Deer Hunting
Weather Heebie-Jeebies
I do this every year. I know it’s neurotic. I can’t help it. It gets down to Halloween and I start seriously thinking about the Rifle Opener, second weekend in November. Next I begin to wonder about how the weather will be. Usually it’s in the low thirties and partly cloudy. However, I’ve had some odd variants. In 2006 I got to my stand just before the drizzle started. It was 50-something. By 0900 I was taking horizontal rain, and 25 MPH winds and falling temperatures. I was wondering if it could get any worse when I heard thunder. That … More . . .
DST — More on this Deer Hunting Bugaboo
As you know, I have been examining the effects of Daylight Savings Time (DST) on sport of deer hunting– especially the effects on the deer themselves. This year, I have been conducting expanded experiments at the D&DH Pro-Staffer facility near Browningsville, KY. Three identical plots were created, each filled with a combination of ladino clover and wheat. In Plot #1, the Accelerated Plot, I placed test equipment including a Shamanic Anti-DST device that simulated the time change 2 weeks early. In Plot #2, the Control Plot, I placed test equipment but no Anti-DST device. DST will change back this weekend … More . . .
Back at it — Yeah, we lost Dad
There’s that old bit of glurge about footsteps in the sand. You look back and see only one set of prints although you know someone was there helping you along. I just looked back and there’s nothing in this weblog for October except a piece on buck fever on the Third and a prayer request for my Dad mid-month. October is normally my busy month for posting. There really is some stuff in this about deer hunting. Just bear with me for a bit. Dad Died Well, let me cut to the chase. Dad died. We buried him last week. … More . . .
Second Guessing
Every year I start jonesing over my successes after the season ends. You can see it if you look back here in this weblog. Deer season ends, and sometime before the first turkey gobbles, I get all wound up over my deer rifles and their loads. Somehow I get to thinking things could have been better, even though the freezer is usually crammed full. Somehow, I feel like I could have done it better. In the wake of all that fussing, I have learned a few universal truths: 1) Any modern legal centerfire rifle cartridge will produce venison. Deer are … More . . .
The Revel
The Revel (Apologies to Bartholomew Dowling) We meet ‘neath the sounding rafter, From the walls the fallen all stare As they shout back our peals of laughter It seems their glass eyes aware. Then stand to your glasses, steady! We drink in our comrades eyes: One cup to the dead already- Hurrah for the next deer that dies! Not here are the goblets glowing, Not here is the vintage sweet; ‘Tis cold as our hearts are growing, And dark as the doom they meet. But stand to your glasses, steady! And soon shall our pulses rise: A cup to … More . . .
Buck Fever
I have never had chronic buck fever, but I can point to at least a couple of times where I got a dose of it. Maybe this qualifies me to give advice. Maybe it doesn’t. However, I do know what has worked for me. First off, let me be clear. There are a bunch of different forms of buck fever. You got the shakes. You’ve got the freeze-ups, and you got the stupids. Maybe there’s other versions, but those are the ones I’ve seen. The Shakes: A deer comes in and you start shaking so bad you can’t hold the … More . . .
New-Mown Hay
I was down at Deer Camp last weekend. Everything went well. I really have no complaints. The family did not come with me. Angus was competing at his last big bagpipe competition for the season. I could not go, because I had to work on Friday and Monday. It rained– not a lot, but enough to keep me on the front porch being reflective. In earlier years, I might have been out hunting squirrel or deer. I might have been servicing tree stands. I might have been building ground blinds. I might have been doing a whole lot of things. … More . . .
Reality sets in
I’m not sure what I was expecting. This was not a project to make a 30-30 into a 30-06. It wasn’t even going to get the Marlin to perform like a 300 Savage. It was meant to get a 30 WCF to do as well as it could. It did. I guess I should be happy. Saturday was my first chance to get the Marlin 336 out and see how my new Lever Evolution load would work. I meant to do this thing the way they do it in the magazines. I got up at the crack of dawn and … More . . .
As the old dog returneth. . .
As a dog returneth to his vomit, so a fool returneth to his folly. Proverbs 26:11 Yeah, that is me. In fact I put a reference to that in my loading notebook as I was cooking up this load. While I was there, I did a quick review of my loads over the years with the 30 WCF. There as a flurry of loadings in 2002 as I got my Marlin 336. Then a long string of experiments as I tried to figure out what was going wrong. You can see where I gave up around 2005, and how … More . . .
Reduced Recoil Loads
From the D&DH Forum Postby MSHunter » Sun Jul 03, 2011 6:26 pm Here is a question for you more experienced reloaders. On Hodgdon’s website they have a sheet of youth/reduced recoil loads. In the paragraph before the load data they state that a medium burning powder be used and that the amount of powder to use be 60% of the maximum load. They recommend this for any load that uses H4198 powder. So my question(s) is/are as follows: Does one select the maximum load within each bullet range and use the 60% rule? For instance a 100 grn bullet … More . . .
UV and Reindeer — finally some real science!
I’ve been about ready to bust for months. Here it is September, past the middle of the month, and no one has asked about UV Suppression. Dang! What’s wrong here? Don’t tell me y’all been listening to me and wised up? You mean I’ve been holding back all this anti-UV vitriole for a year, and no one wants to get me wound up? Guys, this is a sorry state of affairs. Between this and the Bengals winning their opener, you’d think the world was coming to an end. Okay, since nobody wants to ask the magic question, I’ll have to … More . . .
What is the Best Rifle for Blood Trails?
I was looking over the website stats and I saw a bunch of searches come through looking for the “best deer rifle for leaving blood trails.” I figured someone out there needs help. Here goes. First off, why does anyone want a blood trail? I would think a fellow would rather have just a big puddle and a dead deer– saves a lot of walking, huh? Oh well. I guess that is just too darn easy, right? Look up my post last year “Dreaming the DRT Dream.” That one was about bagging my #2 best buck last November. A few … More . . .
The Countdown Begins
I was over at the KDFWR site and saw the proposed dates for this coming year’s seasons. Something deep inside welled up and I knew I had to start counting the days to the Opener. Look in the right hand corner of the screen. KY Modern Weapons Season for Deer begin on November 12, 2011. The time is adjusted for the Brooksville area code. You guys east of Bachelor’s Rest might want to add a minute. This post has already been read 1231 times!Views: 2 Related posts: Countdown to the Rifle Opener Mooselette’s Training Begins Angus Passes Hunter Ed … More . . .
Greetings from Deer Camp
Saturday Afternoon: This is the first weekend that I’ve been down at camp since the end of turkey season. We had to skip last week, because Angus had a bagpiping competition (BTW: He won) So this was the first chance I had to do anything related to deer in any meaningful way. 1) For starters, there’s the new Hunter Orange UV-radioactive clown suit. About a month ago, a buddy of mine from Angus’ band wrote me that he’d just gotten a 3X hunter orange parka and bibs and that they just weren’t suitable for his needs. He was thinking warm, … More . . .
Changing a Deer Hunter
It’s funny how you change over the years, and you’re the last to know it. Someone posted a pic of me on Facebook the other day from 1984. I turned 25 in ’84. Yikes! Who is that skinny guy with no beard? I’ve had something bugging me lately. It has to do with this post: Deer Hunting Rituals Something didn’t sit right with me. I couldn’t figure out why, and I’ve been trying to write about it, but it all kind of sounded like I had been staring at my belly button too long. This morning, I woke up thinking … More . . .
The shaman’s Magic Mirror
Remember Romper Room when you were a kid? There was Miss Whatever-her-name-was with that Magic Mirror that she’d always whip out at the end of the show and supposedly she’d see kids on the other side of the TV and call out their names. Romper Room came on the scene a little late in my life, so I was never really hooked. However, I do remember that magic mirror. I’ve got a similar version of the magic mirror. It’s called SEO– Search Engine Optimization . I’ve got tools that let me see what folks are searching for out on the … More . . .
Should I Reload? PT II
Assuming you really are thinking of taking the leap, I wanted to share what you what comes next. From here on out, a lot of this is going to depend on your personal style of reloading. What is your personal style? That is hard to say, but nearly every guy I know has his own quirks. We all pretty much get there, but we get there in different ways. The bottom line is that there is more to the color of paint on the press. Each press is a little different, but whether one is better than the other is in the eye of the beholder. The same goes for all the other pieces.
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Should I Reload? PT I
Let me begin by asking some questions:
* Are you satisfied with your selection of ammunition? Can you go to the store and buy what you want?
* Are you plagued by excessive recoil with your deer rifle?
* Are you satisfied with the accuracy of your deer rifle?
* Are you appalled at the price of ammunition?
The Role of Personal Ethics in Hunting
It seems that every time I go and knock Ted Nugent, I get blasted for being un-American, against the sport of hunting, and a general waste of good air. So when I decided to comment on Ted’s latest missive on D&DH Ethics Shmethics, I figured it was time to take a new tack. In order to bang through all the hero worship and blind fawning from his acolytes, I figured it was time to try and put out something positive. Everyone hates complainers that don’t have a solution in mind. I need to pick up the ethical shovel and craft … More . . .
A New Year’s Trip
After he got up he got a good look at me and decided the dog was the least of his worries. In a slow-motion tentative sort of way, he took a couple of bounds, stood a moment to regard us, and then punched the throttle and took off down the hollow.
More . . .Deer Hunting Rituals
“He that outlives this day and comes safe home will stand a tip-toe when this day is nam’d, And point a finger at his mounted antlers saying ‘These wounds! These wounds, I gave on Opening Day!’ For he today that sheds blood with me shall be my brother; be he ne’er so vile. This day shall gentle his condition. And Gentlemen all now in bed shall think themselves accurs’d they were not here, and hold their manhoods cheap whilst any speaks that hunted with us on Opening Day.”
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The End of Season
I was putting away all the deer guns yesterday. They have been sitting out for nearly a month. You can blame it on procrastination, but this is sort of the last thing that needs to be done before season is really over for me. You can see why it might be a little harder to do.
More . . .What did I learn?
Well, the freezer is full. The rifles are about ready to be sent back to the secret underground storage facility. What did I learn? SODIUM BICARBONATE Well, for starters, I decided to push my baking soda regimen as far as I dared. The results? 1) The second rinse in the washer with sodium bicarb is a waste. I stopped doing it this year and had no ill effects. 2) I started locking up my used hunting clothes in a plastic bin with a sprinkle of sodium bicarb between hunts. I was able to get a minimum of two wearings out … More . . .
Escanaba in Da Moonlight
Now there’s Escanaba in Da Moonlight— for free yet, eh? I was stuck for a night at a Super 8 in East Scumsuck, Ohio waiting for a storm to blow through night before last. I was feeling lower than a buckless Youper. I had nothing but a laptop and an order of rib tips from Appleby’s to keep me company, and no one was posting on D&DH . I couldn’t stand watching Larry King– never liked him when he was in his prime, so I didn’t want to watch his last show. So I went on Hulu.com and was hunting … More . . .
Kentucky Considers Deer Hunt Tourism
Political leaders in cash-strapped Kentucky are proposing winter getaway packages for hunters that would allow them to shoot deer at publicly owned parks to raise money for state government.
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