Doc

Yeah, it's not the wife that is barrier to new gun purchases. I'm just too damned cheap and keep coming up with all these good reasons why I don't need more guns. And the fact is, I really don't need any more.

The thing is that the gym does great things for the body, but a good day of hard work does the same AND gets some other good things accomplished. Kind of a "two-fer".

One thing that seems to go zinging over everyone's head is that once you drive hunters out of the sport, either through irritating regulation, excessive costs of licenses or whatever, they tend to stay out. Guns get sold, new hobbies are invested in and enjoyed, and even if you dramatically cut costs of licenses, they simply are not coming back. We are just barely hanging on to our hunters as it is. Drive them out and then implement incentives to come back? ..... It just ain't happening. They're gone.

Actually that isn't really true. Deer populations kept in balance with their habitat is what makes for healthier deer. And of course that does not mean that they need to be whacked until sightings become scarce ..... lol. It seems that people always jump to extremes and take what the DEC is saying way past what they meant. Less deer does not mean healthier deer unless the population is so high that it is stressing the habitat. Then you want fewer deer. And a word about the relationship of hunters and the DEC. Without hunters, the DEC has zero control over the herd. Hunters are the only herd population control that they have. So they are put in a position of not only managing deer, but managing hunters as well. The declining hunter population does neither the DEC or the deer any good. It is a good idea not to drive hunters out of the sport through excessive, needless or worthless regulation. It's a balancing act that the DEC has done pretty good at until recently.

Yeah it took our county 2 times, but those were procedural screw-ups. I'm talking about the board of supervisors proposing it, and public opinion shooting it down. It seems to me that if the legislative process is followed without legislative screw-ups, it turns out to be a done-deal.

Lol .... After you hit 65, most of your friends will be dead whether they smoke or not. Wait until your 50th high school reunion. Yipes!!!! it starts getting real scary.

It could be an area infested with Gypsy moth caterpillars or tent caterpillars. That is the way the hills look in one of these infested areas.

Quote: "Is bear meat worth the effort?" I have often pictured shooting a bear the better part of a mile at the rear of my property. And then I start wondering about getting this big bag of jello that has no handles, and weighs a few hundred pounds all by myself. And then not even knowing whether the taste of the meat would make me puke or not. All things considered, I have to say that no, for me it probably is not worth the effort.....lol.

2/18/08 was my last cigarette. I still enjoy the smoking section of the casinos ..... lol. Also, there are still times when I miss my cigs, but nothing like while I was trying to quit. It was such misery and anguish to get rid of them, that there is no way I would ever go back. But I have no problem with those that still smoke. I know how much I enjoyed cigarettes, and I also know how tough it was to get off them. I remember how obnoxious smokers who quit were. They loved rubbing it in just a little too much. So I try real hard not to be one of those cigarette-snobs. I used Chantix. I'm not sure whether that really was the cure or just the fact that I finally was really ready to quit.

So how do you suppose a deer would get a split ear? I can see how it would happen on a buck, but it seems that it would be very odd on a doe.

Once kids respected and obeyed their parents. Once, people were expected to be married before they became pregnant. Once, supporting your own family was actually important. Once, being on welfare was a bit of a humiliation, and there was an urgency about getting off the dole and back to productive employment. Once, you didn't need locks for your house. Once, people tried to live within their means. Once, families took care of their elderly. Once, neighbors actually knew their neighbors by first name. Once, you could walk down any neighborhood any where in the U.S. without fear. Once neighbors would help out those down on their luck instead of assuming the government would do it. Once, people would let the homeless into their homes for a meal occasionally, because they knew if they didn't, no government agency would. Once, being employed was something that was expected of you. Once individual responsibility was a majority attitude. Once, most kids had fathers in the home. Once, welfare recipients didn't have TV and exactly all of the luxuries that other working people have to work for. Once, criminals were treated like criminals and jails were not really places you would ever want to back to. Once, community leadership was not to see how big a scam you could pull off, but rather how well you could serve and how well you would be remembered by history. Once, legislators and trusted public employees feared being caught at illegal and immoral activities. And on and on..... If you have a pulse and all of your basic senses, you are getting the picture. Yes, some of society's progress has been in good directions. However what many are trying to progress toward today raises some serious alarms and do not really have all that good of a track record. What some of this "progressive" thinking is actually doing to the American human spirit is a bit frightening. So when somebody proudly walks up to me and pronounces that they are a progressive, I have to ask them exactly what are they trying to progress toward. Because as an ideology, I have to say that most of those progressive people's accomplishments and goals are truly pretty damned scary.

I have been on hound hunts at night which is a real effective way of getting them, but certainly cannot be called "easy" from an exertion point of view. Also, those hounds are not really all that inexpensive to buy and maintain. I spent many years trapping them when their prices were up, and they were no real challenge as long as the population was on a high cycle. All of these styles of hunting/trapping were driven only by the cost of the fur. Low prices, no one hunting them. High prices, they get pretty good pressure. It's all about the fur, and expanding their season does nothing to motivate that. I am not saying that occasionally something weird won't rarely happen like what you have described with your neighbor and his per trees. But even at that, there is not a whole lot of motivation for anyone to head out to the pear tree in the middle of the night waiting for some coons to show up.... lol. Especially some time in the summer when the fur is trash. So I suspect you could make the season open all year, and never see any positive impact in the turkey population. You can increase opportunities without really increasing motivation.

Isn't that weird. They actually have put their emotional attachment to horses into laws that prohibit the sale of horsemeat. What a ridiculous waste of legislation. They are just another good source of protein. I suppose there are laws against eating cats and dogs too. Can you legally eat your parakeet? .... lol. These legislators have way, way, too much time on their hands.

It is likely that such a move would really have no significant effect on turkey populations. Woodchucks hang out in wide open fields and present a fairly easy target of opportunity. Coons are something that you have to actually go after purposely if you are going to have much success, and they are primarily nocturnal. That means trapping, hounds, or something other than just riding the back roads on a nice summer afternoon has to purposely take place to get them. Fur prices are the only real motivator for hunting them, and prices are in the toilet. Also, remember that raccoons are only one of many nest raiders. Yes, long seasons on coons would very rarely maybe get one here and there. You would do as good purposely aiming for them with your car .... lol. The results on turkey populations would be negligible.

Here is the guy that will be piloting the DEC until Cuomo gets around to appointing another one of his buddies with another political pay-off. Marc Gerstman Bio: Marc Gerstman was appointed Executive Deputy Commissioner in August, 2011. He previously served at DEC from 1988 to 1994, as Deputy Commissioner and General Counsel, and from 1985 to 1988 as Deputy General Counsel and Director of Legal Affairs. From 1995 to 2011, Mr. Gerstman was in private legal practice, specializing in environmental, natural resource, land use, zoning, administrative and municipal law. He earned his juris doctorate from Brooklyn Law School and holds a bachelor’s degree from SUNY New Paltz. ---------------------------------------------------------- Looks like another lawyer. I'm sure he'll have some heavy priorities that involve fish & game management ..... lol.

So are there farms where horses are raised to be eaten, or are these all old family pets or race track rejects that happen to die of old age or something? Maybe when a horse gets old, they make a choice between the glue factory, dog food producers and gourmet restaurant food customers....lol.

It would be interesting to see just what percentage of all DEC personnel actually do engage in the activities that they are in charge of managing.

Another single fawn. I don't think I have seen twins in person or in pictures yet. Are you guys seeing any twins or triplets?

Well, they eat the same stuff as a cow. I suspect that if they were fed the diet of a beef cow, it really should be very similar. Why not?

No question that Ma Nature is a cruel one. This kind of death and even much worse is part of every day in the wild. However, I absolutely do sympathize with those that would like to have had the scene interrupted. I have to say that I am a pretty hardened old critter that has seen some pretty horrible crap, but I see no way that someone would watch that video without feeling some sympathy for the deer. I have to admit to feeling a lot of the same kind of discomfort (if that really is the right word) as I did when my Brother-in-law spined a doe once. We both went absolutely berserk trying to finish the animal as quickly as possible. A definite panic set in that one of these critters that we were trying to kill was enduring such terror and pain. I think it is quite natural to want to stop the suffering. Watching this video brought on the same feelings and desire to have someone do something. I have to admit to stopping the video before it was finished. It was that hard to look at. Of course, given the fact that the bear was in the midst of a killing frenzy, and that it most likely was illegal to fire a gun in that kind of residential area, the practical options were certainly limited to pretty much nothing.

What would I do? Given that shooting either would probably be illegal, you really have no options. That deer was likely a goner even if the bear was somehow driven away. I don't see anything that could be done in a practical and legal sense. There sure did seem to be a whole lot of suffering involved.......Something that perhaps some of these anti-hunters should witness who fantasize that without hunters, animals would simply pass quietly in their sleep as victims of old age. Pretty disturbing stuff.

So what is so temporary about it? We are into at least 2 or 3 years of these shortages, with no let-up in sight. As far as tooling, that is merely the cost of doing business and is viewed as any investment which apparently they get a damned good return on. It is simply another aspect to actually being in business. You have a demand, you expand to meet that demand. I don't get it. It's a lucrative business that is going unsatisfied. So what is the real story?

At last..... a practical use for all these yard ornaments that people keep around as pets and actually ride once or twice in 4 or 5 years.

Actually, checking out the color of my arm, I guess I would have to say that it is pretty much a light tan. Even in the winter time, I don't think I would really call it "white". The fact is that I haven't really ever seen anyone who was really white. And also, I do have a mole on my forearm that is very dark brown. I'm not sure how to factor that in there. At any rate, there is nothing in any of my skin color that I would call "white". So I guess I am a "non-white member". So with that established .... What was the question again???

So, can anyone explain why the ammo manufacturers are not responding as any business would. ..... Boost production to meet demand. Yes, I can understand why they might not instantly react to a spike that they believe to be merely a temporary blip in demand, but for crying out loud, this I now going on for a period of time that is now measured in years. Damn, just out of respect to their stockholders, they should be making hay while the sun shines. You have an expanding market ..... get out there and make money off of it. Why isn't that happening.