Leo

Here's the deal. My wife's boss just gave me exclusive rights to bowhunt on his land. This place is only 5 miles from my house!! Because it's so close to home, I've been able to take a few quick scouting trips. This is great for me, since a long trip really limits what I can do. Honestly, I trully know how to find this stuff, if I just have the energy to do it. My wife's boss spotted what he calls a really big buck a couple of times. He doesn't hunt, so no telling what that means. I don't even know how many points this guy is supposed to have. Usually when a non-hunter tells me "big buck", I take it with a grain of salt. Today, I hit paydirt in a major way. My wife's bosses definition of Big Buck must be pretty close to mine. What I found today could have ONLY been done by a mature dominant buck. As far as I'm concerned if the deer is mature, he's a shooter. This collage of pictures is the results of todays scouting trip. The photos were taken in the order I found the stuff. It took me just 25 minutes to unravel this bucks habits, once I found the first rub. All of this sign, can be found less than 150yds surrounding my chosen stand location. The last rub is a signpost rub. This is always my goal to find when tracking rubs. IMO, these are the only rubs worth hunting near. It's a textbook signpost, just inside the edge of a thicket. The cedar tree it's on has fresh shavings at the base, indicating he's hitting this thing every single day and to top it off, it is 6inches in diameter. This is absolutely one of the biggest rubs I've ever found in South Carolina. My stand is 30yds downwind of the signpost rub. God willing, I'll get the buck that is making this sign. He's a mature deer for sure. What his rack looks like will be a surprise. Regardless, I will consider it a blessing to get him, mature deer are always trophies. The track I found was 2 1/4" wide. This is indicatative of a deer that's close to 200lbs on the hoof. Around here, That's a WHOPPER. I'm quite sure that's his track, I found it less than 125yds from his signpost rub. So here are the picts. Would you be a little excited? Come on, would ya? Ya think I am? I consider this opportunity a gift from God. You're darn right I'm pumped!

Re: Midwest-when to rattle? As soon as you start seeing the first rubs = Light rattling As soon as you start seeing hot scrapes = Loud rattling This is true everywhere I've ever hunted deer. The timing varies from area to area state to state and season to season. You're always better of to determine what the deer in your area specifically are doing at the time you decide to use a calling strategy. A really large rub (3in dia or better) that has fresh shavings under it on a regular basis is often being hit by multiple bucks. If there is a hot scrape near by (and there almost always is), you have just identified a hot time and place for aggressive rattling. If you don't over hunt these areas, they will reappear in the same spot year after year. And they will show up roughly the same time of year as well.

Re: Long Fletching VS Short Fletching!!!! Especially on Carbons which need a much higher FOC for stable broadhead flight, the short vanes are absolutely the way to go. In fact the shorty's are so much lighter you can often bump up to the next heavier broadhead and only change your total arrow weight less than 10grains. The lighter fletchings give you a higher FOC and on Carbons that almost always what you need. On Carbons you really want an FOC>10%. On aluminums 10% is near the high end of what you want. On Carbons 10% is near the bottom. Some folks go as high as 12% with their carbons. FOC is just a percentage. You shouldn't figure on an ideal FOC number for all arrows. It doesn't exist. In general the lighter and stiffer the shaft the higher you want FOC to be

Re: WELL MY OLD GLORY AND SLICK TRICKS DID SOME EA That Old Glory is a sweet shooting bow. Probably Bowtech's best kept secret. That bow really tempted me to upgrade but I will stick with my Extreme Solo a little longer. It's racking up some damage of it's own

Re: Quick Spin Vanes!! I'm a big fan of NAP products. They are quality and well thought out. I know their products work. But IMO the Blazers are absolutely tops for vanes. Very quiet, glue on well and don't wrinkle easily. I don't shoot mine thru a biscuit but my friend does and he loves them. If you want the ultimate in toughness for a whisker biscuit check out Turbo Nocks

Re: PLEASE pray for my dog I know exactly what it's like. We lost a dog we've had for 12yrs last month Prayers sent

Re: No more hunting ??? [ QUOTE ] That stinks. I feel your pain. I would look up the law, it sounds like the police are confused. They may have it wrong about the hunting. Look up the law yourself to be sure. Good luck. [/ QUOTE ] Yep, find a law specifically banning hunting within the city limits. My guess is, it's only a ban on firearm discharge within the city limits and Bowhunting is NOT mentioned at all. Print out a copy of that law and bring it with you

Re: 07 BowTech... Accidental Release!!! My guess is if it shoots well, is quiet and fast. You'll see alot more of this "UGLY" bow

Re: Pope and Young or not? Yep, I agree with the two above 130's he'll make it.

Re: I WAS WRONG, SORRY You weren't wrong. The kid was. Sadly, you are probably not the first to let this kid slide. It happens often enough sometimes these kids believe they are special and deserve the second chance... multiple times. When they finally have to face real consequences they can't believe it and make it out to be everyones fault but their own. Forgiveness frees people from their debt to you, not from the consequences of their actions.

Re: my girl freinds is in need of prayer Prayers sent

Re: I want to strangle my new drafting manager.... His boss will try and make it work with him. This guys failure will be a reflection on him. He chose to promote this guy, so he wants him to succeed. Make no mistake he will take your comments personally. I've seen plenty of times where weak managers select a "Team Leader" to do the things they were told to do but were afraid to. Ask this "Team Leader" if he is doing what he was told to do or if he's acting completely on his own. You might be in for a surprise. It actually may not be his fault. If he is acting on his own. Ask him if he ran that idea past his superior. If he tells you something like, "I don't have to get permission to do anything." I promise that is the worst possible answer he could give, tell his superior that he said that and it will land him in a heap of trouble.

Re: DO FIRST YEAR DOES GO INTO HEAT??? Sometimes they do. If you have a high doe to buck ratio that often means quite a few late born fawns. The late born does often do not come into estrus. But a first drop doe can breed before she is one year old. A high doe to buck ratio, also means more button heads. The more button heads you have the more out of whack the doe to buck ratio is.

Re: Unbelieveable! That's a really odd incident. You might have a bent cam or axle. I'd definately check everything out before just putting the string back in place.

Re: So.. is replacing bowlimbs tough? So far everyones behaving and not saying "Cracked limb? Should have bought brand X" I'm glad, I awful sick of reading that kinda stuff. Hopefully this thread won't degrade into that, but I'm not holding my breath. You're smart to replace BOTH limbs even if only one is cracked. Consider how old the string is and if it's over a year old go ahead and replace it and the cables too. Essentially it will be a NEW bow so treat it like that

Re: Cousin\'s Doe Video Well done! It takes alot of effort to piece together a clip like that. He did good! Do you know what video editing software and camera he used?

Re: How big is this buck? 110

Re: Take your own picture [ QUOTE ] I agree I need a tripod and need to learn to use that function, how much do tripods run? [/ QUOTE ] You can pick up a decent lightweight one for $30 or $40. No reason not to have one at that price

Many of us take the camera with us as part of our hunting equipment. It's as an important as a gun. I know I feel that way. Here's a suggestion. Take a tripod too and learn to use that self timer function. It saves the frustration of trying to teach a buddy how to use your camera. And if you have to take the picture by yourself you can. Bring the tripod. It works. Don't ya think?

Re: Videotaping your partner\'s hunt Most digital cameras have a setup function that allows you to TURN OFF all it's sounds. Use it and you'll be fine

Re: Is my crossbow EVIL??? Understand, I've got a real hard time with folks who bad mouth crossbows. I've got a disabled friend whose car was destroyed while she hunted because she was hunting with a crossbow. Yep, these "ETHICS HEROES" destroyed the car of a disabled female. Her tires were slashed, windows broken, fenders dented and "CHEATER", "CROSSBOW HUNTER" was spray painted on the car. If they bowhunt during gun season, (and I do). They shouldn't feel threatened in the least bit by a crossbow. Crossbows aren't rifles. Not even close. Bow hunt because you like to. Not because it gives you some perceived advantage or a special season. The folks that toute it as "the only challenging way" also tick me off. As far as I'm concerned they are just bowhunting because it gives them an excuse to FAIL! I just got back from Africa. Four of the eight hunters in our group were bowhunters. The rest were rifle hunters. The Kudu I got, came off a heavily gun hunted concession and I took him with a bow. I had hunted, bow hunting only concessions for days and not seen a decent bull. I know plenty of "purist" bowhunters who would have never tried to compete with the rifle hunters. Heck, the sign looked good, I decided to go for it. It paid off, big time. I shot a gemsbok with a rifle and still enjoyed the hunt immensely. I rifle hunt too. I've got little patience for those who have the "One Way Only" mentality. Hunting is supposed to be fun, not a contest between who does it the more challenging way. I really wish some folks would stop pissing and moaning about these kind of things and JUST HUNT!! If they'd spend as much time looking for deer as they do excuses they'd actually kill something!

Re: BUCK OF A LIFETIME!!! 2006 Very very very nice!!! That's a whopper anywhere. Well done.

Re: Moving a stand this late in the game? If you are not willing to fine tune your stand position during the season, you are making a mistake.

Re: ground blind and hornets advice If you spray the hornets nest with Brake parts cleaner it will kill the hornets and evaporate without leaving a lingering smell. If you do that, in 15mins there will be no odor. Go ahead and hunt

Re: Auburn Fans When have you ever heard an elephant scream "ROLL TIDE!!!"? Cheer and mascot. Two different things.