Deer Hunting
The Mauser from Hell
Strap in, guys. This is a long and bumpy ride down the bunny hole of rifle loony-ism. It all started back in 2013. SuperCore was cleaning out his gun safes and I picked up his K98 Mauser in 8X57. He’d been having trouble getting it to shoot. He’d taken it to two local gunsmiths. The first had hosed it up and the second had gone to jail on charges he’d willingly sold guns to known felons before mucking it up further. I picked up some 8X57 dies and some 8mm bullets, and went to work on a load, figuring I … More . . .
Indiana DNR changes mind: Deer Rifles Nixed on Public Land
In a last minute turn-around the Indiana legislature has changed its mind on the use of centerfire rifle on public land: Indiana deer and waterfowl hunters need to be aware of two important changes in the print version of the 2017-2018 Hunting & Trapping Guide. Due to recent legislation passed this year by the Indiana General Assembly, hunters can no longer use rifles when hunting deer on public land. “Public land” includes both state and federal property. Before the change, the use of rifles on public land had been legal. It remains legal to use a muzzleloader, shotgun or handgun … More . . .
Hollywood is Done!
I spent Saturday morning putting the finishing touches on the tower blind at Hollywood. This is going to sound a little mincy, but I wanted to give you the particulars on how I “decorated” the stand. There is a panorama shot in the slideshow showing all the way around the inside of the blind. Some things worth noting, going left to right: The green bag holds a spare folding chair for when two people are hunting out of the blind. At 5X7′ this is an ideal 2-person blind. My granddaughter will love it. The director’s chair came from … More . . .
LazyBoy is Up!
This all started about 5 years ago. I was looking for a place for #3 son, Angus to have his first solo deer hunt. Angus did not want to bother with a treestand, and we had bumped into this spot while out squirrel hunting. For the last few years, Angus has hunted from here using improvised ground blinds. We the neighbors fence blew down over last winter, I asked for the pickets. Another neighbor ripped out a deck that had only been up for 5 years. We have been making stuff out of that salvaged lumber for several weeks now. … More . . .
First Looks at the LHR Redemption
I know. This is about 5 years too late. However, a good fellow at 24hourcampfire.com saw I was asking about the Thompson Center Strike and offered me a NIB LHR Redeption at a remarkable discount. It was too good of an offer to let it go by. Just so you understand. Thompson Center bought out LHR a while back, specifically to get its hands on the LHR Redemption and sell it as The Strike. Ironically, they turned around and claimed they “revolutionized the world of muzzleloading.” I don’t see how you do that by buying out your competitor, but I … More . . .
More Work on the Stands
Supercore and I were back at it this weekend, working on upgrading his blind at S-10 and finishing off Hollywood. S-10 got some sides manufactured from the fence pickets we salvaged this spring. Hollywood is all but done. I put the railing up Saturday afternoon and then nailed the floor down Sunday. All that’s left is adding some hardware and mounting a permanent ladder. This post has already been read 2011 times!Views: 4 Related posts: Deer Season Post-Mortem, 2017 Mr Whelen Tags a Doe The Doctor, the Shaman, and the Elephant The Clown Suit Revealed The Savage Speaks Again Should … More . . .
The Tower at Hollywood
Over the past few weekends, we’ve been working on new stands. One of them, was far enough along that I trucked it out to its new position. Hollywood is a tower blind built with the Elevators bracket system. I’ve had these brackets for almost a decade. They were originally meant for the blind at Midway, but that was an ill-fated attempt to say the least– no fault of the brackets. Just so you know, the problem with the Midway build was that I had built it as sturdy as I could without considering weight. During the erection, one of the … More . . .
A Decade without Bow Hunting
This weekend marks the beginning of the tenth season since I stopped bowhunting. Yes, I miss it, but not as much as I thought I would. The incident that did it was actually back in July. I’d been using a DIY strength trainer for years– 3 screen door springs and a couple of handles. It mimicked my bow enough that I could draw and hold in the comfort of my bedroom. I picked it up from under the chair one afternoon and gave it a pull and felt hot fire in my shoulder. I put the thing back down and … More . . .
Ladder Stand Renovations
The treestands at camp are in need of some long-overdue PM. Virginia is getting downright unsafe. Campground had a cracked weld. The rest are just showing the ravaged of time and rust. The last time I set one of these Hunters View Buddy Stands into a tree, George W. Bush was president and Hunters View was still in business. I’ve been tending them every year with new straps and spraying them with RustOleum. However, Hurricane Ike in 2008 did not do any of them any good and some have been in a tree since 2001. I have shuffled a lot … More . . .
Deer Camp — Maintenance Weekend
I’ve been busy since July. However, I did not have all that much to show for it. Finally, I’ve got something meaningful to report. This weekend was the first of a series of maintenance weekends at Camp. Some of it was long overdue. The first project was the Jagende hutte. I built this blind back in 2003 from a packing crate and scraps of T1-11 siding. It has held up remarkably well, but the roll roof started to go a while back and it was time to replace it. SuperCore uses this blind a lot. He was out to help. … More . . .
Eye Candy 2017
In the waning years of my association with D&DH, I asked the blunt question: are game cameras really worth it? The answers I got were surprisingly honest. What it came down to was that everyone loved the eye candy. However, you had to be fairly dedicated to it to get actionable intelligence. The guy who had the best success was running 6 cameras per 100 acres and tending them several times a week. He admitted it was a hobby unto itself. The buck selection was rather paltry at our farm for a few years, but the herd started turning around … More . . .
New Ohio Deer Rifle Rules
There has been a change in what constitutes a legal deer rifle in Ohio. From the ODNR Website: Straight-walled cartridge rifles in the following calibers: New this year! All straight-walled cartridge calibers from a minimum of .357 to a maximum of .50. Shotguns and straight-walled cartridge rifles can be loaded with no more than three shells in the chamber and magazine combined. Previously, there had been a laundry list of cherry-picked chamberings that look like somebody had gone through their closet and picked what they thought might kill a deer. This is a good sign. Ohio went three years … More . . .
Help Getting to My Stand
From 24hourcampfire.com Help getting to my stand, please TreeMutt Offline Member Hello, I have a really good spot for Whitetail hunting on a ridge overlooking a hollow. The problem is getting to my stand. I have about a two mile hike, then climb a low high wall, then up the hollow. I have gone in, at times in 10 degree weather, in just a T-Shirt, underwear and rubber boots with no socks, carrying my heavier stuff and socks, etc., and still always end up in a lather of sweat…I have seen deer spook on my back trail hours after I … More . . .
Getting Ready for Season
Here it is, 4th of July weekend. I’ve got less than 19 weeks until the Rifle Opener here in KY. I am starting to make a list of what needs to be done. First off, the time to establish a new salt lick for the year is probably over. I know a lot of guys who start putting out licks in September, but the deer’s desire for salt begins to wane about then. You really need to put out your salt in March. That is when deer will be starting to look for it. I added rock salt to me … More . . .
Buck Weather
This is an interesting thread on 24hourcampfire.com Favorable Rifle Season Buck Weather A lot of folks like snow and cold. Here at Genesis 9:2-4 Ministries, the Shamanic Dream Team takes deer in a lot milder weather. Here is my answer: As patriarch of camp, I keep the log. It’s in .XLS format, so it is easy to ask these sort of questions. What I’ll give you is bucks only. The doe results are far more variable. Temp: 32F to 62F with the average being 40F Conditions: Clear or Partly Cloudy. None taken in Rain or Snow (we’ve had less … More . . .
Countdown to the Rifle Opener
The clock is operating. We’re underway! This post has already been read 558 times!Views: 0 Related posts: Crossbow Update- On Hunting Pressure and Going Nocturnal DST — More on this Deer Hunting Bugaboo Playing the Wind or J-Lo and Steve find each other? Report from Deer Camp — 2012 Opener So you want a new deer rifle for Indiana I hunt not to kill, I kill to have hunted. Eeeets Alive Pt I
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What’s the Best Factory Ammo?
Just a while back there was fellow asking me about ammunition for his deer rifle. “What’s the best factory load?” he asked. “For me,” I replied, “I’d say it was the 30-06 180 grain Musgrave round noses.” “I’ve never heard of Musgrave!” he said. “You probably wouldn’t.” I replied. “A boatload of the stuff came in from South Africa back in the 80’s. It was the one and only time I saw it.” “What about now?” “I haven’t bought ammo at the store since Clinton was in office.” I said. You probably think this is going to be another shamanic … More . . .
Dawn of American Deer Hunting
Junior, my honorable #1 son, gifted me a book. I’ve already been through it several times, and it is super cool. I have been enamoured with old pictures of deer hunting for quite some time, ever since we got the farm. Back then, I had all these bare walls to cover, and not a whole lot of budget. I went online and downloaded every old hunting photo I could find and put them in cheap frames. My surmise was that over time, our pictures of actual hunts would slowly replace the old stuff. Quite a few of the pictures in … More . . .
A Long Time Coming
Back in 2013, Angus was enjoying his last deer season as a Yute. I had him positioned with his older brother, Moose in a ground blind at Lazy Boy. He was too big for the buddy stand anymore. I was at Campground, about a quarter-mile away. Angus and I both scored bucks that morning. If I remember correctly, that was our first all-buck double-header. I had to stay home. It is Supercore’s birthday today and there is a big party. It gave me some time to catch up on projects. I finally got a chance to get the antlers mounted. … More . . .
Possible new Ohio Record Buck
The forest telegraph just came across with this: https://www.thehuntingnews.com/new-potential-ohio-state-record-buck/BIG BUCK ALERT! New Potential Ohio State Record Typical Buck This post has already been read 562 times!Views: 0 Related posts: Shotgun Vs. Rifle Deer Hunter receives largest fine in Ohio history The Doctor, the Shaman, and the Elephant What makes a Deer Rifle? Report from Deer Camp: Opener 2024 But then again. . . No Meat on the Pole Campground: A Treestand Profile
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Deer Season Post-Mortem, 2016
There is a brief window in our yearly hunting schedule where the lessons of the season just past are still fresh. I need to make record of them before my head fills with holiday glurge. My apologies for not doing this sooner. I just started a new day job, and it has been consuming everything. We celebrated our 16th season of Deer Camp. Everybody got a big buck. Everybody got a doe for the freezer. By weight and by antler, we bagged the new #2 and #4 bucks. Supercore’s buck had a bigger rack but was about 5 lbs lighter … More . . .
Hundreds of Deer Poached
Fleming and Mason Counties are just a stone’s throw away from our deer camp. Two brothers were arrested with over a hundred counts of taking deer illegally. Here’s the report from Channel 18 in Lexington . Fleming Co. Brothers Face Over 100 Counts Of Poaching FLEMING COUNTY, Ky (LEX 18) Two Fleming County brothers face more than 100 counts of poaching in a case that State Division of Fish and Wildlife says could have gone on for years. Conservation officers say that they discovered dozens upon dozens of deer antlers in a shed on a plot of land. They said … More . . .
Report from Deer Camp 2016 — Doe Double-Header
The last weekend of season is usually when Deer Camp gets serious. For each hunter, one of two things have happened. Either he has his buck and is just a last tag, or he has not had any luck and is trying to make something happen. For the Shamanic Dream Team, it was freezer filling time. SuperCore and Angus each had one antlerless tag left, and the doe were just not cooperating. The first few days of Kentucky’s Modern Weapon’s season had been a shooting gallery. We had each gotten our bucks Opening Weekend, and then the action turned off. … More . . .
More On The L-E-Vator
I had the GoPro out on Saturday afternoon but did not have a chance to get it out before the doe showed up. I still managed to get some footage of SuperCore’s new L-E-Vator. This is not the perfect deer lifter. You can see that from the video. However, it is the best I’ve found so far, and it beats the homebrew means I’ve been using the past few seasons. It really likes being on level ground and working it solo has its problems. It is heavy, but not too heavy. Think “sturdy.” This is the best deer hunting gadget … More . . .
The Fastest Doe Hunt
Saturday afternoon was one of those days during season when it is nice just to settle in with a good book and wait for sundown. There was not going to be much moving so long as the wind gusting into the low twenties, but being in the cabin was no good either. We all left for our blinds early in anticipation of a window at sundown when would wind die down a bit and the deer might move out of their beds to feed. It had been blowing like that for 24 hours, and there had been a 4 hour … More . . .
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