Doc

Pretty smart goat ...... he doesn't even have to petal. He has his human trained real good!

I spent all but 6 years living in very quiet, thinly populated, rural, surroundings with a mix of farms and hundreds of un-broken, forested, acreage and extremely high deer density, semi-wilderness trapping available and 10-20 minutes from some of the best fishing that the Finger Lakes can offer. And all this with only a 35-40 minute commute to several large industrial complexes (including Kodak, Bausch & Lomb, Xerox, and many others) which have always supplied some very high wages and benefits. How many other states have arrangements like that? Pretty good .... eh? Am I proud that I was born, raised, and lived my entire life there in a paradise like that? Well absolutely pleased, happy, and fortunate. But I probably wouldn't use the term "proud". It just doesn't fit.

And I'm not sure there is any place on earth that doesn't need change. But yes, even the country that we live in is primarily an accident of life for those of us that were born here. Nationalism is a kind of pride I suppose, since there are things that a country stands for that can be pointed to and viewed with pride. But I can't see anything that anyone could whip up any pride about that relates to any one of the states. Seriously, I don't have that kind of emotion relative to a state.

No, there's nothing to be proud of about where you were born and raised. For most of us it is a simple accident of life's events. For example, I didn't choose to be born here. I didn't choose to be raised here. And there was no particular challenge or achievement in staying here other than some great occupational benefits. It is your life and accomplishments that you can take pride in, not some point on a map.

This comment makes absolutely no sense. Why would I care where you have "vended"? Why would I come up and introduce myself? I have no idea or concern about what kinds of difficulties you imagine that I have. And, As far as your phone number, I can't imagine why you would think I would be interested in that......lol. Did you get your replies mixed up in the wrong thread? I have no idea what the hell you are talking about. But anyway getting back to my original comment, when an article starts out like an infomercial, I lose interest real quick.

I'm thinking that unless you are dealing with extreme cases, it is not likely that you can successfully come up with rule-of-thumb mental diagnosis that can serve as a litmus test for legal gun sales. How many times have we read interviews with friends and acquaintances of killers that came up with this kind of quote: "Gosh, he seemed like a real nice normal person". What the heck, sometimes a single event can send people over the edge.

Oh, you will. It sounds like they are serious now about getting it passed.

I have a pile of rifles too, but only my old model 94 Winchester was of suitable caliber for deer. So when talk began about deer rifles in Ontario County, I had a great excuse to go out and buy a new American Ruger in .270 caliber. It got broken in twice this past season. It was great. No more smashed shoulder from that old 12 gauge Ithaca Deerslayer. Finally a deer gun where I can pick out the individual hair that I want to hit (Well maybe that's a bit of exaggeration ....lol).

But you have no vision other than to run away and hide. Who can put any stock in someone's words who maintains that kind of attitude as their guide in life? I'm sorry, but you have exposed yourself as a quitter. I don't deal with quitters.

That response sounds very encouraging. I know that over here in Ontario County, we went through a few screw-ups and re-do's before it finally came out right. So, do you have a good deer rifle all ready to use?

Ha-ha.... The guy lost me right at the beginning with this little paragraph: "It is time for my quarterly request for donations. As we agreed, my columns and this site will continue as long as your support is forthcoming."

But surely you must see how credibility dissolves when all you do is sit in the corner, sucking your thumb, and whining about how all is lost. Frankly that sort of nonsense gets very old, very quickly. Someone crying about their condition that has absolutely no vision as to how to get out of it really only succeeds in appearing pathetic and really quite irrelevant. At some point, you really have to move past problem statement and move onto problem solutions, or nothing you have to say means anything at all. Your approach focuses on discouraging those who are inspired to actually work on solutions as you try to recruit more whiners to sit in the corner and do nothing. Who the hell needs that ......other than Cuomo and friends. We don't need any more whiners, we need doers. If you can't do anything positive then at least get the hell out of the way of those that will and stop trying to convince others to join your pathetic troop of quitters.

Just judging by what went on in Ontario County relative to the rifle laws, I would say that you guys over there in Livingston ought to be hearing something by now if it is going to be acted on for this year. Check with your town supervisor, or anyone in the county government. They ought to be able to tell you whether it is an active issue or not, and exactly where it is in the legislative process. Sometimes it just needs somebody to show some interest in order to get it moving.

Every couple of years I pick up one of those cheap Styrofoam targets at Walmarts and shoot it up until it won't stop the arrows anymore. I just do that for a week or two to test broadhead flight, so there's not a ton of arrows going into them. I generally get about 2 or 3 years out of a target. The only problem is that open-cell Styrofoam can get pretty messy. The other targets including my 3-D deer target only sees field tip for use. There is no way that I'm going to shoot up one of those expensive 3-D deer targets with broadheads .... lol.

When you receive government assistance for pond construction, are there some strings attached to the use of those ponds such as fishing seasons and state fishing limits? I seem to have a very vague recollection of something like that.

Oh no. There is always more than one solution. They don't always make any sense, but there's always options. The reason I keep asking that question is because usually, pointing out problems is only half of any situation. Generally it has absolutely no value to whine about situations that disturb us without at least some idea of a course of action. So naturally when I find people that find democracy to be an unviable government choice, the first question that pops into my mind is what do you have that is better and how do you intend to implement it? For you and VJP the solution seems to be to run away. It's not a very elegant solution, but perhaps the best you can come up with ... I don't know. So naturally when you picked up Trial153, who also is quick with the criticisms, the same question was first to come to mind. That's why I asked it. Once in a while I will encounter a problem that I have no clue how to solve. Generally that means that I have resolved that I can live with the condition as it exists, or that it doesn't warrant the time or effort to construct a way to proceed. I am having a hard time believing that anyone would consider issues of government as being so unimportant that time should not be spent at least considering solutions. Is running away a viable solution? ..... probably not for most people, but I guess it is ok with some people. Just simply pride usually keeps us from accepting that as a solution. I personally reject that direction, simply because I refuse to let liberals dictate my life and force me out of my home state. Others may not be so sensitive to that. It's an individual thing I guess. Other people such as Terry Nichols and Tim McVeigh had a little more violent idea of solutions. Others like the Taliban have their vision of what sort of government they would like to force on the U.S. Basically, there are all kinds of solutions around. asking which one someone who is unhappy with our system favors is not really an unusual question, and gives one an idea of just how much actual thought has gone into issues that seem to bother them so deeply.

So, what are you proposing as a solution, or do you subscribe to the philosophy of your other two cohorts, "when in doubt, run away from confrontation". Have the liberals forced you into retreat also, giving up all hope and simply opting out from any responsible reaction. You too have accepted irrelevance? Yes, many New Yorkers have. We even have some that are satisfied with letting the liberals run them out of the state. They probably won't be missed much because they are of little political value anyway. Yes you have a point about us being in the minority but if you take a look around, you will find that most victories are actually accomplished by minorities. Generally speaking, minorities seem to fight a little harder and are a bit more dedicated, focused, and single-minded to their causes than the apathetic majorities. Of course we are finding a few exceptions to that rule here where we have a few that are more prone to run away. But I still believe that we have a core of dedicated people who can remain focused on trying to actually do something about problems. At least those that stand and fight will have had the satisfaction that they did what was right. Just like other things in life, no guarantees come with the effort, but there is one guarantee that says that if you cower in the corner and opt out of the system, there definitely will be no change. That much IS guaranteed.

I can see that they have you pretty well scared to death.... kind of to the point of paralysis. But don't feel bad. Not everyone is cut out for activism and find it a lot easier to run away from confrontation. I just don't want to see you taking a whole lot of potentially useful people with you with your defeatism.

I've got to say that various articles on wild mushrooms have simply scared me right away from taking advantage of this free food. I have read stories of poisonous "look-alikes", and other cases where people thought they had perfectly safe mushrooms and have wound up terribly wrong. I just don't have the confidence that I will always be right. Can't seem to get by that.

Well, maybe it is all them damned bowhunters out there getting to the deer before you get a chance at them......lol.

Probably .... How about you? You doing ok these days?

An observation: To me, it looks like a slight bump above and slightly behind the eye. Is it possible that that little bump is an indication of where antlers might be growing some day? In other words is that an early indication that this fawn may be a buck? I don't know, but I just happened to notice that and was wondering if deer are born with antler indications in place. Just a silly question, but I had to ask. By the way, congrats on having pictures of such sharpness and detail that makes it possible to see these little subtle details.

I know that. I can't compare them to bluebirds, but then it isn't me that is standing in the way. And if you re-read my comment, you will see that I am not advocating that comparison of the two species. I am simply trying to answer the question posed in the title of this thread. There are organizations that prey on this ignorance to whip public opinion up against any such attempts to expand hunting of any sort. To your average person, their only experience with mourning doves is watching them at the bird feeder and their association of them with "song-birds". You asked the question as to why NY doesn't have a dove season, and I offer these non-scientific but very real emotional forces as being a possible reason. Frankly, what other possible reasons could there be? So if you are trying to establishing a dove season, it is these kinds of emotional reactions that you first have to deal with. I believe those are the real road-blocks that have to be worked around or removed before you can proceed. How do you do that? ..... beats me. Probably the answer lies more with "moving around" the road blocks than trying to pull them down. Quiet, covert, side-stepping has a whole lot less to do with changing human nature and probably has the best chance of success.....lol.

The only cry-baby that I am hearing here is some stubby guy that's jealous of all the goodies that bowhunters have managed to fight for and get. However, you are nailing down the point that I have stated for a long time that when it comes to hunters against hunters, there are people other than some bowhunters who can claim the top prize in that category.

Oh your point is crystal clear. Things get a bit tough and you turn tail and run. The problem is that your kind always run out of places to hide. That attitude makes it plain that when you leave, nothing of real importance will have been lost because you have never learned how to stand and fight anyway. So if you want to blame everyone else for the failures you see in NY, take a minute to look in the mirror and see where the failures really originate. Maybe that is the point you really ought to be examining.