Deer Hunting
First Loads with the Remington 7600
It was a good thing I was held up Friday night from going hunting. Saturday morning found me pacing about, looking for– I know! I’ll load up some more 35 Whelen. I went downstairs and loaded up a second batch to try out. The first batch had been BL-C(2) under a 200 grain Rem Corelokt. I did the same, except substituted H4895. I was glad I did. Angus and I left town around 11. I had to stop at Lennoxburg to pickup Mooseboy’s venison. The first thing we did when we got to the farm was to break out the … More . . .
Hello, Jerry? Again
Hello, Jerry? Oh, #@$@#! You again? What do you mean? You keep calling me? Why don’t you leave me the $#$#@ alone? Sorry. It’s been a year. Really now. What is it NOW??? Sorry, Jerry. I can tell you’re busy. Now, I’m not. I’m dead. It happened again, Jerry. I got home from work tonight, and I just couldn’t get myself in gear to go hunting. I have a deer at the processor, and – AND???? I just remembered calling you last year. It felt good talking to you. I thought I’d call you again. I let Mooseboy shoot a … More . . .
Mooseboy Scores
Mooseboy was not feeling well Saturday morning, so I sent him back to bed, before heading out to my stand. He mentioned a stomach ache. By 0830, he had recovered his health and joined me. In the meantime, I was treated to great show. A doe we had been encountering regularly came out at the bare minimum of legal shooting. She visited the salt lick, and was so close that I could not move to grab my muzzleloader. Somewhere in this, I shifted slightly behind the blind and made the slightest cotton-on-cotton noise. This blew her mind. She rocketed away … More . . .
To Bait, Or Not to Bait
This time of year, everyone seems to get their drawers knotted up over whether it’s okay to bait for whitetail deer. Some say it’s not Fair Chase. Some folks say it’s okay. One of the things that’s missing here is whether or not hunting over bait is even all that effective. They started letting us hunt over bait a few years ago in Ohio and KY. It’s not been a huge success. A study of MI hunters years ago suggested that deer tend to visit bait at night, and not during normal hunting hours. I’ve seen field baited with corn … More . . .
Getting ready for Yute Season
The Remington 742 has managed to still serve a purpose even after retirement. I took the offending Remington 742 and placed it in a positon of obvious disgrace next to my gunsmithing table. All the other rifles have an easy view of it whenever I open the safe. The message is clear: “This will happen to you if you fail.” It must be working. Mooseboy had the M1 Garand out this weekend, taking his last practice prior to the start of KY Yute Season. Here were the results: That was his first offhand target at 50 yards. I think Mooseboy … More . . .
Kite String
I use kite string to mark trails. If I’m hunting a new spot that is tricky to get to, I’ll put kite string between two branches here and there to give me an idea of where to go. It’s cheap, and the synthetic stuff they use now is fairly reflective, and I can pick it up easily in the flashlight beam. A bit of string between two fence posts means : the opening in the fence is nigh. A bit of string tied along the trail means: follow this line. A bit of string around a tree means: your stand … More . . .
Is it safe to pee off your stand?
I usually can save it until I take a break at midday. I have not hunted the same stand morning and evening in years. I have not seen a deleterious effect from an occasional whiz of the stand, but it also helps to not use the same stand every day you’re out. I mix it up quite a bit– I have close to twenty and blind locations on 20 acres. Outside of a couple favorites, I try not to hit the same location twice in a week. I even built an outhouse on the back of the property in easy … More . . .
Shaman’s First Deer
Sue and Hugh had invited me to hunt their 50 acres over in Grant County, Kentucky. The place consisted of a few acres of bottom land, a creek, and a ridgetop with an abandoned farm on it. I had been having good success hunting near the old family cemetery up on top of the ridge—a lot of sightings, but nothing worth putting an arrow into. When rifle season came, Hugh suggested I take a post on the hillside overlooking the creek. Opening morning found me in sight of the back of their trailer, about half-way up the hill. I found … More . . .
Requiem for a Remington 742
It was always a quirky rifle, but dropping out the trigger group and giving it a good cleaning always seemed to get it going again. I’ve probably been prolonging the inevitable. No matter what, I always tried to hunt a couple of days each season with it. It kept me close to my old hunting buddy, Jerry. Oh well, we all have to go sometime. I got the call from the gunsmith late on Saturday. My Remington 742, my first deer rifle, had trouble. The smith had found a dent in the receiver that had also put dent in the … More . . .
More on those Sad Eyes Looking Up
Pat Ford: The deer I’m thinking of was laying with it’s legs under it. I put one right in the middle of the forehead and it took two to do the job. To which I reply: Finally, I have a second true-life anecdote to confirm my thesis that head shots on deer are not a good idea. If you don’t mind, I’ll include it in my book. A skull is a weird place, and bullets do strange things. I’m not here to throw rocks at anyone. Lord knows I’ve done plenty of stuff in my hunting career that seemed right … More . . .
Sad eyes looking up.
PatFord over on 24hourcampfire.com wanted to know You have shot a buck. Instead of dropping it takes off and when you find it it’s laying in a bramble patch with it’s head up looking at you. Where do you considder the best place to shoot to finish it off quickly and humanely? Pat: That’s an easy one to describe, but it is hard to do. It’s sad when they don’t expire as quick as we’d wish. However, you got him into the mess, and you have to get him out. Call me a crazy shaman, but I usually talk to … More . . .
How fast do you need to gut a deer
If it’s fairly cool, I just haul it back to camp and do it there. Mind you, I’ve got a place that allows me to get a truck in nearly everywhere. If I down a deer, it can be up on the meatpole in a half hour or less. I’ve had them on the way to the processor in under an hour from being shot. You have to look at it this way: In warm weather you can’t gut them fast enough. If you feel the need to apply ice to the carcass, you should not delay in gutting. The … More . . .
Checking my Backtrail
I had not expected my birthday to cause me to become so reflective. However, I found a thread over on 24hourcampfire this morning. It was one of the usual conversations you see starting up this time of year: What is your favorite deer cartridge? I was about to jump in, and I found myself hesitating at the reply button. Why? I’ve been on online forums, either as a host or a contributor since 1981. I have been outdoor-oriented forums for about half that time. There I was, sitting in the dark of my dining room, and I was suddenly compelled … More . . .
Treasure Your Hunting Buddies
I was on over at www.racksandspursclub.com. It’s a fairly new board, and one that I would heartily recommend to everyone. Anyhow, I lifted a thread from over there. I guess my point in including it here is similar to what I said to one of my younger buddies after we got back from burying one of my older buddies: “Yeah, Pook.” I said. “I guess the trick of having a bunch of old farts for friends is that you need to keep a steady stream coming in the door. There’s always so many checking out. That was about 8 years … More . . .
Hunting in the heat.
I was always so hot on the idea of rolling back the start of bow season from early or mid October to September. Then Kentucky did just that. The result? I start hunting about the first weekend in October. Why? The heat. Last year, they took a total of 39 deer in September in my county. That’s pretty pitiful. I know that’s not for trying too. The deer just stay holed up during the day and do not move. They have their Winter coats coming in, and the last thing they want to do is exert themselves while the sun … More . . .
Which is Better for Hunting: Morning or Afternoon
I was about even on score (AM vs PM) until a few years ago. Now it’s getting sort of lopsided towards mornings. The difference is that now that I’m hunting an area with a good deer population, I’m more likely to score on opening morning, and then that’s it. I’m done until at least the next day. Mornings are practially better in my book. If you get your deer early, you have plenty of daylight to track it, clean it, and get it to the processor. Evenings are always more hectic. Cleaning has to be done by artifical light. The … More . . .
Cover Scents
Cover scent? I’ve pretty much given up on the idea, except that I’ll probably throw some cedar boughs in the trunk that holds most of my clothes. If the deer are going to smell anything on me, cedar is probably the best choice for my woods. Mind you a do this very conservatively. I am about ready to start processing my hunting clothes for bow season. I’ve got about 2 loads to do. The rest are all still bagged up from last season, and will not require any work. These are the few pieces I left out for Turkey Season. … More . . .
The new Tenant
The other day, Mooseboy and I were out freshening up the licks. I’m running only two licks this year, one over by the campground and the other by the garbage dump. The others can probably go a year. Anyhow, we had an 80 lb sack of rock salt that I decided to split between the two lick sites. Dennis was due to arrive in a day or so, and I wanted to get the salt in the ground before the rains hit. Both lick sites were well used. I was surprised to find a bit of dairy mineral still left … More . . .
Where Do Deer Run When They’re Hit?
TJK over on 24hourcampfire.com was wondering if anyone else had noticed that deer all seem to run in the direction they were facing when they are hit. Some agreed, some didn’t. Here’s my take on it. I’ve had mixed results, and I cannot honestly say that I’ve seen a pattern. Mind you, I’m not going to castigate you for holding your belief. I too, walked into the woods with it an and only gave it up in recent years. Two consecutive years, same treestand, same day of the year, two similar bucks walked by and caught an arrow from my … More . . .
Fair is Fair
It came out in the marriage conselling with the first wife that I had made a bargain when we were first married: She could determine what we were going to do on the weekends except for three weeks in April and May and 8 weeks in October and November. That left an 11 to 41 week disparity in who chose what. Still, the social worker thought that was still highly unfair, and that I should concede weekends in the Fall for things like shopping trips, weddings and such. Needless to say, the conselling sessions and the marraige ended shortly thereafter. … More . . .
Dennis comes to town; Shaman hits the bench.
Hurricane Dennis hit the Ohio Valley in a way that reminded me of one those interminable groupies from my days running the Black Hole Coffee House. Sluggish, bloated, Dennis moved in and never left. After putting up with him for a week now, it seems he will never leave. Day after day, we wake up to clinging mugginess, and the promise of a thunderstorm. Friday night, we finally decided that going to the farm was going to be well-nigh useless and stayed in town. If we were going to be shut up inside, we might as well have the extra … More . . .
Should you give it to ’em broadsides?
Over at the 24hourcampfire, we were all jawing about whether or not it’s important to wait for a broadside shot. Flinch made the following statement that summed up the feelings of many there: “I take the shot that is offered. Broudside shots are way over rated. From any angle, it is easy to hit vitals. Place the shot and punch tags.” Flinch While I prefer a single broadside or slight quartering-away shot, I’m not a snob. I’ve taken a brisket shots with a bow and a rifle. The bucks all travelled only a few yards. I’ve also done the Texas … More . . .
What kind of bullet do I use on deer?
I’ve spent most of my life living with cheap bullets and cheap ammo on deer and not had much of a problem. Most of my time has been spent with Remington 12 Ga sluggers and Walmart special 180 grain 30-06. I hunt dense cedars and Eastern hardwoods, and I hunt at very close range. I started out life as a bowhunter, and most of my deer hunting sensibilities lie in that sort of hunting. If I do not get within 80 yards of the deer, I am doing something wrong. Since I took up handloading a few years ago, I’ve … More . . .
I’m just a Lowly Acorn Farmer
It’s been several years now, and I have to say that I am so glad I took this up. What we are doing is trying our hand at acorn farming. See, we have acres and acres of white oak with tons and tons of acorns just lying on the ground. The problem is how to get them all vacuumed up and processed into something worth selling. About 5 years ago I hit on an idea: run all those acorns through the intestinal tract of whitetail deer and wild turkey, then harvest the critters. Those deer and turkeys just naturally go … More . . .
Choice of Rifle
JERRYO is a newbie over at KYHunting.net His question was: “which is the better rifle to hunt with single shot or repeater of some kind. “ Here is my answer: I guess what you need to answer is: what is BETTER for you? Now ask yourself: What is better for the game? Some folks feel a single shot rifle gives them more of a challenge. My personal motivation is that I am out there to hunt. That has always been challenge enough for me. I have never been all that enamoured by the one-shot-one-kill macho thing. I shoot. If I … More . . .
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