Reality Sets In. . . AGAIN
Last year on September 18th, I posted a piece about trying out my new 30-30 rounds. Sometimes writing a weblog can be eerie. You go back and read stuff and you realize you’ve pretty much repeated yourself. Here’s the post: Reality Sets In On Sunday, I was back at the shooting bench. Surprisingly, the target frame had folded up in the storm Friday night. I had to go out and pound some nails in it to get it back standing. I had not had the 30-30 out since that trip in 2011. This time, the only things that were different: … More . . .
Jaegdenfreude?
A Record Month!!! First off, I just want to say a thank you to all of you. August was the best month ever for visitors and the amount of content y’all were reading– about 20% more than the previous record back in April and double what it was a year ago. It is getting so I have at least 200 readers a day, and a growing number of you are coming back for more after the first visit. I really appreciate your appreciation.  Feel free to drop me a line and let me know what you are thinking. I’d love … More . . .
Labor Day Reloading Projects
What is left of Hurricane Isaac is moving through Cincinnati this morning. We had originally thought about staying at the farm all weekend, but the forecast seemed rather dire. We all opted to stay home. A wide-eyed Obama supporter showed up at our door the other night, asking our opinions on President Obama and Sherrod Brown.  I don’t think she liked my responses. However, it reminded me that I was way behind on reloading projects. I was out of work 2.5 years and then underemployed another 1.5 years. I just accepted an offer that puts me back closer to where … More . . .
The Shamanic Guide to Speed Scouting
I can remember this time back in 2001. I had just acquired a 200 acre farm. Season was only a few weeks away. I had seen a few deer and a few turkeys, but I frankly thought the numbers were going to be sparse. I was only able to get out there on weekends, so I spent the weekday nights studying maps and planning strategies. Let me tell you how I went about it and what I did wrong and what I have learned since. First, get yourself a topo map and an aerial photo. Google Earth is pretty darn … More . . .
What was I ever thinking?
Now that I’m well past 30 seasons of deer hunting, I find myself looking back and increasingly thumping myself on the forehead and proclaiming, “What was I ever thinking?” Camouflage clothing: What was I thinking? I do not mean that I was wrong in trying to hide myself a bit better. The problem was that I thought you needed a serious plan with camo. I needed an early-season and late season. I needed camo for the treestand and camo for the blind. I needed camo for every occasion. I had camo cover-ups to camo my camo. The best piece of … More . . .
New 2012-13 Kentucky Hunting and Trapping Guide
KYDFWR has just released the new Hunting and Trapping Guide. 2012-13 Kentucky Hunting and Trapping Guide So far I don’t see any big changes for what I’m doing. Views: 2 Related posts: KDFWR 20-21 Hunting and Trapping Guide is Out Shamanic Guide to Whitetail Deer Hunting Kentucky Fall Rules are Out Kentucky Fall Rules Are Out PODCAST: The shaman scores in KY Opener 2012 PODCAST: Tagged Out in 2012 Kentucky Considers Deer Hunt Tourism Return of the Whitetail in Kentucky
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My GoTo Deer Rifle– a redux
I was digging through the stats the other day, trying to figure out why I’d had the best day ever on this weblog as far as the number of visitors. One of the log entries I’d noticed was a popular post from back in 2004, “What is my goto deer gun?” I had forgotten I had written it, and so I decided it was time to read it. What is my “goto” gun for Deer? To my surprise, it was the wrong gun. Don’t get me wrong. The Remington 1100 is a heck of a deer gun, and I am … More . . .
Stuck in The Burbs
So here it is, the second week in July. I should be down at camp, but it is too darn hot. It is too hot to mow, because it is too hot for the grass to be growing. Walking out the door to go the mailbox has become a planned event. We have a fan running in the center of the house, moving air around to help the air conditioning. It is loud enough to disturb thinking. You have to go to one end of the house to have a conversation. My apologies for not writing. I usually take a … More . . .
A Ninety-Niner Looks Back
I have been back to work now for going on 2 years. I am starting to dig myself out of the hole. The bills are getting paid. I decided to go back and look at an piece I wrote a little more than 2 years ago, about being a Ninety-Niner and what it meant to my deer hunting. At the time I wrote it, August 2010, I had used up my full 99 weeks of unemployment and was coasting with no good hope of a job.  Just before season started, I got a call out of the blue to work … More . . .
The Deer Log is Finished
I finally finished off my deer log. I say that, and I can envision a strange shelf-stable variation of venison meat loaf. No, I mean that I completed a spreadsheet listing all the deer ever taken at our camp, along with accompanying a data. I tried to answer the following questions? What was it? Doe, buck, antler size, live weight, etc. Where and when was it taken? Who took it? With what? What was the weather like? Moon phase? It ended up being quite a list and quite an undertaking. I started doing this about 1992 as I realized I … More . . .
Deer Opener
The Proposed 2012 Seasons are posted on KYDFWR’s website: http://fw.ky.gov/20122013proposedseasons.asp The big dates for me: Squirrel Opener: 8/18 Bow Opener: 9/1 Yute Opener: 10/13 Early Smokepole: 10/20 Rifle Opener Zone 1: 11/10 Views: 5 Related posts: Report from Deer Camp — 2012 Opener Report from Deer Camp — The Opener, 2015 Deer Opener 2017 Deer Opener, 2022 More on Indiana Deer Rifle Changes Squirrel Opener 2017 PODCAST: The shaman scores in KY Opener 2012 Updated KY Deer Regs are Posted
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Salt Licks — NOW!
I was out last weekend pestering the turkeys and I came upon a herd of 5 deer camped out under one of my stands, worrying my salt lick. It reminded me that now– I MEAN NOW!!! — is the time to start making or rejuvenating salt licks. There was enough salt in mine, leftover from last year, to hold their interest. However, you need to have your licks established early. By Summer, they’re not going to be nearly as useful. Contrary to popular belief, new salt licks are well-near useless during hunting season. You cannot just put out salt the … More . . .
The Remington 742 — a look back
There has been a vast number of hits at this weblog regarding the Remington 742, so much so that I feel compelled to write about it. It was 2004 when I put the 742 onto the rack, never to hunt with it again. It had served me well for over 20 seasons. I put it up on the rack on a dark evening towards the end of deer season, and went into the house to crawl out of my hunting clothes. There was a gust of wind and I heard a terrible racket out on the front porch. Somehow the … More . . .
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