I need to get the left top section of the tree above the termination of the chain cut down to reduce the weight of the tree since it has been leaning badly for decades, although I calculated there would be about nine (9) feet of clearance between the tree and the house if and when it falls.  I have skinned and quartered many, many deer on this White Oak tree since 1989.  At the old home place, I used a large pecan tree limb and block and tackle to "hang" the deer.

This coming Hunting 2022 season, our Lord willing of course, I plan to save the venison shanks to try a Osso Buco recipe which is braised venison shanks instead of the traditional lamb shanks.

I am thankful for each and every day that our Lord allows and give Him, The Praise, Honor and Glory in all things!

Web page published by Bill aka Mickey Porter on 02-21-2022.

WILD TURKEYS IN BACK YARD

My security camera captured the above pix of a flock of wild turkeys in the back yard on 03-20-2022.  I believe there were seventeen (17) hens and one (1) old boss gobbler, of which the hens were not paying the gobbler any attention, but he did his strut and stuff for them, none the less!

TESTED CROSSBOW WITH 22 INCH LENGTH BOLTS

I finally got caught up on home and personal projects and decided to test out the Carbon Express Piledriver bolts I purchased at the end of last archery season.  I wanted a little extra weight and the Carbon Express Piledriver bolts 22 inch bolts should be the ticket.  I have been using the 20 inch length bolts with great success also!  I believe the extra two inches in bolt length will be safer when loading the bolt onto the shooting rail in my humble opinion.

I am not a big fan of having to possess the fastest archery equipment and tend to shoot heavy shafts/bolts which translates into more penetration and pass through shots.  My average bow/crossbow kill is normally twenty (20)  yards or less, therefore speed is no a big factor and/or judging yardage, of which I do have a rangefinder and mentally mark predetermined yardage points down range.

I shot several test bolts with 100 grain field points at 20 +- yards and they grouped very well.  I shoot Rage 100 grain Hypodermic two blade expandable broadheads and they fly like the field points and go to the same point of aim (POA).

Web page updated by Bill aka Mickey Porter on 07-11-2022.

WEIGHED A 22 INCH LENGTH CROSSBOW BOLT

I finally got around to weighing one of the 22 inch length crossbow bolts and it was 498.3 grains which included a 100 grain field point and a lighted nock which should be plenty heavy for my deer hunting.  As stated many times through out this website, I am not a big fan of speed, but believe in arrow/bolt placement with heavy enough arrow/bolt for full pass through penetration. 

I am looking forward to start crossbow deer hunting next month, our Lord willing of course.  I plan to set up my hunting blind in a week or so which should give plenty of time for the deer to get acclimated to it.

Web page updated by Bill aka Mickey Porter on 09-08-2022.

TOM DOOLEY AKA DULA HANGING TREE

We had some serious dry weather many weeks in a row this summer and my deer hanging tree I nicknamed Tom Dooley appears to be giving up the ghost!  The leaves turned brown rather quickly, but hopefully the tree will make a come back this coming Spring.  Anyway, it should last a few more years if it does "kick the bucket."

Web page updated by Bill aka Mickey Porter on 09-09-2022.

UPDATE ON TOM DOOLEY

I checked the White Oak tree aka Tom Dooley and it definitely is dead.  Come Spring of the year, I plan to cut the large upper left section of tree down along with several of the longer limbs.  I will probably get several more years of usage out of the tree before it decides to fall and hopefully I am still able to deer hunt.

Web page updated by Bill aka Mickey Porter on 01-05-2023.

10 POINT BUCK HARVEST

On 10-03-2022, the weather was forecast to be cooler around 44 degrees, however I don't think it got below 54 degrees.  Also, one of the best times hunting charts had the major time today from 7:47 to 9:47 AM and decided to get on stand around 6:30 AM giving me plenty of time to hopefully be ahead of the deer movement in my hunting area.

At about 7:25 AM, I spotted a large deer in the shadows around 70 yards plus directly in front of me across a small branch.  It was still dark in the woods and the deer looked as big as a cow.  He stayed on the same side of the branch he was on and went to my left and came within 25 yards and a smaller 4 or 6 point buck was trailing him.  The smaller buck came across the branch first and stayed in the branch aka creek bed and the larger buck then crossed the branch aka creek at about 23 yards and presented a quartering to me shot at 7:35 AM.  I placed the deer vitals (behind the front shoulder) centered between the illuminated red dot markers at 20 and 30 yards within the scope and moved the safety to the fire position and squeezed the light trigger.  I saw the green illuminated crossbow bolt nock go threw the bucks rib cage about where my point of aim was and it might have been just a little high.  The crossbow bolt quickly went out of sight and the buck kicked his hind feet backwards and exited to the right in the direction he was facing and went 34 yards uphill, of which was later stepped off!  I also retrieved the crossbow bolt, of which the nock was missing.

It was about all I could do to move the deer, field dressed him and dragged him up hill about 10 yards and that was about as far as I could drag him; my energy level quickly went down to zero.  I then went home and got the lawn tractor, came back and pulled/dragged him out.  This is my best buck to date with the crossbow and he had a 15 inch inside spread and good antler mass.  If a doe had come out first and the opportunity presented itself, I doubt I would have held off waiting for a buck...............grin if you must!  However, this morning, I did wait on the larger buck which worked out great!

NOTE:  I don't like to admit it, but each year of late, dragging deer out of the woods is getting harder and harder and I am sure the date of my birth certificate is the primary factor.............grin if you must!

Below pix of the harvested 10 point buck!

I had not used the self timer on the Canon 30D 35MM DSLR camera in a while and it took a couple trial runs to get it right.

A few thumbnail pixs taken.  Click on the pix for a larger screen view:

The buck was skinned and quartered up, ready to place in plastic garbage bags and age in the basement game refrigerator   As evidenced by the 3rd pix from the left, the Rage Hypodermic 100 grain expandable broadhead made a humongous entry hole.

This buck is going to yield excellent ground venison and sliced loin and tenderloin for some "beautimous" venison recipes.   The buck was loaded with layers and layers of fat and had been eating good.  Once the rut kicks in, bucks lose a good amount of weight chasing does and fighting with other bucks.  The buck's neck was swelled some, but he definitely was not in the rut yet and did not have the usual rutting smell; e.g., heavy urine smell on the rear inside legs tarsal glands (tuff of long hair)!

Per the NC Wildlife Resources Commission, our annual peak rut day is November 17th, but I have seen rutting activity the last week in October and before our annual black powder season comes in during my 40 plus years of deer hunting with bow and arrow and all types of firearms; black powder, rifle and handgun.

I saved the lower portion of each leg aka shank and plan to make a Venison Osso Buco recipe in the near future.

The deer horns should make a couple good field dressing knives.  I later ground a little bit of drop point to the knife tip.

The buck was later registered on line today.

WEIGHED THE BUCK MEMBERS AFTER SKINNING, QUARTERING & DEBONING

I did not keep the deer ribs!  When I process the above and remove the bones, I will weight and post the results.

Web page updated by Bill aka Mickey Porter on 10-03-2022 and 10-05-2022.  

HUNTING UPDATE

I have hunted about a dozen times since the above deer harvest on 10-03-2022; e.g., morning, mid-day and evening and have not seen a single deer at one of my favorite hunting places.  However, I have seen a few deer feeding during the nighttime hours on the trail camera and the past few days, activity has been nil.

I attribute this to an abundance of acorns on adjacent properties which I do not have permission to hunt at this time.

Therefore, I plan to let my deer hunting rest until the end of the month when the acorn crop should be about depleted and will continue to check my STEALTHCAM every few days and when deer movement is noted, I will start hunting again.  Usually, toward the last of October, deer start their annual rutting activity around here and a good time to be in the woods hunting.

See this link to a .pdf chart for major rutting activity in North Carolina 2022.

Web page updated by Bill aka Mickey Porter on 10-19-2022.

CROSSBOW SADDLE BEARINGS BREAKING AGAIN

On 10-21-2022, I noticed that one of the black Delrin saddle bearings (bottom right limb) was coming out of the limb pocket, whereas one end of the saddle bearings tab was completely broken off which allows the saddle bearing to move out of the limb pocket.  I replaced four (4) sets of Delrin saddle bearings on 09-17-2020 which has lasted a little over two years.  As stated earlier, those Delrin saddle bearings breaking is the Achilles' heel for this bow model.  I checked the crossbow further and noticed that the top left limb Delrin saddle bearing was broken also.

The broken end of the black Delrin saddle bearing is laying on the riser upper left in the pix above for view!

The other saddle bearings are about to break as well, whereas one side of the saddle bearing will work its way against the bow riser and then shear aka break off and there is no way for the saddle bearing to remain in place.

As stated in my crossbow short story, Bowtech discontinued making their own brand of crossbows altogether, however there are still some parts available for certain models of their crossbows.

With the saddle bearings moving out of the limb pockets, accuracy is inhibited, but not to the point of placing a bolt out of the vitals at ranges such as 20 and 30 yards in my humble opinion.

I will use the crossbow until I get a replacement crossbow for it and then use it as a back-up crossbow. 

Murphy's law, never sleeps!

Web page updated by Bill aka Mickey Porter on 10-22-2022.

TAG OUT LITTLE BUCK

Our annual Muzzleloading season came in today (10-29-2022) Central section of North Carolina and carried my crossbow and muzzle loader into the woods.  I got on stand at about 6:37 AM and everything was fairly quiet and serine with a light breeze blowing. 

At 7:21 AM I spotted what I thought was a spike buck at around 25 yards coming from my right and then turned facing me.  By then, I had the crossbow on him with the red lighted reticle turned on and the safety in the off position.  The little buck turned back broadside again and I touched the light trigger on the crossbow and the crossbow bolt with the green lighted nock went through him.  The buck immediately went back in the direction he came from and was out of view for a second and then he crossed the small branch aka creek and cut back to his left and I saw him quickly go out of sight.  I listened to see if I could hear him crash and thrash, but I didn't.

It was overcast and a very light misting rain, whereas I took the heavier Scent Shield hunting jacket off, of which my departed friend John Gaddy of Polkton, NC gave me and I went to where the crossbow bolt was imbedded in the ground and the green nock was glowing very bright!  There was good blood on the crossbow bolt and I crossed the branch and went to the last place that I saw the little buck about 70 yards away. 

I picked up a very light blood trail and he went across another fairly deep gulley and I lost the blood trail.  The sun wasn't up yet and overcast making it difficult to follow what blood trail was present.  On top of that, there were plenty of fallen leaves on the ground with bright red colors which looked like blood, however it was not to be.

To make a long story short, it took me at least an hour to locate the buck and he probably traveled a good 150 yards.  The bolt placement was high and little to the right and the buck was bleeding mostly inside as depicted from the pix below.  When I field dressed the buck, the body cavity was filled with blood!

While tracking the sparse blood trail which I lost several times, I prayed Lord help me to recover this deer.  I knew he was fatally wounded since there were small air bubbles in the blood indicating a lung hit.  Once I got back on the sparse blood trail, I continued until I found him and thanked our Lord for answering my prayer request!

The spike buck turned out to be a 3 point buck with a single short spike on his right side.

The buck was field dressed and it was a very, very difficult and strenuous drag, especially the last gulley that he has crossed, but I managed to get him across the gulley onto level ground with the aid of a webbed nylon strap.  It was down hill from there until I got to the branch aka creek that was forty (40) yards from my stand and I then decided to go back home and get the lawn tractor and see if I could pull him out of the dry creek bed aka deer crossing.  A small 2 or 4 wheeler would be a great tool to possess, but I have made it so far without the usage of one.

There is a good incline from my hunting site to fairly level ground and I didn't know if the John Deere X300 would pull him out of the creek bed and uphill, but it was worth a try.

As evidence by the above pix, the John Deer X300 lawn tractor had no trouble dragging the 98 lb. field dressed deer out.  I am definitely getting double duty usage from this lawn tractor.................grin if you must.

Our Pastor/Bishop Sam Abee stated, "Nothing pulls a deer out like a John Deere".......grin if you must!

The buck was then weighted using an accurate Hanson bow scale that maxed out at 100 lbs, whereas the field dressed buck weighed 98 lbs.. I then removed the bow scale from the "metal single tree" and then skinned and quartered him up.  This buck was probably 126 +- pounds on the hoof.  I used an accepted formula of 1.26 times the field dress weight to arrive at the live weight.

I used a Bauer battery powered reciprocating saw to sever the hind quarters, neck and ribcage, however when I washed the forward portion with the pressured water hose nozzle, it died on me.  Hopefully, it will dry out and work again.  I used air to blow it out, but at the time it did not operate.  It looks like a future repair in the making.

NOTE:  I checked the Bauer battery powered reciprocating saw on 10-31-2022 and it worked fine!

My plans for this deer meat is to pressure can the hind quarters, back straps and tenderloins to free up some space in the chest freezer.

I will go on line and register the harvest and document the same on my game tags.

Web page updated by Bill aka Mickey Porter on 10-29-2022. 

TEST SHOT THE CROSSBOW 10-31-2022

Since my crossbow bolt placement was real high on the above 3 point buck, I decided to shoot a test crossbow bolt to check the point of impact.  I set the target up at approximately 20 yards and the bolt was within 1.5 inch of the bullseye I was aiming for.  The bolt was low and to the left, but no problem to make a heart shot.  The make shift rest didn't allow for a rock steady release.  The verdict was, I either misjudged the yardage, pulled the shot since I had a decent rest to shoot from or the buck jumped the string, of which I believe it was my bad by misjudging the yardage as I had to react quickly to the bucks movement.

CANNED VENISON

Today (10-31-2022), I deboned two hind quarters and sliced 1/2 the back strap/loin strap and tenderloins and canned sixteen (16) (wide mouth) pints of venison.  I had enough venison for about 4 more pints, but the Presto 23 quart pressure canner would only hold 16 pints (wide mouth jar) and decided to vacuum seal and freeze the balance of the deer meat that was deboned and cubed for later usage.

I used five (5) seasoning ingredients with the venison.  Above pix using a 2022 Obamaphone.....grin if you must!  My ole 3G flip top cell is being phased out the first of the year.  Prior to this new Obamaphone, I have only texted twice, but catching up now!

The Presto canner getting a good workout!

The venison in the jars was photographed right out of the canner and looks much better when cooled down to room temperature!

For seasoning, I added 1/4 teaspoon each of the following ingredients: Better Than Beef Bouillon, canning salt, black pepper, thyme and rosemary.  I topped the jars off with canned beef broth and pressure cooked for 90 minutes at 10 lbs. pressure. 

NOTE:  Canning pint jars only requires 75 minutes versus 90 minutes...........my bad!

The canned venison makes a quick easy meal when served over rice, mashed potatoes, noodles, etc. and I will try it in a spaghetti recipe, of which I normally use ground venison.  I usually strain the broth from the jar and reserve it for a gravy by adding 1 tablespoon of corn starch to thicken it up and simmer the venison until the gravy thickens.

I served a jar of the canned venison on 11-02-2022 over a bed of rice and it was excellent.

My friend Robert Webster of Hamlet, NC wanted the neck and shoulders and saving those for him since he likes to braise those cuts of meat.  I normally debone the neck and shoulders for ground venison, but I am needing a mess of Lake Tillery White Perch and I am sure Robert will be able to supply me with some!

Web page updated by Bill aka Mickey Porter on 10-31-2022 and 11-03-2022..

HAVE FREEZER SPACE FOR ONE MORE DEER

My chest freezer is about maxed out and the freezer section in my basement game refrigerator is maxed out as well.  However, I can squeeze one more deer into the chest freezer.

My STEALTHCAM has captured a good amount of deer movement, mostly bucks the past week and did see a single doe also.  The annual deer rut is in full swing and hopefully the does will be herding up together as the acorn crop has about diminished and deer start to feed more frequently on the broadcast corn I have for them.

I plan to continue to hunt with the crossbow and I enjoy the extra challenge.

Web page updated by Bill aka Mickey Porter on 11-24-2022.

HUNTING UPDATE

I have hunted numerous times since 11-24-2022 and have not seen a single deer in my hunting area.  Per the STEALTHCAM, the deer for the most part have gone nocturnal, however the days I didn't hunt and on Sunday deer showed up on the cam.  They might have GPS on me for sure................grin if you must!

The past week, I have the flu and decided to end my 2022 hunting season early. 

I am thankful for each and every day that our Lord Jesus Christ allows and the opportunity to be out in what God has created!

Web page updated by Bill aka Mickey Porter on 12-22-2022.

LEAVING ON A SPIRITUAL NOTE

If you do not know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, please take this moment to accept him by Faith into your Life, whereby Salvation will be attained.   

Ephesians 2:8 - 2:9 8  For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: [it is] the gift of God: 9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.

Hebrews 11:1 “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”

Romans 10:17 “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”

Open this link about faith in the King James Bible.