Doc

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.

I really am trying to see the difference and not having a lot of luck. Both situations present a conscious decision to leave a mortally wounded animal to die of its wounds with exactly the same results.

This all points out the fact that when people start generalizing about the conditions and situations of an entire state, they are correct only part of the time and full of crap the rest of the time. I am sure there are areas of over-population, but also areas of under population. Furthermore, to blame the demise of habitat primarily on deer probably isn't all that accurate either. I realize that I don't have any kind of title or degree in biology, but I can certainly use my eyes to understand that NYS agriculture has taken a severe hit and small family farms are being turned into maturing forests with a heavy over-story that is raising hob with transition lands of brushlots and grazing/ browsing. Marginal farmlands are now deserted and being split up into segments of near-suburbia, settled by tree-huggers who want to live in places that have the characteristics of old-growth forests. So perhaps instead of looking for reasons to eliminate deer populations, more attention should be placed on human land use.

Pointing out absurdity ..... with absurdity. No, it's never right to falsely identify as someone else to make a point against them. As far as whether those sentiments really are not in the minds of the people of the Brady organization ...... The jury is out. Frankly knowing the extent that these anti-gunners will go in their rabid campaigns to eliminate guns, certainly made that message a more believable representation. So before we get all weepy for the Brady bunch and start sniveling about how they have been mis-represented, let's understand that a message of that sort coming from them might really not be all that far out of character.

Last entry on this thread was April. The anti-gun politicians have us figured out pretty darn well, don't they? A whole lot of noise for a very short while and then ... Poof! .... no more interest. By the time the next election rolls around that involves those creeps that voted for this law, nobody will even remember what all the fuss was all about. It's already forgotten ancient history. Once again the politicians escape totally unscathed and still thumbing their noses at us for the slick way that they have further deprived gun owners of their 2nd amendment rights. I predicted this, but I was hopeful that I would be wrong.

What is it about all that that is so much fun??? I had a great time just looking at the video. I can't imagine just what a great time those people are having. Wish I was there!!!

It's a pretty common practice with gut-shot deer during bow season to simply wait 8 hours or even overnight for the critter to seize up and die. We don't seem to get too bothered by that situation. If it is in as bad a shape as described, it likely won't be living too much longer anyway. I wouldn't criticize anyone regardless of which solution they chose. But then I am not the CO that comes along after hearing the after-hours shot and sees the flashlight bobbing around the edge of the cornfield .... lol. That's why cell phones are a nice piece of hunting equipment. Call the authorities and get advice from them. Apparently the deer isn't going anywhere. And be sure to get the name and rank of the official that you are talking to in case there are any repercussions afterward.

Ha-ha .... I wonder how pissed these guys were when they saw the truck there and thought about the possibility that you may have pushed out their wounded deer. See, there are many ways of looking at the same scenario. Aside from the occasional anti-hunter, there are damn few people out there trying to mess up your hunt. You may get irritated at the bad luck of one these kinds of situations, but there is no need to question the ethics of these guys. They were not there to mess with hunt and were merely doing the responsible thing of trying to recover a wounded deer.

That's not a pleasant picture. I will just wait until after deer season and pull out the .223 and the caller. I guess they get a free pass when I have my deer rifle.

Actually it was more of a comedy depiction of hunting that took place in the middle of a very heavily populated set of neighborhoods. It definitely did not show hunting as most of us experience it, but did show the huge problem of excess deer population in urban/suburban areas. My opinion is that they did offer up a lot of statistics and arguments favorable to hunting. But the area being hunted in created some rather bizarre problems for the "hunters". I have a hard time calling it unethical given the weird places they were trying to hunt. Simple things like blood-trailing an arrowed deer through the back yards (and occasionally front yards) kind of created some sticky situations with neighbors. It's not a show that I miss because it really looked like some rather unpleasant hunting, and had nothing in common with any kind of hunting that I do. In fact even in spite of the attempted humor, it got very boring, very quickly, and I believe that is why it only lasted 1 season.

Actually quite apart from all this garbage from our resident PETA member, I do have a question that is related to the original question. I was wondering the other day about what would happen if I saw a coyote while hunting with my .270. I would like to do something with the hide of one of those critters, but I wonder about what kind of damage might be done. I am shooting a .270 with 150 grain spire point. Am I likely to see some blown apart unusable mess if I take one out with that rifle?

Ha! like you actually worry about fueling the anti-gun crew's argument. All I have heard out of you is anti hunting, anti-hunter comments.

Apparently you seem to have a problem with established and proven principles of game management. Sorry about your ignorance. It appears that your anti-hunting mentality runs far deeper than any logic will ever be able to cut through. And what kind of faulty reading skills ever gave you the impression that I ever said anything close to "all hunters are good guys", I can't even begin to imagine.

I hunt some pretty active state land during bow season, and I can tell you that between the mountain bikers, hikers, joggers (yes people actually jog up our "killer hill"), horseback riders, small game hunters, stray dogs, and other bowhunters, interruptions happen very frequently. But guess what.... I blow off a little steam to anyone that will listen, and then I get over it, and then I go out and get a deer. I think Rob just got to the "blowing off a little steam" phase and hasn't yet gotten to the "getting over it stage" yet. He will. These things only become deal-breakers if you let them. I probably have it worse than most because over the decades (many, many of them) of hunting this same land, most of my hunting here were spent in conditions of never seeing another hunter (or person) during bow season. So all these interruptions are even more dramatic for me because I have experienced much better times. But if nothing else, I am adaptable. .... lol

The DEC probably has some statistically calculated factor for "faked" reports ... lol. You know, one of those things that are based on estimates, and guestimates and other calculated inter-related factors and guessed-at constants that rely on other calculated and guessed-at factors and constants, Sure, they probably throw all that into a pot and stir it all up, chanting some mysterious incantations, and out pops a "Faked Report Factor" to be entered into all the other population statistics.