Grizz

Here's my opinion and background on the original questions asked... I grew up hunting both public and private land, before and after the points restriction took affect, as well as before and after the changed doe season regulations, in the western part of PA. Before the points restriction I would see very few deer on public land and averaged 13-15 deer each time I sat to hunt on private land. Most of these were does, but I did see some bucks, most of which were small 4 or 6 pointers that were 2.5 year olds. Before the doe season changed I harvested a doe every year since I was 12. After the season became longer I still harvested a doe every season, so I didn't see much of a difference in the overall deer population b/c of the extended doe season. As far as the point restriction goes, my results were slightly different. Before the restriction I'd see roughly 4 or 5 bucks a season, all on private land, mostly comprising of 4 or 6 pointers, with an occasional 8 or 9 pointer showing up. And the first buck I ever harvested was a 4 point. After the point restriction I saw a lot more bucks, averaging 8-10 bucks a season and the size was fairly equal. I'd see 4 or 5 spikes, and 4 points running around, but I also saw more mature 8 to 12 point bucks running around. And just last year I had the chance to harvest a nice 3.5 year old 11 point. So in my opinion there are a lot more mature deer, 3 and 4 year olds, running around now as opposed to before the restriction and I haven't seen any real difference in deer numbers, despite having a longer doe season. What I have seen, that is more alarming to me, is the amount of predators increasing in PA. I've seen more coyotes and bear than I ever have and believe they have put more of a hurt on the deer population than having a longer doe season, and feel that they need to be more closely watched and controlled if the deer population has a chance at growing. I also feel that there needs to be another way, besides having a youth season, we can keep the inferior bucks out of the herd, as has already been mentioned.

I use to be into the car business, before it dropped out, and had the chance to sell just about every kind of truck out there. Here's my $.02... If it's a domestic truck (Ford, Chevy, Dodge) it'll be good for about the first two years, after that expect to spend a good amount of time in the repair shop. From what I've seen transmissions and rear ends were normally the first to go on domestic trucks. At the dealership I worked for we always had more domestic trucks in the repair bay than anything else. If it's a foreign truck (Nissan or Toyota) it's gonna last a LONG time, and I'm talking motor and transmission, but with a few quirks along the way. For example, Nissans are notorious for making noises after a few years. This is b/c the grease they use to lubricate certain joints and hinges just gives out, or comes off, not sure why, it just happens. Another thing I've seen with the foreign trucks is an issue with wiring. I've driven and owned foreign trucks and just about everyone that comes off the lot used has some kind of electrical mishap. Another example is the pickup I have now, Nissan Frontier. There's a headlight that always flickers on and off for no apparent reason, same with the CD player, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesnt, and I've seen the same in a lot of Toyota's. And yes, the interior isn't as fancy as domestic trucks, but in my opinion, it's a truck, the interior shouldn't have to be fancy. Sounds like you've got a great buy IMO. I would personally own a foreign truck, over a domestic truck if I'm wanting dependability, but if I'm buying the truck for looks I'd probably end up with one of the new GMC's, but that's just my personal taste.

The entire story behind 'Grizz' is rather lengthy, but the short and sweet of it is this. I'm 6'4" and weigh about 260 lbs and absolutely love being in the outdoors. So all of my buddies make fun of it, lightheartedly, and say I look like a big ole grizzly bear walking through the woods. And the nickname also goes along with all the other nicknames we have for our group, Moose, Sas (short for Sasquatch), Groundhog, and Old Man. We're a unique bunch to say the least, lol.

Quantum energy reel is awesome in my opinion. I use to work in the fishing department at a Bass Pro and had the opportunity to use a lot of equipment, and quantum really stood out to me as far as quality goes. Very smooth and very tough. I've never heard of the rod, so I can't give any info on that.

Will also include 3 Carbon Impact, Fat Shaft XLT 6000's w/ inserts and 2" blazer veins. These were used for target practice and are still in great condition.

I have 5 Radial X Weave Pro 100's that are for sale, would have been 6, but one broke when shipped to my new residence. 3 of them have 3 3/4" Easton fletchings (yellow), the other 2 have 2" fletchings (also yellow), all are knocked, brand new and uncut. Great for target shooting. $40.00 TYD. Paypal, or Money Order. Will provide pics if necessary.

Sorry to hear about your bad luck, but here are a few things you can try that I've had to do in the past. First off, try to think back when you made the shot on the deer. When he ran did he take off with his tail up, did he look kind of hunched up as he ran, did he buckle when you hit him, ect? As someone else has already mentioned, what color was the blood? Did it have bubbles in it? Did it have grit in it? I recently took a buck in PA that I thought I had put a pretty good hit on. When I went to search for sign I found absolutely nothing, no blood, no hair, no tracks (b/c the ground was frozen). Luckily I had my dad with me and as I continued to look for sign in the field I shot him in, my dad headed into the woods in the direction we saw the deer enter into. We found the buck behind a berry bush in some thick stuff, but never once did he bleed out. I had hit him in the liver and caught the back of a lung, and the only reason I knew I had hit lung was b/c he had light, bubbling blood coming from his nose when we found him. All in all he ran well over 300 yds, but was hit hard enough that he didn't run in a zig zag pattern, but rather a straight line until he expired. Also when I shot he ran off with the does he was with, but I noticed they were running with their tales up and he was running with his tail down and looked like he was hunched up a bit, so that's how I knew I had hit him. Just letting you know of a situation that happened to me and hope that it might help you out in your quest to find that big boy. And as other's have mentioned, check water sources and thickets. They always seem to die in the least likely places. Good luck!

Just found the thread, but figured I'd still post. I was able to hunt the first week of rifle, here's how it went down. First day I was up at our families camp, which borders the Allegheny National Forest. We had about a foot of snow on the ground, but that had been knocked down significantly by the rain from the night before. Myself and my dad never saw a single deer, but my uncle ended up shooting what he thought was a doe (ended up being a button head) about 1:00 in the afternoon and said he saw 6 other deer. He was one of the very few shots I heard on our side of the mountain, but on the other side it sounded like a holy war and we never did find out how things went over there. Tuesday - Friday I decided to hunt a farm that I had grown up hunting in Butler, PA. Tuesday morning I saw a good number of deer despite the wind swirling where I had posted up. 5 does came out into the field about 7:15, caught a nose full of my scent and gave me the white tail salute as they exited from whence they came. About 10 minutes after that a group of 11 came from the same direction as the first group, but instead of stopping and turning back they simply stepped it up a notch and went from trotting to sprinting across the field once they got wind of me. I did manage to get the scope on them and saw that the last one in the group was a buck. I could count at least 3 points per side, but couldn't put browtines on him so I never clicked the safety off. Could have taken a shot at one of the does in the group, but didn't in hopes of getting a better shot later in the week. After that I saw 2 more does which once again got a nose full of my scent and thought better than to cross the field. Tuesday afternoon I got to my spot about 3:00. Saw a small spike as I was walking in. Nice bodied deer, just wasnt legal. Just before 4:00 deer started moving. Saw 3 button heads running together. About 4:30 I heard something behind me, turned around and caught 3 deer moving toward me. Got down on one knee and hid behind the thicket I was standing beside and waited for the deer to clear the thicket. Once they did I saw they were 3 small does standing about 35 yds away. My doe tag was for zone 1A and I knew that zone allowed me to take a doe throughout the entire season, so I put the crosshairs on the largest of the 3 and squeezed the trigger. She dropped in her tracks and I tagged her and got her to the butcher, in hopes that I could have her back before I had to leave. Wednesday morning the wind wasn't right again, so after watching the weather report I just crawled back into bed. No sense in further educating the deer of my where-abouts two mornings in a row. Wednesday night I saw 5 deer already out in the field at 2:30 in the afternoon as I walked back to my spot. It was the 3 button heads I had previously seen and the other two were small does, which I think were the same one's that were with the one I shot the night before. The wind direction had changed and was in my favor, so I was able to watch them for the entire evening as they grazed in the field. I saw 3 other does that night and that was it. Thursday morning the wind was right so I headed out. Saw a mom and two little ones and the same 3 button heads I'd seen every other time I was out. Thursday night I went hunting with an old friend of mine from high school. We hit up some state game lands near East Butler, PA. Saw a bunch of deer sign, but never a single deer. I woke up Friday morning and decided that was going to be the last time I was going to hunt before heading back to Georgia. It was a nice, cold morning and the wind was perfect. Didn't see a deer until 7:40, when I had a nice size doe and a little one come out and feed in the field. My dad hadn't been able to take a doe yet and he was hunting about 75 yds to my left, and the two does were heading that way. So I crouched down behind some brush to break up my outline and they walked right in front of me about 60 yds out and continued on, right toward my dad. I thought for sure he would take the big doe, but the gun never went off. Found out later on he only saw the bigger doe by herself and at the time didnt think she was that big, but once the little one caught up it was too late b/c they were then on the horizon line. About 8:15 I saw 4 deer come out into the field. I put the scope on em, first 3 were does. Scoped the last one and saw antler. At this point they were about 250 yds out and it was hard to see if he had 4 points on one side. I waited until they hit the horizon line and scoped him again. I counted 5 points on his left side so I knew he was a shooter. I waited another few minutes until they made their way to the middle of the field where I had a good size hill that gave me a good back drop for a shot. Once they got there I picked him up in the scope, clicked the safety off, put the crosshairs right behind his shoulder and squeezed the trigger. They all ran and I managed to get another shot off before they ran down over the hill. I wasn't sure if I'd hit him or not b/c he took off just as fast as the other 3. Dad and I went out to the field to look for signs of a hit, but didnt find, hair, or blood, or even a track b/c the ground was frozen solid. I stayed out in the field to continue to look for blood while dad took a walk into the woods. About 5 minutes later he yelled for me to come down and meet him. I walked down an old 4 wheeler trail about 50 yds and he was standing just off the trail to my left. When I walked around the other side of the berry bush I saw he was standing next to my buck. I had hit further back than I thought, but caught the liver and back of a lung. Ended up being a would be 11 point, but two tines had been busted off and one was too short to score, so he was a 10 point. He had an 18 1/4" spread and weighed in just under 200 lbs. I'm thrilled and glad I was able to fill both my tags. It made having to pay the out of state fee worth it. I found out later on that dad ended up taking a real nice size doe on Wednesday or Thursday of the last week of the season, but never got a shot at a legal buck. All in all it was a very productive season for us. We saw a lot of deer, but the mature deer were very hard to come by. The tags are filled and the freezer is full so I can't do anything but smile after this season. I've been trying to figure out how to post a pic, but I don't think I can from my computer at work and I still haven't had a chance to download anything onto my computer at home, but I'll keep trying.

If you're looking for a good boot at or around $100 I'd check out the Rocky 9" Sport Utility Max Boot. It's got 1000 grams of thinsulate, goretex, and is waterproof. For me it's a very comfortable boot, and I have yet to have my feet get cold.

Yeah, I'm guessing we'll see the leader being wrecked a bit more often now, especially at the super speedways. For nascar to say that stewart didnt block smith down below the yellow line is comical. I totally agree that things would have been different if it had been a Jr. or Gordon making that same move, the outcome would have been different. But b/c it was just Smith nascar said nope you can't do that. And you know if nascar would have changed their ruling Stewart would have flipped out. Who knows maybe he would have spouted off about how he may retire, like he did one time before when he didnt get his way. I for one wouldn't mind, lol.

I agree. I use to love watching the race on sunday or saturday night and couldn't wait for the next race. Now I turn it on and wait to catch the last 15-20 laps and look for the recap to catch everything that happened within the race. And now its to the point I dont even like to catch the end of the race b/c of all the griping and complaining that goes on when driver's get interviewed. The COT was something that needed more time to develop IMO, b/c NASCAR certainly doesnt have a grasp on it yet and I dont see them getting one for some time to come.

Is there anyone else out there that thinks the Talladega race was a little controversial? I for one was in shock. First off, Goodyear really needs to do something about their tires, or NASCAR really needs to consider letting some other tire manufacturer's into the sport. I was astonished at the number of blown tires on the right side of the cars, both front and rear. And what get's me the most is Goodyear has known, this entire season, that they have had tire issues and have done what looks to be nothing about the situation. How much money are teams going to have to shell out to fix their cars b/c of blown tires for Goodyear to say, "We'll do it right."? Secondly, the finish. I agree with the rule NASCAR mandates saying you cannot pass below the yellow line to improve a position, but for them to come out and say that the 01 wasnt forced to the bottom of the track is hilarious!!! If he wouldn't have moved to the apron he would have spun and wrecked Stewart who would have in turn started to whine and complain about it, probably leaving DEI with some kind of fine for rough driving or something stupid like that. And for more than one driver to say that they have heard that passing below the yellow line with the checkers in site is and has been allowed, why change the rule now? I expected the "BIG ONE" to happen in yesterdays race, but I didnt expect a horrible tire put out from Goodyear and NASCAR leaving a huge GREY area once again in their rule book.

So I was looking over my CSS some more and noticed that the draw length my dad had was 28", which creates a problem for me b/c I have a 29 1/2" draw length. Is there any way to change the draw length on a CSS without having to get new cams for it? It didn't look like there was much of anything I could do to it to lengthen the draw.

Thanks. I'll have to see if our local shop carries the Doinker stabilizer, if not I'll see if our Bass Pro carries them the next time I go to work. Oh, one more thing. As I was mounting the sight I didn't see any place to mount a quiver. Is this common on a CSS or would anyone know why this is? Just thought it was strange that a hunting bow wouldn't have a place to mount a quiver.

Hey yall, I just recently received a CSS bow from my dad, taking it b/c it is only two years old and much better than my 12 year old Buckmaster, but not knowing anything about CSS. Have any of you shot or do you shoot a CSS? I've got a HHA site that I'm going to mount to it, but have to get a stabilizer. If you shoot a CSS any recommendations on a stabilizer? I know that more often than not stabilizer's come down to personal preference, but was hoping some one could shout out with one that they have found gives the bow a nice balanced feel. Any and all help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.