PeltHunter

I shoot the rage 3 blade 1.5 inch. I like the rage because they give you the practice tips so you can get the same flight and really dial in your sights. With the fixed blades I had even with the same grain field points they wouldn't shoot the same. I shot a buck 2 years ago with the rage and had a huge exit wound. The doe I shot sunday had a good exit wound but only one blade expanded. Double lung and corner of heart so it didn't really matter but it's kind of alarming at the same time. As someone said it all comes down to shot placement in the end.

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Got a nice doe this morning. Didn't see the movement of yesterday like I thought I would with the cold weather but there was a lot of does around and a few smaller bucks.

Scratch that maybe I just saw a monster 10 right up a does rear. Too dark yet for a shot..

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Scratch that maybe I just saw a monster 10 right up a does rear. Too dark yet for a shot..

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I think it'll start kicking up this weekend with the smaller bucks chasing like crazy. As usual gonna have to be in the woods that first week of November for the big dogs being dumb I think.

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Seems to be a lot of deer activity today. Saw a ton of does 2 6's a small 8 a 5 and a nice big 8 this morning jumped the string and backstrapped him unfortunately and fortunately as he'll live on. Found the arrow and looked for blood but it was meat and fur. Same does this afternoon and the 5.

This questions get asked all the time

No right answer as every gun is different even if its the same make and model.

What shoots out of your buddies or Joe Shmoes isn't necessarily going to shoot out of yours.

Only way to know is try different brands and test them. Costly endeavor with shotgun slugs as they are expensive.

Another common mistake people make is shooting for groups to fast,that barrel heats up and accuracy goes to crap,plastic sabots and a hot barrel don't equal accuracy 

All this said, Lightfields usually give acceptable accuracy

I've spent hundreds of dollars testing slugs, learning trajectories and doping wind

 

12ga Browning A Bolt Federal barnes Expanders(discontinued but I have a good stash) 5 shot 3" group @ 200 yard 

Can't argue the Barnes expandables shot the best of any slug I've tried just went through my last box last year unfortunately.

I'll add to the agreement of Lightfields, that or hastings were the only ones I could get to shoot out of my old 500 with the Cantilever barrel. I have the new Savage 220 and the SSTs shoot best out of that but they don't agree with the cantilevers for some reason.

If you dont own land then dont bother to push the qdm down my throat . I pay my land tax and my sole purpose is to hunt, I follow the rules but I will not be told how big or small a deer I can harvest on my land. Its too bad the things have horns in the first place, Then the" my deer is better than yours" mentalitity would stop. I live in one of the best deer counties in the state and have never harvested anything bigger than a 7 pt. , I dont hunt for horns, they are still tough after cooking. Fact is I dont pass on anything I can legally harvest because If I pass then the deer runs off the property and is shot by the neighbor .

I own part of the land I hunt on, my father and I had to buy it to get the two other pieces together, as for "my deer is bigger than yours" I don't think very many have that mentality I know for a fact that if anyone in my family harvests a large deer everyone is happy for them. Its not about competition its about having quality deer now and sustaining more quality deer in the future.

Here are two of the bigger deer that we have taken there are two tracts of hardwoods that the bigger bucks lock down in during the season and that is why we can get them, the other side of it is no hunting. Everything that is taken around there is much smaller because people shoot the first antlered deer they see instead of taking does. Just showing what came from a 15 acre plot and shows the potential with better management for the deer in New York. And the 9 point was not shot by me I was 14 and shot my first doe before dark the night before and was going to find it with my uncle and he shot it out of my scope lol.

It's a double edged sword.  I feel if you can afford to hunt now a days your family isn't starving lets admit hunting is just as expensive if not more than fishing. The argument that it is cheaper is bull and you all know it, the only time it maybe cheaper is when you have invested close to $1000 as the "start up fee".

 

I feel there should be antler restrictions and if that one guy wants to hunt for meat kill a doe. I don't understand these "meat hunters" that insist on killing young bucks.  A mature doe will give you 20lbs. more meat than any spike or young buck not to mention there are more of them and need to be thinned in most areas. 

 

I hunt 3 different areas ranging in hunting pressure from high to low.  In the high pressure area I see nice deer but give them a pass hoping there might be something nicer later on knowing 100% of the deer I pass on in that area will get shot come gun season. But that is the choice I make.

That center section is where most of my griping comes from, most areas you will see 25 does per buck so why not shoot one of those does instead of the 3 point buck that walks past you just to say you got your buck for the year. When I'm hunting to fill the freezer I'd much rather shoot a 165-175lb mature doe than a 125lb 4 point to say I filled my antlered tag.

The people saying some hunt for meat like I said most sections you can get at least 2 doe tags a year. As for sport versus harvest I hunt for meat as well I shoot usually a doe or two a year and my dad does the same at that point you have a pretty solid freezer and it shouldn't be as hard to be picky about a mature buck vs a 1.5 year old. I hunt the western part of the state, a 100 acre mountain side near Albany and a few hundred acres in the Adirondacks and hunt with the same mentality anywhere. Obviously there is less deer seen up north but that has to do with the bs logging restrictions and such which could be a whole nother topic. As some said taking an Ohio type system could work as well but I think some sort of size restriction would help with that as well. I'm not saying there is anything wrong with shooting a 4 pointer to feed the family but if there was more 8's and 10's running around 4 pointers wouldn't have to be harvested.

Before you blow off to much steam you may want to look at your own harvesting of " several 110-120s." I'm not sure how many of those you have aged but I would venture to guess they were all 2.5 yr olds or younger. I always get a kick out of guys preaching QDM but continue to shoot deer in the 2.5-3.5 yr age class. How old was the 145? My guess a 3.5 yr old if your hunting Ontario County around Canandaigua. 

 

I would be in favor of an antler restriction as well, partially due to the fact that where I live and hunt there are way to many does and not many people are shooting them. I'm not sure why people feel more inclined to shoot a 1.5-2.5 yr old 8 point than a doe but they do. Even with a 4 on one side restriction a lot of 2.5 yr old or less would be shot due to the fact that around here we do have the potential to grow big bucks and a lot of first racks are 6-8 points. 

 

With only 15 acres it's hard to justify a true QDM approach but if you have shot a 173 and 145 i'm guessing some of the neighboring properties are passing those 110-120's. 

I agree that 110s and 120s were generally not big enough to be shot but they were also shot by me and my brother from 14-17 I haven't shot a deer since then but let several walk. As far as the small acreage there is absolutely nobody around practicing QDM we just happen to have the one of the only good thick hardwood plots in an area that is predominantly agricultural fields so we see most all the deer in the area at one point or another in the season.

"Last year some 129,000 antlerless deer were tagged by hunters across the state and more than half of the 114,716 bucks taken were less than 2.5 years old" That was a quote from the Game & Fish deer forecast for 2014 in NY. In my honest opinion there is no reason for that especially with the fact that you can shoot 5 does a year and thats without transferring any DMP's. New York has the potential to be a quality deer state especially in the central/western sections most of us hunt on the 15 acres I hunt near Canandaigua we have been able to harvest deer at 145 and 173 inches in the last 5 years and several 110-120s. In my opinion there should be a 4 point on one side limit as a lot of 5 and 6 points are still small 1.5 year olds. Have 14-16 year olds exempt from this to keep their interest up and not get them discouraged from hunting. Between reading that quote from the article and seeing the 4 and 5 pointers that have been harvested this year I just figured I had to blow off a little steam.

I think the big thing is theres so much opportunity for killing a ton of does for meat that theres no reason to shoot a small buck. Personally I'd take 4 does over one year and a half old 4 point. You can say you can't eat the antlers but at the end of the day getting that smart old 140 inch 10 point into range and passing up everything smaller than an 8 is a lot more rewarding than going out and knocking over the first dumb little 4 pointer that walks up to sniff the tree you're sitting in. After you let those 4 pointers walk 5 years later most deer you're going to see are "Trophy bucks" and you'll be shooting 130 inch deer just to fill the freezer.

We have Moultries and Wildgame Innovations. The Wildgames have been hit or miss sometimes working for half a season sometimes going for 5. As for pics of deer harvested we have harvested several deer we never saw on camera including a 173" 15 pointer that was a ghostly image in the far back of one picture. As legacy said watching crop patterns and such does make a huge difference. I have an 8 acre spot I hunt near Farmington that is the only spot in the area with hardwoods, if the surrounding fields are beans that year you'll see deer the whole season, if they are planted with corn however you'll see alot less of the mature deer until the corn comes down.

Pics?

Did 2 kings 21 and 19 Saturday in 120 feet right near the bottom. Sunday night took two kids out that go to school with me at Oswego and had never caught a salmon did 2 more 19 and 13 in 100 feet 97 and 80 down on a glow frog and hammer fly and chartreuse and screamer 2. Monday didn't move a rod. Didn't go out Tuesday. Did two browns on a green and black mag spoon and a ff 65 over 100 and 225 wire over 100. Broke off two kings one major that straightened out or broke the swivel from the fly to the spin doctor which I'm still baffled by.

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Oswego is far from consistent people doing a lot of kings two days ago and hardly any today. I did 2 browns a skippy king and lost two majors today. The one real big one straightened out the swivel that attaches the fly to the spin doctor other broke a 15lb fluoro leader

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Did 2 last night 125 feet between the lighthouse and the school 90 feet down and 200 ft wire. The wire fish was red from it's gills to it's tail so they're there just right on the bottom

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I have the Troll Pro have not used it yet because I'm kind of nervous about all that extra stuff going on around the ball if it will affect strikes. I think what we are going to do is get some lead, oops I mean steel, and fill the front of the troll pro housing with it and use it as the down rigger ball.

A pic of our one taker today...

We were headed out deep anyways, but we followed the two Guns on their charter runs. When we went to clean our fish, the guys cleaning said the two came in with 27 fish between them. So, obviously we were doing something wrong and still have a lot to learn even after years of doing this. ..

Back at it in the morning. Think we'll start inside and make a couple passes and if nothing pops we'll head towards Canada!

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Chad on Son of a Gun had 28 bites and landed 16 today I know that. I didn't fish today but there seemed to be a lot of boats right out in front of the school probably in between 2 and 300

Fleas aren't bad at all

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We have about 5 little outboards laying around so we started fabbing up a little rig that we can stow in the cabin in case anything like that happens again 

Radio station for help is gonna be 16 and the Coasties will redirect you to 22 when they send out the radio call.

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