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I haven't posted in a while but I still play with my leverguns regularly. Thought you might enjoy these. I have several fruit trees in the back yard that the deer enjoy. I put a couple of game cameras out last year. These are some pics from this year. There are a total of 10 deer that I know of that eat my fruit.
Mom and Fawns.
Another shot of the fawns. It looks like both are bucks.
Twins from last year.
Little forkie.
Great Grandad. This old boy is something else! I wonder how old he is? The neighbors saw him last year and said he had a bigger rack last year. He's going down hill now.
To stay on topic, I have been reworking the forend and mag tube attachments on my Winchester Model 64. It was shooting fairly well until I tinkered with it. Then it started stringing vertically. I am trying to fix what I "fixed" the last time. Going to the range to test it this week. I also found a cast bullet load that looks promising in my 1895 Winchester 30-03. The bullet is the NOE version of the Lyman 311284 over 30 grains of AA2495. Got a 3" five shot group at 100 yards. Four of the five went into 1-1/8". My eye blurred up on the shot that went out. I tried waiting for it to clear but it was taking to long so I shot and it went wide. It was better for the fifth shot and that one was back in the group. Must have had a floater get in the wrong place. I need to load some more for a retest.
Deer season opens next Saturday! Can't wait! No I am not going to kill my wife's pets in the back yard. We are going to drive 3-1/2 hours and bicycle 2-1/2 hours to camp and then walk another hour to get to a good spot. The hunt is better than the kill!
Got to brag a little too. I shot High Power Rifle Silhouette yesterday-not with a levergun. I ran a bank of pigs and knocked down 8 pigs altogether. I have been shooting silhouette for 20 years and at one time I was starting to shoot some decent scores. Then for five years I only went to a couple matches a year. I went back to shooting regularly a couple years ago but with age and health problems I am not back up to my former level. This is the first five in a row in a long time!
I think its because he isn't producing enough testosterone because of his age. We sometimes find bucks who have under developed testicles that grow weird antlers with squiggly little points. They usually don't lose the velvet either. This old guy is starting to grow those little squiggly points around the bases and the knobs along the antlers. Real old bucks won't even grow regular antlers. They might end up with just a clump of odd spikes sticking out. You can see he has lost a lot of muscle just like the rest of us old guys. He has a skinny neck and skinny shoulders and hindquarters. In his prime he would have been bulging with muscle. His face is all wrinkled. I have never seen one with a wrinkled face like that. He has to be at least 10 years old. Cool old buck. I salute him!
I'm rather fed up with the deer eating the fruit in MY orchard and yard. They come into the yard at night and eat the cheeries, and often get on their hind legs and with their front legs pull the tree branches down, breaking them off. On younger trees, that can totally ruin the tree. Each fall the archers thin the herd quite a bit (there are two or three permanent tree stands in the woods across the street from our yard), but the season isn't open yet and lots of damage is occuring. Maybe I need to fire off the shotgun in the yard each evening just to scare them off a little? Neighbors would probably call the cops if I did that though. Any suggestions?
southfork wrote:I'm rather fed up with the deer eating the fruit in MY orchard and yard. They come into the yard at night and eat the cheeries, and often get on their hind legs and with their front legs pull the tree branches down, breaking them off. On younger trees, that can totally ruin the tree. Each fall the archers thin the herd quite a bit (there are two or three permanent tree stands in the woods across the street from our yard), but the season isn't open yet and lots of damage is occuring. Maybe I need to fire off the shotgun in the yard each evening just to scare them off a little? Neighbors would probably call the cops if I did that though. Any suggestions?
Cool pictures OJ! That buck needs to spread a little more. Tall is good, wide is better. Maybe you could hang some weights on his antlers so they spread a little more.
I have an 8' tall fence around my garden and some of the fruit trees. The deer will eat everything eventually. Even tomato plants and squash leaves. The fruit trees outside the fence are all full size trees and I just figure everything they can reach is theirs. Yes they stand on their hind legs to reach higher. My fruit is at the top of the tree. I haven't had them break large branches but they do break smaller branches. My wife was ready to kill them all until I protected her favorite fruit trees. Now she enjoys them.
The biggest problem I have now is grey foxes. Last year a litter was born up the hill behind the house and they stripped all the fruit off of my wife's favorite apple and her persimmon trees. Little varmints climb like cats. I put an 8' tall fence around the persimmon and they just climbed over. They don't seem to be as bad this year since we have some coyotes hanging around again. The coyotes disappeared a few years ago and then the rabbit population exploded and the foxes turned up. It is tough gardening here. There is always something ready to eat it before we get it.
The deer didn't bother us for the first 10 years we lived here. Now they grow up eating the fruit here so there is no getting rid of them. One of the bonuses of having them is for deer recognition training. When my wife started hunting she had a hard time spotting deer in the wild. After a few years of watching them in the back yard she spots them easily now.
cool stuff, nice looking deer. Maybe it's time to take up archery?
Good luck on the hunt, I'm glad you're going out and are feeling better. That's a tough hunt with the heat and bugs, which drove me crazy last time I went (New Cuyama area).
I took last year off of A-zone and only got a local tag. And I only made it out once. We had a crisis at work and I volunteered to work my vacation which was supposed to be for hunting. I didn't feel up for it and found myself procrastinating - I felt like I couldn't spare the time or miss the sleep. These days my regular bedtime is about when you leave for hunting, so if I hunt I miss my night's sleep completely. That makes for a hard 40-hour day. Wish I had more time but that's the breaks.
Right now I'm liking the idea of coyote hunting in the off season. I'm working on wiring up a fawn decoy so it will bleat.
"I'll tell you what living is. You get up when you feel like it. You fry yourself some eggs. You see what kind of a day it is."
Nice pics. Wish you luck this season. The deer down here are thick on the ground this year. We have had a good bit of rain this year so the does are better able to care for the fawns. Dont know if I will be able to get out in the woods this year had shoulder surgery the end of May not up to snuff yet. Hoping I can get at it late season. If not I will just live vicariously through you guys.
Jeremy
GySgt USMC Ret
To err is human, To forgive is devine, Neither of which is Marine Corps policy Semper Fidelis
about keeping deer out of your yard, I thought I would share this.
My wife was lamenting about how the deer eat everything we plant, etc, etc, to someone, forget who - anyways, this lady says that she has found the best and cheapest solution to this problem.
she went to (Walmart maybe?) and got some of those little motion activated garden gnomes and when you walk near them, they say funny things. She said the deer jump and run like crazy when they get close to those gnomes - said its hilarious to watch. I think the gnomes are pretty cheap - put a few of them around your trees and the deer should leave them alone.
not sure if they run off batteries or what. I'm going to look into getting a couple for myself.
about keeping deer out of your yard, I thought I would share this.
My wife was lamenting about how the deer eat everything we plant, etc, etc, to someone, forget who - anyways, this lady says that she has found the best and cheapest solution to this problem.
she went to (Walmart maybe?) and got some of those little motion activated garden gnomes and when you walk near them, they say funny things. She said the deer jump and run like crazy when they get close to those gnomes - said its hilarious to watch. I think the gnomes are pretty cheap - put a few of them around your trees and the deer should leave them alone.
not sure if they run off batteries or what. I'm going to look into getting a couple for myself.
Good idea - however, - this is our "gnome" - who is athletic and specks clearly with authority - known to have chased as many as three big bucks out of the plum trees my wife treasures -
Catches tennis balls in mid air
Also religious -
And - joins me in an afternoon nap - which my wife was sneaky enough to record -
At 70#, she fills the shoes these two left when they departed - both short of 6th birthday - and she eats a LOT less
OJ KING
SEMPER FI
DUTY, HONOR, COUNTRY
NRA LIFE MEMBER
El Chivo, I am not a lot better but I have made some progress. I am going anyway. I feel better about it this year. We will see how it goes. Are you hunting at all this year? I hate it when work interferes with hunting!
Jeremy, Are you back in San Diego area? We got about half our normal rain here. I think it rained more further north where I hunt so it still might be a decent year for deer. I will find out in a little over a week. I hope it cools down a little too. I had shoulder surgery so I know what you are going through. I hope you recover quickly.
No they sent me to the other coast. Down here in North Carolina now still trying to get back out west we shall see in a couple years. As to the shoulder going slow but making progress. It will make for a nice bit of disability when I retire in a few more years.
Jeremy
GySgt USMC Ret
To err is human, To forgive is devine, Neither of which is Marine Corps policy Semper Fidelis
Because I Can, and Have
-------------------------------------------------------------
USAF-72-76
God Bless America.
Disclaimer, not responsible for anyone copying or building anything i make.
Always consult an expert first.
Jeremy, You must be at Camp Lejeune. We jumped into the swamp there one time when I was in the 82nd Airborne. We spent a couple weeks there on maneuvers with the Marines. I was on the runway at Cherry Point but I never saw the Marine base. I remember watching A-4's taking off there.
Take care of that shoulder. A good shoulder is better to have than disability.
I have been going down to San Diego to hunt, it's being claimed there are pigs down there now but exactly where is elusive. I have a friend down there. Since pigs are year-round I can go at my convenience, and when the weather is cooler.
Year before last we went out to the pay-to-play ranch in San Bernadino, not the greatest adventure but you do come back with meat.
I have been hunting less due to lack of game and time, and with the area near me still closed, I have to drive farther. Also since the fire closures, lots of "blasters" who used to hunt elsewhere have found my area. I can usually count on an artillery barrage about 10:30 am.
"I'll tell you what living is. You get up when you feel like it. You fry yourself some eggs. You see what kind of a day it is."
I hope nobody does me any favors 
