Heads Up! Thumbs Down — How to hang a Deer
The deer comes in to the cleaning area on the back of the truck. I attach a heavy chain noose around the neck ( I substitute a 2″ strap if I’m going to have taxidermy done.) A heavy block and tackle is attached to the chain and the rope is attached to the truck. When the truck drives off, the deer goes up in the air. The deer is left hanging with its back legs just off the ground. A concrete mixing vat is placed underneath. When I gut, gravity causes everything to fall out into the vat, and out … More . . .
Deer Season is Over
The buck I shot on Opening Day was ready at the processor. Angus and I showed up around noontime Saturday to pick it up. The guy at Meyers in Lennoxburg went into the freezer and came out tray after tray of frozen wrapped venison. It was a LOT of dead deer. We did what we could to get it packed into the cooler, but we could not get the lid on. I had estimated that we would get 60-70 pounds out of the buck, but this felt much heavier—well over eighty. “Son,” I said. “I know I promised you a … More . . .
What, no blood trail?
kyscentlok at KYHunting.net writes Remington Core-Lokt bullets? My dad & I both shoot 175 grain core-lokts through are 7mm mags. We both killed deer this weekend him a 7pt & me a 9pt. We both made really good shots & the deer did not go but maybe 60 yards but we could not find blood trails in either case. I believe it was due to them not exiting the other side. I believe the shells did an excellent job but if the deer had went very far. I don’t know if we would have found them. Has anyone else had … More . . .
Hubert D.Buck Meets Mr. Whelen
It was a perfect ingress. I left the house five minutes ahead of schedule. I reached the gate and did my final check and found nothing missing. I got half way there and realized that I didn’t make a mistake by not hitting the bathroom one last time before I left. However, I felt in my pocket and DID find the toilet paper I had put in. I looked heavenward and beheld the tableau of Orion and Canis Major taking on Taurus, on a clear sky and knew life was going amazingly well. The trip to Campground went just like … More . . .
No Meat on the Pole
There was a lot that happened this weekend. Saturday was one of my all-time successful hunts. However, I did not end up with any meat on the pole. I have often said that a day in the field hunting teaches me more about myself than a year of doing anything else. This was one of those days. This was the last weekend before rifle season begins in Kentucky. The first weekend in November has been historically an active weekend here in the Ohio Valley. This was no exception. It was unseasonably warm, but it did not stop the deer. I … More . . .
Some Twenty Years Gone
This does not have a whole lot to do with deer hunting, but then again it has everything to do with deer hunting. This story has a long set-up too, but then it took twenty years to get to the punchline. Saturday Night was atypical from the start. We stopped working on chores early, like we were going bow hunting. Then we did not go. Instead, I had my sons gather up all the scraps of wood and poly sheet we had amassed from one of our projects, and I had them pile them all up where the back lawn … More . . .
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 . . .
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