Doc

I suppose the odds are pretty slim that I would be in exactly the spot where their bullets were winding up. But it sure is un-nerving when you hear this going on and you have no idea exactly where they are shooting. The other thing is that this guy had his kid with him. He commented that in a short time he would be taking him out on the youth gun hunt. I was just thinking that this was one of the fathers that is acting as a hunting mentor? That's a bit scary too. The prime safety rule that the kid had just learned in his recent hunter safety training course of being sure of what is in the line of fire and beyond, was being shot down by his own father.

I have to admit that waiting for a deer with that little trickle of sweat running down your spine is not exactly the kind of hunting that I grew up with. Actually, it is downright disgusting.....lol. I did have the old mosquito thing going too. I was kind of wondering about this extra early start and had some misgivings about it. I know that in bowhunting not every shot ends with the picture perfect blood-trailing results. I have had a couple of gut shot deer where I decided that the prudent thing was to wait overnight rather than pushing them into an endless cat-and-mouse chase into the next township. But those occasions happened in sub-freezing weather and there was no sense of urgency. I just hope that one of those unfortunate hits doesn't occur while we are in this stretch of 80's. Being a state land hunter, the other thing that I have found out is that this weather has bumped up the activity levels of non deer hunting use. The bikers and hikers and now the target shooters has spiked. That is no fun to have someone set up a practice range right next to you and empty out box after box of ammo. As far as the deer moving, I don't think there is anyone arguing about that. I see lots of daylight movement on my cameras, but I don't think that is what the complaints are that I am reading here.

Well, I have had a pretty good run of luck hunting on state land over the years, but yesterday was a bit different. In the past I have encountered all kinds of interference .... bikers hikers, small game hunters, but I have learned where I had to go to avoid those kinds of problems. Well this year, the apples have drawn the deer down into the valley bottom, and the hilltop where I can go to get away from interference is quite empty of deer. So my scouting this year has turned up a bumper crop of apples and the trails are just crazy down in the thickets of the valley bottom. So I located a few of my old stands in the area and was hoping to score there this year. I got all hunkered in and started waiting when I heard some voices not far away. That wasn't a complete surprise because over there is main access trail. I figured that shouldn't be a problem because it was still early in the afternoon. So pretty soon a gun shot goes off. My gosh it seemed like it was right next to me. And then all hell broke loose. Shot after shot. So I packed up (no real point to trying to hunt there) and went out to see what the hell was going on. So there I see two people all set up in a mowed clearing for target practice. Well, that's not nice but is one of the things you have to occasionally put up with when dealing with state land. What did bother me was the set-up. These guys had a box with a few plastic bottles on top located in front of a very thick stretch of brush. This area is the valley bottom and is dead flat where all this was going on, so there is nothing that could be considered a backstop other than the thicket that you cant see more than a few feet into. The fact is that it was just such a thicket that I was standing in for my afternoon hunt. The good news is that I was in an area that was about 45 degrees from their line of fire. The bad news is that I have several places that I hunt that are very close to their line of fire and I could have been sitting in one of them. The other bad news is that there is an access route that has been mowed by the state that goes in kind of a semicircle around this patch of brush that is frequently used by hunters and hikers when heading up the hill. I guess I now have to consider this whole valley bottom area to be unsafe for hunting and am now forced to walk away from the area with all the sign and food attractions. That's is indeed unfortunate and probably doesn't bode well for what I expected to be a good bowhunting year. But the real bothersome thing is the way some people approach gun safety when picking out a place to shoot their guns. Had they gone another few hundred yards, they could have been shooting into the hill or the sides of one of the many ravines coming down the hill. Instead, they chose to ignore one of the fundamental rules of gun safety and picked an un-backstopped area, and shooting into an area that had no visibility to anything farther in than a dozen feet or so. The whole thing was a bit scary.

Well, just a short follow-up thread. So now that we had the thread about what not to forget, how many of you still forgot something today? What was it?

Hack and wrap immediately, or take a trip to the processor. No hanging of deer in near 80 degree temps.

I don't really have a problem with hot weather. I simply take my shirt off. Of course it does hurt like hell when I pin that backtag on.

Sounds like somebody is polishing up their manifesto ... lol.

Ah yes, a word from our resident anarchist ..... lol.

Yeah I guess that comment has completely flown over my head, so I may need a little more clarification. What exactly are you trying to say there with your "bit of advice"?

Hell, I'll go you one better ... I remember when there was no such thing as "high fences" at all. I can even remember when deer were for actual real hunting and not used as some kind of ag enterprise to satisfy those who need to have a harvest and don't care how they get it. I can remember when we didn't grow our prey, feed our prey or genetically manufacture our trophies to satisfy today's need for instant gratification with no expenditure of effort. But you're right, that's all changed. I can't argue the changes that are blatantly obvious. I can only lament that some of today's hunters will never know that hunting really is a skill. They may never understand or appreciate the idea of challenge. They may continue to despise the idea of woodslore in hunting and actually expending some effort to locate and harvest a deer. They may be ever increasingly disdainful of finding their own deer and out-witting them in their own environment. These time honored features of hunting may continue to fade, but don't be expecting me to be welcoming that pollution of the sport that I have spent my life involved with. No, there is nothing that will reverse or slow this idea of techno-worship in hunting. And I do understand that there are those that have no use for heritage and tradition in their hunting, and yes it is sad. But, I can be satisfied with the fact that I have never had a hand in making new hunters believe that wild game is something you raise like goats. And I have never made a cent promoting that distorted view of a magnificent animal as merely being a lab experiment for profit. But I have seen an awful lot of people that can justify anything based solely on the profit motive. And of all the changes, that is the one that is growing the fastest.

I have never been all that excited about this October 1 start, so my hunting for the next two weeks will be very casual and definitely will be selective on the weather. Temperature will be a big thing with me. So, I really can't say for sure when the first day out will be. The weatherman will be deciding that for me.

Looks like you all had a great time. There's no question that your kids were having a lot of fun.

Unfortunately, I believe you are correct in your prediction. And that poses a sad commentary on the future of hunting. I really don't find that something to celebrate, but it is what hunting is morphing into as people continue to seek out overwhelming advantages that defy the rules of fair chase. It's unfortunate that you find it necessary to be a part of that.

My gosh! 16 years old. I honestly can't remember that age. Now birthdays become just a celebration of having lasted as long as I have....lol.

THINK! ...... No mistakes! .... plan .... execute ...... safety ..... success ..... Go get 'em ..... and Git-er-done!

Filing nocks: I have noticed that arrows that are used a lot wear and the throat of the nock opens up. I have seen differences from brand new nocks to old tired practice arrow nocks that can be huge. You can have the old nocks that nearly fall off the string vs. brand new nocks that grip the string so tight they don't seem to want to let go. And yes, it can make a difference in the point of impact. If you have just recently installed brand new nocks on your hunting arrows but are all sighted in using old heavily used nocks, it definitely is something you want to check before heading out the door to go hunting. Grow- I think you had a tight nock problem for sure, but there my also have been an adhesive issue as well. Lol..... that will definitely screw up arrow flight. I seem to remember having something like that happen during a practice session once, and at 20 yards, I missed the target, and the butt completely.

Wow! that is a lot of horror stories. I'm beginning to see why guys don't invite others to hunt with them on private land that they have cooked up permission on. Invite a buddy and then watch him slit your throat. What he heck makes people act like that? Apparently there's no honor among thieves and hunting buddies....lol.

It kind of looks like signs in general are not allowed in residential areas even on private property. Professional signs for businesses, for sale signs, and directional or safety instructional signs for multifamily buildings are about the only ones allowed in residential districts. As far as the procedures for handling violations, I didn't see any in that particular section. So like I said, we sitting here at our computers are ill-prepared to pass judgment on whether proper channels were followed and whether the right office did the enforcement.

You know, we don't even realize how much noise pollution bombards us on a daily basis. The one time it really stood out for me was back in the 80s when we went on a moose hunt way the heck back into the wilds of Ontario Canada. Maybe for the first time, I was in a spot where you could hear nothing but an occasional loon or beaver tail slapping the water or a moose splashing around in the dark on the other side of the lake. There were no planes, trains, trucks, cars, dirt-bikes, chainsaws, lawnmowers, leaf blowers or anything with a motor. No kids screaming or neighbors arguing or dogs barking. Just deafening silence......lol. It was great!

Well, the fact is that we don't know any of those facts do we? We don't know whether it was on public or private land. We don't know for a fact that his sign was indeed the only one removed. We don't know whether the letter was really written, sent or received. We don't know whether letter writing is even a part of the required town ordinance procedure. We don't know whether any regulations or procedures were not adhered to. We don't know whether a personal contact is required by law. That seems like a lot of ifs and unknowns to base any conclusions about the propriety of the confiscation. I don't know about any one else, but I haven't found a copy of their particular town ordinance regarding signs and the procedures for removal of illegal signs. So I'm not ready to say that anything at all was mis-handled. See, I view the whole thing as their problem to work out locally by those that know their particular laws. And I'm sure that in coming months, all the lawyers and such will have fun deciding that. All I know is that from this computer chair, I am not capable of determining the right and the wrong of it all. And I'll bet there probably is no one on this forum that is in an adequate position to make that determination.

Actually, I'm not sure that the cop was involved in more than one sign removal. Remember that there had been complaints among neighbors. Also, I am not sure how this town has set up its enforcement of this kind of violation. Code enforcement officers do not normally get involved in physically tearing down offending structures or objects. They do set in motion the proper agencies to carry out the law. Regardless of whether we agree with the policy or not, this may have been a legitimate function of the police department. And I guess there will be no argument about the fact that government wastes money, and that there are redundancies, and perhaps there are even selective enforcements at times. What else is new .... lol. But in the greater scheme of things, this 3 minute visit by a cop really doesn't even rank up there as being worthy of comment. At any rate, absolutely none of all that deserves to go under a thread title of "cops may be against your gun rights", which was my original gripe. This incident proves nothing about cops.

Today I swung my front door wide open and placed my Bushmaster AR-15 right in the doorway. I left a full 20 round magazine beside it, then left it alone and went about my business. While I was gone, the mailman delivered my mail, the neighbor boy across the street mowed the yard, a girl walked her dog down the street, and quite a few cars stopped at the stop sign near the front of our house. After about an hour, I checked on the gun. It was still sitting there, right where I had left it. It hadn't moved itself outside. It certainly hadn't killed anyone, even with the numerous opportunities it had been presented to do so. In fact, it hadn't even loaded itself. Well you can imagine my surprise, with all the media hype about how dangerous guns are and how they kill people. Either the media is wrong, or I'm in possession of the laziest gun in the world. Well, I'm off to check on my spoons. I hear they're making people fat.

Hunting knife sharpened up. Back tag in the holder and pinned to the back of the jacket. Thermo-cell loaded and packed (for those that use it) Pack loaded up: Toilet Paper Hand nippers folding stool Latex gloves Grunt tube Compass Can (deer bleat thingy) Rangefinder Monocular Drag rope Bottle of water FOOD Quiver loaded up & on the bow

I have no idea just how big a town this Somers is, but maybe the guy was happy just to have something to do that day....lol. I wouldn't get too upset about the cost of the guy taking 3 minutes to remove a sign. Particularly if he was in the neighborhood anyway. Sometimes we actually get downright silly in our attempts to bash law enforcement. I have no idea just who is charged with the responsibility of illegal sign removal. But a cop enforcing a law doesn't really rank way up there on my scale of wasted tax money......lol. Ha-ha..... if the sign had said something about abolishing the death penalty, or "save the whales", it wouldn't even have been a reported story.

Opening day of bow season isn't as vital as the gun season opener. Its a whole different way of hunting. You don't need all those guys out there moving deer. If you miss the archery opener, you miss it. It's not that much of a loss.