Sambuca

Hey Culvercreek, I really like your pavillion. Do you have plans or did you do it on the fly? After the warm sun this during the first week of last year's gun season, I'm thinking of a solution to make shade for hanging deer. Last season I put lots of bagged ice into cavitys and moved deer around the cabin on a trailer to keep them out of the sun. Your pavillion looks awesome. I'll try to post pics of my camp when I am at the computer with the photos.

The ESOS show has been "postponed" due to backlash over the ban on display of modern sporting rifles. It is great to see the exhibitors and consumers coming together on this cause. If anyone has ever been to this massive show, they will know that this is a significant event. While I feel bad for some of the smaller exhibitors, the line must be drawn.

No one else's previous luck will impact yours. If you have 200 Ac that have not been hunted yet, all the neighboring deer might be on that property. Be thankful and go get 'em. Good luck to you.

I am all in favor of the hunter orange requirement. I always wear a vest and cap even on my own land. I wouldn't go out without it. Can't hunt next year if I get shot this year. And if you are out there, I really want to see you so I can be as safe as possible. I grew up hunting in WI and there never was a shortage of deer killed even with the blaze orange requirement. I'm fine with the sunrise sunset rule. Idiots will shoot before legal time even if its set at 4 AM to 9 PM. First shot I heard this year was 6:22. Dozens followed before legal time. I just sit tight hoping that got the deer moving. From a deer management perspective though, if the DEC wants the tags sold to be filled, 1/2 hour befor and after would help.

Hey 5.9, I've been to Tioughnioga grouse hunting. The NWTF did some nice work there. Good luck and be safe. Just like BizRO, i wear tons of orange on my own land. Having hunted in NY only for the last 3 years it never dawnwed on me that it wasn't required until last year when a neighbor walked up to my stand (tracking a shot deer) dressed head-to-toe in Camo. If you're on the move, please put on an orange hat.

It looks really good hanging. Congrats on your deer, its a keeper!

Thanks Pygmy, I have no problem taking a smaller buck, but it would be cool to get a biger one which is why I've held out. I'll probably take a yearling this year if the opprotunity presents. In the past I just kept thinking there's a big one on his way in. Theres no chance of managing deer at my place with so many small parcels around. Every deer taken from our new property is a treasure to me and my wife. Antlers are cool but that's not what its about for us, its about harvesting a deer at the home away from home that we worked so damned hard to get. Eventually we'll get lucky and shoot something worth hanging on the wall of our little cabin.

Its plain stupid they don't fully allow the crossbow in all deer seasons season. These laws are supposedly about game management. Whether its a youth, a disabled veteran, a 110lb woman or someone who just prefers to use a crossbow, it makes no difference me. There's no increased range, the hunt is exactly the same except for the weapon.

I wish everyone would review their hunter safety workbook ahead of the opener. In case you dont have time it can be summed up like this, Know your target and what's beyond it!!! Oh, and I wish that NY hunter safety book emphasized the importance of wearing orange when hunting with firearms. Hunters kill just as many deer in all of those states that require it. I wouldn't hunt without it. Good luck everyone and please be safe!

Pygmy, I'd like to permanently stop one from chasing myself. I have owned my 80 Ac for 3 years now. I fill my DMP every year easily. Only me, the wife and 1 friend hunt it for deer and thats usually only 4-5 days each year. We have let yearling spikes and forks walk waiting for something better. We still have not killed a buck. I know they are around from the cam pictures. The DMP provides some meat but by summer thats gone. Been reading all I can and made some adjustments to stands etc. Based on the replies here, I don't think I'll bother with the estrous scent. I'm hoping this will be the year to put a second in the freezer.

The pressure will be high. My area has many smaller properties/farms under 100Ac, including mine. They are all hunted and there is alot of shooting on opening morning. Hopefully we can intercept one running for its life. Usually by Tuesday the pressure lets up a little. Hopefully we'll still have a hot doe or 2 around then.

So, would you drag or hang an estrous wick this weekend? I am convinced the bucks in my area of 7M are really smart to our tactics. I fear scaring them off with estrous scent past when it is expected. I planned to just stick to minimizing scent when in the woods and relying on good shooting at distances in the field this year. Just trying to figure out if a sexual attractant will be a benefit or a deterrent in the woods?

How long does the chasing last? The past few years I didn't see many bucks following does in the regular season. I saw does and fawns back together by thanksgiving. I'm just hoping that this year will be different.

I am counting down the hours until the regular season starts on Saturday. Do people think the chasing phase will still be hot? In the past I have used some doe estrous pee on wicks for the opener and it didn't seem to do anything. Reading the forum this year, I'm thinking we might be closer to the chasing phase than in the past couple of years, so they might work. What do people think?

Last year I had 2 different dogs on the trailcams. It didn't seem to have any effect on the deer movement. If these are local "farm dogs" that occasionally go for a stroll, the deer are probably used to them. That's just part of life in rural NY. If they are chasing or routinely on camera, I would be more concerned. The most interesting domestic critter I got on camera was this past July when I got great shots of a Holstein cow on the cam a mile from the nearest dairy farm.

No one in my family hunted when I was a kid growing up in central Wisconsin. We didn't even have a gun. After lots of begging and pleading, I managed to get a bb/pellet gun and later a .22 and I taught myself to shoot. I took hunter ed at my middle school and did the shooting part on the range in the basement of the school with guns and ammo provided by the school district (I'm only 41, my how times have changed!). Eventually, my best friend in middle school asked his dad if I could go duck hunting with them. I was allowed to go on that duck hunt and then became a regular at their deer camp. I need to send a note to my friend's dad to thank him. How many people, in this day of law suits etc, would take their son's 13 year old friend hunting? I can proudly say that I have had the extreme pleasure of introducing my wife to hunting. She is from Brazil and had never touched a firearm until we were engaged to be married in 1998. In fact she was terrified of guns (only criminals have them in Sao Paolo where she grew up). Today she is crazy for hunting turkeys, upland birds and deer. It is truly awesome when your best hunting buddy is also your wife and says things like, "I'd really like to go out west and kill a Merriams turkey".

Kgun, Dont mess with your 401K, you have a lot of retirement years ahead. Try a home equity line of credit. These usually cost nothing to set up. If you can't swing the 20% down from HELOC and your savings, maybe you shouldn't be getting into a long term financial committment on this property. You might be getting in over your head. Don't risk financial security for one property, there will be others within your limits. This is just my opinion as a very financially conservative person.

Thanks! We had a decoy out in the field. Maybe the Tom at the hedgerow could see it and expected it to move to him. I am pretty sure I call too much with the excitement of a fired up gobbler nearby. I'll try to shut up once I get a response and see what happens. It could also be that my calling is not up to par. I'm going to download the NWTF iPhone app. It's supposed to have lots of turkey sounds. Anyone have it? Would you recommend it?

On Saturday, my wife had a doe come in and stomp at the base of a hen decoy she had set out. After the deer got frustrated that the turkey didn't move it walked past her within 10 yards and slipped into the woods. Maybe Turkey decoys might help fill freezer with the DMP tag?

I read this forum a lot but don't contribute a lot. I have been turkey hunting for only 2 years and don't have a lot of experience to share. This past weekend I hunted Friday Saturday and Sunday with my wife. We hunt an 80 acre parcel with 1/2 woods and fields. Turkeys don't roost on this old farm. There were plenty of birds around and we had some good action. However, both times I thought we were going to kill a bird they hung up out of sight, gobbled like crazy and after while, they left. In one instance I was set up on a field and the bird came from the woods behind me. I got turned around but he hung up just below a ridge that sloped down at 25 yards or so. There was no way I could move toward him without getting busted. I eventually saw him cross the field a few hundred yards away but by then he ignored my calls. In the second instance, my wife set up facing a field edge and I was facing the woods behind her. We would be able to see anything in range. A tom hung up at the hedgerow 125 yards across the field from my wife and wouldn't budge. How do you guys get these birds to cross a barrier like a ridge or a hedgerow? Do you call harder, more often or not at all? I think in the second scenario I could have walked away and continued calling hoping to bring him closer for my wife to get a shot. Any advice is appreciated!

Try Kevin Evans at Turkey Ridge Raquette Outfitter http://www.turkeyridgehunts.com/turkey_dog_hunts.html They have great turkey dogs. Sorry I didn't read your post earlier, I hope he still has a hunt available. Good Luck!

I live in PA but hunt a property in the Hamilton area. I might head up this weekend to look around for some sheds and see if I can find where the turkeys are roosting. How much snow is on the ground?