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About 20 years ago, I became involved with some friends in a friendly, opening day trout contest. The rules were simple. We fished in 2 man teams, $10 per man. The team that brought in the LONGEST TROUT won all the money. The trout had to be taken from the Cohocton River or one of it's tributaries, which ,if you are familiar with the drainage, covers quite a bit of water. We would meet at a given spot at 1:00 PM, measure up our fish, and then play poker the rest of the day.. It was kind of a win/win situation..<grin>... We had a number of different teams over the years, but there were four teams who were there pretty much every year from the beginning. This year we only have enough guys for two teams. Of the original 8, 3 guys are now fishing that great trout stream in the sky, one guy is no longer physically able to fish, and another has moved out of the area. 2 of the 3 guys who are gone passed away in the last 6 months, including a very dear lifelong friend of mine , who was my partner since the beginning. I have another good friend who is my new partner this year, and I am looking forward to getting out on the stream, although it will be bittersweet to say the least. My partner Mike, who passed away last fall, always got as excited as a little kid over opening day, even when he was in his 60s. He'll do doubt be looking over my shoulder next Tuesday as I drift a worm through his favorite pools...

I am going Sunday and help set up. I will post pics and update. work is important and family comes first. As long as you can make it on 11/4, that is the important one.

Leopold base and twist lock rings. Rock solid

Oboy....Wait 'till I a beer and some popcorn... Okay..Tell me again about tha RABBITS, George....

I dont know if I could go back to a car. I like the fact I can go anywhere, whenever I want. I can pick up large items without having to borrow a truck, or plan it out. Its just so convenient. I dont have to shovel or plow my driveway in the winter, etc etc etc. The convenience is worth the expense IMO. Id be pretty bummed if I had to give up the truck, I feel for ya.

Lots of forage. It is just 50' up. Lol. Would be great if NY ever decides to stock giraffes lol

QDM, TDM, Big bucks.. the bottom line is none of it means anything if you're not having fun... One thing I will say about the QDM approach.. most that are doing it (regardless of what my opinion is) are having a great time doing it and it has made their hunting experience exciting... that is really what it's all about...

...and still doesn't run. Lol. ADD folks! I'm already on to mountain bikes.

A man received the following text from his neighbor: I am so sorry Bob. I've been riddled with guilt and I have to confess. I have been tapping your wife all the time. I'm not getting any at my house, but that's no excuse. I can no longer live with the guilt and I hope you will accept my sincerest apology, along with my promise that it won't happen again. The man, feeling anguished and betrayed, went into his bedroom, grabbed his gun and without a word, shot his wife and killed her. A few moments later, a second text message came in: Damn spell-check. I meant "wifi", not "wife".

And Four Seasons your argument that it is QDMA VS Captive Deer Farms and how there is fear or competition is probably the silliest thing I have ever heard. Apple and Oranges..... Ask any hunter if they would rather hunt a wild 100% free animal vs Captive animal and we all know the majority is wild. Sure you have clients, there is a market, there is one for herion too. Doesn't make it right.

Saw it on Facebook. People where freaking out scared. Person posting it said it came from a great friend who would never lie - sound familiar? Google image search shows it was in a newspaper last fall in the midwest. Same story as always.

Pygmy, you want some of my popcorn, Ill share. Just nevermind that hole in the bottom of the bucket.....

Did you hear about the agnostic,dyslexic, insomniac ? He lay awake all night wondering if there really IS a dog.

Sneaking around the mountains with snow on the ground is a wonderful thing. In late season, I find it common to have to travel a long ways to find fresh sign. But once I find that sign, its game on. That said, I unfortunately can't say I've killed any truly big bucks in this fashion yet. Wish I had more opportunities to hunt snow. By late season wife has had enuf of my hunting and I am in damage control mode.

Any one that has to manually satisfy an animal for a living can keep that profession. Please wash your hands before counting all that money you make. Lol

Doc..I have a photo that I would like to show you.. Unfortunately, I don't have the ability to post it here. It is my Dad, at age sixteen, taken on the side of Naples Creek in April of 1937. He is proudly holding a nice rainbow, perhaps 6-7 lb. He placed in a fishing contest that day with that fish. He won a 9' bamboo fly rod and reel, which I still own. I also have a picture of myself at 4 years old, standing on a dock at Keuka lake, fishing with that same bamboo fly rod, which was the only fishing rod that I knew of my Dad owning until he got his first open face spinning rod in about 1957 or 1958. It was a Shakespeare fiberglass rod and reel, a birthday present from my Mom. Probably cost her 10 or twelve bucks, which was quite a lot in 1957. Pretty cool stuff....

PM me if you are making a purchase and need the code

If a parsley farmer doesn't pay his taxes, will they garnish his wages ? If a cannibal eats a clown, will he taste funny ? What is the speed of dark ? I guess I'm getting tired of the long winter ( DAMN this global warming). I'm getting even more squirrelly than I USUALLY am...<sigh>...

I went to school Naples, and so I was raised around the Naples Trout Derby and the carnival-like atmosphere of the shoulder to shoulder fishing in Naples Creek and its tributaries. It was an annual blast that was always a pile of fun. And some of those huge fish that came out of the water there always kept the interest stoked. Over the years, I have drifted away from those great times as all the people I used to go out on the waters with have moved away, died or simply lost interest. But when I hear someone talk about the great times on April first, it always brings back those great memories.

Yee-Hah!!! ......Thanks guys for adding a bit of life to the site. Things have been getting a bit quiet here. This thread has taken a heck of a sharp turn from the original topic, and frankly it had run its course anyway. So now what do we have? ...... QDM vs. genetic manipulation deer farms. Actually they are not apples to apples comparisons, but its great that you all are trying anyways. I really want in on all this, but you guys are doing such a great job, I don't want to mess it all up. Carry on guys and warm this place up a bit. I'll be waiting on the sidelines ready to jump in and stir the pot a bit when things start to slow down ..... lol.

Good luck with that suit, Mike

Nice heartfelt post, now I'm sad.

I can't say I am a big fan of the narrow ladder sections now being used. They are not as easy to even the weight when hanging and are more apt to cant. Plus, they become annoying in winter with heaver bulky boots.

^^^^yep. The Field & Stream Deluxe XL Ladder Stands are nice. I have one and its solid as a rock and has a good size platform with a flip up seat. The only drawback with it is that its heavy, but once its set up its great!

Dick's sells a model slightly above the basic - called the deluxe. These have full platforms going back to the tree.

That last photo looks like there should be a bag of lye and a shovel laying on top of it..LOL.

Hmmmm. Heres what I found on the DMV site... If the ATV is transferred by a private individual, acceptable proof of ownership is a New York State or out-of-state transferable registration or title certificate signed by the previous owner to transfer ownership to you if the current owner did not register the ATV, a transferrable registration and bill of sale that transferred ownership to the current owner, and a bill of sale that transfers ownership to you. http://dmv.ny.gov/node/1978 Bubba, did yours come with a registration from the dealer?

Ahhh, I see a black CC Raptor out that way quite a bit, wasnt sure if it was you. No, the blankets to protect the truck instead of the item you are hauling automatically keep it in the sissy category

x2

that's the best archery related investment you've probably ever made. I've still got mine. It stops everything cold, whether it's the fastest compounds or crossbows. I've never had an arrow stick through the other side period. more you shoot it the easier the arrows are to pull out. It's really not a struggle either. I've shot layered foam, fused layered foam, solid foam, and pretty much any other target out there and it's by far the most durable. I've shot 450 vegas rounds over and over without moving anything and it still takes the abuse. that's fat arrows hitting the same three spots 15 times each round. I think you'll be happy and if not i'll take it off your hands!

well at least someone reading these forums will get about the first 4 pages worth of good discussion.

No need to keep up. What we are involved in isn't business for us.

Not much difference from a accurate slug gun, center fire rifle or a ML to me. A 2.5-8 VariXIII sits on my ML. 2-7 VariXII sits on the 'Ol slug gun and my rifles are 2.5-8VX3 and 3.5-10VariXIII. A 2-7 or 3-9 is more than sufficient for anything we'll ever hunt. Or, as will so be pointed out a fixed 4x or 6x could also be perfecto.............. Lots of great manufacturers to choose from these days but I'm still groovin' the Leupold line.

And after a long winter, the crowd awaits with breathless anticipation the unveiling of the Obama statue

I know..I should have included a bibliography. My apologies to Steven Wright. I'm a HUGE fan..Pun intended...<<smile>>..

That's spooky! When I got home I put the key in the lock, turned it, and it started. I walked to the bar to figure things out. Vintage Steven Wright. My favorite is, "24 hours in a day, 24 beers in a case. Coincidence? I don't think so."

You could park it next to the boat that doesn't get used. Lol

I see these fools at the station pumping 120 bucks worth of gas in their F-250s and 1500s all the time and just gotta laugh. Its one thing if you can really afford it but if you have to postpone retirement till your 75 just to put gas in a truck your a dum, dum......

Now you will get his comments on how the bottle raised deer are as difficult to hunt as a wild one

PFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFt. My truck needs new ball joints or control arm again. For like the third time. Might be because I drive it like I stole it. Might also be because Moog is always sitting shotgun and it just so happens its the right side that's going.

All real Italians keep a good supply of such bags. You never know when they are needed and yes, I keep my truck pristine. If it was a Dodge, it would be treated accordingly - kinda like I treat Phade's PU.

Hehehehehe....All the little urchins will have to do is follow your tracks in the snow, you silly goose !

It's easy...First you pop open a beer. Next you log on to DORKZ. When in DORKZ, upload the framscuttle TWICE. After that, click on wackdoodle and crossload the fuzzbumper. Once the fuzzbumper crossloads, sidestep into beenybopper. As soon as beenybopper metabolizes, shut down the porksloop and re-boot the fernbender. After that, pop open another beer and try gain. Nothing to it. Glad to help.

Well, I figured I would share my most recent tattoo..I have two full sleeves,this one is at the bottom end of my right arm, and f course is my favorite..,

Sounds like it's Half and half. I have had a truck or 4x4 for almost my whole life driving. Feels weird to be back in the car. I really loved the truck. But from a financial stand point with a young family it makes sense. My brother does have a truck that lives down the road that is usually fine with me taking it. I will make this work and then in a few years hopefully things will be differnt. I'd rather be able to afford things for my children.

Landowners agreeing on 3.5 and up is rare here in NY. If you can do it, then that's a big deal. Problem is most hunters in NY don't have 3.5s and many don't have 2.5s on the wall. Might be best to think about setting 2.5 across the board for now and then move to 3.5 as people buy in a year or two down the road. Small steps = big victory.

The DEC cant manage the deer herd to a QDM or TDM standard. They dont have the money, and never will. Educating people is the key to turning things around, and if you look at the trends in yearling buck take in NY, you can see it is turning around. Its slow, but we are getting there. We will never be like the midwest states, the hunter density is too high, and the land is too broken up. You and I live in some of the best areas of the state, due to mineral content in the soil, and the amount of AG in the area and other factors. We have the potential for nice deer, and it shows each and every year. The more people that are educated, the better it will get, and you have to admit, its pretty darn good already, especially in comparison to some other areas of the state.

That's the way I am getting. It's worse each year.

When hunting big woods late season sitting can be futile... the vastness and low deer density of the big woods makes waiting for a deer, especially a bigger buck, nothing more than a long wait... in fact you could be there the rest of your life and never see a deer... still hunting or tracking is most affective because the deer don't have to be moving for you to find one.. snow is best... but hunting cover near a good food source is a good bet as well. Bucks are conserving energy after an exhausting breeding season and don't move very far even if they move... they feed mainly at night... because they are conserving energy they tend to hold a bit longer in their bed late in the season and its possible to get the jump on one if you move slowly.

One last point I think is worth mentioning. If you compare big woods (Northern Zone) hunting vs Southern Zone hunting, one of the biggest factors to consider in my opinion is the amount of food that is readily available. In the southern zone, there is tons of food - lots of farm land, apple orchards etc. It's a lot easier for a deer to go "nocturnal". They can bed down most of the day, and they know exactly where to go once the sun goes down, to get lots of food. Northern zone big woods is an entirely different ballgame. Deer need to eat several pounds of food a day, and there is not an endless supply of food in the Adirondacks. They'll bed down for periods during the day, but they will definitely be up and about, covering a fair amount of ground to find and consume enough food. This need for food, and the need for them to cover ground to get that food, is one of the reasons that mid-day hunts in the big woods shouldn't be overlooked. I agree with NFA-ADK, an all-day hunt is the best in my view.