campstugots

I believe one of the top competitive crossbow shooters (in the world) hangs out at Pro Line. And I believe he is friends with the guys who run it. So they probably make a special concession. He probably brings extra high density foam to shoot at in front of their wall.

One of bigger issues for an archery range are the crossbow bolts. They are much shorter than most arrows and they bury themselves in the target wall. The crossbow shooter ends up beating up the wall digging out the bolts. Also crossbows take some time to load. An archer can easily shoot 6 arrows in two minutes. A crossbow shooter might shoot 3 bolts in two minutes. The crossbow shooter causes a lot of disgruntled archers on the line tapping their feet. The range has to make the majority happy and crossbow shooters are a small minority. I would suggest buy your own crossbow target and find a place that allows you to shoot outdoors. I would check Nassau Bowman and Suffolk Archers. There is a park in Wantagh Long Island that did allow people to shoot outdoors, I'm not sure if they still do but check Nassau Bowman. Good Luck.

Have several packs of coyotes around me in 4F near the Otsego/Schoharie border. Hear them every night and but never see them while in the woods. I believe they are harder to hunt than deer. Occasionally, you will find a deer torn to shreds, so they do take them down. Don't know if there is a correlation but every year I am seeing less deer and hearing more coyotes.

Have several packs of coyotes around me in 4F near the Otsego/Schoharie border. Hear them every night and but never see them while in the woods. I believe they are harder to hunt than deer. Occasionally, you will find a deer torn to shreds, so they do take them down. Don't know if there is a correlation but every year I am seeing less deer and hearing more coyotes.

Have several packs of coyotes around me in 4F near the Otsego/Schoharie border. Hear them every night and but never see them while in the woods. I believe they are harder to hunt than deer. Occasionally, you will find a deer torn to shreds, so they do take them down. Don't know if there is a correlation but every year I am seeing less deer and hearing more coyotes.

There are deer on state land. It takes skill and a lot of luck. The smallest parcel I've hunted on was 600 acres and as large as 10,000 acres. It requires lots of scouting. You need to look at the topography and learn to map the deer. Ultimately you need to find the food sources (i.e. acorns, soft mast). Once you find the food and and the right topography, luck enters the equation. Over the past 20 years, I've seen a handful of hunters. The more you get away from the hudson valley and catskills, the less hunters you will see. Try it, but you can't just park the car and walk in. You need to do the work.

Try Queens Archery in Flushing, they are big on Mathews. They have competitive prices and have a lot of the 2011 Bows in stock. Try looking at the Z7 Extreme, it doesnt look like a shooter but it shoots very well for a short axle to axle bow. I've owned a lot of Mathews in the past several years (Drenalin, Drenalin LD, Apex 7, Monster 6.0, and now i'm currently shooting the Z7.) In my opinion, it's hard to beat a Z7 and its siblings (Extreme, EZ7, Magnum) as a hunting bow, short, quick, forgiving, and smooth (which in my opinion is most important as a hunting bow). Personally, I would stay away from the MR5 if it to be used for hunting. They shoot well, but the brace height is a little too short for hunting (especially in cold weather). I 've used the Monster 6.0. It was perhaps the best shooting bow I've shot, but it is disguised as hunting bow. Too bulky for the treestand or stalk. It's for 3d. Good luck!

I purchased land in 4F (Worcester/Decatur) two years ago, prior to that i spent most of my time hunting in Schoharie County (near Summit). In my opinion, the deer are bigger and there are more bucks (and some big ones in the bunch) in 4F compared to some of the neigboring areas. In my area, there are a lot of dairy farms and there is more than enough corn to feed the population. However, the snow can be overwhelming. The deer disappear when the snow hits. Occasionaly, i will see them herding up closer to town. But they always come back in the spring. Best of luck!

Ancram, Columbia County

Main logging road splits the property in half. To the left is flat and swampy bordering a large stream. To the right, the land is steep. A couple of logging roads to the right that go to the peak. No hunters for spring turkey or archery. For rifle, it is a shooting range.