Deer Hunting
Cheap Deer Rifles Redux
It was about ten years ago I wrote a series of articles on buying deer rifle for Deer & Deer Hunting. Of them, the one on cheap deer rifles has stayed one of my most popular. It dawned on me the other day that the topic needed to be revisited. For the original, see: Picking a Deer Rifle On the Cheap What got me thinking about it was that I spied a $400 Mauser 96 at Hibberds. The 96 Swede is an awesome rifle. The 6.5X55 cartridge is an excellent whitetail deer cartridge. The difference a decade has brought is … More . . .
O.D’s 2 of 7 Rule May be Real!
The more I look at it, O.D.’s 2 of 7 rule may be true. At least, that’s what the cameras are telling me. As you may remember, I’ve been writing about my neighbor O.D. and his crazy theories about deer hunting. One of his most notorious is the “2 of 7 Rule.” Basically put, deer will show up at your blind an average of 2 out every 7 days. It’s a bit bigger than that, but that is the nut of the whole thing. If you think about it, there’s a lot more going on there. Assume 2 of 7 … More . . .
The Big Book of Gun Gack
I spent Saturday reading in John Barsness’s book, The Big Book of Gun Gack. You have probably read the author, he’s published in a heck of a lot of magazines, and he’s got a slew of good books on Amazon.com. This one is a collection of articles about a select bunch of rifle cartridges for the hunter and John’s take on reloading for them. It is a book for the hunter that reloads.. Table Of Contents Working Up a Load in the 21st Century Modern Rifle Powders Rifle Primers Rifling Twist Pre-Testing Big Game Bullets Sizing Cases Straight … More . . .
Deer Season Post-Mortem, 2017
Now that everyone is home safe a-bed, I thought I would go through the season and give you all my impressions of why it went so well, and what worked and what did not. Overall, this was the most spectacular deer camp we’ve had. Everyone got their buck. Everyone got a doe. We saw a lot more bucks than usual. There was a lot more rutting activity than we expected. . . . except for the space at the ladder, which was wide open. Yes, I did get busted twice in one day. Once by a doe at under 50 … More . . .
Tagged Out in 2017
With 6 days left of season, SuperCore ended the 2017 with a shot on a doe in The Garden of Stone. I had slept in and was just drinking my coffee as I heard the shot back at camp, and started getting dressed for the trip out when the walkie-talkie crackled and I heard, “SuperCore to Earth. Bring the truck.” For the number of days we’ve hunted, it has not been all that grueling a camp. Most days, somebody has tagged something. Last Tuesday morning nobody had a chance. It started out well. Tuesday 11/14 Now that the leaves are … More . . .
Deer Opener 2017
It was the coldest Opening Weekend ever for the Shamanic Dream Team. The temperature was hanging around 24F when the light came up, but there had been a good deal of action at my stand at Campground before that. I had heard a group of doe, probably being chased by a young buck come down through Soggy Bottom, just below my stand, but it was too dark to see. Over at the Blackberry Patch, Angus had been watching a young doe feeding just beneath his stand, and been contemplating a shot on her when a big 8-pointer came crashing out … More . . .
Fort Apache Gets a Roof
Our new blind out back of the house needed a roof. I used a 10X12 tarp and some clothesline to put up a quick and dirty roof. This post has already been read 3138 times!Views: 43 Related posts: Fort Apache Construction Update– The Roof is On! Remnar’s Treestand Erection Campground: A Treestand Profile
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Fort Apache
Angus came down after a torrential overnight rain to finish off what needed finishing off. I want to start off by acknowleding his hard work and sacrifice this summer and fall. We’ve nearly gotten the pre-season do-list done. Moose, SuperCore and Moose’s friends have all helped out as they could. However, Angus has gone the extra distance in this. We put roll mineral roof on the Lazy Boy blind. It’s now ready for winter. There were two section of the neighbor’s spite fence left over when all other projects were done. I made a shooting port in each, and screwed … More . . .
Muzzleloader 2017 After Action Report
The Kentucky Early Primitive Weapons Season 2017 is in the can. No deer were harmed in the making of this weekend.However, we all seemed to have a good time. I left straight from work and missed the traffic. Both Angus and SuperCore left a bit later on Friday night and got caught up on a major snarl. Angus swung out way west and came in by Falmouth. SuperCore plowed through. They both made it late. I had spent a pleasant evening alone, watching the deer. For us, Muzzleloader Weekend is always a shakedown for the real thing. Unless a real … More . . .
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 3029 times!Views: 7 Related posts: Of Treestands and Red Tape — Did my stands survive Ike? How does the .270 caliber work on whitetails? Is it safe to pee off … 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 927 times!Views: 2 Related posts: The Countdown Begins Indiana Rule Changes for 2015– Centerfire Rifle! More on Indiana Deer Rifle Changes Indiana Passes New Deer Rifle Rules New Ohio Deer Rifle Rules PA Considering Moving Deer Opener What Makes the Perfect Deer Rifle — PT 2 The Rifle Itself Rifle Opener 2018
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