Doc

Yeah, maybe I am trying to make too much out of the randomness of trail use. But one thing has occurred to me. You can be sitting along a trail that is pounded down to mud, but the cameras don't lie. They will show you all the days you could have been religiously sitting there all day long and still never have even seen a deer if you were there at the wrong time. So simply finding a well used trail is only part of the story. You have to know when they are using that trail. And then you have to spend an adequate number of consecutive stands to finally make the connection. That explains a lot of deerless days on what looks like nearly guaranteed trails. I'm just not there enough to compensate for the randomness of deer movement. Interesting stuff. These cameras can be a heck of a learning tool. Like I said....they don't lie.

Sure, I agree that we have gone way overboard in having technology replace skill and technique when it comes to hunting equipment. But hunters have been using the latest materials and designs in clothing to keep them warm forever. Yes, we have come a long ways since the buckskins and loin-cloth, but I fail to see any mis-use in heated jackets or socks or gloves or whatever keeps you out in the woods longer.

I am thinking about all the memories you are preserving by documenting your hunts in this way. To me it doesn't sound like the camera is impacting your decisions not to shoot. It sounds more like you are waiting for a buck. Perhaps that is what you need to work on, but don't give up the filming. I wish I had a library of videos of some of my hunts. That would be great. Just don't forget that it would be nice to record a kill once in the while ...... lol.

Yeah ........ I'll bet that was it.....lol

So what do you think we did before all these electronic gadgets came along.....lol. I simply let my mind wander and think about all the things I really should be doing instead of staring at an empty woods. And then there are times when the woods offers up some interesting or entertaining shows to help pass the time, like the squirrels and chipmunks forcing you to crane your neck around to see what's making all that noise. And then there is the occasional hawk or fox or family of raccoons wandering by. I keep my camera nearby for such occurrences. But most of the time, I am concentrating on how cold I am, and what time it is, or just about anything that is not hunting related. As far as gadgets are concerned, I spend a lot of time rangefinding and re-rangefinding various trees. Anything is fair game as long as it doesn't make noise, or interfere with my hearing. Can't have that!

The other night, I was looking at the pictures that I have taken on my trail camera. I noticed the randomness of deer visits along what has always been a very active trail. Even with the drought, this trail is tramped down to dirt and so I know it is one of the more well used trails. But then I started looking at the dates on the pictures and found that several days and sometimes even a week would go by with no deer pictures and then all of sudden there is a bunch of deer using the trail. I started thinking back about all the hours that I spend hunting along this trail and others like it and how quickly I become discouraged when I sit there for a couple of days in a row and see nothing. But now it is clear that that is not the way the deer use these trails. A week or more can go by before a deer uses even the well-worn trails, even though there has been no changes in food resources. To me this is saying that a good stand should be used for a week or more before giving up and moving to another location. I have always tried not to burn out a stand by over pressuring an area. But perhaps that is wrong thinking. Maybe the randomness that deer use even the well-used trails means that you have to put in an adequate number of consecutive days on a stand to give the deer a chance to show up. I always thought that a heavily used trail gets daily use. My camera pictures are showing that that is not true. So what do you all think? First of all have any of you seen the same randomness in the deer appearances along trails that I have with your trail-camera pictures. And second do you think there ever is danger of burning out a stand with too many days in a row of sitting there.

I bought a heated jacket for bow season. It gives plenty of heat without the clothing interferences with the bow string. Works well on cold mornings. I have tried the layers, and by the time I have adequate clothing on, my form goes to hell and I have all kinds of interferences from the bulk. Not anymore.

Yesterday, I found two half-hearted scrapes. Looked like they were just starting to get the idea, but hadn't figured out why yet.

The DEC has made their feelings on firearms coincident with the bow season pretty plain haven't they? And I'll bet there is no one in NYS muzzleloading organizations that think it would be a bad idea. I would imagine that if the pistol hunters were numerous enough and organized, they could jump into the middle of this free-for-all season-grab too. The only good news to all this is that now with the crossbow advocates shoe-horning their way into the season, we'll have more selfish and elitist hunters trying to exclude other weapons from the bowseason crossbow season. Or will the new arrivals join in expanding the clutter of other weapons in bowseason? H-m-m-m-m ....... yeah, logically that is actually likely.

I'm not in love with posting "lost deer" threads. I don't believe there is a much to be learned from them that will prevent them from happening in the future. Also publicizing wounding or loss of shot deer really seems unnecessary to me when we don't really know who is monitoring these sites and making use of such examples for anti-hunting purposes. I just don't see the purpose of such stories. Yes, it does happen, but I can't see anything beneficial about advertising those unhappy results to the entire world.

Well, this has been a fun topic, but I don't see any opinions moving one way or another. Bowseason apparently will become the catch-all for whatever anyone wants to shove in there. I'll always be willing to offer my opinions, but I have no expectations of changing the course of where bowhunting is headed. Maybe it is time to open up all of the early season to whatever anyone wants to use. Perhaps the idea of reserving a time for the bowhunting has outlived its era of acceptance in the hunting world. Bowhunting continues to evolve to the point where maybe a separate season isn't even required anymore. It sure is beginning to look like it.

Thanks. Because they are so small, I am going to try leaving them whole with the seeds in just to see how they turn out. Do you anticipate any problem with that? I'm just trying to figure out what to do with all these miniature peppers that I know will never mature. So if they don't turn out, I will have lost nothing but some time. Thanks again for the recipe and procedure.

The size of the bag depends on who's packing it ...... lol. Walmart has some bread that is 11g of carbs with 2g of dietary fiber (which I was told by a dietician can be subtracted from the carbs for a total of 9g of carbs per slice). So the egg has no carbs, the bread has 18g of carbs (both slices). each sandwich is darn near a "freebie" and they are filling. The bread: Walmart's Great Value 100% whole wheat round top bread. It tastes great too. I have been eating it for a couple of years as the only bread that I eat, and haven't gotten sick of it yet. For those who count calories, each slice has 60 calories. I have been known to down 4 sandwiches on an all-day stand. That and my thermos of coffee, and I am one happy hunter all day long.

A bagful of cold fried egg sandwiches on low-carb bread. I know ..... to most normal people that sounds pretty yucky, but I am addicted to the darn things, and always have been.

Try telling that to the DEC who wanted bowhunters to balance the doe population single-handedly in a few of the over populated WMUs (or else!). They even threatened to turn the muzzleloaders loose on us if we failed. Sorry, I know that comment was totally off-topic, but I couldn't help myself.......lol.

Let's be realistic. I think we hooked our hopes to the wrong star. It seems that everyday new revelations come out (true or false) and new ill advised Trump quotes get published that alienates another segment of the population. What we have to be concerned about is whether or not this turns into a total route that Democrats can use as a claim of a mandate for more socialization. We need total solidarity in voting against socialism. I intend to hold my nose and vote AGAINST Hillary and her crooked legions. We let this election get way too far away from us at a time when we could have used this election to spank those that would take us down the road to socialism and beyond. I take no solace in manufactured polls and studies or any of the unlikely predicted results. I can see what's really happening out there. We are watching what should have been an easy victory slip away. All I can do is stay true to my beliefs and vote accordingly, and resolve to do a better job of selecting the next pro-American presidential candidate next time. Perhaps we can find someone who is actually electable next time.

Why have you decided that the rifle shooters do not deserve to have "a short period of time for those who like to experience deer in a more natural state". Maybe they would enjoy hunting in the warmer fall conditions.With a tongue-in-cheek delivery, I am sarcastically suggesting that with all these selfish and elite charges being leveled against bowhunters, how are all the crossbow advocates being any less selfish and elite by keeping firearms people out of "their" season. Drop the special season stuff, and return peace and harmony and the spirit of sharing to the hunting community. Isn't that what the crossbow advocates were saying to bowhunters? "Let us in or you're selfish, exclusionary and elitist" ..... I'm pretty sure that is what I have been hearing from the crossbow advocates. What is going to be the attitude from the crossbow crowd when the muzzleloaders and other firearms people begin that same mantra. I think I already know.

Exclusion is exclusion whether you are trying to keep crossbows out of the season or shotguns or rifles or pistols or spears or whatever. As each new weapon is tossed into the bowhunting catch-all, and the success rates continue to climb, the question has to be occurring to more than just me, "Is there really a valid reason that those using these bundles of new weapons in bow seasons really needing all the disruptive and antagonistic opportunities of special privilege with special seasons and special relaxation of regulations". Every time you create special seasons, you get special envy. Every time this special envy rears it's ugly head, those that are excluded trying to cram their way in. And you start hearing charges of selfishness and elitism. It just seems to be human nature. And it has already been suggested and in some cases accepted, that muzzleloaders should also be included in the same timeframe as bow season. So, why are we being so selfish against shotguns and rifles. You see every time you select one weapon as being eligible, you automatically have to exclude others. And regardless of what weapon you personally favor, you are automatically being selfish with your exclusion of others. And so I repeat if you are so completely sold on not being selfish and exclusionary, when are you going to begin advocating allowing the rifle hunters into "your" new bow season when full inclusion starts? The crossbow advocates are so fond of predicting the future of crossbow inclusion, let me do a bit of predicting of my own. It is just a matter of time before the majority of hunters decide that this special season no longer has any valid reason for remaining separate, and the ultimate in being unselfish will occur. It will be funny listening to those crossbow advocates railing about the intrusions of muzzleloaders and shotguns and rifles.

Yes, the instructions would be greatly appreciated. I don't have very many of them and because of the small batch size, it would be strictly an experiment. I am thinking I have about a dozen of them to work with and they are about the size of a half-dollar. I was thinking of pickling them whole seeds and all.

I'm not really sure what all this full inclusion of crossbow is really all about. Why don't we just do what everyone is working there way toward and do away with all special seasons. It seems that special seasons by their very nature are "exclusionary", selfish on some level, and based on challenges that we are all working so hard to eliminate. So, can anyone explain to me why it is necessary to have a special bow season? No, I am not trying to be sarcastic. It is obvious that such divisions or advantageous special treatments only cause strife within the hunting community. They are inherently exclusionary. They were developed for challenge that today everyone is frantically trying to erase in as many ways as possible. They are unfair to physically challenged individuals. All these divisive traits have to make a person wonder why we are maintaining such a disruption within the hunter ranks. Why don't we just change things to be all-inclusive and allow hunters to use the weapon of their choice. It is obvious as heck that we are heading in that direction anyway. Why continue the pretense? Is there anyone here that can answer that question for me?

So, can I now assume that you will be campaigning to share the bowseasons with the rifle hunters to "allow more hunters in the woods to enjoy the season".

All the bullet manufacturers publish books that have unbelievable amounts of data for a pile of different loads and calibers. You don't have to have shot all the different rounds to know all kinds of info about energies, ballistics, speeds, and other performance data. It's all out there in just a handful of reloading books.

Can you pickle the sweet green bell peppers? Would they be any good? Maybe that's what I can do with all those tiny peppers that are starting to show up. There's a bunch of them that are half-dollar size that are just going to eventually freeze and rot. I mean there are not even going to be enough to fill a pint jar but it might make a good experiment.

What is the consistency of them when you try to cut them? Are they hard like a nut? Are they even nuts at all? I have seen oak galls that look similar to some of them.

Yeah, so what is with those stupid peppers. I did get a lot of nice sized green peppers ....... eventually. But now with the threat of frost constantly in the forecast, they are starting to go crazy with those baby peppers that we know will never mature to picking size. AND ..... they are still putting on new blossoms. And, we got a huge crop of carrots and they were all monsters. So do they need severe drought to grow big and plentiful? Potatoes came out small and stunted as expected, but the butternut squash and acorn squash filled out just great in spite of no water. Beets ..... great. Next year I'll be hoping for another drought!