Johnsfolly

I love a good pot roast. Looks like a good meal!

Made my second sit in my ground blind. Last year this blind was a really good morning hunt location. It is located very near the bedding area and sits in between the intersection of two major trails. The blind is tucked into an alcove of cedars. I headed out early Saturday morning. As I walked in I spray down my pant legs with Nose Jammer spray and I rub Ever Calm deer scent on the bottom of my boots. I also sprayed Tink's doe in estrus gel periodically as I walked in. I sprayed more gel around the primary ambush area that I can see from my blind. It was 5 am and I did not bump any deer on the way into my blind. It was a weird morning since it took a long time before I could actually see my pins. Fortunately no deer came down either trail. Right at 8 am I spotted a fawn coming on the trail in front of me. It was sniffing the spots where I had sprayed the scent gel. I will state that I am a meat hunter with a legal game animal in front of my blind. So I drew on the deer, but could not get an open shot as it walked around in the low brush. I was at full draw for a long time. Finally the fawn was stopped in front of a new "trail" that Livie and I cut in the honeysuckle. It was quartering away and I hut my release. Since I had been looking through my peep sight this whole time I did not see a second deer. As the arrow went towards the fawn it moved to its right and the arrow passed in front of it. However the arrow hit a doe high in the front shoulder that was on the new trail. She and the fawn ran off to my left and then straight away from my blind. I could see the arrow and it looked to have only 4 to 5" of penetration. I contacted a friend to help blood trail this deer. I was not feeling confident that this was a fatal hit or with only an entry wound whether we would find her. We would meet in an hour and a half later. So I stuck it out in the blind and kept going over what just happened. 10 minutes later a spike came down the same primary trail that the other two deer used. He sniffed the area with the gel and then the last spot where the fawn was standing. As quickly as he came in he was gone. Did not see any other deer until we started looking for a blood trail. As I feared there was no blood any where near the spot that she got hit. I was really comfortable that I knew which trail she headed down. After about another 20-25 yards on that trail, still no blood and I did not find my arrow. The trail splits into two trails, one heading into a thick honeysuckle stand and the other going around that brush. We decided to go around and behind that brush. I noticed some heavy hoof prints like those of a running deer on the other side of the honeysuckle. Near one of the prints I saw a spot of blood that was less than 1/4 " in diameter then another and then another oblong spot giving us a direction. This trail held some promise, but still doubt as to whether we would find this dear. The spots were not very big and we had to back trail several times. Lots of kneel time crawling from tiny spot to tiny spot of blood. After 40 to 45 minutes I have ridden the rollercoaster of doubt and then another spot of blood or a larger spot of blood. Finally we were at a spot where it was obvious on the direction that she was headed. As she headed up the slight hill we began seeing more and larger blood spots. Now following a "true" blood trail where we could see blood 15 feet in front of us. We crossed a power line opening and found her just on the edge of the woods on the other side. She ended up about 150 yards from the blind. Our persistence on the blood trail paid off. The shot was just in front of the shoulder blade. The Rage broadhead cut the top of both lungs and cut through the trachea. As stated in the post title, sometimes if is better to be lucky than good. Now I have to figure out how to cook the heart. I went out after dark to go find my arrow and the lighted nock made finding it fairly simple. I found it right in the middle of the honeysuckle thicket.

This was definitely one of my favorite Farley skits ! Amazed at how many really funny men end up being the reason for their own demise. Very sad.

Great color on those rainbows! Congrats buddy and as always a little jealous knoing now how good it can be at night fishing Taney!

Great to hear that good customer service isn't dead. Keep showing us what can be caught with those spoons!

I wasn't planning on getting into the deer blind this morning. I don't know about Mitch but I have no excuse to be up this early like someone on a pending duck hunt ☺!

Not a jig head that I have used enough to provide any valuable feedback. Sorry Mitch.

Old Plug tbat is a pig! Congrats!

Haven't made chili oil. I would think that it may not be too difficult. We did make peppered vinegar by packing a small canning jar full of the thai peppers and white vinegar. Got somd good heat and nice vinegar flavor. Yes we try to drain our barrels or leave a lot of space in the barrel so if they freeze there is room for ice expansion over the winter. We try to fill bottles and store the water in the garage. We don't disconnect them from the downspouts but you could.

I wont say that we were well off, but we never realy wanted as kids. My dad came from a poor family and an abusive alcoholic father. So he worked hard so his family wouldn't have to live under those conditions. I did have issues with my mom and because of that learned to fend for myself at an early age including learning to cook. My dad hunted before he married my mom but gave it up soon after. He wasnt much of a fisherman either though we did fish together. I have always loved to fish and didn't begin hunting until in my late 20's. The idea of being self sufficient started that drive. Then I found out how to cook wild game and I try where possible to treat game meat as a special meal. My step mother who never lived outside of New York city until after she married my dad will only eat venison if I prepare it. We are now out of small game. So I will have to get back after them critters after a couple more deer hunts☺.

Always a fine dining experience at Ness'! That is when he is not eating on the deck☺! More often than not we can hardly see our table top let alone put out a table cloth for dinner or have proper place settings☺. Keep it up buddy.

Dan great job on the white bass! Binks should be cutting you endorsement checks for all the fish the you have caught and posted using their spoons☺!

We are all opinionated and very passionate about what we love doing! We don't always agree with each other but pretty sure that on the water these disagreements go by the wayside and the trip would likely result in a lively competition on who's catching the most or the biggest☺. Keep posting!

Good luck buddy! Can't wait to see some fall colored McClouds!

Dan glad to see you breaking in the new boat! Little striper slime doesn't do any harm. Congrats!

Nothing at Folly farms but a last flush of tomatoes! Didn't get a fall planting done.

Thanks buddy for making sure that my brown trout was still swimming☺! Do wish that I could have been able to fish with you guys. Just didn't work out. I am jealous of both the brown and that giant drum. Can't wait to see what you guys catch tonight!

Sounds like you guys had a great hunt! I started on this thread this evening and am assuming that there might be a huntung post☺. I'll be looking for that next.

Gavin that looks fantastic! Let us know when dinner will be served.

Congrats buddy nice bunch of quackers! Looks like all greenwings! Got my mouth watering☺.

Great photos and congrats on a bunch of nice crappie!

I also believe that the fish numbers may be down. I would suggest the float to cover more water. Or at least water that hasn't seen a lot of wading boot traffic. Good luck! Hope to see some CPR from you trip (catch photograph release).

I havent been bow hunting very long and have always wondered when is the best time to begin using doe in estrus scents. Is now (Nov 1) too early? Should I wait until next week or two? Do you find that this scent keeps does from coming in?

Way to stay persistent on the tracking job! That's a nice deer! Too bad about the spoilage. I would bet that one of those does may bear the brunt of that lost meat sometime in the near future☺!

I guess technically it's a carped pumpkin☺. Trying for a bass but it got away from me during the carving and left a carp. Tried doing this carving free hand just using a paring knife. Need to get better tools. Maybe next year I will gig a bass or two for models☺.