Doc

That last picture looks like your dog is taking a leisurely stroll on top of the water. Now that is quite a dog. I have seen competitions where the distance dogs can jump is measured. I think your dog would do pretty good at one of those contests.

Does pretty much look like other does, so it is possible to be counting the same deer over and over. Especially since they like using the same trails over and over. So getting a reliable count can be kind of tricky in terms of using trail cams for population guestimates. Also, a change in ag crops, or natural food sources as the year goes on can make it seem like all the deer have disappeared, Also, too much attention to the cams can change movements and patterns.

A quick look around the area shows that the flooding and constant rains earlier in the year really messed up a lot of the corn crop. It could be that farmers have decided that all a lot of this year's crop is good for is silage.

Was there ever any doubt? The early muzzleloader season has always been a goal of the DEC. The resistance to it was very heavy back when they first tried it. So now they want to set up a situation where it looks like they have no other choice. It has nothing to do with harvesting more does. And it's a good thing for them too because the result of this charade is likely to be exactly the opposite. Or at least that's what they are hoping. The failure of this fiasco is what they will be using as their urgent need to install an early muzzleloader season. Yes, it will begin in certain select areas until the resistance has its back broken (practically there already) and then they will roll it out to other areas.

I once had a deer follow a drag from where I gutted it all the way down the hill to my back-yard. On my way home the next day, I took the same trail back home and there was a very good sized track in the snow all the way home. That drag was a bit more than a mile long. Apparently blood and guts didn't bother that deer any.

I'm not sure, but it sounds like it could be alien dissections.

When I come across things like that I take it down to the driveway entrance and place it within easy view of the road (no signs required). Generally it will be gone in 3 or 4 hours.

I have built and maintained hundreds of arrows over the years for myself, the kids, and friends. So I had to buy a Jo Jan multi-fletcher so I could knock out a pile of arrows in a real hurry. The Jo Jan does the job. http://www.jojan.net/ A multi-fletcher was not optional for me ..... lol.

Why is it that when I am still-hunting, I always see the deer when I am no where near any good stable tree? It always seems that I happen to be in mid-stride in the most wide-open area in the woods when the deer suddenly step up over a rise. That happened way too often, and that is why I shelled out the big bucks for the Primos bipod. When there is no cover for you to step over 10 or 20 yards to a good tree rest, I simply prop up the bipod, drop the fore-end into the rest and blow the sucker down. I have to admit that I am the wiggliest off-hand shot in the world. No rest - no shot. I felt that I had to buy one.

I have an arrow straightener for my aluminum arrows that can also double to be used as this arrow inspector (similar to ..... http://www.eders.com/grayling-perfect-arrow-straightener.html?&gclid=CNmopbqp_McCFVORHwodd4kGtg ) And yes, I do use it to rotate arrows to look for run-out problems, bends, and misalignment of inserts and broadheads.

In general, I tend to agree with you, but apparently some of the members here have had some "history" with this guy. And he did come off pretty strong with basically a super-unfriendly flail at a good percentage of the members, and he had to realize what he was doing ...... and so I will assume it was intentional. This looks like a good thread for me to stay the hell out of ..... lol. It began with open warfare, and likely will end in the same way.

To me this doesn't fit into one of those "Whoops!" categories. His breaking of the law is blatant and intentional and shows an attitude of total disregard for any conservation law. It is time to take a few pictures and email them to the DEC with location info. If you can supply GPS coordinates, so much the better. Let them do with that info whatever they wish. Setting that all up where he did is a blatant disregard for having put you in this uncomfortable position. That alone would piss me off. Oh, one other thing. Be sure to touch base with your landowner friend because any action will reflect on him and he may or may not want to get involved or may want to try a more neighborly reaction.

I guess everyone is entitled to their opinion as long as it doesn't come across like an attempt to piss-off half the membership ..... lol. I have no problems with QDM, other than the occasional times a few practitioners get a bit evangelistic about it and become a bit "preachy". I do see QDM as being yet another choice for hunters/landowners to be involved in herd management to whatever extent they are willing and capable. I know that we are having an increasing access problem, but I am not ready to lay that on the backs of those that practice QDM. In fact, if I were to lay blame on anyone for access problems I would have to put it back on hunters who have looked at trespass as an entitlement and who have been rather abusive toward landowners in terms of the way they have treated the land. There's always a reason behind those posted signs. Usually there is some episode of abuse that has forced the landowner to spend cash and effort to put up and maintain all those signs.

Some of the more than 110 permanent ground stands that I have built over the years. Some of these are over 20 years old, and just refreshed a bit each year. My "almost guaranteed" gun stand Hard to see the stand, of course that's the idea ...lol. Shooting lane for above stand Some stands are already put there for me...lol: This tree is 4' in diameter This old beech overlooks a mineral seep. Almost like a treestand overlooking that "seep" below.

Interesting ..... My computer doesn't want to display the image of the video. I could hear the audio just fine, but the picture was heavily ghosted to the point where I couldn't figure out what the heck was going on. I did get the gist that it was one crazy drive. Not my personal favorite way to hunt. Driving used to be very popular back in the 50's and early 60's when we still had some defined fields and woodlots down in the valley. I always stayed clear of the drives themselves, but I also knew the spots on the side hills where the deer would funnel through as the guys pushed them out almost a quarter of a mile down the hill ..... lol. Thanksgiving day it was almost guaranteed that the big outfits would come in and drive the thickets down through the valley. So I would make sure that I was in that spot up on the side hill.

I think if I were to take on the responsibility of mentoring some young kid, I would probably need to get some remedial education myself just to get updated. I personally wouldn't mind sitting in on a class as a mandatory requirement for accompanying one of these super young people. I think that if the mentor is updated on all the latest mandated training, the hunter-age concerns go by the wayside. Seriously, I worry more about the outdated and forgotten safety knowledge of the mentors than the kids on this issue. Some of the crazy things that I have seen from hunters makes me wonder if they should be in charge of any kid at any age.

A bunch of years ago, Gene and Barry Wentzel put out a video entitle bowhunting October Whitetails. They had a segment in there about hunting cornfields. I am not in an agricultural area anymore, so I have never had an opportunity to try it out. But basically it involved still hunting the corn slowly, a row at a time and catching deer bedded down right in the middle of the corn. Apparently a steady wind covers any noise that you might make. It looked kind of interesting.

Years ago, I invested in a multi-fletcher. I make and maintain all my own arrows. Have done so for decades. I suppose you can just "stick" it back on, but you may be setting yourself up for sending a few more arrows through the fence gap ..... lol. Also, I don't know how much helix or offset you have on your fletching, but vanes really want to stay straight unless being held with a jig-clamp. It may not be as easy as you are thinking to get that vane stuck back on and actually get it to stay there. Also, the old glue should be completely removed, and the shaft cleaned before trying to glue on a new vane.

On the other hand it is something that has to be talked about when you are discussing children and hunting and those who are self-professed mentors. It can't be ignored. Perhaps its time to do something about those teachers (mentors, parents or otherwise) who aren't fit to fill that role and maybe require some remedial training themselves before they lay some of that ignorance on their kids. I think there might be some solutions that address that problem. I don't know, I just am saying that I have observed more than a few situations that indicate that parents or other licensed individuals are not always all that competent in schooling kids in the right attitudes involving safety, ethics, and other things that have to be impressed on child- hunters. Perhaps when we are so focused on age, maybe we are missing the real point.

I used to use walnut hulls for dying. It gave them a black color that stayed with them for a long time. I always loved the trap preparations activity. It's all part of it. Traps have the oils to prevent rusting prior to sales. It's a cheap rust deterrent. And as Predate said the waxing is a scent elimination deal. So having them waxed and sitting around in a store with stinky people touching and all around them would be a wasted process.

There is one way that the aging process can be halted, but the results are really all that great .... lol.

Great idea for a new bowhunter. I hope you make a good contact. Hunting with a knowledgeable partner is the best way to get up to speed. Good luck.

I'm having a hard time coming up with a firm opinion on this. I have run into so many goofy people while hunting, some of which I would assume could be parents. The guy who was cradling his gun in the crook of his arm with the muzzle pointed right at my kneecaps until I told him to point it somewhere else. Then there was another guy who thought it was cool to rest the muzzle of his gun on the top of his boot while he yakked away forever as I was trying to hunt. And then there was the flaming red-eyed drunk that could hardly stand up. These guys could easily have had kids somewhere that they would have been mentoring. I mean some people shouldn't even have kids, let alone having them supervising kids with guns. We have no choice about them having kids, but there are some choices that can be exercised regarding when we can turn them loose telling and showing their kids all the wrong ways of safety. But then there was the guy that I ran into that had his kid (assumedly at a legal age for handling guns) out on state land with targets set up at the edge of a nice flat, un-backstopped brushy area. This was during bow season with leaves on, and him with no idea whether there was someone on stand back in there or not. This was a nice safety lesson that he was teaching his kid. So really, what is the proper age to be showing kids the wrong way to do things? So like I said, settling on any proper age really winds up to be crap-shoot. I certainly can't say based on what I have seen out there. It really seems to wind up being more about the quality of the parents than anything about the kids. Ha-ha ..... maybe there should be a hunter safety re-training course required at which time the parent would at least have been re-exposed and re-certified as to the right way to be mentoring their children.

I am curious, do deer processors have to have any qualifications or licenses? Or do they simply hang out their shingle and call themselves deer butchers? I went through a bunch of them before I finally settled in on one that I trust and that has reliable quality. I had one guy where I loaded my deer back in the truck when I got a whiff of his butchering table. My gosh actually the whole place stunk like rotten meat and the brown greasy gunk that was pasted into the corners of his meat table just about turned my stomach. I'm thinking that in early bow season, I would have to break out the butcher knives and once again do the job myself ..... immediately. Even those processors with walk-in coolers sometimes get over-loaded and have to leave the carcasses laying out in the sun for a while until they catch up. There are temperatures in early October that you just can't let the deer absorb anymore of that heat beyond what it may already have encountered in the field. And when it comes to aging your venison, at that time of year, you better have a dedicated walk-in cooler or refrigerator for that. And I really don't know any processors that can devote that space to simply aging meat. The ones that I have encountered operate on a quick in and quick out philosophy. That's how they make their money.

I apologize. I know I said I would make your day by giving you the last word, but I just can't pass this little gem that you handed me. You could have at least read your own quote that my reply was addressing instead of making a fool of yourself by calling attention to that one. Lol.... bloviate that And this time I will really try to let you have the last word .....ha-ha-ha.