whiskey

ROLL TIDE BAAYBEE!

I wouldn't make it any taller than you need to see the most area around it. Height can help in a treestand, but is probably less important in a shooting house. You can get a portable propane heater that sits on a grill size tank that can put off more heat than you will want in an 8x8.

Me too. Usually I debone a ham and section out the muscle groups. I put it in a ziplock freezer bag and freeze it. Then I let it thaw just a little. I slice it on a cheap electric meat saw from Harbor Freight. It slices a lot easier when it is about half frozen. I mix the High Mountain "Hickory" and "Sweet and Spicy" flavors half/half and cook in the oven on Jerky screens. It is awesome! I made 6 pounds off the last deer we cleaned and it didn't last a week.

Nice Buck!

Awesome Guntroll. I am glad you had better results than me. That is an awesome deer. Anytime you can take a 5 year old deer, it is a huge accomplishment. I am glad you got deer and had a good hunt. Next year I am hunting with you.

We made it home safe. That is all the good I have to report. When my cohorts arrived Friday at 11:00am and informed me that a wheel bearing was going on the boat trailer, I said, "no big deal." We found a boat repair shop close by, dropped it off and the guy went straight to work. We packed up my truck and grabbed some lunch and a spare tire. 3 hours and 150 bucks later when the mechanic had finished replacing both wheel bearings, I said, "no big deal." We headed out with plans of arriving to camp around 8pm, 3 hours later than planed but again, I said, "no big deal." We arrived at Bass Pro Shops in St. Louis at 6pm to purchase our licenses and a few last minute items. I ran in and got my stuff while the other two stayed with the truck and boat. I returned and it was their turn. They took longer than normal, but I was thinking, no big deal. When they returned to the truck without licenses, I was worried. My friend is a disabled veteran and Missouri, among other states, allow non-resident disabled veterans to purchase hunting licenses at resident prices. Well, last year we had no trouble at this same Bass Pro Shop. This year they told him he had to purchase his license at the MO DNR office, which was closed till Monday! Unwilling to give up we started calling other license dealers in town. Wal-Mart, Dicks Sporting Goods, Gas Stations, ect. All of them had the same story, "Sorry, you have to go to the DNR office." We went to Wal-Mart anyway! Luckily on the way to Wal-Mart we found the sentence in the hunting regs that stated, " A non-resident disabled veteran can purchase a resident license at any authorized license dealer." The old man at the sports counter was helpful and it took almost an hour, but he and the manager finally figured it out. It was now 9:00pm and we wouldn't arrive at camp till 11pm. Still, I said, "no big deal." After all, 4 hours of sleep is plenty for deer hunters of our caliber. We arrived at camp, got everything unpacked and laid out for the morning. I was in bed at 1am. No problem, 3 hours of sleep is plenty for the first night. 4am came and I was up and pumped. The lake was very high. Members of our group have hunted this area for 16 years and had never seen the water this high. The lake was actually 17 feet higher than it's normal winter pool. We got up and got dressed and loaded in the truck. We drive up to the boat ramp to find that it is closed due to high water. WHAT! I said, "no big deal." There are something like 20 ramps on this lake, we just have to boat a little further. Next boat ramp, CLOSED! Third boat ramp was the big ramp at the state park, it was open! Off we headed to our well known favorite spots. We were late arriving but, I said, "no big deal." We all hunted till 11am and then the boat came back around and picked everyone up. 4 guys, same story. NO DEER! Tons of sign, rubs, scrapes, tracks, but no deer. Oh well, they will move this afternoon, right? Wrong. No deer Saturday afternoon. Sunday morning the rain came. The rain stayed for 5 straight days. The rain and 15-20 mph winds. The deer did not move in the daylight until Thursday afternoon. 4 hunters hunting pretty much all day saw less than 10 deer in 5 days. One guy jumped and killed a doe on Sunday morning. I walked atleast 20 miles without jumping a deer. The problem was that there was still standing corn everywhere and the deer were holding up in there during the day. Thursday the weather broke and it was beautiful Thursday afternoon and Friday. I found a huge deer Thursday morning. I jumped him from his bed around 10am, but couldn't get a shot. My step-dad saw him as he crossed the ridge between us and said he was very big. I knew exactly where to set-up Thursday afternoon and Friday if needed. Did I mention that I acquired a sinus infection the second day we were there? I managed to medicate myself and continue hunting pretty much unphased during the day. Nights were hell. Sinus pressure, sore throat, congestion. Then Thursday at lunch the coughing started. I could not go 15 minutes without coughing. There was no way I was going in to my Honey Hole with this cough. I decided to hunt another area Thursday evening and see if I could get some different medicine and get in there on Friday morning. I sat in a stand overlooking a slough Thursday evening, trying not to cough. It didn't work. I almost blew my ear drums out holding back a cough. Tears shot from my eyes and hit my glasses. I was miserable. I left the woods before dark and headed to town for more medicine. Friday morning came and I was not better. I stayed in bed and the rest of the group opted to not boat to the hot spot because the night before the lake was still rising and was partially covering the road to the boat ramp. Friday afternoon came, my last chance to hunt. I summonsed my strength and drove through high water to launch the boat and get one last chance at the big buck. The guys dropped me about 400 yards down the shore from where I planned to hunt. I made a perfectly silent stalk though the cedar thicket to the end of the ridge when I just knew that big buck was bedded. I got in there and got set up just as I planned. I sat still and did not cough. It was tough, especially after I ran out of water and still had 30 minutes till dark. At 5:07pm I thought I had heard a deer off to my right. I watched at waited until all light faded at 5:21pm. It was over. I stood up and took a couple steps and a deer exploded away not more than 40 yards from me. All I heard was bone hitting limbs as he ran off, I said, "no big deal." This deer was rubbing 10 inch cedar trees. He was big and heavy. I hope no one else kills him this weekend. I hope he is there next year and I get another chance. I am pretty sure that a serious deer hunting addiction is a mental defect. That is the only way I can explain sitting in the rain with a sinus infection for 5 days. It was a miserable week of hunting. It was a great week of fellowship. I am glad to be home, now I just have to get well.

The Summit is a nice stand, but too heavy for me. I have to have something light and little so I can walk with to the middle of nowhere. I would buy a Lone Wolf treestand for my type hunting. (public land, no ATV's allowed, required to walk) Before I bought the stand though, I would make sure I had a GOOD pair of boots and a GOOD set of soft, quite rain gear. I use my gortex-like hunting coat and pants more than anything else. It is great for rain, but works just as well for wind. I have the Walls 10X stuff, but everybody makes something similar now. It will run you more than 100.00 for a good set though. I also get a lot of use our of my ASAT leafy 3-D suit. I wear it for Turkey and Bow season. As far as camo goes, I think it is the best on the market. I recently bought a pair of LaCrosse Alpha Burly Sport boots. They rock. The lightest, most comfortable rubber boot I have found. Assuming you have all the guns, bows, ect required to hunt, then make yourself comfortable while you're doing it.

I hear a lot of hunters say the same thing about not using a bow. But as a bowhunter and gun hunter, I have lost deer with both weapons. Sometimes it happens to best hunters. I have helped a lot more friends track deer that were poorly shot with a gun than with a bow. I don't know the statistics or percentage of deer lost to each method, but I do know that in my experience I rarely have to track a bow shot deer. Usually they die within sight of my stand. I would say conversely that I have to track just about every deer that I shoot with a gun. Usually the track is less than 100 yards, but it still leaves the chance to lose a deer on a rainy day. I honestly believe that wounded deer usually can be explained by 2 simple causes. 1st - The hunter not spending enough time practicing with their weapon. Bow or gun, neither are instinctive and only good things can come by practicing more. The more realistic the practice the better. Shoot off hand or from a tree stand. Wear your hunting clothes. 2nd - Poor shot judgement. Usually the deer is too far away, moving too fast, standing at the wrong angle or there are obstacles between the hunter and the deer. If a hunter can't devote the time to a bow, certainly they should not get in a treestand opening morning with a bow they sighted in the year before and fired one test shot on Friday afternoon before season. Same goes for rifle hunters in my opinion. If you can't find time to go put 20 rounds through your deer rifle and a 100 or so through a rimfire, then you need to stay behind and be camp cook.

I own one of the winchester knives. It will take an edge, but will not hold it long enough for my liking. I bought one on sale cheap and used it to skin and quarter a hog, which a test to any knife. It would probably be ok for 1 deer, but would need sharpening past that. I have one of these and have been extreamly happy with it. It's a Boker 520HH. Size is small enough to work inside and big enough to feel right in my hand. They can be bought for less than 60.00 and well worth it. I carry a small folding saw, so I have quit hacking pelvis bones into. You can buy a small folding saw at Home Depot that takes standard reciprocating saw blades (sawzall). Then just get a fine tooth blade for bone sawing. You can also carry some wood blades and quickly convert it to a limb saw. They have blade storage in the handle. Boker Knives 520HH Arbolito Fixed Blade Hunter Knife with Genuine Stag Handles - Knife Country USA Amazon.com: Stanley 15-333 8-Inch Folding Pocket Saw: Home Improvement

Now all I need is 9 or 12 buddies to come to the woods with me when I loose a deer. Certainly this is good information to keep in the memory reserves. I believe a trailing dog is the best bet for a long running wounded deer. Of course there are a lot of places that it's not allowed. Which makes about as much sense as wearing blaze orange 15 feet up a tree. I digress...

The family is from east Tennessee and didn't want to leave it in the public cooler at fort campbell.

News Flash - Ft. Campbell, KY. Today was a youth hunt on Fort Campbell and a 13 year old girl killed a huge typical 12 pointer with a muzzle loader. Folded him up at 20 yards from a ground blind. My buddy is a warden on Fort Campbell and has the head for safe keeping. He is sending me pics soon and I will update. He is telling me it scored 181!(corrected) Field Dressed weight at 165. I am so glad a young girl got such a nice trophy. It was her first buck. Split G2's

This is why I love bow hunting. I am glad you missed him clean, if you had to miss. Get back out there and get some more Hot Doe pee out there and get you one of those doe in heat can calls and get him back in there and stick him good. Remember, bend at the waist and hold your form. I missed an 8 pointer 2 times a couple years ago. I was luck enough to get him on the third arrow, but I nearly shot a stump point at him before I realized what I grabbed and swapped again. Thank goodness for dumb deer, other wise I might not ever get one.

Well I saw rubs everywhere today. I even saw the first active scape of the year. We heard a buck grunt in standing corn today and saw a big buck running across a field at lunch time with his nose to the ground. IT IS GETTING CLOSE!

See the blind in the photo below. I bought it just to take my daughter hunting her first year. She had just turned 10 in the photo below. We used the same blind today for her to take her second deer. I just pop it up and rake away all the leaves so she can wiggle and fiddle around all she wants. Usually she takes a nap, eats a snack, makes shadow puppets as the sun gets low. If the wind gets up we just zip up more and keep the wind off us. We can hunt through rain showers in the dry. We can even bring a tent heater on those really cold mornings. I had her wrapped up in a sleeping bag in it last year. This is the dog house blind from Wally World. It ain't top of the line, but it works well for the price. I have hunted it many rainy days by myself. I am taking it to Missouri with me in a couple weeks to have as an option. Make sure you get one atleast as big as the dog house. The bigger it is the more you can keep the kids away from the windows. I will say that setting it up ahead of time and allowing the deer to become accustom to it is the best method. We set up in the edge of a field today and the deer immediately turned their full attention to us when the entered the field. It still got the job done though.

My 11 year old daughter got a nice big doe this afternoon. .243 to the lungs. She went 50 yards and pilled up. Venison on the menu this week. We had a wonderful afternoon hunt on Sunday. We didn't get to hunt Saturday because of Halloween and family in town. We got to the woods at 12:30 Sunday and immediately had a buck grunt 30 yards from us. He was in standing corn and we couldn't see him. I looked up and a HUGE buck was crossing a tobacco field about 300 yards out. All I saw was bone, but he was to the woods before she could get on him. 5 minutes later as we were still walking to our blind site we saw a doe crossing at 400 yards out. Too far and moving too quick. We got our blind set up on a clover field and under a white oak that was dropping a ton of acorns. No more deer movement. We had 12 Jake Turkeys come out at 3:30 and then the deer showed up at 4:15. The lead doe got spooky about our blind and my daughter routed her. Congrats to all the youth hunters this weekend. A few neighbor boys got bucks this weekend. One got a nice 12 pointer. Glad to see all the kids out hunting.

Saw a buck chasing a doe in circles in a field yesterday. That is the first sign I have seen. I also had a driver tell me he saw a buck chase a doe across the road this week. My hunting buddy has also had young bucks licking Tinks 69 off limbs by his stand. The bucks are ready, the does are not. We should be in pre-rut right now. Usually in Montgomery county the rut is in full swing during muzzle loader season. I agree with Jcochran88, I like hunting the pre-rut a lot. The next 4 weeks should be good pre rut and rut.

This may be a lost cause. You can take the stock off and soak all the metal in diesel fuel for a couple hours. Then clean it up good with a solvent like gun scrubber. You will need to get a light in there and see how pitted the bore is. You can probably buy a replacement breech plug. If you have a bunch of rust and crud in the flash hole then you risk not getting good ignition. I would clean it up good and shoot it. It may shoot fine, it may shoot like hell from the rust pitting the barrel.

Yeah I noticed the license costs. I really had a lack luster hunt last year. The wind about blew us away and I saw very few deer. I hope the rut holds out a little for us, but I heard the same as you. Good luck to you too.

Going to northern Missouri to deer hunt for 7 days of rifle season. Leaving TN on the 12th or 13th. Start hunting on the 14th and hunt all week. There are some huge deer up there and I saw a monster killed last year. I am holding out for a wall hanger because I can only take 1 buck. Here is what some of the guys staying at the same lodge killed last year South Fork Resort Picture Gallery - Home > Hunting This was killed on the opposite side of the ridge I was hunting This buck field dressed a little over 300 pounds. They guy is about the same. BOW kill from this year

Skeeters are still bad here. I did see a snake Sunday afternoon. Chiggers should be gone. Seed Ticks should be gone. Larger ticks will probably still be crawling if the weather is warm. I always believe that it is better to be safe than sorry. Spray yours and the kids clothes down with Permanon and let it dry so it is oderless and than you won't have to worry.

Somethings can't be explained. I don't usually cook them in the crockpot, but I would think that would get them tender. I had some wild boar I cooked in a crockpot do the same thing once. It just never got tender. I had cooked it the same way before and after with good results. As to your question about quartering them up, it shouldn't make any difference if you are going to put them in a crockpot. I usually quarter mine, boil them until tender and then pan fry the quarters. I don't like the salt water soaking for meat. I usually prefer to soak them in milk or buttermilk.

Way to go. Every deer with a bow is a trophy.

ROLL TIDE!!!!!!!!! It was ugly, but it was still a win. God I love it when we beat Tennessee.

Ain't nothing better than hunting with your kids. My daughter and I can't wait for the youth hunt next weekend.