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r3g3
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Re: fun stuff 2022/11/05 09:17:08 (permalink)
all in all have considered retirement from Deer lately gettin tough but might get out this week for one blind to make a few sits in
hot tuna
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Re: fun stuff 2022/11/07 17:38:16 (permalink)
Well this was probably one of the worst opening big game seasons in a very long time. Thanks to Al Gore, lol.. gotta blame someone.. Deer hunting and tee shirts just don't work well in my environment.
We stuck to a plan of not trampling the woods and sitting to one stand per day until the bitter end. It's way to early to disturb the woods and give up our presence, even though they probably know better than I.

Anyway, the stands we sat were void of wildlife during the day but once darkness fell, they came alive.
On the second day a shooter walked past mid morning but we picked a different stand.
Deer hunting to me comes down to patience and preserverince. When the patience runs out later in the season, preservierance will take over .
I still got hrs and hrs ahead of time in the woods.

The hunting time clock 2022:
2 guys =16 hrs each in the woods
post edited by hot tuna - 2022/11/07 17:42:46

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"whats that smell like fish oh baby" .. J. Kaukonen
r3g3
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Re: fun stuff 2022/11/07 18:11:29 (permalink)
if that was the shooter he is pretty nice
hot tuna
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Re: fun stuff 2022/11/13 08:23:58 (permalink)
My son, grandson and myself logged in another 10hrs yesterday and back in before light this morning. We seen 5 different bucks. All between 1-3:30pm.
One was a definite shooter but to far out. I also let a decent 6pt pass.
They are out marking territory with scrapes and scent. It's starting to get real now as their getting ornery.
Seems the colder weather is finally going to start and possibly some snow by Wednesday. šŸ‘.
The goal is to put one down this week with xbow before Saturday's big bang.

"whats that smell like fish oh baby" .. J. Kaukonen
r3g3
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Re: fun stuff 2022/11/14 17:29:54 (permalink)
deer here-with no nuts- been out in fields various times of day feeding- watched a real nice shooter chasing a doe this afternoon all over a field while some other doe hung around eating grass and watching-
hot tuna
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Re: fun stuff 2022/11/23 08:08:40 (permalink)
So a little catch up on my last weeks adventure.
Hunted all week with the xbow and the weather was perfect with about 4" fresh snow. The hunting was a challenge, as it should be.. We seen the deer we wanted to take. He was a beautiful 10 pt. I had him in my sights on 3 occasions but couldn't get the shot. My son seen him twice.
I passed on other quality deer that were easy shots. Finally on the last day of xbow I decided to take a doe for the purpose of securing meat for the freezer. At 6:30 am she walks right in at 30 yards and I let the arrow go. Great shot but I didn't see it go down so I like to wait about 45 minutes.
Right after I shot, multiple deer came right in. I had these 2 bucks sparing in front of my stand for about 45 minutes. Not having recovered the first deer, I wasn't shooting another.
They finally leave and i find the deer 15 yards from my shot. Double lung and it wasn't going anywhere. I am a firm believer in fixed blade broadheads

Opening rifle on Saturday we both see the 10 pt again but no shot. I passed on 2 young bucks . No deer taken with the gun that day.
Sunday was a complete blizzard with the lake effect. I hunkered down in a ground blind until noon when the snow stopped but the winds didn't.
I walked some logging roads and found a nice 8pt broadside 50 yards with no idea i was there . I kneeled down and fired my 30-06. In complete disbelief, the bullet lands 8 yards in the dirt in front of the deer. Humm.
I get home and take 2 shots at 75 yards. First shot was standing freehand, second was resting on the railing. There was nothing wrong with my scope, nor me. I don't get buck fever..
My conclusion was it was a bad load ( factory) on the bullet.
We head back to the woods Friday-Sunday.

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r3g3
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Re: fun stuff 2022/11/23 10:04:22 (permalink)
congrats on the doe and your patience
hot tuna
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Re: fun stuff 2022/12/05 17:10:30 (permalink)
So a lot of things have been happening in the past 2 weeks. Some fun, some not so much
The not so much:
My oil furnace finally quit right before I left for deer camp. It would be 2 weeks before a new installation. No big deal, we have alternative heat with a pellet stove.
Well on return for Thanksgiving, the pellet stove starts causing an issue and the furnace was a week out.
I get it to running and told the wife don't shut it off. It became 76 plus degrees on low in our house.
New furnace gets installed and someone was watching over us as the old furnace was burning a hole in the wall and didn't burn the house down.
Part 2..
This is the longest, most time I've put into the woods without getting a quarry I've been seeking. Multiple times we've had opportunities but something goes wrong.

Good news :
My friend bagged a nice doe to fill his needs.
I spent 10 hrs in the woods in perfect conditions yesterday and had ample opportunities to take quality doe.
I passed on 2 small bucks.
I'm once again heading back into the field for a final and first hunt this late in our season.
I'm quite sure more quality venison will be served for our family but I'm not so sure we will get the 2 deer we've been holding out for.
Obviously, I'm not taking a immature buck.

More later

"whats that smell like fish oh baby" .. J. Kaukonen
r3g3
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Re: fun stuff 2022/12/06 17:48:55 (permalink)
Rich all in all  it sounds like the luckiest  fall you ever had IMHO- that burn behind the furnace coulda been horrible- glad all worked out and hope you have a great last shooting op
post edited by r3g3 - 2022/12/06 17:51:05
hot tuna
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Re: fun stuff 2022/12/11 19:22:41 (permalink)
When your day starts like this and ends like this after 36 days in the field of opportunity, you know it's going to get real.
It's not the 2 we've been stalking but one we've passed a few times. Given there is a very healthy population of upcoming and the 2 are safe from a hunter for another season today on the last day of my season i pulled the trigger with a nothing spoiled shot.
Only thing left to do is process him to add to our by our own hands food supply.

I wish Jack was around to start a ice dance.
Hopefully be on hardwater before 2023.

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r3g3
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Re: fun stuff 2022/12/12 14:16:51 (permalink)
congrats Rich
hot tuna
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Re: fun stuff 2022/12/12 18:27:07 (permalink)
Well thank you Trevor.
It was a long season for us but very good fun times. Our crew of 5 dropped off to a core 3 plus my grandson. I knew there would be challenges having less of us afield but everything worked out. Again, we have a vast amount of woods and property with zero pressure from outsiders.
Typically a good season is 3 deer harvested, a great season is everyone gets to pull the trigger. Were not picky be are are choosy based on the surroundings.
I've had discussions about what to take and when but we are the only ones that know our property. There's a reason for how we harvest and it's not always going to be the biggest deer in the woods but I will say, aside from 2 doe and a crazy mature unicorn, we haven't taken anything less than an 8pt in 10 seasons. I say less, we've taken bigger.
Were not trophy hunters but we know about the trophy deer in those woods so you try and use patience , then comes judgment.
We really track our deer pretty well with cameras. Starting in May and ending in December, we're pretty in tune with the woods. The deer don't venture far from their preferred areas unless something makes them relocate.
As an example, we've been watching this 8pt since May, he is still there this morning.

On a side note:
I got this picture yesterday of a pike lake I fish as a first shakedown. Always action and fun to fish.
It's beginning to look like a lot like Christmas. My first planned hardwater adventure is December 26th.
Fun stuff..

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r3g3
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Re: fun stuff 2022/12/13 09:23:14 (permalink)
there is little we do that is so satisfying as our trips afield -aside from family.
Glad you had a great time- enjoy those trips as long as ya can,
 
One thing I learned over a lifetime of trying to figure out Deer is that a buck will often travel for miles looking for love during the season only to return to home ground very late in the season.
Have occasionally again seen my  target buck in the last few days of our Muzzel season in late December right back in his earlier haunts.
 
cant hit the woods and ridges  any more and am stuck field hunting one spot not far from the truck and really enjoy your descriptions and photos of the deep woods hunting--
great memories being made there.
post edited by r3g3 - 2022/12/13 11:25:50
hot tuna
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Re: fun stuff 2022/12/13 18:31:59 (permalink)
Trevor, it's far different where we hunt.
The high mountain deer don't leave their areas very much, I'd say less than a half to quarter mile once they've established a home. The doe also as we can basically name them ( like spot on the SR in puckerbush creek, lol.
Just think about it, why would you leave when everything comes to your house.
If you take out the fun stuff they like, then they will leave. If they get wary, then they will smart up.
Alternative foods such as fields and corn are miles away and require lots of energy so they adapt to the high country and we're not hunting those types of valley deer.
It was a great season with lots of opportunities , we just choose them as the conditions apply.

Ps:
I just loaded up on ice gear and got a fantastic deal on a new pair of Simms waders at 50% off.
post edited by hot tuna - 2022/12/13 18:33:14

"whats that smell like fish oh baby" .. J. Kaukonen
r3g3
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Re: fun stuff 2022/12/14 14:45:27 (permalink)
I can now hunt on one 67 acre farm--about 2/3 is fields the rest a high ridge and swamp.
If unmolested the deer will on rare occasion enter a field during shooting hours-- have always passed doe there but took 5 bucks--4 real nice shooters --gotta wait them out lol
Now the owners grandkids shoot there and get a couple of weeks before the season for a special landowner hunt-they took 4  in that hunt and now with the snow are pushing the swamp to each other regularly and took at least one buck outa there a few days ago.
Went over today and cleaned out my blind--done for the year almost 3 weeks before the season end,
 
Am actually happy for them getting some deer and appreciative that whenever they know I am there they go elsewhere but the place stinks for sitting for unmolested deer when they are pushed they wont come to the fields  till after dark,
 
Ahh for the old days of hiking ridges and still hunting woods--fond memories
 
Kinda like puckerbrush--have seen that for the last time cept for fond memories too   
 
stay up in those hills as long as ya can rich-then build a little shack with a gas heater and stay a while longer lol
post edited by r3g3 - 2022/12/14 14:53:13
hot tuna
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Re: fun stuff 2022/12/14 19:59:04 (permalink)
We built a shooting shack for my 10 year old grandson last spring. It's the only one on the property and it's heated.
The deer I took from one of my tree stands was one that's frequent around the shooting shack. The stand is about 200 yards away.
I passed on him a few times, hoping my grandson ( and my son) would get the quarry to share together.
There's other around as well but on the last day of our season, his time had come.

I'm still a hardcore brave the elements guy that will sit in a tree and freeze my azz off if I feel that's what is happening. We have 11 tree stands, 4 ground blinds and 1 shooting shack on the property of 784 acres with probably 4,000 plus surrounding acres that nobody hunts to apply pressure . We haven't heard a gunshot within ear all season, or any season for that matter.
There's no houses, no fields just the top of a mountain on a dead end 2 miles up from a highway in the valley.
It's beautiful hardwoods up there that is private property and used for logging purpose only at select times.
post edited by hot tuna - 2022/12/14 20:00:30

"whats that smell like fish oh baby" .. J. Kaukonen
r3g3
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Re: fun stuff 2022/12/14 20:22:14 (permalink)
great place- not many like it
post edited by r3g3 - 2022/12/14 20:23:42
DarDys
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Re: fun stuff 2022/12/15 11:32:01 (permalink)
Hunting deer on natural movement without others in a vast expanse of property can be a lot tougher than one thinks.

Great job!

The poster formally known as Duncsdad

Everything I say can be fully substantiated by my own opinion.
hot tuna
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Re: fun stuff 2022/12/16 18:56:53 (permalink)
Thanks Dar. I've been on that mountain for 36 years, kinda know what your saying.
Putting meat in the freezer isn't difficult, hunting deer is the challenge we love.

"whats that smell like fish oh baby" .. J. Kaukonen
r3g3
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Re: fun stuff 2022/12/21 17:09:06 (permalink)
I ride around a few evenings a week year round near home and look at deer  in NO hunting areas-they act different in those places.
Today I watched a couple of dozen in a field where 2 mature bucks were fighting like crazy-one kept knocking the other to the ground and they  would face off and do it again over and over--great.
hot tuna
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Re: fun stuff 2023/01/08 14:34:58 (permalink)
While I sat idle waiting for ice to get safe again, yesterday was the day to grind venison and my pork.
Stuffed 5lbs of summer sausage yesterday.
Ran in the electric smoker for 7 hrs today.
Can't wait for dinner.
Venison, perch and Cole slaw..
I really like my electric smoker, way easier than the smokehouse I built 6 years ago.
Fun stuff.

If ice doesn't return next weekend, I'm considering a trip to the SR.
My only hesitation is that I pursue game for food.

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r3g3
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Re: fun stuff 2023/01/15 18:59:50 (permalink)
well guess I have to man up and admit my deer days are over--was very hard to accept
have taken a hundred or more and they became an obsession for decades
Will still fish but near bridges with dry feet
Turkey -yea- still a decent caller to a flat place I can get in and out of not far from the truck 
Might even try a bushytail or bunny again  -been years-had quit everything over deer
post edited by r3g3 - 2023/01/15 19:02:46
hot tuna
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Re: fun stuff 2023/01/15 20:53:18 (permalink)
Don't give up. I find sitting in the woods for whitetail to be the easiest thing of outdoors adventures. The work begins after the shot.
Got back on hardwater today. Not far from the house but it was very apparent winter was back.
21 degrees, a stiff wind and frozen fingers setting gear, that was a challenge.
We caught a dinner.

I just booked another adventure to the jailwater for April 1 - 3 days. Kinda miss the times of forum discussion and sharing water with others of days past but gotta keep going forward and not back to the past
Last year same time was a big challenge as well but we basically turned it into fun stuff meeting old friends. I expect nothing less, nothing more this time.

Trevor, all I'm saying is get out there and do whatever you can. I spend more time outside than inside.
post edited by hot tuna - 2023/01/15 21:14:10

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r3g3
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Re: fun stuff 2023/02/16 10:53:19 (permalink)
when I had my place in Pulaski/Richland I deer hunted my property-- as a non resident could only shoot a buck and never took a deer there, didnt hunt it much and was busy fishing most of the time--hunted Ct hard though,
One day at the Richland store bumped into a local fella who told me the area folks had decided I had been shooting ALL the big bucks as they seemed to have diminished greatly as soon as I moved in--sooo of course it must be the outa stater   lol
Could NOT convince the guy I had never filled a tag there,
It kinda riled me up a bit so next time up I brought 3 or 4 real nice 8 and 9 point wide Ct racks-Usually got a couple every year for decades--had the right places here all to myself and ct has a LOT of deer.
Nailed those racks to my shed overhang facing the road so anyone passing by could easily see them- laughed to myself every time I drove in and saw them--hope they got even more upset  at the outa stater  lol
post edited by r3g3 - 2023/02/16 11:15:00
DarDys
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Re: fun stuff 2023/02/16 11:24:32 (permalink)
Now thatā€™s funny.

The poster formally known as Duncsdad

Everything I say can be fully substantiated by my own opinion.
hot tuna
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Re: fun stuff 2023/03/18 12:57:54 (permalink)
Started gathering my gear for fishing the salmon river in 2 weeks. It took a little bit of searching for more than needed but ready none the less.

Shed a tear as I'm preparing my ice gear for storage.
Far to short of time and local ice this season. I know folks are still out but I was in my jon boat last Sunday.
Fun stuff into another adventure will begin.

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hot tuna
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Re: fun stuff 2023/03/18 20:04:55 (permalink)
Spring is in the air.

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hot tuna
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Re: fun stuff 2023/03/19 19:35:11 (permalink)
I whipped up a dozen in little time.
Salmon river smolt.
Getting jazzed to flail some rope and swing synthetic.

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Re: fun stuff 2023/03/19 21:06:13 (permalink)
 Looks good! Been getting a few things out this evening for the boats. This is just some stuff that was in the bedroom. This kind of crap seems to be everywhere I go. Least got a start on one room here, only 3 houses to go and some buildings. Son has a problem with boat stuff. 
 
post edited by crappiefisher - 2023/03/19 21:09:13
r3g3
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Re: fun stuff 2023/03/30 10:08:27 (permalink)
Well over 30 years ago when first fishing Spring Steel I would come up to the river for a few days each early April..
Generally dedicated most of one day to the area between the needle and tail of the Town pool and generally had decent results.
When it was real good I stayed right there the whole trip--had yet to learn my now favored upper river spots.
It was refreshing to look at the River cam yesterday and see a nice fish caught and nicely played to hand just above the bridge.
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