Mach1

With some Cabela's gift cards and money I've been saving, I'm looking at getting a spotting scope. Looking to stay under $500. I've been looking at the Nikon Prostaff 16-48x60 and it's got good reviews. I've got Nikon scopes and a rangefinder and have been very pleased with them. Here in IL where we hunt, most viewing will be done at 1/2 mile or less. Any thoughts on this scope or others in this price range? Thanks. Also, has anyone ever used any camera attachments on their spotting scopes? This is something else I've thought about getting so I could have a longer range with my digital cameras.

I've got a 3-9x40 Prostaff on my muzzleloader. It is a great scope for the money.

Of the four bucks I've shot, 2 were before 7:30 am, 1 was at midday, and 1 was just before sundown. My biggest was one of the two shot before 7:30.

This past Friday evening I went out for our muzzleloader season. Had a big framed buck (8 or 9 points) bedded with a pair of does right where I was going to set up. They ran off when I came in. About 20 minutes later, I had a big 10 point with a kicker on it's right G2 come in to 40 yards, but stayed behind a tree and never gave me a shot opportunity before he turned around and walked back to where he came from. He was probably 17-18 inches wide with long tines and good mass. Similar shape to the 150" 8 point I shot two years ago, but definitely bigger. Hunted the area the next couple days, but didn't see anything other than does. Not sure how much more deer hunting I'll do before the end of our season as I'm going to shift my concentration over to geese.

My brother-in-law and I were checking pressures in all the vehicles here last night (my F150, his Silverado, my wife's Accord, and my mother-in-law's Envoy). The Envoy and Silverado both have the monitoring system that gives the pressure on the dash. My mother-in-law said she was being alerted that the pressure was low. In his Silverado, the gauge showed 5 psi less than what the dash said. So we weren't exactly sure what to believe. The type of gauge we were using was one of the stick-type gauges. Do you think a dial-type would be better? I don't think I'd checked the pressure in them since the temps dropped down like they have, so it's probably been a few weeks since I knew they were at 35. My wife had mentioned that her Accord had started to handle a little differently since it got cold and thought they needed some air. She came home from work this morning (she's a graveyard shift nurse) and said she thought the car's handling felt a little "loose." I asked her when she became a NASCAR driver.

Two of the three layouts blinds we have came from Cabela's when they had similar sales the last couple years, although the snow covers weren't included. So far, we've not had any problems with them and they're so much easier to use than burlap or other camo material. And they help keep the wind off of you.

I'm running BFG All Terrain KOs on my '04 F150 Super Crew 4x4. Tire size is 265/70R17. Max pressure stated on tire is 50 psi. Most of my driving is on paved roads (interstates/highways/country roads) with some done on gravel roads. I've generally had the pressure around 35 psi and with temperatures really starting to get cold around here I checked them today and they were at 25 psi. Needless to say I put some air in them. I'm just wondering if maintaining them around 35 psi is where I should be running them at. I know running them too low or high for extended time isn't good on the tire, handling, or gas mileage. I checked the pressure on my wife's Accord and her's were at 22 psi with a max load of 40 psi. I put some in those too. I don't have BFG tires on the car, but can't remember what brand they are.

Shot another doe during our first firearms season last weekend. Went out over this weekend bowhunting and had no luck. Second firearms season coming up this next weekend.

My dad has seen a ton of movement today and yesterday. He said he's seen as many bucks in the last two days as he has all season. He said he had a 150 class buck come in but didn't offer a shot. We've also gained access to an 80 acre tract of woods that has yet to be hunted this year and to our knowledge, an adjoining 80 acre tract hasn't been hunted this season either. 160 acres of unhunted woods is hard to find in mid November in Illinois. This area has held some fantastic bucks in years past. I'll probably be heading into the new land Friday morning for our firearms opener.

No. I'd like them to eliminate the late winter antlerless seasons. If they want an antlerless season, put it earlier rather than later, maybe last weekend of September. I'd also like to see archery season close on Dec. 31. Eliminate all deer hunting in January. Opening it September 15 would be fine if a longer season is wanted.

Absolutely. In the past, we had deer come up in the yard and attempt to mount our deer target.

In our experiences, Cuddeback's customer service is terrible. My brother has two Cuddeback's and neither work. He has attempted to contact customer service by phone and email multiple times over the last couple years and has not been able to get an email response or talk to a live person on the phone. One of the cameras had also been sent in and repaired once before and even then the customer service wasn't great. They do take really good pictures when they were working though. My brother had a Stealth cam that didn't work well at all, so he returned it. He had a Wildview that wasn't great either. My brother now has two Bushnell Trophy cams and they take really good pics if the deer aren't moving. Movement causing the pics to be blurry.

I took a doe this past Sunday with my bow. 28 yard, quartering away shot and it was a terrible hit in the hind quarter. Luckily I hit the femoral artery and the deer went down within 50 yards. Unfortunately it down to the bottom of a hill that we had to drag it back up. Pics have been posted. I also saw a lot of movement over the weekend. I saw a couple 3 1/2 year old 130 inch 8 points (both off limits for at least another year) and 6 other 1 1/2 year bucks. There was a good amount of chasing going on. Now hopefully I can get a crack at a big one. We were also able to gain access to a 20 acre piece of property we've wanted to hunt for awhile now. It's an old overgrown cattle pasture that is pretty thick and we know holds a lot of deer. It's not been hunted (at least legally) and has pretty much been a sanctuary. Hopefully we'll see some deer in there.

Mach1 Team 5-Treestand Snipers Doe (Note: deer was checked in and confirmation number received after photos taken)

And unfortunately it looks like we'll still have a Democrat gov here in Illinois. Quinn wins the Chicagoland (Chicago, suburbs, Cook Co.) area and 3 other counties (Alexander, St. Clair, Jackson) and gets to stay in office.

No luck again for me this past weekend. All that will come within shooting range are 50 pound fawns and 1 1/2 year old bucks and they all want to stand in the wide open in front of my stands. Weather supposed to cool for this weekend with highs right at 50 and lows in the upper 20s to low 30s. Hoping the wind doesn't blow hard like it has almost every weekend of the season and that the deer will get moving.

This is what we have as regs in IL. The basic premise: Food plots are ok, grain dispersed by natural farming or environmental methods is ok, and baiting of any kind is not. It is unlawful to make available food, salt, mineral blocks or other products for ingestion by wild deer or other wildlife in areas where wild deer are present. Except:  elevated bird/squirrel feeders providing seed, grain, fruit, worms, or suet for birds or squirrels located within 100 feet of a dwelling devoted to human occupancy.  incidental feeding of wildlife within active livestock operations.  feeding of wild animals, other than wild deer, by hand as long as a reasonable attempt is made to clean up unconsumed food.  feeders for wildlife other than deer so long as deer are excluded from the feed in and around the feeder by fencing or other barriers.  standing crops planted and left standing as food plots for wildlife.  grain or other feed scattered or distributed solely as a result of normal agricultural, gardening, or soil stabilization practices.  standing, flooded, or manipulated natural vegetation or food/seed deposited by natural vegetation.  grain or other feed distributed or scattered solely as the result of manipulation of an agricultural crop or other feed on the land where grown, for purposes of dove hunting.  food material placed for capturing or killing wildlife pursuant to 520 ILCS 5/2.37, 2.30, and 1.3.  scientific permits issued pursuant to 17 Ill. Adm. Code 520 that allow food to attract wildlife.  any other permits issued by the Department of Natural Resources that require the attraction of wildlife for purposes of management, research or control.  Violation of the provisions of this part is a Petty Offense with a maximum fine of $1,000. Hunting Deer Over Salt or Bait It is unlawful to take deer by using salt or other kind of bait. NOTE: An area is considered as baited during the presence of and for 10 consecutive days following the removal of bait. It is unlawful to feed deer at any time, even when not hunting (see page 10-11).

A couple years back I bought some Hornady SSTs, Lightfields, Copper Solids, and Buckhammers to test in my 870 with a rifled barrel. The Lightfields, Copper Solids, and Buckhammers all grouped roughly the same, which was pretty good. The SSTs would not group at all. Of those I tested out, I like to use the Copper Solids the best.

Rubbing and scraping has started to pick up over the last week in our area.

They're too small for my liking. We've got a buck and a feeding doe. The buck is the size of fawns in our area and the doe is about the same. Also, the color has faded on them and is starting to fall off. We keep them stored inside and now they're hanging on the wall. I wouldn't recommend them.

Rough hunting this weekend...full moon, high winds (20+ mph), hot temps (75+). I didn't see a deer and even skipped out yesterday evening and this morning.

Probably not what he uses since it's a Nikon product... http://www.cabelas.com/product/Hunting/Optics/Optics-Accessories/Optics-Harnesses|/pc/104791680/c/104752080/sc/104466780/i/104013180/Nikon-Retractable-Rangefinder-Tether/720499.uts?destination=%2Fcatalog%2Fbrowse%2Fhunting-optics-optics-accessories-optics-harnesses%2F_%2FN-1100070%2FNs-CATEGORY_SEQ_104013180

I've always thought it odd that people don't field dress them where they lay and leave the guts in the field. Everyone I know of does it that way.

I'd take some rain here. It's been weeks since anything more than a sprinkle.

Shut out again this past weekend. Rubbing and scraping is just starting to get going in our area, so hopefully the deer movement picks up. Temperatures have been pretty warm (70+) to which hasn't helped movement any. All I've had get close are fawns and small bucks. Not even any good does. Haven't seen a shooter buck since last fall. My dad missed a 130 inch or so 8 point Sunday morning from a stand I'd hunted Saturday morning that we moved about 30 yards. It wouldn't have been something I'd shoot (already have four 140+ bucks), but it's encouraging. I'd been running a trail cam over a mock scrape for two weeks and checked it yesterday. Almost 400 pics of does and fawns, with only one buck, a 1 1/2 year old 6 pt. I'll be out again this weekend.