Doc

It's awful early yet. Bowhunters got all excited when the start of bow got pushed up to Oct 1st, but I really wonder how many are really out there in force yet. I know my hunting has been kind of half-hearted. The heat is still here so a lot of my stands have been spent with that trickle of sweat working its way down my back. And then there is the bugs, which in a normal wet year would be so much worse. I'm not in love with deer hunting when all the leaves are still on. I don't like being surprised. Also, there has to be some time devoted to all the fall chores around home. Just like spring, fall is a very demanding time of year. So, I go out when I feel like it and think that I have all the winterizing jobs under control. I have a feeling that I am not alone in all of the complications added to the earlier start. Weather is starting to calm down a bit, so maybe I and others will start to hunt a little harder and boost up the take a bit.

When I was a lot younger, I can remember sitting on stand with the wind-whipped rain dripping off my beak, and the cheap old insufficient clothes completely soaked through. Today my personal comfort takes precedence over my hunting fanaticism ..... lol. Regarding recovery problems due to heavy, steady rains, I have had some first hand experience with that that seldom has ended happily. Right now I am listening to rain splattering on the house roof that I know full well would eliminate a blood trail completely in a very short time. I have always been told that a hunter should wait at least a half hour before taking to the trail even on hits that you feel rather good about. Well, if it is raining anywhere near what I am listening to right now, 1/2 hour would be enough to make "first blood" nearly impossible to find. So, when I combine that fact with my discomfort, the decision is made for me.

There's an old saying that goes something like this: "Good fences make good neighbors". Perhaps that can be amended to say "Good posted signs make good neighbors". The idea being that in rural areas with large land parcels, sometimes the landowners don't even know where their boundaries really are. Sometimes they need to be shown. I don't know what your claim to the land is or what your relationship is with the landowner, but you might ask him if you could post it for him. Most guys would love to have you do it for them.

Logic and reason and fact have little to do with the kind of imaginations a person can get spooked by when they are in total darkness in the middle of the woods with a weapon that even in the best of conditions are not great for emergency self-defense ...... lol.

So as your walking to your stand in the pitch dark with nothing but a bow and a few arrows for defense, this story will keep your mind busy. Every leaf that crunches or twig that you hear snap will instantly fill your mind with images of a slobbering, crazed, rabid coyote, with its drooling jaws snapping and ripping your face off. Ha-ha-ha-ha..... I already get those images even without reading this story. It used to be that my favorite scary thought in the dark was walking between a sow black bear and her cubs. Now I've got some variation in my panic in the darkness when I hear that twig snap. I may go back to treestands just to get the heck up in the air.....lol.

Occasionally we get these little reminders that hopefully we live through without anything too serious and permanent happening. Emergency communications is always a good idea. Since my stroke 16 years ago, I never am without my phone. That's not just my idea, but something my wife insists on. It can be a dangerous place out there. A little preparation for the unexpected is always a good idea. Here's hoping you mend up well and quickly so the whole season isn't lost.

My beard used to have a purpose of serving as facial camo. That doesn't work anymore because it is white now. It actually draws attention in the woods instead of helping me blend in .... lol.

I agree. Yes there are some slams against hunters that are uncalled for, but I suppose it does lend credibility to the main message that is reaching the public. At least they know it is not a hunter sponsored bit of propaganda. Interesting, and yes it is an under-utilized means of putting a better face on hunting throughout those that are on the fence.

I guess, always living out in the sticks, I have been destined to never rub elbows with the rich and famous. Probably I wouldn't recognize most of them anyways if I just ran into them in a casual situation. However, I have seen a few C&W music stars (Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings and Merle Haggard) on stage at concerts, and then there was the Dick Clark road show where he hosted a whole pile of R&R stars & groups back in the late 60's. And then there was the Everly Brothers concert out in Canandaigua. Sitting in the audience of those concerts were about as close as I've ever gotten to any kind of celebrities.

I quit on 2/18/08. Of course it took a stroke to finally provide enough motivation. Yup, full recovery on the stroke, but it did scare the hell out of me. But I have to say that there are time even now when I would like to light up. I have heard some other ex-smokers say the same thing.

I've been hiding behind my beard and mustache since the bow season of 1972. I'll probably take it to the grave ..... lol. I suppose if I ever shaved it off, I would have to re-introduce myself to everybody. I don't think I even want to know what's under there. I know there is an extra chin hiding there that wasn't there back in '72.

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.