Doc

Yeah, this is about the time of year when we used to be busy as heck picking black berries for ten cents a quart when I was a kid. I remember the hours out in the hot sun, and the occasional grass snake that would be laying up in the bushes .... lol. Actually even at 10 cents a quart, I used to make quite a bit of money. It bought me some of the cool clothes that I wanted and added traps to my collection and paid for my subscription to Fur-fish-&Game. And I always seemed to have that dark blue stain around my mouth. between the berries, grapes and bagging wheat on the combine and other farm chores, I always seemed to have enough money.

Ha-ha .... What a great way to break into the sport.

Lol.... I am sitting here wondering how the DEC should at least attempt to ensure that a junior hunter is being accompanied, supervised, or mentored short of holding face to face interviews with the attending adult (not exactly practical. So what is practical? Well, if you are qualified to be licensed, at least they know that you have been exposed to the hunter training safety course. Let's face it, that is the only way that they can at least put the odds in favor of the mentor knowing safe from unsafe. And I am aware that hunter safety training didn't necessarily take with all hunters. I didn't say that it is an iron-clad guarantee. I think they forced to play the odds on that one simply because there are no guarantees. And of course the other half of the story is that the DEC definitions do not specify requiring a weapon to be hunting or participating in hunting. They have words in there that include "disturbing, harrying, worrying whether they result in taking or not, and every attempt to take and every act of assistance to any other person in taking or attempting to take wildlife." Whether we like it or not, those are the words that are written in Environmental Conservation law, and the DEC and we are bound by that law. We may not like the law, but that's not a requirement.

Interesting picture. Knowing that bears are run by dogs, it makes you wonder why this bear seems to be going out of his way for a confrontation.

That is because we have the forum whose title includes politics. My point was that perhaps it should not. As a moderator, I do not feel that I have the power to change the layout or structure of the forum. I see that as the site owner's area of power and decision. The fact is that as long as it is entitled a political forum, I should have no grounds or rightful power to delete those posts in that forum. That doesn't mean that I don't have an opinion (which is what you are referring to).

7 pages have been wasted on this non-topic that basically has only moved 17 people to care about it enough to vote for a change (and I suspect nearly all of those were just expressing disgust with recent direction of the political forum). As a percentage of the membership is concerned, this is a non-issue. 7 pages about nothing but nonsense. And the funniest part of it all is that it has clogged up the most recent list more than the political topics ever did. This is starting to get more and more goofy as time goes on. I'll tell you what, keep adding in the posts. Keep clogging up your "most recent" list. I don't use it anyway for reasons I already stated. And when you get tired of burning band width, maybe you will do what any other member would have done who has a requested change, and that would be to contact the site owner.

Hey, I have one of those pygmy panthers. Looks just like that one. By the way is there any bad luck associated with having your path crossed by a pygmy panther?

Fascinating! That article was great. I'll be keeping my eyes open for it. Who knows, maybe someday it will become an annual activity for me too. The combination of scouting, walking (exercise), and looking for a cash crop is an intriguing thought.

One thing comes to mind as I read this thread. It seems to me that there are a lot of people who cannot control their urges to enter a forum that pisses them off. Why is that? Is it like a car wreck.... you really don't want to see anything gory but you just can't make yourself not look .....lol. There are a few forums here that I have absolutely no interest in and by golly, I don't go into them. It really seems so simple. Also I don't rely on the 5 latest items to indicate what I will read, because I know darned well that I am going to miss more topics than I catch. Apparently we are looking for automated and mechanized systems to pick the topics for us. I guess I don't really have a lot of interest in that. I go to the forums that interest me and actually see all of what's new. If I don't have time for that, then I probably don't have time for the site.

I caught one or two of those programs. It was kind of interesting even though like you said everything was scripted. So, of course the big question is, "is there any of that stuff in NYS"? I'm not looking for the location of anyone's secret spot or anything. Just an idea of whether it grows in NYS or not.

Ha-ha That comment on it feeling like something illegal cracked me up. I know the exact feeling. I had it when I had an opportunity at wiping out maybe the last pheasant in our town. It would have been legal, but somehow it didn't feel like it should be. I'll be honest, there is no way that I would loose and arrow or fire a shot at a bear in our area even in a perfectly legal situation. Couldn't do it.

You know, we don't have a forum on religion, knitting, or flower propagation, so we do kind of try to keep things on theme here which is hunting fishing, trapping, and all things outdoors. Is that such an unusual thing for forums to insist that content have some general theme? Do people come here looking for political guidance in order to establish some kind of political ideology or party affiliation? Should they? Seriously ..... should they? I mean, really, I had a knee-jerk reaction when I first heard people complaining about what the political forum has become. But sitting back and thinking about it all, I guess I have to agree that forums are seldom opened up to every topic in the world and commonly they have some sort of core theme to their discussion content. And yes there are political aspects to outdoor issues. But even I have a hard time seeing the outdoor aspects to most of the recent posts on our style and quality of government. Those kinds of discussions are certainly legitimate topics for discussion someplace, but definitely not in a site that specializes in outdoor activities and issues. So maybe we do have an issue.

I think that is the answer. A license is proof that you qualify as a mentor. I guess you have to have some yardstick of qualifications when dealing with junior hunters. It may not be the best and most reliable proof of qualification, but it is better than nothing.

Don't you have bear season in Genesee County? I thought almost the whole state was opened up to some sort of season on bears now. Over here in my local piece of Ontario County, bears are as scarce as hen's teeth, and even here we have a season on them.

In the words of that famous American Rodney King, "Can't we all just get along?" The fact is that we have trolls wandering through the political forum in particular, constantly posting threads because they know full well that it will tread on the core values of other members and will start controversy in a personal way. It is not merely posting opinions, but it is "baiting" in the very best style of internet trolling. And those who complain loudest about civility and "getting along" are or have been the very worst offenders at one time or another. And now they stand here with a feigned deep sense of offense, pouting because they have reaped a bit of what they have sown. Also, I think it is the height of naiveté to think that incendiary issues that are engrained in hunting will not occasionally cause tempers to flair. And by the way, anyone standing there pretending that they have never engaged in that sort of thing themselves is being a bit disingenuous. Hunters are a passionate bunch of people with deeply engrained traditions and heritage, which doesn't always align well with each other. Most are not the sort of people that will back down when challenged. Anytime you have those conditions and then throw in a few trolls, you can expect the obvious to happen. And while a political forum is a natural for that kind of thing, it kind of stands to reason that when you poke at people's core beliefs, you might occasionally get bit, politics or otherwise. That is really quite natural and we all really know it despite how much we pretend to be bothered by it. But please do not stand here an feign victimization. It really is unbecoming, and nobody is really buying it.

Yep..... that's a danged long return on investment. So when you dig the roots, have you effectively killed that plant, or do you do something like in horse radishes where you replant part of the root? It seems to me that after centuries of digging them, the entire species would die out.

Hey ..... that rhymes!

Yuck!!! Seems like he is growing some extra roasts or steaks.

So, I have to wonder just what is the real benefit of Ginseng. Does it really have scientifically proven medicinal benefits. or is it just another old wives tale? One might think that if there were a legitimate need or use for the product, somebody would have domesticated it and turned it into a farming enterprise.

I do have a bit of an uneasy feeling about buying used archery equipment over the net sight-unseen. Hairline limb fracture from dry-firing, excessive cam lean from wear, screwed up cob-job attempts at repairs, all kinds of life-shortening abuse and lack of care can all be hidden prior to parting with your money without any way to obtain any sort of compensation or relief if you get stuck with one of these. I think I would rather buy from someone who has a reputation at stake and a reason for customer satisfaction. That certainly is no guarantee, but at least you have somebody you can go face-to-face with if there's a problem.

Scary stuff, isn't it?

Lol ..... I have actually steered out for bees when I'm on my mower. Also, it's not all that uncommon for me to stop the mower, get off and move a toad out of the way. No probably in the big scheme of things these acts don't make a damn bit of difference, but it's just the way I react to our beneficial critters.

Actually, this is not really all that bad an idea. There is some value to maintaining the primary theme of the site. It is useful and even necessary to have access to topics that relate to political aspects of hunting and outdoor issues, but we have seen how that can be abused and taken over by only a couple of members turning the whole thing into discussions of political ideology and party politics. I have to agree that that sort of thing has absolutely nothing to do with the outdoor theme of this site and probably should not be forcibly injected into this site the way it has been. Yes, in fact we do censor and limit content all the time. It is a natural part of any forum management. I would completely support a change that would limit political discussion to outdoor issues only, leaving the ideology and party politics to other sites that sort of thing as their theme.

There is information in the political forum that describes just who did and who didn't vote for the safe act. There is information where to find out who your legislators are and what district number you live in. There is info on how to get registered to vote. All of these things while under the general category of "politics", are also extremely important this year in terms of voting gun issues and other concerns of outdoor people. They are also essential when contacting your reps on hunting issues. Yes they are hunting subjects, gun subjects and political subjects that might not be available to members if we didn't have the political forum. The political forum was also very useful in keeping up with the Safe Act, and all the activity fighting the act. So in answer to the question asked in the title of this thread, the answer is "yes" on both counts, it is a hunting and political site and it serves the gun, bow, hunting, trapping, fishing, and other outdoor activities in an effort to keep our members in-the-know in terms of what the heck is going on around us and how our activities are impacted by the politics and political figures involved. I think that is essential to any outdoor site.

Frankly, I don't know who you know and what you know about requesting a site change, nor do I care. I'm telling you that if you are as upset as you sound, there is a procedure and a person to contact, to get the issue resolved (if in fact you are serious about getting the issue resolved). Nobody is saying you have broken any rules. I'm just suggesting some common sense positive action to scratch your itch. Seemed like a logical step to me. Certainly nothing to get all indignant about.