Doc

Just to help visualize what I am thinking, I think this picture is very close to what I am thinking of. Perhaps just a little more room and a lot more windows for ventilation and safety. Hopefully it doesn't wind up looking like this: By the way, for those that need to be concerned about noise, here is a picture of somebody that may have that addressed:

Ha-ha .... gotta think positive. I ain't ready to go yet ..... lol. Anyway, when I kick the bucket, the kids will be able to use it if I do a good enough job. I'll remember the tar paper idea. That's the kind of tip I was looking for.

There is zero elevation drop, The range was hand chopped into the hill by myself back when I was much younger and much more energetic....lol. What can sometimes have an effect is the sideways sloping. It can have an effect on canting the gun (scope), and impacting the windage settings. I have not really seen much of an effect, but sometimes I do have to reset when I notice that I am tipping the gun because of the cockeyed back-drop.

I was going to use this strictly as a gun shooting shed. I suspect that it probably won't be portable, so it probably wouldn't be of any use as a archery shooting station. Also, I have indoor shooting facilities in my basement.

The big thing that has kept the snow at bay has been the warm temperatures. Well, I saw a forecast for this weekend where the high on Saturday is supposed to be 5 degrees. So likely Erie and Ontario will get to cranking out the lake effect snow. Maybe we are going to have winter begin. That would be too bad. I really have taken a liking to this global warming thing here in the northeast.....lol.

Those of you that reload your own ammo, how many of you had help getting started, I'm talking about hands-on experienced help showing you all the steps while sitting right next to you? How necessary do you think that kind of help is? I had a brother-in-law that had been reloading for years give me a hand with equipment selection and processes and analysis of results. I know it is all right there in the books, but it really turned out kind of good to have somebody there to make sure that nothing is being interpreted wrong or forgotten or just plain being executed improperly.

Most of the pros have been covered already, but one that I didn't read here is the idea of "ammo independence". With every government agency imaginable trying every trick in the book to deprive shooters of their rights, there has become increased legislative pressure on ammo. No bullets...no guns. That is the theory. So now we have all kinds of brainfarts by the anti's about background checks, imprinting on spent cases, ammo limits and all kinds of brilliant ideas that are simply harassments when it comes to purchasing bullets. So right now before the real fecal storm comes down on ammo, I have already secured what I consider a lifetime supply of bullet components. It's just a way to insulate myself from those that would deprive me of my 2nd amendment rights. A little pro-active preparation can save a whole pile of aggravation and harassment in the future.

That is another concern that I was thinking about before. Thanks for reminding me.

I have no problem with the construction, but I just don't want to get it all done and then find out that I had left some important or handy feature out. It sounds like a real fun project, but I only want to do it once. There are some unique features that have to be put in, in order for it to be weather-tight and suitable for everything from 20 degrees in the winter to 90 degrees in the winter. That means super tight for winter, but able to open up to allow breezes in the heat of the summer.

Has anyone ever built a heated shooting shed? I got this idea the other day when I was up on my archery range. I have a shooting bench back at 50 yards that I use for target shooting, and the same range is used for shooting the bow. The problem is that this time of year, it's too darn cold to be sitting out there bench rest shooting. So it occurred to me that if I built a shed over the shooting bench that I've got there and made it big enough to install a very small kerosene space heater, I could be shooting all year. Now I am thinking of going deluxe with a whole new shed from the ground up. Just a one-seater that will likely look like a small chicken coop with a shooting window and perhaps some side windows for summer ventilation. Just something to keep the weather off me, the guns, and all my equipment. Has anyone ever built something like this? Any pictures? any ideas? Here is where I would put it ..... right behind the house on the archery range. It would take the place of the bench under the blue tarp.

I wonder what our reporting rate on this survey will be.....lol. At first glance, we started off with some pretty good numbers, and now the success ratio seems to be getting a little lower. My guess would be that as a general case, guys here are probably the more dedicated and enthusiastic hunters, wouldn't you think?

Why are they beginning to firm up conclusions and setting some decisions up long before the conclusion of the comment period? What's up with that? Why ask for comments if the conclusions are going to begin to be established long before the comment period has ended? Is this comment period just a charade? Kind of makes you wonder doesn't it?

I was a miserable failure here in 8N....lol. I'm not blaming that on any specific problem, just didn't put in a good enthusiastic effort. Maybe next year I will get re-inspired, and re-energized, but it just didn't happen for me this year.

I am not sure exactly what kind of "the sky is falling" disaster we have going in these selected WMUs but if it is a severe case of does not being harvested and causing ecological collapse, the answer may not be as complicated as people think. If those areas had the antlerless permitting system suspended, and a wide open season on does was established there, with no defined daily bag limits (take all you want), I think the DEC would have no problem cutting the herd down dramatically in just one year. Just keep shooting until you can't shoot anymore. I believe that that would make the DEC happy, and the CTFs all happy and all those with vested anti-deer financial interests happy. I really don't believe that it needs to be all that complex if all you want to do is get rid of deer. Of course those landowners who have their lands locked up will still leave pockets of under harvested deer. But short of government takeover of private lands, there is no real government wildlife management of those lands going on anyway. Punishing bow hunters because of access problems does nothing to solve this problem. It's just mindless panicky flailing about without a clue as what the hell they are doing...... with bowhunters in the middle.

Back in my real childhood days, I spent a lot of the summer months going barefoot, and it was not unusual to walk through poison ivy with no reaction at all. Now, if I touch the stuff, I break out in a pretty ugly way. so there is an allergy that I developed in my older years. On the other hand, as a child I suffer something fierce with hay fever. Goldenrod and ragweed used to almost close my eyes right up with swelling and ,itching and runniness. And the runny nose and sneezing were pretty ugly. today, I might have a day or two of sneezing, but that's pretty much the extent of it. So these things can both ways with age.

John- I suspected that there was a message here that you really wanted to express clearly, and that is why I commented the way that I did. I understood enough to know that the topic was an important one and really wanted you to clarify it so it would get the proper response and attention. I am sorry to hear about your accident, and I know that this topic is important to you (and me), and I am glad that you took the time to re-submit the post. Like I said, I do not want to be looked at as the grammar and spelling police, but I do want everyone to recognize the importance of your message.

It kind of tells you a lot when the Democrat nominations have Hillary and a socialist as the front-runners. I'm not super excited about the Republican roster of candidates, but for crying out loud ..... Hillary?? .... Bernie?? The U.S. road map is pretty clear these days. We've dropped the façade now. We are being forced into choices between crooks and commies. No offense people but I am damned glad that I have no affiliations with the Democrat party.

"I'll give you my wood stove when you pry it from my cold dead hands"

Honestly, I really don't have any idea of what kinds of activism those guys get involved with. For all I know they may each be high ranking officials in some militia group ..... lol. No seriously, I have my own beliefs as to how much time and money I should devote to activism. And everybody has to establish those numbers for themselves. I do what I can, and others do what they can, I assume. But this sampling of hunter's opinions on a handful of issues really is not all that time consuming. It's a small enough thing to do on something that I feel very strong about. And I do hope that others will offer their opinions to the DEC. They can do what they want with the input, but at least they can't say I didn't tell them what I was thinking.

Back when I was trapping, I sold hides stretched fleshed and dried. Only hide that I ever tanned was my first fox that I trapped. It became a wall hanging in my room. I'm not sure fur buyers would take a tanned hide would they? That's usually a job for professional factories to handle.

72 years old. Deer hunting since 16 ..... 56 years. Was squirrel hunting since 12 ..... 60 years. Was hunting pigeons up in the barn with my homemade longbow at about 10 years old (and I got some too and ate them ....lol)...... 62 years.

I just had to go out yesterday. Sun shining, 45 degrees, no wind, and this guy is still trying to get control of left over holiday weight. So up the hill I went. I didn't see one squirrel .... lol. But what a great day to be outdoors, just lovin' life!

Do coyote numbers and locations fluctuate with deer numbers and locations? I realize that the coyote diet consists of way more than just venison, but with all the talk about deer numbers slumping badly in certain areas, I was just curious if coyotes are capable and even likely to change home range to areas where deer numbers are higher. Can they even uproot themselves from their home area easily and follow the food when it gets scarce or are they slaves to their home territory? Anybody know?

Whenever these discussions come up, I have to admit that most of what my opinions are made from the experiences of others. Actually there are damn few of us that has actual hands-on experience with shooting each different caliber and load into actual deer in actual hunting conditions and then doing it repeatedly so that valid data can be collected. However, we all do read and converse with others, and eventually arrive at some kind of fairly firm opinion. Stir in a little logic and common sense, and your individual opinion will probably not let you get too far off-track. I like to throw in some kind of factor of safety into my selections for the times when things don't always go per plan. These are living, breathing creatures that we are hunting, so they probably deserve a little of that extra consideration rather than trying to always be right on the edge.

I still have a few to go through before I get into any other kinds of arrows. I still abide by the old saying, "if it's not broken, don't change it". I found out that aluminum arrows do kill deer, and probably just as dead as any other kind of shaft. Actually I adopted a new attitude toward trying to keep up with all the latest technology. I chased technology for years and have walls full of bows and drawers full of gadgets, trinkets, and go-fasters, to show for it .... lol. But I reached a point where enough was enough. So now I will use my aluminums until I deplete my stock. And my guess is that that will never happen in my lifetime.