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Yes, a great hunt is measured differently by all of us. Hunting is an individual activity, and we all do it for our own reasons. I understand those that measure the greatness of their hunt by the numerical score of a deer's rack. I happen to come from a time when nobody knew what the heck you were talking about if you started talking about score. We measured the size of a buck simply by the number of points. First of all it was something if you simply got a buck......any buck. Then it was the number of points that counted. It could be a scraggly little, tiny rack, but if it had enough points, it was worth bragging about. Now we have people dragging out their tape measures and following carefully dictated procedures to prove to the world what kind of buck they got. Yeah, we are all different. A great hunt can be all kinds of different things to each of us. Heck, it can even be a squirrel or rabbit hunt that turns out to be a "great hunt". We simply have to appreciate the entire experience and the fact that we can even get out to hunt at all. But above all, we have to resist the thought that we all have to be out there for a single reason, a single goal, and MUST take only a specific gender size and aged animal. We do not. We simply must hunt and enjoy it for whatever internal reasons that we each have.

As mentioned by others the consistency is more important than the thickness in one area. But here is a good guide:

I think some misunderstand what a great hunt is. It's a hunt that challenged you. One that required preparation, skill, knowledge of the prey, determination in the face of obstacles and long odds, and maybe some luck. When all of those elements combine and the hunter takes the game, that was a great hunt. That animal, regardless of it's size is a trophy and those are memories the hunter will take to the grave. When a hunter merely walks into the woods and randomly picks a spot to sit down but is lucky enough to kill a big 10 point at first legal shooting time, that produces a trophy for the wall, but is far from what amounts to a great hunt. So just stepping into the woods doesn't produce a great hunt. A great hunt is what keeps hunter's coming back for more. The desire for trophy bucks is what keeps some men paying to sit by a feeder in a high fenced establishment. Those guys can show off a wall mounted trophy but have no adventurous story to tell with it. Sure there a those who have great hunts and take huge whitetail, but I would guess that is less than 1% of licensed deer hunters and impossible for most deer hunters to emulate, due to the lifestyle they have chosen to live. On the other hand, most hunters can experience great hunts pursuing lesser game.

I understand the goal for some to only shoot trophy animals......I really do. But I also understand the need for hunters to harvest deer occasionally if they intend to stay in the sport. I also understand that not everybody has the option of letting deer after deer go by and finishing season after season without a score of any sort because they don't happen to have the kind of land where big deer reside. Many hunters are reliant on public land for their hunting. Others hunt big wood-land where maybe the deer are pretty scarce. Today, there are a lot of hunters who are pressed for time in this damned busy world and don't have the time to devote to targeting specific deer. There are all kinds of hunting situations and conditions where hunters may not even have the option of collecting only trophies. Imagine the level of frustration that they may feel if they think that the only allowable deer that they are expected to take are trophy class animals and anything less is failure. Those are the guys who will be short-timers in the sport if they are made to feel bad about what they have chosen to harvest. I'm afraid that all this emphasis on trophy-ism may be one of the contributors to the declining hunter populations. I think it is possible that many are being driven out through frustration because the current messages from all sides of deer hunting demand that hunters take only trophy sized deer. That is not really good for the political realities of what it takes to retain our rights as hunters.

New York (WRGB) — A new poll out Monday morning shows Gov. Kathy Hochul's popularity is on the rise. Between Jan. 14-17, 807 registered voters in New York state were polled; 507 contacted via phone and 300 from an online panel. Of those surveyed, 45% favor Hochul over the 42% that do not. The latest rating is up from 40-43% in November, and "the first time it has been positive since it was 46-43% in February 2023." At least 807 people do. What a Joke

Got cabin fever. I love my place and is 100% pine shiplap. After living here a year and a half I need a change. I thought about it for a while and got a lot of ideas from friends. Well I'm painting the walls and moldings. I know I can never go back! Ceilings and a few accent walls will stay natural. Walls are white washed molding black. I'm totally fine with you being honest. I'm in the middle of doing the Den. Window treatements will be wood blinds, not sure on color. Here are a few work in progress pictures.

It's really a tough call. Personally I love the black trim but I do not like the white wash of the wood. I am dealing or should I say not dealing with the same thing right now. My kitchen is wood flooring, walls and ceiling. It's to much wood and it really darkens the room. We really want to change it but don't want white wash and don't want to hassle with drywall right now so it continues to sit as is.

True Words. But one will never feel what the word Hunting” really means until one finds, scouts, learns and hunts down one single mature whitetail buck one on one and go until they kill that one buck or bust. One will never know that feeling until it’s been earned. Not an easy task 99.9% of the time.

Cold,some snow. One last chance to punch a tag. Now if the deer cooperate.

I understand.

I like the white look over the dated yellowed appearance. Black can be tough to look smooth without lap marks that show in various light angles. Try adding Floetrol or M 1 to paint and it will level out and give you more working time to cover the flats. Dont treat the whole can, use a paint cup and make a batch. Another tip is to do flats with a 4” foam roller lightly filled and roll on and then brush out after cutting edges. Faster to get paint on and easier then constantly dipping brush and get a consistent appearance.

Main residence. Aways loved the natural wood but needed a change.

Personally I have always been more of a small game hunter than a Deer hunter, I love hunting with dogs, the variety, the long seasons and to be able to use and fire fine firearms more than once a year for hunting. I disagree with the notion it is harder to find properties that hold small game, places you may be denied to hunt Deer welcome you to hunt Woodchucks, Coon, Coyotes, Fox etc. Speaking for myself I have no problem finding a place to hunt small game. A small four or five acre Mast woodlot can provide some great Squirrel hunting action. Around forty years ago I was after a known large racked buck in the area I hunted. Tag were not so prevalent back then, you basically got to shoot one Deer per season. To make a long story short I hunted hard and passed on smaller Bucks because of wanting to kill that big guy. In the end I got skunked, it was the only year I ever missed getting a Deer. After the season I came to the conclusion that for me I wasted way too much time on that one Deer and missed a lot of nice weather days of good small game hunting and a ton of fun. These days if I want to kill a deer the first legal buck I see gets dropped, no messing around dreaming of horns. Al

This picture is of my current shooting range. There's a shooting bench under the blue tarp. You can picture what it is like when the temperature gets cold and the snow is flying, and the wind is adding to the wind-chill. I need to either come up with an enclosure (preferably with some heat) that keeps the snow off me and my stuff or give up shooting for the whole winter. But I like to shoot year around. I think $550 plus a bit for modifications using the Tractor Supply blind is a reasonable price for extending my shooting through the winter months. I could shoot out of the kitchen window, but that might cause some problems with wife.....lol.

I have a mud room and deck on the back of my place. I have a 100 yard range set up with targets I shoot at off of my deck. I set up all my shooting supplies in the mud room and have a seat on the deck by the corner railing. I step outside, take a seat, set the rifle on the railing, load and shoot at the preset white styrofoam plates at 100 yards, (they last in wet weather and are easy to see holes in), check my group with binocs and go back inside to warm up, have coffee and clean and adjust the rifle. I do have to clean the snow off the deck sometimes, but the deck is only 12x12 so it's not a lot of work. I don't have any houses close to me and the neighbors I do have do not mind hearing me shoot on occasion. I'm most often just checking zero and not firing a lot of rounds.

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The Biden Administration's Top 10 Accomplishments Of 2023 Dec 30, 2023 · BabylonBee.com From the border to the economy, President Biden has accomplished feats in 2023 that no one ever saw coming. With so many incredible achievements for the Biden administration this year, narrowing them down was no easy task! Here are the top ten accomplishments of the Biden administration in 2023: Reduced obesity in America by making food unaffordable: So simple. Cleaned up all the cocaine bags someone was leaving around the White House: Decency restored! Kept American hostages safe from junk fees during their stay with Hamas: Not one single junk fee! Set all-time record for people illegally streaming into the U.S.: Because he's the most popular President ever. Numbers don't lie. Raised dementia awareness by 400%: Also, sandbag awareness. Created record numbers of new billionaires: They're all in Ukraine, but still. Promoted transparency by releasing several "Behind-the-Scenes" videos from Capitol staffers: Campaign promise, delivered. Saved democracy by arresting political opponents and not allowing people to vote for anyone else: Thanks, Joe! Set new record by spending 40% of time on vacation: Finally giving Delaware Beach the attention it so richly deserves. Heroically stayed alive to save America from a Kamala Harris Presidency: We salute you, Mr. Biden! What can't Biden do?? We can't wait to see what Joe has up his sleeve in 2024!