Doc

You know, I have yet to hear anyone talk about crossbows in small game season. I suspect everyone is assuming that small game is just a given. But I cannot tell you if small game is included in any of the proposals.

Well, that's a new one. I have yet to read or hear one person yet that has said they are against either of these proposals simply because Cuomo is for it. Did I miss something here? Where did that come from?

It is his budget. He is the author. No one else had the language added to that 2014 budget for these proposals so I have no idea how you can say that he inserted nothing. It is his document. And when I say he did all these things I am allowing that he has a staff that he directs to actually come up with the words and details. So when somebody reports that he supports and in fact is backing these proposals, I completely agree with them ..... he is! As far as the misinformation, I have no clue what the heck you are talking about. If you are trying to paint his insertion of these proposals and resources into his budget as mis-information, I'm not buying it. That is exactly what he is doing. It seems like you are getting all excited about nothing. At least that's the way it looks with what you have included in your replies. So what is your version of truth that has so badly been twisted by these articles? Hey, I'm just trying to help you sleep better at night ... lol.

Seriously? .... Are you guys really going to fight this battle all over again....lol. My gosh you guys really are getting bored. What we need is some energetic soul to go back into the archives and cut and paste all those years of crap and repost it here. There's not a single point that hasn't been repeated at least a couple dozen times.

Point #1 So, I guess the answer is to simply force them to put up with us. I think not. Point #2 These are a few of the many reasons to stay the heck out of these urban and suburban areas completely and I can think of a pile more of them. Who needs that kind of grief and opportunities for conflict? Point #3 I definitely hope that they will not create another book of regulations as to which setbacks apply where. we don't need that kind of confusion added on. Pick one and use it everywhere. Point #4 I believe they went a lot farther than they had to, or should have. 100 yards would be a whole lot less obtrusive.

Are those kinds of pills blue? I've never actually seen one .... lol. An August birth? That is one freaky thing. Somebody got their calendar messed up.

I am trying to stay away from those more incendiary terms .... lol. But I did want to make the point that this law is aimed at trying to force our way into people's privacy where we cannot seem to gain access through willful permission. I think that's a point that people are missing or purposely ignoring. And for those that have interest in the P.R. aspects to our hunting acceptance, the pitfalls may be obvious.

At some point, they must reach a point where they either don't have the ability or they don't have the interest. I don't know exactly what drives that, but it could be something to do with testosterone levels. If so, that may very well mean that "he can't get the job done".

I'm still trying to figure out what all is being done right now to make sure that we are staged for the best results in the next election. I was kind of hoping for a flurry of activity from our gun advocacy groups relating to voter registration, and other activities designed to rally our forces and increase gun owner participation in the next election, rather than crossing our fingers, hoping for the best and sitting back and waiting to see what happens. What exactly is our strategy? Anybody know? It seems like something should be happening right now. Seems like a long time doesn't it. I think we will all be surprised just how fast the next 8 months go by. I hope that time is being used wisely. I know Cuomo and his handlers are working on his re-election every hour of every day, around the clock.

So here is the deal ..... You can hunt anywhere you want and as close to buildings as you want. All you have to do is to get permission to do so. So the whole purpose of this regulation change is to be able to force your way next to houses in cases where you already know it would irritate the home owners to do so. Have I got that right? It is a legal tool to force acceptance of your intrusion into the lives of others that would rather you didn't. Yes, that sounds like something that is good for the image of hunters.

I don't know, but is it possible that the antlerless bucks that appear to be breeding does is simply going through the motions without actually completing the deed? I mean, I have seen button bucks attempt to mount does, but I doubt they really had any success.

Well, I don't know. That triangular shaped barrel and the black color make the gun look evil. I think those features should be added to the "assault rifle" definition. And that bi-pod ...... oh my! Anybody got Cuomo's phone number?

I have been asking the question to the point where I have simply given up. Can anyone point out some language in the law that prohibits mail order ammo components. I can't find it. I believe that the Safe Act doesn't apply to ammo components. I hate to get too loud about this for fear that they will amend the law.

I understand how difficult it must be in some areas to keep the deer in check. The stupid things are even moving into some urban areas where even the proposed 50 yard setback change would not do the job. I was visiting some people down in Naples (and I do mean IN the village) and I saw 3 deer wandering through the yards. A 50 foot setback would not have allowed these deer to be shot. I saw the same thing in Brighton where the distance between houses is only about one driveway width. Herds of 7 or 8 were wandering around in the back yards. Should they make the setback 10 feet to make sure that every one of these deer are subject to harvest? Let's face it, there are going to be some deer that we simply will never be able to control unless we want to put up with some very dangerous and invasive rules changes. Where do we draw the line? I will reiterate what some body on here said....We will continue to push the envelope so far that whole townships will be passing ordinances that forbid any kind of archery to take place throughout the whole township. So where will that have gotten us?

So, about those apples ...... What is with the apples this year that they refused to drop. I can't remember other years when apples rotted on the trees rather than fall off. Especially with all the winds we have had. Is that normal? By the way .... Great pictures!

Basically, I rely on the DEC to supply technical biological information and regulations on these kinds of matters. I have no degrees in biology or wildlife management and it would be kind of arrogant or at the very least, pretentious to be thinking that I could do their job better than they can. As far as personal agendas, I guess I can't begin to imagine what that would be when it comes to the deer feeding positions and regulations that they have put in place. So I guess without a motive, I have no reason to suspect that their policy is covered by some secret hidden agenda. I do understand that the DEC is a political entity that truly does report directly to whoever the reigning governor happens to be. But there still has to be some kind of motive for the department to push any notions that are not according to the best game management principles that are available to them. That's not to say that I have never criticized them before, and some times in a quite vocal way. But at the end of the day I have to admit that I come with opinions and they come armed with facts. Game management is not my occupation and I have no formal training in that area.

I have often wondered the same thing. It almost seems that they kill more deer in their prevention programs than would have been lost to the disease if they had just left things alone.....lol. It seems to me that there is very little that is actually known about CWD even today. You seem to have all kinds of "experts" arguing about some of the fundamental issues such as how it is spread. I have yet to run across any info on disease rates in some of the more harder hit states. It always seems to be just a bunch of hand waving and frantic dire predictions of collapsing deer herds with no real numbers. So, has anyone actually seen infection rates in some of the more seriously effected western states? Does it even get to the level where the average hunter can even tell the difference? I mean we have all kinds of deer diseases that are at work all the time, but incidence rates are so small that we don't even notice the effects. Is CWD just another one of those? I'm not stating any conclusions, all I have is questions.

Wow! 1/4" peep. That's huge. But I am heading that way myself. I started out years ago with 1/8" and then recently went to 3/16".

How do you soften it up? ...... Heat? You know what sounds good would be the "softened" peanut butter over vanilla ice cream and then a pile of hot fudge. Kind of like a peanut butter cup melted over ice cream. Ha-ha .... Next time I feel like letting the old blood-sugar readings go to hell, I think I'll try that.

Sorry but the minute Cuomo inserted those proposals into his budget he took ownership of them because regardless of past history, he is the only one at the moment who is taking them forward legislatively. That's how it's been reported and those are the facts. The magazine articles simply are pointing out the fact that he is the one moving the issues forward. I understood it, and I can't understand why you are having such a hard time with it. Is it bad journalism to point out Cuomo's role and the fact that he is the one moving these proposals forward? You seem to think so. I do not. I have not seen any magazine quotes that state, insinuate or imply that Cuomo sat around and thought up these ideas by himself. Some how you have inserted that idea into these articles and can't get it out. And you are saying that your imaginings are somehow misinformation .... lol. I can't help you out there. But anyway, you seem to think the articles mis-stated something and it really seems to bother you. I guess I have no real problem with that if that's something that you need to believe. I was just curious as to how some of those notions got into your head. It's not a big deal.

Lol ..... I'll admit that it is primarily a privacy issue with me. I didn't spend all those years making a 70+ mile commute just to come out to my country home and see some guy squatting in the hedgerow grinning back at me at a mere 50 yards. And I also have a problem with the safety aspect of a 50 yard setback. If I were a suburbanite, effected by backyard archers, the notion of making it perfectly legal for neighbors to shoot within 50 yards of my house without any additional legal qualifications regarding back-stopping and direction of shooting would pretty much have me up in arms. Unless they do a lot better job of composing the setback law than they currently do, the proposal would allow somebody to shoot directly at your house with no requirement of adequate back-stopping. How the heck could any sane person suggest such a thing?

I will say that I have no personal knowledge of whether CWD is aggravated by single point feeding, but so long as the possibility logically exists, and the state biologists at the DEC appear to be convinced, I personally do not feel qualified to assume that they are wrong. So if they think that there is a connection between single point feeding and CWD, far be it for me to tell them they are wrong.

And again, perhaps the reason "There is no evidence of an increase of disease" might very well be that the DNR has not performed any studies of the effects of single point feeding, or they simply have not reported it to the public. If you want to argue the existence or impacts of rumen acidosis, the net is full of info on that subject or you can simply call the real experts on the subject, a DEC biologist. With your southern background, you may not be well versed on that situation. Here in NY because of the heavy contrasts of food resources due to the sharp and prolonged contrasts in weather, there is a distinct seasonal change in a deer's diet. I'm sure that the seasonal changes in rumen bacterial conditions is far more pronounced here than in places like NC where seasonal changes, and consequently food sources are not nearly as clearly defined. And the reason that I mentioned the thread drift was because after the 2nd sentence of your 2nd paragraph, the entire content was a defense of baiting from an ethical standpoint. This topic is not about whether baiting is "some magical feed pile that the deer just show up to and commit suicide". It is not about whether "deer will just come stand in it and wait for you to harvest". It is also not about whether or not "Killing a big buck on a corn pile is a rare event". In other words I do not want this thread to degenerate into a discussion of the ethics of baiting like I have seen so many others do. I know how easily that can happen. I am just asking for the courtesy of creating a separate thread to discuss that issue if you want to get into that aspect of baiting. It would probably be a popular discussion if past history is any indication.

First of all, I was unable to find any research that specifically evaluates the repercussions of baiting/feeding on NC deer herds. I certainly could have missed it, so if you have any credible sources of such information, a link would be appreciated. Secondly, I'm not sure how accurate it is to compare such things between two states of completely different climates and disease profiles. And third, your defense of baiting arguments are probably better done in a new separate thread rather than diverting this one.

It's an election year. Things will be getting very bizarre (even worse than usual). Don't forget that the DEC answers to Cuomo. They had better serve him well as his enthusiastic political accomplices. That is one of the things that make incumbent governors so difficult to unseat. They have all these neat expensive resources at their finger-tips. Your tax dollars at work...... as yet another Cuomo mouth-piece.