Doc

True, but that center lane is set up to provide a perfect broadside shot. It's all set up to a perfect measured 20 yards. It is always set up to provide a broadside shot. That center lane also makes a good place to drop off a scent canister to catch their attention. The observation lanes are only brushed out lightly to minimize disturbance. Usually they are opened enough so I could get a shot if I had to, but those are not the preferred spots. Because the sight lanes are spread out so wide, the shot angles and distances may or may not be ideal depending on what the trail does.

Picky-picky ....lol. You are right that Barry Goldwater popularized the quote by using it in his acceptance speech at the 1964 Republican Convention and is often attributed as the originator. The fact is that the phrase was lifted from the true author, Marcus Tullius Cicero (106BC - 43BC). I recall during the remainder of that campaign, Barry was severely hammered about the head and shoulders with that quote, and while he wasn't really expected to win that election, that addition with it's many interpretations didn't help his candidacy one bit. I was a dyed-in-the-wool Goldwater supporter and it was his candidacy that caused me to switch my registration to the Conservative Party. But anyway, all that pickiness aside, you are absolutely correct. If we exclude our very own, home-grown terrorists, the terrorists acts against the U.S. citizens and property are truly coming from one specific area of the world, and it is a fact worth remembering.

Go for it! There is a lot of interest in the subject here, and we all can benefit from periodic refreshers and some new opinions.

I don't really get too excited about others getting involved in food plotting, unless their aim is to pull deer off a neighbor's property. No, legally there's nothing wrong with that idea, but there feels like something very wrong with one hunter trying to do that to another hunter. I have not encountered that situation where I am, but just like the potential of baiting wars, I can see food plot wars ..... lol. Those things are not attitudes that I like to see flourishing in hunting. It has led to a term that came to me called "deer hoarding". Sure the aggrieved neighbor can always retaliate with a super-food plot of his own. Is that kind of neighborly competition really a good thing? I suppose it's great for the deer ..... lol.

I like that set-up. Nothing in the shooting lane to deflect arrows.....great! On these kinds of thick areas, I like to cut three lanes. The center one is for shooting, and the ones to the right and left are spotting lanes for seeing approaching deer. I have been screwed too many times by having deer walk right across single lanes and me not being ready to shoot because I didn't know they were coming. Is that area so thick that "observation lanes" might make some sense? Or are you high enough so you have no problem seeing them coming?

I post the road-side in front of my place. Of course the actual house, outbuildings and yard areas are 1000' from the road with the front being swamp and thicket.

Another reason why I practice at longer ranges is simply to keep my practice sessions interesting. Repeatedly shooting the short distances gets a little boring and cuts the practice sessions shorter than if I step back a ways and try more challenging shots. Sometimes I get right off my range entirely and start to walk around without any yardage stakes. This puts me shooting some extreme uphill and downhill shots because my range is chopped into a very steep hill behind the house. But the point is, that practicing shots that I never will take, along with the usual standard shots, keeps the practice session interesting and results in more hours on the range.

Frankly, I do believe that some people think that whatever stationery target they can hit under the controlled conditions of the archery range can be reliably duplicated in a hunting situation. And by golly sometimes people do get lucky and all the conditions of the hunt happen to line up for them and they manage to pull off some amazing shot. The wisdom of understanding that a bow is a short range weapon sometimes comes only after enough failures have occurred. However, I don't recall QueensOutdoorsman saying anything about taking hunting shots at that distance. The only thing I read was about "practice". I too like to take practice shots at long distance. In fact while involved in NFAA target archery, we had an 80 yard shot as part of the format. Long distance target shooting is fun. Also, when you have built up confidence on long shots, it makes the ones at more realistic distances seem easy.

I have never hoped so hard that I was wrong before, and the rose colored glasses do keep me hoping that this is all strategy, and that Cuomo is going to be toppled by a few last minute TV and newspaper ads. However, the realist in me says that this election has already been decided and feeble eleventh hour efforts are not going to change the inevitable. There has been an unrelenting drumbeat all over the TV, with substantially damaging allegations that have been allowed to firm up in voter's minds without a peep of challenging. Once entrenched, those allegations are not going away with a few ads at the last minute. There is the problem with name recognition, which normally is handled with constant repetition of the candidates name through TV spots, Newspaper ads, and even radio commercials. None of that has been done. If this election ends in anything but a Cuomo landslide, it will have been done contrary to any campaign strategy that I have ever seen (and at my age, I have seen a lot of them ..... lol). Back in the early days of the campaign, I really believed that with a unified gunowner coalition along with other issues such as Common Cause, and the occasional scandal here and there, and the usual crowd of people that have a whole variety of favorite causes or little nits with the Cuomo administration, we had a quite good chance of plowing this creep under. However, watching the non-campaign and the massive unchallenged inertia being built up by the Cuomo machine, it really is hard to maintain that confidence.

I am still waiting for word one from the Republican party campaign. It appears that the concession is being delivered without the election. Too bad for gunners. We had an awful lot at stake that could have been corrected. My gosh, do I sound bitter? I suppose I am. Seeing that puke-face Cuomo in a constant nightly fashion, blatantly spewing his crap out there in an undisputed fashion seems a lot like he is rubbing our noses in it. Worse this year than I have ever seen it before.

Doesn't it seem that we are constantly engaged in one campaign after the other trying to save what remains of our hunting. I mean when you look at all the hot button issues that keep us scrambling and that multiply daily, they are generally initiated by someone trying to add regulation after regulation to something that always used to be kind of a casual recreational activity. And while it pains me to say it, most of the regulations are added, or want to be added, by fellow hunters. And of course they always have a ready supply of anti hunters to join ranks and help steamroller these cascades of aggravations along.

You will seldom find anyone willing to admit that their food plotting efforts and expenditures are anything but benevolent acts of concern for nature's benefit......lol. I have suspicions that align more closely with yours, but for the sake of giving all these people the benefit of the doubt, I chose not to highlight my suspicions. The one thing that makes plotting far more palatable than baiting is the beneficial side effects, and they are significant. Food plotting is something that I have avoided because of my aversion to "conditioning" wild deer to make my hunting easier. That is a personal hang-up that I do not expect others to abide by, but is just something to further distance my hunting from livestock manipulation. But I have no problems with those that enjoy that activity ...... As long as it doesn't impact my own hunting (and so far it hasn't).

I don't know why it would matter as to the age structure of deer that are attracted to bait. If you believe that baiting is an unfair advantage, why does anyone care whether it is a 1.5 year old or one of the "big boys"? Oh, and by the way, for those whose ethics are established by antler size, there is no shortage of photo and video evidence that shows plenty of those "big boys" munching down bait in full daylight .

I've been watching a lot of the 10-day weather forecasts and have noted that in 100% of the cases, a 10-day forecast changes with each subsequent day such that when you get 4 or 5 days into the forecast, not one prediction survives. It is a very talented meteorologist that can accurately predict weather for one day. And here we are reading about forecasts of several months out.

I could live with another posting system that made use of paint, but I would also like to have the sign option. I use aluminum signs which are basically a one time effort. I have seen paint fade because of weather such that it would have to be replenished every few years..... especially a dull passive color like purple. My signs are bright yellow and are now going on 42 years and still stand out like a beacon. In fact the original bright yellow blazing painted marks from the original survey are long gone now. I have no problem having my name and address inked on the signs, since that info is available to anyone who wants to take a short drive down to the Town Hall and look on the huge aerial photo. It is public information available to anyone. Also, while I cant remember the web address, I have seen that Aerial photo/owner's address information on the internet also.

There have been a whole rash of counties recently that have gone from shotgun only to allowing rifles. Time will tell if that was a smart decision in all of those counties. I believe that there is no clear-cut answer as to whether it is an improvement in safety or just the opposite. My opinion now is that the long term safety record will answer that question. Ontario County had rifles used for the first time last year. I bought a great deer rifle and immediately christened it with two deer. I love it. No shoulder-mangling 12 gauge to fight with every year. This year another couple of counties got added. I think when it all gets settled out, almost all of the counties will eventually allow rifles unless safety records start slipping. I'm not sure how you go about getting the ball rolling. In our case, it was a few individual town supervisors (one in particular) that took up the challenge of talking the rest of the board of county supervisors in proposing a resolution. Maybe the first thing is to find a receptive town supervisor that has some clout with the county board.

And so, I have to ask again as the campaign time keeps on ticking.....Has anyone even seen an Astorino advertisement yet?

Just for some educational value, exactly how do you do a reverse look-up on a posted picture. I didn't even know you could do that.

I think I answered my own question. According to the map : http://www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/28605.html#Black There are only 10 WMUs that have the new early bear season in the southern zone. That may explain why there is not a huge flurry of participation ..... lol.

Are processors open for business yet? You might be completely on your own as far as getting that thing into a cooler. And your point about tracking a wounded bear into the next day is a valid one. We keep pushing big-game seasons earlier and earlier toward the hot summer months without a single thought about recovery problems and what the temperatures can do to the meat. I think at this time of the year I would have game bags in my pack to stop the fly infestations.

I am still waiting to hear that people are enjoying this early bear season. So far there's only been one (maybe two) who stated that they have participated in this new season. Why is that? By the way, how many actual WMUs does this new season actually involve?

As I said, most people after they have gotten 1/4 or 1/2 mile in couldn't even trace their own property line if it isn't marked in some way. How on earth can you expect someone else to know where an unmarked line is located. Like I said above, a clearly posted line is as much benefit to the landowner as it is to those wishing not to trespass. It is roughly similar to that old saying that "good fences make good neighbors"....... roughly ... lol.

An accidental dryfire can be just as devastating on a recurve or longbow as a compound. Delamination or lamination splits and splinters are often the result. And there is no putting those back together unless it is a take-down. As far as the havoc an arrow can cause when accidentally released, there is no doubt things can go seriously wrong generally resulting in a wrecked or lost arrow. I will say that while I have had mis-triggers while using releases, I can't recall ever having that happen when I was using my fingers for release. But anyway, in this particular case, there was no arrow in the bow, and the cost could have been (and often is) the bow and not just an arrow.

If I had not insisted (and paid dearly for) a paint marked entire property line from a survey that I had done, it would have been almost impossible to follow my own property line. So, I have no idea how anyone else would have a chance of defining my property if I hadn't kept it marked with posted signs all these years. Seriously, when you are out in the hills and valleys, it is absolutely impossible to walk a straight line from corner marker to corner marker. And if there are bends in property lines, and nothing marking where the line really is, a hunter would have to do a full survey in order to stay off the property. This idea of staying off unposted property is another one of those things that sound a lot better than actually being practical or even possible at times. My posted lines are as much for my own benefit as they are for those trying to stay off my property. The original survey painted blaze marks are now long gone, and if I didn't keep that survey marked on the land with posted signs, the whole usefulness of the survey would be gone.

I have had a couple of catastrophic failures like that before, and each time, I had limbs and bow parts flying past my head. I swear that a path of a couple of inches different by all that stuff could have resulted in fatal or life-changing consequences. I recall back in the late 60s, that loud "whirring" sound as a very heavy solid epoxy bow limb from an old Bear Whitetail flew past my ear. Pretty scary stuff! So, as bad as you feel right now, and as expensive as it might get, be thankful that you survived it without serious personal injury.