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Last Sunday I was photographing the largest owl we get here in the north east (great grays), and today I was after the smallest. I was at my in-laws for the weekend and there is a nature center about 45 minutes from their house that is a known location for saw-whet owls. I took my son with me and went looking this morning. Another photographer had keyed me in on the best place to look along the trail but as it turned out we didn't need to look very hard because when we got there several people were already observing it. Getting a clear shot wasn't easy but I managed to find a few angles that worked ok. Not long after we got there a barred owl started calling nearby which prompted the saw-whet to open its eyes a little bit, but before long it dozed off again. Then the sun came out in full force and moved to where it was creating harsh light and shadows across the owl but we had a good time hiking some of the trails and looking through the visitor center. This was our first trip to this nature center but I'm looking forward to going back, it was a beautiful property. My son grabbing a few shots.

Saw this bald eagle eating Saturday morning in the field outback of the house. to the picture with a cannon power shot at distance of about 250 yards is why its is a little blury. the same bird sitting in tree across the road after he was done eating.

Griffon gastropub in East Aurora First up French onion soup dip. Carmelized onions , veggie stock , miso , cream cheese , Parmesan cheese , gruyere , worchestshire, garlic , thyme , sour cream , sherry wine vinegar with garlic bread crostini Ginger beer calamari Ginger beer marinated calamari , fried peppery coating , ginger hoisin sauce , scallions , pickled julienned carrots and peppers , cucumber wasabi aioli Wife had smoked salmon poke Field greens , sushi rice , smoked salmon , mango , edamame , sliced avocado , red onions , cukes , bell peppers , toasted macadamia nuts ,cucumber wasabi aioli Kid had Belgian chive waffle , butter milk panko fried chicken breast , jalapeño coleslaw , applewood smoked bacon , cheddar , spicy maple mayo I opted for Grilled alligator andouille sausage , Buttermilk battered spicy shrimp , on a toasted baguette with creole mayo and New Orleans vinegar slaw Daughter used her dessert stomach on Oreo cake Great meal ! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Daughter turned 4. Bought her a lifetime license for her birthday. Lol she was confused when she opened her gift I dont think she quite grasped the concept. One down now just to get my son his.

I thought I'd share some pics fro the international Boston seafood show, it's the Catalina Wine mixer for the industry The booth with the giant bears is preferred cold storage, they roll out a bar and serve cold beer to the entire show at closing. All three days

Three more yesterday. 2 male 1 female.

The other way I look at this is I now have a paid for contract with the state that many others do as well, this makes it that much harder for the state to take hunting away. In addition you will always have a resident hunting license in NY even if you move away, allowing you to come back and hunt with family.

Almost time to get this thing in the water. A lot of the ponds and marshes around here were starting to open up but they have refrozen after the big storm, won't be long now though. My mother in-law finished up the cover a few weeks ago and we were out there this weekend so I was able to pick it up and bring the blind home. Can't wait to get out and chase some ducks this spring! The flap over the middle section secures into place with four strong magnets (1/2" rare-earth disc magnets). If I want to get to the far side of a pond and need to cross water too deep to wade through I can open the flap, pop out the forward support rib of the rear section, and hop up on the deck and paddle it like a canoe.

Until archers start taking the majority of the deer harvest I think you & I are safe from being the blame. AR's don't suddenly cause the archery stats to go thru the roof.

Few more pics from cam today

Doc, noone ever denied that baiting isn't effective? It's just not as effective as you're giving it credit for in most people's scenarios. You keep bringing up TV shows as proof of something, these shows don't portray real life hunting situations. When was the last time you saw 10 bucks over 100" in a food plot? I'm willing to bet never. These shows you keep relating to isn't realistic, therefore saying that if you plant food plots and do everything they do on tv, would you have the same results as they do? Absolutely not. Baiting can be effective, food plots can be effective, hunting over a picked corn field can be effective, hunting over a wild or planted apple tree can be effective, let's not act like they're so much different. Sent from my XT1080 using Tapatalk

I find it funny when we say we do not want to draw deer off others property with baiting yet we can have acorns, corn, clover and any other food we plan and think this IS NOT pulling deer off other peoples properties? Baiting wars started a long time ago we just call them food plots. I don't agree with baiting but we still do it with food plots anyway. I also bait using calls, rattling and deer scents.

Gun hunters, bow hunters, crossbow hunters, black powder hunters, handgun hunters, we're all in this together. We are all just hunters. United we stand, divided we fall.

Baked chicken with zucchini and parmesan cheese . Gonna have some smashed potatoes and green beans too.

I bought a new Kubota grand L GST 3130 back in 2007. It has served me well but I had to put some money in it this year though.. A new Battery.. Greaty machine.

i treat my bird gun like archery. I self-impose a limit even if my gear is capable of longer. I understand some have issues with that and that's fine, but it's my preference. for birds it's 40 and under. I shoot hevi-13's 3.5" mag out of a Mossberg 835 with a pure gold choke and the pattern is mighty fine indeed.

I won't shoot that far just out of personal preference. Although gun is completely capable. I just like the up, close and personal part. Hearing them drum, spit and gobble so close I tinkle my pants a bit. I know on Oldgobbler sight if guys rant about long shots the thread or post gets whacked pretty quick. I'm not against these shots knowing your gun and how it shoots. It's just not for me. I'm sure these loads are great for folks who can't judge distance and shoot farther than they think they are too.

Don't discount the other orange tractor,Kioti.I had a NH 35 hp,bought new 2003,wanted a new tractor 2014,wanted a 40 ish HP, looked at all of them,Kioti was only one that was same size as old NH,all others shrunk the tractors.Kubota was a really nice tractor but i would of had to go to 47 hp to keep larger frame tractor, which had no rear remotes as standard equip.and was $5500 more than the 41hp kioti,so far its been a great tractor.

"And in terms of the food plot vs. the food pile or mechanical feeder, I don't think there is a hunter around (especially bow hunters) that doesn't understand the difference if they are to be honest. There really is no need to repeat all the differences that have already been noted. They are all pretty obvious anyway." Having hunted over food plots/corn piles and feeders I will tell you from my experience there is absolutely not a bit of difference between them other than some moron in Albany deciding what one is legal. You are changing a deers natural habits to make it "easier" to kill them. If you know what you are doing when making a food plot using fence and/or trees you can make a deer travel as close to your stand as you want, no different than a bait pile. Want deer to be within 20yds of your stand in your corn field? Mow the corn that's within 20yds of your stand. This stuff isn't rocket science! That being said you can bait deer with a feeder, with a pile of corn or bait them with a clover plot you still have to get a deer you want to kill to come to them in daylight within range. All hunting shows make what they are doing look easy. It's not hard to get 5 minutes worth of deer footage during a 7 day hunt. To the ignorant viewer who sees a buck come to a feeder and get shot during the 5 minutes of hunting I can see how you would think wow that's too easy. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Attraction is still attraction either way you look at it and you are still using the animals need to eat as a tool to kill it. Just makes some feel like they are doing it better by putting a little labor in planting the corn seed to make more corn rather than filling the feeder.

Before you get too far into this let me give you a little advice. I couldn't live 1 day without a tractor. I use mine 4 or 5 times a weeks and couldn't imagine not having them. My grandfather had a construction/excavating company and I have been running equipment since I could walk. A 25hp tractor with a hoe is right on the edge of being useless, and yes I have ran them more than I wanted to. They lack power and weight to do any real digging and are honestly are not much faster than a shovel. On the side job thing, let's say you want to put a bid in on a Drainage job and someone else places a bid with a mini trac hoe and a skid steer/tractor. His bid will likely be half of yours because he can do the job in half the time or faster. A tractor of that size with a hoe is just not good enough at much of anything to try to do it as a side job. For a homeowner they are handy because efficiency isn't important just not as a business when time is money. I know many do it but I couldn't imagine having a payment on any toy, yes a tractor is a toy. My vote rent a mini excavator with a blade and do your job, if you want a tractor for food plots/ trail clearing find an old 8/9n or similar for 2/3k with some implements and have fun with it. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Our deer must head south for the winter or collect their own fallen headgear. Nice find rachunter.

Got out for a long day today no sheds today.I followed the longest scrape/rub line i ever seen 36 rubs when i stopped count with 13 scrapes all in a some what straight line for two miles according to my gps.The rubs where all different sizes.The only thing i found was the remains of a opossum and someones teeth

Time to update this. Sealing took longer than planned. Cure time for the Coat-It is supposed to be 12 hours at 70° but when the weather turned cool it was more like 48+ hours. We finally got one last day that went back up to about 80° so I dumped the rest on the night before (almost half the can), dragged it out in the driveway before I went to work the next morning, and it was cured and bone dry when I got home. Then the top was sealed with poly. And painted. Frame for camo. Conducted sea trials this morning, worked great! It's plenty buoyant and stable. I'm going to start bringing a paddle in the future, I wouldn't hesitate to cross a small body of water on it. Didn't have anything terribly interesting to shoot this morning, but here is a beaver lodge to show the unique perspective you get with the camera this close to the water.

As trout season approaches im starting to get the itch!!Luckily i live across the street from Oatka creek.At laundrymat as i type this and this is my view.May have to take a walk over this afternoon and toss a spoon in!

So many people up in arms about some serious very valid issues, but many seem to be neglecting one of the other big elephants in the room. How to deal with N-Korea (again). What are your thoughts on handling their missile testing?

I think you are trying to make your case using small percentages of x-bow & archery hunters. I guess the 105 year old parade will continue for you.

Are you still making the move out of state? I remember you mentioning it before. End of hijack, sorry.

I didnt have daughter with me when I bought it. They said she didnt need to be. I had to have her birth certificate and my drivers license to proove residency.

If you like the old time hunting rags like Sports Afield, Field and Stream or Outdoor Life you will probably enjoy this online outdoor magazine. It is free with a quick simple registration. Al http://www.americanoutdoorsmanmagazine.com/#!/page_home

Wow! Great job out there! How were the conditions where you were? It was deep hardpack snow where I was; tough stuff to move around in.

only heard good things about Kubota but I went with the other orange tractor Kioti. Extremely happy with the Kioti.

I actually said I wasn't sure and they could have been really good 2 year olds. lol

I have 4 different tractors right now, JD4020 90hp, Farmal 560 55hp "toy", JD 70diesel 45hp "toy" and a JD 1070 4wd 35hp. The 1070 gets 95% of the hours just because it's the handiest. The 4020 does all the plowing/ disking in the spring then has weeds growing around it. The Farmal and the 70 are just toys that I pull at the fair and play around with. For playing around with food plots cleaning a driveway and other yard work it's hard to beat a 35hp 4wd tractor with a bucket. That being said the newer tractors are on smaller lighter frames. I know when I was thinking about a new tractor I was going to need to be in a 45-50hp tractor to equal what mine is. My cousin lives next door and he has a new 40hp kubota hydro and he and I both a agree that it's not near the tractor mine is but its a lot nicer to run. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

i think there;s a lot of other people out shed hunting these days.i use to find that many in one park.it took all four to get those this year.still fun to get out when nothing else is going on.

I had my gun worked on, I get a pattern the size of a large steering wheel at 50 yards, shooting Hevi Shot mag blend. I'll take the shot at 50 yards if I'm in the mood that day, I know what the gun is capable of.

Venison lion medallions in garlic olive oil with mushrooms, Angel hair zucchini and yellow squash in garlic and evo ,baked potato,slaw

Good night [emoji482] Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Why don't you post where you live ? My freezer is over flowing , I could spare a few pounds . I'm in Monroe county.

We should stop feeding their people for starters, That might force all their military spending in other directions. Givng them financial aid is insane

At some point we are gonna have to bomb them into submission....or invade and just take over. I don't see it going many other ways. NK obviously isn't going to back down so we will be forced into some sort of action.

Shoot....this ain't nothing start a thread on xbow or antler restrictions they go on till mods shut the down lol. Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk

Thats my problem is that there is basically zero corn planted in my area. Lol there was 1 field In corn , I planted 2 weeks afterwards. Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

Lunch. Reuben from Rule #26. Killer hunk of cabbage too

Nice....I assume trolling is your preferred method of fishing ?

Cool. He texts you back too [emoji106] Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

It is a tough call, you really have to ask yourself how much use will you actually get out of that kind of big investment. There is no doubt that a lot of hard work can be accomplished with one as I have owned several tractors in my life and they have been tremendously helpful for me getting work done on the small farm property that I own. I went whole hog a few years ago and purchased my dream tractor and it will be paid for in full in just a few more months and while the payments were long and high it is one of the few payments I have had that I did not mind because of all the hard work this tractor has done on a constant basis. Land clearing, pulling a dump wagon, maintaining my 3/4 mile of driveway, stump digging, wood cutting, log skidding, snow removal both plowing and blowing, and mowing both rough and finish. I will be in the woods this spring cutting and clearing trails. So for me the usefulness and work was there and I have to say that tractor was probably the best piece of equipment and investment I have ever made. By the way there can be a big savings on implements buying good used stuff. Al My New TYM Tractor right after it was delivered and still shiney like a new penny, TYM makes several Mahindra models.

I rented equipment needed for the same type of operation you are talking about. Cheaper in the long run, no long term payments, no insurance, no extra equipment for hauling, and no maintenance costs. I got some Veterans Friends together and performed the needed work in record time. Afterward, we had a barbecue and a few beers, everything went great and all had a good time. Of course the downside, yes, I would love to have a backhoe but those payments and all the extras that come with doing work for some else, no. no to many headaches. Renting and Friends, best way I found. Cost of renting equipment $1,350 for one week. Good luck, may God guide you. .

I have only hunted the 'dacks a couple of times and that was with a group.. We hunted timber company land and did very well with "organized stillhunts"...We'd post standers on likely escape routes and the "drivers" would stillhunt towards them...The walkers killed as many deer as the standers. However in years past I have done a fair amount of stillhunting around home..I used to love to do it when conditions were favorable, with a decent snow cover and a steady wind in my face...I used my binoculars a LOT, even in close cover...It is amazing how much better you can see by focusing back through a lot of the cover.. Of course the areas I hunted were ALL prime cover here in the southern tier.. I smelled a number of bucks before I saw them...I could also smell coyotes and foxes too, but they were usually gone BEFORE I saw them... I especially loved stillhunting elk in black timber in Colorado and New Mexico... You can smell them a good hundred yards away..Much stronger than whitetails...