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2 bucks me and my son took, an 8 on opening day and a 9 on Tuesday .

It can all change in a minute. stay after it

I enjoy the Cuddeback trail cameras As they send me pictures from 50 miles away . I have never shot Any deer that I had on camera . I do get some pictures of horse riders and tresspassers on the cameras .

To be fair, we basically didnt pay attention to that time before the change anyhow. If its too dark, don't shoot. Cloudy and raining we are cut off by about 10 minutes on both ends of the day. Fields are pretty much the only place its light enough for the end or beginning of legal ive found.

I felt the same way about this year. Missed a few big ones. Opening day I punched my tage on a decent 6 nothing great. I just had a feeling I better shoot this deer. He was chasing a doe under my stand for 10 minutes. He never grunted but the Doe was making a wheezing noise I really have never heard. I shot him she walked off a few yards and just looked at me catching her breath.

I have killed a half dozen Deer with a neck shot and they all dropped right where they stood. As for the ethical part several factors come into play. Distance is a big one, I use the neck shot for relatively short shots, under 100 yards. A firearm that is capable of precise bullet placement with a good hunting bullet. A good steady rest with total confidence in my ability to make the shot. I aim for the center anywhere on the neck, I think it is a fairly big target and an easy shot to make when one has the right circumstances. Al

I do not use trail cameras, I like being surprised, I grew up in a different era, old timers, books and magazines is where I learned about hunting techniques. There were no food plots, tree or ladder stands or enclosed purpose built blinds with heat and all the comforts of home. Most folks did not even have scopes on their guns. A sprinkling of stand hunting, drives, still hunting and tracking were the methods most used back then. It was all about learning woodscraft, reading sign and animal behavior. It is those skills that define hunting for me and I still use those methods today. Al

I haven't scored yet but I've been out there and that's scoring as far as I'm concerned ! That's just me .

Can you just imagine we have gotten to the point of having to leave and come back if and when “they” decide you can have ammunition to deer hunt? Thank goodness we have our overlords looking out for us. It’s sick!

maybe the DEC will okay Night vision scopes >>>>>>>

Bagged a mid size 4 pointer last night. I was watching it at distance fir a while when it hit me that with like 30 hours in the woods since Saturday it was the first shoot able deer I'd seen and just went for it. Single shot, 60 or so yards. Deer in the freezer may take up space but it tastes better than tags.

I specifically took note of the shooting conditions in the evening. Sunset was at 4:47. Add the half hour makes quitting time at 5:17 PM. I was hunting in a section of woods with a heavy hemlock overstory, and I have to say that if I had been shooting at anything at that time, it would have been difficult to even see the crosshairs in the scope. Yes, I could walk through the woods without bumping into trees, but a deer at any distance would have looked like a fuzzy shadow. I am happy that they made blaze orange/fluorescent pink mandatory along with this change in hunting hours. Walking out of the woods would be pretty scary without my blaze orange coat and hat. I also wonder about finding first blood with a marginal wound in that semi-dark time of night.

All depends on the day, conditions and where you are sitting. Inside the woods with no snow on the ground your lucky to get and extra 10-15 min before/after due to darkness. Open field no snow that might stretch out to 20 min. Now you add snow in the mix and there is a good chance that you can utilize the full 30 min before and after. That's just my experience anyways. I don't mind the change at all and think it makes since and aligns with every other state in the country.

Buddy shot a 6 pt yesterday morning. Came right in to a Tinks bottle. Nice deer!

Agree, I’m just not crazy about tracking in low light IF they don’t drop

I have always tried to be in stand well before sun up, and often stay well after...just so as to not spook critters as bad. Even with the old times, I often stopped officially hunting...but may still be on stand....well before legal stopping. With snow on the ground...big game changer. Overall, I dont think it has changed how I hunt.

Lot of movement this afternoon. Nice to see things back to usual. Couple sixes showed, along with the doe. No buck action. I expect that to pick back up by the 25th I

Some of the best hunts are right after one turns off the chainsaw

It has been real quiet here in Bristol. I am hunting state land and feeling pretty lonely up there. Where the heck is everybody? I always thought it would be nice to have all this state land to myself, but there seems to be just enough people to put the deer in the survival mode and not enough people to get the deer up and moving.

Haven't seen shit this weekend. Saturday I saw a small doe moving behind a brush line about 8am Sunday I didn't see shit Was out this morning (Monday), didn't even see squirrels. Never had such a quiet opening weekend, I need to spend some time re-thinking my game plan. I usually hunt the woods, I'm thinking coming down from the hill and hunting some more lowland areas, maybe see if I can get myself closer to water.

My friend has a swamp on his property and he bought the property because of that and he duck hunts . He goes out with his gas powered leaf blower and clears a path to his 'shooting chair' . He sometimes see deer checking out the noise .

Started with crossbow , missed an 8 point , shot under him , he comes back 4 days later , I shot him at half an hour of light left . Lost the blood , came back at sunup the next day and found him , coyotes tore him open, Then shot at a doe with the crossbow hit a twig , complete miss Then had a very nice 8 tight under my stand , couldn’t get a hood shot before he noticed me and took off The very next day a decent 6 comes broadside , goes behind a tree and we play the waiting game .. he won Sunday I did kill a nice doe with the .243 so I hope that broke the curse . Ive checked zero on my crossbow at 20/30/40 and it’s dead on .. So I guess it’s me