Hunting Forum

That's over in the Archery ONLY area  isn't it??? I have never been in there but my son has been through it a bunch. It IS tough going. The kid knows what he's talking abou too. He was raised up in the Louisiana Swamps and Bayous and is used to going through those kinda places. We wiould spends days or even a week or more down in there before I got this bad.

Posted By Brian Warner on 01 Jan 2013 05:01 PM
That's over in the Archery ONLY area  isn't it??? I have never been in there but my son has been through it a bunch. It IS tough going. The kid knows what he's talking abou too. He was raised up in the Louisiana Swamps and Bayous and is used to going through those kinda places. We wiould spends days or even a week or more down in there before I got this bad.

The Robert's Pond area might have been archery-only in the past, but it isn't now.  The two archery-only areas are the East River  Archery Units and the Eglin Main Archery Units.  The ER units (there are two that I can see) are just east of the FL/AL border and right along the Gulf coast, and the Eglin Main unit (I only see one on the map) is right in the main Eglin AFB area, bordering the Choctawhatchee Bay, and is limited to DoD personnel and escorted guests ... and if by "escorted" they mean the same as when I was in Wing Intel (and later HQ AFSOC Intel) at Hurlburt, they mean escorted at ALL TIMES (except in bathrooms, of course).  Being known as the bulldog when it came to classified, I was chosen as the primary for escorting uncleared most of the time...and I DID have to be  the bulldog a few times.

Sorry to hear all that you have been through.I too have lost because of cancer right leg above the knee on dec & and managed to still get out this year I live in Mass best bet is to find someone that is willing to go with you its safer that way just in case anything happens someones there in case of an emergency I used to hunt alone all the time and now all has changed.You may not want to hunt with a partner but trust me for safety sake it is the best way.

I was raised in Mass Jon. The adjustments we make will have to made by ALL hunters sooner or later, In a way, we are the lucky ones in that we have been able to make the adjustments when we're younger and more able to "adapt". Sooner or later, we ALL need someone to go with us. I like to think that I get to benifit with the extra time with my boys and daughter and now grandbabies. Of course, my friends and I have gereat times and share some special moments too. Keep your eyes, ears and minds open and enjoy the times you can get out. Even if it IS only a few feet from the truck on some days...That's better than just a few feet from the bed or couch.

got on this late and haven't read through all the posts so someone has probably already said this - learn the gutless method and use pillow cases for game bags. With a sharp knife you can take them apart on the ground and pack them out in pieces, making the load as big or small as you need. Takes me about 30 minutes to break down a deer, a little longer for an elk.

Posted By AzSlim on 01 Feb 2013 05:02 PM
got on this late and haven't read through all the posts so someone has probably already said this - learn the gutless method and use pillow cases for game bags. With a sharp knife you can take them apart on the ground and pack them out in pieces, making the load as big or small as you need. Takes me about 30 minutes to break down a deer, a little longer for an elk.

And congrats on being a survivor, my wife was give 3 to 4 years with a malignant brain tumor, she signed up for an experimental treatment and made the 10 year mark in Dec.  Our diet is wild game and fresh vegetables for the most part.

I came up with something similar...  I have an old sheet (twin) to wrap
the deer in (after field dressing) to keep dirt, etc., out, and then an
old blanket IF NEEDED to help drag the deer.  Then bungy (sp?) cords to 
keep it all pulled together.  Fasten the deer drag to the ankles as
usual and drag to car.

And if it's A) a weekday, and B) too heavy (or too much to fit into my
trunk---which I'd LOVE to see this month during the rut!), call Justin
(at the Jackson Guard office---they run the public land, and he said to
call him anytime I need help getting a deer out).

I'm also trying to find a deer drag SLED that I found somewhere.  It's
supposed to put less drag on the drag (you know what I mean), thus
providing less resistance to being pulled along the ground, AND it
protects the hide more.  I've sent an e-mail to a friend here with
an idea on making one.  More details later, if we go ahead with the
project (or not, if we decide to (attempt to)[1] market it ...).

Thanks,
   --jim

[1] I know...nested parens in anything other than code is bad...right
    now, I say "so what".  :-)

if you know how to butcher then the gutless method will be easy for you to pick up quickly, no sense packing out stuff you aren't going to eat

Posted By AzSlim on 02 Feb 2013 07:35 PM
if you know how to butcher then the gutless method will be easy for you to pick up quickly, no sense packing out stuff you aren't going to eat

Not only that, but everything I've read says field dress the deer immediately (as in, carry in everything you'll need for that and getting the deer out.  So I do.  Then, when I (hopefully) get one during the rut this month, I'll clear out the lagering fridge (has grain in it right now to keep the mealy bugs out), set it at (if I remember correctly---I have it written down, but responding from memory) 38 deg F and then let the deer age a day.  Then remove the hide and pull out the processing kit and find or make a space to do the processing part.  I can't afford to pay someone, so I'll probably just watch the videos again a couple of times.  :-)    Then I'll see if I'm any better with the freezer paper for a change (did a terrible job with it trying to wrap up some HB meat when I bought a 3 lb tube and only needed 1 lb at the time (but I wrapped that with plastic film, so it was all ok).

Even when I field dress and bring back whole I get the hide off as soon as I get to camp. The hide really keeps the heat in and you want to cool the meat as soon as you can, it reduces the gamey flavor, which is actually the meat going bad. With the gutless method and pillow cases I get the hide off right where the animal falls and start the cooling much sooner.

I have an old fridge on the back porch I age game in. Just did a coues deer yesterday that a friend I helped gave me, it aged for a month.

I'll probably wait until I get home, just to help protect everything.  But then again, when I hang it to field dress and weigh the deer, that would be, by far, the easiest time to remove the hide.  Besides, not that I think about it, I'll be wrapping him in a sheet and a blanket while I drag him to the car, and in the trunk, I'll have ice jugs to put in the cavity to cool him from the inside during the 15--20 miinute drive home (only that slow due to the 6--10 inch deep potholes on the short paved portion of range road 234 (on which I have to maintain about 10--15 mph to safely dodge potholes AND in case I hit one...less risk of destroying a tire or worse, a tire AND a rim.  The tires on my Civic Si are the expensive high-performance tires, and cost WAY more than I could afford mid-month (unless I have just gotten paid for a book T/R).

Jim,

Your only as disabled as you allow yourself to be. Might not get stuff done as fast or as easily as others but we'll still get them done. Go post in the Florida section and see what comes up. Also swing by the Outdoor Rec at Eglin and the Game Warden's Office and see if they can help you find someone to hunt and fish with you. It works. BUT, it DOES take patience.

Posted By Brian Warner on 15 Feb 2013 04:23 PM

Jim,

Your only as disabled as you allow yourself to be. Might not get stuff done as fast or as easily as others but we'll still get them done. Go post in the Florida section and see what comes up. Also swing by the Outdoor Rec at Eglin and the Game Warden's Office and see if they can help you find someone to hunt and fish with you. It works. BUT, it DOES take patience.

As for being "only as disabled as you allow yourself to be" I agree, and have always felt that way.  That goes
along with the same attitude that I have had since diagnosis:  I will win, the cancer will not.  That was my
attitude while the cancer still existed, and it's my attitude with the aftermath.  It's the only acceptable
outcome.

As for hunting at Eglin AFB, there are three days left (not out yesterday or today because the areas I hunt
are closed for military exercises):  tomorrow, Sunday, and Monday.  Then deer season is history.  Just
yesterday, I bought some doe estrus and a scent drag, and now have a popup ground blind, and am planning on
dosing the area with (per instructions) scent of hot doe.  I will NOT start the scent drag line from my car,
but rather, from about 20 yards away (maybe even on both sides---two trails) and into the woods on the other
side of the road to pull them my way out of those woods.  I have three days left to hopefully get at least one
buck to both avoid being discouraged and to boost my budget.....  After Monday, though, it's off to the bridge
with my cast net(s)[1] and/or new fishing pole until November.

Later,
   --jim

[1] I'm thinking of taking my old bridge net out of retirement, if I can find the needles (lost mine) for
   patching the net.  That'll depend on how my 10.5 foot 12.5 lb dock net performs as a bridge net.....

vim:set columns=110: vim:set textwidth=110:

Just FYI for y'all......As of one week ago at 30 minutes after sunset, deer season ended here for this year, and I officially stuck out.

:-(

I never even SAW a buck.  I saw two does, both on range roads (illegal to even attempt to take while on, or depending on the area, within 50 or 200 yards of a range road ... not to mention that neither sightings were during doe season).  The first was while walking in on one range road (sand) where I got stuck before trying to drive my Civic Si on)---I came up on her, we stared at each other for a few seconds, and then she decided to vanish.  The second, less than a week before the season ended, was crossing another range road (a different favorite spot) while I was driving out, and about 50 yards from her.  Those are my "great successes" this year....seeing two does I couldn't touch.  Oh well.  Time for fishing in about 1--2 weeks (not with the cast net yet, though---I'm adding rod//reel fishing back into the game...first time, other than charters with family and fellow 16SOW/IN folks once when I was there, since I was about 17.

bump

Ummm, I just realized, "I officially STUCK out" was supposed to be "stRuck out" with the 'r' ... oops.  :-)