Doc

Aw geeze ... I never thought of that. That could be baiting ... lol. Soak the hay covering in salt before you add it onto the blind and you could get a lot of face-shots.

I hate recoil! I wouldn't even want to be watching while that thing was being shot. I'm surprised they didn't have to cart someone off to the hospital. It actually got right away from that one guy. He could have been wearing that in the mouth. About the only thing that I could see using something like that on would be tanks or trucks or something of that nature.

Try this one: http://scopeny.org/index.html

I always figured that two or three of the actual big round bales would make a heck of a blind if they were located in the right place and arranged in the right configuration.

Lol ..... Damn, you guys come up with a picture for everything. That was really funny.

A crummy $20 ..... why not? It's a very powerful public statement that is hanging out there every day for people to see. Also, I am not sure what took me so long, but I have finally signed up as a member of SCOPE. Seems like the time is right. Our problems are of state origins, so it seems logical to support the state gun owner advocacy organization. Membership is cheap enough and they seem to be the ones doing the heavy lifting here in NY. I think they need my support. They probably need the support of any gun owner. Something to think about.

Way back in the dark ages, I put in a service pole to feed the barn. From that pole which is along our main overhead line, I decided to run the line underground to keep it out of the yard. I buried it 4' down and housed it in leach-field pipe. I think it would take a backhoe to disturb that line. You might want to consider doing that when you replace the line. I was going to go underground for the main line into the house site but we were talking 1000' and the estimates that I got at the time were out of sight. The thought I had in mind was that we also have trees everywhere along the length of the driveway and underground would protect from wind, ice storms, heavy snow loads etc., etc. As it turned out, we were quite happy that we didn't. With the advent of cable and such, we wound up needing the above-ground poles to string the cable on. There is always that question of access when new wire technologies come along. As it turns out, the electric company is responsible for maintenance of the access line anyway, so they actually keep the trees trimmed away from the lines. In 38 years we have not had a problem with that part of the line..... lol, now I've done it!

Have you people been noticing these posters going up around the neighborhoods? At first I just saw a couple of them here and there, but now they are starting to pop up all over the place. It is getting to be a fairly powerful statement that is showing that Cuomo is flat out lying when he says that the majority of the people are for the Safe Act. I would love to see these things start showing up across the state and sending a very visible message that the revolt is not going away. I want the politicians to see these statements and start worrying that they are going to convert into votes against those that voted for this attack on the 2nd Amendment. They are for sale on the SCOPE web-site ($20). I am not sure whether they are for members only. It didn't sound like it as I read the page.

I probably have at least a year's supply of components and constructed ammo, but having gone through all of this serious "shortage" stuff for many months now, I am beginning to develop that "hoarder's mentality". I don't ever want to question whether or not I will be able to build a supply of bullets for my rifles, and so I want to increase my in-house supplies to a point where I don't have to ration my practice sessions for fear of running out of ammo. That doesn't mean that I want a bunker full of bullet parts, but I would feel a lot better if I had 4 or 5 years worth of stock on hand. That probably won't have any huge impact on store stocks, but when I get the chance, I want to continue to add to my inventory. I suppose that makes me guilty of having that hoarder's mentality .... lol.

Exactly how do you release a bobcat from a leg-hold trap? That has to be quite a trick.

I have mixed feelings about any DEC resources that are used to maintain or manage the numbers of a species that is non native to the state and that seems to require such a specialized habitat. It really doesn't seem to be a place where they are getting the biggest bang for their buck. I'm not sure ho many additional licenses are sold annually for the express purpose of hunting pheasants, but I wouldn't be surprised if the return on that forcing a population is miniscule compared to the costs. I would love to see credible numbers and be proven wrong. And I am not talking about game preserve birds either.

That is absolutely true, and that is only a part of the benefits. What I have found is that a whole bunch of different species find beaver pond/swamps to be a virtual magnet. That is not just water related critters either.

I'm going to have to plan a trip up there. I'll call ahead with my shopping list.

I wonder if that stuff will burn at the same speed as the non-SC stuff. That would be interesting to see if the point of impact changes at all. You might want to not mix bullets made with this new version in with the others until you have tested that out. Probably there is no difference, but it is better to be safe than sorry.

I have more interest in reloading components ..... bullets, powder, brass, primers, etc. Has anyone found a good reliable source of those products (PA or otherwise)? Also, does anyone know if the Safe Act background check requirement on ammo applies to components? I don't think I have ever heard that stated yet.

I enjoyed the beavers that we had across the road. They created a pretty nice swamp that drew in just about every kind of walking, swimming and flying critter that you could imagine. A rather boring crick became a wildlife gold mine. However, they absolutely do need trapping. They are quite capable of eating themselves out of house and home and they will abandon areas that have become over-populated and where they have eaten everything that they can including new growth. That is what happened across the road and the colony moved out to better grounds. The dam has long ago deteriorated and all the critters that used to live there have followed the beavers.

I suspect that there are good food-plotters and bad food-plotters..... lol. I have a food plot, and I didn't even plant it. It is just an area a short distance away from the house that I keep mowed. The grasses there are what ever naturally occurred and boy is it ever thick, better than the lawn around the house (my other "food plot"). The deer love it. It is secluded (surrounded by huge spruce trees) and it's beginning to look like a barnyard with all the deer crap everywhere. I do spend a few days hunting there each year. I have had pretty good success there. I also have another food plot called my yard and all those expensive shrubs and flowering plants. I have two Rose-of-Sharon bushes that look like mushrooms. I have a circle of fencing around each one and the deer have trimmed it right to the fence. Above the fence where the deer can't reach they have spread out. They look kind of funny. You want some good "bait", just start planting a few tulip bulbs or expensive shrubbery. You'll draw them in like flies to sh*#@. I'll be hunting this plot pretty heavy this year and start thinning these critters out a bit. I may spend a few afternoons with a front window open and the .270 hanging out, hunting over my "food plot".It's time to start filling those tags where it does the most good .... lol.

So, here is the question ..... Does the ammo shortage exist down in PA also? Background checks aside, is there really any ammo to be had down there either? I understood that the ammo shortage was national (international?) in scope.

It really is as simple as one practice is legal and the other is not. That's the one major difference that counts. personally, I have no interest or need for doing either, but I do think that the DEC would play hell trying to sort out what fields are being done for hunting and what are simply habitat improvements or ag activities. I can see a law that would take volumes to define.....lol. They already are having difficulties getting legal support for their feeding and baiting laws (see Sullivan County). That law has been deemed vague and too general. Can you imagine them trying to word a law that defined exactly what constitutes a food plot .... lol. As far as the "right or wrong of it all, I have to figure that the state biologists probably have a little knowledge about what promotes disease propagation. From that standpoint, I see baiting as being a practice that not only concentrates deer in an "area" but further concentrates them to the exact same "spot" where urine feces and saliva are exchanged directly. Food plots generally don't do that.

Nothing is impossible with a bow in the right hands. I watched Stacey Groscup shoot aspirins out of the air. I also watched him shoot flying targets out of the air holding the bow with his feet. And of course we have all seen Byron Ferguson perform his magic. That stuff takes more than just simple dedicated practice. There is something spectacular about the hand-eye coordination of these guys. It's the same thing that makes a deadly accurate outfielder in baseball, and quarterback in football.... and golfer. No expensive sights. No jillion dollar drop away arrow rests. No super fast compounds. No fancy arrows. Just a super ability between the ears. Great video, and another archery wizard.

Now that was a great video. Looks like a lot of fun. I'm not crazy about the running shot, but it was pretty darn close, and worked out good.

There is an awful lot of public land that doesn't allow camping, or only allows camping in designated areas (often not suitable for hunting). Be sure to check that out before you get too far along with your plans.

So where did they come from? Is there a creek or river or swamp somewhere nearby? If so, you may find a perpetual source of these critters that you can't get rid of. It does look like there is a limited supply of food for them there, so they may start checking out your trees in your yard....lol. They are interesting critters to have in the area, but they may find ways of irritating you .... ha-ha. That setting really doesn't look like ideal beaver habitat.

This NYS Safe Act has got a lot of these mail order places spooked. The results of that legislative travesty are going way beyond what most people even realize. Cuomo and his merry band of lackeys really got away with something there when they snuck that law through in the dead of the night. Just remember all this when the next election rolls around.

I lost a $220 Cuddeback on state land last year. The camera had only been out a week or so and was located in an area surrounded by thick brush and multiflora rose. Hard to imagine anyone actually going in there. In fact unless they were familiar with the only nearly imperceptible trail to the spot, I dare say that it is nearly impossible for anyone to get there. Anyway, I learned my lesson. Even areas that are considered to be nearly inpenetratable, or even spots that are so far in that you would consider them absolutely safe, it is likely only a matter of time before you will lose a camera to these thieves.