What are you doing NOW to be ready for the upcoming hunting season?

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I bought my non-resident New York smal game/ big game license and got one dow tag a archery tag and a non-resident trapping license. Then I bought the Pennsylvania non-resident small game/ big game license and two doe tags.
I will probably buy a non-resident Pennsylvania trapping license if we do any amount of hunting down there.

I still haven't bought my 350 Legend rile and luminated Vortex scope yet for this year's dear hunting season. Maybe in September.

We generally do good on the amount of deer that we harvest.

We replaced the wood meat pole last October and set it up between two trees about fourteen feet off the ground. We bought four metal gambles with pullys and switched the ropes out. We installed three of them and have a fourth one as a spare.
We let them hand a little then cut them up after we get back form hunting.
Cut, wrap & freeze them. We never pay to cut them up. It isn't worth a hundred dollars to have a deer cut & wrapped.
 
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My daughter is getting married in 4 days so that's been eating some time. I have a general Montana elk tag and have friends there waiting for me and my buddy Andy to show up on the 10th. I have been shooting my bow out to 70 yards almost every day. Along with weight training/running/biking and don't forget rucking with a 45# pack. I love elk hunting they live in beautiful rugged places and they're the most challenging thing I've ever hunted. I also set up my trail camera on a salt lick to see if there are any decent bucks as the season approaches.
 
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I got both my plots tilled and planted before the rain came in Sunday. More rain forecast for this afternoon...maybe.

Then Sunday AM while it rained I loaded 50 more practice rounds in .260REM with cheap, but accurate PPU 120 grn HPBTs. I also loaded 3 pressure/velocity test rounds for the .260 using H4350 and 130NABs. I've done the OCW work-up, but want to ensure the velocity/pressure is in the ballpark before loading up all the test loads. I should be able to get around 2800 FPS from the 20" tube. I'm taking Friday off and will run final tests on Nosler 120BTs in the am.

Got word that my Manners stock is done for my M7 in .350RM. It's been a little over 8 months since I ordered it. I'm hoping to get it and my newly Cerakoted barreled action to my Smiths ASAP for bedding to be ready for a couple deer drives we'll do this season. My Rem M700 in .300WM is on it's way to my smiths to have an ARCA plate installed in the stock for tripod use. It will be the back-up rifle for my MT hunt in Nov.
 
1976B.L.Johns. said:
Got my ATV up North yesterday.
Saw a Timberdawg. Big ole gray wolf.
As daniel craig said, life's priorities are getting in the way.

Old Marlin was ancient when the show was on. I can’t remember what the younger fellows name was but he just didn’t have Marlins pizazz.

Believe it or not, I made two meals for Marlin Perkins back in the early seventies.
Boy, he was a picky eater. (Age related, I think)



I thought it was Mutual of Omaha as 9X56MS pointed out.
Click to expand...
 
1976B.L.Johns. said:
Got my ATV up North yesterday.
Saw a Timberdawg. Big ole gray wolf.
As daniel craig said, life's priorities are getting in the way.



Believe it or not, I made two meals for Marlin Perkins back in the early seventies.
Boy, he was a picky eater. (Age related, I think)



I thought it was Mutual of Omaha as 9X56MS pointed out.
Click to expand...

it was “Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom”.

I purchased a new Tikka compact in 308 Win for stalking on public near me.
In the process of working up an accurate load for it.
 
Today, I checked my backyard permanent stand.
The lag bolts are all tight. One deck plank needs to be secured.

I put the burlap camo around part of it. This is mostly so the neighbors dont see me as easily.

https://flic.kr/p/2nJad3H

My ladder is secure and locked.

I put some hooks in place to hang my bow and quiver.

2 weeks out for early archery.

I loaded 20 rounds'for my Henry .44 using 240 gr XTPs and Lilgun.

Yesterday, I zeroed my 7mm Mag and getting close to a load for my 300 winmag Tikka.

Couple more rifles to finalize zero and I should be ready.

I love this tine of year.

Had a doe with her fawn and son ( 7 or 8.point).
They've been running together for quite a while.

3 more buck stopped later.

They are in daylight now. Probably each looking to be freezer candidates. I hope it's the 12 point.
 
Not feeling it this year. Drama and lawlessness in my state has me distracted. Property I hunted for 30 years has been sold I put a few cameras out but really not even curious what's on them.
Guns are all sighted in however and working with my bow every few days.
 
From this morning...3 of us practiced on 6 tgts out to 460yds, shooting off bipods, tripod, standing un-supported (138yds), kneeling, prone off back-pack, and off a log:

Not the best pic, but the TGTs going up my hill:

MfPSCG6l.jpg

My 24" Nosler M48 in .270 with Leupold VX6HD 2-12 locked into my Tripod. Zero issues sitting out to 460.

RU1WGA5l.jpg

Prone off of backpack:

Yh8YDHYl.jpg

My new "favorite" perfect for KS whitetails out of stand or blind rifle. It shot well out to 460 using "prone log" and "tripod with bag", did so-so at offhand 3/5 at 138.

pCKiKOnl.jpg

We had a great time, and learned/re-learned which positions are good for what distance. probably going back to working with .22LR and .223 for the rest of the week at least. Finding suitable bullets is a real PITA right now.
 
Rucking. I know I’ll find deer around 1,500 vertical feet above the truck. Also doing 250 push-ups and 250 crunches several times a week. I’m at a point where I don’t really need to scout but the area is a workout.

Haven’t shot the 06’ yet but have been training quite a bit with my AR in field positions.
 
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Chuck R. said:
From this morning...3 of us practiced on 6 tgts out to 460yds, shooting off bipods, tripod, standing un-supported (138yds), kneeling, prone off back-pack, and off a log:

Not the best pic, but the TGTs going up my hill:

View attachment 1100514

My 24" Nosler M48 in .270 with Leupold VX6HD 2-12 locked into my Tripod. Zero issues sitting out to 460.

View attachment 1100515

Prone off of backpack:

View attachment 1100516

My new "favorite" perfect for KS whitetails out of stand or blind rifle. It shot well out to 460 using "prone log" and "tripod with bag", did so-so at offhand 3/5 at 138.

View attachment 1100517

We had a great time, and learned/re-learned which positions are good for what distance. probably going back to working with .22LR and .223 for the rest of the week at least. Finding suitable bullets is a real PITA right now.
Click to expand...

Great realistic training and beautiful Nosler! How is that CDS working for you? I like mine quite a bit.
 
Peakbagger46 said:
Great realistic training and beautiful Nosler! How is that CDS working for you? I like mine quite a bit.
Click to expand...

I've been very impressed with the M48. Mines the "budget" Liberty model with the PacNor barrel. It's easily sub MOA and cleans very, very easily. I was so impressed with it, I had another PacNor put on my little M7 in .260 (fluted bolt & barrel pictured)

I've got 5 Scopes with CDS; 3 VX6HDs and 2 VX3is. I've only actually gotten the dial for one, and that's a 1-6X that sits on my 3Gun rig. The others are all still MOA. Every time I think of having a dial done, I remember how often I change loads, or during days like these how hard it gets to find my favorite bullets.

I might have a dial made for my VX6HD in 3-18X with B&C reticle mounted on my M700 in .300Win. I'm going to work up a load for the 180NAB for a WY Elk/Mule deer combo hunt in a couple years. Right now it's zero'd for Sierra 165 game changers as I use it as a back-up to my M48 for my "long" shot deer areas.

A friend of mine has the CDS dial on his Nosler M48 in .300WSM and he swears by it, but he sticks with one load with Nolser 165CT bullets. I'm guessing he's got a a lot of them. Today he said he's got 1300 Sierra 168 OTMs he's willing to share if we need then. We've set up several iterations like what we shot today and I've seen him have no problems getting his hits. As far as functioning, all of mine work great, no problems with tracking. I simply make dope charts and tape them to my stock with MOA data and the actual distances the BDCs corelate to.
 
Speed Goat 2022 4.JPG Speed Goat 2022.JPG

Horrible conditions but success. Nice Goat at about 380 yds with my 700SPS in .270 WSM. Our public land antelope draw hunts are only 3 days, so every minute counts. And they are hard to draw! This was about 11:45 AM on opening day with a steady drizzle falling turning into quite a storm later. By myself as my hunting partner was out of state and my preparations were poor due to work and family visiting right up to leaving time. I only shot 6 rounds through my rifle to check zero and called it good the week before. I very rarely shoot my hunting rifles, they do not change from year to year. I do ( a bit shakier!), but they don't!
 
Decided that this year I want to make my 5 year old Mini Dachshund/some kind of terrier into a squirrel dog. A bit late, but no better time than now to start. She's always had one hell of a prey drive for anything that's smaller than her, especially when it comes to squirrels.

I put out a live trap to catch her a live one to interact with. No squirrels yet, but the second night it was out I caught a raccoon.
PXL_20220926_113325473.jpg
 
I've prepared.
I'm in my tree as I type.
I got up here and set at 620 this morning.
My camera shows a nice 8 point stopped by at 607.

I can see my reticle point at just about 7AM.

Patiently waiting for his big 12. Pt brother although they are still mostly nocturnal.
 
I still have almost a month until bow season even starts. My next prep phase will be putting out my last popup blind, followed by assembling and loading the feeders. This will happen in about 10 days. It WOULD have happened last weekend, but at the time, we weren't sue what Ian was going to do. I didn't want to add my hunting stuff to the other junk that would have been flying all over the countryside if we had been hit by that storm.
 
Spent a couple hours this morning uncovering an old steel ladder stand in my friend's woods. Fell over a few years ago from the straps rotting away and everything grew over it. I was never in it because even 6 years ago when I began hunting these woods it looked like it was about to fall. Planning to get it back up in a different tree about 20 yards away. Here's after a bunch of brush & limb cutting. IMG_4729.JPG . Reciprocating saws really come in handy for stuff that's only a few inches in diameter versus using a chain saw. IMG_4733.JPG . Picked out a nearby tree on the edge of the clearing and spent more time cutting access to it so as soon as I can get a couple helpers, we can muscle the ladder stand up and secure it with some new ratchet straps. It's right near a trail cam that's been seeing deer come through for over a year now. Caught this guy coming through last Thursday.. WGI_3925.JPG . He's probably no more than 25 yards from the new location for the ladder stand. Of course, by gun season in November his habits will most likely change. But then; one of these days I hope to be in the right blind or ladder stand at the right time on the right day. Once the leaves are down the visibility will go way up, especially from an elevated stand. Here's a close up of a doe from the same trail cam in the same spot back in February. WGI_3920.JPG . The clearing I referenced is visible in the background. It's fun planning & discussing strategy for an upcoming season which makes this thread entertaining.
 
I got the new 350 legend rifle all set up and sighted in for deer season.
When I get back to New York next Tuesday I need to find a bunch of scrap plywood and or osb to make cubby sets for fisher trapping which opens on the 25th of October.
I might buy another box of 350 legend ammo just to have extra on hand. I might also buy the dies and bullets for it if I have the extra $100 plus dollars.
 
My "upcoming" hunting season (deer season) isn't coming around for another year. Yesterday was opening day, and I killed a decent buck yesterday evening.
Unlike some of you folks back east and down south, we're only allowed one deer a year here, and he has to be wearing antlers unless you're sixteen or under. Consequently, I ended my deer season this year yesterday, October 10th - opening day.
That's perfectly okay by me though - as soon as it's cut up, we'll have venison in the freezer. My mouth is already watering for my wife's chicken fried venison steaks with biscuits and gravy. Besides, my wife still has a deer tag in another unit. So, for the remainder (about 2 weeks) of deer season this year, I'll be doing what I can to help my wife get her deer. I just won't be carrying a rifle - not that I'd be tempted to shoot another deer myself if I got the chance (I wouldn't). It's that I don't care for the idea of lugging around an 8 lb. rifle that I'm not going to use
I'll carry my little Glock G44 in case I run across a mountain grouse that I figure I can snip the head off of - that's legal here this time of year. ;)
 
A bit over a week ago we plowed and planted ~3 acres of food plots spread out over 7 location on the property. I check the zeros on my 30 RAR and my backup 450 BM. Last weekend I check all the game cameras and we have several really nice buck coming along. I also did some scouting looking for bedding areas and travel corridors. In the next week or two I need to get into my favorite deer stands and trim some shooting corridors.
 
Sighted in deer rifles today along with my son and grandson. All good. Had trouble finding ammo but got some. Need to dig out my gear make sure all is well. Thankful that I will be able to hunt.
 
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