It has been many years since I didn't go Wild Turkey hunting on opening day or at any time during the entire spring turkey hunting season here in Anson County, NC.  This was mostly due in part to some new things that were added to my "bucket list" that I had not planned for and the details are located on my Yard Projects 2015 page.  Check out my photo page for some friends turkey harvest 2015.

However, I do believe with the date on my birth certificate, each year seems to have a direct proportional relationship to my common sense factor increasing as well.  Also, I used to go Archery Hunting opening day regardless if the temperature was in the ninety (90) degree plus mark with swarms of blood thirsty mosquitoes waiting to tap into your blood supply like Standard Oil Company drilling for ancient oil deposits trapped several miles beneath the surface of the earth.  Those days are long gone and now with my common sense factor increasing, imagine that of which my bride of forty-seven (47) years will wholeheartedly concur, I have also experienced a much higher and better wild game hunting to harvest ratio.  For example; last year I climbed into my favorite hunting platform two times and harvested two deer with the bow and arrow.  That is about as good as it gets and didn't start bowhunting until the weather cooled down in early October with a good fall chill to the air which kept the "vampire" mosquitoes at bay.  It was 100 percent more enjoyable and I like to refer to it as "Hunting Smarter, Not Harder"........grin if you must!  I hunt for the freezer and do love hunting with the bow and arrow which is my most favorite type of big game hunting, although I do enjoy muzzleloader aka black powder hunting, rifle hunting and also hunting with a revolver, but the release of the arrow is at the top of my list with the bow and arrow, not a crossbow and bolt. 

WANTABE BOW HUNTERS

I use to grin at the "wantabe" bow hunters who would obtain special physical handicap permits to use a crossbow allowing them to harvest deer without having to put the time, effort and energy to practice with a standard bow, whether it was a long bow, recurve and/or the more modern cam bow.  Cocking a crossbow presents a physical challenge itself since most have about 150 pounds draw weight plus way back then, ratchet type cocking winches were not available to cock them.  Those that were truly handicapped and wanted to hunt with an arrow, that is fine by me.  Today, anyone can use a crossbow in North Carolina and most other States and by allowing more people access to the archery season, that puts more money into The North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission to keep our sport viable. 

I remember one individual (now deceased) that was in our City Lake Archery Club that hunted with his 30-30 Winchester caliber rifle during archery season back in the late 1970s and into the early 1980s and would stick a broadhead tipped arrow into the bullet hole to give the appearance of an archery kill which definitely was illegal.  Some of those same type of individuals was also caught by the game warden squirrel hunting with a 30-30 Winchester caliber rifle and the game warden that caught him didn't fall for that mess either!   I have broken game laws before, but it didn't take but one time getting caught to "break this ole boy from sucking eggs"........grin if you must and that was around 1969 if memory is correct!  BTW, we were found not guilty by the Court, only because we practiced our scenario of what allegedly happened better than the Game Wardens version of what they allegedly saw; they tripped themselves up with their conflicting testimony while under oath......put two plus two together on this one.  Anyway, Judge Fetzer Mills stated, "I don't know who is telling the truth, but if you boys ever come in this Court with something like this again, you had better bring your toothbrushes with you because you are going up the creek", to paraphrase what he said!

Today is September 13, 2015 and our archery season came in this past Saturday and I finally got my ole 2008 model Mathews Drenalin Solo cam bow out and shot a few practice broadheads into a couple 3-D deer targets.  That 60 pound bow pulled back like it was 100 pounds but after a few arrows were released, my dormant muscles started cooperating much better.  The first arrow released was "dead center" and had only one marginal arrow that impacted low because I dropped my bow hand slightly but it still would have been a kill shot.  I plan to shoot about a dozen arrows every other day until next month when I will start bowhunting. 

Web published by Bill aka Mickey Porter on 09-14-15.

3-D TARGET SHOOTING ON 09-14-15

I got the bow out around mid-day to shoot a few practice broadheads and the ole Drenalin bow still pulls back pretty hard and that is due to muscles not being used for that particular application.  While pulling arrows from the doe 3-D target, I noticed a deer track about 5 or 6 feet from the target and the deer sure do not show me any respect.  For several years now, bucks have sparred with my buck 3-D decoy and roughed him up pretty good; knocking his legs out from under him and also detaching his head/neck from the body of the decoy.  I added a short story titled, Buck Decoy Works and set my game trail camera up and captured a few pixs of some deer activity around the decoy which happened both day and night as evidenced by the date/time stamp on the pixs.

I definitely would not win any archery tournament with my current arrow grouping but the groups would harvest a deer.  I should be slapping arrows together in a couple weeks though, pixs below:

I checked a few of the close by willow and white oak trees and there are some acorns which is one of deer's favorite foods around these parts.  Squirrels have been cutting the Red Oak acorns the past few weeks with the shells from the acorns covering the ground.  When the acorns are profusely on the ground, deer will walk past broadcast corn but will later return for a snack.

I played around with the Canon 35MM DSLR camera and took a picture focusing through the single pin fiber optic scope on my Mathews Drenalin Solo Cam bow.  I didn't set up a tri-pod to hold the bow but just held the bow in my left hand and the camera in my right hand, therefore the set-up wasn't perfect but you get the idea.  Seventeen (17) yards sure does look a lot farther when looking through the no magnification scope housing; one could easily get "tunnel vision" for sure!  The fiber optic pin looks like it is battery operated but works on existing light, even in the shade.  The fiber optic pin is much smaller than it appears due to the closeness of the camera in the photograph below.  Normally that pin will be about 30 inches from your eye at full draw with the green fiber optic pin very small and taking up little real-estate aka area when superimposed and positioned on a deer's vitals.

Web published update by Bill aka Mickey Porter on 09-14-15.

FIRST ARCHERY HUNT OF OUR 2015 ARCHERY SEASON 10-06-15

After our two week unofficially declared monsoon rainy season by yours truly, today was a good day to be in the woods hunting with the bow and arrow aka stick n string.  I shot a few practice arrows the past couple days but my grouping was very poor.  A couple weeks ago when the rain started, the rubber tubing broke that keeps my string peep sight in alignment and replaced it with new tubing of which I must have inadvertently moved the peep sight slightly.  I keep records of my bows brace height and the peep sight distance from the string loop for reference as needed and the peep sight distance was a little off.  This late in the archery season, it is not the time to be fiddling around with adjustments on your equipment of which should already be dialed in as good as it will get.  As I have stated many times on this website, Murphy's Law, Never Sleeps!  I readjusted the elevation on my scope mounting bracket and got the arrows grouping fairly close to point of aim; hopefully good enough for a kill shot.

Today, the wind was gusting pretty heavy at times and finally got onto my elevated tree stand hunting platform sometime around 2:37 P.M. which is much earlier than I normally get set up for an afternoon hunt.  This hunting location is more of an evening hunt but when the rut kicks in next month, it works both morning and evening.

Squirrels had about decimated my foam padded black naughyde cushion seat and took a spare with me and had to tie it in place since the other one is screwed in place from the bottom side of the wooden seat structure.  I carried along my back pack which has enough gear stored to stay in a survival mode for about a week but just as sure as I leave something out of its inventory, it will be immediately needed on the next hunt.  I don't use a bow quiver attached to my bow but have a four arrow quiver and usually have it snapped onto the loop on my back pack and once on the platform and/or tree stand, position it where I can easily remove an arrow.  Since last year, I started using a full safety harness and have a HSS lifeline installed from the tree platform about head height and secured to the steel ladder near the base of the tree whereas I am tethered to it while ascending and descending the tree and I also am tethered to the tree once I get onto my hunting platform.  Once I got onto the platform, I released the safety strap of the safety harness from the lifeline Prusik knot loop carabiner and placed it on the carabiner on the strap around the tree, whereby remaining tethered to the tree for safety! 

After pulling my bow up the tree using a 3/8 inch diameter nylon camouflage rope attached to the stand platform just for that purpose that has a brass snap hook at the ground end, I nocked a broadhead arrow and placed the bow on a Rube Goldberg looking hook which can be a bad thing and it eventually will cost you a deer by not having your bow hand in the bow strap of the riser ready to harvest a deer.

The wind was in my favor most of the time and it was gusting in heavy intermittent blasts a few times but settled down to a mild wind coming from the Northeast and West which is excellent for this particular hunting stand.  After about a two week period of not seeing sunshine, today was a most wonderful treat to enjoy Mother Nature with the leaves beginning to take on a dull look and changing colors from their brilliant greens to various shades of the rainbow colors with the photosynthesis process heading toward dormancy only to reappear again in the spring.  Blue Jays where making all kinds of racket close by no doubt alarmed at a snake which they are prone to harass who had come out since the temperature was around 70 plus degrees with the marvelous golden rays of the sun shinning through the trees and canopy.  A few Mourning Doves perched nearby were surveying the scene for a free meal of the broadcast corn and would turn and bob their heads trying to figure out what that object was in the tree in front of them on full alert for any possible danger.  A pair of grey squirrels barking loudly at one another while scampering along on a pine tree going around the tree in a circle dislodging loose bark which was falling to the ground.  After all that wonderful activity taking place, everything returned to normal and was quiet and very relaxing.  I did hear a Red Tailed Hawk screaming a few times along with the noise of the ever present crows which are a nuisance most of the time but a necessary part of Mother Nature.   All of this is a product of God's wonderful creation.

Sometime around 4ish or thereabout, I noticed a last year sized doe had entered silently like a brown ghost from the right on a well used lower game trail at the edge of where I had broadcast shelled corn yesterday and she would get a mouthful of the corn crunching it loudly, looking around not the least bit spooked or on a full alert mode but it doesn't take but a split second and a deer will be gone once danger is recognized.  I watched the doe for a while in hopes that something bigger would show up and she would occasionally lick her back and was somewhere between 12 to 15 yards from my shooting position.  I have a bow model Bushnell range finder that my good friend John Gaddy of Polkton, NC gave me but I haven't gotten into the habit of keeping it in my back pack.  I waited to see if she would step out further into the opening but decided to take the present shot since I am hunting for the freezer as normal.  When she was looking the other way and/or her head down, I slowly moved my body on the tree stand seat to where I was more or less parallel with my body at a right angle to her which is the proper position to take.  I slowly attached my release aid to the loop on the bowstring and pulled the 60 # draw weight bow back to full draw and obtained my normal anchor (left thumb at the base of my neck) since I shoot left handed and with the bow string touching the center of my nose with the fiber optic green pin centered in the rear peep sight with the fiber optic pin positioned behind the doe's left shoulder and let the pin settle down.  When everything looked and felt right, the Scott release aid trigger was gently squeezed without any real conscious effort on my part and the 30.5 inch length Easton XX78 Super Slam 2315 arrow tipped with a 125 grain fixed 3 blade Thunderhead broadhead made its short and deadly flight through the side of the doe being imbedded into the ground at the same angle it left the Mathews 2008 model Drenalin solo cam bow.   

The doe immediately made a ninety degree left turn and came within a couple feet of the base of my tree stand tree and then made a forty-five degree turn to her left and went about 50 yards and stopped.  She stayed there a couple seconds and then went to her right out of sight.  I didn't hear the deer fall or run into any trees or underbrush while exiting of which the area is fairly open and with a proper placed broadhead, you will normally hear the deer fall and kick when down for the 10 count which usually happens within 50 yards.

I attached the bow to the pull up rope and lowered it to the ground which is actually about chest height from ground level and placed my back pack on.  I then removed the safety strap from the tree strap carabineer and placed it onto the carabineer on the Prusik knot loop on the lifeline and climbed down the 27 feet metal three piece ladder that is bolted and chained to the tree.  I normally don't take my bow with me and my arrow quiver was still up on the platform so it would not do any good anyway unless I needed to use the bow for a club or something.....grin if you must!  So far, it hasn't cost me a deer harvest but like I said earlier, Murphy's Law Never Sleeps; (Anything that can do wrong will go wrong!) 

After releasing my safety strap from the lifeline Prusik knot loop carabiner, I went and retrieved my arrow and noticed fairly good lung type blood (pinkish color with air bubbles in it) on the arrow and yellow fletching that was now more reddish in color and also had some chewed up grass like from the stomach but the arrow didn't smell of a gut shot deer so was hopeful that I could find the deer since the arrow shot placement was a little further back on the deer for a perfect lung shot. 

There was blood near my tree stand tree and a sparse blood trail going to where I saw the deer standing for a couple seconds which I am guesstimating at 50 yards.  When I got to that point on the track, there was some blood pooled up and was more optimistic that I would locate the deer.  To make a long story shorter, the deer traveled at least 150 yards total and there was just enough blood trail to find the downed doe.  I set up my small portable tripod and the antique 4 mega pixel Olympus Stylus 400 camera and used my remote control to get a self portrait with the downed deer.  After a few pixs were taken, I immediately field dressed the deer and got her back home as soon as possible.

Below a pix to document the hunt and harvest:

The arrow exited the doe very low and a little further back than I normally shoot for but it did the job.  I took a few more pixs when I got the deer back home at my White Oak hanging tree I nick named Tom Dula aka Dooley after the 1958 folk song by the Kingston Trio Song.....another grin is in order.  Sometime after 5:30ish, I had the doe skinned, quartered and aging out in my basement game refrigerator ready to process this coming Saturday morning for some "beautimous" sliced back straps aka loin straps, sliced tenderloin medallions and ground venison to be used in a variety of recipes. 

Click on the following thumbnail pixs for a larger screen view:

The deer was apparently facing toward my shooting position a little since the exit wound appeared to be a little to the rear.  A low exit wound certainly is desirable too!  The field dressed doe weighted approximately 68 pounds and by standardized charts would weight about 88 pounds plus or minus on the hoof.  That 27 feet high platform tree stand creates a very steep angle at close range which makes it difficult to obtain a double lung hit which takes out an animals transmission very quickly!  The reason for the stand height was because of the steep elevation in front of the tree stand and about the only suitable tree to place it for the normal prevailing winds and get above the deer's line of sight although they do look up more than ever since they learn quickly around broadcast food sources. 

This is an excellent way to start the 2015 archery season and last year, I hunted two times and harvested two deer with the bow and arrow and that is about as good as it gets. 

The doe was registered on line with The North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission to "seal the deal." 

Someone related to my bride about my success as a hunter and I told her to quote them the Magic 5P's of Success; Proper Planning Prevents Poor Performance, even though there is a certain amount of luck involved such as, being at the right place at the right time but I like the 5P's of success much better.........grin if you must!

I am thankful to live in a country where we have the freedom to partake of what God has created.  I give God the praise, honor and glory through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.

NOTE:  One of my hunting buddies aka critics stated the above was a novel and not a short story!

Web published update by Bill aka Mickey Porter on 10-06-15.

AFTER THE DEER IS DOWN 10-10-15

I reserved Saturday morning 10-10-15 to process the doe harvested on 10-06-15 that has been aging out in my basement game refrigerator of which I have the temperature several degrees cooler than the normal setting.  Many will tell you it doesn't do any good to age venison but science disagrees with this assumption.  A good rule of thumb on the ratio of actual deboned meat to the live weight of your deer is somewhere in the neighborhood of a little more than twenty-five (25) percent and that can vary by your area but a good guesstimate for the Eastern Whitetail deer. 

After the neck, shoulders and hind quarters were deboned and the meat ground and vacuum sealed,  I weighted the ground venison and it was 18.5 pounds.  The loin straps and the two small tenderloins (strips of meat on the inside of the deer), their weight was 4.75 pounds for a total weight of deboned meat at 23.25 pounds.  The ratio of deboned meat to the estimated live weight of the doe was around 26.4 percent which according to Leonard Lee Rue III, a little more than one forth of your deer is edible meat.  Since I had a known field dressed actual weight of the doe, ground venison, loin straps. tenderloins, bones from the shoulders, hind quarters and neck, it was easy to ascertain the other weights.

BELOW WEIGHT TABLE

That doe will make some fine meals in the future.  Visit my Wild Game Recipe page for some delicious mouth watering recipes.

PS I stayed on my hunting platform this afternoon from 4:09 until 6:30 P.M. and it started raining pretty good at times and didn't see any deer movement but enjoyed watching other small game and birds.

Web published update by Bill aka Mickey Porter on 10-10-15.

SQUIRREL HUNTING ON 10-14-15

The past several days, the wind has been gusty and variable and not that conducive to bow hunt with the afternoon temperature around 72 degrees.  I got my Savage Mark II BTVLSS target .22 caliber LR rifle out and got a chance to nail a couple squirrels and shooting suppressed is an extreme amount of fun without disturbing the hunting woods.  I am shooting Wolf Match Target .22 caliber long rifle solid nose 40 grain lead bullets rated at 1050 feet per second and they are really quiet with the suppressor.  I haven't shot them through my Shooting Chrony but will do so in the very near future and see if they are around 1050 FPS as advertised and see what kind of variation they have in velocity.  I might even weight 50 rounds and segregate them to 1/10 of a grain for test firing, however I have yet to determine what causes an occasional flyer with too many known variables in the equation to contend with and those that are unknown as well.  Bullets that impact high or low on the target from the main group fired will usually show up at a reduced velocity or a much higher velocity than the main group, however weighting individual bullets did not detect that potential flyer round either.  Top quality consistent ammunition is certainly the key with everything else where it should be in the mix.

Below a couple pixs of the two squirrels taken at around 48 or 49 yards snacking on my broadcast shelled corn.  I had the Weaver T36 35X fixed power scope on the Savage Mark II BTVLSS rifle but plan to take it off and go with my 6 X 18 X 50MM Bushnell Banner scope which has much more light gathering capability and with heavy duplex crosshairs, it will perform much better in the early morning and late afternoon at prime time.  The Bushnell scope is designed more for hunting than target shooting and will give it a good work out very soon.  That is an excellent quality scope for the money.

You can't really call what I did this afternoon "squirrel hunting" since it was more like "squirrel harvesting" but those ole nut eating tree rats as many call them who will squirm at the thought of eating one; yet will consume sushi, raw oysters, snails, caviar, etc.  I guess it depends on how high up the social ladder one thinks they are......grin if you must!  BTW, I have eaten Hickory Shad and Crappie roe which is a poor man's caviar and just might be on the first rung of that social ladder mentioned above....another grin is in order.

Click on thumbnail pixs for a larger screen view and squirrel skinning 101 for a how to short story:

My rifle is shooting just a tad high from my point of aim and will have to get it "dead on."  The first squirrel harvested had a death grip on that kernel of corn in his mouth.

I need about half a dozen more to prepare some fried squirrel and gravy.

Web published updated by Bill aka Mickey Porter on 10-14-15.

BOWHUNTING ON 10-17-15

I have busy as a one leg man in a dance contest this past week and finally got a chance to deer hunt again with the ole stick n string, however I no longer shoot traditional archery with a longbow or recurve bow and wood arrows but it still is a challenge with the Mathews Solo cam Drenalin bow. I  have bow hunted a couple times since 10-06-15 if memory is correct.

This morning was a little on the "nipply" side with temperature around 37 degrees and with a high of 67 degrees.  I got on stand sometime around 4 P.M. with the temperature around 58 degrees and wore a heavier cotton long sleeve camouflage tee shirt which felt comfortable beneath my military antiquated woodland shirt jacket.  It didn't take but a minute to realize I had forgotten my camouflage face mask and figured that would be a problem for sure.  I normally keep a backup face mask and extra pair of gloves in my back pack for such emergencies but Murphy's Law won out again.

The normal scenario unfolded with various birds in and out of the broadcast corn in front of my platform tree stand with the Cardinal and Mourning Doves being much more aggressive and territorial than normal this afternoon.  Somewhere around 6:20 P.M. the sun made its descent behind the tree lined ridge and it wasn't too long before I heard the tell tale steps of deer rustling the dry leaves a good ways from my position.  The sounds were very slow and deliberate and around 6:40 a spike buck (management deer) entered the broadcast corn area using the lower game trail coming in from the right side of my tree platform.  About two or three minutes later, I heard a couple more deer approaching from the same direction and two last year does also entered the area directly in front of my position.  The buck was a little bigger than the two does and decided and take the first available shot that presented itself.  I started to draw my bow on one of the does that was about 15 yards and one of them looked in my direction and had to stop the draw and slowly let the bow rest on my right knee and thigh area and was in an awkward position. 

Finally, the spike buck turned broadside and quartering away to the right at about 17 yards and I slowly drew the bow back and let the fiber optic pin settle on his rib cage about middle way up and the arrow was released and looked like it was a good hit upon impact of which the arrow is moving along pretty fast for a 60# bow weight and launching a heavy arrow.  The spike buck immediately left in the direction to my left which he was facing and a second or two later I heard some thrashing noise like he was down for the ten count.  However, one of the does was now about 30 yards from my position in light cover and had her attention directed toward me.  She starred intently at me and It seemed like forever and finally I had to get down and check on the buck and as soon as I moved, the doe ran off without snorting.  That doe will be much wiser the next time she comes to the free corn offering.  I guarantee you the first thing she does is circle around and try to locate my position.  Hopefully,  next time I will have my full length camouflage face mask on!

I released the safety strap from the tree strap carabiner and placed in onto the Prusik knot carabiner attached to the Lifeline, lowered my bow to ground level of which it is actually about three feet off the ground and placed my back pack on.  I checked the arrow and it had good blood on it and only found a few drops of blood in the general direction that the little spike buck was heading.  I didn't go too far when I heard the deer thrashing around and went to him of which he was kicking his legs some but couldn't get to his feet and he was able to raise his head a few inches off the ground.  I inserted the Buck folding lock back blade in his ribcage near the heart and he quickly stopped moving. 

Below is a pix where he fell:

The arrow exited low and forward on the opposite side and surprised he didn't expire within a few seconds but some of them have a much stronger will to live apparently.  The little spike had some crazy looking small spikes as evidenced by the one spike you can see that is angled forward and down instead of going upward.  The buck was quickly field dressed and dragged him down to the creek where there is a pretty steep bank on the opposite side with nothing close by to hold onto to help assist in getting him out of the creek bed.  I solved that problem by installing a small boat winch bolted to a metal pipe that was driven into the ground and it is simple and easy to get a deer out now from the creek/branch bed, whereas before, I would have to drag a deer up the creek a good ways in order to be able to get it out and then with much difficulty.  At the end of deer hunting season, I remove the two bolts and nuts that secure the boat winch to the steel pipe.  During hunting season, I have a blue 5 gallon bucket over the boat winch to protect it from the elements.  Click on thumbnail pixs below for a larger screen view:

The spike buck field dressed at 72 pounds and it didn't take too long before he was skinned, quartered and placed in my basement game refrigerator for later processing.

I would have rather harvested one of the does but the shot did not present itself and I hunt for the freezer and normally don't pass up to the opportunity to harvest a deer with the bow and arrow unless it is a yearling of which I have taken them in the past either by accident (thinking it was a doe) or just out right intentional to have some tender meat!  This buck was also beginning to smell of urine on the tuft of hair on the inside of his hind legs called the tarsal gland and was trying to be like the big boys getting ready for their annual rut.  This little buck definitely needed to be out of the breeding gene pool for sure with those crazy little horns, but that harvested venison will ender some beautimous venison steak and gravy and other delicious recipes.

It is important that you report your wild game harvest at a check point, game processor and/or on line, whereby that data is required to enhance game management and you are required to report your big game harvest within 24 hours to be legal. 

Web published by Bill aka Mickey Porter on 10-17-15.

BOONE AND CROCKETT GREEN SCORE

I was really impressed with the antler size of that one year old buck and put the tape on them and it scored about 11 inches if you estimate the distance between them as 5 inches and the Boone and Crockett green score came out to a monstrous 11 inches.  Pix below:

Dare you not to grin.  The antlers could be hidden in the palm of my closed hand!

Web published update by Bill aka Mickey Porter on 10-18-15.

JUST CALL ME RODNEY DANGERFIELD - NO RESPECT

The last time I was set up to do some hunting, I had a small Wren perch on the end of my gun barrel looking around which has to be the ultimate blatant display of disrespect....grin if you must! 

Today being November 5, 2015, I got set up to do some deer observations with the ole "smoke pole" on standby and started consuming a small peach yogurt to knock the edge of a breakfast that I did not have.  I was on my second spoonful of yogurt when a small 5 point buck walked into the edge of where I have my broadcast corn at approximately 7:25 A.M., looked around surveying the scene for any apparent sign of danger and must have determined everything was ok.  He got a mouthful of corn and began crunching it and by this time the heavy duplex cross hairs of the Leopold 50 MM scope was settled behind his right front leg, whereas the muzzle loader billowed smoke like a chimney burning green firewood.  I couldn't see anything for a few seconds since it was misting rain, overcast and fog was in the area where the little buck was at.  It didn't take too long to get to where he was standing at the edge of the broadcast corn and noticed some blood on the ground.  I blood trailed him for about 50 yards where he was piled up, down for the ten count.  Pix below:

The young buck was immediately field dressed and I had him hanging from the white oak tree as soon as possible, whereas I got a 100 # bow scale out and checked his field dressed weight which was 98 lbs. and his live weight estimate is around 125 lbs.

Before skinning and quartering him up, I got a converted plastic 55 gallon drum off the back of my truck of which I reduced the height of the drum and drilled some holes in each side and fashioned a pair of rope handles on it.  I use the drum container to haul off the head, hide, feet, carcass of the deer I process for myself.  I noticed a considerable amount of rain water had collected in that container the past couple weeks and below is a pix of it:

There is a good 6 to 8 inches or more of rain in the container as evidenced by the pix above.

The recycled target butt frame is getting a good workout in it's second life.  I need to add some type of easy to clean top or overlay on it to take it to the next level.

All my trophy hunting friends will about cry when they see the above monster set of antlers the little buck was sporting being what I call a "management buck" since he has 3 points on one side and 2 on the other side and needed to be removed from the gene pool anyway.  My hunting goal is venison in the freezer which makes Trophy hunting out of the question and out of the hunting equation.  The inch markings on my working table is not for antler measurement but used for tying tapered leaders for my fly line.  I am a purists and traditionalist at heart when it comes to fly fishing using old school techniques but do enjoy the quick response of a more modern graphite fiber fly rod, however the sensitivity, smoothness and slow action of an Orvis split bamboo fly rod is the ultimate.  Using that type of slow action rod, one needs to be medicated with something like Thorazine to get you into slow motion.  Well, it didn't take but a few sentences to get off track of which I do so very often.

My deer Trophy Hunting Friends would have been proud of yours truly since I let a button buck and a doe walk yesterday without firing a shot.  The doe was smart and would not come into the clearing and stayed on the fringe in safety.  I probably could have found an opening to shoot through but it was getting very late and didn't want to take a chance on not making a clean quick kill shot.  

The little button buck was large for his age with his antlers about ready to protrude through the skin and I named him "bird dog" since he was on full alert every time he heard or seen something.  He was like a full pedigree bird dog behind the scent of a covey of Bobwhite quail pointing his head and ears cupped forward like one of Norad's radar installations looking and hearing until he was able to identify what was making the sound and/or movement.  "Bird Dog" will be a great asset to help finish out my 2015 hunting season because he will give you a heads up of anything approaching long before you will be able to hear or see it.  He will definitely be earning his keep!

With this little buck harvest, that is all the "bucks" I can tag here in Anson County but I have friends in Richmond County if I want to hunt additional bucks in the Eastern Section of NC but will try and fill the balance of my doe tags in Anson County for this hunting season.  I plan to do a couple batches of my Cajun Blend Venison Summer Sausage and it takes a good amount of ground venison to make that happen.

In closing, I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior for his many blessings in our lives!

Web published updates by Bill aka Mickey Porter on 11-05-15.

NOTE:  I processed the little buck harvested today on November 8, 2015 and the actual total weight of pure meat, ground and sliced was 37 pounds which was more than I expected.  However, I took the extra time and trimmed close to the bone so as not to waste any meat which most deer processors are on production and do not trim that close and it is not unreasonable to imply that you might be receiving ground venison from someone else's deer since they process a quantity of deer at a time.

Web published update by Bill aka Mickey Porter on 11-08-15.

NO RESPECT FOR BUCK 3-D ARCHERY TARGET

Today on Veteran's Day, I noticed that my 3-D Buck archery target had been in some kind of altercation last night.  His head and neck along with the two antlers were detached from the body of the 3-D target.  Apparently, a buck wanted to spar with him and looks like my 3-D archery target got the worst of it.  Below is a pix:

This is not the first time my Buck 3-D target has been attacked by deer.  Check my short story out here with pixs taken from my game trail camera.

Like I said, no respect continued.  First the little Wren perched on my muzzle loader gun barrel and now the deer are attacking my buck 3-D archery target.  Must be payback for the venison I put in the freezer so far this hunting season......grin if you must!

I am very proud to have served my country in the United States Navy from 1964 - 1968 and our Freedom comes with a heavy cost in human lives and sacrifices.  All young men should serve our country at least one tour of duty whereby a greater respect for what it takes to maintain our freedom would be realized along with acquiring all the qualities that our Armed Forces instills and requires; e.g., self-discipline, knowledge, endurance, spirit, respect, determination, leadership, responsibility and character building that lasts the rest of that person's life.  

My freezer is about maxed out and looks like the end of my 2015 hunting season unless I get a couple batches of my venison Cajun blend summer sausage made to free up some freezer space.  It has been a good productive season and the deer are beginning to get into their annual breeding cycle aka rut and will remain on the side lines.

Web published update by Bill aka Mickey Porter on 11-11-15.

NO RESPECT FOR BUCK 3-D TARGET CONTINUED

Below is pix taken on 11-22-15 of my archery buck 3-D target:

I had the trail camera set up to monitor the 3-D target but it wasn't operational and will have to check and see what is wrong with it.  I know there is apparently one buck frequenting the area and the legs on the 3-D buck target is a twist lock design and takes some force to remove them.  Maybe, ole mossy horns is in the area.  The past couple weeks, I have not seen any deer activity during the daytime hours but they are feeding during the night by the broadcast shelled corn getting gone and/or the raccoons getting their share too!

I got the 3-D target repositioned and checked the trail camera of which the SD card was reformatted and hope it will capture some of the next action that takes place.

Web published update by Bill aka Mickey Porter on 11-22-15. 

FREEZER IS MAXED OUT - 2015 HUNTING SEASON FINISHED

For all practical purposes, my 2015 hunting season is finished due to no more freezer storage space, whereas we have plenty of wild game for the next year along with store bought meats.  However, if the opportunity presents itself, I might harvest a doe for one my kinfolk who also enjoys venison. 

I recently did a 30 pound batch of my Cajun Blend Venison Summer Sausage and it came out excellent in both taste and texture.  I replaced the dual heating element in my smoker cabinet and it worked like a charm.   Below a few pixs along the way; click on thumbnails for a larger screen view:

Robert Webster and myself taste tasted one of the 2 pound 1/2 stalks of summer sausage and it was outstanding and after the second slice, the ole taste buds were awakened to a little Cajun twang called cayenne pepper, not too hot but just right!  I know, it sounds like the story of Goldilocks and the Three Little Bears but that is some "beautimous" tasting summer sausage!  Below a couple pixs of the finished product:

The close-up reveals the whole mustard seeds and whole black peppercorns - Tellicherry that are sliced through and the ground Boston butt is still solidified which is an indicator the summer sausage was properly processed by yours truly!

BUCK 3-D TARGET STILL ON POINT OUTBACK

Yesterday while doing some domestic work in the kitchen sink....grin if you must, I observed six (6) does checking out my archery buck 3-D target.  One of the deer came pretty close to the decoy to check him out.  Pixs below from my game camera:

An earning morning young buck cruising by:

This has been an excellent hunting season and still have a few doe tags left but as I stated, I am out of freezer space and have enough venison for our needs.

I give God through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior, the praise, glory and honor in all things.

Merry Christmas to each and every one of you from the Porter family. 

Web published updates by Bill aka Mickey Porter on 12-01-15.