Doc

Could it be that the comment wasn't really an anti-hunting remark, but simply a suggestion that there might be less offensive public ways of stating that you're using the gun for hunting? We don't always have to present ourselves with maximum shock value and confrontation. As far as the original question, that may have simply been a way to start a conversation. Without hearing the tone or seeing the facial expressions and body language, it is hard to tell from the described scenario, just what the remarks really meant. Could have been all quite innocent. Lacking in person observation, I tend to give people the benefit of the doubt.

Ha-ha .... Bribing people to go to church? Seems kind of strange no matter what you are giving away.

Kind of difficult for him to argue "ignorance of the law" since he was lobbying for it ..... lol. Hang him!!!!

Just to present the other side of the coin..... Those of us who use the power of the editorial page can also do quite a bit of harm when presenting the gun owner's side of the Safe Act if not done carefully, thoughtfully and properly. An article that is written in any way that can be construed as extreme or written with poor grammar, spelling and word choices can really help the anti-gunners more than gun owners. It really is as much about perception as it is about the facts and the arguments. I think it would be a good idea to get a second opinion on whatever you compose from somebody that would not pull any punches about what they thought of your letter. Better yet, post it here and ask for a critique. We know that nobody pulls any punches here ..... lol.

I just read a headline in the Rochester paper that claims that 90% of the Great Lakes are frozen. I had no idea as to the extent of the ice. Who knows, maybe there is some starvation going on. They said something about the amount of Great Lakes frozen water is the greatest in 20 some years. They had some other neat stats about records and other features of the freezing.

I can't tell you how much pleasure I get from this story, but as ants said, I'm afraid this turkey will likely skate on this one, simply because of the political correctness of his public attitudes on guns.

Well, I suppose we have to keep in mind that it is entertainment. I suspect that if you followed someone around that lived a fairly primitive life, it would be very difficult to make a weekly show out of such boredom. So there has to be some fabrication involved. The trick is to simply enjoy these kinds of programs for what they are intended to be .... simply entertainment. However, it is entertainment to make fun of some of the drama that has been manufactured. I remember the Alaskan that ran the fly-in trapline had a snowmobile breakdown miles and miles from his cabin and was supposedly in potential grave danger as he was forced to walk all night to get back to camp. Forced to walk out??? Why not grab a ride with the guy running the camera .... ha-ha. And then there are the occasions where supposedly he is making a first trip out after a big storm, and yet he is riding on a well tracked-up snowmobile trail. But I guess we are not supposed to notice that .... lol. Ok, I can play along with that. I still enjoy some of these programs because I believe there is some truth in how these guys live, and I try not to dwell too hard on how much of that stuff is real.

Anybody involved in grafting limbs onto other trees? I have a Bartlett pear that never really took off (not enough light), and I have a seckel pear that is in great shape. The Bartlett will be coming out this year, so I want to try grafting several branches onto the seckel just to see what happens. I guess I'll be getting the scions soon. I was just wondering if anyone else here messes around with that sort of thing.

Sounds like a not too good idea.

Ok, here we are in March again this year. Anybody getting any antler pictures now. I am curious as to whether the weather has any effect. It isn't supposed to, but who knows? Perhaps as a evolved energy savings during a cold or long winter they March antlers might come off a bit earlier than usual. It would be interesting to see if that turns out to be the case.

But this is not the first time that Erie has frozen over, and Ontario isn't frozen over yet. So why all of a sudden?

So I would guess that it's an evolved sensitivity designed to have them stock up on food energy in the face of a storm. So how come we haven't evolved the same way and run to the refrigerator when a storm approaches .... or do we? I never paid attention....lol.

I am maybe the world's worst off-hand shooter. I would say that 90% of my shots are bench rested when stand shooting. My gun stands are built with shooting rests in mind. For still-hunting, I carry shooting stix. It is a huge benefit, and I mean HUGE, to be able to steady rest on something.

I am saying exactly what I said before. Once you start adopting and promoting the arguments of the anti bow-hunters, there is no stopping that line of reasoning. If we were the ones writing the laws and could guarantee that a line was really going to be drawn then maybe we could successfully play that tune, but the fact is that we can't all of a sudden say, "That's far enough". We do not have that power. So you coming up with a wish-list of stopping points ands rules is wasted effort. When you start down that path of saying that there are shortfalls in the archery equipment and the people who use it, you have stepped out on a slippery slope that you or I or anybody in archery can control.

And I am saying that you cannot take one of the two weapons and strip it of all of the advantages that it has and then make some kind of hunting comparison where those things are put back on. I understand that the truth is widely stretched on both sides, but making bogus comparisons are not the way to combat that. Let that crossbow shooter go into a prone position with a bipod, or bench rest his crossbow on a log, and you will begin to have a look at the crossbow advantage. Let the compound shooter use some sort of draw lock so that neither of them has to draw the string in the presence of the deer. Anything short of that is simply an irrelevant comparison that is just as much biased and comprised of manufactured claims as any that are being made on either side of the argument.

Every town and city has some form of newspaper that publishes letters. And yet we seldom see any pro-gun letters. One would think that somewhere in each municipality there would be at least one gun owner that is fairly skilled at writing. This guy has a very organized, clear and credible way of writing and has reached one news outlet. How about all the others. It's a free, widely read mode of putting a point across. Why is it always left for anti-gun/anti-hunting individuals to use?

I really don't care. It is irrelevant.

It doesn't matter what your intent is. I'm just telling you that this exact same line of reasoning (or lack thereof) is used in exactly the same way by a lot of people who would just as soon there were no such thing as a bow season at all. It makes no sense to keep handing people incapable people more and more efficient weapons in what is supposed to be a weapons-challenged season unless you are willing to take it completely to it's logical conclusion. You can use a lot of justifications for crossbows, but I really do disagree that it should serve as a weapon to make up for archer's shortfalls. There just is no stopping that mindset once to accept it.

Keep an eye on the bird feeder. When it looks like the birds are going nuts and every bird in the valley is chowing down, you will also see the deer doing some extra munching. And yes it is a sign of an impending storm front. Works best in winter conditions.

Well, frankly I don't even have enough interest to go and look. As I explained in great length, we are not talking about target range competition. It is completely irrelevant.

Ha-ha .... I've heard a lot of gun hunters say the same thing. Only they're not talking about "bad apples". They're talking about the whole idea of using arrows to kill deer. The bow season is one that purposely and deliberately increases challenge through equipment handicap. Now, either we believe in that or we don't. And if we don't then let's go with the most efficient form of weapon .... the gun.

I don't know, perhaps the crossbows are allowed to use bracing equipment in competition. I shouldn't even be saying because I have never even heard of crossbows being used in organized target competition prior to this thread. Perhaps they are allowed to bench rest them, or shoot in a prone position, or whatever. I suspect that is not the case, but will not say for sure. Maybe, nobody here really knows for sure. But when comparing weapons for whatever reason, I would assume that when you are talking about hunting situations you would argue using hunting conditions. I mean, if you are going to talk about sand-bagged, bench rested conditions, I think it would be foolish to think that using shooters of average ability, compound could out-shoot a crossbow. But that's not what we are talking about is it? Likewise we are not talking about target range conditions. We are talking about hunting using potential and probable field conditions. So I really don't understand the relevance of competition scores. And yes, I still think the introduction of competition scores is ridiculous and irrelevant. As far as bracing your arm against a tree, I don't doubt that it might be able to be done. It's probably not something I would attempt to do, but I suppose anything is possible.

If I were going to shoot competitively in a mandatory off-hand fashion, I would much rather use the compound. Take away my crossbow bipod, or log benchrest, and I'm sure the heavy awkward crossbow would be an ugly thing to control compared to any kind of bow. I never have been all that good at off-hand shooting even with a gun. On the other hand, hunting is not competitive shooting. In a hunting scenario, I can use anything that a rifle shooter can use to make the thing rock-solid. Heck, I can even shoot prone or kneeling and braced off my knee. As I said, "anything that a rifle shooter can use to make the thing rock-solid". That is when the crossbow works out to have huge benefits. Using super-regulated and restricted competitive rules and then trying to compare the results to hunting situations is ridiculous.

What the heck .... You have 5 guys trying to break into your home with at least one of them armed? What are you supposed to do wait until they shoot you before you are allowed to respond with deadly force? I agree with others here. There has to be more to the story. Otherwise prosecution is ridiculous.

I have seen wild crabapples in both bright red color and also yellow. Also, there is something we call thornapples that have little apples on them. Unlike the trees pictured here, the thorn apples have huge nasty thorns that can do some significant damage to people ... lol. But, I'm sure everybody has seen those ugly critters and remember them well after coming in contact with them.