I had a good season in NJ this year. I hunt 90% state land, and love it. The one piece of state land less than a mile from my house consists of 8,400 acres. There are some spots here that you would have to hike in over 1.5 miles. Hunting for me is an adventure all the time. I love hunting new spots. Here are a couple bucks I took this past year, and I managed a few does also.
The 6 ptr was taken 3/4 of a mile in on the local state land. Got set up on a nice oak flat in late september. At one point I had 6 bucks around me. This guy was the biggest one. He is a 6 ptr with an 18 1/2" inside spread. Body weight was around 150-160lbs. Shot was 35 yards and he ran about 150 yards.
Second buck was shot on a small piece of state land, 48 acres. Buck came in from a direction that I have never seen a deer come from, as usual. Got him the first week of November. He came in just sniffing the air in search of a hot doe. Bad for him he walked past me at 23 yards, and only went about 40 yards. He is a 9 ptr that weighed in around 150lbs. This guy is my biggest racked buck to date, and I have been hunting for 30 years. I am more of a meat hunter than a horn hunter, just got lucky with 2 nice bucks coming into bow range.
I killed this buck the 29th of October I rattled him in around 8:30 he came cruising into the woods and spooked the little 4 point that made it there first. He came by at 10 yards and I didn't want to risk a mouth bleat to stop him and hit him through the liver he ran about 200yards and piled up.
Been poking around this site for a while and finally joined, so this will be my first post. These are a few bucks taken by some of my hunters this past season. We had a Great Season!
Have you tried marinating a butterflied football steak in Pepperoncinis? I take the whole 32 oz jar or even 2 and marinade the roast for 3 days in the fridge and cook it in the dutch oven over the fire. I've done it in cast iron before and it's also excellent. Nice kill.