whiskey

Not sure what type of terrain you have but around here, most of the deer are near agriculture now. I have seen lots in the bean fields and crossing to corn fields. If you have salt or mineral licks on your property, check for tracks around them. The deer seem to be hitting my salt licks hard this summer. I jumped a doe and fawn off one of mine I was checking this morning and they had beaten a well worn path back and forth to it.

I found a good picture of one... a little more info http://www.squidoo.com/fishtrap

I never get to hunt opening weekend of archery due to a family commitment that weekend every year. Hoping I get to Kentucky earlier this year.

R_Bert, your problem is that you aren't thinking like a poacher or a TWRA commissioner, you're thinking like a sensible, law-abiding citizen. You're never going to understand these laws with THAT mentality!

Look, no matter what they report to us publicly, there is a larger underlying reason for most of these laws. It's "ease of enforcement" and "ability to effectively prosecute". The reason you can't hunt coyotes with a .223 during archery is because it's easier to make a case against a poacher if all centerfires are illegal during that time frame. Most of these laws are written to give the game wardens a chance at making their case stick when they are basing a bust on prima facie evidence. There is little regard given to what should make sense in the woods. There is no mistaking a coyote hunter with a deer poacher. He either has a dead deer or he doesn't. Possession of ANY weapon during ANY season should not be illegal. It's illegal to kill an animal out of season. Any law added beyond that is for "ease of enforcement". I know that lots of sorry butts are busted on little more than these flimsy prima facie cases, but I don't like having to worry about what new laws have popped up each year to make a game warden's job easier. If I ain't killing deer out of season, then I shouldn't have to worry about what I am hunting coyotes with.

I wanted to update this with something I just found out. This deer made the #3 non-typical bow kill in the Tennessee Record books. Would have scored #5 all time as a typical, but he took #3 non-typical instead. The only way you can have a 180" deer is if you let those 120", 130" and 140" younger deer live to reach 5.5 to 6.5 years old. Shoot whatever you want, it's your limit to fill. This deer came off a small piece of property in Montgomery county. It was killed with a bow during a firearms season. This deer got big because it wasn't killed when it was 1.5 or 2.5 years old. Here is a link to the TN deer registry http://www.tennregistry.com/search_score.aspx Here is the thread on another website. There is another photo of the deer on page 1. http://www.tndeer.co...&page=0&fpart=1

Less than 60 days till the start of deer season in Tennessee. I hope all you archery hunters are getting geared up and practicing. I shot with a buddy yesterday and was super excited to be busting dots. I read a good article about shooting at long distances to make you better at close distances. Remember to practice a lot, know your bow, know your distance and hunt ethically. Don't be the yahoo that pulls his bow or crossbow out the night before season and thinks he's ready to hunt.

Saw a nice tall 10 pointer this afternoon. No doubt he's the offspring of a deer I have seen twice in the last three years. His daddy, if he's still around, has got to be a 160+ buck this year. He was a solid 150 last year, but I only saw him 1 time all season and that was from the truck.

Do you have private land with a hog population? If not, then you are currently without many options in Tennessee. Here is the legal side: http://www.tn.gov/twra/feralhog.html Can I still hunt hogs on WMAs? The take of wild hogs is allowed on some WMAs in conjunction with other scheduled hunts in Regions III and IV. Please check the most recent hunting guide for dates and special regulations. Note:The TWRC has approved an amendment to the WMA proclamation to authorize the taking of wild hogs, in conjunction with deer seasons, at three additional WMAs in Region 3. The WMAs are Alpine Mountain, Skinner Mountain, and Standing Stone State Forest. Basically, TWRA has stopped hunting of hogs on public land in order to keep people from releasing wild hogs in order to establish or increase the population of wild hogs on those public properties. You can decide if that makes sense to you, but for most of us, it is ridiculous. If you really want a good hog hunt, then Texas and Florida are good options. Tennessee will probably be a good option in a few years, after the hogs that aren't being hunted have the opportunity to reproduce lots more hogs. We just have to wait for the TWRA to see the error of their ways.

I actually started out on a Hot Shot hand-held way back in the day (1990). I hunted and shot 3-D with it and loved it. I can't remember when I switched to a wrist strap, but it's been a long time. The main reason I want to go back to the hand held is so I can hook it on the string while my bow is hanging in the stand. I am also always banging the wrist strap head on my stand. I started with an AR model...

Thinking about changing from a wrist strap style release to a 4 finger / Thumb trigger release. Anyone got a recommendation on a decent, lower-priced trigger to try? Cabela's is having an archery sale starting on the 26th, so I may give one of these a try if they go on sale. http://www.cabelas.com/product/Hunting/Archery/Releases-Release-Aids/Mechanical-Releases%7C/pc/104791680/c/104693580/sc/104529780/i/103859280/Tru-Fire-3D-Hunter-4-Finger-Camo-Release/746146.uts?destination=%2Fcatalog%2Fbrowse%2Fhunting-archery-releases-release-aids-mechanical-releases%2F_%2FN-1100034%2FNs-CATEGORY_SEQ_103859280%3FWTz_l%3DSBC%253BMMcat104791680%253Bcat104693580%253Bcat104529780&WTz_l=SBC%3BMMcat104791680%3Bcat104693580%3Bcat104529780%3Bcat103859280

I wore neoprene in Alaska. I never got hot in them there, but it may be different here. People smarter than me recommended to get wader that didn't have boots built in. This was necessary in Alaska due to the glacier silt that would cause you to sink to you knees and pull a "made in" boot off your foot. Instead we used cheap over the ankle hiking boots that we could tie tightly around our feet. The light weight ones would be nice in summer, gimme neoprene if the water or the air is cold.

Most of us scout while we hunt. When stalking, look for a great place to stop and spend the remainder of the day. I hunt in Missouri some years and I never take a tree stand. I walk until I find a spot I like, spend an hour or two or three there and then move on looking for something better. If you are college age, hopefully you are young enough to still be in decent physical condition and are able to walk further than most are willing to.

Scouting is the probably the single most important ingredient to a successful hunt. Learning to identify deer trails and feeding and bedding areas will get you in the right spot. Know which way the wind will be blowing and set up so your scent isn't blowing towards the deer. Sounds simple right?

For a bugout bag water bottle option, check out this one: http://www.walmart.com/ip/Sawyer-Inline-Water-Filter-with-34-Ounce-Bottle/8283710?findingMethod=rr Fill it up, drink and this is rated at 500 gallons. You can also backflush it. It's made the same as filter they offer a 1 million gallon guarantee on, so your probably good for way more than 500 gallons.

hen it's not hot, 1.5 to 2 liters per day will suffice for most folks, but just for drinking. When it is hot, some may need as much as a liter an hour. I use a homemade Sawyer gravity/squeeze filter set up. If you check out some of the videos on youtube, you will see the versatility and ease of use of these filters. The pump filters work good too. I like the sawyer because I don't have to pump, and it doesn't have a pump that can break.

I left out of the Bandy Creek campground, went out the littleton-slaven trail, to the falls branch trail, to the JMT. It was 10 miles day one and I camped half down the JMT, between the falls branch and Laurel Fork trails. That was 10 miles day one. I planed to make a loop back to the Bandy Campground using the Laurel Fork and West Entrance trails, but it was hot, dry, and the deer flies were terrible, so I just backtraced the next day. It would have been 16 more miles to complete the loop. I planed to camp after 8-10 miles the second day, somewhere along the laurel creek trail. Next time I plan to do the loop in reverse. The problem with the reverse route is a long steep climb coming from the laurel creek to the JMT at Station Camp area.

My pup will be going with me. She has turned into a great hiking buddy. Here are a couple shots from 4th of July at BSF.

I imagine we will have some that don't want to hump all their gear 10 miles a day for 3 or 4 days. I found a nice parking area that allows a couple of short hikes to a near by creek with camp sites, but offers some nice longer loop hikes for those of us that don't mind the extra mileage. I have a good map and a guide book for BSF, so when we get close we can plot a couple routes to choose from.

After the Caney, you can go down and fish the Elk River out of Fayetteville. I crossed the Caney several times last week on my trip east. It looked very inviting.

I'm still in. I was looking for this thread the other day to bring it back up, but got side tracked. I will be doing a couple more summer hikes. Under 90 for a high is ok for me. I like to jump in the mountain streams and waterfalls while it's still warm. I did a hike at Big South Fork last week and I will get a couple more in before the end of September. It's a great wilderness area with lots of trails and not lots of people. Close enough to Nashville and Knoxville. Certainly worthy of discussing as a spot for the group trip.

I doubt I would hunt a late season bow only season much. I am usually burnt out by the end of December. I focus on early season, pre rut and rut and then I'm pretty much done.

I have been seriously considering picking up one of the Caldera Cone stoves as a multi-fuel option. I use a canister stove for backpacking for the convenience, but like Dolomite pointed out, it isn't the best option in long term survivalist situation. The Caldera Cones can run off wood or alcohol or just about anything else you can set fire too. Here is a good article. http://adventuresinstoving.blogspot.com/2012/01/ti-tri-caldera-cone-ultimate-ultralight.html

It's one of the most popular canister stove systems among backpackers. Not good for frying bacon and eggs... Great for making coffee and ramen noodles.

The website lists that the filter should last 6-8 months when in use. It also says they are cleanable, but I don't see if cleaning them takes them back to zero, or just helps flow rate and will still need to eventually be replaced. It looks like the replacement filter is $20, so that isn't too expensive. I have been using a Sawyer inline water filter for hiking. It is .1 pore size, the one above is a .2 pore size, but I think anything below a .3 is supposed to be good. Sawyer gives a 1 million gallon guarantee. I use mine in a gravity feed set up, but they sell a "squeeze model" that is the same filter, so it would work with the pressurized bucket set up. You can back flush the Sawyer to increase filter life and flow rate.