Doc

$200 for a damn sight? Boy have I ever gotten out of step with things .... lol. I mean really, we are only talking about a sight ..... A stationary aiming reference point.

What the heck does the "DNA" stand for?

Yeah, I probably fall into that "lame" category .... lol. Actually there is a lot more cost than just the $209 for the tags. Travel, lodging, etc. have to be figured in also. And then too, remember that a lot of people are playing it pretty close to the vest with their budgets. Everybody keeps talking about the great economy but a lot of us have yet to see the results of that "great" economy. All I ever see anymore is inflation. Also, there are a lot of family obligations that keep people relegated to just the local hunts. Everybody has a different set of circumstances that determine what they can or can't do. And then too, let's not forget that all hunters do not share the 100% commitment of devoting all of their time to hunting. A lot have other things that have to share any free time. Anyway, I understand the attitude of those friends that shy away from such opportunities. It's too bad because nobody really wants to go on these kinds of trips by themselves. And I know you are frustrated. Perhaps somebody in this forum might be interested in heading out there with you. It does sound like a fun trip.

Way back in the old days when we used to use shotguns (last year), the pounding I took with my old 12 gauge had me limiting my pre-season scope-check shots to just 3 (that is if everything went well). The last 3-shot group that I took at 50 yards was what I called my "Mickey Mouse" group. It looked like the outline of mickey Mouse complete with the two ears....lol. Now I spend hours shooting my .270 and enjoying every minute of it.

I'm armed and ready for the rifle in Ontario County. I heard from a very good source that rifles in our county were a lock, so way back in early winter I bought a brand new .270 American Ruger (along with ammo and reloading supplies) just for the occasion.

We have no such thing as a Honey-do list. But unfortunately that doesn't mean that I don't have things that have to be accomplished this year. But actually the good thing about hunting from home is that I can often multi-task if things start to get away from me.

(2) 8N permits. I doubt anyone is being turned down in 8N. Also, I will guarantee that there will be extras available before the season starts. We've got a lot of deer.

First of all, make sure you have a tow vehicle that has enough balls to pull a trailer full of Quad up long steep hills. I used to do it with a little Honda Civic, and believe me there were a few hills that had me wondering if I was going to make it up. Once you are happy with the tow vehicle, I would suggest that you get at least a 4' x 8' trailer so that if you can haul anything from a quad to a snowmobile to lumber and never be constrained by the size of your trailer. Also be sure to have an adequate ramp style tailgate for ease of loading. You can get a tilt-style trailer bed, but unless you do some special additional wiring, there will always come a time when you run into ground problems and the lights won't work. That is pretty much a pain in the neck when you go to use your trailer and can't get the lights to work.

I feel your pain. Last year I had a Cuddeback stolen ..... $200+.

Not too many counties left anymore that don't allow rifles. That means that nearly every fatality and accident in NYS will be done by a rifle. A bunch of these counties are in a trial period. I hope people are very careful, and the accident rates don't begin to go up. Something like that could easily be mis-interpreted and put rifle usage in some of these counties in jeopardy in a very permanent way. People will be watching the numbers very closely. We had better make sure that we don't have any reversals in the safety record.

I'll have to check this out. Thanx for the link.

For me this election will be a punitive strike against those that voted for the Safe Act, and a reward for those that voted against it. Party affiliation and crossbow or no crossbow doesn't even enter into it at all. This is an election to make legislators understand that their votes have consequences (good or bad). It's simply time to remind them that we are paying attention. There is one thing that gets a politicians attention above all other things, and that is votes and getting elected. It's time that they were made to understand that we are united, and we do vote and we are putting all politicians on notice that if you vote for such underhanded and unconstitutional laws as the Safe Act, you will be out looking for a job. And I can only hope that that is really the case and that gun owners are not so wimpy that they have forgotten how to stand up for themselves. Yes, we may very well vote in somebody that hates guns even worse than the ones that we vote out. But understand that they will come to the job with the understanding that if they make the same mistakes as their predecessors, they too will have to hit the road. Believe me, they will soon change their stripes once they understand that fact. A politician's dedication to principle only extends as far as their constituent votes will allow them. They know that, and they react to that, and it's time they get reminded of that. I'm serious about all this. Those gun owners who are not registered to vote ..... don't wait. Get with it now! Those gun owners that you know that are not registered, persuade them to do so now. Make sure they understand the issue. Make sure they understand what to do about it. This all only works if we are acting as a united front. We are in the minority, and so it is important that we act as a dedicated voting block. That's the one potential advantage that we might be able to come up with. A small dedicated minority is way more powerful than the totally disorganized majority opposition. We can't have everybody running off in different directions, doing their own thing. We lose political advantage that way. Make it a one-issue election. Send that message that we are still as angry a we were back when this abuse was first done to us. Make them understand that time is not their ally and that we do not forget.

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.