Doc

I'm ready. I have the .270 zeroed in and ready to do reign hell on those critters that have been making a fool out of me all bow season. I have spent a lot of time shooting, and haven't once thought about flinching from the recoil .... lol. It used to be that if I didn't have that old 12 gauge sighted in within 3 shots, I was in for a long and painful shooting session. No more!

Yes, there definitely was something weird going on there. But imagine what an even more freaked out situation it would have been if the dog had gotten behind the wheel and drove off.

I'm not sure how I feel about birthdays anymore. In the 70s, they almost feel like something that deserves condolences rather than congratulations ...... lol. But anyway, I'll offer congratulations. Still being upright and on the right side of the sod, is an accomplishment for those of us who are heading into old age. It certainly comes with new challenges, but there are also new opportunities as well.

An even more interesting question would be whether anyone here has ever gotten a deer with the bow during gun season. I have had some rare occurrences when I have had them close enough in gun season that if I had a bow, I could have gotten the shot. But that really is a rare situation. To purposely leave the gun at home, I seriously doubt that I would have all that much success or confidence. I suppose it all depends on where you hunt. If you had exclusive use of enough land, you might find some deer that didn't realize that there was a gun season going on .... lol. But really, like others here, there is a time for everything. I am a two-season hunter and I do enjoy hauling out the gun when the time comes to do that. It's kind of my "revenge" weapon for all those deer that thumbed their noses at me during bow season by being just out of bow range ....lol.

Yes, but unfortunately it appears that the current culture of hunting is evolving into something competitive and judgmental and very vocal about it all. At least that is the sense that I get from this forum and some others. Success seems to be measured in numbers. I sometimes wonder how many hunters have been or will be driven from our ranks because of the belittling attitudes of this kind of mentality. Well anyway, this is getting way off topic so I won't go any farther with it.

“They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” Ben Franklin

The real problem of this proposal may very well be all the palm-greasing and favoritism that will accompany the location selection process. Could be that Andy's election coffers and those of the NYS Democrat party candidates may have some sudden increases in benefactors as a result.

I don't know, but I have always approached issues in a rather simplistic way. I never went out of my way to make things more complex than it had to be. In my mechanical designs, it was always a given that more parts always resulted in reliability hits. I look at this issue the same way. If I (or the DEC) has a question about who is for AR vs. who is against AR, the most straight forward way to get an answer is to ask the question. No need to turn it into any complex social investigation. The question is simple, and an answer to it shouldn't involve Cornell or any other statistical wizards. We find it so easy to justify taking a simple problem and expanding it into some mass of information collecting and massaging. It really does reek of government methodology. I will say that the more complexity you cloak something in, the easier it is to manipulate the outcome.

My proposal was that the Yes/no question be handled at the time of license purchase. The survey would then become a condition of getting your license. All licensed hunters would take part ..... involuntarily if they wanted to purchase a license. You can't reach all affected parties any more fairly and completely than that. As far as more complicated surveys, an internet survey with a lot of respondents is certainly more accurate than a miniscule random mail survey. Yes a few will be excluded on an internet survey, but surveying a mere 7000 respondents by mail will exclude a lot more than that. Here's the deal, we have this technology called the internet. Let's use it.

And they may shoot your butt off if they can't see you. By golly that happens every year too.

The basic question of the survey and the stated purpose of the survey was simply to take the temperature of hunters regarding the AR controversy. It is indeed a simple yes or no question. This is not a complex social issue except for those that wish to make it so. Apparently you are neck deep in this science and hence your rabid support of it all. And it is not my intention to try to sully or downplay whatever interests you may have in the world of statistics. But I am generally in favor of sizing the solution to the problem and not turning every question that the DEC comes up with into some kind of in-depth study. Plus, I am not in favor of making things so complex that there are ample opportunities for twisting and biasing the results. The first thing that came to mind when I saw the huge volume of touchy-feely questions was that there was enough mud being thrown in to spin whatever outcomes the DEC may want.

Next time, here are few questions that you should try to figure out the answers to: 1 What was the color and consistency of the blood on the arrow? 2 Was there any green foul smelling material on the arrow? 3 was there any hair exactly at the spot the deer was standing? 4 If so what color was it? 5 Exactly where did the deer go? ... Where was it the last time you saw it? This can help find the first blood. That white hair on the broadhead is never a good sign. Were you in a treestand shooting down at the deer or on the ground shooting relatively level? What type of search pattern did you use? That is, was it ever-increasing concentric circles, or some form of grid pattern? It is important that you keep any blind searching as organized as possible. The amount of arrow that went into the deer sounds kind of lethal. The bent broadhead tip sounds like a bone deflection. These things sound like you should have been able to have found him on the property somewhere. But he white hair on the other hand adds some doubt. Also a 2.5 hour search that night and a 3 hour search the next day with no blood spotted really makes you wonder. Normally that much searching without finding any blood means that the hit was not mortal. Hopefully this unfortunate experience will not sour you on bowhunting. Sometimes things just don't always work out well.

Oh crap ..... The kids this .... The kids that. Look, there is no hurry to shoving a gun in the hands of kids, crossing your fingers and turning them loose in the woods. Let them mature at least a little bit for crying out loud. There are those that would eliminate age requirements completely. Well, if you don't give a damn about the kid's safety at least have some consideration for the safety of the rest of us out there. I don't want a bunch of 7 year olds out there shooting up the woods just because their idiot parents don't give a damn. I don't know if the state has it right or not, but I sure don't want the age lowered any more. You want the kid to go hunting, take them with you. They don't have to have a gun in their hands to learn an appreciation for hunting and outdoor activities Can you tell that I'm a bit grumpy this morning? Well the wind is howling out there and it's pouring out there and the damned bow season is marching right along without any venison in the freezer! ..... CRAP!!

Now seriously ..... If you had a buck acting like that would you really try to walk up to it. Just when I think that I really understand how stupid people can be, I see something like this that shows that I have absolutely no idea what the limits of human stupidity really are.

So what the heck is this fascination with hiding from other hunters? If a deer runs (or walks) between me and someone else, I damn-sure want them to plainly see me, and I don't care if I am on the ground, in a tree or hiding in a ditch. And I sure as hell will not be just wearing a hat. If I could get my blaze orange to flash I would be wearing that (exaggeration there....lol). People seem to have damn little respect for their own lives and safety. Maybe they need to see what a 12 gauge slug can do to human flesh. Years ago when I took my hunter-safety course and people weren't so sensitive, we were all shown slides of shotgun wounds. It was pretty gross and definitely left a lasting impression. They even had a picture of a guy hanging from a fence where he tried climbing over it with a loaded gun. Yep that was sickening. But it also made me very aware that we aren't just playing games out there. Blaze orange and lots of it is a good way to put the odds in your favor that you will not become a casualty of blending in behind a deer that someone is about to unload on. And by the way, that is true whether you are on public or private land.

I will shoot no deer before it's time because I am a hunter extraordinaire. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. So if I bomb out this year it is because I am holding out for a deer worthy of my prowess. I like that..... it has a nice ring to it. And what a great excuse for coming up empty if that should happen.....lol.

Ha-ha .... 100 years from now there likely won't even be any hunting. But if there is, with all the mentality of worshipping at the alter of technology that is being shoved into hunting, your example will probably be absolutely correct. The only difference is that the weapons will be operated through the internet remotely from your computer cubicle in your home. Maybe people will read about the loser-shmucks who used to actually put up with a bit of challenge in their hunting.

I had to laugh yesterday when I followed a guy who had a little spike buck on a carrier attached to the bumper of his truck. I was just thinking that this poor guy was in for a whole rash of grief from his fellow hunters for shooting a deer "before it's time". And then, I'll be darned if he didn't pull into a rod & gun club to proudly show his kill to all his buddies. I would love to have heard how those conversations went. Did the guy leave with his head bowed and feeling like a baby killer, maybe to hang up his gun forever, or is perhaps this AR crap just an important issue on hunting forums? I'll never know how that all turned out. I hope the jerks just kept their damned mouths shut and congratulated him on a fine kill and showed him the respect deserving of a fellow successful hunter.

Why do people just shrug there shoulders and take this crap from our public servants. This guy answers to somebody. Go up the line until you get somebody's attention. I can't guarantee that you will always have success, but an attempt is better than just knuckling under to somebody's incompetence.

Look, When I go to the town clerk for my license, she asks me what WMU I want my antlerless permit for. She then puts that into the computer. It doesn't seem to really be that much of a problem. So if she were to ask me whether I am for or against ARs, I doubt it would be that much more of a problem would it? And she could just as easily check a "yes" box or a "No" box couldn't she? Then let the damned computer do what computers were meant to do. No analyzing. No big expensive Cornell survey and resulting over-blown study. No need for touchy-feely investigations into your background and what makes you answer the way you did. You know what the question is, so ask the damned question and be done with it. Man, it seems as though everyone wants to take the long (expensive) way around to get a simple opinion. Further, if more complex surveys are required, how about actually using up-to-date methods and technology. U.S. mail is about as archaic a way as possible and really stretches the credibility of any survey organization that is claiming to be using the latest most current technology. My gosh, this is the electronic age. I wouldn't think that postage, and manual submission, and paying someone to manually input the data into computers is really the most effective way to gather information. The DEC has a web site. There are many forms of cheat-proof survey software available. What the heck, you want to know hunters opinions, survey them there ...... for free, or for whatever the software might cost to use. No you won't get 100%, but you probably will beat the 7000 number by a bunch and save a pile of money in the process. This worship of the Cornell statisticians is getting a bit silly. We sit here and complain about every decision that comes out of the DEC when in fact most of that crap is based on studies by the supposed wizards at Cornell.

This is the one that gets me. The old "hiding in line with game" game. Twice I have encountered guys dressed completely in camo including face paint on state land on opening day of gun. What on earth were they thinking? These two incidents were different in that fortunately there didn't happen to be any shot opportunities but similar in potential consequences. No there was no deer between us, but there could have been. I never saw either one until they moved. Now that speaks very well for the quality of their camo, but doesn't say much for the quality of their mental processes. But those two episodes were just additional situations that proved to me the value of blaze orange, or more specifically the foolishness of not wearing it. The idea of hiding from other hunters is simply ridiculousness and makes a good basis for becoming another horrible statistic. How much is a deer worth?

Here is what is starting to bug me about all this stuff. Even without the crossbow, I am already hearing some of these complaints about how the bowhunters are making big dents in the buck population before the gunners even get a crack at them. There is already growing resentment among the gun hunters, and I'm not even sure that they aren't correct. Back in the early days of bowhunting our success rates weren't really all that significant, and our numbers were really quite small and we didn't even offer a blip on anyone's radar. Now, primarily because of technology and equipment improvements, we are starting to receive some unwanted scrutiny by those in hunting who hold the majority position as far as numbers. And scattered throughout that article are references to exactly this same problem in PA. Apparently the addition of crossbows into bow seasons has caused some serious spikes in bow season harvests that are catching the full attention and concern of their gun hunters. That is not a real good problem to have developing. We already have way to much of that sort of thing and don't even have the crossbow entry into bow season yet. I am primarily a bow hunter and really cannot sympathize all that much with their concerns, but I do have to be concerned about the unhappiness of this majority of hunters with our impact on their season. That cannot be a good thing. At any rate, I though the article was interesting to say the least. It does provide a little more food for thought to add into the issue.

I got my info from an article in the latest NY Outdoor News.

I think I have finally realized just how political our game management really is. I think that from a biological standpoint, the DEC has concluded that there is no significant need for AR. And I believe I have seen DEC quotes to that effect. I also believe that they are viewing AR as a "social" issue and not something of biological significance. And that probably explains the "social" approach to the problem. I don't know. That is simply what I am surmising from some of the quotes that I have seen. And it is true, the majority opinion is not always the correct one (Obamacare is a good example). But perhaps establishing which opinion really is in the majority might stop some of this eye poking that seems to go on with this issue. Everyone thinks their opinion represents the majority opinion. Maybe this will clarify that and calm some of these people down a bit.

Actually, ATVs have extended the hunting years for many. I know that cardiac hill behind the house has already claimed a neighbor. And at my age, I sometimes figure it is a bit smarter to take the ATV to the top of the hill. I park it just under the crest of the hill and walk to wherever I feel I have to go. I don't always do it. Sometimes I like a good slow steady still-hunt up the hill. And there are times when it just isn't safe to take the ATV up such as when there is significant snow on the hill. It was only a few years ago that I foolishly dragged two pretty good-sized does off the hill at once. Thankfully that was all downhill. And then the year before last I pulled a huge 10 point from the other side of the hill over the top and down to the house. At my age that probably was not one of my more brilliant moves. So, since I use the ATV for work around the homestead and use it to plow out our driveway, and will always have a need to have one around, I see no reason why I shouldn't use it to perhaps extend my life a bit by helping me get to the top of that man-killer hill .... lol. To me it just seems like the smart thing to do.