Doc

Was the leg wound a bullet wound or couldn't you tell?

No, I can't shoot a bow when I have so much clothing on that I can't bend my elbow ..... lol.

Most of the time pockets do the job for me. If it gets down into the 20's I have some old cloth gloves. Any colder than that and I have been known to use snowmobile gloves and just pull off the right one when its time to blow something flat.

That sound can be your worst enemy when there comes a need to jack another cartridge in there for one of those weird 2nd shots. I shot two deer consecutively this year, and thank heavens the Ruger American bolt action is pretty darn silent. I didn't have to give away my position with a loud clattering noise like my old Ithaca shotgun used to make.

Well, it's one thing to prove that they see certain colors, and yet another thing to prove that color registers as any kind of identification or alarm feature for them. They don't think and analyze as humans do. So who's to say that simply being able to distinguish color really means anything to them? Distinct shapes and movement may be the sole tip-off for them.

I have seen some pretty big deer do some pretty stupid things. You don't see that too often because there are fewer big deer out there and the opportunities for seeing them in their "stupid mode" (rut) aren't as frequent.

Well, there is the trick when the days get super cold. Usually I sit for a bunch of hours and then start still hunting. Well, that's two entirely different temperature situations. If I dress warm enough to sit, I will be over-dressed for still-hunting no matter how slow I go. My solution: take a pack and remove some of the layers for walking. That applies for walking in too. I have an ugly steep hill to climb to get to my stands. Dress wrong and you'll be completely sweated up when you sit down for the stand. Solution: put your heaviest layers in your pack, unbutton everything and get re-dressed when you get to your stand.

Lol ..... it is interesting to watch the evolution of a thread. I believe that I have found the reply that actually touched off the accuracy thing between a shotgun and rifle. The implication as I read it is that the shotgun is so much less accurate than a rifle that hunters in the southern zone have to empty their magazine in order to get a deer down....lol. And this accounted for why some members were indicating that their lives are in mortal danger and they are nearly too terrified to go in the woods with slugs literally spraying the trees. Man I haven't heard so much BS and over generalization in a long time ... lol.

There is nothing wrong with a good healthy dose of awareness and a recognition that there are people out there that may not be as safety conscious a we would hope (and that should apply no matter which zone you are hunting in). There is no big honorable thing about blundering around out there without at least considering the possibility that there is a small element of danger that has to be accepted (just like every time you get behind the wheel of your car). As long as it doesn't paralyze you and keep you from enjoying the hunt. Personally I engage in what I call defensive hunting. I am always well covered in blaze orange. I try to maintain a safe distance from other hunters. I usually have a good big tree at my back and always keep an eye on the body language of somebody that is still hunting their way through. If I am still hunting through an area and encounter another hunter, I generally change direction and make sure that I am in wide open, plain sight of him. None of these things are big inconveniences or impact my hunting success in any way. They are just a few common sense things that can keep a person around to hunt another day.

So there ya go .... freakin antlers don't mean nothing. We may all be out there hunting the biggest coward in the woods ..... lol.

Well, I'm sure there are a tiny number of members here who hunt both Northern Zone and Southern zone equally, But probably none of those that have comments about each others zones. I know there is always some local pride and loyalty that prompt people to come up with certain comments, but seldom are any of them actually coming from first hand actual knowledge. Also, there may be a skewed sense of conditions that are simply based on hunter density. But of course that doesn't mean that any of these finger pointing comments has one ounce of validity.

Ha-ha ..... There was a time ..... I'm not sure I can do it anymore. Strange things happen to a guy's plumbing when you reach a certain age......lol.

I have to say that I was very touched by hearing that. I had no idea that here was any more than what we were taught in school.

Yeah, in a few days, I will be going down in the basement, pulling the sheet off the tree and bringing it upstairs .... lights and all. Just have to put the ornaments on and some icicles and she's ready to go (just a few minutes). Many years ago, wife got tired of sweeping up needles. No problem with that anymore. We have so much crap on that tree that you would never know whether it was real or not without walking up to it and poking around

Here in our part of 8N, I am seeing more deer than I have seen in quite a few years (perhaps even a few decades). Just the other afternoon, I could have had my choice of deer off the lawn in broad daylight. The trick would have been to get the livingroom window open without spooking them ..... lol. The fact is though that the two that I already have gotten are about all the wife and I will eat over the year. I have been out a couple times after the snow got on the ground looking for that huge 8-point that I got the trail-cam picture off and I have to say that I have seen several trails where a whole pile of deer are running together. That's something that I haven't seen in a long time. I think the take in our area is sky-high and I still think they haven't really made a dent in the population. So I am looking forward to a heck of a season next year too.

I'll be honest, When the weather starts getting to be this cold, I am forced to pile on so many clothes that I literally cannot accurately shoot my bow. The only alternative would be to still hunt. That's great for gun hunting, but I have rarely had any bowhunting success doing that (like once in 50 years). So, there will be no "back to bow" for me this year. We have a year's worth of venison in the freezer .... that's enough.

I think a lot of the "early birds" simply aren't aware of the actual legal shooting time, and haven't been paying much attention to when the sun actually rises. For me there is a whole lot of thought involved in picking my departure time. I do want to get in early enough so that I can watch the flashlights coming in. That way I do not find sunrise bringing me any surprises about someone hunkered down beside me. On state land, that can be important. But on the other hand, I really begrudge all that extra time cooling down on some of those frosty mornings. Time spent sitting in the dark is simply less time before freezing up and being forced to start moving. Generally the warmer the temperatures, the earlier I go in.

No, this is one situation where I would be the one getting upset. There is no reason for anyone to come in late to the party and plunk themselves right next to someone else. I consider that an unsafe situation, and I have no idea how this guy might react if a deer were to run between us. Frankly if the guy didn't respond to my flashlight and decided to hunker in for the morning in spite of being located right off my elbow, I would feel obliged to move on. Unless the woods is so tiny that he can't at least get out of sight, my impression is the guy is in love with the spot and is intent on driving me out. Not a very courteous way of hunting, but with me that tactic always works. I'm far more interested in safety than in making some point about staying at a particular part of the woods. But yes, I would probably be opening up a reply in the "Whine" thread .... lol.

What the hell is going on here. I can't paste anything. I can do it anywhere else but not in this forum. I had a great link to a fox video that I wanted to pass on. Nope, can't do it. Wait a minute, I'll do it the hard way: http://www.edisproduction.de/2013/11/19/fox-hunting-under-snow-in-an-incredible-way/ There, what's the odds I re-typed all of that without a mistake....lol

My wrath toward the Brady bunch and my "blasting" of this group, was established long before this poster was even being conceived. To me it really doesn't matter what the origin of the poster is. I see it as an insightful commentary on the stupidity of the Brady bunch, and whether the words originated with them or not, I have no doubt that these are sentiments that I might hear from any member of that group, or any other supporter of them.

I have seen numerous threads here about an epidemic of stolen stands and now here is a thread about leaving stands out in the woods year around.

Heck I can see a $.10 - $.25 difference just a few miles down the road. .... Same brand of gas. What the heck is the logic there. Gas comes out of the same truck, both have the same taxes applied. And the problem really boils down to the fact that there are idiots pumping gas like crazy at the more expensive place rather than rewarding the guy that is not out to screw the world. In fact, I have seen that phenomenon between gas stations that are right across the road from each other. What the heck is wrong with people?

Lol .... Nope. The tag is filled out immediately when the animal is reduced to your possession ..... Hands-on. You do not fill out the tag because you are pretty sure the animal is dead somewhere. Just a picky point of clarity.

All I can say is that WHEC has picked up a huge amount of my respect with their honesty and political independence in doing this piece. I hope they re-air it again just prior to the elections of those sneaky legislators that voted for the so-called SAFE ACT. I would dearly like to see all or most of those characters un-seated for their betrayal of NYS gun owners and the Constitution.

I don't for a minute believe that your outrage over this poster is based on your perception that there has been a terrible and unfair mis-representation, but rather you feel a need to defend your comrades in socialist ideologies. But frankly, I am not convinced that whoever came up with this poster (whether it is indeed a Brady creation, or just an insightful representation of Brady mentality) didn't indeed portray real thoughts that these gun fanatics maintain. You call it nonsensical propaganda as would be expected of any Brady supporter who felt this poster hit too close to home. I call it a plausible representation of an organization that has shown themselves to be rabid anti-gun fanatics.