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I went out to Old Sabine Bottom for what I hoped would be a three evening bow hunt this weekend. I usually spend summer at LBJ National Grasslands but I feel like I need more time with my bow and OSB has a whole lot of of pigs, so here I am. I have a good familiary with this particular area so my plan is to arrive in the evening as it starts to cool off outside, move down the trail pretty quick and identify game trails that cross it, then follow that game trail into the brush and see where it takes me. I think this is a good approach to summer hunting this area for two reasons, the first is that due to the heat hopefully most animals will be hunkered down and sleeping when I move through.This, combined with the lack of hunting pressure will hopefully make them less likely to spot me as I move through the area they are bedded in. The goal for this hunt is to move quick, identify several possible ambush spots and then sit on the one that looks most promising.  So off I went, into the brush. On Friday I actually went into an area I am less familiar with, this side of the WMA is heavily hunted during the fall so I avoid it but since it had likely been devoid of people for months I couldn't resist checking it out.  Probably a hundred yards back I find my first seemingly recent game trail. The brush here is chest high but I follow it back and promptly find water. There were multiple bedding areas around this little pond along with a game trail leading back into some incredibly dense brush. Grass in this area is often chest high, which brings up an issue I hadnt really considered. How the hell am I going to spot a pig moving through grass that tall, let alone get a shot at it? This little lake is close enough to the road that I can see the roof of cars driving by still. It almost certainly has activity but I suspect anything bedding here isnt going to be doing so until well after dark. So, I follow the game trail back to the people trail and start hiking in further. As I hike back further I spot several more game trails crossing the people trail. Most of them seem a bit older, and all of them lead back into some amazingly dense brush.  No joke, it is a wall of trees with dense vines hanging off of them forming a curtain. In front of that? Dense brush. At long last, Ive found an excuse to purchase a ridiculous chopper knife like an Ese Junglas. Maybe my Benchmade order getting cancelled wasnt such a bad thing after all. Regardless, I took a hard pass in trying to get back there and kept moving. Eventually I found several recent game trails and followed them in the opposite direction and found a promising spot.  Its a small, marshy clearing with pooled water along the tree line. The ground in the area is still wet which provided a rare opportunity to search for tracks. I walked the outside of the area as quietly as I could, it was literally nothing but a bed of twigs and although stealth wasn't a top priority for scouting on this hunt I was still being way too loud.  There were still tracks though. Animals were moving through here. This was as good a spot as any so I got back into the brush surrounding it and placed myself within 20 yards of the pooled water. Despite my poor track record with archery that should be a fairly easy shot.  I got hunkered down around 7:30 with an hour and a half of light left. From the treeline on the right an animal would be able to spot me, so my hope was that game would approach from the left. Coming from that direction I would be well concealed. I got hunkered down, drank some water and sat. Around forty five minutes later a bobcat came walking by just inside the treeline. Having never seen a bobcat before that was super cool. It was remarkably like one of our house cats, but scaled up a bit and very clearly capable of ripping my face off. It sauntered through the treeline at a leisurely pace and I good look at it twice as it passed gaps in the trees. That was neat! I sat a bit longer and as the sun set I decided to head back a bit early while there was still some light. I doubt much game would be moving through with that bobcat around and coffee sounded good. I needed to get home and get some rest and prepare to come back to try again tomorrow. Annnnd tomorrow arrived mighty fast. Jesus, where does the time go? I really did not like the area I had hunted on day 1 so I headed back into the part of the WMA I am most familiar with.It too was pretty heavily overgrown. The trail walking in at times was chest high.  At least once walking in I bumped something out of cover. In brush this dense though trying to get after an animal is just a fools errand. The goal here is ambush hunting so I just kept walking.  More of the green hell that is river bottom this time of year. With the temperature dropping and a light breeze this actually is a lovely bit of hiking. The key is just too not think about the thousands of ticks lurking on the grass waiting for an opportunity to drink your blood. Permethrin be thine shield! I took the same approach as the day before and once again it lead me to water.  Nasty, stagnant water but water all the same. The edges of this puddle were absolutely churned up from animals walking in and out. I moved back a bit and setup within what I hoped would be an easy bow shot of water.  The area leading into the little pond had a lot of trees but not much brush. Visibility was about as good as it gets but I dont think I can make a bow shot through any of that. So I setup my little blind and hunkered down behind it and waited. And as I waited when the wind shifted I could literally smell pig. There had to be pigs around here the question was just where and if they were going to stop by for a drink. I sat for nearly two hours but with no sign of movement and the smell of pigs in the air I decided to get up and walk around a bit. I packed up my blind and stool and started slowly moving out.  Probably thirty yards from where Id been sitting I found what was probably the source of the pig smell. Still shiny with oils and soft to the touch of my boot. Something had been through here recently. So I started slow walking into the wind. I had about fortyfive minutes of light left at this point and facing thewind I was heading back to the trail head anyways, so I slow walked a bit to see what I could see.  And it happened quick. Within a few minutes I spotted the very distinct profile of a pig in the brush. This was a big girl and she was close. I froze, and spotted several more smaller pigs even closer in the grass. The big pig had some pretty dense growths of tree between me and her, but the smaller pigs were just right there in front of me. I fumbled to get my range finder out and eventually got a pig that looked good ranged at 13 yards. I fumbled some more and got an arrow nocked. As all this was happening the big pig was moving closer, and holy poo poo that is a big pig. The pig I wanted moved closer too, she was in grass that came up to her shoulders, as she rooted around at times all I could see was the ridge of her back. I drew my bow, put my 20 yard pin over where I suspected my aim point was and waited. The big pig moved even closer. Instead of looking at my target I was now looking at the big pig. Holy poo poo, that is a big loving pig and it is right loving there. Oh god, now its looking at me, does it see me? Oh god its loving huge and its right loving there, why did I wear this blaze orange shirt? I should probably focus on the pig I want. As I get my attention back on aiming my bow, using my anchor points, and remembering which pin to use the big one oinked the alarm and took off. One of the smaller pigs took off immediately, I moved my 20 yard pin to where I thought my aim point would be if my pig whirled to flee and released. The bow thunked, the arrow flew and my pig took off running with a distinct lack of pained yallowing sounds. I sat down to chill the gently caress out. The whole encounter had probably lasted fewer than five seconds but it seemed much longer. It was really intense. After I my heart rate settled down a bit I started beating the brush looking for my arrow. I know standard procedure in archery hunting is too wait much longer to allow an animal to expire but I only had about thirty minutes of light left. I need to make a determination if I had hit the pig or not , and if I had locate the start of the blood trail before dark. As long as I found the start of the trail I would have a chance to complete the track by headlamp. I doubted I had hit the pig anyways.  And here laid my arrow. It was a bit dirty but had no blood on it. I had missed cleanly, probably because I used my 20 yard pin to shoot at a 13 yard target. So with my arrow in hand I walked off shamed my way back to the truck. At least I got out of the woods before the local Starbucks closed and could get some coffee for the long drive of shame home. The shot decision process for bow hunting is so drastically different from gun hunting. Encountering game that close with a rifle is a very different process from a bow. I need to do some work on my setup to help slow the process down. I should probably get a t-shirt in some form of camo too since I suspect blaze orange may have been what gave me away this time. After my encounter with pigs on Saturday I still had one evening left to hunt, but since I obviously need to do a bit of rethinking/reworking of my process for actually taking game I decided to instead head out to the Davy Crockett National Forest to do some target shooting with my muzzle loader. This was also an excellent use of my time. I am going to spend some more time practicing with my bow, possibly switch to a single pin sight and generally think on my experience before going out for another bow hunt.I think I have a workable general strategy for summer hunting this area I just need to work on my bow skills more. This was definitely a good experience in general and I learned a lot.
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Jul 20, 2020 14:32
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Outrail posted:Like a belt sander? I'm having. A hard time seeing how this doesn't end horribly. Ive seen people comment about using an angle grinder with a wire brush to break in a hide so I can believe a sander with really high grit sandpaper could do the trick too. I have a deer hide in my garage waiting for me to get around to trying the angle grinder approach on it. I have tried breaking it over a saw horse and it is absolutely brutal hard, miserable work. If I am going to continue tanning hides as a hobby, and I really want to do that, Im going to need to find a better way to break them. Once Ive got a bit more time Ill take some pictures of my setup and how allum tanning has worked for me. I was surprised how simple and straight forward it is, there is just a lot of detail work involved that takes practice to learn.
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Jul 20, 2020 18:09
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Flatland Crusoe posted:This reminds me a lot of my experiences early on bowhunting. I realized I had the hunting skills to put myself into archery shot situations pretty often but then I realized that getting to that point was just the beginning with archery tackle whereas with a gun it was all but done in the same situation. I’m at least glad it was a clean miss, I lost some animals early on and it’s not a fun experience. This is really what has me hung up. In a gun hunting situation like this its basically a race, can I pick an animal and get a decent shot at it before they spot and/or wind me? Its something i do fairly well so its worked out pretty ok so far. With a bow it seems like my first action should be to get into some kind of concealment, then get a good idea of how many animals I am dealing with, ranges, etc. Then wait for a shooting opportunity. And, if no shooting opportunity passes and the animals spot/wind you, so be it. I definitely understand now why bow hunters put so much more emphasis on camo. Despite Texas not requiring it for archery only hunts I was wearing a blaze orange t-shirt since it was the only technical style clothing I owned that was super lightweight. Based on what I know about how pigs eyes work Im pretty sure its what got me spotted so fast. I was standing with my bow drawn and pretty motionless, albeit side eyeing that big pig. Getting used to being that close to the animal will probably also take some time. I generally dont try to estimate the weight of animals but that pig was easily 200+lbs and close enough that I could make out the individual hairs on her ears. It was a visceral experience being that close and about to take a shot at what was likely one of her kids.
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Jul 21, 2020 03:26
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Chaosfeather posted:Archery! Badass! I thought I was, but no. I am very much not. Ive got a few more months to practice though! Maybe Ill get it together in time!
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Jul 21, 2020 03:28
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The first time I took a pig I tried to drag it out of the woods. It was about a 3.5 mile drag. I made it about 2.5 miles before giving up. Im in ok shape but I seriously thought going any further would put me at risk for some kind of cardiac event. It was absolutely horrible and I dont think thats a viable approach unless you are very close to a trail head. I took a whitetail a bit later and quartered it out in two trips and had a much better experience. Field butchering is a skill that you want to learn, it will give you a lot more options for how to get game out of the woods. I definitely recommend planning to take that approach. Its also far easier than you would think, if you've ever taken apart a fryer chicken with a knife you have a basic idea of whats involved.
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Jul 21, 2020 03:57
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I really think doing a full field dress the first couple of times you take an animal is good for new hunters. I know for me at least seeing how everything was connected internally as I pulled it out and left it as a pile of mush on the forest floor really helped to understand where the various organs I was trying to hit were located in a way that looking at anatomical drawings couldnt. I did a gutless quarter for the first time earlier this year though and going forward I think that will be my technique for quartering animals going forward. It was way faster.
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Jul 21, 2020 04:40
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Verman posted:Checking in as a guy who grew up in Michigan surrounded by whitetail deer hunting but never partook in it. It just never appealed to me. Always seeing them hanging in my relatives garages, I never really liked venison, sitting in the cold rear end What a cheeky dog. I love it. Posts like this make me wish we had more options for birding here in Texas. The skill set needed to succeed seems like a very fun one and it takes you to some great places.
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Jul 22, 2020 19:44
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iammeandsoareyou posted:Hi other hunting thread! After years of being on the fence I’m jumping into hunting this year. I’m in Florida and my intended game is going to be wild pigs and deer. 1. I used a 48qt Walmart cooler with good success for quite a while. A fairly standard Texas pig or whitetail can fit in one along with 30lbs of ice. Its a little tight though, which is why when I started driving a truck that had more room in the back I upgraded to a 75qt cooler which is much easier to fit the whole animal in. I no longer have to play meat tetris to get the whole animal in the cooler. If you have the space the bigger cooler is definitely worth it. 2. Etiquette is really, really local. Basic stuff like giving plenty of space, strictly adhere to firearm safety, etc are universal but theres other stuff too. You might want to consider asking about etiquette on a Florida specific forum or Facebook group. Most forums and groups like that are pretty bad, but usually broad questions about etiquette will get constructive feedback. 3. My decision to try my hand at bow hunting was based on similar observations. Just about all the game Ive taken with a rifle has been sub 50 yards, so in theory I should be in a good place to take game with a bow. Sadly, its not that easy. Ive been a mildly successful gun hunter so far, but since I started bow hunting last October Ive had four missed shots on game within 40 yards. The decision making process for setting up shots with a bow is pretty different from with a rifle. If you check my post history starting around October of last year you can read all about my struggles with it. Of course, some people probably do have the temperament to jump right in and start bow hunting and that may include you, but I suspect youll have a better experience gun hunting at first. 4. Unless you plan to use a DdRT or SRT climbing setup Im kind of skeptical about the utility of a saddle. Sure, you do save a bit of weight since you dont need a seat, but you still need climbing sticks, a standing platform, etc. For people who already have a good setup investing in a saddle setup seems worthwhile. But for new hunters a reasonably priced climber or hang on stand will be much cheaper, and since they are more widely used you will also be able to find a lot more constructive advice on how to use them. Getting up in a tree via stand or saddle setup is no joke, more hunters are killed or injured falling out of a tree each year than by gunshot. This is something to be very careful with.
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Jul 25, 2020 03:54
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Outrail posted:How much of difference is a novice hunter realistically going to see with solid color vs camo? If they're wearing slate grey/coyote/tan (depending on terrain) is that going to have significant if any effect with rifle hunting? For large game like whitetail I dont think it matters a whole lot. But, if you later decide you want to try for game that has excellent eye sight like turkey you are going to find yourself in a bind since for that you really do need camo. Another advantage of camo pattern hunting clothes is that it seems like they end up on sale/clearance for more often than earth tones. I would generally prefer earth tones to camo, but since gear in a camo pattern is almost exclusively what goes on sale at a deep discount thats what Ive largely ended up with. So camo tends to be both cheaper and more flexible which are both pretty big advantages.
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Jul 28, 2020 05:56
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Well, I think I have completed the next step in the decent into madness that is getting into hunting. Ive purchased a vehicle specifically for hunting.  Now, instead of having to worry about my truck getting stuck in the mud I have to worry about passing emissions and automotive electrical stuff! At least I finally have a project to post in AI.
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Aug 2, 2020 00:29
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Is there any particular reason you've decided to go with trad bow for getting started?
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Aug 7, 2020 00:04
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If you want to start out going for a hard mode like trad bow for small game, by all means Im not going to try to talk you out of it(well, maybe just a little). It may be much more difficult with far less game taken, but what you take will be extremely gratifying and definitely something to feel proud of. With that said, jeez, hitting a small game sized target with a trad bow is going to be crazy hard. I think you would have a much more enjoyable experience going after larger game that has a much bigger point of aim, like whitetail. Its also worth noting that more typical methods of taking small game like a shotgun or rifle chambered in 22lr are very affordable too. Shotguns in particular are really versatile and useful tools for hunting.
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Aug 7, 2020 02:29
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iammeandsoareyou posted:
Id encourage anyone getting into hunting to be kind of skeptical of Rogan and the stuff he does. This is someone who is routinely pay $50,000+ in order to go on guided hunts in heavily managed, private areas. He had multiple guides helping him and helping setup that shot on an animal that probably rarely experiences any form of pressure. I find Rogan really difficult to talk about because he routinely presents himself as an experienced hunter who talks at length about stuff like ethics, health, etc while seeming to never mention the help he has from guides and the amount he pays for access. The reality is he not particularly knowledgeable, experienced or ethical a hunter. In fact hes more like someone who pays $700 a lbs for elk meat and the privilege of picking out the animal himself. The dressing up in the silly camo and carrying around a bow is just window dressing. Anyways, more on the topic of bow hunting. Bow hunting is hard! Ive found the act of actual harvesting an animal with a bow rather than a gun has been surprisingly different and difficult. Its something anyone interested in bow hunting should consider. Im used to hunting on the ground in fairly dense brush. In a typical encounter with animals there are basically two ways the encounter plays out. If the animal(s) havent spotted you you pick one and shoot it. If the animal(s) have spotted you, you freeze, once they have determined you are not a threat and return to minding their own business you shoot the one you picked while frozen. Its a very simple process where the emphasis is on quick decision making and action. With a bow this type of encounter plays out really differently. You need to range the animal and draw the bow, and if you are really unlucky nock an arrow in between. So you are going to have to do a fair bit of moving around to setup the shot. You are also going to be holding the bow drawn waiting for the perfect shot opportunity, possibly for a while. That is a lot more steps to perform while feeling the pressure of being close to an animal worrying if it will spot you, or if the wind will shift and it will scent you, or maybe the animal will just get bored and walk away. And then on top of that you have the occasional weird event that happens in nature and can throw you for a loop, like a pig popping up on the other side of the bush you are hiding behind to make things even more chaotic. When I watch experienced bow hunters in these type of situations on Youtube Im always really impressed, their movements are slow and smooth and incredibly efficient. The emphasis is on staying calm, moving slowly and decisively. For me, a person who did pretty well at gun hunting this is a big shift in thinking that Ive struggled with. Im curious if learning it will make me a better gun hunter or cause me to slip up more. I guess theres only one way to find out. I suspect getting up in a tree will also change the dynamic a fair bit but since I usually hunt from the ground that will just be a band aid rather than a real fix. Im also really curious to see how things go for people who are starting out bow hunting instead of gun hunting. Will you folks struggle with the same stuff I have or will having a blank slank to start make it easier? Should be fun to find out. DapperDraculaDeer fucked around with this message at 01:41 on Aug 11, 2020 |
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Aug 11, 2020 01:31
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I really struggle to wrap my brain around the way animals perceptive scent and use that perception to assess danger. If I remember right whitetail have something like 300,000,000 smell receptors in their nose. Compare that to 5,000,000 for humans. Its just such an alien approach to perceiving the world that its difficult for us to comprehend. But, as best I can tell doing things like smoking your clothes is just going to put one more smell out there for the animal to process. It creates a type of olfactory "noise" that might work on the smell glands of mere humans, but for a game animal with that many smell receptors it is going to do very little do confuse them. They are going to pickup the smell of smoke, sure, but they are already processing hundreds of smells at the time so one more is nothing to them. If your body is giving off any scent at all, and it pretty much always is, they are going to catch it.
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Aug 20, 2020 14:33
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It probably is a very, very good idea to store your clothes in some kind of sealed bag though. Random, crazy stuff happens all the time. Like sewer gas backing up into the building you store your clothes in and you not noticing for a week or two since that building rarely gets used during the off season. Its going to take a lot of air drying to get that smell out, and even then wondering if its still there will bug me all season.
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Aug 21, 2020 16:03
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Holy cow that is a lot of birds. Days like that, where you get off to a bad start but then stick with it and turn things around are some of the best.
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Nov 2, 2020 03:39
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Chaosfeather posted:
I really enjoyed this hunt despite us not brining anything back. I learned an absolute ton and I expect that knowledge will pay good dividends on future hunts. This was the only part that really bugged me. The floor of the valleys in the area looks pretty flat from above, but man, once you get down there you see all kinds of cuts and saddles, small dips and rises, etc etc. There is just a ton of little hiding spaces and cover. Thanks to these it was pretty easy for me to sneak up on the doe group Chaosfeather had spotted. I crossed probably 500 yards and spotted tons of bedding areas and game trails along the way, and eventually came to a spot on the shady side of a hill downwind of the does. I ranged the does at 165 yards from the hillside. The does seemed pretty contented in their grazing so I had a bit of time to get setup to shoot, which would have to be done seated since the grass was to high to setup prone. So I got setup to shoot and continued to watch the does. My heart rate was still up from the walk/crawl over so I sat as long as I dared and watched. Both were quite small and in high grass, I was going to have to wait for one to move over a bit to provide a clear shot at my aim point. And so I sat a bit longer and watched through my scope as my breathing slowed down, it didnt take long for one of the does to graze over to an area where I could clearly see my aim point. With my rifle zeroed at 200 yards this should have been a point blank shot, so I placed my crosshair over my aim point, checked my breathing, and slowly squeezed the trigger.... and missed high. I clearly saw the shot impact just barely above the doe. The doe was alerted by the shot, but remained in place. I broke the rifle open, slammed another cartridge in, closed it and took aim again. This time I put the crosshair a bit lower. I squeezed the trigger again, the rifle flashed and I couldnt see where the shot landed but I did see the doe leap into the air and into cover behind a tree. At the time it seemed like I had hit it, so I remained seated started watching the tree to see what would happen. As I sat an owl swooped in overhead and circled me, which was super cool. Then, as I sat a doe stepped out from behind the tree I was watching and returned to grazing. This was very confusing. Had there been a third doe we hadnt seen? As small as these does were theres no way two of them were behind that tree. Apparently, I had missed, again. This was really confusing to me because this should not have been a particularly difficult shot. One miss I could understand, but twice? That didnt seem right. I took two more shots, both of which missed again. Then I started looking over my rifle trying to determine if the problem was me or it. After a bit of poking I found the forend of the rifle was lose. It was actually wobbly enough that the front of the forend would bounce off the barrel if shaken gently. I broke the rifle down and found the set screw for the forend had backed in, which in turn caused the forend to wobble excessively. This screw appears to have been designed to be adjustable without tools, so CVA had used a screw that was incredibly lose for the job. With the stock removed I could give the barrel a good shake and actually watch the screw turn in or out depending on its whim. Every time it did this with the stock attached was going to be that much loser the forend became. This seems like a problem.  An illustration of the culprit. It took a bit of adjustment to get the set screw right and the forend of the stock secure, but after a few tries it was fitted correctly and stable. I later snuck off, posted a target and took a shot at it from 50 yards and hit about an inch and a half high, which seemed about right. Im pretty sure this is the major failure that caused those misses. That, and my failure to extensively test out my new rifle. I had taken it to the range to ladder some handloads to see what shot well, then back again to zero it in with the appropriate loads, but I hadnt done much else with it. It had shot fine during this time and I hadnt noticed any issue with the forend of the stock. When we setup for a 200 yard zero on Friday I had issues but eventually had gotten what I felt was a solid zero, so Im not sure at what point that screw had started backing out but its clearly a problem of some sort. The rifle carries extremely well and is very handy so I am super disappointed about this. Ill call CVA later this week I guess and see if they offer some kind of remedy. I suppose I could set the screw with blue loctite too but this really feels like the type of issue CVA should be addressing. Still, what an awesome trip. Seeing those pictures make me excited at the prospect of going back again next year. This time with a rifle Ive spent more time at the range with.
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Dec 2, 2020 03:08
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Also special thanks to the people who helped us push the truck out of the Starbucks drive through. At least the drive shaft didnt fall off this time.
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Dec 2, 2020 03:13
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I don't own a pair but Crispi Idahos sounds like a pretty close match. I've seen them discounted to within your price range recently too. I was looking at them real hard but decided to go with a cheaper flatland boot and although I'm happy with my Danners for huntingn here in Texas those Crispis be would probably be real nice to have when Igo elsewhere.
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Jan 16, 2021 01:15
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HamAdams posted:Anybody got any exciting hunts planned for the next year? If all goes well, I'll be going on a rifle mule deer hunt in Wyoming this October, which will be new and exciting for me. Sleep has been in short supply at our household so hunting has been super hit or miss this season. Oddly, this actually makes it much easier to go on out of state hunts where things are planned in advance, extra help with the kid is lined up, etc. So my two big projects for the year ahead are finally making it out to Wyoming for spring black bear and then Nebraska in the late fall. Nebraska in particular will be exciting since hopefully well have a proper 4x4 to bring along, allowing us to greatly expand the areas we get back into. Im also hoping to take a first crack at spring turkey this year, just getting out there and getting an idea of what its like would be a great first step.
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Feb 27, 2021 15:05
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If anyone is looking for a deal on men's hunting pants, Sierra has a smoking deal on FirstLite's Guide Light pants. $50 for these is pretty wild. Usually the selection of sizes at Sierra is pretty limited but this time around they have the pants in just about every common men's size. https://www.sierra.com/first-lite-guide-lite-camo-pants-for-men~p~33vhd/?filterString=promostyles~214154%2F
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Mar 6, 2021 17:15
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkrLvmDeIjk If anyone needs some leads for elk and/or mule deer in Wyoming I've got you covered. Pronghorn too they're just off camera to the left. What a crazy place.
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May 4, 2021 04:46
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Chaosfeather posted:
We should consider a pronghorn hunt. There were tons of them. I wanted to go scout Thunder Basin but in the finest of goon hunting traditions I used my truck to take a mulie. With only one working headlight just going straight home seemed like the safest option. Doubly so since a snow storm was brewing.
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May 4, 2021 16:13
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I do wish to buy more elk points...
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For black bear it was much simpler because the state has around 30 units for bear. The mulie/pronghorn units on the other hands are absolutely insane. Were there over 100? It seemed like it. Every time I accidentally loaded that overlay in OnX just looking at it made my eyes cross. This is one of the many reasons bear hunting caught my interest.
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May 5, 2021 15:53
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Anyone have experience with Kowa optics? I've been looking for some inexpensive 6x30 binos for woods use. Kowa makes a porro prism set that is at a good price and seems popular with birders. Supposedly they are an older version of some Leupold glass and come with a lifetime warranty. Considering the $100 price tag that seems to good to be true.
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May 11, 2021 15:55
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Chaosfeather posted:
I was amazed by this unit. LBJ is one of the more scenic areas I hunt, but it's still usually not that pretty. This unit though was amazing. It also had elevation changes that were damned near mountainous by the stands of the area. That warden had some good advice. I'm still bummed we didn't take a pig though. I've been on a long dry streak and was hoping to break it while we were out, but it looks like it wasn't to be. It was still a ton of fun to get out there and see some new sections of LBJ. I also learned a lot from our impromptu shotgun cleaning workshop as well, although I'm still not brave enough to disassemble one of those trigger groups. I hope we can do it all again soon!
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Jun 6, 2021 17:26
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ThePopeOfFun posted:I haven't hunted since my dad took me as a kid. I have all his guns now. Really want to get out for winter Whitetail, but I also don't have a deep freeze. I've got private land figured out and it's got a stand in it. Pretty tame compared to the massive treks from the last page. I THINK I have someone who can show me how to skin/clean. Else I can just take it to the processor. Field butchering an animal for the first time is a big, big concern for just about every new hunter. I know it sure was for me. Its really not that difficult though. If you have ever cut up one of those rotisserie chickens they sell at the grocery store a lot of the process will be familiar already. There are a ton of videos on the topic but this series from TXPWD was probably the best I found despite being a bit older: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QY53hiEtt-Q You can also find quite a few premade, single page guides for cleaning a game animal intended to be printed out, laminated and brought along in your back in case you need a reminder of the process when the time arrives. Between that and a proper kill kit with a sharp knife or two, a way to sharpen the knife, gloves, tags and zip ties youll be fine. It feels super intimidating at first but it really shouldnt be. Go slow and remember its not a race, realize that if you make a mistake its no the end of the world. A bigger concern for a lot of new hunters should probably be how to get the thing back to the cooler once its down and in pieces.
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Jul 9, 2021 21:35
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AmbassadorofSodomy posted:
Whenever you are field butchering an animal, no matter how good you are there are going to be mistakes. When you got up at some god awful early time to be out in the woods at first light, possibly including a long hike back, then an extended sit, then whatever else. Its a lot of poo poo man and even if you take an animal early in the day you are tired by the time you start cutting it up. So mistakes happen, maybe a nicked intestine, maybe a bit of meat left on a pelt, maybe you forgot to snag the tenderloins. As long as you make an effort to learn from your mistakes I think you should just let that stuff ride and not sweat it. The first time I took a pig I only managed to get its two rear quarters and backstraps out and it was glorious. Once you've got the animal quartered and out you can take it to a butcher, but really at that point most of the work is done. The last steps of butchering the animal are super easy and can be done at your leisure at home. Dont take my word for it though, instead take Peter's! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VEucUy1KfnY Who probably made one of the best videos on how to butcher a hind quarter I have seen.
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Jul 10, 2021 07:36
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There is so much glass ranging from good to excellent out there these days you really need to have a budget in mind. Then, if you arent attached to any particular brand and are willing to shop around a bit you can find some surprisingly good deals as glass goes on clearance to make room for next years model. With that said, you were going to be hunting the woods werent you? If so, I just saw this pop up on gun.deals : https://www.scopelist.com/RZR-6638-Razor-HD-LH-15-8x32-Riflescope-with-G4-BDC-RZR-6638.aspx?affid=gundeals-25-feb-2021&avad=211021_e22d90535 It looks like that particular model is being discontinued, hence the deep discount. Vortex's HD glass has a good reputation, and that 1.5x bottom end magnification will serve you well in the woods. For hunting the woods low end magnification really is important. The lower objective size is going to make low light conditions harder but good quality glass can go a long way to compensate for that. I havent handled that scope before so grain of salt, but I would consider it to be a strong option if I were in your place. If it fits your budget itd probably be worth googling around a bit to see if you can find some reviews of it from a reputable source and then give it some further consideration. Another option to consider is just getting an inexpensive 3-9x40 scope from a reputable brand like Vortex to use for a season while you learn the ropes. After that you will have a much better understanding of your needs and will be better able to make a decision on this. Glass doesnt hold value all that great so you likely wont be able to flip it to make back much of the cost so it might be better to just keep it as a backup. And having a backup scope you are familiar with on hand is not a bad idea at all. DapperDraculaDeer fucked around with this message at 08:13 on Jul 16, 2021 |
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Jul 16, 2021 08:02
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nadmonk posted:I field dressed my first deer last season. A sharp knife is definitely key. It took me a bit, but turned out just fine. This guys is the best! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VEucUy1KfnY That only covers the rear quarter, but that is generally the most complicated bit. At least it has been for me. The front quarter I chop up to use as stew meat. Neck is a roast. Ribs are ribs, tenderloin and backstrap are steaks.
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Jul 19, 2021 15:49
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Your 870 with the smoothbore barrel should be able to fire a rifled slug just fine. Despite their misleading name, rifled slugs are intended for use with smoothbore barrels. Their reach is pretty limited, 50 yards is generally considered to be pushing it but the utility of having the option to take larger game while out hunting squirrel is pretty hard to beat. Smoothbore barreled shotguns are absurdly versatile for hunting the woods and just going to a walk carrying one with an assortment of shells and taking whatever game pops up is a great way to spend a day.
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Aug 11, 2021 13:04
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So could I get that corned venison recipe? Because thats amazing. Also, I finally got out to New Mexico's unit 34 to try my hand at Aoudad hunting. Ive wanted to try this hunt for a long while now but information on it is pretty scarce. From what Ive gathered so far there are definitely sheep in the area and its very huntable, the only downside is the areas is routinely described as some of the roughest country ever seen by the people successfully hunting it. So over Father's Day weekend I loaded up my truck and drove out there just to get eyes on the place and start developing an approach for hunting it.  The majority of the unit is made up of the Sacramento Mountains, the eastern portion of which look like this. It absolutely was not what I was expecting to find in New Mexico, and as gorgeous as it was it does not look very sheepy to me. Crossing over to the western portion of the range overlooking the Tularosa Basin though?  If I was a sheep thats where Id be! The western portion of the unit consists of a substantial and steep looking network of canyons overlooking the city of Alamogordo. The close proximity of those canyons to the city of Alamogordo was very different to what I was used to. It took 10 minutes to drive to Starbucks from camp. I had better not get used to that kind of roughing it.  This was the view from where I camped. It was lovely.  Getting up on the canyon walls the view only improved. Unfortunately for me, getting up there was no simple task. As the pictures made clear, it was freaking steep. The slopes were also covered in lose rocks (Im not sure if these are actual scree or some other form of terrain dangering rocks) which made just about every step treacherous.  The local flora was also not particularly welcoming. I swear to god every plant on those slopes was pointy, the only question was *how* pointy. They were grown in dense too which made finding a route up the walls difficult. I spent a lot of time backtracking in search of another route because Id encountered a near impenetrable wall of spiny plants. The three primary offenders are pictured above. And then of course there were the sheer drops. Clefts in the walls 10+ feet high were everywhere, also forcing me to do frequent backtracking. As I frequently slipped on the lose rocks it was very clear a situation could develop where I slipped and fell and then slid a long way down into the drainage at the bottom of the canyon, probably bouncing off a few cacti as I went seems very, very possible. And after a fall like that I probably would not be capable of getting out alone. My chances of getting a phone call out from the bottom of those canyons was probably just about zero too. So, being there solo it was pretty clear I had put myself in a dangerous situation and this was going to be a discretion is the better part of valor type of deal and I would not be going back up those walls again without an emergency beacon.  Having come this far though I had to at least try to spot something. So I climbed a bit further to what looked like a good glassing spot and settled in.  Viewed in detail the place is even more remarkable. Its just amazingly harsh terrain dotted with caves, boulders and other cover. Glassing was going to be a major part of this hunt and in that regard I am well equipped. From up high it felt like the broader strategy for hunting the place was going to be pretty straightforward. Methodically move from canyon to canyon glassing hard. Nothing particularly sophisticated but patients and time will be required. This place is very huntable I just need to work out a strategy to safely be mobile.  For the walk out I decided to try getting into the drainage at the bottom of the canyon and walking that out. From above this seemed promising, but once below it quickly became clear I was wrong. The talus at the bottom of the canyon was even more treacherous than the scree above. The larger rocks tended to shift under foot while also being very pointy. Lots of climbing was required and trying to carry a rifle on a traditional sling while moving around was a serious chore. It was down here that I actually did have a fall, which due to nothing more than dumb luck on my part didnt even leave me bruised. I did however find several sizeable piles of deer scat so at least my suffering provided some interesting intel.  The view back at camp was per the norm, amazing. I ate some pasta salad(best warm weather camping food ever) and fell asleep immediately.  Breakfast was pretty good. Since I would not be going back up the walls this trip I slept in and had a leisurely breakfast. I glassed and ate and drank coffee.  Then I drove over to the next canyon and did some more glassing and drinking coffee. The verticality of the area is just remarkable. Sitting there staring at the side of a mountain made me realize just how *giant* the amount of area I had to glass was. With my coffee finished it was time to head home early.  I made a stop at the Lincoln NF ranger office and grabbed a motor vehicle usage map. I also got to see a neat elk statue. I probably spent more time in the truck driving there and back than I did in the canyons on this trip. And while thats not perfect it is ok. I got answers to some of my questions, got eyes on the area I expect Ill be spending some time hunting and developed a basic approach for how to get started hunting the area. I also made it back home in time to spend Fathers Day with my family. All around a pretty good quick hunting trip. DapperDraculaDeer fucked around with this message at 01:27 on Jun 25, 2023 |
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Jun 25, 2023 01:20
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skrapp mettle posted:I pulled a late season mule deer tag in NV unit 021, right outside of Reno, where I live. Season runs Dec 21 through Jan 1 and in between weather and the holiday, I made it out for the first time yesterday afternoon, just in time to see a storm come rolling in over the Peterson range. I was going to Seven Lakes mountain. This is awesome. Thanks for sharing it! I made my first trip to New Mexico earlier this year and I suspect Im falling in love with the region. Looks like I need to add Nevada to my bucket list too.
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Dec 29, 2023 18:18
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