Doc

Man, don't be taking any advice from me on camera selection. Right now I have one dead Bushnell out of two, one dying Primos. A Moultrie that never did work right and a cheapo Tasco that barely takes pictures that even look like a deer. I have never seen a line of products that are as unreliable as trail cams. The only one that looked like it might have wound up making it for a few seasons was the Cuddeback that I had stolen last year. Do I sound a bit disgusted? Well that's only because I am. I recently bought a Covert, and the jury is out on that one. Chances are very good that as each one continues to crap out, they will not be replaced and I will soon be out of the trail-cam purchasing routine.

Lol .... I'll bet the place has been closed down due to health violations. I would guess that it has been a good 40 years or so since I was last there, and it didn't look like the cleanest place in the world back then.

Perhaps there is possibility that with a lot of coyote pressure, the fawns may be being kept secluded more than normal. Certainly with all those bucks there's no way that does are not getting bred. Also, there was nothing unusual about this past winter or spring that would impact fawn rates. I seriously doubt that the coyotes have eaten them all ....lol. I think they are there, just being kept out of sight. Let's hope that is the case anyway.

One thing that struck me as I looked at these pics (particularly on the 1st page) was the quantity of does running around with no fawns in tow. Was that just coincidence or have you noticed a shortage of fawns. Around my place, there are almost no does without fawns tagging along especially from July on.

Ok, the illustrations in this article clearly show that blaze orange show up as yellow .... another bright color that also looks totally out of place in the woods and is very attention-getting as well. This all backs up my theory that deer may not see blaze orange as blaze orange, but the color still appears as a stark, attention-grabbing, flashy, visual. Certainly the color does not blend in with anything else in the woods. I am not trying to discourage anyone from wearing blaze orange during gun season. I am a fanatical proponent of the material as a life-saver. I also have seen a few situations where the color didn't seem to attract their attention. But I do believe that we are not invisible to the deer either. Blaze orange absolutely is a very worthwhile trade-off made in an attempt to keep from being shot at (my personal choice). But I think it is wise to couple this with extra caution about movement and concealment if we expect to fool a deer's eyes.

That's all very true, but the question still remains (as per the topic of the thread), "What is the logic behind the differences in season dates?". One would think there would be a certain amount of value in having hunting regulations being universal across the state as much as possible. Sure, bag limits and a few other items of harvest limits might be unique strictly because of habitat and/or climate. But shifting seasons by a couple weeks (or days) doesn't seem to have a whole lot of benefit unless it is climate related. It's all simply a point of curiosity. And while we are on the subject of some rather arbitrary rules-making, what is with the requirement of hunting back-tags in the Southern Zone and no such requirement in the Northern Zone. How the hell do they justify that difference. For that matter, why is there a Northern Zone and a Southern Zone? We have WMUs to take care of uniqueness of climate, habitat and populations.

Who's got a hang-up about food plots? I'm just reacting to the fact that finally someone has flat out said that they actually hunt their plots. I don't see how anything that I have said could possibly be construed as critical of food-plotting. Not only that but I am complimenting this guy on being unapologetic and straight up about using his plots for hunting. It seems that many, perhaps most, apologize for taking advantage of a resource that they have created, and I guess I really don't understand why. But anybody who has been paying attention has also noted that every time food plots are even hinted at as being similar to baiting (which they are not), we usually get a rash of comments that food plots are not for hunting (directly). Finally someone has come along and straight up says that he hunts his plots. For me there's nothing to get hung up about with that. In fact I believe I said exactly that a few replies ago on this very thread. I have said in the past that my version of hunting involves hunting the deer "as I find them" without any conditioning or pattern manipulation. That is a personal restriction that I do not put on anyone else. But I will say that if I were to put all the time and money into creating a food plot, I definitely would be hunting it and would do so openly and without apology. And that is exactly what I was complimenting NYSuperSportsman for doing. Don't try to make anymore of it than what it is.

Is there any place across the lake where you can sit with binoculars?

Place a trailcam along the driveway such that you get the license plate number as they drive by. Do a careful job of concealing the camera or you'll have that missing too. Another possible solution is to put a gate at the entrance with plenty of signs indicating that there is no trespassing allowed and then lay down (and camo) some nail-strips across the driveway. I think that is legal as long as they are knowingly trespassing (might want to check that out). Maybe with 4 flat tires they will be stuck there long enough for someone to spot them.

That is for sure. Last winter got a little more back towards a normal winter, but nothing exceptionally rough. And of course the winter before that was "the winter that never happened".

As the air begins to warm in the mornings, the thermals generally are in an uphill direction. In the evening when the sun goes down and the air is cooling, the thermals are sliding down the hills. Interestingly enough, the deer in our area seem to position this normal air flow to their rump instead of taking advantage of the normal thermal flow. In other words they generally head up the hill to bed in the morning and come down to feed in the evening. That is strange, but pretty darn consistent....or at least as consistent as anything about deer. We have very steep terrain with narrow valleys so this effect is very pronounced. This pattern of bedding on the hill (or hill-sides)holds regardless of which side of the valley, so the prevailing westerly winds that blow across the valley really don't effect those patterns. Having said all this, that is not to say that no deer bed in the valley. Most of our thick heavy brushy areas are in the valleys and there are always a certain amount of deer that take advantage of that. Also, there are food interruptions to that pattern also. Primarily the oaks are all located up on the hilltops. When they are after the acorns, all bets are off. Some of the deer don't even come down off the hills. So, all I can say is that there are only very general patterns that can change at anytime due to any number of factors. We always try to use wind patterns and natural movement to our advantage, but it isn't always a guarantee,. In other words, just when you think you have it all figured out ..... watch your back ....lol.

Well, apparently not everyone. Some apparently just put in the plots as a benevolent gesture to the local deer herd ..... lol. Seriously, I have kind of taken note of the number of people who claim not to actually hunt their plots. In fact, this may very well be the first place I have ever seen anyone state that they use their plots directly for hunting. By the way, I am not trying to pass judgment on the idea of doing that. I just find it to be a rare situation to find anyone saying that on this forum.

That jab to the solarplexis is just a little slow and lazy and it looks like there has been an opening left for a monster overhand right ready to dropped into the jaw. That could be the knock-out punch.

Sounds like there is some future population thinning that will be required in the area.

Your question about deer eating hickory nuts is an interesting one. I would say they do not because I have cracked a few of those things in the past and I can say that they are super hard. I know the jaws on a deer are pretty strong, and they have no problems with acorns, but I think when it comes to cracking hickory nuts they probably have met their match. However, I have never seen anyone actually come out and say that they do not eat them. I have asked the question before and never got an answer. Be careful of hunting a swamp that is something you can't cross. Deer often don't go down right on the spot, and they have no problems swimming or heading out into swamps. I guess what I am saying is don't hunt in areas that you cannot pursue a wounded deer into. As far as the Park Ranger's comments, he may be talking from experiences of having had to go out and find lost hikers/hunters. I'm sure he was warning you to have orienteering equipment and the skill to adequately use them. Probably not bad advice.

Yeah between your $50 and my $50, that's a whole $100 that they could have squandered .... lol.

I'm not sure. It was a long time ago and I just remember a place there that had a jillion mounts of just about every critter up in the rafters and all over the walls. That's my one and only recollection of Old Forge...lol.

I have had a few occasions where I sat against a tree in my head-to-toe blaze orange suit and had does walk right past without ever seeing anything out of place. And this was done right in the middle of a very high pressure gun season when they were all on super high alert. And then there has been times when I have been sneaking up over a ridge and got picked up just as my blaze-orange hat came into view. So, who really knows what is going on. I have assumed that the blaze orange does show up different to the deer, but does not bother them unless there is movement involved. I would be surprised if the reflectivity and intensity of that color doesn't stand out in some fashion. After all, it is almost like a light source. It may not be the color that is noticed, but rather the features of intensity. I don't know, I haven't found a deer that I can discuss all this with so I am just guessing.

There have been adequate hints over the years that most of our decisions have very little to do with what resources wind up in the DEC control. The governor controls directly or indirectly the purse-strings of the DEC and can play any game he wants to in terms of robbing from any fund he wants. If he is forced to give a little here, he has the ability to withhold a little there. So there is a system that you can never win whether you are dealing with annual licenses or lifetime licenses. If the rest of the state wants to steal the funds, you can rest assured that they have their ways of doing it and most likely will. It will not be the first time and will not be the last time.

Absolutely, there are places in this state where you will have no choice. The ones that voted for the so-called Safe Act will be being opposed by others that are also anti-gun. However, if gun owners boot out the ones that voted for the act, just think of the powerful message that will have been sent. I maintain that the new holder of that office will be thinking twice before blatantly slapping the faces of gun owners again regardless of his actual feelings on the issue. It's all about the message and the demonstration that voting against the 2nd Amendment has consequences. Now whether we can actually pull off the unseating of these characters or not still remains to be seen. I already have seen some indications that gun owners don't really have the courage of their convictions, and it is very difficult to get gun owners to unite around any issue. And perhaps we are getting exactly what we deserve. But it occurs to me that we will never have as good an opportunity to galvanize the entire gun owning community for a positive statement as we have with the safe Act incursion on our rights. We have seen the brief outrage that took over the community. And while I have to admit that the issue has nearly faded into oblivion, I am hoping that the anger can once again be rekindled when election time comes around. Consider the message that gets sent if we do not act in a decisive fashion at the polls. We will be publicly declaring, loud and clear, that it is open season on guns and gun owners and that our political will is simply a paper tiger that can be shredded any time a legislator wishes. I'm hoping that is not the message that gets sent.

And I am saying that as long as we cannot be united against those that voted for this unconstitutional travesty, the voting system means nothing. We have taken a slap in the face that emboldens politicians to continue abuses that go even beyond gun issues. They have to be made aware that we set limits on them. If you are unwilling to take this one simple step of unity, then there probably should be no complaining about what has been done to us and what is likely to be done in the future. And yes, anger is exactly my motive and should be. Basically I am mad as hell and I am not going to take it any more. It's time to put away our little pet ideologies and focus on one of the worst affronts to the Constitution that have been handed to the citizens in a long time. If we cannot unite and rally around this major assault on our rights, then I guess what is being said is that we are unwilling to fight back the anti-gun activists and the battle for gun-owner's rights is totally lost and with our consent. You can join this effort to make politicians understand that the citizens still have power, or you can squander the opportunity to send that message by diluting your vote and having it serve absolutely no purpose other than to further convince politicians that they have absolutely nothing to fear from voters. However, the vote is still an individual right that each citizen can implement in a way that they see fit. Some may take this opportunity to make a firm statement about how we are to be governed, and the fact that pro-gun advocacy and political power is still a force to be reckoned with. Perhaps for others that issue is not all that important.

First picture, I haven't a clue. I will say that it likely is not a scrape. It looks like a spot where some critter has been rooting around for grubs or some other kind of bugs or such. The second picture could be bear scat. It's hard to get a good read on what the size is. There is not a lot to set the scale with. To me the third picture looks like a top view of a hickory nut with the hull still on. They are exactly that color, and are segmented like that is.

Does Old forge still have that restaurant that had all the stuffed animals everywhere?

It all depends on the layout of your woodlots. Around us, on properties that have received a lot of logging pressure, what has been left is spotty isolated oak stands. I have seen other areas that are massive and wide-spread where heavy acorn crops can be a problem. In those areas, if I can find some white oaks that are bearing, I can kind of predict that those will be frequented quite heavily at some point in the season. Not only that, but there never is only one source of deer food, and I find that even with heavy acorn production, they still will visit the apple trees and a few grass-lots on their feeding circuit.

Ha-ha ..... Life is good!!! Sounds like a great time.