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the ducks have arrived here in NY so I came out of my winter trail cam hibernation and put out some cams. after making the rounds last week I was both amazed and frightened at what one of my creekside units had captured. the wood duck drake appears to dwarf the large evergreen tree along side and seems to be taking up half of the width of the creek. estimates put him at 3 meters wide and roughly 500 lbs. not sure I want to go back to that set being that there is a genetic mutant fowl on the prowl. might have to take the shotgun along next time and swap out the #6's with OO buckshot.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=goBXdYIOqUY

Good riddance to one very idiotic and meddlesome pile of waste. You will not be missed. Now go back where you came from and continue to try to screw up that country instead of exporting your liberal mindset where it really is not needed, or wanted.

Yeah I'm annoyed that xbows won't be allowed for the entirety of archery season as they should be, BUT if it goes thru, foot is in the door and Belo will be pissed, so it won't be all bad. :-) Zhe Wiz

Well, looks like crossbows are coming back, i saw this a while ago, but never posted anything on it. Pretty cool design, maybe this will be what i end up with at some point.

I am pleased to report that the 2014-15 NYS Budget – pending final approval by the Legislature - will make crossbows a legal hunting implement once again in New York State. The budget language will allow crossbow use for all small game and any big game season that includes firearms. We will also have crossbow use in the last 14 days of the Southern Zone and the last 10 days of the Northern Zone early archery seasons. In addition, the archery set back is changed to 150' for archery and 250' for crossbows. Unfortunately, Suffolk and Westchester counties are once again eliminated from the crossbow inclusion. More will be forthcoming in an official press release. Congratulations to all and I thank everyone that made the calls, sent emails and wrote letters to get us to this point. Best Regards, Rick McDermott New York Crossbow Coalition www.nycrossbowcoalition.com

Hi everyone..so its my wedding anniversary and I got my husband to agree to go in on a pump shotgun for me...obviously im not a diamonds kinda girl. What online stores with decent prices are recommended for accessories..like chokes, sights. Or any websites you guys use for researching about shotguns. Locally I have a Dick's, Walmart and Sports Authority in town. Probably buying a 20g Mossberg or Remington today. Want it for Turkey, and skeet at the moment.

Eddie nailed it... Sure looks like a light phase northern harrier to me. They can vary from nearly white to a fairly dark grey/brown. We have lots of them here in the southern tier. Probably the most numerous medium/large hawk next to the ubiquitous redtails. In many cases they are very easy to ID. They have a relatively long tail and long pointed wings and are very often seen gliding LOW over hay or weed fields hunting mice. They have a very conspicuous white patch on thier rump, which is often easy to see because they fly so low when they hunt. Other than that I don't know much about them...<wink>...

I got out the big book and it looks like it resembles a Northern Harrier ...........

It all total BS just another reason NY suxs

I dought one would be able to use archery tags during firearm. I expect you would have to use whatever tags are applicable to the season you are hunting in.

Natchez Shooters Supply I seem to always get a good deal there.

Dont forget its another open house maple weekend. Most all should have sap to boil this time around. If your bored take a drive out to one of your local maple producers.

Maybe this post should be called "Do A Little Dance - Part II"?? (Here's Part 1 http://huntingny.com/forums/topic/15437-do-a-little-dance/ ) Guess those deer are dancing for the NYCC this time!! Thanks for all your work and efforts Rick and the NYCC!

Yeah its a bit on the pricey side. I like options, so once they are legalized for good, Ill have one just to take out when the mood catches me. They are fun to shoot. I like this one due to the weight, dry fire mechanism, and you can back it down without shooting it. Having to carry around a small crossbow target to fire it into after a hunt sounds like just one more thing to forget at home to me lol.

I was hunting in Georgia in 04 and had 2 does run high speed right past my stand early in the AM. A minute or two later I hear unmistakable rapid grunting for very far off. This has to be the furthest I have heard a deer grunting from. Anyway I heard this guy almost non stop grunting in a steady slow trot, heading my way. I know I heard this buck coming in hot and heavy for almost 2 minutes, zig zagging down the ridge into a river bottom. I had laid out scent bombs and when he caught wind of it he slammed on the brakes , did what appeared to be a lip curl and took one fatal step, respectable 6 ptr made a death run of about 50 yds and met his demise. The whole time he was coming in until right before he stopped he was grunting like a grunt between each breath. Changing tones and volumes throughout.

I had a forkhorn come past me a few years ago grunting with every stiff-legged step. I heard him coming way before I saw him and he walked by at about 30 feet. Every ten steps or so he'd sort of slow down, almost stop, and let out a pathetic sort of groan. It was like watching a frustrated teenager at the school dance. I ended up laughing so hard I fell off my stool. He looked backed at me, gave another groan and kept walking.

A guy was advertising the Plastic See Through posted signs at the DEC Sportsmen's Weekend in Eat Avon a few years ago . He was giving out some 3"X3" samples . I will see if I can find one as it has his address on it . I would think that they would become brittle and break in a couple years .

It's a great testimony but the video is old , old , old ! I'd like to wipe the smirk off of Shumer's face !

NFA and Stoneam2006, thanks for the kind words. Stoneam2006, your attitude about this type of hunting as you expressed above is great and a necessary ingredient. As a kid, I struggled because I wanted more action. And numbers of deer sightings just isn't what this is about. my friends were experiencing much more action in other portions of the state and it was frustrating for me. So glad now that I stuck with it. Now for a couple more tid bits... NFA mentioned smelling deer. As time has gone on, I can't believe how often I smell deer in the woods. Usually its the rutty buck smell, sometimes the "horses" smell. On days when its foggy and air is "heavy" it happens a lot. I once smelled 4 or 5 bucks in one day. Over the years, a few of these deer I got eyes on. Came real close to killing a big 9 ptr once but I blew it and cover was too thick for a shot. The other tip is use binoculars. I resisted using them for years due to weight and the fact that I wear glasses and never felt real comfortable looking through the ones I tried. Last year I bought a good pair and gave the a fair shake. My goodness I can't believe what I was missing all those years. Put simply, I am a better hunter with binocs around my neck. Quick story, last year I was stalking a buck with a doe and lost sight of them down below me. I had guessed that they bedded since they seemingly just vanished. Never saw them walk off. So I creeped down the mountain little by little 10 yds at a time using boinocs to keep scanning. At some point I was able to see the tips of his antlers. They were bedded up against a short bench. Without binocs I would have had to trip on these deer to see them. Long story short, I wound up passing on the buck since I already had one hanging. It was a nice one too. 8 ptr good mass, 16" wide. I wound up bumping it eventually and it ran to my cousin, and he shot it.

I know one thing. I moved some deer today up between Tupper Lake and North Creek and i would have to admit to being a little set back if i had to hunt in an area that big. A guy better have very good use of a compass. There is still 4ft of snow in the woods up there, the only place you see any deer or turkeys are next to peoples houses that are feeding them. Good thing because few deer would make winter in that area. I also saw more Moose crossing sign's then Deer crossing. Big area i guess so!!!!

Damn thanks for all the great insites fellas I have been more and more confident about Being in the big woods and found myself walking out past dark almost everytime out last year. The problem for me and scouting is that I'm from the southern tier (olean ny area) and its a solid 6+ hr there. One common thing I am reading is that big woods deer are not like our deer elsewhere in state...And that makes sence more I think about it. I've always loved it up on adks sence I was young and my old man took me fishing up there. Luckily for me harvesting a deer is not my main reason for hunting there. It's the feeling of seperation from humans and the great outdoors and the smell its like my heaven. I will continue to pursue the big woods as long as I can and maybe just maybe someday I'll get the chance to harvest one. Again thanks for comments keep them comming as Ik there are guys who have opinions and haven't shared. Thanks Sent from my HTC One X using Tapatalk

NO, A Sportsman! STAY! Please! Not a dead post just too much for me to finish last night. I love these post and reference them throughout the year! So much great info from so many sources! I usually use up all my LIKES on these post. THis is where I stopped last night. IF no sign is found during rifle season, the first snow I cover at least 5 miles to find fresh tracks, if I am lucky enough to have snow. I base my next move on the tracks I find. No big bucks and I move on to another area unless I find many doe, never happened in the ADK deep woods yet. Town area's are different then deep woods and I have found much higher concentration of deer in "rural" ADK woods. Da open area hello! To bad deep woods are devoid of this habitat! One thing out of all others is working in your boots! I cover ground when no sign is present so I can understand hiking 6 miles in a big circle. That is how I like to cover an area. Your loop IF studied properly (Snow is huge in this aspect) will show any trails or buck sign that is present but you need a very close inspection if no snow is present. No snow, then only cover 3 miles and inspect everything for deer sign like "A Sportsman" said no sign, no deer. You are just north of where I hunt. Go to the area's you know of and hike in a half mile then start your scouting. If you saw no sign on the last 6 mile loop then do a new area. Not only will this help with finding deer it will help you put the bigger picture together. Understanding buck beds, why doe and buck inhabit different area's. How doe stay in one area for the most part and bucks will travel and travel to find a hot doe. Picking a good steady food source, this is one aspect I find the hardest. Understanding why deer like this area vs the one next to it. If you can, take the family "camping" in your hunting area and scout the heck out of it!!! Great way to satisfy everyone if they like that stuff, can’t hurt to try!!! The other thing is use some calls! But don't move for at least a half hour after you call, this will help if you think deer are present yet not moving. If you can, scouting while snow is still on the ground within the next month, this will show where deer like to travel. One reason I like to hunt more than 4 or even 7 days is sometimes it takes me that long to figure out the area and where the deer are, then I have to go home. With 2 weeks I can spend the first few days basically speed scouting and then try to come up with a game plan to get the best results of an area. This is a great way to get info quickly yet snow makes this process much faster and helps with patterning doe and bucks. One thing I notice is doe tend to stay in the same area's. The core area seem to be less than 2 mile radius when adult doe are present, younger doe tend to travel slightly more up to 5 miles. Bucks, after they mature to 1.5 or older tend to leave the doe herd and find a new home range. They can cover some ground as in miles and usually have much larger areas. The older I get the more I like to chase or stick around the doe, just seems like less travel at times. Like NY Antler said check the streams, valleys and water edges deer tend to use these area's to forage and many deer use this as a travel corridor. When coming to a ledge or ridge be careful and glass the area for bedded deer. Again they like those ledges to see and smell. Wind should dictate how you enter a area and hunt it. Do as much as possible to eliminate scent. Clear calm days suck for still hunting IMO. Any movement or snap of a twig gives you and your game up and can ruin a area. So true Sportsman! If you have to hunt on these days it is a good time to sit and try calling. Bad weather, rain, slight wind or snow are what I consider ideal stalking conditions. Prep for the worst conditions so weather is never a factor in making you leave the woods. Be prepared to stay until dark and navigate out with confidence. Extra food helps with those extra long and exhausting hikes and helps keep you focused on the task instead of what you are going to eat when you get back to camp. You have the ability to hike and seem to be able to navigate with confidence. Try hunting some ridges and find the easy spots that connect other area's. After you hike the ridge, come back in the valley by the steams. check any edges of lakes, steep cliffs, narrow valleys these funnel type area always show deer sign if present. Continued: From Thursday. I would try scouting as much area as possible during off season. This time of the year is GREAT! Trails found now will be utilized when the season opens, provided they are finished with the deer yard. (I always find doe in season by deer yards (not in) for what that's worth, bucks check these areas.) The snow again is key and makes interpretation easy vs no snow. It can be done with out snow but it is much harder. Rain I have found if excessive leads to muddy conditions, da. A good time to look for tracks if no snow is available. Attributes: Some things that have helped me in my quest to become a ADK hunter, I am still trying! Knowing deer: Seeing deer, this might sound silly to many here that see them every day. For many of us deer sightings and resulting information gained is minimal. Getting out and scouting area for deer even if you do not or can not hunt that area will give great insight to how deer like to travel, bed, sleep and avoid predators or people. This knowledge is very helpful. Endurance: The better shape you are in the easer travel will be. Especially if you get a deer way back! ARG I need to work out! Mental focus: This is obtained through repetition with your weapon and endless prepping. Plain and simple your chance at a buck are few, don't mess it up like me! Practice your weapon so you are DEADLY at any range you may encounter! Not just 50 yards. You have one chance a year at a ADK buck IF your lucky! Some of us get a lucky horse shoe up our but and get a second like me. Don't let your knowledge of trajectory or lack of cause you to loose a deer, it is the worst excuse I have. Arg Where does your gun hit at 5 ft? Heightened sensory perception: (This is real! OMG now they will think I am crazy. O well.) This is the hardest thing to learn and explain. The better you are connected to nature the more heightened your perception will be in my experience. Why did the birds stop chirping? How come I feel eyes on me in this area? Is that a deer I smell? These little things tune you into your environment and can only help. Deer have this perception and get more in tune as they age and experience predators. Another thing I need work on due to so much disconnect from nature. The ability to think like a deer. This is gained through years of hunting and observation yet each deer is different. Next time you are in a area say to yourself, "If I was a deer, where would I go?" Think food water and shelter. Leave the wood as you found it or better with as little change as possible. Don't touch anything if possible and brake as few branches sticks and twigs as possible and descent the boots you only put on when you get to the hunting spot. I can not stress how important this is. The less scent you leave the better your chances on return. This is their house and anything out of place will alert them to your presence. OK now I am ready to go up and scout! Lets do it! Moose River, Big Moose its all good! Arg now I will be on topo's for a few hours! PS: I am no expert but these topics are my passion and I have studied them in depth out of obsession after missing so many. Use the Bruce Lee method of hunting and take what is useful and disregard the rest. Man I love this topic, Sportsman Love your impute! Don't stop!

don't over call. if a deer is coming toward you don't call to it. if it's walking away, sure try it out. I grunt and bleat mostly. I use contact grunts probably 75% of the time. 20% of the time probably use a tending grunt and/or bleat(s). then on rare occasion I use a roar or snort wheeze. basically tell a story and what they want to hear. if a buck comes through with it's nose to the ground and a couple doe came through then grunt like you're two doe. that sort of thing. you can change the sound with your hands.

Shooting at turkeys past 40 yards with lead has nothing to do with being an "expert" hunter, being an expert doesn't change the laws of physics. The Winchester ad with the Doofies boasting about a 66 yard shot makes no mention of which Longbeard loading they were using. The shells come in 6 flavors, 4, 5, and 6 shot, in either 3" or 3 1/2". Size 6 lead runs out of gas pretty quick after 40 yards and you can forget about making a clean 66 yard kill with it. Size 5 fairs a little better but it's going to take a lucky shot. The 4's will do it energy wise, but good luck getting a reliable pattern. The 66 yard shot was almost certainly with 3 1/2" 4's, and it was a lucky shot no matter what anyone says. That's if it even happened, wouldn't be the first time the truth got stretched to push a product. Winchester has developed arguably the greatest lead turkey load of all time, and paired it with one of the most deplorable advertising campaigns ever seen. Guys that buy into the advertising, especially the ones who have never even bothered to pattern a turkey gun in their life, are going to wound a lot of birds with these by trying to be turkey snipers instead of turkey hunters. They are an amazing shell though for people who recognize their limitations. That brings up another point, expert turkey hunters call their birds in close for a clean kill. They don't take pot shots at turkeys from the next county over, and they are willing to acknowledge the days when the bird has won the game and will walk away with a smile on their face just the same.

How very true...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=VDRrjFjJ9fI sorry don't know how to add the video

I use grunting rattling, and bleats and have had very good success over the past 25 yrs. I could really get long winded on this subject and will try to keep it short. My favorite call is by a mile a grunt. First deer I killed @ 12 yrs old grunted before it came in. So here I am sitting in a Baker tree stand (wonder how many remember those) when a hear this deep guttural noise three times in a row. Scared the daylights out of me to be totally honest, had no clue what it was. So as I am sitting there scared out of my mind when I see a deer walking up within two minutes from the exact direction of the noise, spike buck and the rest is history, I had my first deer. So we are back at the skinning shed that night and my father is telling a friend and very good hunter about the noise I heard, all this is happening under whispers like some sort of clandestine operation since we hunt heavily hunted public land and @ the main skinning shack . I explain the sound to him and he says after thinking for a minute " you heard that buck grunt, not many people have ever heard that". A light bulb went off....ding ding ding. Deer calling was in its infancy at the time. There were not many options as far as deer calls out there in the mid 80's but I was determined. I had seen one or two hunting videos that we rented on VHS talked about vocalizations and grunting, I was determined like Ralphie from A Christmas Story, my Red Rider was going to be a grunt call. By the next season I had saved up the money and bought a grunt call, Woods n Wise if I remember correctly. So the following season believe it or not I grunt up a 3 ptr, by imitating the sound I heard by the trophy spike make the yr before. The following yr I grunt up a 4ptr....I am on to something. I can remember my father looking at me with almost shame in his eyes saying what the hell kind of nonsense you have there, you wasted your money, your going to sit in the middle of the quiet woods blowing on that damn thing like a trumpet. I learned all the hunting basics from my father but newer techniques came from me. He blasted me for the first two yrs about my waste of money grunt call and wrote of my two kills by coincidence. Then he snuck my grunt call with him one afternoon during the week and called in and killed a buck. He looked like a kid @ Christmas relaying the story that night. IN the many years since we have had more than one argument about have you seen my grunt call only to see the end or string hanging out of his pocket. And then he going borderline bonkers cause he doesn't have his and needs mine.....lol Grunting, my favorite grunt call for the past 15+ yrs is a Knight & Hale EZ grunter. I have tried quite a few different brands and models over the yrs but I always go back to this one. It seems to not be as loud as most of the grunters out there but I control the sound and volume by blowing harder, softer, longer. A lot of the grunt tubes are trying to sound like older and more mature bucks, this in my mind is only calling in mature deer and haven't had as much success with these. If I sound like a younger buck then I should be able to attract younger and older bucks alike is my strategy. A young buck is not coming in to challenge the big boy but the big boy will definitely come into to a younger buck that he thinks may have a doe with him. The tending grunt (3 shot burst) has been the most successful for me, this works best pre rut, during the rut and shortly after. maybe I am extremely lucky but I have had heard numerous deer grunting over the past 25+ yrs with a lot of this occurring on public land. I copy the sounds I have heard over the yrs and give the the calls personality. We all have different voices and don't know that I have heard two deer sound exactly the same. I have called in numerous 1-1/2 yr olds, better than a dozen 2-1/2 yrs olds and several 3 & 4-1/2 yr olds with most of these deer going to the house with me. A grunt call during pre rut, the rut and early post rut is almost as important as my bullets or release to me. I call approx every 30 mins if I don't see deer in the immediate area, 95% of the time it is a tending grunt and the call goes away for until 30 mins later. I will call to bucks that I see in the distance if they are moving away from me. Be warned and READY when you call a buck in they can either sneak in as cagey as can be or come charging in like your pulling them on a rope, either way they have an uncanny way of knowing almost exactly where the noise came from. By no means by you using a grunt tube or any call technique does it equate to seeing a deer, there are a number of variables, wind, deer close enough to hear, type of call method, volume. I know I have never killed a big boy via a doe bleat, the can call is the best in my mind. I have brought in deer with the can. I have rattled in a few bucks as well and very exciting but also very rare in bringing them in. I do rattle pre rut and rut but usually I want the perfect situation to occur and bring a rattling bag with me isn't the the top of my list. I used shed antlers back in the day but now use a rattling bag. I f I really want to bang bang bang I slam the rattling bag into the tree to give it a realistic crack. I have grunted, rattled and bleated while watching deer on countless occasions to see the reaction and most times it has no effect on them, they are not bothered by it as long as you are closely imitating real deer sounds. I have never tried the snort wheeze or buck roar. As with any and all deer hunting the WIND is as important a tool as you are going to have. Calling to deer when the wind is wrong or not knowing where the deer should be coming from = no bueno. Deer can easily become educated to hunters calling too much or making odd unnatural sounds. Calling and getting a curious deer to come in to only spook when you clank your stand will educate that deer. Calling is no magic secret but another tool in a bag of tricks...I could go for days with different situations and experiences I have had but all ready to long winded.

Calling deer is just like every other tactic, it can work but it's not even close to 100%. It helps if you have confidence in it and if you know the right time to use each vocalization. I actually have had my best luck with the plain snort.

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...

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

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

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.

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

Sorry to steal your idea but i think i just found a use for all my empty tins!

Lol...last thing I wanna do is google a nut job in ma's basement...might turn up disturbing images