dbHunterNY

mother of the year award for sure and well noticed. thugs are ruining it for the rest of the city.

Weird first I've heard of them.

Always sounded like a nice spot... I see my imagination wasn't too far off. Congrats on getting your buddy a great bird.

congrats Al... definitely lucky with the multiple beards but then again must be the spot if you're seeing that many. plus I feel like most are hammering 2 year old birds. might not have enough time to grow anything else. I'd like to take one with the bow every year but I always get stir crazy and like to run and gun. one of these years i'll have the patience and practice to tag out with my recurve.

big tom. congrats. seems you're always taking them in adverse weather. no sunny day turkeys for you. lol

first rios and a double at that. way to go!

Awesome bird. congrats. we all know how jockeying setups to different locations can seem like a lost cause at times.

Nice birds and story. Congrats!

to clarify there's two types of Hornady SST sabots. one has a stick as part of the sabot, which pellets can go on. I use the one WITHOUT that stick thing.

in my TC Prohunter I started using TC Shockwaves with the yellow sabot. they loaded but took a pretty hard push with the T of the power rod. after one shot you get a slight crud ring just ahead of the breech plug from the Triple7. I use the pellets but it's probably the same with loose stuff. I got 5" groups at 200 yards with 150gr worth of pellets. I since have switched to Hornady 250gr SST low drag sabots which are pretty much the same bullet. however, I've found their red sabot is a little thinner that allows a nice fit but much easier loading. I've used TC bore butter to clean and seal the barrel and it's got even easier over the years. I've fiddled with powder charges and at times I've gotten single hole groups with 150gr. between shots that's cleaning the barrel good with wet and dry patches. I'm trying to reduce that charge little by little and see if accuracy holds as less powder I feel fouls the barrel less. I use one wet TC blue solvent patch and a dry patch between shots when in the field. just don't forget the clean it as soon as possible with using Triple7. it'll eat and pit your barrel really quick if you forget about it.

another thing always pull both lower jaw bones and if it clearly appears to be an older deer, say a trophy of a lifetime buck, you can send out the teeth to know how old the deer is that you pursued successfully. deerage and matson's labs are two that you'd send teeth (the center or next further out incisors) to for cementum annuli analysis. not that expensive if you send teeth with other hunters' deer teeth as a group and split the cost. same price to send in 1 tooth as it is for up to around half a dozen. both are credible but matson's has been around longer I think and is used by state agencies. I've got a doe that's at least 8.5 years old and probably a bit older I've thought about sending teeth in for but at this point I think I'm happy just knowing what I know.

Don't let Tim fool you guys. He also must be eating morel mushrooms. He's tagged out for turkeys so the only thing he can hunt is mushrooms. He's about tagged out with them too. They found 46.

Tim and the guys are hanging out at the south lodge outside swapping stories. Tags still left to be filled but stuff like this is what it's all about.

For the jaw bone.... You can't go by sharpness alone. You've got to look at lots of stuff. So looking at 1st three teeth (premolars) you'll see some staining. At 2.5 they're brand new and would have even less unless he was in big woods of Adirondacks. Also at 3.5 he will still have "sharp" lingual crests. Back cusp of last molar at 2.5 will be still pointed. At 3.5 it'll be concave and at 4.5 it'll start to slope toward the cheek. Yours looks concave. Also you look at the dentine width compared to the width of the cheek side enamel on the first molar (fourth tooth back). If dentine's as wide and usually wider than enamel then it's at least 3.5. Go to next tooth back and should be the same to give you 4.5. Go back to last tooth, get the same result, and you're at least 5.5. Pending you pay attention to the other stuff, meaning it'd be an indicator. So with everything I'm leaning hard at 3.5

I'm going with 3.5 years old. So in the trail cam picture it's legs look just right length for body so 3.5. 2.5 they would appear to long. Neck blends into chest right at point of shoulder not above (2.5) or below (4.5+). Also at 2.5 it'd appear to have underdeveloped front shoulders and hind quarters. Your buck looks heavier in the front and not real thick in the back giving that race horse look.

Some views from the back porch.

The road to the hickory creek south lodge. Their home for the next few days.

Any of you heard of or participate in NRA Bullseye pistol matches?? Have a banquet for a traveling league I'm in this Saturday. Also shot tonight for the last local pistol rod and gun club pistol league. shot a 263 out of 300. I've only shot pistols for a couple years now. so I think I'm improving and doing well. it's very fun and I'd recommend it if you've got a 22LR pistol. some have $2000 guns and others like myself have a basic Ruger Mark III.

many times older bucks too will have tarsal staining start to run further down there inside legs. doesn't really look to be the case.

Nice buck William! very hard to tell from pictures of it on the ground. the cam pic is better but pretty far away and a little blurry. I'm going to say 3.5+ years old. could very well be older. definitely has a heavier front end and more typical rack size of 3.5+ yr old opposed to 2.5 years old. hard to tell how much the thickness carries into the hind end to tell if he's 4.5+. also hard to tell in the cam pic how far down compared to his shoulder/leg joint his neck connects or blends into his chest/brisket. if you pull both lower jaw bones and take pictures from top and cheek side of each I could age it for you. I briefly looked at franks nice buck and came up with 4.5 years old. was going to look at it again and get some other reliable opinions but had a phone glitch and lost the pics.

On another note the guys are going to get a surprise into camp. Turkey care pkg lol. Courtesy of Realtree,Hickory Creek outfitter and Keystone calls! Will post more updates as I get them!

In between the two toms Tim was waiting out the rain and had five jakes looking for rush outdoors fame. Sat in front of the camera for over an hour.

Yup Tim did well. Tagged out first day. First bird had a 10 3/4" beard and second a 9 1/2" beard.

Yup Tim did well. Tagged out first day on nice birds! Also guys are getting a surprise when they arrive at camp. See the 2nd Annual Hunt thread for more info and trophy pictures..... http://forums.realtree.com/forum/miscellaneous/the-realtree-pro-staff-room/2046570-2nd-annual-realtree-forum-turkey-hunt