were going to come in. Well, 15 minutes later I see a deer running down the mountain right to where I was originally sitting. It saw my bag at the original tree and trotted right to where I had moved. As it was running, I could see it was just a spike. Well, my mind was flooded with with the thoughts of the buck that had been hit by a car, I’m hunting public land, the bow season has been a disaster(which I’m not going to get into). The buck stopped 16 yards broadside and I had my crosshairs on his shoulder. Well.......I said screw it, and pulled the trigger. The buck dropped right where he stood. I honestly couldn’t have been more happy with the deer. I didn’t care that it ended up only being a 3 point buck, I was proud to take a deer on public land that I had never been to.

I sat until about 1030AM and then decided to go check the deer out, and grab my pack. I sat on my chair and ate a granola bar and had some coffee and water. I then packed all my stuff up and worked further south as I was sitting all day. I found a beautiful thick transition along a pine valley. I set up right on the edge of it and got ready for the long afternoon sit. Well, at 1:45 I could here pretty consistent foot step coming up the mountain from behind me right along the transition. I see the first set of ears coming from behind me. Then 7 more! I put my crosshairs on a nice sized doe, and pulled the trigger. The deer started trotting away, so I racked another one and pulled the trigger again. The deer kept going. About a minute later the deer i shot at comes tearing down the mountain at 100 miles an hour letting out a giant moan. I figured the deer was crashing into the thick stuff about to die. I walked over to where the deer went down the hill. I found blood splattered where the deer crossed the trail. Well, I tracked this deer for an hour and thirty minutes following blood the whole way.
I was seeing bright red blood, so I figured it was a decent hit. After an hour and half, I see the doe stand up out of a bed and start trotting away. It was to thick to take a shot, so I just decided to sit tight for a half hour. At 330 I decided I had to keep after her if I had any chance at finding this deer before dark. After it left the bed, I could not pick the trail back up so I just walked in the general direction I thought the deer went. 100 yards of nothing, and just happened to stumble across a drop of blood, and got back on it. I then dropped the trail again but could hear something faintly in the distance walking away slowly. I charge forward busting through brush and would then listen, and I could still hear the foot steps. They then stopped, but I kept pushing forward. Suddenly I catch movement with my eye and look up, and the doe is laying on the ground 20 yards in front of me. She looked at me and went to get up, but it was to late. I put the crosshairs on here and pulled the trigger and watched her expire. Unfortunately it was a terrible first shot. I must have flinched when I pulled the trigger, and hit the deer in the back leg.

I felt horribly about the shot, but learned a lot from it.
It was quite the experience hunting public land for the first time, and I would count it very successful day. Hauling them both out wasn’t very fun though lol.
My brother didn’t end up getting one, but we needed up going again the following morning. We sat about 200 yards apart, and I had given him my gun to use. At about 9AM, I hear him shoot and almost fell out of my stand. It always make ya jump when you hear a shot right next to you lol. I called him right away, and he told me he dropped a buck. I was really out there for him, as I already have four deer in the freezer and don’t really have a need to anymore. So I told him I would slowly work over to him. He ended up with a nice basket rack 8, and couldn’t be more excited and neither could I. It was his first deer! I got to show him the gutting process and all that fun stuff.

All in all it was a great season, and it ended on Tuesday morning for me. I got out on the last day for a quick morning sit. It was nice and quiet, the sun was out, saw a few deer.

The quest continues! Maybe next year I will get that wall hanger. In the meantime, I will be chasing yotes! Hope everyone had a great Christmas, and I already know many of you had a successful season in the woods! Until next season!



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Awesome recap on your season. Thanks for sharing. These guys in here need to step it up if they plan on sharing their recaps!!

 

 

[whaler1]

Yeah that’s pretty cool!


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[dawsonscreek]

On 12/27/2020 at 4:07 AM, machzrcr said:

Realized I never put up any pics of my buddies deer I helped him get out! Got my first shed buck on cam yesterday! Already getting the itch to start looking lol.

 

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They’re dropping! Found this one December 7th and have seen and heard of quite a few shed bucks. 

[rod hog]

On 12/28/2020 at 2:40 PM, dawsonscreek said:

. 
 

My season in review. I hunted 8A with 2 friends, on opening day of gun. I had high hope's all 3 of us would get a deer. On an all day sit didn't hear many shots, and didn't see any deer. Sunday wasn't any better. Monday went to 8H, my favorite spot where I've got my biggest bucks. Started the day covered in spike horns and does. They all left, and 1 hour later a doe came off the hill followed by this buck. About the farthest shot I could take from my tree stand, with my 30-.06. Fortunately it stopped in the only opening I had. Walked over to where I shot him, there was no blood...I thought I missed. Standing there sad, looking around, there he was 15 yards away...dead. Biggest bodied deer I've got. 184 lbs. Dressed. The rest of my season I was hoping for a doe it never happened. Only deer for the season but if I'm only going to get 1 I'm glad it was this one. Congrats to everyone who got a deer this year. But also congrats to those of you who got off your ass and tried.

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Edited December 29, 2020 by rod hog

[whaler1]

Dave that’s awesome. Great buck for sure!


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[machzrcr]

Got. This pic today thought it was cool. Like what are they saying to each other! Lol

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[Gator]

My season recap:

 

Start each day with unwarranted optimism. Sit. Watch. Crap. No deer. Curse and return home.

 

Repeat.

 

83 times. Lol.

 

Honestly, though, this was by far the poorest season I've had in decades, despite having hunted more than ever. I'm assuming it was just me, since others seem to have done well, including some buddies I hunt with. I'd say luck of the draw, but I suspect that there's something I'm missing, scent, movement in the stand, hearing - we joked that I might have selective Turret's syndrome that only manifests in the woods, combined with early AD so I forget what I did. Picture this: deer comes by, I see it and start swearing at it like a sailor. Deer shakes its head sadly and moves on.

 

Best day was October 1st, when I videoed three 2 1/2 year old 8 points wandering under the stand feeding on acorns. The worst days were the next 82. 

 

My bowhunting ledger that I keep for DEC showed that I had a fair number of sightings from the stand, and you'd think that the numbers look good, but many times it was something like thirteen doe that stormed by as I was getting ready to leave, probably pushed by somebody else or a buck one of the neighbors had shot, coming over to die by me. Not a joke.

 

My number three buck got shot and lost by a neighbor. My number two buck got taken by another neighbor who saw it chasing a doe in his backyard, went inside to get his rifle, and shot it between the houses. My number one disappeared, so who knows? I was happy to take a small eight and a doe with clean shots during gun, one of them at 170 yards, which isn't a long shot but it's my longest.

 

Now, if we're going to talk about how much fun I had being able to hunt with my friends and spend time in the woods, that's a truly different story. Production may have been down, but the value I place on being blessed with the ability to hunt and share my hunting with the people I love is immeasurable. 

 

Stay frosty, my friends! Until next year...

 

 

[Gill-T]

I would say your experience was echoed. There was VERY little shooting heard during gun season. I suspect numbers will be down despite the increase in license sales. I will wait until the numbers are tallied before coming to a conclusion on whether deer numbers are down. Considering the mild winters we have had recently, numbers should have been up. I have buddies that sit all day that report only seeing a few deer the entire season. 

[Roys Boys]

[Sk8man]

Nice work Dave

[GAMBLER]

My season in review. I hunted 8A with 2 friends, on opening day of gun. I had high hope's all 3 of us would get a deer. On an all day sit didn't hear many shots, and didn't see any deer. Sunday wasn't any better. Monday went to 8H, my favorite spot where I've got my biggest bucks. Started the day covered in spike horns and does. They all left, and 1 hour later a doe came off the hill followed by this buck. About the farthest shot I could take from my tree stand, with my 30-.06. Fortunately it stopped in the only opening I had. Walked over to where I shot him, there was no blood...I thought I missed. Standing there sad, looking around, there he was 15 yards away...dead. Biggest bodied deer I've got. 184 lbs. Dressed. The rest of my season I was hoping for a doe it never happened. Only deer for the season but if I'm only going to get 1 I'm glad it was this one. Congrats to everyone who got a deer this year. But also congrats to those of you who got off your ass and tried.

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Congrats Dave!


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[Legacy]

I believe in my neck of the woods, deer numbers are way down and its all because of the DEC strategy. I blame the lack of deer in my hometown on nuisance permits and doe tags. The DEC issues almost unlimited doe tags for 8A and I was issued 4 tags for the area. They are literally encouraging the decimation of the herd in 8A. Our winters are mild on the lake shore and there is plenty of food and browse no matter the season. 

[Gill-T]

Agree Rob. They issued so many doe permits for Onadaga County, the deer herd on county land above Lake Otisco has been almost wiped out in three years. 

[whaler1]

I’m curious to see the numbers. Based on what I saw afield, and more specifically on trailcam, there seemed to be about the same as previous years.



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[HOLY DIVER]

He didn't hit the genetic lottery but he survived.  I assume he has to be older than 2.5