Last Day
Dec 20, 2011 6:05:06 GMT -5
Post by wilmsmeyer on Dec 20, 2011 6:05:06 GMT -5
NYS closes it's season at sunset today.....
I had a wild idea on Sunday that we try and get as many of our 10 man crew together for an afternoon drive. Our season always closes on a tuesday so it is rare for anyone to be hunting after doing so for 10 long weeks (Bow/Regular/Muzzle loader)
Well, it turns out that EVERYONE will be showing up! Unbelievable with the odds of people getting off work short notice.
The last 2 weekends were fairly productive on the does. We shot 22 I think. Like Tar12 and his group, most deer are given to people in need.
My personal tally is 3 does and the buck I shot on thanksgiving day. All with the ML and the 325 FTX with 70 gr H4198. This is the first year all deer have been DRT for me.
With everyone starting out with 5 tags and the ability to receive 2 other antlerless permits from others, we literally had 70 tags in our group this year....plus 10 DMAP's. With a deer tally of approx 32 does and 6 bucks this year, everyone is still carrying at least 1 buck and one doe tag for this afternoon. Anything can happen today for anyone in the group.
I did break my own rule last weekend when I tried to neck shoot a deer I tried to stop in a small opening at 60 yds. She stopped but only her head and a small part of her neck was in the opening. I was pretty sure I centered the crosshairs on her neck when I squeezed....leaning against a tree for a rest. When I recovered from the recoil she was bounding away untouched. I was dumb founded until I realized I am a little high at 50 and probably just went over her neck.....came way closer to wounding her than killing her. 1st deer I've missed since I can't remember when. All my shots this year were 30-80 yds at standing deer.
So this afternoon will be very exciting. There is sure to be several deer seen on the 2 drives we have planned. Everything has to go like clockwork for us to get both drives in because we'll only have 4 hours at the most and each drive is very coordinated in terms of getting people to the right spots and getting people out when were done.
Will post later tonight on how we fair...
I had a wild idea on Sunday that we try and get as many of our 10 man crew together for an afternoon drive. Our season always closes on a tuesday so it is rare for anyone to be hunting after doing so for 10 long weeks (Bow/Regular/Muzzle loader)
Well, it turns out that EVERYONE will be showing up! Unbelievable with the odds of people getting off work short notice.
The last 2 weekends were fairly productive on the does. We shot 22 I think. Like Tar12 and his group, most deer are given to people in need.
My personal tally is 3 does and the buck I shot on thanksgiving day. All with the ML and the 325 FTX with 70 gr H4198. This is the first year all deer have been DRT for me.
With everyone starting out with 5 tags and the ability to receive 2 other antlerless permits from others, we literally had 70 tags in our group this year....plus 10 DMAP's. With a deer tally of approx 32 does and 6 bucks this year, everyone is still carrying at least 1 buck and one doe tag for this afternoon. Anything can happen today for anyone in the group.
I did break my own rule last weekend when I tried to neck shoot a deer I tried to stop in a small opening at 60 yds. She stopped but only her head and a small part of her neck was in the opening. I was pretty sure I centered the crosshairs on her neck when I squeezed....leaning against a tree for a rest. When I recovered from the recoil she was bounding away untouched. I was dumb founded until I realized I am a little high at 50 and probably just went over her neck.....came way closer to wounding her than killing her. 1st deer I've missed since I can't remember when. All my shots this year were 30-80 yds at standing deer.
So this afternoon will be very exciting. There is sure to be several deer seen on the 2 drives we have planned. Everything has to go like clockwork for us to get both drives in because we'll only have 4 hours at the most and each drive is very coordinated in terms of getting people to the right spots and getting people out when were done.
Will post later tonight on how we fair...