Kayak_Runner

Any of the garands for sale H&R or International Harvester stamped receives?

If you plan to shoot a bandolier or two I would start investing and collecting reloading gear and supplies. US/NATO surplus M2 Ball is increasingly harder to find, and is generally at a premium. You can also change out your gas plug for a ported one from garandgear.com that will allow you to shoot commerical ammo safely. Even if you don't reload, save your brass. Eventually you'll wish you had it to reload it whether by you or a buddy who has the gear.

I saw a few guys run down the river late in the morning after 9AM. didn't see any other hunters in the main section. Never hunted the otherside of the road.

Just moved back to St. Louis from a 1-1/2 year stint in Nebraska and haven't had a ton of time to scout the pre-season (New jobs, wedding, and house hunting). Went out to a spot i've hunted in the past at River Round CA. All the fields are overgrown including the truck paths around the fields which made the hike to the back fun and very damp. Had a doe cross the river out of a bedding area on the opposite side of the river at first light. Decided to let her pass in hopes others would follow, but no go. I got down around noon and looked for sign. Only found one old rub in a cedar patch, no other notable buck sign. Possibly going back this Sunday, hoping to get a doe in the freezer to make the rest of the season a little less stressful before a moving on to other areas. My only other plan is to keep out of the tree and stay mobile until I start hitting more concentrated sign to make up for the lack of a pre-season.

My cousin took a cow elk off of RIley when he was stationed there for a short while. Fort Sill, OK has them roaming around on the impact range too. I've been struggling to find any history on how they got there. Anyone have knowledge of an introduction?

Christened a new deer hunter this weekend. Took my younger brother to Mark Twain Sunday morning, heard about some big deer but we only crossed paths with does that didn't present a shot but this 4 pointer that did. Came in on a string to a rattle bag...drag out wasn't fun....next time we go there we will take packs or a packout cart.

PM me the name of that park if you don't mind.

Going to Stockton Lake Friday-Sunday. Going to for an observation sit Friday evening with the bow. Saturday and Sunday We'll be in a ground set waiting for deer to move through a timber spot. Jester all the movement I have been seeing is around food for about an hour around daybreak, late afternoon in the hardwoods, and I'm seeing the highest concentration of deer an hour prior to dark as they come to the field to field. Haven't seen a lot of cruising deer in the day (about an 1 hrs north on HWY-61 out of St. Louis), hoping that changes and that they're moving around Stockton.

That's awesome! Congrats!

Way to go! Unfortunate that it happens but you can't account for everything. Thanks for sharing it. Would have been puzzling to come upon that blood trail in the middle of the woods after the fact.....might make a few hairs on my neck stand up!

Did this sell? I'm home (Ozark, MO) this weekend and may have to buy this (gun with rings only) just because.

I went out Friday afternoon to dark, Saturday morning until midday, and Sunday morning until midday. Friday night I had a very boring set in some very nice weather. Decided to get down at 5:45 and move to the field edge in hopes that deer would move in to feed. 1 buck unsure of the point count as the light faded fast and i could only see his shape. 3 does passed me at 25 yds but again not enough light to shoot and the rain was coming so I held off on shooting for fear of not being able to trail if she went far. Saturday I was in an hour before legal light, watched a fair number of does and two 4-pointers in a cut beanfield but nothing move toward me in their exit from the field. 11am rolled around and i was contemplating getting down and prowling the edges adjacent to quail hunters in hope they would bump something...I'm half-way down the tree and an 8 pointer appears from the drainage 80yds to my right at a steady pace, he was putting distance between him and whatever bumped him, he made for the field edge stopped in the middle to catch the wind and continued in the direction of my secondary set and rub/scrape line. Quail hunters were the theme the rest of the day but I had no luck trying to mooch. Yesterday morning I putzed around the parking lot pissing/moaning about the rain and daylights savings until I had enough and made the walk. Moved in slow, had to wait on a doe to move off as i was hoping a buck might harass her, decided I would just a soon be happy with that and tried to close the gap from 110 yds. Managed to make it to 45 before i ran out of concealment....contemplated shooting, but held off. she walked back into the bedding and I waited 30 minutes before continuing to my stand. I'm in a secondary set overlooking a 40 yds string of scrapes, and thicket patch with a lot of rubs, was hoping for a buck to come in and refresh the scrapes but that looks like its a mostly nocturnal path at this point. Wednesday day/evening is my next go.....I'm racking my brain over where to move, how the wind will be, what approach paths will be viable. I need anxiety medication..... or meat in the freezer. Rifle is also this coming weekend. I'm heading back to Springfield to hunt with my younger brother. At this point I'm throwing darts at the shoreline of Stockton Lake map.

I'm champing at the bit for tomorrow afternoon! The rain in the St. Louis area should put some bucks on their feet tomorrow through the weekend. Anyone else planning to get out?

People broke the site trying to register. I tried at 8:20 with 200 rods left and it just keep rejecting the entry....oh well.

Same area....new spot and last night got interesting. Made it to the tree at 2:30 and was up and settled a little before 3pm.....crickets until 5:15, 1 doe turned into 5, about 150 yds out in a combined bean field. 5:45, two does are b-lining right for my tree.....meat in the freezer. As I grab my bow I hear grunting like skipping record. Look up and I have my first crack at a legal buck (lincoln county- 4 point restriction). He is tiny.... no width...but he's got 4 points and he's coming in range. As he closes 40 yds I run through the mental check, position my feet lean out and wait for him to close 30. He stops just inside of 40 and turns around to thrash a scrubby oak sapling. I'm confident in the range and this is where it all goes down hill....I draw back, I breath settle my 40yds pin, pull through the shot, as I hear the safety sear click over in my release i pull through the back wall and watch through my sight housing as my arrow sales over his back. He's oblivious to me but is now on alert he darts 5 yds and slowly circles at 50. until he walks to 70 and back into a draw away from the beans. My opportunity is gone. I re-range the oak sapling.....34yds. I'm shooting 285 fps with a heavy arrow at 64lbs so my pin gap between 30 and 40 yds make way more of difference over my 20 and 30 yds pins. I have once again learned the painful lesson of needing to wait... I did have one consolation prize.....i found 2 more coveys of quail in a seperate section from the one i located on Sunday. Anyone know what kind of range they keep how far will they move from one area to another?

Went out Sunday started calm but the wind probably blew out 180 degrees by 9:30. Decided to stay out until noon enjoying the weather before calling it quits. Not a complete loss of a day....as I was walking out via the gravel road I jumped 20+ quail out of the ditch. My heart was in my throat before they flew out shotgun range. Made a mental note, will likely be back November 1. Going a little more mobile this coming Saturday to scout around in prep for an all day sit this Sunday. Trying to convince myself to bring out the struggle stick over my compound...but will likely wait until I have a doe in the freezer and get out of my current "meat-crisis".

Congrats! Great pictures.

I've lowered my bar to freezer fillers for this weekend....mostly because I'm taking the recurve and with my luck you'll probably see a photo of deer jusssstttt outside my comfort range. Excited for the cool mornings this weekend! GL this weekend.

Well, I don't see anyone discussing it so I happily will. I had a great opening weekend especially in the mornings as the heat wasn't completely unbearable. Hunting two public parcels one about an hour west of StL off I-70 and the other about an hour south of StL. Only saw does on Saturday, with a noticeable lack of hunting pressure on both days. I spent most of the day on the ground walking field edges with a fairly dead wind while trying to dodge hordes of turtles. Found a coyote bone pile, and missed a pair of does that crossed from beds into the wood edge in the process. Noticed the posterior end of one browsing in the acorns and got within 20 yds. Decide to hold off shooting (dumb) as it was opening day and I had higher hopes I would see one of the bucks I had seen the year before. Was able to watch for a while before I got picked up and they spent the next 10 minutes listening to them stamp, bark, and snort at me. The wind was still dead, they saw me but didn't smell me and I assume that was the reason for them only running 20-30 yds further vs all the way down the hill to the adjacent property. Sunday was dead, and I was far less mobile. Found a spot to set up and climbed up for the sit. I'm trying out a new stand method with a saddle setup, that's been pretty comfortable, and far easier to set up and take down and allows me to block a lot of movement with the tree itself as I can swing nearly 360 degrees around it. Decided to call it around 10 AM to get down and walk some of the outer edges I hadn't been through before. I also finally have my recurve sorted as well! It's a Ben Pearson Hawk 7370 I found in an estate sale for pennies and will be taking that out more this year once the 135gr Zwickey's I order show up. Hoping for cooler days soon!

I love Hank Shaw's recipes, his books are well worth the price. He's got a great feature episode on MeatEater where he cooked Jack Rabbit, Sardinian Hare Stew. The recipe works really well with cottontails too. http://www.themeateater.com/2013/a-hank-shaw-recipe-sardinian-hare-stew/

Making my way home tonight! Running to Talbot tomorrow, good luck and be safe.

One other thing that I would suggest... If you are using your stock bows strings and cables... buy an extra set now. If you have the gross misfortune to knick your string while there, a local bow shop can install your spare vs you having to wait for one to get overnighted to you (if that's even an option). My buddy went Wyoming last year for Archery Antelope, knicked his string on day 1. It was cheaper/faster for me to overnight my setup to a UPS store for pickup than for him to get a new string and cables from Lancaster 2-day air.

Listen to your outfitter. Fixed blades present one less problem in that setting. Montecs are great, and I've shot them for the last 2 years, but I'm going back to the muzzy trocars. I like the trocars more only because they don't whistle when flying and have tended to group tighter at distance for my arrow setups. I would also look at your arrow build, ask your outfitter for some recommendations, visit a bow shop near you, or call bow shops in the area you are going to hunt in for suggestions. My advice to you for Elk would be to opt for a slower, heavy arrow. Arrow momentum is far more important than arrow speed with elk even at distances past 30 yards. Speed will get you to the target, but momentum is what you need to punch through even on well-placed shots. I assume you're taking a compound bow based on your question about the broadhead. Depending on your draw length, draw weight and your bows IBO speed you can find a pretty good middle ground for speed and arrow mass well within the safety range of your bow. I would also ask your outfitter what type of hunting you're going to do. If you're going on a spot and stalk you should practice shooting positions from your knees and standing and mix in different angles up/down hill . Good Luck and get those practice reps in!!!

reel and sweep slowly if you are casting, or up if you are jigging vertically.

If you can find a deep dock (40+fow) with trees under it we've had a lot of success all year round, same with ned rigs suspending them over and down the side of the trees. It's frustrating when the lake comes up/down and the dock stall moves from where we are used to throwing over the target trees. Then we have to find a new spot similar setup. It's especially frustrating when the dock stall you're used to throwing in is open year round (no boat or float)..... We generally throw Dixie Jets (3/4-1oz Chome, white or coleslaw) or slab spoons (3/4-1oz silver or white, straight or with a slight bend/kink) on a 7Ft Medium-heavy / Moderate action rod on 12-15lbs flourocarbon or braid w/ flouro leader. I think the dixie jets come with a split ring and barrel swivel and I've never thrown it without, I imagine the line would twist without it. Great walleye/white bass lure to.