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My daughter lives here in Rochester her boyfriend is in med school in NYC, she goes from a treestand here one day to a Broadway play the next, although seeking out the better pastry shops is more her thing in NYC. That's a nice life. I'm a woods guy, but I'm happy to say I've been to Peter Lugars, McSorleys,Carmine's ,top of the Empire State Building , Ground Zero, Ten House, cruised on FDNY's fire boat, and walked across the Brooklyn Bridge ( passed on the chance to buy it ) and many other places in NYC. It's a great place to take a family around Christmas as well . Oh and I slept on a couch in Park Slope that Levon Helms crashed on when he was in town. No not at the same time......

https://vimeo.com/156188735 Yet no bone to be found! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Found these sheds yesterday but security won't let me take them. (Pre-historic deer at the Museum of Natural History) Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

In light of the recent press release on antler restrictions (and this post is not about those) something should be glaringly apparent to all..... The NYSDEC does not do their job or care about your opinion. Surely there are a few that may be formulating a reply as to how you feel the state is doing their job but hear me out, think, consider then reply. The antler restriction release from the DEC was whole fully borrowed from a private organization (NYSCC) . This organization is supposedly to represent the sportsman's interest but the only way to be part is to pay their fee. I see two big strikes there. Imagine the DEC released a statement saying Antler Restrictions are coming based on support of the QDMA. Most associate the QDMA with trophy deer management and those opposed to the idea would cry out as this would be the obvious outcome and intention of their efforts, right? You could use PETA with anti hunting legislation or the NRA with pro-gun legislation if those keep the internal politics down. So why the hell is a private group taking the DEC's ear for direction on what people want if they don't include anyone but their like minded members? the airbow thing that is a big law making issue for them and come from nowhere is made by a NY company and was taken to the DEC for review. Do we need that and why are they getting DECs ear but we as hunters do not? Next- lets get to the numbers. This "group" sent out 7000 surveys (random selection organization information was not provided), 2720 were replied. Mathematical variation was utilized to skew these numbers to represent the number of respondents to proportion for the number of hunters in the area. The data was also managed by Cornell University. A few points come to mind here.....why were there only 7000 sent out and since when is 1 out of 277 opinions enough to represent the majority. I took stats in college and I understand sample pools but when the heck is more data going to hurt here? If everyone could have the option to participate in the survey using an online portal with their Hunter License number (low tech here) the same numerically gauged metric questions could be answered by all if they so choose. Don't participate- don't cry. Why the heck is Cornell handling all these hunter things at our cost (yes your wildlife dollars go there) ...many less biased firms could do this and cheaper. Thinking if I put together a survey with 2700 responses backing the shortening of gun season the DEC would back it? Would you? We have a big game biologist (deer & bear for the most part) for each of the 9 regions. Two-three more at the Albany level. We have no dedicated deer biologists in a state of 700,000 resident and 50,000 non resident hunters (per the DEC webpage). Not one. There was in 2012 $46,600,000 in hunting license gross sales. Would be a reasonable assumption that 9 of 10 licenses are being sold to someone who hunts big game. Most are not hunters as well. We continually hear about only 40% of bg hunters report their kills? Why the heck don't the other 60% get cited? In a state that will fine you for a long list of silly things how is this opportunity being passed? After all their revision's of the harvest reporting system they should at least force folks to do that...or is it better to say that the numbers are 60% computed? Why are there 4 year long deer management plans that are so strictly adhered to? We had two of the worst winters on record here in wNY in 14 & 15. The deer management plan did not change in accordance....but yet the methods to kill more deer was bumped up to harvest even more. What sorts of review or discussion took place with these changes (antlerless only this year)? How is it they don't even have their act together with what to do on deer management but will be leasing a black and white four year management plan in just a few months? I always email may thoughts in when something is posted on their page allowing comments for review but who reads them? Where is the data on what was read and how it quantifies? Anything decision related should have a number/metric vote system. Even if the electoral college votes different than my choices most times here in NY someone can provide a number (BS or not) on what the actual public vote was. PA will pay you $25 for each coyote you kill. NY says coyotes don't effect the deer population and has shortened the season multiple times in the past few years. I love how NYON gets all the scoop before we as hunters do....a private newspaper. Right up there with the DEC selling advertising space in the syllabus which lifetime license holders do not receive anyway. Here is my big one- How does the DEC figure its population numbers for a given WMU? You can say 9F is above where it needs to be but how is it know what the population is and that it is too high? How many nonhunting areas/interfaces effect this deer data as well? Some region 9 examples - minding this is the most densely hunter populated area of the state. There are 19 wildlife management areas in this region. About 60% of the WMAs are less than 300 acres. Some of these are non-hunting and many have water or marsh that cannot be hunted. I did note anything on food (agriculture) or big game species habitat development. Haven't noted this for any WMA in NYS as a matter of fact. In the great scheme of NY discussing all the wild properties that can be accessed (and are secured and maintained with hunter dollars) many cannot be hunted or are not great places to hunt (IE the ADK park). Ever go to Ohio and see what your $125 nonresident license gets you? Helpful staff, tons of public (most of which is closed to nonhunters during season as it paid for by hunters) with food sources and continual management. We have 19 Conservation Officers in Region 9. These folks handle everything from environmental dump & spills violations, to open fires, drug busts, fishing & game laws. This is 5354 square mile area meaning each one has to cover nearly 300 sq miles IF theyre on duty and related to fisheries and wildlife enforcement (and mind you hunting is only half of those two words). SO what do we get for our dollars? Why are their judgement casting surveys (and there have been a few big ones within the past 10 years) using such a ridiculously small sample pool? How are they even serving us as hunters? Sure we can pay for parks for hikers and bird watchers, salamander surveys, etc. but some return on investment would be nice or at least take our opinions into account. The inmates cant run the asylum and there will always be someone left unhappy but...guys/gals we are getting screwed here. Bad. User satisfaction has to be part of what the state reviews and they have to be able to justify what they're doing in regard to game resources, research and management. Do I have the answer? Perhaps- I think we as hunters need to ask for substantiation on numbers provided, all of our opinions to be heard and to be part of the decision making process. Internally we need to get off our duffs and ask for more. You're a champ if you read all this....thanks for your ear...hoping we can rally and force some positive changes out of this mismanaging organization.

Man I love that beer. I had two ST Winters watching the race and got hitched again...

Damn that's good I didn't see it but my dad is there....was his 50th birthday present from my mom so him and his friend went Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk

Just got back from the cabin. Had a really nice weekend with my Brother-in-law. We cleaned the cabin, posted the new land and checked out the contents of the single wide that was on the new property. You could imagine what is i this place. It has been a camp for my neighbors for about 30 years. There are all sorts of things too much to list. I want them to come back and take some of the keep-sakes but I don't know if they will make it. Posting of the property went well although I could not find my roll of posted signs. We did look in the trailer on the new property and found a whole bunch of the red plastic ones! Saw some deer tracks, not as many as I would like and a bear track. All is good in Howard can't wait to get back!!!! Here are some picts from the weekend!

Sounds like lots of candidates for the Darwin Awards...

Nothing yet. Still chugging along. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

My wife took my girls before Christmas. They saw Aladdin, the Rockettes, Times Square etc and had an amazing weekend.

Probably could have taken out an hour earlier but it was really tender in the middle with some charred bark on the outside. Left in the smoker for about 8 hours with pecan wood. No need for bbq sauce.

Since I started my new business its been tough to get away. I'm sneaking out between a Milano and Goldfish sale this week and will have someone covering my stores. It was tough the first six months worrying about every little detail but now I feel good about the change in my life. Last 25 years left the house at 7 came home at 8 spent 3.5 hours commuting. Now leave the house at 5 home at 2. Life is good owning my own business. The time spent with my girls in the afternoon is priceless. Yes we don't have so much time spent at the cabin but it pays off being around all the time when they need you………..

Next up, IPA from upslope ... This is decent. Nice bitter finish

Your dad is 50!!?? Pygmys shorts are 42

Early dinner tonight as daughter has practice at 6. Grilled porkchops and crispy crowns from the oven.

Well, had a nice walk but no sheds found. Got to learn the property more so that's good. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Enjoying this on TCIII's recommendation while grilling pork chops for dinner.

Good thing she got ya in the face, Wooly.. Couldn't do much damage there...<<grin>>... I mean, she coulda kicked you in the...Well..YOU know...<<OUCH>>...

how about a wrist-rocket sling shot!!

"No, I don;t have that... But, I do have a guitar string with Gene Autry's fingerprint."

He found a body. I know it's not Ray Brauer, the train knocked him out of his shoes

A canon...with a suppressor....Lol In all seriousness a stun gun.

Giuliani was better than 3 ​Bloomberg's combined.

Beautiful day yesterday. You just can't beat it for Feburary 20th. Makes you feel like turkey season not that far off. Tapped more maples, new power steering pump on the car, set some trusses on the sugar shack, sold a few ton of hay and shed hunting right up till dark.

That was one of my suggestions included with my rant input to the DEC about doe-only restrictions and ARs. Let the hunters micro manage these issues, while providing all necessary info &/or education about carrying capacity or hunting mature bucks. Conditions and population diversity & density change dramatically within each WMU, it's insane to implement such broad-brushed legislation. My pet peeve about the AR legislation is that the DEC has some how took it upon itself to get involved in hunter satisfaction. Guess what, you can NOT legislate satisfaction!

And as far as I am concerned that is the proper way to handle that problem rather than legally jamming it down people's throats. I am a big proponent of the DEC taking on a very visible education campaign on ARs, and the taking of does, and any of those kinds of controversies. To often the first thing that everybody jumps for is some legally binding restrictions even before a decent campaign of jawboning has been tried. It's time for the DEC to stop taking the "we vs. they" approach to every issue and try a bit of working in conjunction with hunters. Not everything has to involve force.

Giuliani cleaned up the city and handed over a much better product to Bloomberg. All Bloomberg had to do was not muck it up and he didn't. Then de Blasio came and he's starting to muck it up. One smart thing he did was bring back Giuliani's old police commissioner. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Was over in Vermont today. Middle 50s in the valleys and low 40s up in the mountains. Found a cool little gun shop in Manchester and picked up a couple things in Orvis. Beautiful day!

I used the nice morning to get out for my last squirrel hunt of the season. It was a bit screwy wearing just a sweatshirt and light camo jacket in February.

Make sure you cut as low to ground as possible to encourage root cloning, cutting a stump a foot or more out of the ground limits cloning. Under 6in stump works best.

Well your last point is the biggest, the dec is not a game management organization it is an enviromental one. You cannot get the changes you want and nys needs until an ammendment is made to nys constitution giving the right to hunt and fish and creating a game management agency to run it. To many dollars are diverted to clean up air and or water or land,if they can prove it benifits wildlife Roberson Pittman funds are available. And cleaning up the enviroment always benifits wildlife. Comparing state that have game departments to nys is not comparing apples to apples.. that is the main reason why out hunting research and development and enforcement suffers....REMEMBER WE DO NOT HAVE A SEASON NEXT YEAR TILL THE LEGISLATORS VOTE YES TO IT...LIFETIME LICENSE OR NOT... why invest monies and personal to a sport that only exists year to year???

What a difference a week makes! Beautiful sun and warmth compared to figid wind chills and minus 21 degrees Sunday morning. Todays weather should make the maple sap run !

Venison burgers and sweet potato fries. Sent from my Samsung Galaxy Tab S2

Lots of neighbors have been getting in some handgun practice today. I'm popping apart logs and they're popping off rounds, so I was distracted. I wandered over, of course, and got to shoot a brand new Ruger LCP and LC9. New guns to me and I didn't hate 'em, but they'd take some practice and/or break in for sure. The LC9 has me intrigued. Lots of punch from a gun that's not much bigger than a phone, and it was very manageable. Tractors, chainsaws, splitters, guns...welcome to a brand new day.

I talk to a lot of west coast guys on another site who are allowed to put out bait stations with antler traps and it's not always as easy as you'd think. These guys are top notch shed hunters hauling in 40, 50, 60, even 100+ antlers a season. You just can't beat putting in the time and mileage to find antlers consistently. Very few antlers actually ever turn up in their traps. I would imagine even fewer would turn up in low density woods most of us have access to in NY. I've just been doing some short hikes around home this winter with nothing to show for it yet except for one oldie back in November. We're snowed in for a while yet. I did bump into a real bruiser last week still packing both sides as well, so I'm not too worried. It sure is a sweet feeling when you expect to find an antler in a certain spot and all of a sudden BAM... there it is! Sometimes it's almost freaky the accuracy you can predict them to pop up almost to the exact tree they'll be under. Really makes you feel like you almost know what the hell you're doing out there,lol

doe steaks ...I am going to say this yet again....This is just the best dang deer meat I have ever in my life eaten...I do not know if it's from them now being corn fed by the farms or my using the vacuum seal...it's just tender and sweet almost with no hint of game...gosh...I hope this year produces the same!

Came home from work and mama had Monte Cristos with raspberry jam to dip them in

Dirty Bastard is a great beer. Going to be different than the others I've seen you post for sure, black IPA's are not my thing but curious to what you think. Porters are a thinner version of a stout and that one ain't bad. If you like the porter try Ballast Point Victory at Sea porter. It's also vanilla based and throws 10 percent and one of my favorites. Looking forward to your new styles reviews.

Yeah, but even where legal you still have to pay the $500 fee to the Feds for the "priviledge" to buy it...That would take a lot of fun out of it..

Dude, you found a nice pair of matching hiking shoes. They fit ?

http://nypost.com/2014/09/26/woman-beheaded-by-co-worker-in-oklahoma/ It's even a liberal newspaper.

The trees run here Friday afternoon for a few hours. Some of my old standbys ran into Saturday until the sun went behind the clouds. Not the sap flow of mid to late March but, some of the lightest golden amber syrup I have ever made. Monday will be my 3rd boil down day.

Took most of your advice!

You Guys are better than Myself I am not drinking any beer that is older then 3 months,wine and bourbon that is different.

Thanks for the reply. In agreement with more vocalization. We need townhalls and everybody to have a line of contribution. Its like getting robbed and theif calling it a legit donation. I don't want to get into the issue by issue thing (and trust me I have opinions there) and did not know the doe only thing was formally dropped. I was also just beside myself to see that Kip Adams of the QDMA was quoted as commending the DEC's efforts with this whole thing. I swear they throw chit at the wall and see what sticks...as well as lie and know they cant be touched.

i wait until a nice thaw in March/April to look for that reason. I've only found three ever but all three are honkers

To keep the swabbies from going AWOL ..................

My favorite spots are bedding and browsing thickets but antlers can turn up anywhere. There's no right or wrong way to look for antlers as long as you're out there looking. You know the deer habits in your area probably better than anyone can tell you on a forum like this. Follow the heaviest sign to and from bed to feed and every trail in between. I like to think I have a "fast eye", meaning that I can identify an antler with just a quick glimpse against all the clutter on the forest floor. I zip along at a pretty good pace now. Starting out you may need to take your time and really pick apart every nook and cranny for that one piece of that jumps right out at you. Good luck!

I bet they did.......

back when I used screw ins, I used a cordless drill to make pilot holes, saves a lot of sweating and blisters trying to get some of them started.....obviously well before the season.