Doc

Oh for crying out loud, what is all this concern about what other hunters are seeing/getting. Who the heck am I trying to impress .... lol. If somebody else is telling me about their deer, I simply nod my head, slap them on the back and congratulate them for getting a great deer (regardless of what it looks like). And I want to hear the entire story in as much detail as they want to supply. What business do I have doing otherwise. Man, I do miss the days before scoring became such a big deal. Now-a-days when you tell somebody you got a deer, the first words out of their mouth is "what did it score". If you don't come back with a number that they are impressed with, they will do there best to wreck the whole experience for you. And if your answer is that it was a doe, they immediately walk away or change the subject .... lol. The whole hunting experience has been reduced to numbers. I really don't get it. I really don't have any need to impress anybody by listing some numerical value that serves as my goal. And by the same token, I am not really all that impressed by anyone else's numerical goals.

That's it!!! But I never seen it used with a power drill. That looks like it works real slick. But Paula is right. Those things used to be sold everywhere and were dirt cheap. Maybe what ever he's selling for a drill bit (probably just a long wood screw...lol) and the shipping is why he's asking so much for it. Also, it has been a long time since I have seen them so I have to allow for inflation. I'll check with the wife and see if she wants to get one. We didn't put any corn in this year, but might grow a bit next year as long as there is a decent way of getting recognizable kernels off the cob.

Is there really anybody other than myself who is truly interested in what I consider to be a big buck? I doubt it. It really is a personal decision and boils down to, "I'll know it when I see it". I'm not going to try to impress everyone by listing my qualifications for a shootable buck. Nobody really cares.

Rain gear ...... always a problem. The soft stuff is exactly like you say, it isn't as waterproof as it is advertised. The hard, plasticy sort of stuff crinkles and makes all kinds of noise. And none of it is suitable for bow shooting as far as being interference-free. Sorry .... in all my years, I have not come across anything that serves all my purposes. I either get wet, or go home, or both.

But if you use any kind of knife, don't you wind up cutting many of the kernels part way up. It's the shape of the cob that makes a problem out of all this. I once saw some kind of gadget that was like a circular knife that had the ability to slide and adjust the diameter as you pushed it down the cob. That was a lot of years ago, and we never bought one. I don't even know if it actually worked. But I know that a lot of people grow more corn than they can eat fresh, so I figured that somebody must have figured this out my now. I know that the few times that we tried to do it with just a regular knife, we wound up with one line of kernels that were quite complete and the adjacent lines of kernels were cut half way up or worse. It was kind of like a few perfect kernels and the rest were mangled. So how the heck do they do it commercially?

By the way, when getting a ruling on questions of this nature from the DEC, be sure you get a name. Or better yet, make your questions using e-mail or some other written media. I suspect that a J.P. or judge might not accept "well somebody at the DEC told me", as a provable excuse.

But, if you have secured the bow in your car or at home, you are no longer "archery or muzzleloader hunting"

I love those meteorological words like "possible", "scattered", "occasional", "mostly", "might", and "potential". When you hear these words, you can assume that they have absolutely no idea. These vague terms also make their forecasts absolutely worthless as a planning tool. But sometimes when I am feeling in a particular charitable mood, I do have to admit that here in western NY, all weather I extremely local. The variations in elevation, the effects of those two Great Lakes, Erie and Ontario, certainly allows for chopped up conditions that literally do change from one part of a town to another. Trying to come up with a forecast that covers all those different communities is something that probably is impossible. Heck, we can have a 10 degree differential from the valley floor to the hill-top. I have looked across the road and seen snow lying half way down the hill with nothing on the lower half. So if they say there might be frosts, that probably is about as good as they can do.

Ok, new dumb question. When you grow a lot of corn and want to can or freeze it or whatever way you choose to preserve it, what method do you use to get the kernels off the cob without mangling them? Store bought corn always has these nice perfect looking kernels in the can or package. Whenever we have tried in the past, each kernel is smashed or cut in half and just generally ruined-looking. I understand that the taste isn't effected by how the kernels look, but it is just a question of proper preparation and food presentation. Just curious.

I dare say that most local weathermen try to boost their ratings and viewership by running around in circles hollering about how the sky is falling. They don't feel that they have done their job unless they get you all worked up about pretend weather disasters. However, this Allegheny County frost warning is from the National Weather Service. Since they don't get any real TV exposure and really are not in the TV ratings game, I believe that they are a little more responsible about their forecasts and warnings.

One thing that helps to motivate practice is to develop a love-affair with archery and the bow itself. I understand that a lot of people these days want to get themselves into the bow season. But if the only driver is to be able to hunt a few extra days at a more comfortable time of the year, you probably will not be into it for very long. Part of it all is the challenge of the bow itself and the skill required to master the weapon. That is the real difference between bow hunting and gun hunting. What I am trying to say is that you really need to be practicing because you like archery, not because practice is an ugly activity that you have to grunt your way through just to hunt. If you don't get your mind right on that, you are doomed to failure. At least that's the way I see it.

They will not run me out of this state!

There isn't even an attempt at looking rational and sane anymore when it comes to some of the attitudes of legislators. What on earth do they think people are going to do with a pocketful of empty casings? throw them at somebody? Well, obviously they are saving them from a trip to the range so that when they get home they can re-load them. Why don't they use a bit of honesty and flat out say screw you and your 2nd amendment rights. We don't want you to have any guns and we are going to harass you with frivolous laws until you don't. Washington citizens have such stupid laws on the books and yet continue to vote for these idiots, then they deserve what they get. I wish I could feel sorry for them. It's no different than NYS if we don't take out these jerks that voted for that so-called Safe Act. If that happens, then we deserve exactly what we get. It will only show how little gun ownership really means to us.

Seriously, when the law enforcement people start feeling like they have the authority to fill-in for the judicial branch of the government, that's when I do get more than a bit freaked out ....lol. I am a little concerned about any law enforcement personnel that are so confused about the limitations and scope of their authority. Now that is scary!

This is the first year for rifles in Ontario County. I purchased a brand new rifle and by golly I am very enthusiastically looking forward to gun season..... I mean like "crazy enthusiastic". Anybody that knows me knows that I am a dyed-in-the-wool bowhunter and haven't missed a bow season in 49 years. But I am a 2-season hunter and gun season offers a completely different hunting experience that keeps things interesting. And then too I agree with whoever said that bow season is an individual challenge while gun season gets more into the social aspects with friends and family.

It's not a real high percentage shot, and I'm not that desperate that I have to take shots that are potential wounding losses. We already get a bad enough rep for that without taking goofy shots.

Any arrow that has killed a deer, is spin-tested in my arrow-straightener to check for straightness. I use aluminum arrows, so most of the time the arrow is snapped or bent into an "L" shape .... lol. If I get a pass-thru, there is no telling what on the ground I might have hit (stumps, roots, rocks). If it stays sticking out of the deer, it whacks the trees along the way, which even in the best of cases can't really be all that good for the arrow. I've got so many arrows that I can afford to retire each arrow that is shot at a deer. I bought the arrows back before manufacturers wanted to get rich on each dozen. They didn't really cost all that much back then. I used to buy just the shafts and the components and build them myself.

Another feature of my ghillie suit is that it is super hot. All those layers of those little leaf thingys seem to act just like insulation. That's good news when you are in the later stages of the bow season. But this year with an Oct 1 start, we could be looking at T-shirt weather.

Yup, frost warnings up for Allegheny County, and a potential for lows in the 30's in counties south of Rts 5&20 in Western NY. Man that's pretty early for that kind of crap, isn't it? Are we setting up for an ugly winter? I've gotten pretty soft when it comes to my winter driving skills. I really don't need anything like that.

I'm sure you understand that we have a judicial branch of the government that is responsible for determining the constitutionality of laws. Defining constitutionality is not the job of individual citizens or the law enforcement people. We do not pick and choose what laws to abide by based on our opinion. I would hope that our law enforcement agencies have not assumed the responsibilities of picking and choosing what laws to enforce or obey based on their notion of what is or is not constitutional. With all due respect, I must point out that they are not educated or capable of doing that and it is in no way their responsibility or right. We are all allowed our opinion, but no authority automatically goes along with having an opinion.

Nothing beats a ghillie suit. I have performed a few experiments with having people trying to spot me while I sat in the woods with my ghillie suit on, and with just a very little brush. Even though they were consciously knowing exactly what they were looking for, it took one heck of a long time for them to spot me. And that was only at 50 yards. It is an amazing way to break your outline and nearly become invisible. The only problem I have is figuring how to draw and shoot a bow with all that crap all over me. It Is nearly guaranteed to foul up in the arrow or bowstring or limbs in some way .... lol. I have a good thought for an invention that hasn't occurred to anyone that I know of. Somebody needs to market a blaze orange ghillie suit for gun/crossbow deer hunting. I think that if done right it could be deadly deer hunting camo while still having the safety effects of being obvious to other hunters. I'm thinking of color combinations of several shades of orange to still provide that image-breaking pattern and yet have the colors that catch the eye of other hunters. Kind of like camo blaze orange done with the ghillie design.

I am thinking the reason that blaze orange doesn't pose a problem during gun season is that with a gun, most of the "positioning motions" are done before the deer gets super close. So basically before the deer is at a point where you are ready to shoot them, you may be dressed in a head-to-toe blaze orange material, but you are not making any significant movements. That works. With a bow, you have no option but to draw your bow while the deer is in close proximity. Couple that significant movement with bright colors that don't blend well with the surroundings, and the deer is gone before you can release the shot. That is what camo is all about during bow season. Even with full camo, the drawing motion required with a bow can get you busted. Trying to do that with some kind of highly reflective bright material would be a guarantee of being spotted.

There is something wrong when you find it necessary to hate people simply because they respond to your posts. There are things not to like in this government, but I will say that when you start pushing the idea of lawlessness, that is an issue that I do not take as lightly as you apparently do. And yes, that is exactly the same philosophy adopted by Terry Nichols and his partner McVeigh. They too held the notion that the government of this country is their enemy and that laws mean nothing. Their solution lead to their conclusion that war had to be declared against the Country (government). I'm sorry, but I simply can't abide that kind of thinking or talk. It's offensive to me, and is totally contrary to what I fought for. We have systems in place to handle what's gone wrong in our government. Most choose to use that system. Others simply want to tear it all down. We are a country that has laws at our core. That is not a new concept that just came on us since the 50's and 60's but has been here since our inception. This never has been the form of government where people pick and choose what laws they will obey. There are legitimate processes for changing laws that are unjust or unpopular. You may choose to ignore those processes and cross over to the side of lawlessness, but don't expect a whole lot of support when you propose such a thing.

Here's the deal. I have never seen such outrage over any piece of legislation that I have seen over this. The reaction of the NYS gun owners was impressive to say the least. It is probably the most unified that I have ever seen gun owners actually get. The rallies and protests were really quite impressive. I see this as a very unique, once in a lifetime opportunity to actually put these legislators on notice. If we squander this opportunity, we might as well just give it all up. One thing that terrifies politicians is a highly motivated and unified minority and that is exactly what they handed us if we can only keep the outrage alive until the elections. Anti-gun voters are all over the map in terms of issues and hot-buttons reasons for the way they cast their vote. They really have no motivation to vote as a single block. This time around, we do. That makes us a potentially powerful voting block that can make a difference. Part of all that involves a "get out the vote" activity by as many as possible people who really care about gun ownership. It will take a lot of organization, and pushing, and effort, but given this issue and the emotion that is behind it, I believe we have the best opportunity to pull it off that we will ever see. I too have taken note of those that have mixed feelings about specific elements of that law, but it was so all-encompassing that it had a little something in it to piss off every gun owner. I have seen the breadth and scope of the hatred for this act, and I believe that we really need to go for it. We need to take that voting record on that act and use it as a pass/fail document for our vote. Anything else will doom us forever to watching our gun rights dissolve here in this state.

My primary annual stands (all ground blinds) have been all prepared for a couple of months now. That is not according to plan, it's just the way my time became available. However, I do know that I will come across some smokin' hot places as the season progresses and I will not hesitate to knock out an instant stand right there on the spot. I have had success doing that. As long as too much disruption is not made, and the area is not stunk-up too much in making the set-up, I have had amazing success in "same-day" stand building. You guys with climbers should be able to set stands just about anytime you want as long as you don't have to butcher the area clearing out shooting lanes.