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I was at my parents house for Xmas and came across a bunch of old hunting pics. These 4 pics are all from the Catskills. 1952 - my grandpas friends 11 pointer. The guy who shot this nice buck had 1 arm. 1963 - my grandpas 6 pointer 1976 - my Dads 8 pointer 1984 - my Dads 8 pointer (no brow tines) Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

This season has got off to a slow start, but I've been content keeping my hikes short and close to home this early in the season. I know of one nice buck that had broke off an antler before regular season ended, so that's the one I've been focusing on for now until a few start falling naturally. I'm still seeing a ton of deer hanging out on this little piece of land which is encouraging as shed season progresses. I ran into a group of doe with fawns last week and managed to get a shot off that I really liked before the lead doe realized I was there. I had to get a hike in today with the weather so nice, so I shot up to my favorite goldenrod field. One edge is an old un-harvested Christmas tree farm that has grown over thick with briars. The deer literally have tunnels through this thicket that make it virtually impossible to walk through in an upright position. As I forced my way through I was noticing a pretty solid hair trail that meant there was a dead deer in the area. I secretly hoped to myself it had antlers for me, but when I finally followed it to the source it turned out to be a young doe and my first dead deer find of the season. I hiked around some open green fields for a while and made a note of the incredible amount of sign on the ground. As long as this weather pattern holds for a while longer, I'm expecting to find a few antlers in that area. I made my way to another goldenrod field when I spotted a couple bucks running off with exactly what I was looking for. I watched them closely hoping to see one of those antlers fly off as they made their escape, but that never happened. It's always good to see so many antlers still safe when I'm not finding anything. I decided to go out of my way and take the long way home around the other side of the fields about 3/4 mile out of my way. When I got into the timber I spotted a young fork horn watching me so I kept up the same pace and pretended not to see him. A flash of white off to my left caught my attention and I noticed two more bucks standing there watching me. When I spotted a nice rack, I stopped to grab a few shots. These were the same deer from the goldenrod field earlier in the day. I'm looking forward to putting on some mileage in the morning! Antlers- 1 Sets- 0 Dead bucks- 0 Dead doe/fawns- 1

Awesome pics, no mossy oak camo or scented jackets, just pure hunting in red and black flannel shirts...gotta love it....

Biz...Here's a pic of my dad and uncle at their cabin in Phoenicia around 1950. It's good to look at the old pics.

It matters to me. There's something pleasing to me, about owning and using a USA made knife. Just holding it in my hand, I swear I can feel the difference from some chinese made knife, no matter the "quality" it may be. It's probably all in my head, but I don't care. I have the option to own an American made knife, so I do. If I could have an American made smart-phone, I would.

Cutco & KaBar knives are made in Olean, NY.

That "thrill of the chase" reason, is all about the true predatory nature of man that we all like to hide and disassociate with. But the fact is that humans are predators and we do like the chase part of the hunt. And yes, there is a lethal component to it all also. We don't do "catch & release". There is a finality to what we do, and it is just as natural to us as it is to any of nature's predators. As much as we try to flee our natural instincts and pretend that we are not part of nature's systems and balances, there are always going to be our little core minority of hunters who choose honesty and refuse to pretend that we are something we are not.

Got one hen mallard and a merg

My counts to 65 rats now

We all have different stations in life. And our degree of affluence is therefore different. WHAT THE CORRECT PRICE PER ACRE OF LAND TO OFFER FOR A LEASE. My answer would be whatever someone is willing to pay. If it is successfully leased it was priced right, even though a number of hunters couldn't afford it. And to publicly criticise a landowner for his asking price is rude. There are many things in life, I can't afford. So, I adjust my standard of living. I Hunted state land for twenty plus years.

Yea its crazy, like people need help finding porn on the internet….Christ if finding big bucks was as easy as finding porn none of us would be here

If a bear stepped one foot onto my porch he wouldn't get a second foot up there............and it wouldn't be a toy load coming out of my shotgun/rifle/pistol. Why play around? Kind of like when someone asks me if my pistol is loaded for concealed carry; of course, what good is an empty gun? YMMV

Perfect weather to get things done...I cleaned the dog kennel run and laid down a fresh straw for the boys...Will do inside tomorrow ...man are they happy. MR B. worked on the tractor greasing and cleaning...I worked in the garden...I don't mind DEC. days like this at all.

I'll tell ya wooly you pics are fantastic. ..did I read somewhere on here you had a website?

Really nice stuff Wooly! Can't wait to see more. Anything you really dislike about the 55-300 lens? Just curious.

Make that 5 for today and I had a sprung bottom edge were there are no muskrats so probably a missed mink ...

Great pics! My uncle and all his friends hunted state land in Margretville all their lives, wonder if they crossed paths.

Here's a picture of all the ducks I didn't see

Last I checked most people consider deer a nuisance. I personally love eating them but I'd bet the population as a whole could care less if all were wiped out or had their populations significantly diminished. Its one game species out of thousands, not to mention this one causes more damage than most others combined. Now I personally would like the numbers of deer to stay higher at least around hunting season but I'd be willing to bet most non hunters could not care less about the deer which as a result is causing little funds to research a vaccine, not to mention how truly impractical it would be to give every deer in the population a needle with the vaccine, then locate the same animal for its yearly boosters Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

Awesome pictures. Dad looks like Ralph Macchio (the karate kid) in the last picture.

3 furrrry muskrats today

The outrage you say! What - a cervid disease treatment not being given the same consideration and funding as a possible cure for cancer in humans? Maybe PETA could help?

Ok, so maybe it's time to put this thread back to the context that it started out at. Unless I missed it, this guy never said anything about hunting at that distance. He was not promoting that nor did I see where anyone here ever proposed that as any kind of a reasonable hunting shot. I looked at it all as a shooting exhibition (and a damn impressive one at that). Maybe he should have stated somewhere in the video that the shots he was making were not intended to represent something that can or should be attempted for hunting situations in order to keep impressionable new-comers from thinking otherwise. But when you look at it from the standpoint that was intended, the video is a very entertaining exhibition of crossbow shooting skill. One thing it does highlight is the repeatability of that weapon when placed into the proper hands.

hahaha u got spammed

Very cool.I love looking through all the old hunting pics at camp when I am there

Good going! Nice buck this time of the year especially! (to Nontypical-on your nice buck).

No its everyday of the season, he starts his 5am drives on opening day of bow and keeps it going everyday hes up there, below is a sign posted on my property... I’m going try talking to him again before spring turkey, hopefully we can work it out, hes never had an issue until his business started doing poorly and he started stressing out like crazy, i feel bad but he doesnt have to take it out on my hunting, its what i love to do and its super aggravating

So following your logic, if you're in the ghetto & someone attempts to mug you, you have no right to defend yourself? I mean, if you can see them coming, you should lock yourself in the car while they nicely put it up on blocks and strip it? You are in "criminal country", so it's really your fault, right? Got it.

I hear ya…..Besides my rock, I got a beautiful ' Case' made in the U.S.A. pocket knife ( that I will never use, because I already have like 7000 knives but for some reason people keep giving me knives even though I let it be known that Im good with knives, like 15 years ago, but they keep coming anyway to the point that Im actually running out of room to put knives and am thinking about selling some of them but I really don't want to and now Im rambling on because of all the knives I have)……………………Sorry. Im into made into the US made knives too.

I alwyas had my best luck on COLD sunny mornings. The colder the better. The bunnies will stay above ground to soak up the sun. Look on South facing edges like the north edge of a power line or similar openings.. I had Beagles when I moved here, but cottontaisl are scarce. I cn't eat snowshoes, YUCK!

SOLD!

Apparently, my wife pays attention to what I complain about because two of the things I talked about were taken care of this Christmas. First, I complained that my sandwiches got smushed in my fanny packs because I had too many things to carry. She gave me a nice, mid-size backpack to solve this problem. I was talking about how most of the big name hunting knives were not made in the US anymore, and she searched around and found me a beauty of a Bear and Sons locking knife that says USA right on it.

Thanks land!! I actually print the thread off and keep all the years so I can glance back at them as I get old and forgetful! Or wishing it was hunting season!!

The Southern Tier Opener was picture perfect weather this year, cooler temperatures and about an inch of snow on the ground. The deer were very active, passed on 3 smaller Bucks throughout the day and killed a Mature Doe around 11:30 in the morning. About 3 pm, this Buck was just cruising thru and offered me a shot at about 100 yards. My bullet clipped a branch in front of him and grazed his belly on the first shot. To my surprise, he ran closer to about 75 yards and stood broadside. My bullet hit it's mark this time and piled up within 50 yards. 2014 was a very successful year for me, a nice 8 pt with the Bow (story in the Archery Harvest Thread), this 135" 9 pt with the Rifle and 2 Mature Does with the Rifle. Seems as though our Management efforts are paying off and those All Day sits are helping too!

I can relate to the "miracle" part of that story. I had it happen myself this year on a fat pig of a buck up in the NW Adirondacks. I also said a short prayer, if I could only see a buck, as they are quite rare in this area. Not 10 minutes later, this old boy came cruising along down the creek-bank I was watching from a ridge, high above. I said another short prayer, that my shot would be true. The distance was far. My rough estimate at the time was 300 yards, amd it looks to be at least that based on "Google Maps" My first shot missed (taken from a rested seated position, probably due to range underestimation), so did the second (hurried offhand). Then the Lord provided a perfect tree for a rest, in just the right spot, as I followed him from up on the ridge. He paused in an opening, just when I found the rest and that third shot hit perfectly, diagonally, thru the rib cage. I did not see him go down, but he disappeared after that final shot. I scanned the area all around where he stood with my scope on 9X, but nothing moved. There was a large pine tree right near where he had stood, and I thought maybe, he had turned 90 degrees away, and ran up the next hill, keeping that tree between me and him, after a third miss. Had he continued forward, I would have seen him, as I would have if he backtracked. There was only one other possibility. I gave out a third prayer, that he would be laying there under that tree. It was a long hike around. I left my bright red camp-chair up on the ridge, to mark my shooting location. The creek below was too deep and wide for me to cross, and the ridge to steep to descend direct without climbing gear. I carefully studied that pine tree on the creek-bank below, so that I could identify it when I did get back over to its general location. It took me almost an hour to reach a location on the far bank of the creek, where I could finally see my red chair up on the ridge. It looked like a tiny spec with the nakid eye. Shortly after I saw the chair. The brush was so thick on the far bank of the creek, that it took another half hour or so before I saw a familiar looking, lone pine tree down on the creek. My plan was to locate the buck's tracks in the fresh snow near the tree, and try to catch the buck by following his trail. That is a very popular technique in this area. I knew the trail would be fresh, and the sounds of my three shots were probably mixed right in with the crashing of ice that morning along the creek-bank, caused by the rising, warming sun. The buck likely had no idea he was being shot at (like Steve Martin in the Jerk with the oil cans). As fate would have it, the Lord had other plans. There at the base of the tree, lay the old buck. He was on his side, eyes wide open. There was no mark on him, and no blood or hair on the fresh snow. I stuck the muzzle of my loaded rife (safety off) in his eye and he did not blink. I rolled him over and there was no mark or blood on the other side either. Upon gutting him, I noted a hole centered on the second last rib, and two jagged, similar sized holes, adjacent to that rib, looking inside of the cage. At first I thought maybe all three bullets hit, but it turned out just one did, and the other holes must have been caused by bone fragments. I called my Father in law on the cell-phone, but he could only get within a half mile or so with his ATV because the brush was so thick down on that side of the creek. That is definitely the heaviest deer and the most difficult drag I have ever had to do. I suspect this buck may be quite old because his stomach was full of acorns and most were not even chewed. It was not the biggest rack that I have taken, but surely my oldest buck. Since I turned 50 on Christmas this year, my wife let me get him mounted as a present. Plus it was the first one taken at her folks new camp up there.

Finally got one with the muzzleloader. 8 Pointer, 12/14/14 @ 4:20 PM. Decent late season buck! Not one of the big boys but I'm happy with him. I think I passed on him a couple of times during bow season.

Yeah, you can buy the AXIS as a gun only, but the AXIS-II is only available as an "XP" package. Decent glass can be bought for $199 right now as Cabelas has the VX-1 Leupy on sale.

Have someone shoot you with it and then you'll know what you are doing to someones pet. But before you do that why not check with the DEC and see if that is legal to do. I'd bet it isn't..............................

I took these while sitting in my blind before season opened a few years ago....it is a favorite spring feeding area for some reason...I think little blk beetles......... so I built a raised blind there....they then started roosting right over the blind so I have to go in way before light...Lol...... hearing them thunder in the morning right above your head is a trip.......Have fun this season...

Here you go.

As funny & stupid as the above comment may sound, it is true! Long barrel length & super full chokes are a trade-off. Give really dense & tighter (small) patterns at closer distances, but give suitable patterns at longer distance. As you've seen from most members, a shot size of #5 or 6 is prefered. I personally use the #5/6 combo as my gun likes it! Think I've purchased most every turkey call ever made over the years. Part of my gobbler hunting ADD..! Never could seem to master the slate/glass calls, just me! Had a ~30yo Quaker Boy box call that seemed to never fail me. Distance, tone, call varieties, etc. Could even hold it backwards and give a 1/2 a$$'ed gobble. Cheap box calls in the big box hunting stores are mass produced from cheap, less desirable woods. Thus, the tone is not great on most. FYI - Not promoting this, but on ebay you can get a great box call that's handmade out of more preferable woods and sometimes even etched with designs for ~$50. For the beginner, definitely a slate or box call to begin with, but you'll eventually want to get proficient with a mouth (diaphragm) call for close-up, hands-free calling. Set-up is paramount! Meaning, for example - if you're s/u in an open area calling & the Tom doesn't see the hen, he'll lose interest. Or, if in thicker cover, they can come in silent & be in your lap when you're not prepared to shoot! Also, there's a fine balance between over calling and not keeping the gobbler interested. All part of the frustrating learning curve of hunting gobblers. Fun, addictive and frustrating, all at the same time! TV shows depicting turkey hunting are ....misleading, at best. Most are in areas where turkey populations are very high. Like others have mentioned, a 30min show has been edited from hours/days of hunting and make it look almost too easy! Best you can hope to gain from watching them are the basics. Wish I could point you in the specific direction, but the very best one I've ever seen was video of just the turkeys milling around & their sounds (calls) with no hunting. May have been on YouTube..? Do NOT use actual turkey calls when scouting in pre-season!!! Lot of the reason why public land gobblers are so hard to hunt. When hunting, as you'll find out, shock calls like crow, woodpecker, bike horns (??), etc sometimes get a response gobble. If they are close, these calls give you a better chance to s/u. If you've located a nearby Tom with a turkey sound, he may already be on his way in and it becomes a WTF scenario. lol BTW - If you don't own one, get a ThermaCell. Nothing more distracting than trying to "talk turkey" when the small black flies are swarming around your face mask! Not to mention, getting eated alive! The first one you get after he's come in to your calling, all fanned out, strutting, feverishly gobbling, whether a 4" or 10" beard......YOU'LL BE HOOKED!!!!

Woot thanks

pileated woodpecker call for a locator used to work well for me when I hunted turkey heavily. I would hit the owl call a time or two with no response. Then.. bust out that wood pecker call and they would gobble back at it like no tomorrow. I quit carrying the owl as I never did get anything to answer back to it. Not worth the cost based on my results. I also shot all my birds in the field in the spring. I never set up in the woods for them. They can and very well may come in silent. Be on the lookout. Also my final bit of wisdom here. WATCH FOR SKUNKS!!!! Once I setup along a nice well used trail that paralleled a hedgerow. I figured the turkeys used it... Sat down against a tree, all camo'ed out. Nothing could see me. I didnt move for a very long time and all the sudden I heard movement. Didnt even turn my head to look. Instead waited for whatever to come by me. This whatever turned out to be a black and white potentially foul smelling creature. Literally I could have kicked it in the head it was so close to my feet. Luckily it kept walking by me and didnt pay me any heed. After that, I was not sure which of us smelled worse. May have been me...

FYI : you're going to be addicted to spring bird hunting !!! Venison fills my freezer, turkey hunting fills my heart . 1) I've noticed a lot of turkey guns have different length barrels. Mossy Turkey Thugs model is a short barrel but my Remmy 1187 SPT is a long barrel. Never really got into pros or cons of either. As long as it petterns well. I shoot a Nitro Company .660 tube. Jellyhead performs really well in my daughters youth Remmy 20. 2) I mainly use a slate call (HS Strut) and a custom slate. Have a Lynchs Fool Proof 101 boxcall I've had for 35 years. Not a fan unless it's windy out. Really tough for me to "quiet " it down. Main objective of calling birds is call soft and infrequently. Cut what you think is soft in volume to have that. My nephew and I hunted together. We hunted about 30 yards apart. Neither of us could hear each other call. 3)Process should be a lot of scouting pre season. Find the patterns of the birds. Where they roost, where they head thru out the morning etc. 4) All depends. Birds have "field mode" .Rainy days they may hit the fields out of their patterns. Rain will dampen their hearing and may hit the fields for safety. They'll hit fields to pick bugs or dandelion heads. I called in a gobbler years back that was running into me. Fields were about shoulder height on him. I could see him eating and dandelions flying the whole way in. I have killed I believe 10 birds from under the same exact tree. I'm about 30 yards inside the woods from the field edge. If i set my deke out when he nears my decoy I know he's inside range. Also less likely to see me where I am as opposed to sitting right on edge of field. My spot is close to a pinch point of two fields. They roost about 300-400 yards from here. I can't get any closer as it's posted. 5) I shoot Heavi shot magblends 4 x 5 x6's. My daughter's gun likes em too. At 40 yards it's holding very tight. Guys brag about shooting birds out to 70 yards. I'm sure my gun is capable of it but NEVER going to beyond 40. Golden BB shots aren't for me. I do not want to wound a bird and if he isn't inside 40 yards you haven't fooled him . Crap, some states allow rifle for birds. Jeesh, that's fun (sarcasm) I like the blends as you get knockdown and pattern density. Not a fan of only #4's as some guys shoot. No density . Start saving your money and or pick up a box of this and a box of that along the way of different loads. The same exact combo may like something different. Oh ya, have your buddy shoot them all, lol. After the initial pattern testing you may only shoot once or twice a year to check gun and hopefully tip one over. 6) Tips: don't watch turkey hunting TV programs! The volume of their calling is amped up. They splice footage and make it look easy. Knock on doors now asking permission if you don't have property. Again, call soft and infrequently. If bird is inside 100 yards, don't call. He knows within feet of where you are. Scratch behind you (sounds like a hen scratching) You want him to hit your call and cut you off. Not you calling after hearing him gobble. Scouting, scouting and scouting ! I'm not a run and gun guy. Hunt 70 acres. I've tried to move 2x over the years. Yup, both times I got busted by silent birds real close. If there's 10 gobblers in your woods. You may hear all 10 (doubtful), hear 5, hear 2 or hear none. Full moon seems to screw with the birds. A lot of times they won't fly down til much later. If gobblers are henned up, get nasty bitchy hen. You want to pizz off the lead hen. If she yelps 3x, you yelp 4x. Idea is to call her in and big boy will follow. Crow calls make great locaters. Sit still. They may come in silent. Bug spray is your friend . Do not sit under that nice large tree before looking for coon crap (not that I've ever done that ) Do not sit in wild leek patch when hungover (again) Have I mentioned scouting !? "Listening to the woods wake up" as my now 12 yr old daughter called it many years ago is precious. Been taking her scouting since I had to carry her. She now hunts with me : ) Oldgobbler.com is a good website and can answer many questions. Good luck and enjoy

Thanks! I will be, but not until I notice some drops on cameras. Honestly, Ive never found a shed before late January/early February.

Think we're getting into the old scenario of every ML brand &/or model shooting differently. Every ML has a specific load it shoots best. Whether it be granulated or pelletized BP, regular or magnum (hot) primers and sabot brand or style. Not to contradict what some members have said, but some of the advice is just not true with my ML brand & its' favorite load. Think some are even getting into the older style smokepole problems. Enough said..! As many have already stated, start with a clean & unobstructed breechplug. In case you're overly curious and tempted to saw your breechplug to see how it's made, don't..LOL

blur, that's why you didn't get any deer this year. You should get to your stand in the dark and shoot them 5 minutes before legal shooting time like the rest of us! LOL

Our lease prices are DIRECTLY tied to what we are paying in property taxes (the highest in the country), and from the looks of it New York State is trying to force everyone to leave the state. Yes it's true that at the end of the 3 year term your lease fee is probably going to go up but that is just because we are trying to keep pace with the property tax increases we have experienced over that time. I guess leasing isn't for everyone, but we have hundreds of happy groups that have been leasing from us for years and years. If you have any questions about a new potential lease or you want to discuss your current lease give me a call or email. Bob