Congrats!! nice birds, good read, well done.

Awesome! congrats.

congrats Joel!!! a fun/educating read as always from you. It may have been a short lived experience this time, but still exciting when a plan comes together. Nicely done!!

Right on, congrats to you and Hunter!!!! Sounds like a really fun hunt. Nicely done on mentoring your nephew. I can’t wait to do the same with my boys. Good read.

I’ve found myself in the same situation as grouse, do I need the more powerful, heavy unit or is the fuel efficient, lighter unit just fine? Whats the real difference with plowing snow? getting stuck? I assume efi is most desirable for mn winter? is power steering worth it or just a nice novelty?

After sitting in this swirling wind from dark to dark the last 2 days, I find myself occasionally catching a whiff of “nose jammer”. I must admit that I’ve had a few hallucinations of one of “the chive” girls walking down my trail delivering a plate of fresh cookies. I have no idea what the deer think about nose jammer, but it’s quite soothing to me.

You sparked many heart felt memories of duck camp. I can remember like it was yesterday hunting the Tamarac wildlife refuge up by d.l, 30 yrs ago w/my father. My grandfather hunted there 30 yrs prior. We would prepare our season by “touching up” the paint on our numbered late 50’s/ early 60’s alumacraft “duckers”, followed by using hot glue gun to repair last yrs decoys, yes rubber. (Heavy). We’d hunt the 4-5 weeks having much fun, when all of a sudden, the weekend guys whom shared the cabin rental with would call and say, ” their coming thru”! We would race up (about 4hrs) and be able to catch the most unbelievable decoying action ever. They would decoy in, we’d unload on em’, and they would circle around for more. I can remember seeing huge floating rafts of them out in the big open water off of tiny grass islands. What fun!!! I can’t wait to share your story w/ my father who, at 74 is up at duck camp right now hoping his failing body parts can survive another beautiful morning “sitting in his ducker” In the bog. Nothing quite like late season bluebill migration.

I have no idea if it’s the same bird. I just mentally create this one on one battle of wits with whatever bird I’m chasing. In reality, it’s probably not the same bird because unlike this bird, all the other toms have had a common trait….The ability to out smart me! By the way protourbaits, I was hunting out of ground blind, thus dressed in all black. They seem to bust me too easily in stand also, Ground blind can be much more forgiving.

congrats!! I used them and the guy that did my work was sharp and he got my work done really quick. Maybe I just got lucky? Normally I wouldn’t go to gander for anything, but I was leaving town on hunting trip and needed work fast, he came thru for me.

Right on, Congrats!!! Persistence payed off and now your hooked. You will have that in your hunting memory bank forever.

I’ve shot deer and hogs with them. It dropped them right away, though it seemed a bit of overkill on the small Georgia deer in that the exit hit some bone and it blew the shoulder off it. That’s a pretty hot load in that caliber. Great for the hogs. My buddy did warn me that a shot w/that set up that doesn’t hit any bone will pass thru so fast that you will have a hard time finding blood. That’s would be terrible, but I never had anything that didn’t drop quickly with it.

That’s all I shoot with my 270 wsm, and I love them! My friend in Georgia turned me on to them a few years ago. He is a competitive long range shooter and so I had him dial in my new gun/scope. He obviously loads all his own ammo, but for a guy like me who doesn’t have the time, nor the expertise to load my own, he set me up with fusion. He got me shooting 600 yds w/accuracy, I had never shot that far in my life. I don’t know a lot about ballistics, he just showed me how to use ” spot on app” from Nikon and they worked great. I haven’t had any problems w/jamming and they don’t leave my gun filthy. They are rather difficult to find at times and pricey, but maybe that just cause of the caliber. I shoot the 150 gr I think. Thumbs up on them for me.

Hey Joel, I’ve had strange behavior as well. Gobbling in roost not far from me, pulled my usual soft purrs and such, followed by excited putts and simulated fly down w/ wing on ground and once they fly down head different direction. As if they already had a sweetie lined up for am love? Although I did have exciting am in Friday. I had one gobble from 2 ridges over about 11am. Over the next hour, I was able to work him in. Everything was going textbook perfect. He worked in to about 30 yds. I had perfectly clear shooting lane, hooked on to bow, and assumed in about 2 more feet he would see my decoys & take a hard left right in to me and fight my jake(set up right behind breeding hen). No such luck, he didn’t even look, kept on walking into woods. I didn’t have mouth call in at time, and didn’t want to fumble w/slate call hooked on to bow. Big bummer, I should’ve shot him at that perfect opportunity, but I wanted to see a great strut/fight, then skewer him! I’ve been reliving that moment ever since.

I feel like cabelas has me trapped. I live in maple grove and can be at cabelas door in 7 min. I work in Woodbury, approx 7 min from new site. I can’t escape, stop on way to work or on way home. Easier than picking up milk/bread. If they were to add that, I’d really be in trouble. Though I wouldn’t technically be lying when I told wife I was picking up groceries.

I shot a lot if different stuff before making my last purchase. I ended up with the Springfield XD 9 in a 3″ for my carry. Get the extended mag and it feels great in your hands. I also have the Springfield 45ACP when I want to “let er rip”. I absolutely love that gun. It’s a 4″. They strip down very easily for cleaning and I have never had any issue with either one. Just like buying a new bow, you really need to shoot a bunch of them to see which works best for you. My father in law was trying to convince me to get a S & W 40, however, I couldn’t hit broad side of barn with it. I’m sure it was nice, just not for me. Good luck with your decision, have fun!

5 points for team #8. pair of doe shot in s.georgia while on deer/hog hunt trip.

5 pts for team #8

Hey Kooty, I personally think it depends in what you’re smoking, when, & where. I say that because I’ve used different electric units for years, great for jerky in MILD conditions or if you want to use in your garage all night and stink it up for weeks. I purchased a new gas 38″ smoke hollow this past year which works great as I smoke stuff all year (mn winter included) you can do certain mods to them to run it at lower temps for fish, jerky etc. you also have the ability to “let er rip” at 350 for unbelievable veni back straps or chops pretty quickly. Keeping a Boston butt at consistent 250 for 14 hrs is easy even in less than perfect conditions. I kinda like having the option of using gas or elec. that’s just my 2 cents.

Feels great sitting back in the quiet woods this am. Gun season ended yesterday in my area. Bring on the deer.

Congrats, what a great buck and super memory with your dad! Nicely done

That’s cool. I use an app called spot on by Nikon. It cost five bucks but works well.

Sitting in tree w/ pouring rain sure doesn’t seem like it will be productive, but I guess it’s better than sitting in office!

Right on Kooty, congrats!!! If anyone deserves it, you do! I’m excited that all your hard work has been rewarded.

We had one if the strangest things happen yesterday. My nephew shot a doe broadside & must have hit a lung. After waiting 45 min, he got in the trail, which looked like a crime scene. He followed it about 200 yds & it took a 90 turn straight into Mississippi River. He couldn’t believe it, & was sure it would be lost. He happen to scan the bank on the other side & sure enough there it lie dead. The section of river it crossed was about 150 yds w/ fairly strong current. Unbelievable that it was able to swim straight across while bleeding out. After a sweaty canoe recovery mission, he returned w/his prize! It seemed strange that the deer would take that option to try to get away.

After sitting from dark to dark Friday w/out seeing a single deer, I finally had a young 8pt come thru 30 ft from stand last night @ 4pm, another young 8 came thru at 5:50pm passed on both but got good video footage. 2 does crashed thru behind me this am at 7:45. I was sure something was hot on their trail, but nothing? Hopefully gonna be exciting day. Not much shooting up in merrifield yesterday or this am so far compared to normal years.

hand muff all the time! put a couple hand warmers in it and your set. I use it for all different hunting and late fall/winter fishing. Even when fishing I simply rotate my hands in/out of it while holding rod/line in the other. About the only time I wear gloves is snow blowing & on snowmobile. I hate wearing gloves.

Great deer! That had to be a really neat experience. Now it’s your turn!

Congrats, that is great!! What a neat experience w/your son!

He didn’t pick up my scent where I came in. I don’t know if he saw me? My silhouette it broken up pretty good in this spot. I’m guessing he scented me. The wind does tend to swirly a little bit in this spot. It’s strange though, I get so many doe & small bucks that often walk to my stand from all directions & never scent me. When I 1st saw him he was stopped , looking at me, then few seconds later turned and bolted off.

I just got busted by a really nice shooter! (60 yds) It’s amazing, all the scent free soaps, clothes, made no movement, thought I selected best stand location for the almost non existent wind this am? Unbelievable , how they can sometimes bust you. What are the odds of seeing that guy again any time soon? How long do they avoid an area after sensing something’s not right?