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Ha-ha-ha.......Yes, a deer at any cost. This is the kind of mentality that seems to dominate today's hunting. No limits. Anything goes. Fair chase be damned. I blame the TV "hero" programs for this attitude of "All is fair in deer hunting". We do find ourselves letting technology do more of the hunting for us, don't we? And then we can brag about what mighty hunters we have become. It's been an interesting evolution, this thing called hunting. I see no end to it. It is starting to remind me of that deal where somebody had a rifle and camera combo set up so you could do your hunting of live animals on your computer. Yeah, we got rid of that notion, but probably only temporarily.

Also probably a prime reason why so many members left this site- the same guy constantly picking fights, throwing insults, calling names, anointing himself the superior hunter, and declaring everyone jealous of his prowess. It gets a bit tedious after a while.

That sounds pretty good ; unless theres a major snowstorm or other emergency, Im there.

Cheapest venison I ever paid for was on a camping/hunting trip on State land in the Catskills. Eat, sleep and hunt. Drag your deer out if you are lucky! Can't put a price on those memories.

My buddy just dropped off the liver from the button buck that he killed on New Years evening, one hour before sunset. Wild game don’t get any better than that. It definitely makes this past Holiday season a success in my book, even if I wasn’t able to harvest one myself, during that week. 2024 was the first year, in the last (5), that I wasn’t able to kill a button buck myself. Not sure if that was a step forward or backward for me. I’ll decide after liver and onion lunch on Saturday.

This thread kind of makes one wonder how it is that any deer ever survived before trail cams, food plots, and supplemental winter feeding and careful counting and record keeping and micro management. Deer hunting is now mandated to be an agricultural project. It is not hunting anymore, it is animal husbandry. It is amazing how even back when we had a lot of very eager and active hunters, almost behind every tree, the deer herd still survived without all the assistance from our "expert" private game managers. Thank heavens we have all these "expert" people today that try to shame all hunters into all these deer management schemes. How would the herd ever survive without these people who try to tell others what deer they should shoot and which not to shoot? Of course all of this "expert" arguing and cajoling is probably a big part of the reason that hunting is slowly fading from existence as the common activity it used to be. We need all these self-proclaimed experts.......Don't we?

I don't believe those members that don't log in any longer have truly left this site.

You’re spot on. And ya know the real funny part that gets me? It’s the guys that say that they are just meat hunters. Not all but most of these same guys do some kind of food plots or work on the lands they hunt, they spend near $1000 on a Gun, Bow and Muzzleloader. They wear $5-600 or more camo outfits on their backs. Run a good number of $150 trail cameras,with $5000 gators or wheelers to haul that meat out of the $10’s of $1000’s of dollars they spent on land or yearly leases. Bullsh!t! This game all starts with the biggest bone in the woods and goes down from there. Most just settle for less before it’s over. Does not take more then an old weapon, wool jacket and a pair of boots to fill tags. On hunting land that does not cost them a nickel at that.

Yeah that's ok with me. So now guys we are looking at the 23rd if you are all good with that? Sent from my moto g power (2022) using Tapatalk

Yes we are guilty of sharing some of the trail cam picts with him. I get that but he has to learn about eating a tag. I'm glad he took the deer now next year let him decide how he wants to hunt.

Agree 100 percent !

lol. The 60’s and 70’s are long gone. Never to return. You see people still have choices. Nobody is telling anyone to manage their properties, nobody is telling them what to shoot. You see some hunters want the best the species they are hunting and others want the best of the species but are not in the position to reach that goal. Be it no or to small of property, equipment or even money to fulfill their desire. One Quick Look at any hunting site on Facebook or any other social media site will show you page after page of great top end bucks takin in this state and across the country and I would guess most of them are on farmlands feeding the deer too end feed yearly. Hunters harvesting top end deer has absolutely nothing to do with the lack of new hunters because of a woke generation but it most definitely helps those that do decide to take up the sport. Like it or not, less hunters means more game for those out there. And some of those out there do have the means and do have the numbers of animals to do great things with their herds. And that my friend is fulfilling every Hunter dream that wakes up every morning and that is to kill a great mature animal. And 99.9% of the time those animals carry the biggest set of bone on their heads.

My brother has a great attitude towards hunting. He has his name on the biggest deer taken on my property but he never lets that get in the way of a good hunt and kill. Doe , small buck or yearling. To him it's the hunt. Opening day he has his 14 year old Grandson with him. They have this half rack 6 pt come walking down 15 yards from the stand. My brother says for him to shoot, the kids says no I want a 10 pt. My brother looks at him and says this aint TV, that is your first deer now take it. We both had to remind the kid back at the buck pole what hunting is all about. He got it but it's unfortunate what was in his mind.

There are stupid people that drive around like this !

Great season, I took 7 deer between PA and NY, MY son took 4, nephew 1, and my dad missed one. We helped by giving 4 deer to friends and a few families in need. Now its time to dig my ice fishing stuff out and grind some meat to make more jerky, hot and sweet sausage. We just dropped hogs off at butcher 1/4 so ill have plenty of fresh pork to mix. First time in my life every deer I shot died in sight, with the longest "track" being 40 yards. 2/4 sons in sight longest track 70 yards, nephews just out of sight 50 yard track.

I tried my hand in food plots this year. Now I have areas I mow that are in the woods and the deer love it. Nothing invested just mowing. This year we planted. I enjoyed doing for a number of reasons. First to see how good it would turn out, always wanted to be a farmer. Draw in the Does and hopefully a buck will follow. Give them some food for the winter. It's not much but will help a few. Honestly my plots are small and really a waste of time and money but I enjoyed it. Mowing the area keeping the grasses green and does the same. It never once crossed my mind, especially in my area which is heavy in Ag, that I would keep them on my land. These deer cruise everywhere and there is so much food around it wouldn't make a difference. As for trail cameras I love the picts they take but they have never helped me shoot a deer. Trying to remember back when it was spoken word of a big buck in the area, those days are gone. Everything changes. The young guys at my camp are into the plots and high end cameras. That will keep on evolving and drones will soon be the norm. Yes a lot has changed.

How do you guys feel about Sunday February 16th at 11am at the Brewer Union Cafe in Brewerton with a backup of Feb 23rd if the weather is to Bad? Sent from my moto g power (2022) using Tapatalk

I can think of a good central location for upstate NY. They also have the best Reuben sandwiches that I’ve ever had. That would be the Brewer Union Cafe on Bartel rd in Brewerton NY. It is about 15 minutes north of the I-90, just off I-81. I can be there in two hours from home in WNY, and about the same from my in-laws up in the Dacks.

5:19 pm our food plot and he says "thank God it's over" lol