Hi folks. Do any of you have experience with catching pickerel (redfin or chain) in in Beaufort and Hyde Co? I grew up in Ontario and miss catching Northern Pike and I'd like to catch one of these little water wolves if I could. (I actually did catch one in Hyde Co. one time and not since).

Are they fairly prevalent? Is there a type of water body I should be looking at? The current issue of the sportsman magazine features an article on the redfin down on the Lumber River - also a tannin-stained water body.

There are other fish I'd RATHER catch, but I wouldn't mind purusing these critters a little, in my canoe with my kids.

Thanks.

**Skip to pics to avoid long story!**

I was blessed to take an odd, but nice 9-pt this year, just prior to Thanksgiving, right when a nice cold snap hit.

That morning, I got into the stand at 530. By 630, I thought I heard footsteps behind me a ways, but I couldn't see anything, and it stopped. Squirrels started coming out, too.

At 7, a doe came flying out of some thick stuff right towards me, stopped, spun on a dime, and left in full run. Then.

At 745, I hear noise RIGHT behind the tree. I look tight over my left shoulder and see the back half of a deer's back, RIGHT behind the tree. I have no freaking idea where he came from. I didn't hear him until right then. (Maybe he was the deer I had hear earlier? Did he bed down right behind me?)

I slipped the flip-off mitten off my right hand, took off the safety and readied. Heart pounding. Deer still walking. I hear him. Don't see him! Doh - he came out the right side of the stand. When I saw him, I saw nice antlers (nicer than I've had before), a thick neck, and his head was low to the ground.

He froze. So did I, with the gun pointed in the wrong direction. He's 15 yards from me. He needed to get his head behind a pair of trees for me to bring my gun around.

When he did, I swung the gun over, up to my left eye, and realized my left-hand (trigger) mitten was still on! I felt for the trigger (luckily, it's not a 1-pounder), and Boom!

He took off like he hadn't been hit, and I was shocked. But....50 yards later, he stopped, took 5 steps to his right, and fell over.

A few seconds later, a doe walks away from a spot not 30 yards away. I hadn't seen her, heard her, and wondered if she had been bedded there. I must have walked right by her.

Then...a minute later...I'm filming a little post-hunt video from the stand, and a 4 pt walks by...and meanders around where that doe had been. Then he went over to my buck, and stood over it for a bit, and then left.

I finally got down, looked for blood (tho he was dead 50 yards away), tried to film the recovery, and said 'Screw it. Let's see this deer!'

There he lay, body on its side, but head held completely upright by a kickstand! I was surprised b/c I had only see his left side rack. A nice typical side. His right hand side was gnarly, but cool.

His left side is 10' inside from center of skull, and the left is 7'. Had he been symmetrical/typical, he'd have been 20.

Sorry for the long post. I surprised myself typing it, but the excitement came back...

My first 'nice' deer (for my Beaufort Co. standards!) and I'm getting him mounted.

Thinking semi-sneak or semi-upright with a sharp downturn to his head to really show off both sides. (not sure which turn - right or left.

I just read this article linked to the main sportsman page:

http://www.northcarolinasportsman.com/details.php?id=4626

Not sure why an individual needs a 'special permit' to do so, and to report all kills.

Does anyone know when this actually is 'a go'? Or is it already?

I've been checking the NC Sportsman, hoping to see pics of some great bucks, but there have been less posted here than I figured I'd see. I only hunt rifle, so no reports here. People just keeping to themselves?

Hi folks,

Still considering buying a bow. Didn't last year due to $ and time. (finishing a PhD).

PhD finished, but $ still an issue.

My local bow shop, of which I've heard great things, and treated me really really well when I just stepped in to check it out, doesn't have much in the way of entry-level bows, in my DL (31.5). That put me into the category of $950 bare bow.

I'm thinking more along the lines of a $400 Ready-to-hunt Bear Attack combo on ebay. However, I'll still need the help of a bowsmith (is that what you call em?). Another local shop owner that 'does' bow work told me that he will get his money out of a customer that buys elsewhere and comes to him for setup, etc.

I want a good relationship with my bowshop, but can't afford what they carry. Shall I just ask? Shall I just take my lumps?

Whatchy'all think?

Sitting in a climber compressed whatever insulation you are wearing or sitting on, which ends up being not very insulating, ironically. Have any of you added something to your climber seat to help keep your bum warm? Foam or otherwise?

I shot my first turkey ever in 2012, in what was an incredible hunt, one that is documented somewhere on this forum. I didn't get to hunt much (or at all?) last turkey season, but have had a few chances this year.

Got set up at 5am on some farm fields in Beaufort County. I had seen what I thought was one tom and a bunch of other birds from over a 1/2 mile away the morning before. Wasn't sure what I was dealing with. Since I only saw one strutting bird out there, I took the jake decoy the next morning, and set up along a ditch line in some small saplings. I sat down and realized my decoy was only 10 yards away, but I figured it'd be good. If the birds were around, they'd come from right to left, and never see me if they were looking at the decoy.

I waited quietly, enjoying the sounds of the Chuck-wills Widows and other birds until about 545am, when the gobbler sounded off to my right. I waited till he gobbled again, and then I hit a few cuts on my SPURSUADER (Thanks GobblinTom!). He gobbled right back, and I knew it was 'game on'.
I cut or purred only ever two or three gobbles of his to keep his interest up.

Finally, they all flew down around 555 - 600 am. I could seem the birds milling around about 75-100 yds away at the end of the field. My view somewhat obscured by saplings and weeds. I could make out one strutting bird.

I cut, yelped, and purred a little, but to no avail, at least for about 15 minutes. THen I saw one, non-strutting bird walking my way, and the strutter behind it, coming along. I then saw the long beard on the 1st bird, and realized I had at least 2 toms!

Well, they started at a walk, which escalated into a full-out run. The one bird puffed up when he got to my decoy, the other did not. I was so excited having never seen this in person before, that I wasn't sure which bird I wanted. The non-strutter appeared to have the larger beard (duh, his wasn't half-hidden by the puffed-up feathers).
That dominant bird circled around my decoy to face it, and then, in an instant, went all psycho on it, jumping on it viciously, raking it with its spurs. I figured the jig was up when it heard the loud clattering on a hard plastic decoy, but he did it again, with the other bird egging him on it seemed! I almost went for a double, and when i shot, I was worried had actually injured the other bird, but he flew off fine. I jumped up, saw my bird in a heap, and then I just layed back on the ground and looked up at the sky. Wow. what a hunt!

Here are a few pics.

Was hunting near Scotland Neck last weekend, and came across a scrape that reeked of buck. Didn't see much activity though, as a full moon kept the deer moving through the night.

Haven't smelled that out east, but had a button chase a doe under my stand this morning, near Plymouth, NC.

What ye say about the state-of-the-rut where you live/hunt? Is the best yet to come? (Please say yes)... :)

I hear ya about the fishing. Some of it I find interesting, and the fall IS a good time to be fishing...

I'd like to see potentially two things:

1. Separate hunting/fishing magazines. I know they probably wouldn't go for this, but...

2. An electronic-only version for ipad/android/microsoft tablet - just like what we get included (not free) with our paper subscription.

I imagine the printing costs are huge, so why not bypass it? I inquired about this last year, with a simple 'we have no plans for that' type response.

For some reason though, I DO like holding the paper copy and seeing that big ol buck on the front. (Problem was last year, I kept getting a fish cover in the mail, while the copy in the local store had a buck on it.

Last year, I had considered hunting in Tillery Game Land. Deer hunting is NOT by permit only. (Turkey IS). It is listed as a 6 day per week game land.

However, when I finally got around to planning a visit, I realized it is only open for GUN during a one-week period (plus a little bit at the end of the season).

Here is the language from the NCWRC:

TilleryGameLand –HalifaxCounty (5,219 acres)
● Six-day-per-week area.
● GunEither-SexDeer Season:Oct. 13 –Oct. 19 and
Dec. 26 – Jan. 1 (moderate season).

Does this mean that archery and muzzle are allowed throughout their respective seasons, but gun only during those times?

What does 'moderate season' mean here?

For the last two years, I have only gotten permits for 3 of the 5 public land options I put in for. One of those 3 has fallen late in the season - this year Dec 12-14.

Is this particularly a bad time to hunt?

The three 3-day periods I drew for start on:
17 Oct
14 Nov
12 Dec

I spread out my options to ensure i got a few. Unfortunately, I chose 17 Oct which is the same time as my kids' fall break from school during which we planned to go to the state fair in Raleigh.

I guess deer get shot all season, but the closer to opening day, and the rut are probably the two most important...

I was walking through some woods near the Roanoke River recently, and heard a loud noise that made we wonder if it was a buck on the other side of a small ravine. I admit to only have hearing 1 or 2 snorts in my life. This was a loud wheeze/sneeze, but it was mabye 4 syllables long - each consecutively shorter than the next. WHEEEEZ! WHEEZ Wheez Whez
I don't know what else it could be. It was loud, and it made the hair on my arms stand up!

I always thought a buck would give just one single snort. Is this possibly a buck?

Hi everyone,

Best wishes to you all as the deer season approaches!

I wondered who here uses any type of deer lure/scent. I don't have my own 'place' to deer hunt, and take my opportunities when I can get them. So, I can't set up a long-term scrape-type situation, but was thinking of hanging/spraying something when I'm hunting.

I suspect there's some bogus products out there (maybe they all are).

Any recommendations? Cautions? If I'm driving a substantial distance to hunting, I'd rather not screw it up, but would love to increase my odds as well.

I hung my game cam up in a gameland last year, some time in January (Roanoke River). Was surprised to see a human, with what might be a rifle slung over his back? Not sure about the reflective patch on the left shoulder.

I had been searching for sheds (with no luck), during the day. Glad I wore some orange.

A few friends of mine have twice gone up to Ohio during bow season to try their hand at dropping a huge buck. They've fallen short of their goals both times, frustrated by the sheer size of the public land (Wayne Nat'l Forest), and the lack of confidence on being on public land vs. accidentally being on private. They ran into at least one crazy man (crazy-looking, crazy-acting) who threatened to shoot them b/c they were on his land (in fact they WERE on public land), but it was not a fun moment for them nonetheless).

Anyway, as crazy as it sounds, I might like to try it, given the right group of guys to go with!

Have any of you tried? what's your story?

feel free to comment if you've tried any public land, non-resident hunts in other states.

Has anyone tried a Parker Velocity bow? I visited a local bow shop (Terry's Archery Plus) b/w Washington and New Bern to inquire about getting a bow. The service was great, and I've heard good reviews from friends who shop with these guys.

Anyways, I'm on a limited budget, left-handed, and tall (6'4'). They had a LH, Parker Velocity which I tried out and liked. The only thing I felt was that my right hand was a little sore where the bow pressed against my hand. I attributed it to being new to shooting a bow. There are few personal videos on youtube about this bow, and few reviews. A few mention issues with the grip, but they mention it being too wide, whereas I felt it a little thin! (Big hands?).

Anyway. I'm new to bowhunting, I won't be bowhunting every day, I'm on a limited budget, and am NOT after the highest bow speed.

This bow was pretty light (4.15lbs), maybe 31.5' long, with 7.5' brace height. Draw weight runs 50-70 lbs. I was estimated to be a 30.5' draw length, even though the 'formula' will give you 31.5. He set me up for 30.5 and it was just about spot on, without any tweaking.

Anyone got experience with this bow, or other Parker bows? (This one had a lifetime warranty).

Does anyone here frequent a bow forum online? Some of the best info available seems to come from forums like these. However, they aren't all created equal. Some (usually b/c of the collection of people posting) are exceptional...

Curious when you guys start shed hunting, or rather, when you start seeing sheds. Any tips for finding them?

I was wondering if any of you plan to bring your deer head/rack/mount to the Dixie Classic to get scored this year?

I went last year, and hoped to see some of the bucks I'd seen here, but couldn't really tell.

Maybe we can all get together and meet even. NONE of you know me, although it seems a good number of you here know each other.

Cheers.

As you may know, my usual comment to the pics of the big bucks i see here is something like 'Holy cow/Good gracious! If I ever see such a buck....'.

Well, I DON'T see those, and in fact the pictures below are of the biggest buck I've ever seen (apart from growing up in Ontario, Canada. but I didn't hunt then). :(

So, a few weeks ago, I got invited to hunt a friend's property in Halifax Co., and this is the result. He popped out at 704am, at 100+ yards, and I popped him with the .308. When the smoke cleared, he was leaping between the trees, looking like he hadn't been hit. I was shaking, and worried I had only hurt, or gut shot, a deer on my friend's property. He texted me and said it sounded like a hit, but let's play it safe. We went out for breakfast, and I could barely concentrate. We drove up to the field two hours later and there he was. 15 yards into the woods. Crumbled. Turns out it was heart and lungs. (I shouldn't doubt myself or the Ruger!).

So, he's not so big, and shucks darnit, his brow tines were busted. One almost healed, and the other sharp. Actually, when he ran, he ran smack into the tree he eventually died 'between'. His antler has shredded bark stuck to it at the base!

Thanks for the great photos all year. I pray I'll shoot a big one sometime!