loner

people, will tell you that deer are used to cattle and have little affect on hunting.for 20 years, i have hunted 200 acres with 50 or so head of cattle.can't have food plots,feeders,minerals or anything cows can get to.going to stand before daylight spooks and causes cattle to go where you are headed,they feed in woods where stands are and are a nusiance.they are curious, and come to grunt calls sometimes if close by.i always try to hunt the cattle to find out where they are to decide where i will hunt.also,have to be careful where you shoot if you see a deer and you know they are in the area.not easy to cohabitate.

unless, you are worried about theft,i leave mine out for years.the zippers get in bad shape from weather where you get in and out but until not operable, i don't change blinds.

.that is exactly,what i do.my digital has a card as does the trail cam.i switch them out and look at pics in camera the upload on PC when i get home.

sounds, like the hens are on the nest and only get off long enough to feed and water and go back.tom knows there is no use gobbling anymore.with the pressure from hunting,the calling and being seen, and hens staying on nests instead of the trees around the tom,it might just be over until next spring

when the tom is with a hen close to the roost,he will go where she goes.calling while on the roost many times determines the direction the hen will go and normally,it is away from competition.the direction of the hen to feed is the key.then, a soft call will entice the hen to look for the company.the tom is only going to strut and follow the hen.if soft calls don't encourage the hen to feed towards them,you are out of luck until hen leaves or goes to start a nest

another great season:

common mistake by many turkey hunters, is pellet count in kill zone rather than velocity and penetration of pellet at that range.rule of thumb,old #6 lead shot had only effective kill range of 35 yards regardless of how good it looked on paper beyond that.today's loads with heavier than lead shot increase that effective range but be sure how far.just a tip from an old man that knows

it depends on time of year.early, season,tom vocal on roost until he hears the hen talking back.he will sit and watch from the tree and gobble until he sees her or thinks she is feeding in opposite direction.when he flies down, and the hen is coming to him, he might shutdown,strut and follow along wherever she goes but silent.he he hears another hen at a distance he will gobble back but stay with the hen he is with.later, in the season the hen leaves to go to the nest and when he is alone he will gobble and come to about any hen he hears fast.tom is not going to leave the hen.she might come to your call and he will follow.if not, you have to get ahead of the birds in direction they are traveling.older tom even more difficult as are more hens and bigger flock

i have used a gobble with my box call with success.never use on public land or you will become the 'hunted'.i only, use when an older bird is with hens and will not leave them.while,he is following the hens, i will move to get closer to the direction they are moving and try again letting the tom know i am following him.sometimes it works and sometimes not.i never gobble much

i have several 'custom' slates and a couple of glass.the slates are my favoite for working a bird and my glass will locate because it is raspy and loud due to sanding with coarse sandpaper.i also, have copper that works good close up.just a personal preference to a certain call. they all work especially, if and older bird needs more than one sound to swing the deal

these three would make my 20th consectutive limit in my home state.wish me luck! i ain't getting any younger.

i hunt 240 acre place with cows and is mostly pasture.no plots,feeders all natural.there are 6 properties surrounding it.deer don't live to be over 2.5 years old.being retired, i go and just wish for that old buck passing through.i took a 10 point that scored 136 in '99 and nothing close to that since.

this buck came by me on 11/29 and i looked at him through the scope and said it is too early in the year.after weeks of seeing not much of anything, i decided his time was up.

nice buck but very short tine length.maybe 130

here is what i do.once the primary scrape shows up with a licking branck,i simply use dominate buck lure sparingly, on licking limb and in the scrape.just a few drops.before leaving,i put a couple of drops next to buck lure with doe urine.hang a cam nearby.check every two days and stay clear of stepping near scrape and leaving your scent.wqorks everytime to get the biggest bucks stirred up and checking things out.

he is a youngster! will be 80-90pt deer maybe or little less.good call letting him live.this year,you might have to make another decision.

logical by whose standard?

the bottomline to this kind of dicussion is that everyone is not a trophy hunter or has the opportunity to hunt them.private landowners or wealthy hunters that can afford to manage for trophy deer or guided hunts are entitled to do what they want withinin the laws.the average hunter should not worry about who thinks what about how you hunt or what you do within the law.this country is founded on individual rights and those that try to control everyone by their selfish standards need to just do their thing and keep quiet.just an old man's view of the changing times who has been there and back but never killed anything over 150 because they don't exist where i hunt.

there are many reasons as you are reading in this thread.there are hunters and there are trophy hunters.there are rich hunters,guided hunters,average hunters with private land with goals,there are average hunters who have no land or can't afford to lease or join a club who hunt public land.all categories of hunters have different reasons for their actions.my take is that a person buys a license or permit and they are entitled to take their game as the law allows.those of us that have been there and done that have no right to force our opinions or thoughts on any law abiding hunter.

you could get so many answers to that question you still would not know what to buy.an all around gun is the 30-06.there is no such thing as a brush gun as far as shooting through something without deflecting the bullet.the 30-06 with 150 or 180gr corlokt is deadly out to 300 yards with little drop when sighted in at 2" high at 100 yards.if you are looking for a light,short fast swinging gun in thick stuff a 30-30,45-70 or 35rem will do the trick.elk might not drop in his tracks but won't be hard to find with 180gr bullet.

anytime,you put a stand or cam on private land there is going to be a risk of theft.here are some things i do: *always go to the stand or cam from a different place.don't leave trail for someone to follow *atv use to remote areas are dead giveaway for riders that follow every trail they find.park away from the cam area on the regular atv trail and walk to the cam *i am careful not to leave any boot tracks in obvious areas like sand,ditches,mud.i also,stick some twigs or branches around the cam to keep it from standing out.be careful not to get in line with lens

with it wide open and no cover,the loud snap made me think it was over.you are right about the season being tougher than usual.the hatch has been down the last two years causing fewer jakes and hens leaving the older birds to do battle with.the more pressure on older birds just makes them very quiet.

this tom was my final bird of the year here in mississippi.he was in the pasture with a hen and the cows would not allow them to go where they wanted.i slipped into the woods and walked several hundred yards to try to get ahead of them and the hen busted me and scooted off to my left.i did not see the tom leave so i circled around to the direction i thought he went.the pasture was open with only a few sprigs of sedge grass here and there so i was afraid i had lost out.there was a small rise i was on and i saw his fan in strut so i laid down facing him and called softly with my mouth call.he started towads me but all i could see was his fan .he kept coming thinking i was his lost hen i guess.at about 35 yards i put the bead below his head and squeezed.SNAP! stood tall and i thought it was over.i had my face net and gloves on and must have blended pretty well as i eased my hand to the bolt and eased the shell out and let the other ease into the chamber.i put the bead back below his head and BOOM! i call this bird the 'low crawl' tom.his beard was about 10" but only had about 3/4" spurs. since, this keeps my consectutive streak alive,i'll be glad to take him.:yes:

i had hunted a bird until noon in a swamp but could not get him across a beaver slough and had hoped to go back this am to try him again. there was a hunter parked where i was going , so i went to plan 'b' across the road where i had hunted before.before getting where i was to listen, a gobbler sounded off. since,he was roosted on a small creek,i got above him on the ridge and backed against a large oak.he kept gobbling and i decided to use a copper/glass combo i had not used this year.a soft yelp or two and more gobbles.he knew where i was. i put the call away and slapped my leg and did a fly down cackle then scratched the leaves a few times. he flew down,gobbled once 40 yards away and my gun was on my knee looking at his head. he walked towards me, gobbled and died at 35 yards. it was 6.27am cst. this is what i call a classic flash hunt.he had a 11.375" beard and 1" spurs and weighted about 16#.