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Great public land buck!....heck, great buck anywhere. Now, please edit your post.....what you meant to say was you shot it at 'xxxxxxx' WMA. Cripes ! Please protect your spot !

Every Deer killed is a trophy to the person who shot it!! please keep this in mind when you look a some 14 year olds or (anyone's) button buck, or doe or 6pt yearling. If it doesn't meet your own personal standards, congradulate the person in a sincere mannor and just walk away.... I get sick seeing some teliing the person who shot it what did you shoot that dog for? Hey they wanted it they shot it!! Belittling someone only seems to cause more problems than it solves. Now if its to you own members at camp a little razzing may be in order in good taste

When my friend asked me why I want to kill a deer, I pointed out the most of them were suicidal, and I was just helping end their misery.

I think they anticipate the "sunrise and sunset" will be stretched. If they made it the half before and after....that would probably get stretched then. Botom line, just like any other reg, the enforecement will be at the discretion of the ECO. It may come down to whether his eggs were cooked to order that morning or not..lol

In the original thread I mentioned in the 42 years of hunting I have never looked at my watch before I shot a deer. Enough said don't want to reserect that thread again.

Elmo- If you are trying to say that accurately shooting a bow requires more practice and mental and physical discipline than accurately shooting a gun (at least for hunting purposes) ..... I agree. There is something quite instinctive about shooting a gun well. Archery accuracy does require some fairly rigid form and execution characteristics and enough practice to turn them into engrained methods of shooting. However, to carry that thought out beyond that point and into such things as hunting dedication and hunting ability and responsibility and ethics really has nothing to do with the difficulty of using either weapon. If you or anyone else is trying to connect up ethics with any particular weapon, you should understand that there is no such connection. Responsible hunting is something that exists between the ears of the hunter and is not dependant on what weapon he/she is carrying.

Article feature on a NY Hunter who bagged a nice buck. http://blog.syracuse..._hunter_fi.html Nice buck!!!

Rain or shine or gloom of snow won't keep most of us home. I'll take 40-50 degrees. It could be 70 or 80.

I will add to that last comment. You know to me there is a lot more to hunting than just harvesting a deer. I love to be out there when the woods wakes up. There is a finite number of sunrises I will be able to see in my life. I figure why not enjoy as many as possible. It doesnt cost me a thing and it really puts me in a good state of mind.

I like to get in an hour ahead of time. Bow hunting it's almost mandatory, not that I haven't seen deer late in the a.m., but you've got to let the woods quiet down as much as possible. With the gun, I like to mooch hunt anyway. The other rule of thumb is, I wait close to 300 days for the season to open. I guess there's plenty of time to "sleep in' during that time period. I want to be in the woods as much as possible and give myself the chance to at least have a shot at it.

Well I think that comes down to a few things. First is the varied terrain in NY from large open fields to cramped woods and brush land. Secondly I think alot of people have emotional attachments to their gun of choice.

i feel you newbreed, ive passed every buck i have seen this season so far with a few in between with no shots or shots i just plain wont take. there is no shame in it and i like yourself are tired of taking 1.5's also. Some dont have the liberty to hold off of deer but if you do, do it...

That is why I am a strong believer in taking the FIRST deer that gives you a good opportunity if meat in the freezer is important to you. Passing deer after deer the whole season waiting for the big one and then thinking that a good, easy opportunity will present itself on the last day is wishful thinking at best. Put one in the freezer first, and then worry about getting Mr. Big.

Brandon ; Your phone takes better pics then mine! Nice basket on that buck & sharp lookin stock on the machine. Good hunting & welcome to the forum.

I've been washing my hunting clothes with baking soda for 25+ years. I can't be positive that it works but I do shoot my share of deer every year.

I don't waste the time or money. It is impossible to hide one scent from a deer by adding another - they simply process both at the same time. Their sense of smell is equal to or better then a dog - if you could hide/cover a scent, tracking dogs would not exist.

we should record the traffic and play it in the woods . they will come

My girl came up with the crazy idea of rather exchanging gift this year we should just buy stuff for the apartment. The problem with this idea is that my wish list is filled with nothing but hunting toys. We don't need no new stinking door knobs or curtains!

I should add too Dave.. that proficiency and making good choices are also very different

The woods have been completely dead for me. Charlie said from the 12th-20th would be the ruts "sweet spot". God I hope it gets better than this! I've been out 32x so far. The rut seemed to be simmering up until ~10 days ago, then it seems like it has shut down for me.

Talk about long days. Now I'am starting to count the hours till Friday 8 AM take off. Look for the gray streak on the LIE that will be me headed north. Good luck to everyone and for Gods sake be safe.

Weather 'nerds' like me, may I suggest Weather Underground's advanced radar modes, it'll give you a lot more information than weather.com does: http://www.wunderground.com/

MY CAMO IS MATHEWS LOST CAMO pretty good stuff ever notice how well a deer blends into the woods? a deer is brown this camo is pretty brownish in color with a lot of shadow type print on it most relistic camo ive seen yet just my opinon... how ever i do see that predator has a new treestand type camo that looks like it be pretty evective as well..

That buck was shot in KY years ago. http://www.northamericanwhitetail.com/2010/09/22/trophybucks_naw_0907_02/

I think the outcome would have been different if you left the deer in the woods. Then called the DEC, when they arrived I would bring them to the spot where the dead deer was and if the DEC wanted the deer let them drag the deer out of the woods. At that point I think they would have given you that deer, as long as you didn't volenteer to drag the deer out of the woods for the DEC. They couldn't make you drag the deer and i doubt they would call another DEC officer to remove the deer. Just my opinion, but you did the right thing the DEC didn't.

Thanks all, for the replies. Sorry for the lengthy story. Think I am truly looking for the different feedback to help me to stop kicking myself. Seasons not over with yet. Good Luck everyone.

Leave it to the governemnt to take a simple situation,complicating the hell out of it, and stick you a bill for their services.

I can honestly say that I dont believe I have ever found a dead deer that I can 100% for sure say was killed with a bow. I have found plenty of them with bullet holes. It does bother me when people dont make every effort to find the deer they have shot, even if they believe it was a non-fatal wound. I shot a deer high my second year out, knew it was over the spine and that she would live, but still spent the rest of that day looking just in case, saw her a week or so later healing up. This year I made a shot on a deer, couldnt find blood or the arrow but spent almost an entire day searching for any sign, and went home feeling sick. I cant explain that shot other than I must have pulled it a bit and I hope that he survived. Misses, hitting branches and mistakes happen, hell you might not be able to track a deer through due to not gaining permission to go on the land that the deer went on, but you owe it to the animal to do your best to take an ethical shot and do everything you can to find it. Same goes for gun hunting. IMO, This subject should be directed at all hunters, not just bow or gun hunters.

Pictures of some nice bucks using the food plot to look for does.. Enjoy..

Ahhhhh, the single life aint so bad!

Ive shot a ton of wolves on Cabelas alaskan adventure game with a 17 hmr and they always go down.

Everyone's different on their approach not necessarily better..that being said...I tend to look at things at another angle.....You need a soil test by all means...but ..in the mean time what you describe... I'd say you need to lime no matter what...read up on lime....it needs to have soil to particle contact to work and doesn't move through soil readily... so tilling in is important...but it also takes TIME to work....so I'd personally go in when the ground is still frozen this spring..in that freeze thaw time...just a little snow and lay down some Granular lime...the act of frost heaving and snow/rain in spring will get it in the ground...then as the soil tests advise lay down your quick acting lime and till in....2 weeks after you've done your FIRST spray down for weeds...because once you do that till it up... and wait a couple of weeks...the weed seed that has laid dormant will grow well...spray again Here's my feelings on annual verses perennial in new plots.... 1.) $$$..annual seed usually cost less per pound of seed 2.) The first year...or even 2 will be weed..labor intensive 3.)with an annual plot you can grow a spring/ summer... come back mid growth and just run a weed whacker over the top to get weeds before seed heads develope 4.) in the fall...you can go in and till in that summer plot and lay down a fall planting....add a bit more lime and a little fertilizer... Your improving your soil...not getting discouraged that the expensive seed you bought didn't grow as well as you expected...letting the deer know there is a new food source in town... perennial plots... 1.) more expensive 2.) less tolerant of weeds...You still need to mow or spray($$) to control 3.) much more intolerant of poor soil conditions 4.) much more common...clover grows every where...now yes some are tastier than others ...but deer don't always know that right away and will tend to go where they are use to eating 5.) once well established need less work...but if your using quick lime...you still need to add some lime every year as maintenance and a good low nitrogen fertilizer on clovers I personally take 3 years to get a new plot in shape to plant a perennial plot...but I have ROCKY soil...buckwheat has always been my go to as far as a new plot...but see..that works for me...not always the case for others...like a first planting of braccs...they aren't always hit at first...spring trictacal is good also

Well i'll put in my 2 cents.. While corn my work for the 1st year your plot is pretty small and a few racoons will take care of it fast before it gets a chance to dry down(or dent) which is what you want for deer, second its clost to a pond..geese love to pull young emerging corn plants and eat them. I suggest a good white clover, it will be used all year, is easy to maintain and plant (no tilling nessary) just use the roundup to kill the ferns (very tough to kill you will need a few applications) do your soil test. Use a stiff lawn rake or wide lawnscaping rake to remove the surface trash,you can use lawn pellitized lime as it will break down just like in your lawn.(remember lime takes time to be incorperated into the soil. Sow your seed (its very small and you only need a little bit for the area you wish to plant) over seeding will only hurt your growth rate,follow the planting directions on amount to use what ever seed you buy!! I've use genaric seed ,biologic, and whitetail institute seed(i've seen the best results with the whitetail institute, drawing deer past my other clover plots) This planting will last you 3-5 years with proper mowing(helps keep the weeds out) or if you use herbacides to kill off the unwanted weeds. I do like corn but my own experiance tells me your plot is to small i plant minimum of 2-3 acre plots for corn and soybeans if i plan on hunting over them. 5 acres or more if i want to provide supplemental nutrition thru the winter.....well best of luck to you!!!