Doc

One thing I noticed with this video was that the warthog at the time of the shot was facing the bowhunter directly face on, drinking. I mean, nearly dead straight on. And yet after the kill, the hog's wound was nicely tucked right behind the left leg...... exactly where you would want to hit him on a standing broadside shot. Now, I'm not going to say that that was an impossible result given the circumstances at the shot, but to me it looks a bit questionable. It did kind of make me think how easy it would be to set up a gun kill to look like a bow kill if someone were to want to do so.

Maybe that isn't so hard to believe. A lot of the shots at 40 and 50 yards probably are so bad they are clean misses......lol. Shots at 10 yards probably are messed up hunters melting down with buck fever.

Is that a scientifically proven, authentic, credible stat or are you engaging in a bit of creative imagination......Lol.

Actually, we had a lot of real good discussions back then. I have often wondered why we think that topics have to be "one-and-done". We have new members added everyday. I like it when people dredge up some of these oldies but goodies. They are still interesting.

Well, in fact they do want our guns, but the point is well made that airguns are not really going to provide any kind of precedent for that.

Even the lowly .22 Hornet is a legal deer hunting weapon.....imagine that!

I have sight pins set for 80yards for my archery range. That's an old hold-over from my NFAA field archery days where there is an 80 yard walk-up target. But when hunting season comes around, I have another complete sight bar that slides into a dovetail mount and has pins that only go out to 30 yards, and I have yet to use the 30 yard pin in a hunting situation, and I hope I never have to. Considering deer movement, and potential unseen obstacles, and wind conditions, etc., and the fact that sometimes I get little unexplained form hick-ups, I have always limited my shots to 25 yards. That pretty much gets the job done.

So, is this what we admire about bow hunting these days? Is that what it has all turned into? Our new hunter-heroes are those that just spray and pray, and when they get lucky, they claim skill? The guy that consistently gets within 20 yards or less of his prey to achieve high percentage, humane kills is just a guy who can't shoot all that well? Is that what bowhunting has become? Well, I'm not all that impressed. He has traded luck and risk for good legitimate hunting skills. Is that what we are trying to teach new bowhunters these days? ..... what are we saying with this demonstration of irresponsibility? It's only an animal, what the hell. Just keep shooting until something goes down.

So what do you think .... Some hunter trying to drive you out so he can have that spot all to himself? Or maybe some anti-hunter fanatic, or just a deranged individual who likes to cause people grief for no particular reason?

I guess I've heard enough of this commie crap. All this, "From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs" BS is getting a bit old. If you are such a big fan of the communist doctrine, go someplace where they still think that is the hot set-up. But for me, I am a firm believer in a man's home is his castle and there are some limits on what a landowner should be forced to cede to the general public. I bought and maintain my property with my own legally gotten gains and will be the sole arbiter of who hunts my land. If you don't like that, then maybe one of those beacons of communist successes like Cuba or USSR would be a much better fit for someone with your "ideals".

Almost an infinite number of variables where storms can form out of nothing. Lake Ontario and Lake Erie have their own little twists and turns that they throw in there. Pop-up showers and storms can never be specifically predicted. Actually, they do pretty darn good for the kinds of terrain and weather features that this state has. My big beef with these guys is the constant bragging about how perfect and flawless their science is. They are their own worst enemies when they keep trying to make everyone believe that their forecasts are flawless. They sound a lot like the DEC.....lol.

Ah yes comrade. You think it would be a good deal if someone bought hunting land for you to use. Let them work hard, save their money and then spend it all for your benefit. Good deal for you, but where are you going to find all these suckers that will work for the opportunity to turn over their assets for you to use? Pretty good deal ....eh? Let them spend their accumulated wealth buying hunting land for you. Let them continue paying taxes year after year so you will have a place to hunt. Would you like us to put in some nice parking lots for you or roads so you can drive to your stand? How about some nice free lodging? Maybe you would like to have rights of occupation. For crying out loud people, no wonder Bernie Sanders made such a great showing in the primaries. People are still longing for the Marxist concepts to be implemented here in this country. Here's a new concept for you. You want it, you earn it! What an amazing concept......try it.

Anybody writing up any kinds of privacy laws regarding these things? Sure would spoil the mood to all of a sudden have one hovering outside my bedroom window. That sort of thing probably is not restricted by any laws yet. I sure can see abuses occurring as the price starts coming down and every neighborhood kid begins to have one ..... lol.

What really brings all of this stuff home is when you have been around long enough in the same area to have experienced better times in terms of hunting access. When I was a kid, I could walk the ridges all day long and never see a posted sign. There was no such thing as begging for access. The land in our valley was in huge wooded parcels owned by farmers who actually welcomed hunters. They had no money, need, or time for buying and maintaining posted signs for keeping people out. Who ever thought that hunting access would ever be a problem. Having been raised in those times makes the current situation of posted signs and leases and high fences even more traumatic to a hunter that has known times where that problem was simply unimaginable. Not all change is good.

Just curious, but what do you do with them?

This turned out amazingly consistent with most of the replies coming back with "westerly winds, or "north-westerly". I was surprised by the north-westerly answers, but now that I think of it, we never do seem to get pure west winds.

Call the DEC. Something is wrong.

It does seem a shame that there is now a demand for making something that used to be free into a question of affordability. It's just another factor involved in the demise of hunting. As soon as hunting land costs get put on a priority list of affordability, the results for hunting are quite predictable, aren't they? But I am a believer in the sanctity of "landowner's rights" so I can whine all I want about it, but thankfully, there is no way to force any of that to change. It's just the natural evolution of things.

So, just out of curiosity, what do you consider the usual prevailing wind direction on your hunting property. Of course we get the hodge-podge of wind directions, but here in the Bristol Hills area, the wind predominantly is coming from the west to east. I have always wondered if the usual prevailing wind direction is the same all over the state.

We all have a right to hunt for our own unique reasons. What we don't have a right to do is to dictate to others what their reasons for hunting has to be.

I really have never had any interest in a deer's age. I generally go by, "Is he big enough or not?" Once he is in packages, I could care less about how old he is ....... lol. One thing that I will say with certainty is that that deer is old enough for me to shoot.

I use a rangefinder for certain trees around my stands. Unless there are some strange features of the trees I will use blaze marks on the trees along my shooting lanes to identify them. I go out to 25 or 30 yards (my maximum hunting shot distance). I have a lot of confidence in my sight-pins, and adding the confidence of a rangefinder takes a lot of guess-work out of the success or failure of the shot.

Good point! I had a deer hanging in my basement where the ticks were bailing out. At least 8 that I saw. ....... Yick! I was doing a lot of tick-stomping. Sure, if you put that deer in the car, they're going to be coming for you ..... lol.

Well plink, you have a real mystery there. Anything done by officials would not be left discarded in the woods. Check with the DEC. Since no one has a reasonable guess, maybe you have stumbled into some weird illegal activity of some kind. I really have no explanation of any sort that makes any sense. Let us know what you find out.