Doc

Our exploits up on the hill were a bit more challenging because it is a 1/2 mile climb up a rather steep "killer" hill before the advent of ATVs. But once we got ATVs, we dragged all the materials up and built that little 12' x 12' cabin and it all seemed like great luxury. We had a kerosene heater and propane lanterns for light. Bunk beds with real mattresses. A sink (no running water other than what we took up in a huge Igloo water container), an old kitchen table and a few chairs. We hunted out of there for quite a few years. Last year we logged the woods, and the loggers dropped a tree on the cabin and demolished it. So that was the end of that.

Avon Bowmen used to run winter indoor leagues in an old building in Caledonia. I don't know if they are still doing any indoor competitions, but that was really fun. It got to be pretty nasty trying top drive that far (35 miles one-way) during the winter, so I had to quit. but it was fun for the years that I could put up with the drive. Perhaps some members here have access to indoor facilities that they can use.

11 yards is plenty good for keeping the muscles toned up, and the techniques sharp. What I have done is that I have created a target on an 8-1/2 sheet of paper that has 4 different small 1" spots on it to avoid smashing arrows into each other. Shorter distance = smaller targets.....lol. It works good.

I too feel sorry for the grandchildren and beyond for more reasons than just the cost of ammo. And I have no reason to believe that future generations will be any more vigilant than we were in terms of safeguarding the original content of our system of government and the benefits that we have enjoyed. The apathy that afflicts our citizens has been going on a lot longer than just our generation. The spirit of the great experiment in democracy has been eroding almost from the day it began. There is a slow evolution that our country has been experiencing, and that evolution picks up pace as each new generation takes control. The cost and availability and the excessive regulation of ammo and components is only one very tiny part and indicator of this evolution that is getting more and more obvious every day. Can it be reversed? Probably not. I don't believe that it is in the human will and nature of the majority to reverse it.

Anybody here doing any mid-winter camping? I used to, but I'm not as tough as I used to be anymore. My first experience was the first year I went hunting deer. I built a shelter up on the hill, made out of on-sight materials, and I spent nearly a week up there with a high school buddy. It was great fun. I had my old bent-barrel 20 gauge and missed a couple of shots. We tried eating a squirrel cooked over the fire (tasted good, but tough as shoe leather). The next phase was tent camping in the winter and for hunting. That worked out well and was a lot of fun for a lot of years. I can't really describe the appeal of roughing it like that, but it sure was a lot of fun and added a lot to the hunting experience. Eventually, my Brother-in-law and I built a small 12' x 12' cabin up there and did our camping and hunting from there. Great times. Snow and cold outside, but we stayed toasty. So, I was wondering whether there were any winter campers, or camper/hunters here.

The target in the basement is catching hell now. I have a 15 yard shot from one end of the basement to the other. Keeps the muscles and the techniques sharp for next year. Anyone else have indoor facilities for this time of year?

Looks like they are still in the nocturnal survival state. Still a bit cautious from the gun season. Well, that's how they become "survivors". Part way through opening day they get the message. After that only the dumb ones, or the over-sexed ones, or the one's that get booted in the butt by hunters show themselves much during the daytime.

So you're not doing it for the fur but trying to thin out some of the egg-eaters. That would be things like possums, skunks, raccoons, foxes, coyotes, and so on. Sounds like a big job.

Is anyone surprised by this? It didn't require a fortune-teller to see this coming. And yet there will be those who say, "Well gee, I don't have any of those and I don't see any reason why they should be in the hands of private citizens." Some people just don't get it. They are after ALL guns..........ALL OF THEM!.......GET IT?

The good news at my advanced age is that I have a lifetime supply of ammo and bullet making supplies for each of my guns. So, I am insulated from all of this nonsense. My only advice is to stock up on bullet making components (at any price) and kiss those price-gougers good-bye. Apparently, these prices are going to be rising forever, so buy now wherever you can and get enough. The guys I feel sorry for are the target shooters who go through tons of bullet building components.

Good luck to you, and I hope you are real successful. Do you have any specific animals you are after right now?

You have a lot of real good prospects there. That will keep you looking forward to next season.

Trapping was one of the ways that I bought my school clothes, back in the dark ages when I was a kid. I used to go to school smelling like a muskrat....lol. I was hooked on the challenges. I had a grandfather who trapped, and we partnered up and ran a hell of a long trapline (a couple hundred traps). The prices weren't any better then, but the money went a lot farther. I was buying all kinds of stuff with my fur money. Trapping had a lot of American heritage and history involved with it, and I think that was the main reason I got into it. There is a lot of matching of wits with the critters. A trapper has to have some very serious knowledge of woods lore and animal habits. What animals are you mostly going after?

My Man! Mr. Bowhunting

The problem does not solely rest with politicians. The voters that cast their ballots for these commies or do not stand up for themselves by not showing up at the ballot boxes, have to take some responsibility for the outcomes. We have met the enemy, and they are us. As far as the politicians who never seem to question the declining NYS population, I am sure they are relieved that all the troublemakers are leaving the state to them.

According to this paragraph of the bill, I am wrong. (c) Investigate and prosecute any individual seller of firearms or retail firearms dealer should they knowingly sell ammunition to a resident of the state of New York or to an individual who purchases ammunition on behalf of a New York state resident without contacting the New 24 York state police for authorization pursuant to section two hundred 25 twenty-eight of this chapter and any other law, rule or regulation. Apparently, they do intend to reach inside of other states and tell them what they can or cannot allow their own businesses to do. And obviously they do feel they have the right to do so.

Yes, NYS can write as many bogus laws as we want, but forcing other states to enforce those laws on their own residents for us is quite a different story. We have no legitimate authority over entities within other states. No, I believe the bill likely would make it illegal for NYS residents to bring ammo from outside NYS into this state. I don't know because I have not read the bill, but I am guessing that is the way it is most likely constructed. Of course, that does not make it any better for us legal NYS users of the out-of-state ammo that are being illegitimately denied. And if passed, it should be tested against the 2nd amendment for Constitutionality and likely won't.

The bulk of the voters do in fact operate on emotions in this state when it comes to hunting.

But these are voluntary restrictions placed on businesses that are in states cooperating with NYS wishes. The bill being discussed here is a NYS law that would penalize out-of-state business operators with or without cooperative assistance from their home state. I don't think it really works that way.....legally. I'm still thinking that the law is either in error, or it is written to apply to those bringing ammo into NYS, not the out-of-state businesses that sell to NYS residents. Perhaps they will work out arrangements with cooperating states, but I doubt that they can write laws that penalize residents of outside states.

That was fun!

This kind of stuff is the reason so many people hoard ammo and ammo components. I used to get irritated at people hoarding this stuff, but now I am beginning to understand why they do it.

Are there chronographs that can handle both archery speeds as well as rifle speeds?

I'm thinking that there is no way that NYS can tell a business in another state that it can can be held legally liable for sales of ammo to NYS residents. They could make it illegal for NYS residents to bring ammo into NYS from out-of-state. But we cannot set up laws that effect legal situations with businesses in another state.....can we? Has anyone ever heard of such an arrangement? What they can do is to make it illegal for NYS residents to bring ammo purchases from other states into NYS. That would be a legal restriction of NYS placed on a NYS resident rather than a law written to effect a business in completely different state. Is that perhaps the way the bill is really written? Do you all see the distinction I am trying to make. I do not think that a state can write laws that affect the people or businesses of other states. If you want to do something like that it has to be a federal law.

I try not to worry too much about why other people hunt. I am just happy that they do hunt. If trophies are your thing that is between you and yourself and not really anyone else's business. If you simply want to hunt regardless of size, that too is just your own business and nobody else's. At my age, I have stopped worrying about impressing anyone but myself. I am pretty happy that I can still climb that damned killer hill behind the house and live to tell about it.....lol. The first legal deer that comes along that is not a fawn is in big trouble. i guess that is what my version of a trophy has become. I hope there is no one here that thinks less of me for that.

All it take is the right 5 acres. You can own a thousand acres, but if you are not in the right spot at the right time, it won't do you any good.