2017/18 Hunting Thread!!

He's still alive!!!

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I see he has a nice path going. He'll be back. He also seems to have his nose to the ground looking for a mate. Good luck on your hunt.
 
I see he has a nice path going. He'll be back. He also seems to have his nose to the ground looking for a mate. Good luck on your hunt.

I was wondering the same thing. It can't be that worn down from just deer? Is it maybe a small stream?
 
I was wondering the same thing. It can't be that worn down from just deer? Is it maybe a small stream?

Whitetailed deer are creatures of habit and will follow the same path most of the year. That path changes during the rut, mostly for buck, but the new path will be used just as consistently.
Lots of other animals do the same thing. That's what a game trail is. It's a worn path in the woods from certain animals taking the same path all year.
 
I just blew it. 8pt comes into my setup, right at sunset. 30yd shot, broadside. He's pausing at my mock scrap site. No buck fever, pin lined up solid. I let it loose but hear no THWACK, just a thud. The arrow's nock is visible, and is placed just where I'd aimed. I gave it some time, and checked the arrow -- nothing. Thinking, I grabbed a jacket today I don't normally wear. My usual jacket's zipper broke just as I was donning it today, and I grabbed this other one instead, which is a bit puffy. Back to the shot, I'm almost certain I got some string slap on the chest of my jacket.

So, not too hopeful on getting another shot at this deer, but there is a fork horn who's also been passing by regularly. This is the first season I've used a dripper, and it sure seems to have worked. I'm getting a LOT of traffic in this small corridor. And the Nockturnal lighted nock was a cinch to locate, with its red/green strobe. Much easier to spot than the old standard lighted nock. The Rage broadhead, well, that thing's wrecked.
 
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He's still alive!!!

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right where you got that pic would be a tough spot to hunt. No trees you can get a stand in. Too open to hunt form the ground. But get further down the downwind side of the trail , find some cover and get after him!! He'll be coming down that trail on the reg right now!!! Just don't hunt the same spot over and over. Go as far as you can down wind, hunt, and next time go upwind by about 200 yards, hunt, rinse and repeat. He may be coming down the trail on the reg, but if he happens at night he will detect you were there and then likely avoid the area. So stay mobile.
 
Bah, that buck chased a doe by my stand this morning but out of sight. He was grunting and thrashing down through the woods, I should have moved further up but didn't want to frig things up.

Last day I had to hunt until Sunday before Thanksgiving.
 
I've been out almost every morning and afternoon in my treestands since muzzleloader started. Took my daughter out for youth weekend and just as the light was fading we had a doe with 2 yearlings walk 20 yards out from us. I told her to take the momma out, she did everything right but ended up shooting over her back and she took off alive for another day. She stays in the area but she hasn't returned to that same path near treestand. At first it was just the 3 of them around late afternoons, now there are 4 of them and they are leary around dusk as they enter the area. I told myself not to shoot either doe yet as they could be the "bait" for a nice buck. About 2 weeks ago I put out the "swamp Donkey" and couldn't believe what I saw on my trail cam. Now understand I haven't a single buck all summer nor any pictures of any either, just the does and bambies.. Then out of nowhere this guy shows up so not shooting the does may have been a good choice. Now have to figure out where he came in from, along with when he is visiting. Sorry, can't load the video of him but took a screenshot for you all.
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Rocking and rolling in the stand today... Had an okay buck come in at about 20 yards. Was gonna Ng to take him but I didn't like the shot. Tree is a rocking in this wind, he was quartering away so the shot window was smaller and there were a few twigs I had to get though. Was a really tight window. So - I let him walk. No sense in taking a chance at wounding an animal. It's a living thing and I have a conscious when it comes to shoots like that.
 
Rocking and rolling in the stand today... Had an okay buck come in at about 20 yards. Was gonna Ng to take him but I didn't like the shot. Tree is a rocking in this wind, he was quartering away so the shot window was smaller and there were a few twigs I had to get though. Was a really tight window. So - I let him walk. No sense in taking a chance at wounding an animal. It's a living thing and I have a conscious when it comes to shoots like that.

Right on. Nothing worse than wounding and then losing a deer.
 
Very windy out there this morning for sure. The temps are dropping during the daytime also. Makes for a long day hunting...
 
I carry a backpacking stove on days like this. A hot drink/soup/Mountain House makes a world of difference on these kind of days.

Bob


I've thought about throwing my camp stove in the back of the truck and coming out for lunch. Honestly you mentioning the backpack stove in years prior had me thinking if it. I carry a small thermos with hot soup out in the field. Coffee as well. Going to be worse tomorrow... 19 in the am... They'll be moving though...
 
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Pheasant feathers

Pheasants are truly beautiful birds, with very colorful and nice feathers. With my pheasant season over, I wanted to preserve a few of their long feathers without taking up too much space, so made a simple shotgun shell mount with some of them.

Start by cutting your shotgun shell to the desired length, and remove the primer from the inside using a punch. Then I cut a leather boot lace 7 inches long. Fold the boot lace, and take a very small amount of superglue at the end, the put it into the shell.

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Add some more superglue inside the shell, and let dry. Once dry, put some silicone at the bottom of the shell; the reason for doing this is to seal off any holes, otherwise glue will leak through later! It may be necessary to let the silicone dry overnight.

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Now for the feathers. After having gently washed, cleaned and dried some nice ones, glue two together at the stems with superglue.

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Let dry, and add the two bundles of two together.

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Let it sit for a few hours to make sure it is completely dry!

Once dry, cut the feathers with pliers or similar so that none of the stems will be visible when putting inside the shell.

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Secure the shell with the leather loop (don't squeeze in the vice, just gently close to stabilize), then fill the cut shell half way or so with regular carpenters wood glue. Put the bundle of long feathers in, and add some shorter feathers around the bottom to close any gaps.

Make sure everything is stable, and let dry overnight.

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Then onto the deer antlers they go, along with turkey beards and other stuff!

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Nothing fancy, but a simple and fun little project.
 
Took a day off to hunt the pheasant fields with the wife and son. Lots of exercise! End of the day we had some action....my son got a hen pheasant......I bumped a cottontail I was just about standing on top of.....shot three times at him and missed about a foot behind him each shot. Damnit that wouldn't be been a nice prize to take home. Was good to see a rabbit out there though.
 
I've thought about throwing my camp stove in the back of the truck and coming out for lunch. Honestly you mentioning the backpack stove in years prior had me thinking if it. I carry a small thermos with hot soup out in the field. Coffee as well. Going to be worse tomorrow... 19 in the am... They'll be moving though...

On the nicer days I take a small thermos; days like tomorrow I bring the stove. I have a Jetboil so it is small and about the same weight as the empty thermos.

They should be moving we will see. It has been a strange season with the warm weather.

Good luck.

Bob
 
Beretta92FS , cool project i put a pheasant tail on my game call... while they are beatiful i couldn't believe how much meat was on it and how tasty it was.
 
Broke the ice this afternoon!
Nice doe, 115lbs.
Love my Hoyt! Nice doe, went about 100 yards.
They are moving. Saw 7 let a nice little 4pt walk.
Good luck all!
 
I don't think i'll make it to Maine next week for deer. Went up there for birds. Had a great annual trip, but the grouse population is below huntable numbers - in our opinion anyway.

Getting excited for week after thanksgiving though!
 
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