Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Pond Boss Deer season 2007

I confess I don't butcher my own. Shoot her, gut her, haul her in and wash her out real good, then I take her to our butchers via the checking station.

I did manage to do all that this year without losing a finger tip. I find the nice scar on my left index finger is a VERY good reminder.

Greg, we have entirely too many deer here. I never cared about small and average racks (like I used to collect); I stopped hunting bucks a couple of years ago. Bucks don't have babies. The next buck I shoot at will have the biggest set of antlers I've ever seen.

The front end loader is quicker than breaking out the chain fall.

Sunil, the gun is a Thompson-Center Encore (single shot, break open action, changes barrels in about 2 minutes) with a rifled 12 gauge barrel and a Weaver K4 scope on it. With Hornady SST sabot slugs, it shoots better than I can out to at least 125 yards - far and away the best slug/gun combo I've tried. I took several deer with handguns about 10-12 years ago, but went back to long guns because after the kids got bigger, I lacked sufficient practice time to stay handgun proficient. The Encore has completely eliminated any rifle envy I've ever had deer hunting (Ohio is a shotgun, handgun, or muzzleloader state), it's that good.

Being a single shot, it is small for having a 24" barrel. The last rifle I built had a 26" barrel on a Mauser action that balances good for me with my size. But the Encore fits OK too.