Doc

Well, I have to admit that bow hunting would be a very different activity if the bow hunter density ever became anything like current gun season hunter density. And for sure that situation would definitely turn the quality of the hunt into crap. But I don't really worry about it getting to that extreme (I could be wrong). But my biggest fear is that just as the compound served as a precedent for the crossbow, the crossbow will serve as the precedent for whatever contraption comes next on the parade. I also worry about people eventually questioning why we have the privilege of special seasons. I already see muzzle loaders eyeballing chunks of the early bow season. There are others that are also questioning why we are allowed to take the cream of the hunting season crop. As our success rates continue to climb, and technology continues to add fuel to the fire, we may be providing ammo to their arguments. We have arrogantly believed that we can add whatever we want to bow seasons and still maintain the advantages won over in years past. Well, it just might happen that we are in for a rude shock one of these days. We may learn in a very uncomfortable way that we are indeed in the minority in the hunting community.

Yes and eventually in the name of progress, we will begin to accept weapons that don't even look like a bow. And people will continue to flood into the sport and we will continue to pat ourselves on the back because of it. The real funny thing is that while we think we are being so successful and counting all the numbers of people who are flooding into bow seasons, there has to be a growing suspicion that we are simply transferring people from gun seasons into bow seasons. Over-all hunter numbers continue to slide even as the bow hunting ranks grow. The success that we are bragging about is merely hunter re-distribution. The closer our equipment emulates guns, and the more we continue to squeeze the challenge and personal accomplishment out of the sport, the more redistribution that will take place. Is that making bow seasons better or more successful? Is that progress? Unfortunately, each one of these pieces of "progress" removes the very purpose of separating the bows out of the regular gun hunting seasons in the first place. We said that we needed special seasons and bag limits to compensate for the difficulty of our sport. But, we keep getting closer and closer to the quality, attitudes, and equipment of the gun seasons that we said we had to separate ourselves from. We call that progress and we call that success. Was bow hunting really meant to be ruled by technology? I suppose that comes with answers that vary by generation also. Sure we're all suckers for the gadgets and go-fasters, but I draw lines and set boundaries. It just seems logical when you are talking about an activity rooted in tradition and history. When have we gone too far? I know we all have our own idea of where those limits should be drawn, but the plain practical truth is that none of us has the ability to stop this technology craze once it has begun. Bow season was initially set up to provide a time for use of some pretty primitive equipment. That notion has been pretty much eliminated when the compound came along. We are doing our best to eliminate the reasons that we have a "special" season. The compound was a "baby step" and even with all the pulleys and cables, the actual procedure and disciplines and principles of use remained exactly the same. But what the compound did do was to set the precedents that served as enablers for the next generation of contraption. Each generation of bastardization of the bow becomes more extreme and sets the way for the next pollutant coming after it. So yes we are "progressing" toward combining bow hunting back in with gun hunting both in technology and attitudes. Is that really progress? Not in a good direction as far as I am concerned. We are getting to the point where the next generation of technological progress will simply be to go back and pick up a rifle....lol. That's kind of where the "end-game" of all this "progress" is heading anyway.

If you are leaning toward Toyota, take a look at the RAV4. It really was a toss-up between that and the CRV when I bought mine. They are almost identical. Either one is super reliable and very popular.

So, you are not going to have the thing looked at my a doctor?

That was pretty funny ....... until a few minutes later when you stop to think about it all.

I know you are not understanding a bit of what I am saying. I guess it is probably a generational thing left over from those of us who understood the basic philosophies behind the creation of our bow season. If the whole thing was about distance, a person could do the same thing with a rifle and just limit himself to a certain distance. There are some pistol set-ups that are only good for 30 yards too. Some flintlock weapons are barely better than a bow in terms of effective distance, especially given the skill levels of most participants .... lol. If bow hunting was defined by distance, we would have quite an array of weapons in the season most of which really would have nothing to do with a bow. Believe it or not, there was a time when we really understood what bow hunting is. The whole thing was, amazingly enough, about using a bow. Today it is mostly about various technological advantages and items that have more to do with what someone else has invented for us than our own strengths, disciplines, and desires to meet challenges. And on and on it marches through compounds and now crossbows and who can predict what all, off into the future as this technology continues to take over something that was once so basic and simple. Yes, the nature of bow hunting has morphed into something that doesn't even resemble what it was originally. The evolution has occurred not only in the equipment, but the very attitudes of the participants. It's not an activity of self reliance and individual achievements, but more a case of who can buy the most technically advanced contraption. And yes there are plenty of participants who will continue to say ..... "So what? And there are those of us who continue to unsuccessfully attempt to explain the differences. And it is all in vain because it is all based on dated attitudes toward the sport and the experiences along the way. We valued different things when modern bow hunting became a sport. However, we also have to admit that it was people of my generation that let the genie out of the bottle with the compound. And so it will be that this current generation will continue to re-make bow hunting in sweeping dramatic ways. And people like myself should really get updated and adopt that same attitude of "so what". It really isn't the end of the world by any means .... lol.

Ah .... Chicken salad. I have had sandwiches from some restaurants that chop up chunks of chicken (white meat) and add in mayonnaise, and then add pieces of grapes, chopped walnuts, a few small pieces of apple and the usual celery and onion. Plop a huge glob of that on a huge croissant. Add some lettuce, and really .... there is nothing better. I have passed up some good dinners just to get at one of those sandwiches.

It's the same thing. Even muzzleloading has lost it's identity. Technology has buried the very reason that they have a "special" season. I know there is a lot of discussion among those that only engage in the regular shotgun season about why muzzleloading is in fact a special season. In fact I have often wondered that myself. I really hope that we don't someday encounter those same thoughts with bow seasons. I have to admit that I have heard and read a lot of bitching and complaining about how bow season success rates are wacking a lot of great bucks before the shotgunners even get a crack at them. Whether that is really true or not doesn't change the fact that that is the growing perception. Lets hope that thought never gains traction and finds its way into legal season changes. Bowhunters are not in the majority, and if the anti-bowhunting attitudes among gunners continue to grow ...... who knows? Someday we may find our growing successes lead to our demise.

I've met people that thought NYS was paved over.

I believe you should consider some of the AWD "cross-over" vehicles. I have a Honda CRV that is not really terrible on gas, and also has the all wheel drive to accommodate snow and light off-road use (although that kind of abuse gives me the shivers .... lol). It's just another possibility that you might want to throw into the mix.

There is nothing that can be done about 40 year old law that has been hard-instituted as archery tradition now. You are not going to turn back the clock and that is the point of the finality of polluting bow seasons with more contraptions. But one would think that somewhere along the line people would learn to benefit from history instead of ignoring it. My theory is that people probably are not interested all that much in what archery becomes. In fact the more mechanized and automatic the better. That fits so much better into today's schedules and needs for instant gratification. Bowseason has become simply access to a more comfortable time of the year, and the mechanics and tradition of it all be damned. That's simply a sign of the times and there is no minority that is going to stand in the way of that kind of cultural evolution. Just as an aside, I often wonder just how much more rewarding and fulfilling bowhunting would have been if compounds had been denied. Perhaps the original intents of the framers of bowseasons would be still intact. Perhaps the object of bowhunting would still be focused on hunting rather than shooting, and challenge rather than expectations of trophies. It is an interesting thing to contemplate.

Ha-ha .... and as it turns out, those old-timers were exactly right weren't they? They claimed that the compound would be the precedent for further encroachments of other weapons on bow hunting. And by golly, isn't that exactly what is happening. Kind of makes you wonder just what will follow the crossbow. Hypocrite? Maybe just a good student of bowhunting history might be an appropriate description.

And the rifle does that so much better than a crossbow, wouldn't you agree? You wouldn't find quite so many of those nasty lazy archers out there wounding deer because their weaponry is something they are not willing to put time into. That would satisfy your itch about irresponsible bowhunters. Look, I'm pretty sure you are smart enough to know exactly what the point is that I am making. There is no need for me to waste time explaining it further. If you can't understand it, it probably is because you don't want to understand it.

I didn't see that qualifier in your statement. I'm just illustrating the fallacy of your statement. The point is that bow season was never intended as a hunting method without challenge and effort and some level of dedication. But trying to make up for those that refuse to bowhunt responsibly by merely adding in more efficient and easy-to-use weapons and removing the challenges of the sport is not a valid solution unless you are willing to take that line of reasoning to its logical conclusion. And I was just pointing out what that logical conclusion really is ..... the rifle.

They have a very complete web-site at : http://www.canandaiguasportsmensclub.com/index.shtml The only thing that I noticed on the "membership" page was a statement that they are not taking any new memberships, but will add your name to a waiting list. That tells me that they are making sure that things don't get over-crowded (which is a good thing). But who knows how long before an opening comes up. Anyway, briefly looking over their web-site, I have to say that I am quite impressed.

Using that philosophy, why don't we encourage those that refuse to master their archery equipment to use a rifle during bow season? If we are saying that the best way to solve irresponsible bow hunting is to let them use whatever weapon that they will be effective with, then there is no reason to stop with just crossbows is there? Let's forget about all these weapons that pose a challenge and simply have just a gun season. I'll bet there are a lot of guys that would be all for that. Lol ... Sorry, I just couldn't let that one pass.

That's ok as long as the contract periods have the locked-in new subscriber deals on the fees. When that contract period is up, and they try to jack the prices, then its time to change systems and get somebody else's introductory offers. If they have legal contract periods without any requirement that they are ineligible to raise rates during that period, That would be something that would screw up the deal. Also, that is a contract that I would never sign under any circumstances.....lol.

When hunting: Always cold toasted fried egg sandwiches (usually 3 of them) At home: Peanut butter and marmalade Egg and olive Ham salad (diced ham, mayonnaise and dill relish) Tuna surprise (toasted cheese with tuna salad) Hot roast beef on a kimmelwick bun (slopped around in au jus sauce) Reuben Liverwurst on whole wheat (sometimes plain, sometimes lettuce and mayonnaise, sometimes with mustard)

Back in the mid 80's, I went down to Pa. to do some deer hunting. One area that we were scouting had a logged area that was about the worst situation I have ever seen. There was so many tops and debris heaped up, one on top of the other that it was pretty much impassible. I never saw a stretch of woodland laid waste in such a total fashion. I don't know if anyone ever came back in to clean the mess up, but if they didn't, I will guarantee there was at least the better part of a decade where no one could hunt that chunk of land. Not only could you not see more than a few yards, but you really couldn't even walk through it. This was a very extreme situation, and I have never seen anything like it before or since. But it did point up the fact that nothing should be left to trust. I am not saying that logging is not a good thing, but be aware that there are things that the landowner must protect against.

So, what prevents a person from signing up for cable and taking advantage of the startup offers, and when that period of reduced fees ends and they start cranking up the rates, just switch to another kind of provider, taking advantage of their start-up special offers? And then when those rates start to climb, go back to the original and sign up using whatever special deals they have going at the time. Seems like setting up the proper pattern could keep you always on special bargain rates. Could that be done?

Logging is one of the best ways of improving deer habitat, and also getting some cash. But, it would pay to have certain requirements written down and agreed upon, or spend some significant time monitoring the activity. The reason I say that is the experience with one of our neighbors with some rather irresponsible loggers. The logging was done about 20 years ago, and there are still some very significant ruts (about 18" deep) that fan out across a rather large field such that it is impossible to drive or even walk across. That field will never be useable again. Apparently the time of the year created conditions where the skidder could not use the same trail twice across this field and so there was a pattern the fanned out across the field originating in one corner, and all the way across the length and width of the field to some higher ground. In the woods, there are some nasty deep ruts instead of what he envisioned as good useable roads. The rest of the job came out ok. Actually he had two crews. The first one was the loggers, and then a group of fire-wood guys came in to clean up the tops. The firewood crew had to circle around to come in from the back because the ground across this field was so ripped up. Access from the original side is just a complete mess that will be screwed up forever.

That would have been my last day of bear hunting........ever!

Imagine if there were no cities ..... All those people would be living next to us .... lol.

Mass hysteria would be my guess. Ever notice that if one deer spooks, usually they all do even though they may never even know you're there? That's probably what happened there. One deer got spooked by something, and the panic spread through the whole herd. Once they got back aways into the field, they all calmed down again.

I don't think Crazy Andy will be much of a problem. He has gotten himself in such a tangled mess with sportsmen over his gun-ban antics that he is probably looking for any issue that will move toward mending fences with the hunting community. What better issue to do that with than a bill that can be blamed on local legislators and the whole state legislature if anything goes wrong. That kind of thing is made for slippery ol' Andy. Besides let's not forget that the liberal's-liberal Patterson was all set to sign it until local supporting politicians pointed out screwed up wording and asked him to veto it. So it really isn't the sort of thing that would get governor style opposition.