Doc

I'm not sure what the big appeal is to all this "gotcha" kind of flaming. It is obvious that there are a lot of people who incorrectly think that baiting only applies to hunting situations, because every so many weeks we have to go through these kinds of flame-fests. It would seem to me that a proper response when an illegal act is spotted would be to simply state that the act is illegal and let it go at that. Kind of like hunters educating hunters. The appropriate reply to that would be, "Ok, I didn't know that and it will not happen again". Why this is always handled with sarcasm and accusations and counter-accusations, I'll never figure out. To me it is obvious that the original poster never realized that he had just posted a picture of an illegal act. I will say that any of us that thinks we know all of the conservation laws is very mistaken. Even the game-cops don't always know it all.

Something I have been taking note of lately is the number of chunks of broken branches that I have found stuck into the ground. I'm talking about chunks of tree-branch that are 2' or longer, about 3 inches or bigger in diameter and are stuck into the ground about 6" or more. Imagine getting hit by one of those. It would have to penetrate a skull or other body part. I maintain a series of ATV trails up the hill and I seem to be constantly tugging these things out of the ground. I don't know where they develop such a force (whether its wind or just gravity), but I sure wouldn't want to be standing there when they land.

I would suggest that you send an e-mail to your regional DEC office. I say e-mail because that way you will get back a written reply that you can keep on file in case some over-zealous conservation officer comes up with a different opinion.

Yes, but what is that statement based on? I don't know anybody here that is qualified enough to be able to make that statement in a credible way. For example, is there some study or special circumstance that has given you a view of every hunter in every state in terms of how lazy they are? My "guess" (and that's all it is), is that hunters are the same no matter what state they are from.

There's another aspect to legal problems faced by landowners when inviting people to use his land. Quite simply, being sued whether the suit is successful or not will cost the landowner some cash. Just being named in a suit will cause you to obtain the services of a lawyer. Should the suit go to trial, even if the landowner wins, he will have expenses that he wouldn't have faced if he had simply denied permission. And then of course there is always the possibility that the plaintiff will have hired a very slick lawyer, and they win the case. In that case the costs could be astronomical. It's so much easier for him to simply say "No." That's probably why so many landowners are shutting the door in hunter's faces. You can show them any piece of paper you want, but the fear of the unknown, or the possibility that they simply are not interpreting what they are reading properly can convince them to take the "safe" road and simply deny permission.

Ha-ha .... As a matter of fact, that is usually what gets me up. Like I say, I am a creature of habit.

Wow! this is a well re-cycled thread. It was started back in August of 2011 ..... lol.

I'm sure my .223 would handle what ever coyote opportunities that come along ..... Long or short shots. And it shouldn't tear up the hide too much either.

Ha-ha .... there is a problem I will worry about if or when it actually happens.

My strategy will be to initially focus on the apples. That is a food source that will not be around indefinitely. Right now the deer are hammering the apples and I believe that will be a consistent draw when the season first opens. We do not have the agriculture that other areas have as a food magnet. Also, it doesn't look like the acorn crop is going to be all that great for us. What attraction that the few bearing oaks will be supplying (and I already have those located for later use) will be more obvious later in the season as the apples get policed up. But right now, there is no question that the wild apple crop is huge and drawing deer in from all over.

Very interesting article. However the section on the government needs for ammo did a very good job of enumerating the crazy quantities of ammo that they consume, but failed to indicate whether there has been any kind of increase in that consumption. One would think that the numbers that they were talking should have been very consistent over time, and yet the shortage is a fairly recent happening. So, the question that naturally comes to mind is, "have those allocations taken any kind of severe change over the past year"? They didn't address that. So even though the government uses an unbelievable amount of ammo, that still doesn't say that they haven't dramatically ramped up those allocations. As far as the private hoarding that's going on, I think we all knew that was going on already. There appears to be no end to it. But the point there is, unless it is all being shot up, one would expect the pipeline would be filled by now as people understand that they already have more than they can shoot up. And yet, the return of supplies is happening at a barely imperceptible rate (Particularly ammo components). So anyway, great article, but they could have gone a lot farther. I am particular curious about whether or not the government ammo supplies have changed significantly.

I'm beginning to think deer like pears better than apples. I've seen some cases where they pass right by the apple trees to get to the pears.

Wow! look at the size of those monster deer ..... No antlers though. Those two are a lot bigger than the ones across the field.

Hey .... easy there big fella. I'm one of those NY hunters. I ain't lazy and I don't cheat. I have not spent a lifetime hunting alongside of every hunter in the U.S. (and probably you haven't either ....lol), but I suspect that every state has their share of good guys and bad guys. NY is no different. The big problem is everyone is trying to cram as much into the year as they possibly can and time has become a very scarce commodity. They still want to hunt, but really don't have the time to do it right. But then, the ones who can't do it half-ways right usually are here and gone in a short timeframe. They really want that instant gratification, and when it doesn't happen, they lose interest. It's nature's way of weeding out the bad ones.

I used them ..... for a while .... lol. I spent a lot of hours with a heavy rope tied around my waist also. Most likely that was a lot more hazardous than nothing at all. The thing is these were things that were endorsed by experienced hunters of the day. In fact I believe that I learned about the "climbing blocks" from the bowhunting safety course that I took a few centuries ago.

I saw this once with a guy who was trailering a rather large boat with a small-ish car. It was so bad that I was sure he was going to lose it. I have no idea why they do it. It's just some pattern that gets started and gets worse and worse. You see a lot of that with tractors pulling 4-wheel wagons full of hay.

As a landowner, here is the clause that still makes me a bit nervous: "2. This section does not limit the liability which would otherwise exist a. for willful or malicious failure to guard, or to warn against, a dangerous condition, use, structure or activity " basically what this clause means to me is that if you have an uncovered well, or hazardous ravine or maybe an old abandoned tree stand or old decaying buildings, or even an old ornery bull, or anything else that you have not guarded or warned against (perhaps even things that you cannot prove that you didn't even know about), the liability for such things still stands.

How come they never backed the camera up so you could see the whole shape of it? I mean, the mythical chupacabra is supposedly shaped funny with real short hindquarters compared to the height of their front end.....kind of hyena-shaped. I will say that is the nastiest looking thing I have ever seen, covered in that slime. If that is mange, I really feel sorry for the poor critter. I never knew that mange would go to that extent. I've seen foxes in the "crusty" stage, but never covered with slime. Anyway, from what I could see it sure looked like a dog with a real severe problem.

As a general rule, what I have noticed is these guys that pay no attention to practice are pretty much so bad that they don't even pose any danger to the critters. It's the guys who practice a little ..... just enough to hit an animal, that are the problem. The other ones are so bad that the arrows hit at the feet of deer or go sailing 5' over their backs.

Believe it or not, this early awake situation is a result of hunting. When I was still in the workplace, I had a job where I could set my own hours. So when hunting season came around, I arranged things so that I was into work around 4:00 am. That would get me out of work and heading for home at about 1:00 and home at 1:45. That way I could get in a very leisurely afternoon hunt every day of the season, even on work days. What I found out was that it worked out well throughout the rest of the year as well. I was always able to get a pile of things done at work while still having time to do things around the homestead, and also if some overtime were required, I could work in a couple of hours without losing too much free time. The other thing was that because I have always lived out in the sticks, I had a 45 minute drive (one-way). The traffic at that hour was just about nothing. So all I had to do was watch out for deer. The only ugly part was in the winter when often I would be the first vehicle down the road (even before the snowplows). So I have been retired for a few years, and old habits die hard. Getting up early gives me some quiet time before the wife gets up and vacuum cleaners and dishwashers start making noises. Also, I get all my computer crap done before we make plans for the day's activities. I guess I sure am a creature of habit .... lol.

Absolutely a good item for those that hunt alone. I have a pre-paid phone specifically for that purpose simply because I too am at the age where bad things could happen, but I really don't have a use for a phone with the more expensive options and constant use. I have a stroke history, and even though I keep things under control through medication, diet and exercise, it would be stupid for me to go off without some form of communication.

That one doe on the right in the 2nd picture sure is a sway-back old lady. Pretty ancient looking old goat.

I really have tried to understand the fun of burning up ammo as fast as possible. I have heard this kind of thing going on down on the state land, and to me it really sounds like throwing money away. But what the heck, it's their money. I'm more of an accuracy fanatic, and bench-rest shooting is my thing. I'm not really all that great at it, but I like to tweak up my skills and see what those rifles will really do.

I prefer mornings once I find myself on stand. I will admit that it takes a lot to get myself to go out and climb that old cardiac hill in the dark when I am really only about half awake. But I have to say that all the critters seem to be still on the move as the daylight begins. That's what makes it all such a great activity. The squirrels and chipmunks are going crazy, The raccoons are looking for a place to crash, and yes the deer are moving too. Just about all of the foxes that I have ever seen have been during morning stands. It does seem to be a more active time of day and a great time to be in the woods. Which time of day is more productive? ...... I can't say because I'm not always successful at getting out in the morning. So most of my observations occur in the afternoon simply because I hunt more afternoons than mornings. By the way, the older I get the more importance I place on the fact that hunting is not to be a chore, but rather an enjoyable pastime. Some of that kind of perspective accounts for my more casual hunting techniques these day .... lol. It wasn't always that way.

CR-V and a Civic LX.