Turkeygirl

I was at a Walmart about 1 week ago...not much marked down yet. Did better at my archery shop's 50% off inventory sale

I have an SX3 compact field. Think I paid like $950 for it new from Cabelas. Something I noticed though, and I just shoot it with the bead sight it came with, is it patterns a tad high. Is this typical for this gun/semi-auto?

I watched the Elite Archery bow reveal...the announcer was rediculous. Not super impressed. More impressed with Hoyt this year. It all comes down to what one shoots well. Elite released a new women's bow but nothing I'm super excited about.

That is all I got was an arctic weight bottom layer to go with my top and a pair of gloves. I did pick up an Under Armor jacket in Realtree at 50% off in my bow shop the beginning of December so that was a really good deal. Now a days I pretty much just buy if its my size and on sale. In all honesty I have both realtree and mossy oak camo in the wardrobe, lol. A deer or turkey doesn't care what brand camo you're wearing.

That's on my list for 2017. Went to a gun range and used someone's cheaper Caldwell one that was plastic. Regardless, what a difference in sighting in my shotgun and muzzleloader...it was actually fun, lol.

There ya go, nice "Ruth pic" Mathews XT!! good looking buck!

Congrats on the new gun, looking good! My Winchester SX3 has a 26" barrel. I agree your 28" barrel looking super long lol. What are you planning to hunt with your new gun?

What I did this year was leave my ML hanging in the garage with the triple 7 pellets and bullet in it, took the primer out. If it was really snowing, I tried to protect it while hunting and wipe it off in the garage. Yes, if you bring it in the house, condensation will form. I did unloade it and wipe down the inside of the barrel after it had hung in the garage during several days of bitter cold and snow. I thankfully had no misfires and how I treated t must have worked well. Yes, having a primer not go off was my concern for sure but it went 3 for 3 on deer this season.

Congrats Strut on a nice big fat doe!

Never owned a Browning but congrats, good looking gun! I have 2 Mossberg 500s 20 gauges, a Winchester SX3 20 gauge, and a TC Omega Z5 muzzleloader.

I watched a movie, saw 12am come along, said happy new year to my family, and went to bed.

I'm excited to start learning to shoot with a thumb release. Was working on setting up the trigger travel/tension stuff on it and hope to get to a range here this week and start. Been reading up on using thumb releases. Any helpful tips for a beginner?

Great to hear from ya Tim! Stay safe! I am glad to be off for this holiday after working Christmas Eve and Day.

Wishing everyone here on Realtree a healthy and blessed 2017 that is also filled with some big gobblers and big bucks for those hunting them!

Yeah, I just haven't fallen in love with the Mathews, not like I did my 2011 Elite Hunter. I think a bow should feel like an extension of your arm to an extent and the Mathews just felt too cumbersome, for me. It's a nice bow and I'm going to shoot it for one of the leagues until I decide what I'm going to do. That is amazing to get your bow back and in one piece, wow.

That is awesome db, congrats!!! About time to pull my rig out for indoor leagues. Going to shoot 2 of them this winter. Also picked up a Stan Just X 3 finger release, want to get started shooting with that style of release.

FYI on a good deal - ScentBlocker is having 50% off. Runs through Jan. 1, 2017. http://www.robinsonoutdoors.com/shop/scentblocker-specials/scentblocker-50-off-year-end-event.html

Anyone looking to change things up? I just got a Halon for 2016. I have to say it is a nice bow but the more I shot it and when I took it hunting, I guess I never quite fully fell in love with it. I can shoot my 2013 Elite Hunter much better for 3D. I think I just couldn't get use to the grip and weight. I found when shooting my bow arm tended to drop slightly with the weight. Never a problem before with any other bows. And I have to say, for me anyway, it is bulky in the tree-stand. I am going to shoot it here in a few weeks during indoor league and see if I do any better. I am waiting to see what Elite does for 2017 and also contemplating Hoyt.

Yes. My buck from last year during gun season, I remember skinning him and found a mark on his rump. Sure enough in the hide was around 1" to 1.5" long crab apple tree thorn that had gone through and was poking him in the muscle. Goes to show how sharp those thorns are to go through deer hair and hide.

I had to replant a turnip/brassica plot because of the weeds this year Tought part is plowing brings up dormant seeds that then regenerate. I think because of the heat it was just a bad year for weeds in general.

Love eggnog but since I'm suppose to avoid dairy, the other stuff just isn't the same. In fact one year I had eggnog that was either with soy milk, almond milk, or coconut milk, it was horrible!

Awesome gnarly buck, congrats Fly! Spotted him first thing in that one photo. What a great buck!

Put a lot of time in the stand this entire season, passed a few smaller bucks waiting for the big ones but I only got to see the big ones on trail cams. After battling wind, snow and wind chills this week, yesterday we had a slight warm-up and I sat a stand that has been recently dubbed "the killing stand" because of how many deer we have taken from it. Well when I was blessed with this scrappy guy who came out to 10 yards, knowing that it is late season and deer sightings are sporadic now and the deer are more spookey, it was an easy decision. I have officially taken my first muzzleloader buck and first late season deer. A great way to wrap up the season!

That's a great shot Fly! I have to say The Thunderheads I've shot have for the most part left good blood trails. This year switched to Slick Tricks. Shoot great, got a buck with them but shot was a little high so of course not going to see a ton of blood till the chest fills up. I had blood but glad I saw where the deer went down or I might have been looking longer. Other factors to consider also is I think of is the muscle, you put a hole through it, the tendency for the muscle might be to close back up a little as, there are layers to some of the muscles and all those muscle fibers, hence impairing blood flow, hair gets shoved in the hole, etc. Ground litter like leaves or pine needles also make it tough to track. I agree though, shot placement has alot to do with the blood you get

Ok, no worries guys