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Showing content with the highest reputation on 11/27/13 in Posts

  1. With it as foggy and drizzly as it was this morning, I figured the deer would be on the move. I had my nephew go high on the ridge and I settled into my "tree tent". This spot overlooks a logging road that cuts through a large scrub apple orchard on the side of a hill, with deep ravines and creek bottoms. At about 7:30 I had two small does only a few yards from my tree tent, but in the thicket and no shots. At a little after 8 am, I watched several deer walking up the ridge about 130 yards away. The first may have been a buck , then came some medium to small sized does. Then came a big doe who turned and walked downhill at first then turned and started back up the hill. When she passed a small apple tree and was broadside I put the crosshairs on her and fired. She immediately dropped to the ground but a wave of "what the heck" raced over me as several deer bounded back down the hill. For a moment I thought she was one of them and I could not believe I had missed. My nephew texted me and asked if I had been the one who shot. When I said yes he was all excited and asked if he could "come help". Lol! He really was cold. Hahaha. When he got to me we walked over and there she was dead in the spot she was shot . Thankfully no tracking on this one because it is real thick where I was hunting. Another good memory for me as I enjoy being back home to spend time with my family. Lots to be thankful for this Thanksgiving!
    9 points
  2. I went out Last Friday night at 3:00 not really expecting to see much. This stand was hunted all week without much being seen. At 4:00 a doe fawn came by and fed for 15 minutes and not long after she left this guy came up the same trail behind me, When I turned around he was less than 50 yards standing broadside looking away from me. I stood up got a steady rest and shot in about 15 seconds from the time I saw him. Thought it was an easy shot until I realized the brush I shot through. Could find no hair or blood but as I was looking he jumped up about 50 yards from where I shot . It was getting dark so I went back to camp for help and lights . Just as I was figuring I had missed my buddy found a drop of blood which became a steady trail. We finally found him maybe 150 yards from where I shot.
    9 points
  3. Decided to fill my DMP tag today. Was a nice big doe and it felt right.
    9 points
  4. Shot this old doe at 40 yards ...never knew i was there . i just moved my ladder stand last week i don't think the deer paid any attention to it i love hunting in snow.
    7 points
  5. Probably the smartest thing ever done by the DEC is when they broke the state up into WMUs. Now the smart thing to do is to use that WMU system, and stop coming up with these one-size-fits-all kinds of solutions. I cringe every time I hear these statements about how NYS needs a statewide AR system, or how the state needs an Earn-A-Buck requirement, or how the state needs a one-buck limit. We have a WMU system so that hopefully, management activities and regulations can be tailored to the local habitat and populations. Now, we can argue about whether that is effectively being done or not, but the concept is sound. None of these schemes applies to all of NYS and there is no point in talking like there is some magic single bullet that will solve every situation across the state.
    5 points
  6. I went for routine CT Scan yesterday of my lungs, and I received e-mail from my Oncologist today. He told me the CT Scan was stable and no sign of cancer return. Its been almost a year since they took the lung lobe out, and I'm holding my own!! That's news to be thankful to hear!! Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!
    4 points
  7. Some of the best internet sites I belong to have a really good way of handling posts like this. First off members need to offer some positive feedback (ex-. in this case "nice deer") and only then can they critique or question the negative aspects of the original post. It's a pretty good set of guidelines for encouragement and ways to learn and improve in the future. Even if it's not a requirement, some folks would do good to try it. It also gets rid of that "pile on" mentality that runs rampant around some sites.
    3 points
  8. Really I do not think there is not a single answer for this problem. Each WMU needs to have its own policies. I have hunted down state (Westchester, Orange), the mountain Catskills (Greene), the low Catskills (Delaware, Dutchess) and the Adirondacks. All of these places have completely different deer populations, and habitats. You cannot make a single policy that is good for all of them, you can only have a policy that is poor for all. In the mountains of the Catskills where I have spent most of my hunting time there are very few deer, so few that if you SEE antlers it is an accomplishment. In the last few years our camp has taken 2 to 3 bucks between 20 or so guys for all seasons (bow, rifle, late bow/muzzleloader). But we have seen countless doe already this season. So how do you tell someone who is lucky to see antlers once in 5 years they have to count before shooting? I think that is tough. There are also no DMP's in 3A and I sometimes wonder if the large number does does not hurt the population as a whole. We have had a voluntary 3-pt rule out of camp for a number of years now, and then the DEC made it mandatory in 3A. I can say we have not see much improvement in the deer. I think this comes down to nutrition and habitat, more than antler restrictions. These forests are old growth with very little browse, so if you get a bad mast crop year the deer will struggle. The deer also have less cover to hide in with old growth forests. I wonder if the DEC might be better off selectively logging parts of the older growth forests to encourage low browse food and good cover. We have started with a number of acres of food plots at the base of the mountains, but a few acres of food plot for thousands of acres of forest does not help much. In the 3P area its different. I have passed on a number of different small bucks during bow and rifle season, and the first doe I see will be in the freezer. I might take a nice six, but even without the antler restrictions I am going to look for a better deer. I seen more deer here in a season then in 5 years up in 3A. This means my approach to hunting is different, and how I choose what to shoot and what not to shoot. In short the rules for 3P would not help 3A (and vice versa) and they certainly would not work for WNY and the Adirondacks. The DEC should be worrying about making the deer population thrive, not the nWhy spend te umber of points on a deers head. If the population thrives with proper population management, proper habitat management, and nutrition management then the antlers will follow. They should worry about deer management, not antler management. As for the idea that the season should be shorter, I am not sure that is a good idea. Our sport and passion is one that is on the decline. By limiting access to the sport even more I worry that it will discourage people from getting out in the woods. Just my 0.006 cents
    3 points
  9. Traditionally we hunt the am. dinner at 3 so I am home by noon. In the good old days when everyone in the family hunted, we headed to camp hunted and after dark the feast began. It was always more cozy and seemed more family like than now when everyone is in a rush and see how many dinners they can go to, plus work and of course rush to the stores as soon as the whipped creme is on the pumpkin pie. Funny how traditions just fade away. if I told my kids we were having Thanksgiving at camp, dinner would be lonely and be a turkey sub lol.
    3 points
  10. My grandfather turned this around for me in a week, he does all of our mounts except the few shoulders. This was my public land archery buck from this November 3. I chose a piece of walnut for the plaque because I have a bunch of those trees around my house: Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    2 points
  11. Anyone else going out to freeze their private parts off? Im planning it. Hoping to see something in the 18 mile an hour wind. I have yet to see anything gun season. Not good. Its time...
    2 points
  12. I agree, one of the guys with a lot of big bucks in their area should invite me up for a hunt, and in exchange they can come hunt with me and see nothing......any takers?
    2 points
  13. I honestly think that before anyone tries to come up with a solution, they should hunt in every wmu and experience ot before telling those who do hunt there how they need to hunt and manage their deer herd
    2 points
  14. Got a bit slippery for the wiener!!!!
    2 points
  15. Yes. I suspect despite our level of disagreement online amongst us all we would all enjoy hunting and hanging out in person at some point. Such is life in the electronic age and distance.
    2 points
  16. Sure, hunter skill isn't a representation solely built on the size of deer they've harvested. However, people who haven't hunted in the area say they could come in and find a booner behind every tree in Iowa, Illinois, Ohio, etc. simply are not taking into account the bullet list that really qualifies hunter skill. Face it most people in those states still don't shoot B/C caliber bucks. B/C bucks make up a tiny fraction of the overall herd in any of those states. Shooting a public land B/C, shooting one on opening day of bow season, and having a half dozen B/C bucks (all three of those who know of the buck) says something however. Getting one and lucky is one thing, having historically ability to seal the deal on world-class bucks on multiple occasions begins to shatter the premise that it is JUST all location and money, skill comes into play at some point. Location can make a bad hunter look good - it's the great mitigator - but when you start putting up bucks on the wall that were a common base away from shattering a world record after you've killed a handful of book bucks already, I'd say that boy can hunt, regardless if he were smack dab in the best Iowa county. It's like saying Peyton Manning was solely a benefactor of having good genes (from pops), having been consistently placed into a great pedigree atmosphere (UT), and then stating that his success in the NFL thus far is something that anyone could come in and do if they had the same path. At some level, skill comes into play. I beg to differ about the fact that shooting one in NY takes more skill. The guy who shot the borderline B/C buck we were following all season shot the buck out of pure luck. He was forced to take his stand off our hunting parcel the Wed before season opener. He ended up setting up a blind in the middle of a 90 acre corn field because he had no other place to go hunt because other hunters rung around the field edge with their stands. Guess what ran by across the street after being spooked by a car? Guess who shot it? Not the guys with more than 20 trail cam photos of it, nor the farmer's grandson who had hours of video of the buck in summer for three years...the guy with the bargain basement smoothbore and sluggers who set a blind based on no logic, and who had been cited for game violations in the past. He killed that deer by luck. Should he kill another two or three, I then start to believe he has more skill than what I can comprehend. Now, a hunter here with several 125+ in deer here could be equally skilled, that's not the point. I don't care how good of ground you have, when you start having your name in the book multiple times, you are doing something right when it comes to hunting.
    2 points
  17. Why marry a woman if she don't have a intrest in the same things you do....i feel sorry for guys who are married to yuppy woman...
    2 points
  18. From the start you were being passive aggressive with your questions. You were implying he couldn't make a proper estimate of age based on rack size (before he could even explain himself). Don't play it off like it was anything else. Happy Thanksgiving to you to! Secondly all the guys that always have something to say about Bad Shots, Weather conditions, aging of deer, Shooters vs. non shooter and everything else they like to call people out about on this forum NEVER HAVE ANY PICS OF BUCK KILLS?? Why is this? If I am going to take people serious on how much of an elite hunter they are I need some pics of the monsters they have killed! Sorry I didn't mean to side track this topic!
    2 points
  19. You wife cuts up your deer? You are my new hero....lol do you send her for beer before she gets all started?
    2 points
  20. I am pretty confident I will get slaughtered for this but if anyone tells me that hypothetically if legal sunset is 4:30 and a monster 10 point (or whatever you consider a monster) walks under your stand at 4:31 you wouldn't shoot it.. I'm very very confident in saying your full of shit. If you shoot 1 minute passed legal sunset your just as guilty as if you shoot 30 minutes passed..that being said, the kids excited about his first deer harvest and some people are in here looking for any reason to crucify him. Give it a rest...Happy thanksgiving Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    2 points
  21. shoot turkey, run over to turkey, flip turkey onto it's back, step on the underside of the turkeys wings (where they meet body) grab legs and yank hard... you will skin that bird in 4 seconds
    2 points
  22. Nice job on the mount....Antler mounts, I like! Sorry you had to be subjected to the nit-picker on this post.
    2 points
  23. I see nothing wrong with stating the contents of a law that you may feel has been broken when reading a post. I would hate to think that any of us would allow another hunter to remain unaware that he had violated a law. Why would anybody want him to remain ignorant of the infraction and perhaps continue it over and over? That doesn't mean that such a reply has to lead to some kind of battle. As long as the correction is not stated in a way that is judgmental or accusatory, no offense should be taken and there should really not be any controversy. I personally got the impression that the original poster did not fully understand that the sunrise and sunset requirements do have a precise value that must be looked up each day. I thought it was instructional for someone to point that out.
    2 points
  24. I am not going to say that I would definitely not shoot a deer a few minutes after legal hours.in good light... I am going to say that I drive 62 in a 55, occasionally do a rolling stop at a stop sign. For those that follow the rules to the T, congrats..you are in the large minority. The rest of you are more than likely pretending to be holier than the , over the internet... I am a big beleiver in following the spirit of the law,not blind allegiance. Now, just as if I was driving 80 on a crouded street I would expect the book to be thrown at me and priveleges revoked.
    2 points
  25. This is a perfect example of how a lot of you talk a good game about your reverence for deer hunting and conservation... based on the first post it is entirely exceptable to question whether the deer was taken during legal shooting time... with his explanation we take him at his word that it was and that deserves a congrats... but to be upset that there are some here who care about the law just shows me that some others of you might not have a problem with killing deer outside of legal shooting time... that's a shame... and to congratulate someone for an illegal kill would be more than a shame.
    2 points
  26. took a doe at about 115 yards with my .270, through the shoulders and goodnight sweetheart.
    2 points
  27. By far my favorite holiday of the year. Hunt in the morning, stuff my gut and watch football in the afternoon. And, no damn presents. Just friends and family together for an enjoyable day of food and relaxation. Then, of course, there is the mess of dishes and leftovers to take care of, but it is all worth it to me.
    2 points
  28. I prefer a big deer with a smaller rack than a decent deer with a big rack. I want 180 class deer but that is pounds not inches
    2 points
  29. Do bucks still have their antlers in march? my guess is the dates are just wrong. He looks like a 4 1/2 not sure about the score.
    2 points
  30. I always have to laugh at everyone who discounts New York state. I guess it is easier to say we live in state that has no potential for decent bucks. Will we grow bucks the caliber that Ohio, Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, etc can in the volume they can..... NO. Likely we will have much smaller, likely 20 inches and a lower number of B&C bucks. But the state can and does already grow very nice bucks. Some facts to think about. A 1.5 year old buck still has his milk teeth, he is the equivalent of a 13 year old boy in terms of physical maturity. a 1.5 year old buck has around 10 percent of a whitetail buck's potential antler development. At 2.5 years old a whitetail buck has still only grown around 25-35 percent of his potential antler mass. While I am not in favor of Statewide AR's, I am all in favor of Voluntary passing 1.5 year old bucks. My reasons for preferring a 2.5 or older vs a 1.5 are: They are harder to hunt, and I like a better racked buck than what a 1.5 year old can biologically produce. What buck would most hunters rather harvest.... here? They can't get bigger if taken at one and half. This picture show the number of bucks entered as B&C bucks.... as you can see the whole state varies. the soils are much better in WNY and more and more people are voluntarily passing on 1.5 year olds out here. But it proves the old adage that NY while never produce good racked bucks. The soil difference in NY state is the same reason why big buck states are able to produce better bucks... but NY has great hunting and great potential. The biggest factor is Age, that half inch decision with the trigger is key. Another good resource is the NY Big Buck Club.... it shows a good number of super bucks all taken from Poor Little NY http://www.nysbigbuckclub.com/ Here is a WNY Buck that was a Spike at 1.5, this pic is of him at 3.5 and yes he is a wild free range buck. He has a white nose that has made him easy to ID. This is from a friends property! NY is making progress.,... last year 2.5 year old bucks made up 44% of the buck harvest. In 2000 it was only 33%, still over 110,000 plus 1.5 year old bucks were taken in 2012 just over 52% of the buck harvest. Imagine if those 110,000 plus bucks had a chance to see 2.5. I don't like mandatory because I feel we are over legislated. Also when you look at the NY B&C map, obviously the state differs. Some guys cant get a doe permit.... statewide is not a good idea. Individual area management, hunter education and support Is key. Also I feel, very young and old hunters should be able to harvest anything... and on my property they get a green light. The rest of the hunters are on a 8 point min. This brings up an issue.... AR's are an easy rule, but is flawed. In WNY most of our 1.5 year olds already have 3 pt a side... so it will not save them. Hunting by age is key, but difficult for people who are not vested in learning to age. Anyone can learn between 1.5 and 2.5 but it takes time and effort. Happy Hunting.
    2 points
  31. I understand that more hunters want bigger deer, huge racks, and older bucks harvested. Well, this is NY, not an agricultural state but a forested state. You might have gotten bigger bucks if the state supported farmers and had better tax incentives for land that remains farmed. The problem is not the killing if yearlings but rather the expectation of monster bucks in a landscape filled with forest and less fields. You want bigger deer, the killing of a minority of little deer is nothing when we don't allow our farmers to prosper and for the land to bare it's fruits
    2 points
  32. Compliance would be 100% if you didn't get a new licence without reporting outcome of all past ones.
    2 points
  33. Dang. I was hoping you landed a nice cougar
    1 point
  34. have to skip tomorrow but fri-sun looks good. cold and light winds. put some time in before the season wraps up so I wont have any regrets over the winter that I "should've been out there"
    1 point
  35. Culver, What do you do when your in camp and heavy snow is expected? Leave the trucks at the bottom and hike back in? I have 300 feet and sometimes that is a problem for me, 1 mile could suck.
    1 point
  36. Hey guys, I posted this for a good laugh. Don't ruin it Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I537 using Tapatalk
    1 point
  37. Hi everyone, after not seeing a deer at all this season I finally got my chance. I was in the stand and I was told to meet my uncle back at the car at 5:05 and just at dark (still had a little light left) this guy showed up. The picture isn't the best but it was 22 degrees and we had been out all day also not sure why it made me look so odd lol one shot through the heart at 150 yards with my uncles .270 (appropriately named the deer slayer)
    1 point
  38. Change that makes sense will not happen in NY. There are too many people involved now for a simple answer. We won't utilize one of our most valueable resources, old growth timber in the Adirondacks because of politics. The same politics make decisions for hunting and it makes me want to puke. The best bet is to leave NY for a state more to your liking as far as hunting is concerned, as sad as that is.
    1 point
  39. The DEC also covers far more than just hunting. Our state cannot get its spending under control, what makes you think the DEC can and will make any changes that would be considered radical by the majority of hunters? Baby steps is what we shall get.
    1 point
  40. Nothing but rain down south in Dutchess..... I wish we got some snow......
    1 point
  41. Yea I'm getting sick of all the crap flying around lately. It's like people have nothing better to do than take apart someones thread. It is hunting season isn't it?????
    1 point
  42. how'd this thread turn onto a zombie deer thread. I think a bunch of you must have A.D.D. go with the 308.
    1 point
  43. judging a deers age by antler size would be incorrect...
    1 point
  44. When you eventually walk up to one of these hogs, it will hit you. Promise........ When I shot my heaviest buck a couple years ago, I walked up to it after a short 70 yard blood trail and was absolutely in amazement. It was just stunning...........His legs were under him in a way that made him look even bigger! Hang on, I'll see if I can find a picture of 'Ol Fat Ass 217lbs a brute: Not my most flattering picture but that buck makes even ME look skinny........................................NOT.
    1 point
  45. 1 point
  46. Why can't we be an Illinois or iowa? Western ny has a very large qdma chapter and harvest large bucks. It has to do with nutrition but the largest Factor in harvesting big deer is letting them age. I'm all for meat hunters. Guess what. .bigger bucks have more meat. Voluntary ARs won't work because you have too many brown its down hunters. If you are in a hunting lease with others or state land you need 100% participation. You won't get it most the time. Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk 2
    1 point
  47. I understand that. I'm by no means new to this hunting stuff and what my purpose is out there. I'm struggling with typing this in my most civil tone possible, so if anyone takes offence, it's either unintentional or you have a guilty conscence for some reason,lol For one guy to take 6 antlerless deer this year, kinda puts him at least 12 deer behind the 8 ball heading into next year already. If you take a look around the site, there's no shortage of posts here about decreased deer #'s.., and fewer than usual sightings..., and it's so quiet out there this season. Heck Meat Manager himself has been involved in many of those posts. What do you expect we're gonna be reading about the same time next season if we kill every deer that shows us it's vitals. That's just not good sound management no matter if you're a meat hunter, a trophy hunter, or even one of those guys in between who supports AR's and has big dreams! I'm no biologist, but lets get real here people. If your not seeing the deer on your property like you used to, you might do good to give a few of them a pass to replenish what you've already taken instead of starting in a hole for 2014. All the food plots and land management you can come up with in the off season wont make a shit bit of difference if you don't have any deer left to benefit from it. We've also seen the quite a few topics about how DEC issues more antlerless tags in certain areas than they should. Some will say this is due to their innaccurate method of calculating deer populations over smaller areas instead of a broader assumption over a WMU. You guys that are out there every day know what's going on in your particular woods better than anyone else and need to recognise and adjust your harvest goals accordingly.... not just shoot 'em up because you can. As always JMO!
    1 point
  48. My daughter guilted me into coaching her church basketball team this season."you never coach me...only my brothers!" Ok I'll coach. Day before her first practice, she separates her growth plate in her ankle and has been on crutches since...I on the other hand have been coaching 4th grade girls basketball as my daughter sits and watches or stays home on the couch where I want to be! Wwwwhhhaaaaaaaaa!
    1 point
  49. With regard to successful kill threads, most of the replies involve DEC Officer wanna bees. So many official time keepers on here it's a wonder they even get any time in the field. Maybe we should all pack it up at 2:30PM fly home and make posts on here from the home PC before the days legal shooting hours are done. There's a reason why I don't post anything about my kills. It's guaranteed someone will find fault, become jealous of your success and belittle if not out right harass you for killing a buck bigger than "his". I've taken 17 P&Y buck in my lifetime so far. One of them had a picture and article in a local newspaper about the hunt that I wrote. The year following that article I had "hunters" driving around looking for my truck. It got so bad that I would have to park in a spot and have my buddy take me miles away to hunt where I wanted to hunt. I felt like the hunted rather than the hunter. People go nutzo with killing a deer. Nothing else matters. Regulations, trespassing, safetey and outright jacklighting at 2AM. I no longer hunt to kill. I hunt for other reasons that many would not understand. I've taken 499 deer total in my life. Number 500 will be a very special deer, because it will be my last... Congratulations on your first of many successful hunts. The reason you look "odd" is because the camera got stupid and didn't know what to focus on. May the Red Gods smile down upon you for many years to come.
    1 point
  50. We all love hunting and we all wan't to preserve our hunting rights. If we see someone posting illegal/unsafe activity we call them on it. You can call it harsh or call it positive criticism, but it would be ignorant and just plain stupid for us to just let it slide. I'm sure most people can understand that.
    1 point
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