Big shout out to Big Daddy, who has stuck with me on the BIG DEER blog since I launched it 10 years ago: Mike: Got this guy October 16 from my place in Potter County. This is my 40th archery buck in 40 years from Pennsylvania, which is a 1 buck per year state. Good hunting, Terry Murphy, a.k.a. Big Daddy. Way to go Big Daddy, one heck of an accomplishment sir!
Had my annual physical recently, and glad to report that, knock on wood, I’m doing well. But doc did say, “You have slight high-frequency hearing loss in your left ear.” I have always been able to hear extremely well, able to pick up the crunch of deer hooves at long range and zero in on the direction and location of those sounds. Hearing has been my greatest attribute as a hunter, and to know I’ve lost even a bit of that is disturbing. Audiologists point out that exposure to noise greater than 140 dB can permanently damage hearing. Almost all guns create noise over that level. A .22 can produce noise around 140 dB, while larger calibers can produce sound [...]
I was texting with my friend John Fink, a firearms and optics expert who works for Trijicon. I am fixing to mount a couple of world-class Accupoint scopes on new rifles, and asked John’s advice for doing so. His reply: You typically want to mount a scope as low as possible on a rifle. The height of the rings you’ll need is determined by the objective diameter of the scope. Good rule of thumb is mount a scope as low as possible without the objective bell touching the barrel, and at the back end, allowing clearance at the eyepiece for free operation of the bolt. A low mount makes the scope rock solid, and leads to good accuracy. In the [...]
Some good hunters I know don’t hunt their best stands until around Halloween, and then they hunt them hard for the next 3 weeks. Their strategy is sound: put no pressure on bucks until they start rutting and moving more in daylight hours. Good in theory, yes, but I don’t believe that approach is practical for most of us. You’re busy…you hunt when you can. If that happens to be in October, great. The woods are beautiful, the weather is nice and there are fewer people in the timber than there will be come November. There are opportunities to get your buck, and here is one thing to keep in mind. Grant Woods, one of the premier whitetail scientists [...]
Saw this and thought it was a cool way to save a few bucks. As the story indicates shipping pallets are usually free, as many businesses just want to get rid of them. You haul them off and everybody’s happy: The one-man, full-height blind consists of 6 pallets, two 2×2 corner strips, and a handful of wood screws…. have all your pieces cut (including shooting windows) and ready to assemble prior to going into the woods with it. Then all you need is a cordless screwdriver and you can erect the blind at your hunting spot… For a roof add a couple of wood slats and a scrap piece of tarp…staple roofing felt around the inside to make it warmer…wrap [...]