Doc

That unit looks plenty strong enough to simply put a cement block under each of the four corners, and then you will have 8" of circulating air access from the bottom. The plastic tarp idea is pretty good too, but watch out for hornets and such taking up residence. They might get to be a bit testy when you lift up the tarp to get at the wood ..... lol.

About 3 or 4 years ago, we had a bear come through and stay for a couple of nights. He grabbed the trash can and dragged up through the woods scattering garbage and trash all over the woods. Then he bent down the bird feeder to get to the seed (pretty heavy iron water pipe) and chewed and smashed the feeder. Then he took off for parts unknown, never to be seen again. I have not seen tracks, scat, or actual sightings since then. I don't know why, we have some stretches of woods that go for miles without any breaks. It's kind of perfect bear country, but no sign or activity. So I could go out and sit in the woods until mold started growing on me and still never see a bear. So it's not too likely that I will be sitting out there pretending to be bear hunting, sweating and swatting bugs. Maybe some day if some bears decide to take up residence in the area. But even then, as big as this woods is, and as few bears as there are, the odds of actually being able to get within shooting distance are pretty slim (other than some dumb-luck chance encounter). That's the long answer ..... The short answer is .... "no". If I have time on my hands, I'll likely be squirrel hunting and actually get something for the effort.....lol.

What do you think about putting that firewood rack up on blocks just to get the frame off the ground so it doesn't rot? I'm thinking of building one over in our picnic area, and your design looks like something I might use.

So was this just a cattle auction, or the whole contents of the farm? Are you all getting out of farming completely?

You can't turn on the TV without seeing Cuomo's ugly face. Meanwhile his opposition is in "stealth" mode. This is shaping up to be a one-sided blow-out. There's nothing evil, sinister, or conspiratorial about that. It's just a case of one guy has more money than God, and an incumbent's natural edge. Astorino simply has no support, cash or name recognition. Time is running out.

You're right! While everyone is running around looking for the quick fix, there is something very insidious going on culturally and socially. It's all a whole lot more complicated than I think most people realize or are willing to accept. It appears to be a social evolution toward violence with a flair for shock and notoriety. It has nothing to do with clip size or evil connotations of firearm appearances. My big concern is while all these people are running around seeking "feel-good" easy fixes, the stealth causes are continuing to morph into more and more evil and monstrous events. We are still worrying about how a gun looks, while the next generation of horrors may involve bombs and who the heck knows what all.

So, is anybody looking to buy themselves one worthless beat-up Gander Mountain in Henrietta who so far can hardly compete even without competition. They will be forced to clean up their act or get out of town. I love it! Ain't competition great?

Something has to die for others to live. We hunters understand that. It still isn't a pleasant thing to contemplate. It seems unfortunate that Mother Nature seldom is concerned with the humanity of the process.

The look on that coon's face says it all. I think he wishes he had a stick to poke you with ..... lol. So when you replace that camera (and I'm sure that will be soon), are you going to buy the same thing or try to upgrade some? Judging from the quality of your pictures, I would tend to replace it with the same thing.

It seems that the anti-gun/antihunting powers constantly keep us on the defensive. It is simply one issue after the other, which generally are simply intended to keep the hunting/gun world in a constant state of turmoil and harassment. Most of the time the burden of proof winds up on us to try and prove their science faulty. Frankly, I am getting quite tired of reacting to every little needle that they stick in the doll.

Now that I'm older, here's what I've discovered: 1. I realized that at my age I don't really give a rat's ass anymore. 2. If walking is good for your health, the postman would be immortal. 3. Whale swims all day, only eats fish, drinks water, but is still fat. 4. Rabbit runs and hops and only lives 15 years, while a tortoise doesn't run and does mostly nothing, yet it lives for 150 years. And they tell us to exercise? I don't think so. 5. I started out with nothing, and I still have most of it. 6. My wild oats are mostly enjoyed with prunes and bran buds. 7. Funny, I don't remember being absent-minded. 8. Funny, I don't remember being absent-minded. 9. If all is not lost, then where the heck is it? 10. It was a whole lot easier to get older than it was to get wiser. 11. Some days, you're the top dog, some days you're the hydrant. 12. I wish the buck really did stop here, I sure could use a few more of them. 13. Kids in the back seat cause accidents. 14. Accidents in the back seat cause kids. 15. It's hard to make a comeback when you haven't been anywhere. 16. The world only beats a path to your door when you're in the bathroom. 17. If God wanted me to touch my toes, he'd have put them on my knees. 18. When I'm finally holding all the right cards, everyone wants to play chess. 19. It's not hard to meet expenses . . . They're everywhere. 20. The only difference between a rut and a grave is the depth. 21. These days, I spend a lot of time thinking about the hereafter . . . I go somewhere to get something, and then wonder what I'm "here after". 22. Funny, I don't remember being absent-minded.

It occurs to me that you can have the best mental health care system in the world and still be inadequate to prevent all loony's from "losing it" and going postal. But is it a gun control issue? It seems to me that after decades of annually piling on volume after volume of new gun restrictions and now having the mass slayings increasing, perhaps it is time to understand that doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results may be a bit insane in itself. Maybe it's time to crawl out of that box and start looking at other solutions. Perhaps those solutions lie in the mental health system, or even some other social area that we have not explored yet.

Sometimes it's the only way to get an unbiased opinion that is not aimed at supporting predetermined assumptions organized to create a snappy, attention-getting news article.

It gets even more interesting when you actually talk to some of the people who have to live under the healthcare systems of other countries. Check out some of the waiting times to get simple procedures performed. Studies and surveys are great, but if you want the straight scoop, just converse with some of the people from countries that claim to have a superior healthcare system.

First of all, I noticed that fisher2 specifically kept his remarks to the practice range shooting only. I love taking super long shots on targets. The additional challenge is what makes a practice session fun and interesting. Just watching that arrow traveling down range over 80 yards or so and hopefully sticking it in the target is a pretty great rush. As noted by most here, trying to take that target range success and applying it to hunting conditions would definitely be another story. I have often thought about deer jumping the string and how that problem would be accentuated by distance. But that is rather dramatic. How about a deer just suddenly deciding to walk? According to "The Deer of North America" by Leonard Lee Rue, a deer walks 3-1/2 to 4 MPH. So using that speed, if a guy was shooting some super fast bow, 400 fps for example, at 100 yards and the deer decided to start walking as the bowhunter shot, over 100 yards, the deer could move 46.2". Even at 50 yards he could move 23.1". That's not running, or bolting, or evading, that's just deciding to take a step or two. Never mind all the other points that have been made about buck fever, wind, a little form hick-up, and maybe some unforeseen twig over those long distances. Just consider a simple decision of the deer to start walking (which eventually he's definitely going to do at some point). The longer the distance shot, the worse the wound or if you're lucky a complete miss. I'm not sure why people refuse to acknowledge that a bow and arrow is a close range hunting implement. That used to be accepted as the reason for taking on the challenge of bowhunting. It doesn't matter what you can do on the range at measured distances and at a stationery target. That is all great for impressing your friends and perhaps collecting a tournament win or two. But it probably is not all that great an idea to try applying all that to hunting situations.

Normally I would not post this kind of unpleasant picture, but I need and opinion. Last week I posted a thread about a fawn laying in our yard, seemingly healthy and content, and we continued down the driveway on our way to town. Later we returned and the fawn was gone ...... no surprise. But yesterday, I found the remains of this dead fawn, less than 30 yards from where this fawn was laying. The amount of time between these two events was exactly 1 week. I know that none of us is likely to be any sort of forensic experts, but does the remains in the pictures look like a fawn that could have died 1 week ago. To me it looks older than just one week and likely is not the same fawn, but I certainly am not very sure of that. So what do you all think. Has that dead fawn been dead for a week or does it look a lot older than that? Just looking for opinions.

Judging from some of the anemic-looking, pasty-faced vegans that I have seen, maybe they should be taking a lesson from that cat.

So I hop in the car and start down the driveway on my way into town, there in the middle of the lawn is fawn laying there looking around just like it was hiding from the world. No where's near any bushes or any cover at all ...... completely out in the open, and barely paying any attention to me at all. So I just pulled way over to the far side of the driveway and drove slowly past, and he didn't even twitch. When I got home, he was gone. My guess is that when I came out of the house, the doe probably left the lawn, and the fawn instinctively knew to lay down and be still. Nobody ever explained to him that part of that defense is to be hidden ..... lol. Anyway all's well that ends well, and hopefully this isn't a sign of the little deer's intelligence, or lack thereof.

It sounds like all the Gander Mountain stores may be screwed up. I finally stopped going to the Henrietta store because the shelves were empty of anything that I went up there to get. And it's not a short trip either. Now I drive even a bit farther in the opposite direction and go to the Auburn Bass Pro Shop. I may not always like the price I have to pay, but they are stocked significantly better than Gander Mountain, and I usually find the products that I need.

It's interesting to see the sites that some of these crazies frequent.....lol. There certainly is no shortage of wacky fiction available online. I really liked the picture part way down the page of the girl whose body formed directly from her neck into a pair of feet. Yeah there is a good place for credible info .... ha-ha

Yup I have those little helpers too, and they are definitely more destructive. Those stinky guys must also be able to hear grubs crawling around underground. I can't even imagine having hearing that good. The crows are pretty neat about the way they harvest the grubs. I can't even see where that beak went in to get them.

Apparently there are some changes that occur when the fawning season arrives that causes quite a bit of deer activity. If I had to guess, I would say that last years fawns are ditched so that the doe can find a good place to give birth. That may be leaving all these deer out on their own for the first time in their lives. That could be what gets them into trouble with cars. At any rate, every year, I notice the same thing you do. I really wonder sometimes if autos don't thin the population more than hunters do. There are times when it seems that the dummies aren't able to safely cross roads any better than possums.

I have a grub problem in my front lawn. But lately, I have had a couple of buddies out there helping with that problem. At least I think that's what they are doing. There is a flock of about 5 crows that daily show up out there and wander around the grass. All of a sudden one will stop and drive his beak into the dirt and come up with what looks like a lawn grub. I don't know how they do it. I see them walking along and then stop, kind of tip their head to one side like they are listening for something and then stuff their beak into the dirt. That sure looks like one great feat of hearing. They must be hearing those grubs munching on the lawn roots. I didn't know they did that. They're welcome around anytime they want to visit.

Thank you ..... That was exactly the point that I was stumbling around, trying to make in a not-so-clear fashion.

Interestingly enough, I just finished reading a newspaper article that claims that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service reported a 3% increase from 2006 to 2011, in some form of wildlife recreation according to the last 5-year survey. So according to them, wildlife recreation is making a significant comeback. Not really on-topic, but interesting in terms of outdoor store expectations. Perhaps there is something about that corner of NYS that is making them lag the trend.