VTbowman

Re: Severe Brag Alert Man do I look forward to those moments with mine. What a day you and her must of had. Congrats to Sara...

Re: Decoy question Its full rut not pre-rut in VT during our rifle season and a doe decoy work far better in my area since the ratio is out of wack and there is absolutely no compitition between bucks. Challenging a buck with a buck decoy will get you exact oposite results in this area. I personally believe its the saem for mature buck grunting calls. JMO Unfortunately for me. My best bet to position a lone doe way out in the open in view of as much woods line as I can and hope a buck is cruising just inside checking fields for doe. Thats my hopes anyways... I just was unsure about tail positioning and now I believe I have my answer. Thanks to all for your inputs.

Re: Help with Thompson Center Encore Hey man those triggers jobs are super easy to do your self. Go here and check out his download, with step by step pics and everything. I bought my own springs set off ebay (one of his sets) and did it myself in about 30 minutes. I have a super crisp, creep free, and low poundage trigger now for mine. If you have any mechical ability and some very simple tools you can do it too. http://www.bellmtcs.com/

Re: Team 4 Congrast Joe! Pics?!?! Oh and Cutter... Dont drink that warm pee bottle... Definately dont eat the yellow snow. Come on man your from the nord, you should know these things. LOL I had 4 days off and it baically rained and was very warm. All I saw was a few doe per day and one buck about 240 yards out one morning, in the rain, and all I could see is that he had main beams. I did not get enough time to scope him to make sure he was legal and then he slipped into the woods line. I have 4 days of 12s (work) and then some sketchy 4 days off. Child care is putting a damper on some of my hutning. I plan to take my 5 yo daughter out one evening or not hunt at all. LOL Good Luck to all..

Re: Change of Plans Good Luck man. I hope he shows for ya!

Re: The coolest thing... That musta been cool. I have yet to rattle in anything at all and have a hard time calling in anything for that matter. Heck, I am lucky to see legal deer. LOL But I still love it and go everytime I can.

Re: Tree stand stolen, Cops don\'t care That really bites. Even knowing who did it and still not getting results form the police.. On another note I had a guy who hung a stand on my property. I left a note telling him to remove the stand and that he did not have premission to hunt the property. I even left my number to call me in case it was someone I knew or whatever. I go back the next weekend, stand still there, boot prints, and a ripped up note a few yards away. I took the stand and left another note with my address saying if he wanted it back to come claim it. Never heard from him. I still have the stand 5 years later and hung it a few years ago to hunt from. I bet he thinks he's got a new climber out of all this... GGggrrrrr....!!!!

Re: well dumb question 22-250 and a heavy 223 can kill deer just as well as a 243 IMHO. 22 hornet is a tad light but within certain range and under good ethics can be used to kill deer. I agree you should not use it as a primary deer hunting rifle. VT does not state a minimum caliber either as far as I could see and I considered using my 223 but stuck with the 300 Win Mag instead. Just cause you can does not mean you should. JMO

Re: I need some reassurance... [ QUOTE ] While I am sure smaller bucks will at times rub big trees, I have never seen it. Generally speaking the larger buck hit bigger trees. It has something to do with strengthening their necks for the rut and fighting, that is why the larger bucks necks get swollen, from working out in a way. The bigger trees have less give to them making the bucks work harder to trash it. And you are right, rubs are on trees, scrapes are on the ground. Wigs [/ QUOTE ] Agreed. Rubs on trees and scrapes on the ground. Big tree rubs most likely means bigger racked deer but like anything else not 100% of the time. Scrapes can be by any deer from a button buck copying and dad to a spike or I have even seen doe scrape up a hot scrape site. However the buck gets a swollen neck during the rutting stages due to hormones, not workin out. LOL

Re: 7mm Rem Mag info? Recoil is not my concern after toting the Remington 700 LSS .300 Ultra Mag around for a few years. Took many deer and at long range too. Great gun but heavy. My sticks were sore by the end of the week carrying that monster around the mountians... I am hoping the Encore is not as heavy.

I have a chance to ge ahold of an Encore rifle bbl in this caliber in trade for a pistol bbl. I do not know very much about this caliber so if you do can you please post some info. Like Recoil compared to a 30-06? Things like that. I have mainly just shot 30 caliber from the 30-30 to 300 Ultra Mag but know little about anything else. Thanks.

Re: Help with Thompson Center Encore Bad spring inside. Or weak. Has nothing to do with closing the gun. If it was not closed it would not fire at all.

I am thinking of setting a decoy out in a field that my box stand over looks. (Which is all of them-LOL) I had a buck sneak across a short opening about 240 yards away yesterday and I saw him pause to scan the feilds before slippping in to the woods. I had enough time to see him lift binos and check for points and he was gone. I saw definate beams but did not see points and we now have antler restrictions and I dont wanna shoot unless I know for sure. D-uh right.. LOL I feel that if he saw a doe standing out in the field that he may of pause longer at minimum and I may of had time to get the gun on him for a shot. I called to him with the Great Big Can and a True Talker but no show. When using a doe decoy, how would you position the tail to simulate a doe in heat? Straight up is an alarm so I dont want that. How about straight backwards? Or angled out but down? (I have never really seen a doe in heat standing still.) BTW I plan to place some white plastic or whatever on it to get movement. I want her to look like she cant wait one more minute for the buck to take care of business. Thanks

Re: Shooting Hours or Seeing Hours??? I hear ya. I have gotten down and walked out of the woods and still had several minute left according to the watch. Just no way to ID deer when its that dim. Especially with antler restrictions now in VT. I coulda shot a "deer" during the last few minute of legal but I could not see if it was buck or doe..

Re: Help with Sighting????? What are you getting for groups at 50? I have the Bushnell Elite 3200 2-6x32 so it looks as if our scope are comparable. I use mine on 6x the entire time I sight in and get 1.5" to .5" groups at 100 if I do my part. But like I said I am using .300 Win Mag which is a rifle cartridge. The .454 is a true handgun cartridge and I am not sure but is not great ballistically out to 100 yards but is achievable. The 9.5" bbl makes the point even more. Mine was a 12" but I did not try out to 100 yards with it. I did not care for it much and only got out to 50 with it. Try the sand bags and see if that helps. I am not sure what else I can suggest without being there to see you shoot. Hopefully some other handgunners come in and check your post out.

Re: Range This or That??? Thanks for that Snapper. I was not understanding the ballistic thingy they were pushing either. That makes porefect sense now. I did not know they were mid $200s. I am looking for one come thing spring and may be looking their way...

Re: All Sighted In Sounds like your ready to me. Good Luck!

Re: Shooting Hours or Seeing Hours??? [ QUOTE ] 1. "What is your idea of when Sunrise and Sunset occur"? I go by the internet time for my city when sunset or sunrise will occur. 2. "What is your states regulations regarding "Legal Shooting Hours"? It's legal to hunt big game 1 hr before sunrise, until 1 hour after sunset. You really have to watch your time on those clear fullmoon lit nights, because if your going by sight, you could hunt all night, but you would be poaching. Heavily overcast nights, your always out a bit earlier, because you can't see anyway. I think it's a must to watch your watch, and stay legal. [/ QUOTE ] 1 hour before and 1 hour after?!? Is that in Canadian time or regular time? LOL Man it is long dark by 1 hour after sun set in VT. I am amost in bed by then. LOL

Re: Help with Sighting????? Not sure if I can help or not since I am somewhat new. I have had sucess on the bench with mine over the past several months. Can we get some more info first? What type of gun and scope, power of scope? What are you using for a rest? What ranges are you trying to sight in for? I have Encore handguns and had a 454 Casull at one time but opted to stick with the 300 Win Mag for hunting. I use an adjustable rest with a small sand bag on it. It looks like a mini tri-pod that can adjust vertically. I use another small sand bag under the grip. I have a 4'x4' plywood table top, two 3/4" sheets screwed together, on a steel 4 leg base. My chair is not attached to the table. I lay the wide forend on the front sand bag but do not hold on to it at all. I hold with both hands around the grip. My off hand is 1/2 grasping my shooting hand and 1/2 the sand bag under the grip itself. Its not a death grip either but firm. I exhale and hold before squezzing the trigger. I start at 25 yards to get on the paper and then move to 50 to tune tighter. 2 or 3 shot groups. 100 yards for fine tuning. Handguns are VERY picky and sensitive to any flinching, jerking, punching the trigger. etc. Especially if your using a scope with maginfication. If you at all do anything other then slowly squezze the trigger you will miss by feet not inches at 100 yards. Trust me on this. LOL A 454 has quite a bit of recoil so it may be a flinching issue that your not seeing. It also helps to make sure EVERYTHING is very tight on your gun. Grip, forend, base and rings, scope, etc. Anything loose can compound accuracy isseus greatly. I just went threw that a week ago with a loose forend screw. I hope this helps. Once we know more about your specific gun and set up we should be able to help more. Good Luck.

Re: Work is killing me!!! Tell me about it. Opening day of rifle season and I have a 12 hour shift. 8am to 8pm with an hour commute one way. I can't even hunt after work as it will be to dark.. If that does not beat all my co-worker is out on my property today hunting and just called me telling me about all the deer activity he has seen. GGGgggrrrrrrrrrr....!!!!!!

Re: Watch out for the deer!!! I have seen many blood scudges and road kill on the interstate lately. Looks like a lot are being hit in VT too. Mild winters last year will do that...

Re: WHY! Dont feel bad. ALL my buck pics are at night and I never knew 1/2 of them existed until I got this trail cam. I am excited for the rut but not hopefull in seeing anything big. Just how it is in my area...

Re: Team 4 Well its opening day of rifle in VT and I am stuck at work on a 12 hour shift. GGggrrrrrrr!!! I have the next 4 days off so its not so bad I guess. Bob D is out on my property today though so good luck to him. (may he only see doe and spikes-LOL) JK I hope he gets one of those bucks we have been seeing on the trail cam. (Just not the big 8 ptr. LOL) Anyone else on Team 4 going at it?

Re: missed a doe, how long to give stand a rest Its amazing how ML and rifle shots do not spook deer out of an area. I have shot and missed before and seen the deer just stand there looking around wnodering what the heck it was.. Its my opinion that unless they can ID what and where the noise came from and see its a human they will not avoid and area. Its like if a large branch or tree breaks and falls. Yes the noise will startle them and make them nerous for a while but they will not leave the area. Again JMO. Hunt it the same day.

Re: Can\'t do it Im in the same boat. I have my fathers 30+ old Rem 700 BDL 30-06 thats in need of a new stock. I hate to swap it out but its actually cracked and repaired with elmers wood glue. LOL Its time to give it a new set of clothes. It also needs a scope. I am currently into hunting with Encore handguns but I know one day I will have a need to pull it back out and getting it dressed back up for service.