chowder

Probably too late to start in on this but I hope people haven't left taking a doe till the end of the deal once again! Good article in this months "Deer & Deer Hunting"on Doe management. Remember if you hunt in a farm land MU, where the taking of does is encouraged you will greatly improve the growth rate of all deer(bucks included) because the carrying capacity of the unit is limited by the winter browse. It's not considered "macho" by many but most experts argue that archers should take the first yearling doe that presents itself b/c this has the greatest impact on the total breeding capacity of a doe group for years to come + w/ a bow you are much more likely to be able leave a button buck alone. Now that the deer herd is pressured it's much more difficult to take a doe. Up untill just this week around here the 2 1/2 yr old bucks were considerably easier to kill than the 2 1/2 yr old does. Now that the rut is over(in my high elevation part of 7M) and even most of the yearlings bred, movement will decrease and the presence of even a single doe is much less likely to lead to a buck sighting and you should take that doe if you have not all ready. I have taken solitary does many times w/ both bow and firearm and then taken a good buck shortly after, and the other way around as well. After the shot don't expose yourself- sit tight, it's amazing what can happen next! Taking a doe does not deter a determined buck, especially in archery season. At least twice I've arrowed bucks sniffing a doe that I killed moments before! If you are a truly experienced hunter- leave the young bucks alone and kill a doe, after all it's "hunting season" not "any buck season". My comments are directed at those hunting farmland MUs w/ high probablities for DMPs.

I'll just add that using Mag size dipsies, set on 1.5 help, minimize tangles w/ the copper down the chute and off inlines b/c the Mags dive steep and stay closer to the boat out of the way of the copper which does not dive steeply. Although most people (myself included) seem to start out experimenting w/ copper down the chute, it actually causes a lot less problems out to the side off planer boards.

I've targeted lakers at 200+ w/ fairly poor results so far. Although I mark good numbers of fish down there, especially post spawn and coming out of winter they do not seem to be actively feeding.

My understanding of the original Southern Tier "black powder" season was that you were not supposed to use a scope on these guns during the special late season. Is this correct or did I mix stuff up in my head w/ the passage of time? For many years I hunted w/ a scoped CVA magbolt inline muzzle loader during the regular season (our MU was shotgun at the time) and then used my Lyman percussion during the late muzzle loader season. It doesn't really make much difference to me but I'm curious what the actual regs are? Thanks!

I'm loving this thread! Let's keep it going. It's gonna be a long winter! Speaking of which has anybody heard anything more about a S. Tier Oct 1st opener for 2010? -Andy

Didn't mean to get your dander up there walleye! I got the distinct impression that you had not done much rifle hunting. Quite frankly most of the guys I see shoot 4 or 5 times at the range before "opening day" look like they have been doing the same thing for 35 years, so forgive me for my erroneous assumptions.

I gotta go w/ Bottom Feeder, I love the Lyman. On the other hand there are some practical reasons to start out w/ an inline, especially if you are getting into this on your own. A reasonably priced inline gun to consider would be a CVA Optima. I got my 14 year old son one and using 100 grains of Triple 7 w/ the 245 grain aero tip he's grouping real well @ 50-75 w/ open sights.

Hank, come on back down and set up a little temporary shop in my machine shed for the winter time. We'll keep you busy tinkering & deer hunting!

Be realistic about how much long range predator/deer hunting you are going to do. Consistently being able to make 100+ yd shots comes w/ range time not an expensive rifle. A rifle like a Remington 700 or Winchester 70 (my favorite) with a high quality 4x 12x scope will group till hell wont have it @ 200 in any of the three calibers you mention-if you are willing to put in some serious range time. If I had a nickel for every guy I've seen shoot his overpriced rifle a few times at the 50 yd target and a couple times at the 100 yd target, all using a rest, and then not be able to understand why he missed a deer at 180 yds (pace it off sometime, it doesn't seem that far through a scope) I could buy you a nice setup. At the risk of sounding like a s-head I would encourage you to consider getting an economically priced 270 like a Savage/Stevens bolt action with a decent 3x 9x scope ($150 range) and then put the rest of your hard earned $ into several boxes of reasonably priced 130 grain bullets and spend some some range time before and during the season. I think the 270 is the best choice for a couple reasons; 1. it's popular, making the ammo and the rifle relatively cheap.2. it's got a practical advantage over the 243 in terms of # force in the 100-200 yd range especially if you stick w/ 130 grain, which I would strongly encourage b/c you don't want unexpanded exits on thin skinned animals. I have shot a number of coyotes and countless deer w/ a setup like the one I am describing. In the hands of a shooter capable of consistently making 100 yd free hand shots (no small feat) this kind of setup will rival any other under most hunting conditions. If you become seriously interested in predator hunting you will probably want a 222(my favorite) or 223 at some point, you don't need the # force for these little guy's but after you've called in a few you often need to be able to step out into the 200yd+ range and the 222 and 223 have very flat trajectories.These setups get very expensive fast b/c you will spend more on optics than you do for the gun. Good Luck & happy shopping! (sorry about the typos-think I got the worst of em fixed!)

My wife told me I acted like a horse's ass and that I was lucky I got away with it. I'll agree to the last part.

Gray, I'm available to give your spread a look over and attempt to inventory the overall population w/ respect to topography, feed resources,etc, a few days and a box of shells is all it should take! -Andy

If it's the guy's I think it was all they took was my privacy. The thing is I kind of accept that people come into our farm acreages and kill deer, in fact I can't say it really even bothers me that much anymore but it does bug me that someone would treat my blind w/ such disrespect. They left most of the windows wide open- no mesh up, so for all this time it's probably been spooking the does we're trying to manage so that everybody who hunts the bedding areas around our crop acreage can get some well grown bucks! Oh well...

I take one of my kid's out to one of our blinds deep inside our land and find somebody's candy bar wrappers and a spent shotgun casing inside-yeah I'm pissed right? Next day I'm going off about it while getting coffee at the general store and I guy I don't like very much say's "well if you were stuck hunting public land you'd probably look at it different!" After a brief pissing contest I challenge him to a bet; Give me 2 days and I will come up w/ a buck on State Land, winner gets $100. Day 1, Dead down wind body wash + brush teeth w/ baking soda, all camo in back pack & hike into the wind up to the top of an old inpenetrable blow down. Camo on sit & glass for 3 hours, nothing + stuff I gotta do. I hike back out. Day 2 same program but I got a little snow to work with. 2:30 pm catch something, yup the head & horns of a bedded buck at 200+ yds yds(there is no shot past 60 yds in this mess of upturned trees and massive raspberry patches (a buck refuge paradise). An hour later I watch 2 guys get w/in 100' of this buck & he doesn't even move his head once. At 4:00 he gets up, stands motionless/watching. I rattle 2 times, he moves into some stuff I can't even begin to see thru- but I know enough to very slowly position myself for him to approach down wind. It only takes 10 minutes tops and he appears, like smoke, at 50 yds and I can see most of a shoulder. I haven't seen the $100 yet though!

Nice one- good for you for staying alert, I've taken a number of bedded bucks and does on the way to and from stand.

Naa! Just go get another one!

Great job! Congratulations, you will never forget that buck (and neither will dad).

That's a slammer! NICE GOING. Did you take him right around there?

Anybody w/ experience w/ both setups got anything to say that might help me make a choice?

The only tangle I have had w/ 300'+ copper off the Church boards and the wire dipsy happened when the dipsy tripped from a speed increase and drifted up, then we got a steely on the 300' copper. We did get the fish but we lost a lot of wire. One thing that will help w/ preventing tangles w/ inlines is to run Mag dipsies and set them on 1.5. If I run slide diver spoon rods out on 2.5 or 3 I always put my core and or copper out on the big boards. Either way you can't turn around very quickly that's for sure.

Keep the faith, great news!

That's a pretty rugged looking rig that should handle snotty weather well. Good luck w/ her!

Set your drag on the lighter side w/ the church boards. The board will set the hook and the drag will alert you to a fish. Don't put the copper or the core in the release, if you have problems w/ the release holding you can splice in a section of heavy mono between core/copper and the superbraid backing using albright knots, or use a rubber band around the release. One thing I don't like about the inlines is sometimes a King gets the board under water and things can get dicey when it starts planing around and creating a lot of resistance.

Didn't get a chance to get out during the regular season till yesterday but it worked out ok when I got a crack at this big bodied 9 pt chasing a doe. He would not stop but he turned towards me once giving me a brief opportunity for a shot in front of the shoulder and across & thru the boiler room and I took it. No tracking required!

Landing Zone & Big Easy; What did you guys go w/ for shaft length on the Kickers, and how did you decide on location for the bracket? Thanks-Andy

Nice buck! I took a heavy 8 the last day too, those last day archery bucks are hard won, way to go!