Doc

Re-reading the article, I see they are limiting the details of the legal status of the deer strictly to those animals and animal parts that are the subject of a case involving poached animals. My first mistaken take from scanning the article was that the change was a whole lot more broad in interpretation of animal ownership. It does appear to be limited to ownership of "poached" animals. Perhaps it can be argued by some talented lawyer years down the road to have more widespread meaning regarding wildlife ownership .... I don't know. But all I could find in the article and the article linked within, was that it was a very specific case involving a very valuable state record set of poached antlers (worth a pie of money), and the proper way to legally dispose of ownership of those antlers.

We have a chunk of state land that I hunt that is constantly being used as a shooting range. Unfortunately, there are no designated areas or back-stops or anything that makes it safe. And also unfortunately I have seen guys set up arbitrarily with no consideration about what is behind where they are shooting. I have even seen them shooting into areas that have switch back public access trails that run a few yards beyond where these guys had set up their targets. So there is the problem with being so damn confusing and secretive about the rules of target shooting on state lands. Unless posted in big obvious letters, people will use state land as unofficial shooting ranges. The free access, and ready access will always make them preferred places to shoot. The DEC should stop pussy-footing around the issue and take a bulldozer in each parcel and bulldoze up proper backstops and cleared out areas to serve as safe places to shoot and make any target activity confined officially to those spots. It becomes a win-win situation for everyone, and all the confusion goes away.

I don't think there really is any significant opposition to using a crossbow as a hunting weapon. I think the controversy comes into what seasons they are allowed to be used. And that is a controversy that will likely still be here long after I am gone. There are still those that think that compounds should never have been allowed into bow seasons. When I consider the element of legal precedents and how that single inclusion has the potential to tear down all limits to what is included in bow seasons, there are times when I agree with them ..... lol. I remember the objections to compounds back in the day when they were being pushed, and the "precedent" argument was the primary crux of the opposition. Yes, I was one of those young whipper-snappers who mocked and ridiculed those crazy-sounding predictions and grabbed up one of those miracle "pulley-bow" machines for myself. Standing here today and looking back, it appears that those old-timers were probably right after all. Even the idea of having firearms deer hunting during an active bow season (which used to be an absolute no-no) seems to not be as absolute and concrete as it once was, as inroads are being explored and implemented there as well. It's all about sport evolution and precedents begetting more precedents. Times, they are a-changing as they say, as bowhunting continues to lose it identity. Nobody wants it to be about the weapon anymore as hunting emphasis continues to march toward less challenge and more instant gratification. You cannot go against a cultural or attitudinal evolution that values ever-changing motives and goals. Likely we should simply eliminate all special seasons and lump all weapons together and save decades of arguing and painfully slow evolution toward exactly the same result.

So many of the weasel cousins have that same body shape. Size is one thing that varies quite a bit from species to species, but there is nothing in the picture to gauge the size. But even though weasels themselves have many color variations, that solid brown color especially at the belly makes me think that it is not a weasel. The face shape seems all wrong for a fisher. I'm pretty sure it is a mink.

Ha-ha ..... none of the guns, bows, crossbows, knives, or any of the weapons look or perform at all like they did back when they were first invented. It's even a stretch to call any of them the same weapons as what we use today. I think the old, "which one was invented first" argument is kind of irrelevant to anything.

Another thought..... If ownership of wildlife was changed to the landowner, then hunters trespassing and taking game of your property, posted or not could be charged additionally with theft as well as trespassing ..... right?

I have always accepted the notion that wild game is a public resource unless reduced to possession through legal hunting means. It would be interesting to see a debate on the concept though. Ha-ha ..... if it was changed to individual ownership, could a farmer video deer or bear coming off your property and then damaging his crops, then submit a bill for damages to you? Or maybe when the deer passes through the hedgerow, he now becomes the property of the farmer. If we can just find people with firm opinions on the subject, this will be an interesting discussion.

Outdoor alarm systems would be great at our place. especially if the sensors were down at the entrance to our 1000' driveway. Since the driveway is the only dry way in or out from the road (because of the swampy area), any incoming (or out-going) activity has to be on the driveway at some point in time. However, I have to wonder about constantly being driven crazy by critter traffic. That whole area in front of the house is infested with deer, and I have to believe that an alarm system that monitors the driveway would be a sure-fired pain-in-the-neck real quickly.

Way back in the olden days when I was still working to save Xerox, we used to go up to Webster Park this time of year and fish off the pier. Had to throw everything back because they wouldn't have taken kindly to us dragging fish into work ..... lol. No, we didn't get fish on every cast, but we did have some pretty good days. I loved hooking some of those pigs in open lake water where you could have a little tussle. Used to use a blue and silver Little Cleo. Used to feed the lake bottom a lot of Little Cleos too with those spoon eating boulders at the bottom. But anyway there is a spot if you live anywhere's near there. And then, if you know anyone with a boat, the warm water out-flow of the nuke plant was one heck of a great trout & salmon fishery. The warm water would draw in the bait fish and the trout & salmon would be in there feeding like crazy things. And the fish didn't glow too much .... lol. They hardly would make a geiger counter tick very much at all.

Two Feet of Snow

None of these are from this year, but are the results of similar winters. And then there is this one that is just plain weird

Any good site addresses on this subject would be greatly appreciated. It would be nice to be able to find one iron-clad answer that is not subject to some kind of interpretation. Something that I could run a copy of and have around the house when that subject comes up. I haven't been able to find any such thing on the net.

If you can learn to shoot your bow with it on, a ghillie suit is about as effective a set of camo as you'll ever find. Works great with a shotgun, but you did mention archery, so there is that concern about shooting a bow without getting interference.

Now that we are digital, I have been looking at all those piles of carousels full of slides that I took over the decades. So the other day, I began a project to sort through all the slides and decide which ones that I wanted to pay the big bucks to have converted to digital. So I had to go through each carousel to determine whether or not they were worth the $.80 each to convert or not. We have been digital for a long time, so I have not viewed those slides for a long time. I was amazed at some of the priceless family pictures that I had. Many of the people are gone now, and of course those pictures of the kids are fascinating to look at. Little bity kids with snowsuits and such are now huge grown men and mature ladies now. Irreplaceable memories. Pictures of huge brush-piles and monstrous bon-fires from back when we hand cleared 1000' of driveway by hand (no chainsaw), and there are these little kids and this baby-faced guy and my wife all pitching in and helping. Camping vacations, and family gatherings all preserved in film are now at my fingertips on the computer. I'll be making up some individual folders of special pics to email to friends and relatives who have special interests in some of the subjects of these pics. Yeah the money I spent updating those pics to digital was well worth it. Those memories from years and years ago are easily available now and also refreshed in my mind.

Great video! I have had those little guys for several years, and the Eye doctor went thorough a similar explanation. Nothing to worry about, if you can deal with the minor distraction. Eventually they seem to go away, but most likely it is just the brain accepting and ignoring them for a while. but they'll be back next time you look at a bright surface or up in the sky. Ah the human body is a maze of crazy occurrences.

Anybody notice how many of those changes are in direct opposition to where NYSDEC claims to be heading?

Ain't that the truth. The most prized antler mount that I own is that devil-deer spike that was my first bow killed deer. Looks a bit silly along-side the other mounts and has brought a lot of jokes and snide remarks until I explain the significance of that deer. So many years ago, and yet I can remember every minute and detail of that kill. Stands way out above every kill since.

Sure, we all have our own ways of providing that challenge, but I suspect that for most hunters, they have some level of expected challenge that drives them to pit their skills and wit against the critters. And like you, everybody probably has that ever-changing set of challenges, usually getting more and more restrictive as time goes on.

I had a guy guarantee our pond. He spent days doing test holes. He made good on his guarantee to filled it back in for free if it failed. I was still out the original cost of digging. He was theorizing that a vein of gravel ran too close to the wall of the pond and simply drained it faster than it could fill. This is an area that has standing water most of the year, but that doesn't say anything about what is going on just a few feet under the surface....lol.

If there is anyone here that has not visited Letchworth or Watkins Glen, get those trips in the calendar for this upcoming summer. If you have only seen them once or twice, plan another trip. These truly are spectacular natural formations that will absolutely blow your mind.

I think that for me, the whole idea of challenge is the reason that I hunt. Otherwise I would simply go to the supermarket and get some nice choice cuts of beef. And there has to be some element of challenge that makes me enjoy bowhunting more than gun hunting. It is a limiting of hunting implement that causes the challenge level to go up. I know that it was the idea of taking on a more challenging way of hunting that got me into bowhunting.

I really don't know many people that actually save money with hunting. In fact, it can be a very expensive activity. I once bought a 4-wheel pick-up specifically for a moose hunt in Canada .... lol. Yeah, that was a bit on the extreme side. I am not one to ever say, "never". But when you do an actual tally of gas, ammo, gadgets and trinket additions to your hunting equipment, special warm clothing, weapons purchases, and even time has value, the costs of scouting trips, etc., the balance sheet seldom comes up with any money earned through hunting. That topic by itself could make for a very interesting thread....lol. I would guess that for most of us the lure lies in challenge and feelings of accomplishment. And also as you mentioned, there is an element of culture, heritage and tradition that get into it. Also, the self-reliance aspect is part of it for me, although sometimes that aspect creates more doubt than satisfaction. If I really had to hunt for subsistence, there is no doubt that I would be losing a lot of weight. Sport? .... yes I have referred to it as a sport in that there is a competition going on between me and the critter, but there is so much more involved, and it doesn't always wind up measured in pounds of meat.

Yeah, I don't have a clue where this "ranking" thing came from. That is not anything that I think about when it comes to hunting. My competition in hunting is not with other hunters, but rather with the animal I am hunting. But there are people who like to handicap themselves with equipment to "up" the challenge level for themselves. In fact that is what was behind the original establishment of bow season. And ever since the establishment of that season, people have been diligently trying to remove that element of challenge. I'm not sure why that would be that much of a controversial statement, but some will find controversy even where there is none. .....lol. But anyway, this idea of "ranking" has absolutely nothing to do with anything I was talking about. I leave that kind of thinking to other people to deal with.

Perhaps it was just a little too long ago for you to really remember very clearly just how difficult it was to shoot recurves and straight bows consistently compared to modern compounds, but it does sound a bit disingenuous to be trying to tell people that the compound was not a step toward removing some of the challenge from bowhunting. I'm not sure exactly who you think you are talking to here, but I'm sure that there are a whole lot of people here who have shot both that simply are not going swallow that. Don't you sometimes wonder exactly why just about everyone shoots a compound now? ...... lol. And if you weren't so busy trying to spin away from my original point, you would understand that the truth about the evolution of archery equipment does matter relative to the point I was making about the natural tendency for people to remove challenge from a modern-day hunting activity that was born out of the desire of a minority of hunters to add challenge into their hunting. Oh, and by the way just to get the story straight, my first hunting bow was a hand made longbow made from a hickory stave cut off our farm back when I was about 11 years old. And it did figure in to the demise of about a dozen pigeons up in the barn.....Ha-ha-ha.

Well, here's the good news. The melt has been so controlled and slow that most is gone or very thin without any flooding this year. Not even a threat of a flood. The swamp is still low, and the ditches down my driveway are handling any run-off including the occasional rain. If you had to plan and execute a controlled winter thaw, this would be it.