Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Pond Boss Hunting and Trapping Fall/Winter 2010/2011

Those laurel thickets and that swamp were so dense a game cart wouldn't work. The sled might be an idea though.

Awesome unique looking rack on that deer.. Congrats.. Now that i let all these guns have fun I'll be back in the stand Monday...

That is a great buck!

I have had the toughest year that I can remember. I have owned my 21 acres for 18 years and it is the slowest season I have had in that time. Finally scored on a doe Saturday morning on another property. I have only seen 1 six pointer all season form the stand. First harvest witht the Bone Collector.



A neighbor down the road shot a nice buck yesterday at daylight. Not the best shot. He tracked it about 2 miles and ran out of light on my property. He took up the trail this afternoon again. Long story short, they caught up with the buck and managed to get a final shot in him when he jumped from his bed. Nice deer. Maybe around 150. Here he is:



Hey Scott, the Indiana boys are tied 1-1 now!

Here in WV, we've got more deer seasons than I can keep track of. I think I could legally take somewhere between 11 and 14 deer if I participated in every season. So far, four deer (that I know of) have been harvested from our property.

Our "real season" (rifle/howitzer/bow/harpoon, etc., and anything that resembles a deer) starts tomorrow morning at sunup. I know most everybody will be out there to get the trophy "Turdy-Point Buck" -- but I'll probably sit on the front or back porch at sunup with just one bullet in my old 30-30, and wait for one with milk on its lips.

Pepperoni and pastrami are both curing in the basement refrigerator for smoking later in the week. The meat is the last of the last from the '09 season. So far, about 75 lbs. of Season '10 meat are in the freezer.

Through some Virginia friends who only wanted the racks, we were able to give away two very healthy corn-fed deer yesterday that turned into 125 lbs. of de-boned meat. One was destined for Todd -- but we gave it away instead.

If you need a recipe idea , , ,

Good luck all! Stay safe.

Ken, how did that 10 point you had hanging for a few days turn out? You said the meat looked great, but you weren't sure if he'd taste good? Well, how'd he end up tasting? I gave my buck away to hunters for the hungry. I usually only keep does, I think they taste better and I think the deer up in PA taste better as well.

Great deer Travis.

That's O.K. Mike. Like we discussed, if I don't see that big boy by the time Muzzleloader season is winding down I can shoot one of the bucks that I've been seeing and then start whacking and stacking the does. The most does that I've seen on the property that I'm hunting this year is 15-16 in a day. I'm not sure if any were double counted. I have seen a total of 4 or 5 different bucks in person and on trail cams, and at least another 3 on trail cams only.

Ken, we can only shoot one buck per year here in Indiana, and one more if you hunt in an "urban" zone.

Does are another matter. It's on a county-by-county basis, no personal limit. I think I could legally shoot close to 400 does if I were able to take my limit in every county in the state. Just counting the 3 counties that I have hunted in this year, I can legally take 20 "bonus" does. Since I was able to purchase a lifetime license before they discontinued them, my cost of a deer license is a piece of paper and ink to write out the information that is required.

I saw this baby's daddy in person and that's the one that I want. If I was sitting 10" more to the left I'd have my hands on him.


Here's the other bucks that I have on camera. I can't change the date, so don't go by that. I'll be pulling the SD card this evening for the latest pics.

Mike:

Here's pics of the buck that came out yesterday with 10 minutes left of legal shooting light with the forkhorn that I told you about. I was tempted, but I saw that the G4 on the left side was broken. I think he's 3rd on the list of 10 pt. bucks that I've seen there. These pictures were taken last night.

I seen a cool pic today.. Guy at work got an eight pointer with big brow tines.. Cool thing about it was one was really wavy the other was completely curled like a cork screw.. First time I'd ever seen that just thought I'd share..

I'd like to see that pic!

I'll see if I can take a pic of the pic with my phone and upload it..

I was finally able to hunt this year. I usually only shoot bucks if they are bigger than any previous ones. Only saw some doe and took one right before dark last night. No pics since it was nothing special, but I did manage to get the game camera set up. Strange thing was I had to hose the stand down with wasp killer and figured nothing would come around with the smell, but the 2 doe I saw came within 30 feet of the stand upwind and down.

I've seen deer directly downwind of my car where I park to hunt. The car smell doesn't bother them, but when I walk to the car after hunting they get spooked, even after dark. I shower on a regular basis, so it can't be that.

I think deer that are around people or people activity get to know what's a harmful scent and what's not.

The taste is just fine. These are good corn fed deer. But . . .

I had a small piece of backstrap left when I was done vacuum packing. I cut it into 1/4-inch strips which I marinated in homemade teriyaki sauce and then put on the grill. It was about as tender as Bulgarian shoe leather. Oh well, it really doesn't make that much difference when I make corned venison, pastrami, sausage, or jerky. There really is a big difference between an older buck and an antlerless deer.

My rifle is at the basement door, and I've still got my eyes out for a clueless and antlerless deer that might happen to wander by. I sat in my tree house for about an hour last evening, until it got too dark to safely shoot anything. I heard deer, but didn't see a single one.

Also -- as for deer taste. There certainly are big differences in taste per locality. In this area, the deer out of Northern Virginia -- Loudoun, Clark, Frederick, Fauquier, etc., and from my WV county of Hampshire, are excellent and have virtually no odor when butchered. But, I've had some out of other areas, like where I grew up in Northern Wisconsin, and they not only didn't taste great, they had a very distinct odor that I never liked. I can only assume it is based on diet.

You've got quite the deer processing operation there Ken... Maybe you could open up a small business when you retire.

I'm taking a new hunter out tomorrow evening so that should be interesting. Last night was the first night back to work after my hunting vacation... I wish I could retire! HAHA

Travis -- believe me, it has more than crossed our minds. I'm ready. I've got a 2000 sq. ft. unused building on the property that was formerly a taxidermy shop. I'd love to use it for a training facility, a publishing facility, and, a butchering-training facility.

We unfortunately continue to face the unknown situation and life-on-hold schedule because of the eminent domain powerline issue. They again reared their ugly heads a few weeks ago. If it gets resolved in my lifetime, I hope to provide guidance to anyone else in this miserable situation.

Good luck with the new hunter. I'm sure you'll be a great mentor.

Ive been super busy- yes not with work but hunting. Finally checking this thread first time in a long while. Congrats Travis- nice VA deer, Scott stay after em. OH, IL, KY and suburban ATL have not panned out for me. WIth baby due anyday time is running out.

Yea, Greg... everytime I call your office you're in a tree stand or off hunting with Nate. Keep us updated on the baby news!!!

Thanks Greg. I was out again this evening. I had a doe and yearling at 40 yds due downwind when I walked in, and it took me walking out in the open for them to realize a human was that close.

About 45 minutes later, a buck showed up 175 yards away, and within the next 30 minutes he was joined by 5 others. The biggest bodied deer was an old 6 point, sway back and drooping belly. The deer with the very long G2's showed up as well. Still no sign of that 10 point or his son, so I watched the show 'till 1/2 hr after dark (1 hr after sunset).

There were 2 button bucks and a couple of does out with them as well. The bucks all got into a shoving match with each other at one time or another, but nothing serious. Serious enough that I could hear the antlers hitting each other at that distance tho!

It's getting cool out, so I might tag a doe tomorrow or Thursday if the correct opportunity presents itself.

There was a small 6 point not 50 yds from the climbing stand that I was removing that had a right front broken leg. He couldn't walk on that leg at all. He didn't seem to mind that I was within 50 yds to him on an ATV. I went back to get the muzzleloader, and tried sneaking up on him. When I was on foot, his comfort zone was 200 Yds. I was going to shoot, but a tree was obscuring his vitals. Once I moved to a cleaner shooting land, he started to walk away. I couldn't get a clear shot at him before he made it to a neighbor's property. I never talked to any of the neighbors around there (not my land) so I don't have permission to hunt there. I'll just have to wait until he comes back - maybe this evening.

I did find a tree stand on the property that is being used - fresh climbing marks on the tree. So now I'll be hunting trespassers as well.

One small pond on the property was 95% covered with skim ice this a.m.

I'm posting this from my Kindle, as I read books while I dream/drool about sausage and meat processing techniques.

My cousin, who has about a thousand acre farm and woodland in Northern Wisconsin, has a whole collection of confiscated tree stands that she lends/donates to friends who have permission to hunt and fish her farm.

But, as I contemplate, I think we must be a sick bunch. Here I am, sitting in my "captain's chair" in my well-elevated tree-house about 30 yards above my pond. I have one bullet in my old Winchester 30-30 (I figure one round is all I need -- if I miss, I won't have time for a second shot. I do have two more rounds in my pocket if I just wound a critter).

Trespassers probably won't be shot, but I doubt they'll be back after they meet me.

What a life.

We'll sample venison pepperoni with eggs tomorrow morning (Thanksgiving day) for breakfast. I'll start smoking the venison pastrami and the brined turkey after breakfast tomorrow. The ham will go into the oven at that time. Lynda already has all of the pies baked.

We're looking forward to one more Thanksgiving with four generations of family gathered around the bounty.

Ken

I missed my chance at the wounded buck again. When walking in, I looked into the open area and saw a deer bedded down looking right at me, with a nice 8 pt. about 20 yds further out, standing. I stopped, set down the fold up cloth chair that I was holding and grabbed the binoculars. About that time the deer stands up and I realize that it's the wounded buck. Down go the binoculars, off the shoulder comes the muzzleloader and I look for a shooting lane. By the time that I find one, the healthy buck takes off, and the wounded one is in the forest, putting trees between me and it. It turns out that he was laying down not 20' from where I was sitting this morning.

After getting all the stuff in place (unfold the chair, set up shooting sticks, dig out rangefinder) I finally get my butt in the chair. Not 5 minutes later I see a buck and 2 does in the open area about 120 yds away. I wanted to take a doe either today or tomorrow, so I get the gun up and the scope turned up to 10x. Rats, all 3 are bucks. Oh well, it's time to sit back and see what else comes out while the rain continues to pour.

It takes them about an hour to work closer to me, and by the time legal shooting time ends, the closest buck is 21 yds away. A swirl of the wind and they both are gone.

Tomorrow is another day!

Well, as is often the case, beginners luck didn't rear itself and we were skunked, but he's eager to get out and try it again so that is a good sign. Everyone have a great Thanksgiving... I will be heading to PA on Sunday for the firearms opener there Monday.

My Grandson and I are leaving this afternoon for a couple of days hunting. He has taken a doe and is now looking for a muy grande. I've not been able to hunt but a couple of times. Due to our huge acorn crop, I have seen one, yes 1, doe this year and no bucks.