Doc

28 degrees this morning. It seems planting might be better if we wait to the end of May. I just noticed that the pear blossoms are out right now.....That probably ain't too good.

There has to be some tremendous stock bargains out there right now.

However, there is one bird that I have problems with I call it "The Big-mouth Bird".........Most people call them blue jays. They have some favorite seeds (sunflower seeds)and that take that big beak and shovel seeds out of the feeder and onto the ground until they finally come to one of the sunflower seeds. Of course the doves, deer and squirrels are thankful for that, but its costing me a fortune trying to keep up with feeding every critter in the woods.

Aw-w-w-w-w........Look at how the big, bad, evil, hunters want to shoot all those cute little wild puppy-dogs. How terrible. You know if coyotes looked like opossums, nobody would say a word. But they look too much like our family pets, and the human mind melts into a puddle of goo. Perhaps when the next epidemic of rabies, distemper, or mange comes along, that method of control will be much more easy to accept. Those kinds of things are the alternative way of population control when it comes to coyotes. I guess not too many people think about the fact that other than man, coyotes are pretty much uncontrolled at the top of the food chain here in NYS and many other states. Perhaps reading up on the symptoms of some of these canine diseases would put hunting in a much better light. None of them are a very nice way to go when compared to a bullet.

Hunting near a nuclear power plant????

One of the prime reasons that a lot of hunters have dropped out of hunting has been the growing scarcity of good hunting lands. Every year more and more hunters are being driven onto state lands as other private parcels keep getting covered up with posted signs. Now they are finding hordes of non-hunting people taking over that last bastion of available hunting lands. So comments of "like it or find another hunting spot" are kind of like saying saying, "if you don't like it, get out of hunting". And unfortunately, that is what hunters are doing every year. I guess it is just a sign of the times.

Animals give us so much, unconditionally, and we can't help but get caught up in a bond that is so painful to break. I am sorry to hear about Max, and I completely understand the feeling of loss that you are going through.

It's funny to listen to all the theories about why there are so many deer or so few deer. Most of them sound fairly credible because we all have had the same thoughts at one time or another. The one observation that I keep encountering is the shrinking numbers of hunters. Fewer and fewer people pushing deer around during daylight hours. And yet there are just enough to keep the deer reminded that a deer season is in progress so that they stay in their survival mode. The other thing to remember is that all deer hunting is local. I have heard differing opinions between hunters that are on next-door properties. We can't be everywhere at once, so the guy on the other side of town has as valid and opinion and observations as anyone else. And they may both be right.

The worst part of all this is the realization that it will never get any better. Nobody is getting younger as time goes on. However, as they say, "When you consider the alternatives to old age, it all doesn't seem quite as bad".....lol.

The thing is that there is no "one" single reason for people to quit hunting. But each little aggravation is just one more nail in the coffin. When speaking of additional costs, one must look at those of us who load our own bullets. I have hundreds of dollars or reloaded ammo. What am I expected to do ......Dispose of all that expensive ammo or spend weeks pulling them apart so I can change the bullets to non-lead? The additional costs are not simply the additional expense of bullet materials. Many of us have existing supplies of lead bullets and rebuilt lead ammo. By the way, I also have boxes of reloaded shot-shell loads too.

My Dad tried to be the "nice guy" and gave permission to a few guys from work. Funny thing how people seem to think that as soon as they have hunting permission that automatically gives them the power to grant permission to everyone they know. That went on for a number of years until Dad realized that the original people that he invited no longer were hunting there, but everyone he ran into claimed to know someone who had gotten permission from someone else. Finally it got to the point where there were strange cars parked in the driveway such that it was getting difficult to get out onto the road. The posted signs went up and he devoted a few hunting days to turning back those that pulled into the driveway. For some reason I thought I could keep control of things better than Dad. So I planned a few hunts with some guys at work and ran into the same problem. It finally came to a head when the brother-in-law of one of my old hunting friends (who no longer lived in the state) had a couple of car loads of orange-coats setting up a huge drive in the thicket between our house and the road. I put an end to that and the same day came up with the same solution my Dad did with the posted signs and the invitation to leave my property for anyone caught trespassing. People just like to take advantage. It is pretty darn hard to get hunting permission on my property, and an iron clad list of limitations is supplied to anyone allowed to temporarily hunt there.

Is it possible that he is in the early stages of rabies? I have read of cases of rabies in deer.

So are you guys started with the practice sessions and getting ready for the season? It's not so easy this year with all the stinking bugs banging into my face and whining in my ears, but I have started. I know there are some that never really stop shooting even all summer with the 3-D competitions and such. But I have had a very busy summer season around the property. But August is usually when I get started with my shooting regardless of what is going on.

Would you expect Comrade Cuomo to say any different?

All this talk about timing of the best turkey hunting has gotten me wondering exactly what drive the breeding activity of turkeys. I don't turkey hunt and know very little about them, so please excuse me if this question sounds stupid....lol. Is it the prevailing nuances of the current weather that turns them on, or is there something like photo-periodism at work that drives the timing as in deer? I think I am hearing that the activities seem to be repetitive from year to year regardless of what the weather is doing for each year. Anybody got some info on that?