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Canada geese are pushing the envelope in some people's minds as well.

Is "politician" to general of a category?...lol. Depends on the setting for some of my answers. mice and rats, always. Squirrels and chipmunks if they decide that barns, garage, house and especially flowers beds are theirs and not mine. Woodchucks in most cases, but especially when they tunnel under my vegetable garden fence or under the back deck. The neighbors rooster....did I say that out loud?

I think I need trophy room before my head is up there next. Just waiting to get my bear back. Thank god my father is going to hold onto it for me.

there are a lot of things I'd pay higher license fees for, as long as the money goes to the right places. Right now we pay about what a round of golf with lunch costs and we get to hunt and fish for a year. And for all our complaining our hunting and fishing is pretty darned good

Labeling coyote hunting "persecution" is an exercise in Orwellian double speak with questionable motives. Hunting may indeed cause more coyote breeding, but if the original sustainable population is already dominating the landscape, the answer is certainly not less coyote hunting. The over regulation of trapping methods has also added to the problem of coyote overpopulation in many areas. The only reason coyote hunting doesn't bring the population under control is not enough people hunting coyotes. The annual take is way below what is needed. They are not a source of food for those that hunt them, and their pelt values are down, so there is little incentive to hunt them at all. That's why contests with monetary rewards must be run. They are an invasive species, vermin and predators that add nothing of value to the land they occupy.

With any luck someone will let the air out of this before 15+ pages....

Hope you have a great day with the family, Happy birthday!

Liberals...Especially academic types who feel they are much superior to the rest of us "common folk" because are more educated than we are, despite the fact that many of them don't have enough common sense to pour piss out of a boot.. Oh..You mean animals ??...Hmmm..

Porcupines almost never get a pass from me. Too many nights spent pulling quills out of hounds over the years.

My sister inlaw

Best thing about the bear hunts I've been on is flying in those planes!

Yeah, we were side by side - 60,000 of them signed two petitions that made no sense at all and a tad over 300 signed ours that did make sense... And we got the nod...

And hunter Orange is last on the list. For Release: Thursday, January 29, 2015 2014 Marks the Second Best Year for Safe Hunting in New York New York's Sportsman Education Program is a Key FactorThe 2014 New York hunting season closed with the second lowest number of hunting related-shooting incidents on record, State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner Joe Martens announced today. "Hunting is a tradition in New York State that continues to be safely enjoyed by many," said Commissioner Martens. "Governor Cuomo's NY Open for Fishing and Hunting Initiative recognizes all the benefits the sporting community brings to New York's economy and commends hunters for continuing their safe hunting practices. I thank our hunters for following the safety guidelines and for making this past year a successful hunting season." New York's hunting incident rate (incidents per 100,000 hunters) has fallen by more than 75 percent since the 1960s. The past five-year average is down to 4.3 incidents per 100,000 hunters, compared to 19 per 100,000 in the 1960s. A total of 22 hunting incidents occurred in 2014, including one unfortunate fatality which occurred while hunting small game. Eight of this year's accidents were self-inflicted, eleven involved members of the same hunting party and only three occurred where the victim and shooter did not know each other. This was the first year on record without an incident occurring during the spring turkey season. The lowest total number of hunting incidents in any year occurred just a year ago (19 incidents in 2013). All incidents are thoroughly investigated by trained Environmental Conservation Officers. The findings of these investigations are used to improve New York's Hunter Education Course to ensure that the most common causes of incidents are addressed and emphasized during instruction. Only incidents involving firearms, bows, and crossbows are included. Incidents involving tree stand use or other hunter health-related mishaps are not. "These declining statistics prove that New York has a safety-conscious generation of hunters. This is due in part to the committed efforts of more than 2,500 volunteer Sportsman Education Instructors who are trained and certified by DEC," added Commissioner Martens. Sportsman education is an essential background to have in the field and teaches future sportsmen and sportswomen how to be safe, responsible and ethical hunters and trappers. All courses are offered free of charge. While hunting is safer than ever, accidents happen, and it is important to remember that every hunting-related shooting incident is preventable. Many, if not all of these incidents could have been prevented, if only the shooter or victim had followed the primary rules of hunter safety to: assume every firearm to be loaded; control the firearm muzzle in a safe direction; keep finger off the trigger until ready to fire; identify your target and what lies beyond; and wear hunter orange. The NY Open for Fishing and Hunting Initiative is an effort to improve recreational opportunities for sportsmen and women and to boost tourism activities throughout the state. This includes streamlining fishing and hunting licenses, reducing license fees, improving access for fishing and increasing hunting opportunities in New York State. In support of this initiative, $10 million in NY Works funding has been dedicated to fish hatchery repairs and 50 new land and water access projects such as boat launches, hunting blinds, trails and parking areas. Under the initiative, the 2015-16 Executive Budget proposes to establish a new capital account, the Habitat Conservation and Access Account. The bill would provide up to $1.5M annually from the State Fish and Game Trust Account and all proceeds from the sale of the Habitat Stamp to a new Habitat Conservation and Access Account to ensure that DEC has funds available for management, protection and restoration of fish and wildlife habitat, and for the improvement and development of public access for fish and wildlife related recreation. For more information, including the 2014 Hunting Safety Statistics, visit the Sportsman Education Program page on DEC's website.

Porcupine

Other than the mice that occasionally take up residence in my tractor and mower I don't have any complaints with the wildlife around me.

Humans! We wipe out, decimate and pollute more on this planet than any animal. Then comes rats and mice.

In other words, danger makes 'em horny.

Nice! Little bit of seat o the pants flying right there!

Not much to argue about when your paper spells it out for ya. Wolves operate in packs in which each wolf has a specialized role in hunts that would otherwise fail, often against prey much larger than the individual wolves. All wolf subspecies, including dogs anddingos, and the closely related coyote, are menaces to wildlife,livestock, and vermin and are competent defenders

I would pay higher license fees to see every licensing outlet have a scanner or some sort. scan in your filled and unfilled tags or you don't get them for the following year.

Again here..Many that did not have the chance to make the extra grand or two a month have a problem with the view. In my area up on the Hill i and many think they fit right into the ski and snowmobile areas that they are located in. I have heard of many out of staters say that bring their sleds up here just to ski-do around them and the views. Different stroke for different folks!

I recall something about "setbacks" of 500 feet from adjoining property owners and you are right about the 50 acre per turbine requirement. Our land could only have 2 turbines max since our land is about 140 acres. Sure glad we didn't pursue the turbines...would have been a helluva mess for us.

Internet? What internet? Some of these areas have NO internet access. Even if they drive 40 minutes to a starbucks and connect with a smart phone, it is difficult to separate the wheat from the chaff. This is an issue with two sides. The wind company side is better funded and better organized. Also, the energy company doesn't come in with a parade down main street. They are very quiet, approaching a few key landowners. These people are offered money and must sign a confidentiality agreement.They are forbidden to discuss this with anyone - including neighbors. Most residents have no idea what is happening until it is (almost) too late. Finally, not everyone has a say on the topic. As you noted, these things are visible from miles away. I have a great view where I am but the area where one of these projects was slated for is in a different town. My neighbors and I had no voice in the outcome. Absolutely. The Meredith documentary illustrates that perfectly. As do many other defeated projects in the Southern tier. People banded together and fought the town board. Long standing officials were voted out... and long-term friendships were destroyed. It was touch and go for a long while. These could have gone either way. Both sides thought they were doing the right thing. Both sides had "solid information" on the topic to support their view. If not for some luck of the right person getting wind of it (pun intended) some of these projects might have gone through. Part of the reason some of these project died was also timing... the economy tanked and made it less economically feasible to keep fighting for the towers. I think these are the modern day equivalent of the "oil rig tax write-off" from the 70s. They provide a great tax benefit for investors. When the economy goes south, the write-off isn't as appealing. I'm with you on this... I think these things are a blight on the land. Others don't agree with that. That is all subjective. Aesthetics aside, I believe there are many other practical downsides. However, the other viewpoint has their own set of arguments to counter that. It is a tough subject and not so black and white.

what issues did you have with the SPX? i was thinking of getting the 464 but in the non-tactical version.

I have a den and garage. Wouldn't want them in the bedroom honestly. I think you're just pushing it at that point.

I've got a couple ideas about accounts here that might even be King Andy's

Mike, My comment wasn't intended to argue and I agree with your basic point. However, I did want to point out that while the writer mentioned the Republican party, he specifically noted he did his trolling for a _different_ company than the one which had the GOP as a client. I see where he may have intended some connection, but the text does not state that. (emphasis mine) In fact, he doesn't specifically state he ever had anything to do with the GOP - only that they were client of the company he interned for.

Here in NJ during the big blizzard that never happened... I was pretty bored so I took my hunting footage from 2010-2014 and put together a arrow slinging, critter whacking video!

That is the main problem I had with them here...they wanted to spread them all over...Hey want to say the farmers should have a right fine, so they don't need to sell off their lands for housing ...stick to their land, and limit them to one specific area of that land. Not on every person with 50 acres to be had...but then in the same stance...stop the government crop subsidies these farmers get after they have the turbines up. That way in the long run everyone gets at least some benefit from them......That is if the subsidy funds now not being used for farming goes to improving the countries infrastucture. I Know your smack dab in the middle of big Farm land First light.

Oh NO !!....It's TROLLGATE !!.....

I wasn't nor was any of my neighbors approached by a slick company rep. It was a local person who had all the information about signing up. When I did do my research on the first wind project in Howard it did raise an eyebrow from me seeing some important names on the list for possible wind towers to be built on their property. I can clearly see where you guys are coming from on this issue. Like fracking there are two sides to the issue and if you google the topic so many articles come up for and against. The one thing that is clear these turbines are huge and you can see them. I would be hard pressed to let this happen on my property if my neighbors weren't involved. Being that they all are involved its a go.

And those people are voted in or out by the residents, so the fate of such projects still is in the hands of the residents. It is all explained in a couple of sentences of your post ...... "I have some land in an area that was targeted for wind turbines. It all ended up getting shot down".

In this day of the internet, there is no reason for anyone to be uninformed about any of these kinds of threats to any community .... even rural ones. It is simply a measure of the will of the people. There are many townships who have successfully put regulations in place that effectively exclude windfarm exploitation, so the argument of the poor little community being steamrolled by the giant energy corporation does not fly. If these things get into a community against the will of the residents, it is purely apathy that allows it to happen.

Ha-ha-ha ..... And speaking of "trolls", this topic is covered with troll-tracks .... lol. Sorry, I'm not biting on this one. The bait is a bit too transparent.

Why is this a surprise? Just about every major organization is doing it and has been doing it for a while. It is very big with "review" sites. Also, while the original article is crafted to give the impression that the GOP is doing it, the article does stop short of stating that. In fact, the author claims to have interned for a company with Republican party contracts but says the job offering was with a different company. It may or may not have had anything to do with politics. While I believe both political parties engage in this practice, there is no way one can derive the title of this thread from the linked "article."

Oh boy, this will bring out our own festering of trolls.

If all goes well Yorktown Heights near Taconic and would commute from Croton Harmon. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Hartsdale is about 25 miles north of midtown NYC. I don't want this thread to turn into a debate. It's all relative and I understand your point. Have to weigh your options. I enjoy being close to civilization but still being able to hunt and fish etc. I may not have access to the best hunting and fishing but I vacation 5-6 weeks a year and being under an hour from 4 major airports is nice. NYC provides endless opportunities that no other place in the world can, not to mention the best restaurants in the world, something to do every night, etc. I enjoy that and I enjoy going out west to the middle of nowhere for a week.NYC apts are a whole other world. Millions for 1bedrooms and then a few thousand each month in maintenance/taxes. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

This is one of the reasons why NY can't get anything done in the way of good deer management... the selfish hunter.. NY is loaded with them... my guess would be that 95% of hunters couldn't care less about proper game management (ie. conservation)... we might be better off letting the deer population explode and eliminate tags all together.. let hunters shoot all the deer they want. Whack 'em and Stack 'em. That seems to be what hunters really want. LOL.. unfortunately the same 30% of hunters would still be killing the same amount of deer

because in that area, you cant buy a house for that kinda money, same with my place, I cant afford a house where we live.......its nice to be able to but the taxes alone in this area is high enough

There are several wind turbines just east of Cleveland, Ohio in a commercial section of the city. They look like they belong there. They don't all need to be out in the country.

lol I live in a co-op in Westchester, I carry my cased guns to and from the truck all the time, haven't raised an eyebrow yet

Not staged. I took the pics in 2012. That is all my furniture. I am pretty neat though, when I get home I put everything away. My fiancé on the other hand, tends to leave stuff on the bar, etc.

I have to lean with Doc on this one...The damn things are unsightly.. I'm making no judgements toward landowners who have them... I'm just glad that I don't have to look at any of them in the areas where I hunt.. ANOTHER reason why I'm glad I won't have to live much longer...

Driving south on Main Street Naples, those things are the very first thing that you see. They don't blend in with anything. You cannot get used to them to the point where the view looks anything like it did before they were plunked in there. They are a scar on the landscape that perhaps can be enjoyed only by those collecting cash from that kind of exploitation. Many in the surrounding towns did not knuckle under to the threats and pressures of these power companies and have successfully beat them back ..... for now.

You mean you don't allow your wife to use the bathroom in the house..??.. I can see where she would be concerned in VERY deep snow...

Weight wise they are huge in Nj, but I wonder how they score skull wise for record books. I would think not much better than a big skulled 300lb Canadian bear Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Anyone who shoots a doe does. Most have fawns even if not in site at the moment. I will unless early season. Fawn will be fine.