whiskey

I carry Hornady XTP's in the woods. They are deeper penetrating hollow points. I don't have experience with them in .40, but I have used them on hogs in .44 and .357. I have been happy so far and I would carry them solely in a .40 in the back country without worry.

I missed a big buck at Ft Campbell this morning. I was bow hunting and bounced the arrow off a limb I didn't see. The big ol' buck didn't spook, just jumped a little and slowly walked off laughing at me. The weather and moon phase are tough for opening weekend of rifle. Good luck to all you rifle guys.

Well, I ended the ML season on Friday evening with a fat doe. I got off work a little early and decided to stop off for the last hour and a half of daylight. I wanted to sit on a hill top stand, but the farmer on the neighboring land was mowing the field behind the stand so I ended up just standing next to a fence crossing with woods on one side and a pasture on the other. A little yearling crossed the fence and started walking in front of me, but kept looking back. I waited for the big doe and watched to see if she was looking back for a buck. She didn't have a buck with her, so it turned out to be her unlucky day. She had just enough in her to run about 60 yards...DOWN A STEEP HILL! I about stroked out dragging her back up the hill.

Hogs are open on other scheduled hunts on WMA, for the most part. Now that can mean a lot of different things. If you are able to purchase a sportsman license in March, then it is a great deal. You get to apply for quota hunts for free. I don't usually bother with spring Turkey quota hunts. I have lots of places to hunt turkeys and there are plenty of non-quota opportunities. I would recommend getting a paper copy of the hunting regulations and reading it cover to cover. The website is fine, but I always just get a paper copy and keep it in the crapper so I can stay current on regs. The WMA's change so much that you can't trust what you knew from the year before.

You can hunt with your TN license. Either will work. You have to have their permit and you have to sign out a training area. It's a bit of a pain, but there are some big deer there. Shotgun or Muzzleloader in the gun areas. They also have bow only areas. This deer grossed over 180"

Tennessee Deer Talk: FORT CAMPBELL 2010

That should be all you need this year. I always buy a sportsman's license in early March before Turkey season starts. That way I am good to hunt or fish anything I want, mostly. I will warn you now that this stuff is highly addictive. I started out squirrel hunting with jeans a t-shirt and a single shot .410 shotgun. Now it seems that I have an incurable addiction to all things hunting related. Turkey hunting has been the worst. I am completely willing to spend next months mortgage payment on a new turkey gun, calls, vest, decoys... it never ends.

Well I don't have pictures yet, but the big deer in picture #1 that the girl killed on opening day of Muzzleloader scored 137 points. I was guessing 140, but it did have a brow tine broken off from fighting. Still hoping for some photos to post so you can tell the comparison. If you can make it to the Busy Bee gas station in Cumberland City, there is a picture on there bragging board.

Sounds good. PM me about the middle of Jan. and we will get things lined up. The last deer hunt is the youth hunt on Jan 15 and 16. We should be pretty safe after that.

Well you are welcome to come squirrel hunting with me after deer season. Hendersonville isn't too far from Clarksville. Cheatham WMA would be a good meeting area. I am sure there are others. I don't pretend to be an expert at anything, but I have been hunting one thing or another for 25 years. I learned from good hunters and lots of mistakes. I am teaching my daughter what I know and would be happy to share that with you and others. Squirrel hunting is a great way to start. You have the right gun and you are practicing. I would recommend going to a scope before hunting. Yes, you can hunt with iron sights and it's a great skill, but for a new hunter I hate to see unnecessary challenges added as part of the learning process. A scope helps in low light, it helps find hiding squirrels and it helps make well placed shots. If that goes well, maybe we can convince WD-40 to take us rabbit hunting. I have a good spot or two that would be worth the drive to hunt behind some beagles.

Might want to try these too. Expander MZ | Barnes Bullets

I hunted this morning and saw two young bucks cruising the woods. Nothing I wanted to shoot. I was hoping for a late morning doe.

I have my daughter's sighted in with 100gr Remington Core-Lok. It's killed 4 deer. All 4 were heart shots. 2 fell dead, 2 ran less than 60 yards. The bullets have stayed together. I recovered 2 in the off side hide, but both were through the off side shoulder. The two others went through. I would like to try the 100gr Federal Fusions. Her gun didn't like the Winchester's as well as the Remingtons.

The buck I shot Saturday was 40 yards out and I am shooting 100gr or 777 and a 250gr T/C Shockwave Sabot. I did not get an exit wound either. I did get an entry hole about an inch in diameter and a good blood trail to the deer, less than 100 yards down the hill. My shot was a quartering away shot, so I suspect the bullet lodged in the far side shoulder. I was a bit hurried Saturday so I dropped the deer off at the processor and didn't get to investigate myself. I have been using the Hornady SST loads in shotgun slugs for several years with good results. However, three years ago I shot a 1.5 year old doe at AEDC with the SST slugs on a quartering away shot and did not get an exit. The bullet dropped the doe in her tracks from a good heart hit, but the bullet lodged in the hide of the off side shoulder. I have had a couple buddies that switched away from the powerbelts due to displeasure. Not sure if they had deer killing problems or accuracy problems. I got my muzzleloader late in the game this year and decided to go with the T/C Shockwaves from the accuracy reports and availability. Next year I will be using the Hornady XTP sabots in either 240 or 300 grain. I have been very happy with the XTPs in various loads over the years.

I know what you mean. That's why I try to finish mine late at night and get it frozen before everyone gets at it. Seems to last a little longer if they have to wait for it to thaw.

For 2010...

It's that time of year again... I made a big batch of Venison Jerky this week from the doe that my daughter took on the youth hunt. After several batches last year, I think I have finally found a recipe that I am really happy with. I made a total of seven pounds of meat into Jerky this week, but I have based my calculation on 4 pounds at a time. I used the Hi Mountain Jerky Cure, Hickory and Sweet & Spicy mixed 50/50. I followed the directions for whole muscle meat jerky and just mixed the two seasoning packets together before measuring out the seasoning to cure mix. After following the recommended seasoning/cure mixture for 4 pounds of meat, I added 1 teaspoon of salt, 1 teaspoon of ground black pepper, 1/2 tablespoon of Red Pepper Flakes, and 1/2 teaspoon of Cayenne Pepper. I coated the meat and cured as recommended. The recommended cook time is not enough in my opinion. Hi Mountain recommends 1 to 1.25 hours at 200 degrees with the oven door cracked. I have found that it takes closer to 2.5 hours for me to get the right texture. It may have to do with me stacking two full jerky screens. I really need to pick up one more screen and space the meat out more. I am hoping my wife is taking my hints for a new smoker for Chirstmas, so I can do some jerky in the smoker. Another thing I do is pack the jerky in small ziploc bags and freeze the jerky after it cools. That way it keeps forever and I can just pull a bag out when I am ready for some.

The big 12 pointer in the first picture was shot yesterday, opening day of Muzzleloader season. It was shot on the neighboring farm by a young girl, I am told. I have requested pictures, so hopefully some color close ups to follow. I am glad a young girl got this fine buck.

I always try to hunt straight through lunch when I hunt public land. Often times the deer are pushed past me when the hoards of hunters head to their trucks for lunch. I think I just had a good stand site the last two weekend, because I didn't see near this many deer during archery.

The "bush" was cedar shavings and was the best looking part of his rack.

My first muzzleloader deer. The T/C Impact placed the bullet perfectly with my aim. No deer heart on the menu this time. I saw a TON of deer this morning. I had deer running around before daylight and then just before 7am I saw 3 bucks chasing does. This was the biggest of the bucks. He was big bodied deer, can't really tell in the pic, but he was heavy. Ugly rack with two broken tips from fighting. I guess it's time to rattle... I shot him at 7:15 and sat in the stand till 9:30 because I never stopped seeing deer. A doe would come through then a small buck wouldn't be far behind. I was definitely in the correct stand this morning. Breakfast sausage and hamburger in process. Oh yeah, it was cold here this morning. Luckily I never had long enough between deer to get cold.

Depends. Where are your deer bedding? Do they travel the woods trail traveling between the field and the bedding area? Do you expect to have the right wind for both stands? How far apart are the stands? Without more information, this is what I would recommend. I would sit on the open field at daybreak, IF I could get to it without bumping deer that would possibly be in the field before daylight. I would sit there till 10am. Then I would get down, take a bathroom break, get a bite to eat and go sit in the woods till around 3pm. Then I would go back and sit the field till dark. If the deer are still moving through the field at 10am, stay there. If not, hunt slowly to your woods stand and hunt the woods during mid day when deer are not likely to be running around in the field. However, if the woods trail is between the bedding area and the field, I would stay in the woods for a chance to catch a big buck leaving the bedding area, that would not enter the field until after dark. Ain't this the most fun????

There was an article in the TWRA magazine that comes out a couple times a year. The article was printed a couple years ago and pretty much explained TWRA's point of view on "baiting" or "feeding", which ever name you prefer. The story mostly focused on the increased risk of spread of disease from a feed area. Texas and Florida are among the states that allow feeding and hunting over feeders. Last I heard, Texas didn't have deer heard problems due to this. Hell, they have more deer than any other state, IIRC. I have hunted over year round feeder in Florida and I can tell you that it is much less consistent than hunting a biologic food plot (legal here). If feeding deer is harmful to deer populations, then outlaw feeding all together. Currently it is 100% legal to feed deer all year around in your back yard or anywhere else for that matter. It's only illegal to hunt over it! The truth is that TWRA is behind the times on feeding just like they were on shooting doe! Now they want us to kill 3 every day (over 300 per year/ per hunter). Just imagine how great the hunting would be if we had opened doe season years earlier and kept the population closer to a 1:1 ratio. Kill more hogs! But don't do it on WMA's outside of deer season! BS

While I can't argue that there are better choices for deer hunting than the .357, it is still plenty of gun if you choose the right bullet. The little .357 Marlin is about the handiest gun made too. I have killed a deer with a .357 revolver and I have a buddy that hunts hogs in florida with a .357 Marlin. Hard cast, heavy bullets will do the trick out of the marlin. That Marlin with a set of Ghost Ring sights from XS Sights would be a nice addition.

Sorry to hear that, but it happens. Tell him to hang in there, it happens to all of us sooner or later, he just got his lesson sooner. I have to make Jerky because that is what the huntress has declared. I made a couple big batches last year and she ate it up so fast I barely got any. Deer jerky is what my girl get up early for. She won't turn down grilled bacon-wrapped tenderloin either though.