Lookee what we found whilst wandering....
- Thread starter Bruce
- Start date
- Joined
- Jan 30, 2014
- Messages
- 3,182
- Reaction score
- 5,162
- Location
- Near Philadelphia, PA, USA
- VCDS Serial number
- --------
Fred, It's worse.. that is a Massimo Buck.. Chinese made!
- Joined
- Jan 30, 2014
- Messages
- 3,182
- Reaction score
- 5,162
- Location
- Near Philadelphia, PA, USA
- VCDS Serial number
- --------
This afternoon at 4:33pm, da bear got a doe!
- Joined
- Jan 30, 2014
- Messages
- 3,182
- Reaction score
- 5,162
- Location
- Near Philadelphia, PA, USA
- VCDS Serial number
- --------
At 5:25pm this afternoon, just after a nearby hunter took two shots, Sage had this doe run down the Saddle trail and out into the large meadow. Way to go Sage! Great way to end the hunt. We were 5 for 5 for the guys who went to the woods. The one that stayed at the house didn't see anything!
- Joined
- Jan 30, 2014
- Messages
- 3,182
- Reaction score
- 5,162
- Location
- Near Philadelphia, PA, USA
- VCDS Serial number
- --------
Yep, the one whose rifle sat next to the door just in case a bear or deer ran across the porch... It could happen. The deer part did happen one time when I was here alone! The mow doggies scared it and it ran up on the deck!
- Joined
- Jan 29, 2014
- Messages
- 3,147
- Reaction score
- 4,785
- Location
- Sector 7G
- VCDS Serial number
- HC424490
This is a really enjoyable (and relatable) video series about land management for deer hunting:
I binge watched all of the episodes from both seasons over the weekend, some good ideas for Ross Mountain.
I binge watched all of the episodes from both seasons over the weekend, some good ideas for Ross Mountain.
- Joined
- Jan 30, 2014
- Messages
- 3,182
- Reaction score
- 5,162
- Location
- Near Philadelphia, PA, USA
- VCDS Serial number
- --------
Book marked and will study when I get a chance...
I also did some reading.. Ross Mountain has the perfect terrain and food source areas for deer. Knocking down some 6' dia trees but leaving them on a hinge cut provides cover and food source.. Looks like hell but gives the deer the browse they desire. Keeping the meadow mowed and keeping it below 8 inches is a huge advantage.
Caution: If we make it too good for does and yearlings, the bucks will move off. Wanna know why? The does bother the bucks all summer and drive them nuts. The females are demanding and annoying. Hence the reason we see the guys hanging together and away from the does. If we want big bucks, we have to limit the doe food sources. The bucks need solitude.
Can any man relate?
I also did some reading.. Ross Mountain has the perfect terrain and food source areas for deer. Knocking down some 6' dia trees but leaving them on a hinge cut provides cover and food source.. Looks like hell but gives the deer the browse they desire. Keeping the meadow mowed and keeping it below 8 inches is a huge advantage.
Caution: If we make it too good for does and yearlings, the bucks will move off. Wanna know why? The does bother the bucks all summer and drive them nuts. The females are demanding and annoying. Hence the reason we see the guys hanging together and away from the does. If we want big bucks, we have to limit the doe food sources. The bucks need solitude.
Can any man relate?
- Joined
- Jan 30, 2014
- Messages
- 3,182
- Reaction score
- 5,162
- Location
- Near Philadelphia, PA, USA
- VCDS Serial number
- --------
Found this tonight: Deer Harvest report Floyd County: Counts thrugh 4 Jan 2020.. nothing up for the current year as yet..
| County/City | Year | Antlered Males | Male Fawns | Females | % Female | Undefined | Total Harvest |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Floyd | 2019 | 1176 | 147 | 1464 | 52.5% | 0 | 2787 |
| Floyd | 2018 | 1171 | 117 | 1046 | 44.8% | 0 | 2334 |
| Floyd | 2017 | 1259 | 147 | 1149 | 44.9% | 0 | 2555 |
| Floyd | 2016 | 1067 | 152 | 1012 | 45.3% | 0 | 2231 |
| Floyd | 2015 | 1350 | 207 | 1325 | 45.9% | 0 | 2882 |
- Joined
- Jan 30, 2014
- Messages
- 3,182
- Reaction score
- 5,162
- Location
- Near Philadelphia, PA, USA
- VCDS Serial number
- --------
Mike and I are on the mountain and while testing the replacement windscreen on the Buck, we stopped for Trail Cam 1 photos. Look what was caught on camera:
Dinner time! Yum! The Coyotes are hunting!
Dinner time! Yum! The Coyotes are hunting!
- Joined
- Jan 30, 2014
- Messages
- 3,182
- Reaction score
- 5,162
- Location
- Near Philadelphia, PA, USA
- VCDS Serial number
- --------
Hunt Camp - 2023.. First to get a deer - is da bear.. and what a deer! Nice big 8 pointer. Monday, Nov 6 at 4:25pm.
Of course, there is quite the story to tell....
I have named this buck Hard Head owing to thickness of his skull. Dang it was hard to get his rack off even with the sawsall. But I get ahead of my story.
Early morning, I went Tree Stand 9 - the top of the Saddle trail from the meadow. (For those not familiar, we have many tree stands around the property.) At earliest light, 2 bucks come walking up the Saddle trail (which runs north/south from the large meadow to the top of the mountain on the far west side of the property). Being the incompetent hunter I am, I try to cock the hammer on my muzzle-loader (0.50 caliber). No lock. Frantically, I'm trying to get the hammer to lock before this big buck gets by me. Nope.. didn't solve the problem in time. Hunter fail. Both bucks get by.
About 2 hours later, here comes the big buck back down the mountain. He's not walking the trail but is just off to the east of the trail. There is a lot crap in the woods there. I'm looking for that hole in the crap to get him. I move ahead of him - still not finding a spot. Finally, I think I have a spot. He steps in. I fire. Smoke moves north and away... while I watch a tree branch spin up and away next to him. The bang doesn't seem to bother him but I am not fast enough to reload. The small buck was with him but way up the hill from him. I catch his tail as he runs away.
A scrawny doe walks by around 9 am and my hunt was done. With 16 days of hunting, I am not on the "brown-it's down" plan. I have plenty of days for another try since this is day 2!
That afternoon, after working my Ross-Tech work, fixing my muzzle-loader so the hammer locks, getting a tractor when Mike Ross had shot at a buck but missed, I finally got to Tree Stand 3 at 4pm. At 4:25, this big buck that I had seen twice that morning walks out and walks to the bottom of the tree stand. He stands there. It was what - a 30 foot shot? tree stand is 17ft, he was 6 feet below the stand.. angles and all that - yeah i think 30 feet sounds right.
Boom! He runs about 20 yards downhill and drops.
Meantime, his little buddy comes out and follows, sees Hard Head run, doesn't know what to do so he stands right where i shot Hard Head and does not move. If it were legal, he too would have been served up for dinner this year! (Not allowed 2 bucks in a day - we must get a doe next.) To get him out of my way so i could move to the downed Hard Head, I had to make several loud sounds. Is this 4 pointer deaf?
I'm convinced these are the big 8 pointer and 4 pointer we watched all around the top of the mountain all summer. Little guy seemed lost without his older buddy..
Now let's talk about getting this big guy (Hard Head) up the mountain... He was about 100-150 yards (depends who you ask) from the crest of the slope. He was a lot of dead weight. We decided to lighten the load and i field dressed him on the spot. We bagged the entrails owing to CWD (Chronic Wasting Disease). Then we started dragging him by tying a rope around him to give us better leverage. The leaves had come down earlier last week in such volume they were really thick on the side of the hill. With poor footing, while we considered an idea Uwe had made of using a pole and carrrying on shoulders, we felt footing was too precarious for that. As it turns out, we were right. We all three fell often (Rich, Mike, and me). So, on hands and knees at times, we inched his now 100+ pound carcass up the hill. When we got more than half way up, we positioned the Buck (UTV) so we could winch the boy up. We attached 2 chains and a rope to get to where he was. Then we started winching.. When the winch was all the way in, I backed the Buck out and provided the pull in that manner. I ran out of room so we reset. However, the winch was jammed.. so we managed to get the rope to the winch hook and then backed out again. That recovery took almost 3 hours to bring Hard Head to the hanging station.
Hard Head went to the butcher this morning at 10am. He was one of the biggest in the cooler! I have waited a long time to get a deer this size. Never expected to see this on the 2nd day of the hunt.
Of course, there is quite the story to tell....
I have named this buck Hard Head owing to thickness of his skull. Dang it was hard to get his rack off even with the sawsall. But I get ahead of my story.
Early morning, I went Tree Stand 9 - the top of the Saddle trail from the meadow. (For those not familiar, we have many tree stands around the property.) At earliest light, 2 bucks come walking up the Saddle trail (which runs north/south from the large meadow to the top of the mountain on the far west side of the property). Being the incompetent hunter I am, I try to cock the hammer on my muzzle-loader (0.50 caliber). No lock. Frantically, I'm trying to get the hammer to lock before this big buck gets by me. Nope.. didn't solve the problem in time. Hunter fail. Both bucks get by.
About 2 hours later, here comes the big buck back down the mountain. He's not walking the trail but is just off to the east of the trail. There is a lot crap in the woods there. I'm looking for that hole in the crap to get him. I move ahead of him - still not finding a spot. Finally, I think I have a spot. He steps in. I fire. Smoke moves north and away... while I watch a tree branch spin up and away next to him. The bang doesn't seem to bother him but I am not fast enough to reload. The small buck was with him but way up the hill from him. I catch his tail as he runs away.
A scrawny doe walks by around 9 am and my hunt was done. With 16 days of hunting, I am not on the "brown-it's down" plan. I have plenty of days for another try since this is day 2!
That afternoon, after working my Ross-Tech work, fixing my muzzle-loader so the hammer locks, getting a tractor when Mike Ross had shot at a buck but missed, I finally got to Tree Stand 3 at 4pm. At 4:25, this big buck that I had seen twice that morning walks out and walks to the bottom of the tree stand. He stands there. It was what - a 30 foot shot? tree stand is 17ft, he was 6 feet below the stand.. angles and all that - yeah i think 30 feet sounds right.
Boom! He runs about 20 yards downhill and drops.
Meantime, his little buddy comes out and follows, sees Hard Head run, doesn't know what to do so he stands right where i shot Hard Head and does not move. If it were legal, he too would have been served up for dinner this year! (Not allowed 2 bucks in a day - we must get a doe next.) To get him out of my way so i could move to the downed Hard Head, I had to make several loud sounds. Is this 4 pointer deaf?
I'm convinced these are the big 8 pointer and 4 pointer we watched all around the top of the mountain all summer. Little guy seemed lost without his older buddy..
Now let's talk about getting this big guy (Hard Head) up the mountain... He was about 100-150 yards (depends who you ask) from the crest of the slope. He was a lot of dead weight. We decided to lighten the load and i field dressed him on the spot. We bagged the entrails owing to CWD (Chronic Wasting Disease). Then we started dragging him by tying a rope around him to give us better leverage. The leaves had come down earlier last week in such volume they were really thick on the side of the hill. With poor footing, while we considered an idea Uwe had made of using a pole and carrrying on shoulders, we felt footing was too precarious for that. As it turns out, we were right. We all three fell often (Rich, Mike, and me). So, on hands and knees at times, we inched his now 100+ pound carcass up the hill. When we got more than half way up, we positioned the Buck (UTV) so we could winch the boy up. We attached 2 chains and a rope to get to where he was. Then we started winching.. When the winch was all the way in, I backed the Buck out and provided the pull in that manner. I ran out of room so we reset. However, the winch was jammed.. so we managed to get the rope to the winch hook and then backed out again. That recovery took almost 3 hours to bring Hard Head to the hanging station.
Hard Head went to the butcher this morning at 10am. He was one of the biggest in the cooler! I have waited a long time to get a deer this size. Never expected to see this on the 2nd day of the hunt.
Last edited: