-Hunting gear reviews -[Blackpowder] -[Archery]		-Some of my success stories -[Treestand Designs] -[Venison Recipes]

Warning: This page contains pics of harvested deer which some may consider graphic. Do not scroll beyond this warning unless you are ok with this. Some pics are edited for reduced graphic content. Also, all deer featured have been legally harvested, any lack of carcass tag in pics is due to me editing them out or removing to improve picture appearance. 

A little about me: 

I grew up in a rural setting and began hunting deer as soon as I was of legal age in Upstate New York. My dad and his hunting buddies taught me well (thanks Rodney, Dewey, Harry, Donald, and others too). Unfortunately in Upstate NY you cant hunt with a riffle until your 16, so I began hunting [junior] archery at age 14. I do think that age limit is a bit to high... having to wait until your 16 to hunt deer with a gun is to late. As long as your with parental supervision I think starting out a couple years earlier will do a lot of good to younger folks, and will get them hunting before they loose interest in such things. So, I started hunting archery at age 14. My first season out I only saw one deer. Wasn't a very good shot yet either. My second year I saw a few deer, but no shots again. My third year I took one shot and missed. Also on my third year I began hunting with a riffle and took my first deer. The next year I borrowed a nicer bow and became a much better shot, and a better hunter. That year I got my first bow and arrow kill. Speeding up to the near-present time; I have moved to Ohio and now primarily hunt Ohio N.E. side. And I must admit that I have seen at least as many deer on average, if not more than,  and a lot more bucks in Ohio than NY. From personal experience I say the buck to doe ratio were I hunt in Ohio is probably 1:3, and were I was in NY was probably upwards of 1:15. Although I had seen and shot many bucks in NY, I never really did see a 'rack' buck until I hunted in Ohio, and have seen a few of those now :) 

Ok, so do I have any trophies yet? Well, that's in the eye of the beholder. But I have taken one nice buck that I decided to mount. I had just got a new job with higher pay and though I'd kick myself in the future if I didn't mount it. Here are a couple pics of the mount (sorry the camera wasn't taken very good pics inside). There are many more pics of the buck down below in bowhunting.

My 2005 10pt buck mounted. Mount by Back Hallow Taxidermy, Minerva Ohio.

Bow hunting

I got a new bow this year! Its a 2005 Reflex Buckskin. At the deer and turkey show in town I decided to buy my new bow. Most of the bows there were wicked expensive! Reflex seemed like the best bang per buck. I held a Grizzly and a Buckskin. For the money, I don't think you could beet the Grizzly. But I opted for the slightly more expensive Buckskin, liking its shorter end to end length and more compact feel, along with being slightly lighter. And I like the deer hoof prints machined into the riser. Here are a couple picks of the new bow, all outfitted:

Check out my new bow & all the accessories I chose for it and some other misc info and pictures.

Here is my biggest take so far (point-wise), and with my new Reflex Buckskin bow. Click on it for more pictures.

Its a 10pt buck, field dressed at 150 lbs. Taken in Carrol County Ohio. I had seen him cross between woods many times in the same location so I took my portable chair and set up on the ground to ambush one evening, after not seeing anything all day from my ladder stand. And it paid off, as he came straight forward me that very evening. The shot was at 15 yards and quartering towards me. I was on the ground and in good cover. Bow was set at 70#, using 125 gr 3 blade Muzzy's on Beman ICS Elite 340's. Draw was 28", 75% let-off. The deer dropped slightly less than 50 yards away in plain sight in the open field. I was a really happy camper ;-)

Muzzleloading

In Ohio deer season is limited to shotgun or muzzleloader. My shotgun doesn't shoot for crap so I opted for muzzleloader. I have seen very accurate muzzleloaders that could far out-perform a shotgun, and you can use them in both shotgun and muzzleloading seasons. 

Recommendation for beginners: You'll probably want to start out with a cheaper inline muzzleloader as I did. Muzzleloading takes a lot of work and care, and you might find its not for you. Also, black powder will eat your barrel if you don't clean it every time you use it. It is frankly a pain in the but. So you may not want to buy an expensive gun just to ruin the barrel. Its also expensive. But I had great luck with a cheap CVA that I bought at Wall*___. I migrated a scope from a rifle, a Bushnell 3-9x40 banner. 

Here I am with my CVA Staghorn my first year with it, with a nice doe taken during late muzzleloader season.

After 2 years of hunting with my cheap muzzleloader and having issues with it, I decided time to do some research and buy a really nice gun. After lots of research and reviews online I decided to buy a Knight Disc Elite. It was on sale, on rebate from knight, and one of the top 3 guns on my best list. Unfortunately I didn't have time to get it fine tuned and missed a few shots its first season. But out of luck, I got a nice buck (pictured below) - the gun was shooting high and to the right.

My first kill with the new gun. I got lucky on this buck. I thought my gun was sighted in but it was hitting way off. I know most of us have done it before, but always make sure you are hunting with a gun properly sighted-in and verified that season. Can you tell I like Realtree Hardwoods HD Green? Yup, right down to the scope rings.

12/2006. I got this nice little 9-point with my Elite at about 50 yards out from my treestand. Used 85gr of 777 and a 270gr Platinum Powerbelt. Weighed in at 145# field dressed. Also pictured is the recovered powerbelt bullet. Seemed not to have a problem pancaking out with 85gr of 777.

My Home-made Ladder Stands

Once I started hunting in Ohio and got to know the land, I decided it was time to erect a treestand. I could have bought a metal ladder stand, but that would have been too easy. Being a do-it-yourself-er, and being picky about designs, I decided to design and build my own. 

Click on the picture to see some pictures and information about my 2 ladder stands I have built so far.

Venison Recipes

A few good recipes I have created and thought they were worth sharing. I think venison has great potential in the kitchen, but doesn't always come out that good without some good recipes. I believe eating venison is the best part of hunting. Click the link above or here to go to my recipe page.

Ohio's 2005 Deer and Turkey Expo Here are some pictures I took of the more interesting and fascinating mounts I saw at the show. Included are some peculiar racks, piebald bucks, and full body mounts.

Page originally created on 4-3-05; last modified on 2-11-07