layin on the smackdown

i can see how it does look like a big black ferral cat....and i can see how it might be a black dog....However, it looks like the creature is not super close to the camera, and it looks like it has short legs with a fat belly....The first thing that came to my mind was a black hog...I don't know if you got em down there by you Ethan, but thats the first thing that came to my mind...

a little confused based on the question(s) and the responses to your question(s)... Are you asking if my shots were where i had thought they entered and exited, or if i hit where i was aiming? To me, its two different questions...On maybe two occasions that i can remember over the past 12 years of bowhunting have i not known exactly where my arrow hit....other than that one or two times I have never (with a bow) ever wondered where my arrow entered, exited or went on a missed shot on a deer...It has happened on a turkey where i knew i hit it, but couldn't tell exactly where it in terms of the body due to all the feathers... The bottom line is, i don't always hit exactly where i am aiming, but 99% of the time the arrow entered and exited where i had thought it did... for exact arrow placement i would give myself a 3.75...for knowing where my arrow entered and exited i would give myself a 1.25.

yep, i got that as a text yesterday....with a few added words that are not for soft ears/eyes....still funny as heck!

Well here's the deal...I went ahead and asked my father in law for some advice (as much as i hated to do so :helpsmilie:)...told him what i told you guys and he seems to think the spark plug is not producing enough spark to burn the fuel and that the fuel may be bad....When i did pull the spark plug, it was black around the tip where the spark jumps and a little on the threads - so i wiped it down real good and cleaned in between where the spark jumps...i don't know if its suppose to be covered in black soot like it was or not, but the plug didn't seem to have too much of a gap at all where the spark might not be making a good connection...He also said that black smoke means unburned fuel which is a sign of bad fuel or lack of spark to burn the fuel....as far as how old the fuel is - i have no idea, but i do know that the fuel he gets is usually from the bottom of a tanker that he gets at a discounted price...It runs fine in vehicles, but maybe not a ATV????? Does this help? any other suggestions? thanks again everyone!!!

Dude, i dig it....its classy, compliments your dress code and its original....If no one esle likes it, they can shove it...Wear that sucker with pride Jeramie!!! Thats the key...If you wear it with confidence, no one will question you or mock you...However, if you wear it with doubt, you are setting yourself up for an ongoing rip session...

I have a 2007 Polaris 350 hawkeye...over the last 3-4 weeks i have had one heck of a time getting this thing to finally turnover and idle without me standing there with my finger on the throttle...It has seem to be getting progessively worse...I cant get it to start with the ignition key, and have to start it by pull starting it which seems to take forever....I have been trying to run it a little everyday just to keep it "warm"...i thought maybe the battery - nope, still good as new...Checked the spark plug, golden (and i cleaned it up a little)...Checked the fuel filter (at least what i thought was the fuel filter) and it seemed clean, other than being a little moist with what i gathered to be fuel...a little while ago, i got her running, but i noticed black exhaust coming out instead of the clean gray/white exhaust, especially when i throttled it up...Does this have anything to do with it? here is a little history of the last month as well...On halloween, my buddy tipped it on its side....sometime either right before then, or right after then, my brother in law filled it up with fuel from his "farm tank"....Is the fuel the culprit? Maybe not clean enough as regular fuel? I am mechanically challenged, so i don't know where to start... You guys on here have a great track record with handing me advice adn being successful, so any suggestions you have, shoot em at me... Thanks for your help guys!!! dan

Good buck for sure...As a matter of fact, by the looks of his wide sagging belly, slight swag to his back, fairly deep chest, and long face.....and antlers that appear to be wider than his ears (though a little on the spindley side) i would guess he's a 4 1/2 year old buck with less than superior genetics....Congrats to the neighbor!!! Buck down with excellent herd management...

Awesome pictures of some great deer there Dale....You guys seem to know what youre doing in terms of management... holy crap!! i just saw the non resident oklahoma deer tag sales skyrocket...:ninja::D:D

Wow!!! What makes this story is exactly what you pointed out...Almost 4 weeks after your first encounter/shot, you two meet again...Very unique story and a great buck to go with it...Congrats to you for persevering and finishing the game. Well Done!!! dan

Congrats on the deer Carson!!! Trust me, i know its been a tough season...Ive logged over 300 hours on stand this year and have yet to connect on a true giant (although i whiffed one with my ML'r first firearm season). I'm sure glad im not a coyote in your neck of the woods......Good luck!!! dan

Well team, i'll sum up the last 2 weeks of my season...I smoked another mature doe on the 17th (2 days before the firearm opener here in IL)...I finally started seeing some good rutting activity on sunday 11/14/10...until then, it was slow, so i knew i needed to get in the woods...which is what i did all week, again...so i smoked this big doe which came in with 5 other does in a pretty hurried way, so i thought for sure a big guy was behind them........................nope........nothing...Went out the first morning of firearm season in IL, and i was in Coles county....I had my first encounter with a mature buck all year, at 75-80 yds...A true giant illinois 10 pointer....i threw everything i could at him, but there was a large deep ravine between us....finally i said the heck with it, im shooting my CVA optima with 100 grains of powder and a 223 grain powerbelt - he's well within range....pulled up, clear broadside shot, squeezed the trigger........and the smoked cleared.........and he was still standing in the same spot looking right at me as if he knew i didn't have another shot....he stood there long enough for me to know that he knew that i knew that was game, set, match, and off he went; out of my life forever...my heart dropped like ive never felt before...So on goes my season....Fast forward to sunday 11/28/10...I discovered a giant thicket/bedding area that i knew would be hot at some point, and it was raining that day so i knew i didn't blow it...The only way i could even think about hunting this area is with a NE, E or SE wind...low and behold the next day we had a SE wind, so i went and sat on the west side of this thicket/bedding area in an old box blind (which i learned was pretty much not meant for archer equipment). About 4:25 i hear a loud crunch, like a big limb hitting the ground, and sure enough, i see a borderline shooter coming right at me....I still can't tell you if he was a 3.5 or 4.5, but he had a nice set of antlers, and a body to back em up...needless to say, he got within 35 yds, and i never could get a shot even if i wanted to, and away he went for the rest of my life....The 2nd gun season opens thursday 12/2/10, so i'll be out with the ML'r and we'll see what, if any, connections i may have.... good luck to you all, hunt safe, and keep us posted. Dan

Ace....Man o man am i sorry to hear this story. I know it happens, and i really hope there is a brighter end to it. Hoosier...I agree with your first statement that a liver and lung shot is 100% fatal, however, i will strongly disagree with your statement regarding him bedding down sooner...A mature rutting or even half rutting (or somtimes even not rutting mature buck) will and can run for their lives and for a very long distance before bedding down, if at all. But i will gladly agree again with your statement about 4 hours not being enough time...I agree 100% for sure...That deer should have been left alone all night or at least a good 7-10 hours before starting to track him. I will also strongly disagree again with your statement regarding blood coming out of the nose and mouth with a one lung marginal hit...A year ago i would have agreed, however, this year i smoked a big mature doe and hit her way to far forward with a small quartering away shot...ive never seen so much blood come pouring down a front leg in my life...I originally thought that maybe i hit her low, but after the inspection of my arrow and the realization that she still had my broadhead and a half inch of my arrow burried in her, i knew i hit her too far forward...We decided not to even track her and backed out and came back 5 hours later to find nothing but lung blood on the ground...she was piled up in a bedding area with absolutely no blood on, in or around her mouth....within 80 yds of where id shot her...Not sure as to why she had no blood around her mouth or nose, but when i gutted her i found the front of one lung pulverized from the blades and arrow shaft cutting into her... Ace, as far as the quartering shot, you didn't specify whether it was a quartering to or quartering away....Regardless, good luck in your search and i hope there is light at the end of this tunnel. dan

Man o Man, if i could buy you all a beer right now, trust me, i would without a doubt...You guys are awesome!!!!! you nailed it. After i finally was able to locate the dang IAC valve (which was burried way at the back of the engine, right in front of the darn dashboard) i was able to take it off and sure enough the pintle or whatever it is called was stuck. I took a small allen wrench and scraped as much gunk off as i could, then used my pocket knife to slide the thingy up and down and it went without sticking again, so i put it back together and she fired up and idled...I cant thank you guys enough, you just saved me a good chunk of change that i don't have....One more reason why these forums and the people on here are so great... Thanks again guys, now im gonna go and try and fill my ML'r tag! Dan

First of all, thanks for the advice...Secondly, im an idiot for a number of reasons, but one is the fact that it is a 5.4 liter (not a 5.6) and two, i have no idea what a IAC valve is, and i don't know what IAC stands for...Also, the battery is 3 months old, so i know that isn't the issue...Fuel filter is fairly new as well... I might be able to make it to a place to have the diagnostics done on it, but it may be risky seeing as how any time i would idle down, the darn thing shuts off...Im afraid of blowing my transmission if i shift from reverse to drive or nuetral to drive with high RPM's...so if i hit a red light, or a stop sign or whatever, i would most likely have to keep one foot on the gas and one on the brake to stop and keep the vehicle from crapping out... Thanks again...Now, any of you guys know what an IAC valve is, where it may be located and what IAC stands for? dan

Alright fellas...so i went to start my truck yesterday afternoon and it turned over just fine, except it won't idle...the only way i can keep it idling is if i put pressure on the gas pedal. Its a 2000 ford F150 4x4 with the 5.6 liter...Anyone have any idea on what the problem is and how hard is it to fix? I think it may be a sensor that is shot...i am not mechanically inclined whatsoever, but it sure seems like it has something to do with a fuel sensor or something that is not allowing enough fuel to the engine for it to stay at an idle. Thanks in advance for all of your help! Its greatly appreciated! Dan

well team, it looks as though things are starting to heat up...congrats to all on the deer harvested!!! Well done team! Since my last update, i whacked another mature doe (which i posted a video of in the bowhunting room about 2 1/2 weeks ago) and i dusted my first coyote with a bow on Nov 2nd...I have been hunting hard and passing on a lot of deer - one of which was a 3 1/2 year old 11 pointer (typical 5 x 5 with a split G3)...I got great footage of him, saturating his tarsals, raking the crap out of a tree bigger than a 2 liter bottle at 14 yds etc. but am in the process of marketing it to a few producers so i won't you tube it yet....Im confident i will strike, its just a matter of where and when! Good luck team and keep up the good work! Dan

Im in Marion County and I have finally seen a mature buck on his feet in daylight at 10 am this morning...first mature one i have seen in daylight all season so far...He was sure on a mission too, cruisin for some love i think. I hit him with a few grunts, and all he did was stop and look in my direction...Then i nailed him with a snort wheeze, and he stopped and stared in my direction for about 10 seconds, then put his nose to the ground and was hot on some girls trail...i wonder who, because i didn't see one doe all morning, but she may have come through some time last night. Finally some signs of life!!!

Heres my 2 cents....you need to get all your buddies, neighbors and relatives and do a search and rescue mission to find that deer...he's dead (whether it was a gut shot or liver shot) and laying out there somewhere...search near water, thickets and bottoms if you have any...Even if it was a gut shot, im pretty sure he's toast by now and as long as nothing bumped him overnight, you should be able to recover him, and im guessing he did't go too far...Good luck...

Heck of a buck there bud! That is one awesome hunt to go with it...sounds like you were just flat out covered up with deer...What a stud! Watch out Indiana - i can see the non residents driving by my house right now!!! Wally world better get their systems ironed out... Congrats again, what a great deer, and a heck of a hunt.

Man ive never done it, and probably never will...but if you want it that bad, i'd take the above advice.

Man its been hard videoing so far this fall, but now that the leaves are mostly off the trees, it has seemed to get alot easier... I drilled this doe on thursday afternoon....here's the video. She didn't go 50 yds and piled up like a semi truck...You can hear it well on the video so turn up the volume...I think she ran for 12 seconds and done.

This is a video from saturday morning. I was filming my brother in law from a set we have in a big bottom in South Central IL....the rest is history... Easton Full Metal Jacket arrow shaft.....$12 Burnt Coyote lighted arrow nock....$11 Rage 2 Blade broadhead.....$13 The video you're about to watch..........PRICELESS!!!!!

Well team...i smoked a doe on opening day, back on friday october 1st....no need to put her on the board though, as im confident i'll smoke a few more slick heads and hopefully a bruiser....I also dusted a big ole long beard out of my ground blind on wednesday the 6th, but i don't think that counts for any points, however, them suckers get me shakin more than most big bucks....its stupid, but i can't explain it.... anyhow, just checkin in and updating...Good luck team,and be safe! Dan

Thanks guys!!! John, no flea problems here - haven't found a flea on any of our pets in over a year. As far as his chunkiness - he tips the scale at right between 80 - 85 lbs. Thanks again...much appreciated. I guess i'll just wait for you to give me an idea on how much fish oil to give him...

Here is my question, and any advice will be greatly appreciated... My wife has a mut and he is getting up there a little in age - i think he's around 9 or so. He has the worse dry skin you have ever seen - its very very dry and is flaking really bad. We have tried oatmeal shampoo baths, and even went as far as putting eggs in his food (not sure where she came up with that). It is like this every summer, but for some reason it has really unleashed in the latter part of this summer....He has a few really small hot spots, but nothing bad other than the super dry skin... Any suggestions on what to due to help with this? Are there any otc drugs that may help relieve this dryness? I wanted to get as much advice as i could before i thought about taking him to the clinic. Thanks in advance, and anyone who has some pointers, please feel free to shoot them out. Dan