Doc

This question kind of struck me funny, because generally one gun is enough of a pain to struggle with. The first picture that popped into mind was some poor sap soaked in sweat and panting like a dog with two guns draped over his shoulders and a bear-hug on 3 more, trudging through the woods to his stand....lol. Actually, I have seen something equally silly looking. It was a bowhunter carrying a humongous ladder stand, a monster back pack, and his bow. From about 50 yards away, I could hear his breathing (more like wheezing), and I could see that his clothes were beginning to soak through ...... and he hadn't even began his climb up the hill. I could only admire his determination. I guess I would have almost the same reaction if I saw some guy wandering around the woods lugging more than one gun. The original question was interesting, but I doubt it will ever have any relevance to anything I will ever be doing.

I'm not an expert on writing laws, but I would have thought that simply stating "the highway and the applicable right-of-way" would have been quite explicit and removed all of the "etcetera" verbiage. It would then be the responsibility of any hunter who wanted to hunt that close to the road to contact the authorities and establish where they are legal to shoot from before hunting or shooting from there. It would also be the responsibility of any LEO to do the same before enforcing that law.

Do you have any idea what month the picture was taken.

Could be any of the above guesses, or even a scabbed over wound from banging into something.

Yeah, I love the use of the term "etcetera" in the wording of laws.

Yup ..... That is pretty low for a bear.

Not knowing what time of year this was done, and whether or not bucks still had their antlers, I would expect that it was a buck rub. But I offer up the possibility that it may be a bear just as an alternative theory.

Perhaps this is a declaration of the DEC intent not to have as much concern for hunter satisfaction as in times past. It may be a statement of divorce of sorts. It began with the CTFs and is being expanded in a more clear and public way. From strictly a hunter's standpoint, I have to say that it sucks. However, we are getting to be a smaller and less significant and less influential percentage of the general population. This is likely just a DEC acknowledgement of that fact. Perhaps it is just one more nail in the coffin for hunting. I don't know.

The DEC began abrogating their responsibilities to the Citizens Task Force, and loved the way that spreading responsibility around worked for them. I guess that now they have decided to expand that philosophy. So now when things are screwed up, well .... You asked for it. Nobody wanted to pay attention to the CTF fiasco before, well now we have CTF+ and ignoring it is no longer an option.

The problem is that none of the answers that you get on this site have any legal authority behind them. Game cops and judges are not going to be impressed with a remark about how you "heard it on the huntingny.com forum .... lol. If you are expecting any of these scenarios to actually happen, you should be e-mailing the regional DEC headquarters. I say "e-mailing", because I think there is some value in receiving a written response rather than a phone response.

Ok, here is what they say on the DEC internet site. Question: How far off the highway must I be before I can discharge my firearm, crossbow or longbow? Answer: The Environmental Conservation Law prohibits you from discharging the firearm, crossbow or longbow in such a manner that the arrow, bolt, bullet or load of shot passes over any portion of the highway, which may include maintained portions including the shoulder, drainage ditches, etc. I am interpreting that to mean that when fired, your muzzle cannot be within that definition of the highway since doing so would cause the shot to pass over that portion of the highway that they have defined. What is really purposely confusing is the word "may". I don't understand why they put that in there. So, they are not defining it as "the highway and all legal right-of-way property". They are defining it only as "maintained portions including the shoulder, drainage ditches, etc." ....... And who the hell knows what is being implied with the etc. slapped on the end?... lol.

It all just shows you how dedicated, focused, and creative these anti-hunting whackos are. They will use every trick in the book and are constantly coming at us with everything they've got. We on the other hand simply argue amongst ourselves, fail to support our own advocacy organizations, and continue to under-estimate the effectiveness of these kinds of tactics.

That is some awful good shooting, and with a broadhead too. Very impressive.

The point is that if you have a serious population problem, you don't try to solve it using the least effective season available. A couple of doe days during gun season would do a whole lot more than the two weeks of antlerless bow season. To choose the lesser efficient season, raises huge questions about the seriousness of the population problem, or the credibility of what is truly the goal.

Ruger American in .270 caliber

It is difficult to say whether a lure actually brought in a deer or whether the deer would have simply shown up there anyway. The only exception that I have seen to that thought is an occasion where I used a drag rag and watched the buck come in on my trail with his nose to the ground. To me that was pretty powerful proof that it was an attractant. I was using Tink's 69 at the time. The bad news is that the tactic never worked again for me.

What all of this research fails to consider is that another difference between man as a predator vs. all the other predators is our ability to recognize endangered species and take remedial actions. They also fail to recognize that we as a species have developed laws, bag limits, and legal handicaps. We have also developed the ability to introduce species when that plan appears to be environmentally responsible. I saw none of this mentioned in the article.

The big rain yesterday lasted about 1 minute, and the rest of it was a nice gentle rain that lasted maybe the better part of an hour or two at the most. Hardly of the flash-flood variety .... lol. Actually, the last three days of flood watch or warning or whatever, resulted in no rain or very little rain at all. I'm starting to get a bit irritated with all this "sky is falling" weather forecasting. Trying to use the weather forecast as a planning tool has become a joke. And that 5 or 7-day forecast is an evergreen thing that changes each day. These weathermen really aren't all that good at their job are they?

Wouldn't you think they would all be printed, enveloped and ready to be mailed out as the first licenses issued? I mean, what benefit is there to waiting until the last minute?

As far as protection from cold, I know that people hunt polar bears and muskox in temperatures a lot colder than anything that will ever occur in someone's basement or garage. And they even shoot them in those extreme temperatures. Extreme heat is a different story. I have a dozen bows stored downstairs with each one hanging on a rack in an unheated area. Many of them are periodically pulled down and shot with no sign of performance or structural problems.

Mine was in the mailbox today.

Great article on the antlerless archery season, but I was terribly disappointed that the overwhelming question was not noted (unless I missed it). That question being that : If the DEC is truly concerned about what they call, "a critical need to boost the antlerless harvest in those units", why did they choose the most ineffective and inefficient season to do it in? How can you do an article on this subject without mentioning that glaring question?

I'm guessing a luna moth caterpillar, what's your guess?

I have had the same thing happen. One year, certain trails seem to be dominated by bucks and the very next year it looks like there isn't a buck on the planet. Only to be followed on the year after that with all the bucks being back. Also, I have had situations where old traditional trails that bucks have always used would come up deserted, and yet during the season, there would be plenty of bucks in other areas. I have always assumed that it was food related, or some temporary disturbance from predators or hikers or hunters or something that simply moved their pattern. It has always turned out to be temporary. Unless you had some unusual prior hunting season where huge amounts of bucks were taken (not really likely), it likely only represents some pattern shift away from where you traditionally set your cameras.

Free is good.