Doc

Really? Do you really think there will be that many guys out there? Maybe it depends on where you live, but here in Ontario County, I will guarantee that I will never see a bear hunter even on state land. Oh, maybe the first year or two until they realize how totally unrealistic it is to go out hunting specifically for bears only. I imagine that most places will see more pressure from small game hunters than bear hunters......unless guys start sneaking bait out there and setting up illegal operations .... lol.

The following news article appeared in our local paper the other night: In order to vote in the September primaries you must register by August 15. To be registered, New York residents must deliver or mail their registration form at least 25 days before the election in which they want to vote. In order to vote in the September 9 state and local primary elections, applications must be postmarked no later than August 15 and received by a board of elections no later than August 20. In order to vote in the November 4 General Election, applications must be post marked no later than October 10 and received by a board of elections no later than October 15. Registered voters without a party affiliation may only vote in general and special elections. This election has special significance for gun owners. If you are not registered to vote this would be the year when your vote may make a difference. If you know others that are not registered, try to get them registered. Do not procrastinate. How to register: http://www.usa.gov/Citizen/Topics/Voting/Register.shtml Where to register: http://www.elections.ny.gov/CountyBoards.html NYS Board of Elections: http://www.elections.ny.gov/ For further info check out the following thread: http://huntingny.com/forums/topic/17272-lest-we-forget/

I was just noticing how many people on this thread had parental guidance into hunting.... or uncles or parents of friends or grandparents. The percentage is huge. It just points up the importance of taking kids (or others) out hunting if you intend the sport to grow or maintain. There are very few self motivated or self taught people here. They all had somebody that gave them the idea and helped them get started.

We're all going to die of jungle-rot! But think about this ...... If we continue with these below average temps and above average precipitation levels into the winter months, this might become a good year to buy a snowmobile for purposes of survival .... lol.

My first hunting expedition was when I was 11 years old. I built a pretty darn nice hickory longbow, and with my willow arrows, went up in the loft of our barn and spent the afternoon getting two pigeons. I cleaned them and my Mother cooked them up. That was my first hunt. It's now 59 years later, and I still use a bow as my preferred weapon for my hunting.

Ok, what was the call they were using? I have heard that noise up on top of our hill at night (in the dark) while coming home from a hunt but couldn't see what was making it. I always figured it was two (or more) coons fighting, but never knew for sure. So when I heard this ruckus on their game caller, I had to ask.....What the heck is it?

Lol .... Not running a whole lot of rounds through a shotgun is one thing I definitely can sympathize with. I used to hope I could get away with as little target shooting as possible with my old Ithaca 12 gauge shoulder mangler. Most years, my pre-season slug usage was exactly 5 just to be sure the scope was still on. One of the primary reasons that I supported the rifle law in Ontario County was so that I could stuff that old weapon of shoulder anguish in the closet. Oh sure, I am certain that I have gone well past 200 rounds through that thing over the past 45 years that I have owned it, but other than when I was shooting at deer, I can't say that I ever enjoyed any of it. Now my .270 has already seen way more than 200 rounds and it's only a year old. Target shooting with that critter is a pleasure and I do it often.

I'll bet their poor sales clerks get frequent grief from irate customers about this policy. Imagine working in a store like that and having to attempt to justify selling these products. It must get pretty ugly at times. I wonder if even the resident store manager has any say in what products will be sold there. What do you think, could these products be forced on the store by Gander Mountain or whichever store by the home office? Does it do any good to complain? Is there really anyone to complain to there that could actually do anything about it?

Here are the rare antiques that I typically come up with. This trip was the search of an old sap house half way up the hill. I know the remains of the structure are no later than the 1940's, so you would have thought that I might come across something old and rare. You would think something of value would have slipped out of their pockets or would have been left behind, but no-o-o-o, nothing but crap and junk.....lol. I have done old abandoned houses and cabins and foundations and came up with the same kind of crap. Old coins? .... those penny-pinching old-timers watched every coin they ever owned and never dropped anything. Old toys? .... I don't think they ever gave their kids any. Rings, bracelets, darned old farmers never had any of that stuff apparently. Anyway, I have lost a bit of enthusiasm for the metal detecting.....lol.

Oh Man ...... Another tough night.

As the fight got into the later rounds, the ref had trouble breaking up the clinches.

Looks like target practice could get a bit expensive, shooting all those arrows at the same spot. I think I would be using the other 4 spots on that target. You'll get longer target life and longer arrow life too. When you reach a certain level of proficiency, it pays to scatter those arrows around a bit.

Ha-ha.... I think they have their hands full just trying to be all things to all people. By the time they get done with managing the politics of their job, there may not be a lot of time and resources left to do much else .... lol. It's amazing how they always come up with a total population number of deer every year. Ever wonder how they do that?

Sometime in September, we have a new store coming to Canandaigua. Its a Runnings. It is kind of like a cross between Walmart and Loews and tractor supply, with apparently a rather large section of outdoor sporting goods (my kind of store .....lol). What makes it interesting is that they seem to have emphasized the fact that they will have "a large inventory of hunting, fishing, and archery equipment and accessories, as well as guns" (their words). It remains to be seen what opportunities they will have there to purchase that kind of stuff, but I am always happy to see another store that will add to the competition for sales of these kinds of products. The store where they will be located is a huge building (92,000 square feet). Anybody ever been to one of these stores or know anything about them? They are from the Midwest, and we are their first expansion into the eastern part of the country.

It seems weird that some of these counties have a couple of bears wandering around the entire county, and they have an open season on them. Are they trying to eliminate them from spreading throughout NY? I always thought there had to be a surplus or some negative impact to critters before allowing hunting them. I am all for new hunting opportunities, but it seems it would be better to have populations established before opening a season on them.

I never have figured out how many rounds it takes to familiarize myself with a gun. I simply like to shoot, and routinely put way more shots through all my guns than is minimally required. But I will say that if it takes a box or two to get it sighted in and shooting well, you may have bought the wrong gun .... lol. Blowing up more rounds than that is more about you than the gun, and well worth the time and money in fun, recreation, and learned shooting ability.

You know there is a message to taken away from these kinds of stories. When you consider that each one of these kinds of community actions represents places where entire communities have passed judgment on killing as a method of population control. One of the main concepts that keep hunting acceptable in our society id the idea of it being the only viable population control. Now we have entire communities publicly stating that they are against the concept of hunting. It really makes you wonder just how secure our right to hunt really is or what the future holds for hunting. Do we still believe that we are winning the hearts and minds of the non-hunting public? Do we still believe that the anti-hunting forces are not making headway and inroads into the attitudes of society towards hunting? I find this stuff more scary than comical.

Sorry, but your point is going over my head. I don't get it.

Dr. Woods ...... Lol. That's a good one. I'd be using that if I wasn't retired.

Impressive looking tree. I have only seen another one and it looked like it had been grafted onto the top of a regular maple because about half way up the leafed part it abruptly changed from the normal solid green leaves to all varigated. That one looked pretty weird to me, but your daughter's tree looks great.

It's my turn to lead! ..... No, no, you lead on the last dance.

Yes, some of this nonsense sounds so much like the words of the PETA-gang. "Bowhunters do this, gun hunters do that". My gosh don't we get enough ignorant criticisms from the animal rights crowd without helping them out with our own ignorant comments? We sure are a self-destructive bunch aren't we?

I often wonder how many of these super-precautions that we routinely consider as being absolutely indispensable, are simply carryovers from a unique experience that some famed outdoor writer had once in his life ..... lol. How many times or what percentage of times will a deer actually spot you because your face is uncovered? Does it ever happen? Does the deer spot your uncovered face, or simply a motion that they would have caught even if you wore a complete camoed face mask. I guess no one is going to conduct any kind of study on that, so we engage in a whole lot of "just-in-case" rituals. I still think about the old-timers that always seemed to have success in their plaid jackets and blue-jeans, and no attempt at facial coverings. It just makes you wonder sometimes what is about actual deer hunting necessities and what is about selling products to hunters.

The DEC is truly in an absolute "No Win" position ..... All the time ..... lol. So much from the hunter's standpoint is subjective, and at completely all ends of opinion. We fight and battle in heated arguments about all these things where our only education is based on opinion. The DEC has to operate in the middle of all that emotion, chaos, and argument. And then on the very rare occasion that they do make a majority of hunters happy, there is some other political entity nipping at their heels ...... lol. And of course when they do arrive at some grand plan, we have Cuomo buying votes with the resources that the DEC needed to implement their plan. How on earth do they ever find men and women that are willing to endure all that?