What did YOU do today?

[JoshT]

That's pretty typical out west. Even antler restrictions in Michigan state 3 or more points on one side. They do score the overall though...

We have antler restrictions here as well, though they might not be as strict. In GA you're allowed 2 bucks per year and one must be "4 point or better on one side". Might be an atypical 7 point or a typical 8 point, but we call it what it is, not what one side is. One that dad got yesterday was a 9 point, had an extra tine on the left.

 

[scotts90ranger]

What, do y'all only count one side over there? If that's the case what do you do with a non-typical (when both sides aren't a match)?

whichever is bigger...

It used to be more complicated but a couple years ago spikes became legal, before that the verbiage said something like one side with a visible fork...

The black tail we have over here are different than the tiny white tail you have over in other parts of the country and the antlers don't get near as crazy as the mule deer, I've been to one of the bass pro shops that had a museum of atypicals and some of those are crazy...

This is the last weekend of season, ends Friday. This morning so far I saw two deer hauling ass away from something (perpendicular from me at about 200 yards) while I was standing in the middle of a field next to a reelgun (irrigation) then walked into the woods where I saw some yesterday and apparently one saw me but I didn't see it since I heard it stumble to get away about 75 yards away in some timber...

 

[JoshT]

The black tail we have over here are different than the tiny white tail

You might need to change you perspective on what a whitetail is.

Google searching puts weight for mature blacktails being 140-200 lb for bucks and 90-130 for does. Granted those numbers were from a Washington state and they can get bigger.

The 9 point that dad got yesterday was 190lbs live weight. I want to say that the 8 I got last year was similar in size, but I'd have to check the logs next time I'm at the property. Both of the 10 pointers that he mounted in the past were 180lbs dressed, so probably around 220 live weight. These were by no means the biggest deer in the area. They aren't even the bigest that have come off of the property we hunt. Just the biggest that we gotten an opportunity to shoot at.

The doe he got was a small one, about 95lb live weight. Most fall within the same weight range as your blacktails. We've gotten many over the years were at or exceeded 130lbs. He probably would have let this one walk if the buck had stepped out first, but that didn't happen and there was no deer left in the freezer since we didn't really get to hunt last year.

Sure, Florida has some pathetic sized whitetails, they should probably be considered another subspecies. Don't know what the coastal regions and plains states are like. Size varies by region, but those anemic deer aren't a good example of what a whitetail can be. Many Floridians leave the state to hunt because of it. That's actually a problem for us here in GA, we loose a lot of leases and hunting area due to Floridians coming up and being willing/able to pay a lot more than we can afford.

 

[Uncle Gump]

Hunting here in Illinois is a rich man's sport too.

Even southern Michigan has gone that way. Luckily northern Michigan still had several million acres of publicly accessible land to hunt for free.

 

[ITSA 7]

A friend in my back yard. He had not been close to any wild animal before.

 

[pjtoledo]

Went hunting at my brothers first, over an hour standing where I thought I would see a 3 point (6 point for you guys east of the rockies) with no dice... then wandered through the woods and saw a doe then another doe and a buck following it that turned out to be a small spike, had his forehead in the crosshairs for a long while deciding... then went to my normal hunting grounds with a buddy, didn't see anything for a couple hours but ended up seeing about 10 deer, had a fork in the crosshairs but he darted out half a second before I could get ready...

Oh, oddly enough that I bought the arbor press yesterday, today one of the pins on my sling swivel on my hunting rifle disappeared and it's a cheap sling that has sewn in swivels not replaceable easy so I got home mid day and installed a roll pin with the arbor press... realize now I need to take the collar off the one end so I can index the handle easier...

if you grind the bottom tooth on the ram the arm can be repositioned when the ram is lifted.

 

[scotts90ranger]

if you grind the bottom tooth on the ram the arm can be repositioned when the ram is lifted.

I'd yet to watch that particular youtube video, it's on the list of things to watch... simply leaving the collar off sounds easier though so I can put it in the tooth I want, we'll see...

I know the weights I've heard aren't rules of thumb but in general the average black tail is bigger than the average white tail, what you are saying likely brings the average down significantly... the biggest problem is black tail don't reproduce like mice like white tail do (also probably just internet myths but whatever, more cars hit white tail than black tail)... all public lands are seriously over hunted, all the jerkwads that burn cars and couches have caused the timber companies to install gates and close things off. The dumb reason Warehouser gates everything is a guy around Bend undercut everyone when they were remodeling part of the city and got the contract to dispose of the old transformers but ended up just dumping them in the woods with dump trucks and Warehouser got left with the disposal bill so now they have gates on everything and do offer seasonal passes for that but there's like 20 per section and they're like $400 so they sell out in like 20 minutes...

 

[pjtoledo]

I'd yet to watch that particular youtube video, it's on the list of things to watch... simply leaving the collar off sounds easier though so I can put it in the tooth I want, we'll see...

I know the weights I've heard aren't rules of thumb but in general the average black tail is bigger than the average white tail, what you are saying likely brings the average down significantly... the biggest problem is black tail don't reproduce like mice like white tail do (also probably just internet myths but whatever, more cars hit white tail than black tail)... all public lands are seriously over hunted, all the jerkwads that burn cars and couches have caused the timber companies to install gates and close things off. The dumb reason Warehouser gates everything is a guy around Bend undercut everyone when they were remodeling part of the city and got the contract to dispose of the old transformers but ended up just dumping them in the woods with dump trucks and Warehouser got left with the disposal bill so now they have gates on everything and do offer seasonal passes for that but there's like 20 per section and they're like $400 so they sell out in like 20 minutes...

that sucks, old transformers can have some really nasty oil in them. PCBs in the pre 70s ones.

 

[pjtoledo]

@scotts90ranger
real easy, grind enough for the pinion/shaft to clear.
on long pushes pull the ram up to put the arm back at optimum position.

you-tubber this old tony drilled a center hole in the bottom to allow various tips.

 

[bilbo]

My Son is in the police explorers here and they worked at an adoption event for the local shelter this weekend. He, like his mom and dad, has a soft spot for animals and took a shine to one of the dogs there. Everyone meet Diesel, the newest addition to our zoo!

He is one of three pups that were found dumped on a rural road. Other than being severely underweight (we’ll fix that!) he is in good health and is a super sweet dog. He had messed in his crate so Sam helped clean him up and they hung out together through the event. He begged us to let him take him home and because we’re suckers we relented. Oh well no regrets.

 

[Shran]

I just got back from a weekend trip to Montana... we rented a cabin in Whitehall and hung out for the most part. Saw the sights in Bozeman, Butte & Anaconda, went to some antique places, ate way too much, sat in the hot tub a lot.

We took my wife's Honda so we didn't do much outdoor stuff but we did drive up and see the Comet ghost town. Super cool place...there are a lot of buildings still standing. Most of the equipment in the mill was gone but they left a couple of cages from the mine and a ball mill - I can't believe that was still there. There is another mine across the road that was just totally amazing... the hoist, headframe and ore bin were still intact and the cage is still hanging at the top of the shaft. You could almost add a boiler, put steam to the hoist and run it... crazy.

Also saw a huge herd of elk running across the highway - I'm guessing 200+ of them, I couldn't zoom in far enough to get a clear picture once we got up close but it was really cool to see that.

 

[racsan]

Normal work day, came home to order parts for the awd V6 escape (hers) The one time I cant find a valid discount code & it woulda been worth it, almost $400 in parts. New rotors/calipers/brake hoses. plus shipping of course. Ouch!
On a good note the drive to work was much better with my new light bar, could only use it on about half the drive as a co-worker ended up in front of me. Got new fleabay front struts on the way for my escape, will probably work on hers first. Brakes are a bit more important than struts, plus its hers you know, my luck Id have mine half tore down & hers would suddenly be dead in the water. Then Id hear it.

 

[MT_PLS]

I just got back from a weekend trip to Montana... we rented a cabin in Whitehall and hung out for the most part. Saw the sights in Bozeman, Butte & Anaconda, went to some antique places, ate way too much, sat in the hot tub a lot.

We took my wife's Honda so we didn't do much outdoor stuff but we did drive up and see the Comet ghost town. Super cool place...there are a lot of buildings still standing. Most of the equipment in the mill was gone but they left a couple of cages from the mine and a ball mill - I can't believe that was still there. There is another mine across the road that was just totally amazing... the hoist, headframe and ore bin were still intact and the cage is still hanging at the top of the shaft. You could almost add a boiler, put steam to the hoist and run it... crazy.

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Also saw a huge herd of elk running across the highway - I'm guessing 200+ of them, I couldn't zoom in far enough to get a clear picture once we got up close but it was really cool to see that.

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You were about 30 miles south of me when you were in Comet.
Those elk were just outside of Boulder, weren't they? If it is where I think it is, they are all on private ground and the owners do not allow hunting.

 

[Shran]

You were about 30 miles south of me when you were in Comet.
Those elk were just outside of Boulder, weren't they? If it is where I think it is, they are all on private ground and the owners do not allow hunting.

We saw them right after getting off I-90 at the first Anaconda exit, they ran across the highway and were headed south. I’ve seen some fairly large heards around here but nothing like that!!!

 

[scotts90ranger]

So far after I got home we took a load of firewood in the '97 from the back shed to the front porch, should be enough for a couple weeks, lows are only supposed to be in the high 30's so not too bad but wood for primary heating does take some wood no matter what...