Doc

So is there any correlation between the earliness of antlers starting to form on a deer, and the larger size of the finished product later on?

Yeah, it is hard to get a credible read on the damage done by this past winter just from looking at the herds in the fields. It will take a much closer look at on-the-ground sign to make any reasonable general assessments of the herd size. Even trail cams don't always give the real overall story of an entire area. Some good intensive scouting is what is required. Right now I am too busy with spring activities to get too involved in that yet.

The one thing that the disclosure of these results will do is to quantify in hard numbers, the uselessness of tougher gun legislation. It takes it all out of the realm of emotion, and puts hard numbers to the futility of heaping worthless gun law on top of worthless gun law. The results will lend credibility in legal cases and also the bills in progress to limit or repeal the so-called Safe Act. It is also useful as some pretty strong talking points in any other campaigns against future gun control efforts. Shining the light on these things is the best way to make gains in the court of public opinion. It is always far better expose the failures of gun laws than to just let the emotional arguments against guns go unchallenged.

I once saw a sheep pasture with broken pumpkins strewn all over for the sheep to eat, and they seemed to be really liking them. Sure, sheep are not deer, but they are a bit related, and apparently the farmer thought there was enough nutrition in them for his sheep to thrive on them.

That is a nice laker. I imagine he put up a heck of a great fight. I've got to get these spring chores done and get out there myself. Time is flying by and if I'm not careful, I'll find myself sitting in the snow wondering where the hell the summer and all the great fishing went ..... again.

You know, I would call them out on that. I would like to see that part of the law in print. I don't think it exists.

It is kind of silly to complain about the way some people appear to waste their money. We have to remember that it is their money after all. I know I have spent money on things that many would consider foolish and unnecessary products. Lets face it, anything that doesn't relate to food and shelter in some way could be called foolish and wasteful spending by others. My gosh if anyone knew the total cash that I have spent on hunting products alone, they would just shake their head and call me a money-waster....lol. We all have our ways of spending our hard-earned cash, and it probably doesn't agree with everybody else's thought on frugal spending ...... so what? I say worry about your own budget, and I will worry about mine. By the way, this may all sound real good, but I do understand the lure of criticizing people for what appears to be excessive spending. And I must confess that I do it all the time. But, really when you think about it, the only opinion that really counts is that of the one who has to cough up the money.

I see that a lot of the newer ATVs have power steering. That's something that I always thought would be a darn nice feature to have. You guys that have power steering on your ATVs, how do you like it? Any drawbacks?

The peace and quiet in the woods has always been one of the things that I treasured about hunting. But today, just sit in an average NYS hunting parcel, and see how often you can hear nothing but the wind. It's getting to be a pretty scarce experience these days. You can hear chainsaws, ATVs, snowmobiles, lawn mowers, weed-eaters, leaf blowers, tractor-trailers ripping down the road, Motorcycles, dirt bikes, even airplanes going overhead, etc., etc. It is almost a constant din of sounds. The thing is that none of these "things" are to blame. It's just the mechanized, technocracy that we live in. I can no more blame these machines for noise than I can blame guns for crime. No, it's not something that I welcome, but it is something that I participate in, and have just accepted as the way of life today. Let's just hope it doesn't get too nutsy! I must say that I do wonder where it all will wind up 40 or 50 years from now. That question that Mike asked about what would it be like if every hunter owned and used an ATV kind of brought on some disturbing imaginary images. My gosh what a racket that would be ..... lol. But until that happens, I have to simply accept it all as just another sign of an active and growing society.

I was thinking the same thing as I was considering what a pain in the neck back tags can be. Most of the time I have a back-pack covering up the back of my jacket, so it may be that according to the letter of the law, pinning it to my backpack probably is breaking the law. But to the best of my ability, I try to comply with the law by keeping it visible at all times. When I get to my stand, I then pin it to the back of my jacket where I understand that it was officially intended to be displayed. Yes, it certainly is a P.I.A., and in my mind is probably a foolish requirement. But I still make the attempt to satisfy the intent of the law, not because I have to agree with the law in order to abide by it, but simply because it is the law. That probably is not quite the same thing as purposefully breaking the law, and teaching that to your kid, and then bragging about the fact. If they should drop that requirement, it sure won't break my heart....lol. But as long as the law is in place, I will honor it.

There never seems to be a shortage of reasons for a good old-fashioned riot ..... lol. It 's kind of like an instantly created mass party event. "Let's all start a party, and burn stuff and get some free goodies. And maybe beat some people up too. Just can't wait for an excuse".

Well, I guess I didn't expect some people to get so confused about asking a simple question, but just like anything else, ATVs do get used properly, and also there are some abuses of ATVs. I posted the thread because I was curious which was the majority experience with members here. Obviously, I think they are a useful tool, since I have owned one in one form or another since the mid-80s. It handles my snow removal, retrieves my deer (sometimes). It gets me to the top of our "killer hill" (aptly named from killing a neighbor from a heart attack), so I can begin hunting up there. And it is in pretty constant use down at the house for doing all kinds of hauling activities. Life would be quite different and probably a lot less active without one. A lot of jobs would never get started without some kind of materials transport. So all is good with them .... right? Well, not always so. I have discovered some pretty nasty rutted up rogue trails that became erosion problems across the face of the hill from trespassers crossing my property so they can ride illegally on State Land. Yes they can get away with it because it would take an unbelievable stroke of luck to happen to intercept them at the exact time that they decide to go across. See, that's just ATVs doing what they were designed to do .... providing access to places where people would never trespass before or had no ambition to trespass before. Now it's easy. So no, they are not always just simple machines of convenience for those that use them properly, and yes there are some people that probably have some pretty strong feelings against them, and perhaps rightfully so depending on how severe the offenses are. I also have to admit that the piece and quiet of rural living has definitely changed with the arrival of ATVs, dirt bikes, and all the other gas powered implements that fill our garages. ATVs are just another one of those things that are droning in our ears when we are straining to decide whether that really was a crunch in the leaves that we thought we heard. Ah, but then life is tough all over .... right? .... lol.

Mine is used for getting me up and down old "killer-hill". I named it that because it claimed a neighbor's life (heart attack).. I have used my earlier versions of ATVs (Suzuki 185, Yamaha 225) for trucking supplies up to the cabin, including the material to build the cabin. I take friends and family up the hill. I use it for hauling some of the deer that I get off the hill. It is also a utility vehicle to use around the property. And last but not least, it handles my snow removal. Features: The trails up the hill are old horse trails that were used for logging, so they aren't overly wide. That means that I can't use a side-by-side without some serious trail re-construction. Also, the snow plowing requires a very tight steering radius to allow sideways pushing of snow. There is a power requirement to shove snow, and also a serious need for traction. So I am always looking for something with a short wheelbase, handlebars for nimble maneuverability and some ability to incorporate a little body-language into the handling. But it needs enough guts to handle the power requirements while still delivering as much of that power to the ground as possible with good tires, 4WD and good gearing. Today my Yamaha Kodiak 400 does the job and has been for 11-1/2 years.

If back tags truly serve no significant function, I have no problem with getting rid of them. Apparently there has been no problem with not requiring them in the Northern Zone. The laws are so damned numerous, I guess in this case I would have no problem ditching something that has been deemed unnecessary. Maybe the whole Conservation code should be looked at to see what kinds of worthless laws they have squirrelled away in there that could be removed. And while they are at it, they could look at the confusing and contradictory wording and the duplication and clean that stuff up too. You might even get to the point where the average guy can understand NYS Conservation law without having a lawyer sitting along side.

ATVs ........ for them or against them? Are you glad they were invented and marketed? Do you have any problems with them becoming as commonplace as they have?

I guess we all use our ATVs differently and have bought them for different reasons. So how do you use your ATV, and what are the features that are most important to you in the way you use yours? Power? handling? speed/acceleration? space? traction? Side-hill stability? price? cargo capacity? pulling ability? other?

I have some great memories of the nights of going smelting in the tributaries of Canandaigua Lake. My Dad, myself, uncle and cousin used to never miss it. And boy were those little critters good to eat. Of course people wrecked all the good access places with their trash and mess, and access to those streams are now all posted up. Just one more fun thing ruined by idiots. I haven't gone smelting in years.

And I saw no particulars as to the circumstances involving this case that you are talking about. I have seen dogs taken away also and even destroyed for attacking children and disfiguring them. And here was another case where the dog had a history of attacking and killing other neighborhood dogs. But It doesn't have a damn thing to do with case we are talking about and again is another irrelevant little anecdote thrown in for, no one knows why. Tell me of a case where a complainant was even listened to by someone of authority when the offense was simply repeated use by a dog of a neighbors property. That will be a case of note that does have some relevance. As I have repeatedly said, the dog/dog-owner has all the rights and good luck trying to change that through the courts and unless the dog does something dramatic that will always be the case without a statewide leash law. As it stands right now, cases of this nature are stacked in favor of the dog and its owner. I repeat yet again, the dog has more rights than the landowner. And in case anyone is thinking that I believe that that fact justifies shooting the dog, given the sparse facts that we have, I do not believe so.

The answer to such a goofy question should be obvious to you without my help. I didn't think it was a serious question. The fact that it is completely irrelevant to the discussion also made me think it didn't warrant any consideration or any answer.

Mayweather is a defensive genius which is great for him, but makes for lousy fights. It has been said that you cannot knock out a fighter who never takes chances. I think it is true. But who the hell wants to see that kind of fight. Both of these guys have had a whole lot more made of them than they deserve. Its time to look at the next generation of fighters that are willing to risk something to put on a show and win by knockout. We've had a lot of boxers who know the sweet science just a little bit too well, and who have mastered the art of looking like they are fighting without ever taking a risk. Good for them, but their fights are guaranteed to put you to sleep instead of their opponent.

Ha-ha-ha ..... A man's got to know his limitations. It's not the sort of thing I would try with any ATV, ignoring the vehicles weight or any quality of snow. It is a trick that only works with some real careful plow-lift manipulation and a real good feel of what it is that you are riding on. And, never allow the tires to spin when you are at the top. And never go over the top. Been there....Done that. This year, the snow turned rock-hard early on, and made a nice base.

But, the reality of the situation is that it is not, and will never be, a free-for-all regardless of what the people want. There are already laws and multiply duplicated laws forming volumes and volumes of worthless laws where guns are concerned, and no credible documentation that any of them do any good. So the constant fascination that people have with adding unlimited additional laws that will have the same worthless results does lend credence to that old Einstein quote about repeatedly doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. Yes, many of us do believe that we have the gun thing regulated right to death and the addition of more laws that impact only law abiding legal gun owners and are aimed at feel-good emotional responses is a mis-directed act of insanity .

Unlike the animal rights crowd, there is never any confusion for me as to the value of human lives vs. the value of an animal's life. In terms of prosecution, the dog and his owners always get the pass but not the human, because the dog and those who should be responsible for it have the right to ignore trespass laws and other such infringements. Yes, if I were king, there would be universal leash laws across the state (dogs and cats). And they would be vigorously enforced making pet owners dearly responsible for infractions of that law. And the penalties would be stiff.

Yikes ..... pretty hot topic to be getting myself into, but as usual, I can't seem to keep my mouth shut.....lol. I don't think anyone can argue that whites of this country have made HUGE progress in the battle against racism over the decades. That is a pretty tough point to argue ....HUGE. Now what we need is for the blacks to make similarly huge progress against racism as well. There comes a time where these senseless riots become more of a party-time free-for-all than any kind of statement of rage. It ceases to be about race when these thugs (there I used the word...lol) begin attacking their own. At that point they have lost all credibility and are obviously using race as an excuse for vandalism, theft and mayhem. Yes there have been crimes against black people perpetrated, and those responsible need to be prosecuted. That black businessman down the street whose place got burned down didn't do anything to anyone except attempt to earn a living.

I got real close to running out of space for snow because it kept coming and didn't want to melt. One more major storm, and I would have had to call in someone with a front-loader or something. One thing that I have learned though is that to a certain extent, snow can be piled into a ramp shaped pile that the lighter weight ATVs can ride up to push snow over the bank. That can make a big difference.