Reel Doc

Wow To think, bears in Jersey! Great photos

My nephew lives in Rochester, so he got his outfit at Gander Mountain last year. Was using a 2 blade mechanical on the arrow. It made a nice entry wound, one blade had a notch in it where I figure it hit bone then was redirected. Good 2+ inch cut as it made it's way through the liver. My career choice being what it is, deer cleanings are like a post mortem for me, I use the same scapel blades I use for cow surgeries....it can be fun to trace the wounds created by the arrow...you can commence with the jokes about how twisted I am now. As for the tracking, I didn't start hunting until my veterinary school classmates convinced me to give it a try, so haven't had that much experiece I guess. My underlying fear has always been about the wounding of an animal without recovery. Luckily, when I've missed shots in the past, its been a clean miss, though one time I gave a buck a belly shave with white hair on the ground to prove it. This time was the closest to a lost wounded deer, but we were not going to give up on it early knowing there was a considerable amount of arrow missing/in the deer. No doubt my nephew will never forget his first buck. Greg

Pete, Was just talking with a client this morning about hunting and he heard Northern Jersey has a bear problem but no hunting allowed. Is that your neck of the woods? Do any bear interfere with deer activity? Greg

Pete, I've heard that tactic for early or late season....with rut about to come on that buck's hormones will get him roaming unless he has his own private doe harem laying in bed with him

My nephew took up hunting a few years back when some of his U of Buffalo classmates took him out. He came over Thanksgiving that year and we put him in front of a dozen does so he took his pick and had his first harvest with a muzzleloader. No luck since then and last year he took up bowhunting, so I invited him over last weekend. About 7:30 Saturday this 6 pt caught him by surprise as he was only 15 yards away before he saw him. The buck crossed in front of him so he had a textbook shot, but Buck fever took over, so the morning hunt had just begun. I heard the crashing from my tree about 200 yards away, then silence. He thought he had a good shot, maybe a little high, so we waited 30 minutes and I went over. Brown hair at the shot site, no sign of exit, and then 5 yards away we had the back half of the arrow. No blood, and I mean No Blood anywhere. We scoured from shot site to where he last saw the deer, then bit by bit went to where my ears heard him go.....No sign, no blood. I'm fearing the dreaded gut shot, but keep thinking this deer cannot go far with 1/2 an arrow in him. Our woods narrows down close to the road and tends to be a Safe Zone/bedding area for deer when pushed, especially during gun season. Sure enough, we make our way into the thicket about 10:30 that morning, and there is the buck, down and done. Turns out the shot was "high and outside", nicked 1 lung and must have hit a vertebrae and redirected through the liver and was just starting to come through the bottom of his abdomen. I was real thankful to have found him and needless to say my nephew was relieved as well. Hopefully his Buck Fever will be over with now, (although none of us ever fully get over it do we!), and we can chalk it up to a good learning experience about a patient search. Greg

Congratulations. You've freed up some time to fish the next few weeks. Greg

Agreed Sean, Between Hookjaw and Hooked Up, the rest of us are about to be Tag Teamed. Greg

Nick, Thanks for the report and welcome to the LOU. We met last month at Dean's when my son and I were limping in with our kicker motor. I'm sure our paths will cross again. Greg

Congratulations, that is a wide rack! Greg

Laying one in on the money at 35?! That's one to remember, regardless of how much horn is there. Congratulations. Greg

Sounds good tap. Not sure the layout of Steuben county, but some relatives of mine hunt in the Dansville/Springwater area. Are you out that way? Greg

Looks like you got the first "LOU" buck of the year. I would say you set a nice bar for all of us to aim for. Congratulations. Greg

Andy, Interesting article to read...their conclusions match yours, ie spend more time afield....every year I ask my wife to fire me in mid-October...she won't do it, but barring any cow calls, she let's me run to the woods a bit during bow season so I'm not complaining. Speaking of the woods, did get out yesterday afternoon for a bit and enjoyed two does hanging under my stand for 15-20 minutes. I could have pulled a Rambo on one and jumped on her back, but too much fun just watching. There will be more in the weeks ahead.... Greg

Anyone who enjoys hunting for more than just the "Brown its Down" approach would enjoy going to an Alsheimer seminar. I saw him a few years back; engaging guy who is passionate about whitetails to hunt and to learn about their behaviors. He has a fenced in area near Bath where he can monitor the behavior of some whitetails each year, and has been doing so for some time now. I think the moon phase connection to the rut is real, just as it can affect weather, it's Mother Natures way of telling does when to cycle and giving a hint of when the following Spring will be amenable to having those new fawns. Alsheimer's theory is the peak rut occurs 1 week after the second full moon after the Fall Equinox. This year the Fall Equinox landed on a full moon, so it is a rare occurrence to try and predict. He admits he's not sure how it will work out in 2010. The thought is there will be a trickle rut, one happening late October and the second stating about the 21st of November. Those of us who like to engage in animal biology, patterns, theories, quackery? can ad lib to this all we want. Raising seasonal breeding livestock, (sheep for me), you find groups of females will cycle in a tight window, not spread out a few at a time over a 3-4 week cycle. So, depending on where you live, you could get a stronger late October rut and lighter in November or flip it around. But if your does are quiet in late October, and 2-3 miles away a batch of does are hot, the bucks may be hard to find on your property. As always, it adds up to a good excuse to tell the family you need to spend more time in the woods this Fall. Good luck to all out there. Greg

Out scouting over the weekend and found some fresh rubs and a scrape. Seems early, but Alsheimer and LaRoche say this year is a once in a lifetime event based on the moon cycle.....they are thinking we could have 2 primary ruts, but with fewer does in per rut so the bucks may not be as quick to wander away from one hot girl. One in late October, the second around the start of gun season. Anyone else seeing rub/scrape activity? I'm surprised to see 2 big boys photographed together if does are that close to cycle. Greg

I would love to see a photo of your 8 pt if you can post it. Clients in the area that hunted in there have mounts of some scrawny bucks. You are right about the draw too. Some have told of getting to hunt inside but could only take a brown one. I'm going to see if I can get a permit to bowhunt in Kremer's backyard instead. Greg

If your connected to the right people locally you might get a chance to hunt in the Depot. Sadly, forage there is poor and the coyote numbers are high so the deer population inside are not conditioned as well as those outside the fences. I've seen a few mounts of bucks taken out of there and even on 3-4 year olds the racks are pretty skimpy. Some of the smart ones inside have found holes in the fence, so that helps them out a bit. Last week driving down the East side on Rte 414 there were 3 white does enjoying some soybeans across the road from the Depot. Just my opinion, but the groups trying to "Save the White Deer Herd" need to get some food plots in there. Otherwise, those white deer in Horseheads that someone posted photos of here last year will be better looking animals. Greg

A nice tease to transition us from surf to turf. By the way, how much zoom on your camera...that is a really nice photo. Greg

Exactly who makes up the US Venison Council?! Greg

biglaker, Thanks for the report. My guess is the thing you saw in the water at the point is the red marker at Sheldrake Point. I don't know if the bottom around there is conducive to lake trout spawning, did you keep the fish and if so, male or female? The kids have Monday off school, so maybe we can get some water time the next few days. Greg

I wished Hank a Happy Birthday as instructed. He's not set up for working on newer "E-Tec" Evinrudes, so any suggestions on Evinrude mechanics? Greg

Is L & M a Marina? Google can't find it.

A loaded question for sure, but I'm looking for recommends on a place with some straight shooters for mechanics to service my boat motors. We're running a 2 stroke 200 hp Evinrude and a 9.9 Yamaha kicker. I don't mind driving a bit from Seneca Falls if the motors will get good care. Thanks for your thoughts/opinions. Greg

If you're talking about Henry, I'm guessing the fish cooks pretty quick. Greg

I've heard the Skinny Lakers are just that. How big can they get? Greg