njbowhntr

Congrats...

You did the right thing. I have done it myself before. No more pain, and freezer meat. Congrats.

I am shooting 80 grs (weight) of Blackhorn 209 with CCI Magnum primers. All of that is pushing a 250gr Barnes TEZ out of my TC Pro Hunter. I shoot 3 shots then run a bore snake through the barrel. She will shoot 100 yard groups around 1" if I do my part of controlling the trigger, best was around 3/4".

Personally I would get a TC Pro Hunter in 20ga. I prefer the lighter felt recoil of the 20ga, which helps with the flinching. The reason for the TC Pro Hunter, which I do own one, is the versatility of it. You can just buy barrels for it and switch them out.

I shoot a Burris Fullfield II 2-7x35mm. I love the scope. It came off of my .30-30. Clarity is great and no problems at all in low light situations. It has no problem with the recoil either, holds zero great.

Walked some new property this afternoon with my ML. Seen a good bear and small buck. Both in the within 50 yards of each other, just at different times. Seen the bear on the walk out and the buck on the walk back to car. Seen them about 3/4 of a mile in the woods. A lot of good sign on the property.

I am still trying to get my first of the year with the bow. Still have till Feb. 12th. And I will be out every weekend till then.

I just switched one of my rifles over to a set of Leupold PRW rings and bases. Very similiar to the Warne. I have been very pleased with the solidness of the the set.

Yes, this was on public land. As to the reason for his demise, that I do not know. All I know is he was dead under my stand and half eaten from critters. I just hope his genes got spread around this past rut. He has good genetics. Thick bases and nice mass for a 2.5 y/o buck.

Depends on what you like and want to spend. I have a Remington 870 in 12 gauge and 20 gauge. They both have factory Remington slug rifled barrels. The 12 gauge has a scope on it and the 20 gauge is open sights. My preference is the 20 gauge. Most of my shots are under 60 yards. The 20 does not kick and puts them right on the ground. I shoot Lightfield slugs out of both. A friend shots a NEF single shot 20 gauge bull barrel. He loves it. Dad shoots a Remington 1100 with a rifled slug barrel. He shoots a scope in this gun. I do not remember what slugs he shoots, but 3 touching at 100 yards.

Yesterday was the end of 6-day firearms season. I was hunting my archery stand till 11am, no deer. This morning I needed to move the stand a few yards. So I figured I would go up and take care of it before football. As I walked up to my stand I found this, not 20 yards from my stand: If you look close at his right base he has a little sticker growing. It made me sick. Had I hunted this stand in the afternoon he might have come up to me to die. I could have finished him with an arrow. Instead I hunted a different stand. And he became coyote food.

I hunted a little everyday this week. With hunting all day yesterday on some state land. I was able to harvest a buck on wednesday afternoon. Yesterday I had a fellow hunter kick up about 10 does and 2 bucks to me as he was walking to his stand. The one buck was a definite shooter. I only had my dad's buckshot gun, I hate buckshot. The only shot he presented was at 60 yards head on. Needless to say he is still roaming the woods. Hopefully I will run into him again with the bow. I will be after him till Feb. 19th. The reason for not having the slug gun was bow hunting. I bow hunted in the morning, and did not bring the slug gun with me as a just in case. Dad had some stuff that came up so he had to leave. He has a great stand for guys walking in and out of the woods. But no shooting lanes for the bow. So I borrowed his buckshot gun. I know that alot of fellow hunters love buckshot, I just do not like it though. The slug gun would have barked with a brisket shot, not buckshot though.

Congrats to your daughter. I hope that someday I can share in your excitement when my girls take their first deer. As for the 2 deer. That is a one in a fifteen million chance. She did know her target and beyond. How can you ever explain a deer running in front of a speeding bullet? It is like hitting a deer with your car. It is not like someone tries to hit the deer to total their car. And for the never shooting the gun before. There is alot of veteran hunters who hunt with a gun they have never shot before. It is something that happens, but theyfail to mention. Like borrowing a gun on a hunt because your gun broke. It happens.

That is what hunting camp is all about. A harvest is just a bonus. Good friends and memories is what makes a hunt. Good luck

That is a heck of a buck. There is nothing on B&C trophy watch page as of yet.

Well we had the day off, transformer melted at work. So no one was allowed on the jobsite. So I came home and did some chores, then off to the stand. On the drive over I passed 2 different bucks bird dogging does. I was really getting pumped. Got out there on bit on the early side, 2:15pm. And there I sat till dark. Saw one small buck across the field, about 150 yards. He came into the field right at last light. And that was all that I saw. I was happy to be in the woods, just wish I would have seen more critters.

Totally understand. I looked into hunting some of those properties. But being I am a non-resident of Hunterdon I have to wait the extra day. And you are right, tough competition. Good luck on your final week there.

Well hung out in a tree this morning. Seen some young bucks chasing does. Actually chasing them pretty hard. But all the big boys are still hanging in there tight. Some nice does, they just would not come in. A few bucks running around me, just nothing I was going to hang in the garage. Now the bad news, good for bank account, I will be working everyday for the next 2-3 weeks. We are on the tail end of a turnaround at work. So the next time I will be in the tree the rut will be over. But I have confidence that there will still be a big guy for me, or at least a few does for the freezer.

Nice pictures. Which Hunterdon County property are you hunting?

Hunted in Pittstown again this morning. Very quiet. Had a big spike, each spike is about 14 inches, come in at first light. Then a few does, but that was it. Got out of tree at 10am.

Hunted in Pittstown on Thursday evening. Heard some low gunts from thickets below me. On Saturdays hunt, 02 October, I had the 1.5 old bucks running does in the field. And a few youngsters pushing each other around. I did see one of the monsters we have running around. Just a quick glimpse on thursday. I was in the thickets with the doe and 2 young bucks. He was not pushing the doe, but did sniff her a couple times.

Well I just did some reading on the moon phase prediction that deer and deer hunting has always preached. It is all bumpkiss. The last several seasons I have shot my bucks the last week of October, more pre-rut from how the bucks have been acting in regards to does. With that said, I do not know when the rut will actually be. But I will make sure to be in the tree as much as possible the last week of October.

This year is going to be a weird one. If you go by the moon phase it will either be October 23 or November 21. I am thinking October 26-31 will be the best time to be in the treestand.

That is a really good doe. She will eat good. I have hunted alot in the Belington area, WV does have some big doe running around.

That is a really nice blacktail. Congrats Buckee