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Tomato sandwiches and mac salad with tuna.

"Mature" is that kind of like "aging"? Either one could "mature" in my shed for 7-10 days after dressing, depending on temps. <grin>

We touched on some of this on Doc's thread about food plots being too big. My take is this. Food plots can be expensive and the time and effort are substantial. But we currently have about 12 acres in perenials and another 10 or so set aside for annuals. Every year we evaluate how much money and time we have and what we want to achieve and go from there. Our goal is not hunting plots but year round food source so each spring we adjust as needed. The main thing is the results we see come hunting season. It is as much an enjoyment as hunting itself. The satisfaction of seeing big bucks is invaluable. We don't kill them every year but we do see them. Am i often overwhelmed? You bet. When it has only rained once in a month and time and money are short, you just try to prioritize things and move on. I encourage clients to make realistic goals and expectations. Don't bite off more then you can chew. Start with a managable plot and don't cut corners on the prep. If you enjoy it then expand your plans in the following years. Think of the long range not instant rewards..

Anyone like a nice 6pt...or is he just another "cull buck"? I like 'em... and think he'd make a great trophy! Some of yall may remember the wide 8pt I posted back in May at the summer scrape with some good early growth. ...here he is a few weeks later! ...and just another smaller 6pt that hopped out in front of the Nikon while I was reviewing pics at the Moultrie.

Ha! A cool catapillar I mean.Wife touched it with her digits and she said her digits picked for quite some time.

For me... I enjoy working on and investing my property almost as much as sitting in the tree and harvesting a nice whitetail. It can be very expensive, it is my main hobby. I can honestly say over the past 5 years of owning my farm and busting my tail I am seeing improved hunting... and I can say that based on trail cam pics, hunting observations, and harvest data.... plus the most important reason... I enjoy it.

Just got the nexus 7 in the mail. Loving it so far. Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

To me, without taking into account the specific area, its deer population, and how heavily hunted it is, discussing ARs is moot. The guys who think it should be done everywhere, without regard for these things, are silly. If a guy hunts an area where there are very few other hunters, and therefore, very few bucks killed each year, AR is pointless. killing a spike or a 4 pt here or there is not going to make or break the age structure of the bucks in the woods, nor the quality of your hunting experience. If it does, you are clearly not in the proper frame of mind. On the flip side, those guys that say they could care less about shooting a monster, and are just in it for the meat......we;ll thats pretty insane too. your telling me that as a hunter, you don;t get charged seeing/shooting a beauty buck? gimme a break. Somewhere theres some common sense in the middle ground. I currently hunt Long Island and 3A and simply do not see the need for AR in those areas. I used to hunt 6A, while i was in college. In the 4 years I hunted there, neither me or my two buddies shot a buck with more than 4 points. I don't even think we saw more than 2. I guess I would have supported it for that area. Though poaching may have been the real problem up there. I dont know. Growalot, I liked your point how nice bucks seem to be shot at many areas of the state each year. Obviously, some areas are more challenging than others, but all things considered, most areas of NY have some big bucks, thank god. One last comment, some people say "they are all trophies". I think people who hunt areas where there are and always have been plenty of deer may not truly understand the phrase. I've had years in the catskills where the deer population is way down and/or we get lousy weather for the majority of my 8-10 day hunt. If, in the course of busting my butt up and down mtns all week long, a spike is my only shot opportunity and I take that deer. That deer is earned, and valued beyond deer with much bigger racks. That is truly my trophy and it sux that "the government" would take that deer and the experience away from me.

Gee biz, don't break a sweat while your walking to your air conditined office>> Come on over after your hard days work in the city and help me move this 10 yrds of top soil. You know how to use a shovel right..

Agree: Gander Mountain's gun dept. stinks! That said, trading guns can be a distasteful experience, no matter where you do business. Personally, I know of only one small independent gun shop where I would even think of talking trade. Others that I deal with, operate pretty close to that 50% trade value. I have put eight different guns in a local consignment auction (one sportsman's auction a month, with 50+ guns)over the past couple of years and have always received more for them than I hoped to get...even considering the auction house's cut of each deal. I would not hesitate to do so again...as an alternative to trading with any dealer.

Soccer .......... the fans are nuts and there have been riots at some games and people have been killed . And .......... blaze orange isn't going to keep a fan safe at a soccer game !

like dave has stated it's an added enjoyment to the overall hunting aspect. With that in mind, I do operate on a budget and all the habitat work and hunting is secondary to my family responsibilites. Some people spend money on vacations, I spend it on habitat improvements. I'm a land owner so all my work will be enjoyed by my kids and my brothers kids(i hope lol). But to get back to your question of diminishing returns...that depends on how you value that? I don't expect to kill a mature buck every year but expect to have the opportunity to and that's how I gage return on my habitat work. I can shoot a yearly 10 times over every year but Im looking to harvest mature deer. some years I wonder is it all worth it and honestly It is. I enjoy being on the tractor, dozer etc...I'm a man for christ sake lol.

Ethanol is a joke alright. It raises the cost of corn which raises the price of feed which raises the price of beef, milk, pork the cost to ship it... on and on. Then add in that you get poor performance and poor mpgs. They think we're all idiots... thats the problem.

Does that make what DEC does, ancillary? Hey; am I using that right ?.....hmmm; not sure. Can anyone help me with that?

That's not limited to domestic fruits either.. During the many years that I lived out in the country, I used to hike miles and miles of farm roads, dirt roads, woods roads, etc. every summer..Many of those roads and trails are lined with wild berries.. I enjoyed them all, but my favorites were wild blackberries, picked off the briars and eaten by the HANDFULL...YUM !!..

Fresh summer fruits. Mangos, cherries, etc.

One in rear is buck I get the annual one-time encounter with during the rut. One year it was a 120yd shot with MZ thru trees - missed! Another year he chased a doe under my stand after watching him dogginge her & a smaller buck for 1.5hrs - missed! Another year he came in to my can call, stopped 30yds behind a tree. When he finally stepped out I was shaking pretty good - missed. Last year opening day of gun season saw him bounding directly away from me - mo shot! First year I saw him he was a decent 8pt, maybe 3 years old. Last year he was a 9-10 pt. Other than the rut, he's really evasive & nocturnal.

anything to get out of going to work

Porterhouse steak on the grill and an ice cold beer.

I'm thinking that the added pollution to make ethanol pretty much negates it's "pollutes less" status. It was a good idea gone terribly wrong... somebody didn't do their homework. But, I'm guessing big money was involved.

Also fryed green tomato's.

well the shooter pleaded guilty yesterday to criminally negligent homicide in county court. He faces up to 4 years in state prison when sentenced 10/1. I hope he gets all of that.

Fresh tomato, cucumber, red onion salad with fresh basil, marinated in vinegar and olive oil. Just tastes like summer. Goes great with a grilled porter house!

Sweet corn, RAW CLAMS...!!..

Pygmy, didn't get everything off your chest in the AR thread??

If I could get a DMP every year yes. I get one every 3 or 4 years. If nit I would hunt birds and small game.

Okay I give up. What the h_ _ _ is AR? Maybe I am getting to old for this but all writers should spell out the meaning of all abreviations when first used in a paragraph. Not all of us are savy. For example: For your Information (FYI) some of us readers are s_ _t out of luck (SOL) when reading your letters (LTRs)

You do realize that there are thousands of buck taken each year that are of good size and age...that ppl don't have a need to advertise to the world and are never seen....Hell why would any one want to advertise their good hunting grounds? Granted that is a well presented chart...with one glaring exception...you neglected to put in bold That the ENTIRE chart is HYPOTHETICAL NYDEC does not ask the age of buck taken...just point #'s and if they are adults....Do you have the data on how many guys butcher their own deer?...how many "deer processors" are never visited and the rarity of jaw aging? I'm not saying I'm against older deer...I pass buck my self...I suppose what I'm against is the band wagon...Well this state and that state are doing it...look at all those trophy's...look what their getting for guided hunts.... leased lands and trophy fees...it has little...I'll refrain from very...just little to do with a healthy heard...I would also think it justifies the $$$ the state lays out for the biologists and studies

I've never been too excited about ARs... I'm more of a BOLT ACTION kinda guy... Woops...Wait a minute... You guys aren't talking about RIFLES are you ??.. Sorry..My bad.. I think it's time for my NAP...

I think AR should be statewide. No damage permits. 1 buck per season, Year round on yotes.

Yeah but look at what we would save in Social Security entitlements ...... ;D Also, judging by the teenage pregnancy problems, perhaps the younger deer would be as super-prolific as our human teenagers ..... eh? You sure wouldn't want to leave the breeding up to those 60 and 70 year olds.....lol. Ok, I understand what you are trying to say. I just thought it might be a good time to lighten things up a bit

You're still not listening Larry.. it's not about killing bigger deer. It's about balancing the age structure in bucks... the real problem is hunters like you can't get the big deer thing out of their head and look at it from a management standpoint.

I may be a guy who kills some of those mature bucks and I am probably a guy who knows about many of them (including the ones that fly under the internet radar)...but when you have most of the hunters and deer kill in the state - 3 dozen 3.5 or older ones on line does not mean squat when it represents less than 5% of the take. Why should AR be in WNY- because (despite the states BS stats) almost every male killed here is less than 2.5 yo and we are saturated with deer and does (our b:d is way out of whack)...... my beef is the state has no idea on how many deer are here or killed and (again) it appear to be all about license sales. A serious deer hunter could understand the opportunity here for a helthier herd (due to mean age and managed population including that of b:d ration) and the trophy potential that would coincide