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Five years ago I was involved in a motor vehicle accident. Coma for 15 days Suffered a traumatic brain injury. Spent 6 weeks in hospital rehab, and 8 weeks out patient rehab.Regained most of my normal functions, except ability to walk unassisted or stand for extended period of time. So, I will be able to hunt legally in new york for deer during archery season. ( hopefully the powers to be Will have the common sense to install crossbow use at the same time, longbow. Recurves, compounds are allowed). And YES,I pull a trigger to discharge my. Crossbow, just like 95 % of all archers using compounds pull the trigger on their release to shoot an arrow. Last year I had to travel to Ohio to.archery hunt for deer. Contemplated being a lawbreaker after a lifetime of following the conservation rules. Now hopefully I won't have too. I'm 60 years old won't be climbing trees anymore just a ground blind man these days. BUT I'll be out in the woods and at camp with family and friends.the month of October and the first part of November. Then again for gun season.

This is my Bear from my Spring 2013 trip in Northern Quebec. Picked it up last night, hung it up this afternoon. Turned out great, I picked Mckenzies FWH205 and LBR998 for the form and habitat. I love half mounts of bears, they look great.

Well, after a year here in Ogdensburg on the St Lawrence river, I'm moving on. When the daughter started talking plans for grandchildren the decision was pretty much a no brainer. We decided on a house in Macedon and if all goes well will be in beginning June. Looking forward to scouting the area for the fall. So long north country!

so many things in the above artical are wrong. point number one is that the rancher is expected to pay(tax) a grazing fee and he chose not to. i am not a rancher nor do i claim to know about any laws in Nevada that cover ranching but............. if it is a law and everybody else complies with that law..........why/what makes this rancher any different? point number 2...... if goverment officials arrive to do what they are paid to do and people stand in the way(confront) then in my own opinion they not the officials are breaking the law. point number 3..... as stated in point number 1 this is a law(requirement for ranchers) that has been on the books for years. having armed people show up on the scene now in defense/defiance falls into the realm of mob mentality while i understand that a man is trying to do a job and earn a living the way he was/is going about it is wrong. there are many laws that i am expected to follow and many more that i do not agree with but that does not give me the right stand there with a gun in my hand and expect things will change.......... at the end of the day this type of action i am quite sure will be looked at by many different sides and all will see it a different way.......... just my humble 2cents and only my opinion.

Not really. A lot of people will buy the ml tag who do not use a ml to use the crossbow. Plus in the classes now, there is a crossbow part in both archery and gun started this year. If people want to use one either way they had to buy a privilege. If they could not get into an archery class, they could not use it and not buy an archery privilege. They will sell more tags this way and make more money as anyone can buy a ml privilege right now.

My shedding desires got the best of me today. Pushed into an area, just melted off from winter's harsh fury. A thick mangled mess of brier that I have put off because I knew what price I would have to pay . I push through. My hands scratched, poked, and pricked with berry bush thorns. My forehead scratched and bleeding. Eye poked and my nose is swelled. Yes friends, I left this area till last, walking by it several times. Today, it called to me, and I broke down, loosing my will to resist, LOL. My effort was fullfilled. This is the right side to a left already found last week. Maybe 60 yard away. Laid fully under water. No chew. Mark this the second set for me. This one had unusual amount of skull bone attached.

Not to get too political but, anyone other than me notice that there is not one Republican in that list? It is a straight-up comparison on where the two parties sit on gun issues and the defense of the 2nd Amendment.

I received the following information from the DEC Friday April 11th explaining the crossbow legislation. (see attachment) The DEC is preparing the regulation changes and they should have them ready for public comment in early May. The public comment will not include any meetings or open forums, but will allow for your input on the regulations by letter, or email. I am told the proposal will utilize all aspects of the crossbow language that was passed in the budget.The DEC is bound by the law and can not increase season lengths, lower the age for crossbow use, modify the crossbow restrictions of draw weight and size, open the entire bow season for seniors and handicapped hunters or any other provisions of the law. They do not make the laws, they implement them. Please note: You will not use an archery license to hunt big game during the early archery seasons, but will need a muzzleloader license to hunt with a crossbow. Although this seems foolish since a crossbow does not shoot a projectile propelled by gunpowder, instead it shoots an arrow by the same means as other bows, it is what was negotiated into the budget and it does permit us to hunt during the archery season. Hopefully this will help answer many of the questions people have. Once the regulations are set and the public comment period is open, we will be sure to let everyone know. Best Regards, Rick McDermott New York Crossbow Coalition www.nycrossbowcoalition.com Understanding NY crossbow law_April 11, 2014.pdf

Just got my 2013 bow buck mount from him. My first mount and I am very happy. He did a great job and is a great guy. Thanks Matt. Best of all, I was able to get it on the wall before my wife came home. Too Late! Lol

Snuck out this morning to do some scouting/photography. Got in close to a huge winter flock but they went the other way onto posted property when they hit the ground. Eventually a few hens drifted back my way and past my blind. They brought their boyfriend, but he wasn't quite as cooperative about having his picture taken. Peek-a-Boo

This story goes deeper than desert tortoise , it involves Sen Reid and his son wanting to pave the way for the Chinese to get the land at one sixth the price it's worth then the Chinese were going to build solar systems and a factory to build them and sell the energy to the surrounding area.The deal fell through and the Chinese pulled out.The land is state land not under BLM control and Bundy's family has lived there since 1848 also they have no contract with the feds .If not for the people that heard his plea for help it would have ended differently. So those that don't believe we can make a difference by standing up for our rights as Americans this serves as a perfect example.Some stated that they were willing to die if fired upon for this cause.

All I know is that I see a list of politicians who are working very hard to destroy American autonomy and a certain part of the Constitution that deals with gun rights, and there isn't a Republican name in the bunch. Now you can spin that any way you want, but to me the contrast in ideology is very clear. The NYS Unsafe act was almost as clear with the only ones voting against it being Republicans. This isn't all theory and day-dreaming and spinning. These are cold hard pieces of public record.

Another before work set from friday, makes an even 30 for the season. I found these babies laying out in a harvested beanfield. No ATL's on these ones...I took some but ended up losing my phone on the way back to the truck...

Failure to register the firearm may be considered a misdemeanor, but "possession of an illegal firearm" (ie, one that is not properly registered) is a felony. I just checked my copy of the SAFE act legislation. The end goal of the anti-gun crowd is a complete and total disarming of the citizenry. Every single inch they get without a fight from us gets them that much farther down the road and emboldens them to take the next inch. Our fighting back does not change their agenda but rather forces them to spend time and energy in rethinking their tactics. I don't condone breaking the law, but that is essentially what the governor and his legislators did in enacting SAFE. If they want to fight that way they shouldn't be too surprised when 'their enemy' adopts some of those same tactics, And they had better be sure their armed non-civilians are fully on their side.

Pheasant Controversy is Growing As awareness about the negative impacts of invasive species is increasing, anti-hunters are using this legitimate issue to invalidate conservation efforts as well as stocking of game birds that are not native, yet not deemed a deleterious invasive species. Far from invasive, their populations are actually contracting like the native non game they share habitat niches with. That is why the criticized conservation efforts are stepped up. And the same conservation projects that help ring-necked pheasant, gray partridge, and chukar partridge, also help other grassland or early successional species, a few examples being: bluebirds, song sparrows, field sparrows, goldfinches, red-winged black birds, common yellow throat, eastern meadowlark, grasshopper sparrow, bobolink, savannah sparrow, and Henslow’s sparrow. First let’s discuss conservation. In NY the Wild Pheasant Focus Area; which is slightly smaller than Pennsylvania’s Wild Pheasant Recovery Area; consists of 150,000 acres and spans 13 counties. For reference New York City is 195,000 acres. Not only do a variety of species benefit from the 150,000 acres of somewhat contiguous habitat of the Wild Pheasant Focus Area; but the DEC also maintains early successional habitat on state wildlife management areas elsewhere in the state, including over 120 sites used for the state pheasant stocking program. Maintenance of habitat diversity is not restricted to pheasant release sites, however pheasant hunting provides both funding and political support for many projects and it is arguable that without pheasant hunters the state would have less early successional habitat. Keep in mind the word ‘maintenance’ is operant. To maintain early successional habitat it must be disked, mowed, or burned every three to four years. It is actually desirable to mow every year in the late summer, generally after wildlife have reared their young. Not only does this facilitate hunters and their dogs, but by removing the browning cool season grasses it stimulates warm season grasses and bee-loving flowers. Maintenance is not free and though critics of hunting continue to claim that conservation revenues generated by hunting are insignificant, the fact is that they are vital to conservation funding. The vast pool of knowledge about wildlife and habitat we have would never have been obtained in the first place if it was not for hunter’s dollars, a sadly overlooked fact. Note: It would be impossible for any alien species not to compete at all with native species. Almost no impact has been suggested for chukar and gray partridge. Pheasant roosters have been known to harass Prairie Chickens when on their leks and hen pheasants known to lay their eggs in Prairie Chicken nests. This will be an issue anti-hunters will grand-stand on, because recently (April 2014) the Lesser Prairie Chicken became a federally listed species. However, the issue with Prairie Chickens has always been habitat. Conversion of native grasslands (prairie) into range land and crop land did not have as much effect on the ring-necked pheasant or the prairie chicken’s cousin; the sharp-tailed grouse. Other factors have entered recently as well. In 2013 the amount of land enrolled in the conservation reserve program shrunk from the size of the state of NY to the size of the state of Delaware. A lot of this had to do with the demand for corn for ethanol production, but also uncertainty with the Farm Bill status. At the same time another major landscape change occurred with the expansion of the natural gas and oil industry which fragmented the little remaining native grassland prairie chickens require. The moral of the story is that ring-necked pheasants may have impacted prairie chickens, but other factors surfaced with much bigger impacts. Also refer to the following links for information about the Federal Injurious Species List and the Lacey Act: http://www.fws.gov/injuriouswildlife/ http://www.fws.gov/fisheries/ans/current_listed_iw.pdf http://www.fws.gov/fisheries/ans/pdf_files/Current_Listed_IW.pdf

What You Should Know By Now Engaging the Outdoor Writers Association and the NY Outdoor Writers Association is essential to building what the DEC describes as “political support for dove hunting”. However, keep in mind only hunters read what is published by outdoor writers and that is probably a good thing because they are not always politically or biologically correct. The outdoor writers can sell the sporting community on the idea that dove hunting is great recreation, but that is the extent of their usefulness. What is foremost is that to engage the outdoor writers requires sponsoring quality guided hunts for them to sample dove hunting. In other words, either take them hunting out of state or send them on a guided hunt that we pay for. Notice the word ‘quality hunt’ is operant. The absolute necessity to foster broad-based public support for dove hunting. As stated above, only hunters read the outdoor writer’s junk. The public majority is who will decide if dove hunting occurs in NY; not the sporting minority, nor the anti-hunting community. Outreach must also be aimed at the public at large and that requires different writing styles and content than the hunting rags. While we are doing this, the anti-hunters will also be trying to influence public opinion, however they will be better funded and more organized. Awareness of the negative impact on broad-based support and influence on public opinion caused by certain hunter behaviors, political stances, attitudes, beliefs, statements, photographs, and videos. How anti-hunters use newspapers to influence public opinion and politicians. When to write to newspapers and when NOT to write to newspapers. How to search the internet for newspaper editorials relevant to dove hunting. Rebuttals to the anti-dove hunting rhetoric of the HSUS, which is the Humane Society of the United States, the world’s largest and heavily funded anti-hunting organization which is very active in the state of NY and the major player in blocking dove hunting in many states for over 40 years. What a DEC Plan is… What a public comment period is… Some DEC regulations require a legislative change or approval and others do not. A legislative change requires a bill… What a bill is… What a bill hearing is and how your communication with the state senate and assembly members can be used in hearings. What the two environmental conservation committees are, who are the chairpersons and the other members, and their contact information.

Probably just Shawn doing some field research. - I'll go with the one on the left shawn! lol

So, I will thank all those that had anything to do with getting the crossbow as a legal hunting instrument. From the governor down. That being said, I'm appreciative but discerning individual . My vote this year will be based on many faucets of the politicians way of governing. I HAVEN't forgotten the NY SAFE ACT. Or how it was passed. Hopefully, no matter what your political affiliation, as hunters we remember the safe act, when casting our vote

looks like a kangaroo

Don't matter to me none what color they are. I don' discriminate!

Honestly I am less concerned about having to take on a "military" presence that I am about having to defend against a group of individuals. A mob scenario in a situation like a natural disaster or similar.

There only ar argument is the 2nd amendment. If we start giving in to certain parts of the law saying well an ar is not needed etc, we have lost. In for a penny, in for a pound. There is no compromise on this issue.

Crossbows for years were looked at as being evil as the modern sporting rifles are being looked at now (ar15) once upon a time I am sure modern day bolt action, pumps, lever action and semi auto hunting rifles were seen this way when traditional muzzleloaders were primairly used as hunting tools. All of which used a similar projectile the only difference was the overall operating system. Crossbow use a very similar projectile as modern day bows. compound and recurve all have that same type of Broadheads one just shorter in length and operates differently. I am sure scopes were once looked down upon also but everyone adapted and became modernized. It is a choice to use a scope or not an a choice to use a semi auto vs a single shot and a choice to use a vertical bow vs a horizontal one. And the word "choice " is what everyone should be fighting for Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I have no dog in this fight as I will continue to hunt with my compound for as long as I'm able to draw one back but I'll go out on a limb here and say this article was written by a crossbow enthusiast. Fact #1 made me LOL