Doc

Interesting how this thread has gone .... lol. I suppose it was inevitable that it would eventually devolve into name calling. Surprisingly, it stayed as an actual conversation for a long time. By the way ..... What is a goober? Last I knew, it was a chocolate covered peanut.

I don't even own a pistol, so if I want to carry a firearm, I have to get one of those long trench coats.

I take it the biopsy came back with no cancer? This is getting to be a very sad story. I know how attached to a dog you can get and these kinds of things are never easy things to live through. I hope your pooch turns around shortly and starts getting better.

Love those occasional "deer nose" pictures. In case any of us think the deer are not aware of our cameras, those pictures always help to tell us that we are not fooling anybody .... lol. We're just fortunate that most deer are tolerant of our gadgets in their livingroom.

I guess I kind of go along with this too. I have never heard anyone say that a buck picks a bed for life .... or even for a year ... lol. The idea that the same bed is used over and over regardless of the time of year and circumstances of changing seasons and food sources really is very hard to swallow and does not hold up to my experiences and observations locally. Yes, they do re-use the same general area occasionally. But if it turned out that a buck was all that predictable, there wouldn't be a whole lot of them left. I suppose it is possible that habitat in some places is so limited that there may only be one spot in the buck's home range that is suitable for bedding and they have no choices, but that sure isn't the case where I do my hunting.

I have to wonder .... is there any real limit as to how much money Cuomo can throw at this? It seems like kind of an unfair fight when he has all there resources of the state at his fingertips and we have to rely on donations. I do believe that if you have unlimited resources, you can defeat just about anything thrown at you. Constitutionality usually comes down to judicial interpretation. So those with the best and most convincing mouthpiece are most likely to win. If you can hire the best and incent them with unlimited amounts of money in order to get their best efforts, it may not be an exaggeration to say that it is a forgone conclusion that you will win. Ever hear the saying "you can't fight city hall"? Well, this is the same kind of thing only it is an entire state we are taking on. I hope I am wrong. Perhaps there are still some judges that can see how money is affecting the case and cut through all the B.S. to come up with a decision based on real logic and law. I really hope so. But I have to admit that I am a bit pessimistic.

I used to be on the mailing list of an outfit called Leader from Vermont. They sold everything imaginable for maple products production. It's been a few decades since I last got anything from them, but back then they had very reasonable prices and they did have some products designed for the home hobbyist.

I suppose Cuomo and Company will be using our own tax dollars to fight against us. And they will probably be using the best lawyers that our money can buy.

In terms of not understanding all the little nuances of this new assault on 2nd Amendment rights, some of that might be excused because as already noted in this thread, there are plenty of people in places of authority who are totally confused who probably wouldn't normally be if the law had not changed the operating parameters so dramatically. It's not like the law isn't laced with verbage and content that will be keeping a lot of lawyers busy for years to come. I believe that gun dealers are completely over-whelmed. And acting independantly, they have no chance of doing anything significant about this law. They pretty much are relegated to interpreting the law as best they can. They know that a mistake in interpretation can cost them their license and even some potential jail time. I do understand them being a bit timid. A lot of these guys will likely be going out of business.

Here is a link to the actual report. There is a lot more interesting info in it. http://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/fv9311.pdf

So, by now it has to be getting obvious that gun ownership is very much in danger. Those that used to comfort themselves by saying "Oh no, that can never happen", are maybe starting to get the inkling that it can happen and is happening. Hopefully it will inspire the apathetic among us to finally get off their rumps and begin to get involved. Supporting the NRA and/or your favorite gun advocacy group is a good place to start. Letter writing and phone call campaigns to keep politicians aware that we are still a force to be reckoned with is another important step. And as Sits said, get out there and vote and vote correctly. They have perfected a way of harrassment that is becoming very effective. They have found ways around the 2nd Amendment, so it no longer is a time to just sit back and let someone else do the heavy lifting. The anti-gun people are making huge strides. We can either sit back and let it happen to us, or we can start taking a hand in making it all happen the way we want it to happen. There's no point in trying to run away from it. Other states and the federal government will eventually follow the lead of NYS. This is a national problem that needs a national approach. And fleeing the state is simply putting off the inevitable.

Lol .... If only it were that easy. But the fact is that I have seen bedded bucks in the area that you are describing, no more often than I have seen them in the thickets and creek-bottoms in the valleys. Over on our side of the road where the prevailing westerly winds hit the face of the hill directly, leeward takes on a different meaning and the deer have a different set of rules. In fact, depending on what time of year it is, protection from the elements may not really even be that big a consideration. Sometimes concealment is their biggest priority and that explains the bucks that I have pushed from their beds in the heavy muli-flora rose thickets. Other times vantage points with lots of visibility suits their fancy. That would be for the guys spending their days on the hillsides. And yes, I have seen a lot of bucks that took full advantage of thermals, particulary over the crest on top of the hill around the big ravines. To say that all the bucks are located 1/3 of the way down the hill simply does not align with the 50 years of observations that I have had on this particular hunting area. In fact, that is not the first place I would look for a buck. Yes, I have seen them there, just like I have seen them in other places. And like I have said, if there is any correlation to beds, it is with the food sources for that particular time of the year. In fact, when they are hot to feed on acorns, I have seen some huge bucks bedded right in the middle of the woods with absolutely no logical reason for them to be there other than food. I think another big fallicy is that bucks go to some specific spot when day-break arrives and simply sit there all day long until sunset. Big bucks do feed periodically through the day. They get up. They move around (to a limited extent). And there has been more than a few people who have shot them at mid-day while they munched up acorns. So while I appreciate general rules of thumb, and the wise words of the experts, I have seen enough deer behavior to understand that they often make up the rules as they go along. I have also noted that what they are doing when the snow flies has little to do with what they will be doing October 1st when bow season opens. I also understand that they are slaves to their food and that food changes dramatically as the seasons change and so their patterns change (including bedding locations). If anyone is so fortunate to live in a place where the bucks never change their patterns, then they are fortunate hunters indeed. But down our way that isn't the case. And that makes things a bit tougher.

Actually that would make more sense. Deer/motorcycle collisions really aren't big news. A bicycle/deer collision resulting in a fatality would really be some a unique news story.

Yes, in my previous reply I noted, we are in a non-farming valley area, and I also mentioned the fact that side hills are one of the favorites. However, that choice is not related to any particular "leeward" side of the valley because if they are going to claim that side of the valley as their home range, that hill faces right into the teeth of the predominant westerly winds. The sidehill location of beds do provide a vantage point that is nearly unapproachable without the deer knowing your presence and they know it. I believe that is a good part of the draw to that location. When weather is a bit on the vicious side, I generally can find some deer bedded up in a section of old-growth hemlock. The interesting part is that I will find some deer there, but will also find beds scattered all over the hill and down in the valley as well on the same day. They each have their own idea of where they want to ride out a storm. Just in temperature alone, I have seen 10 degrees difference from the thermometer at our cabin on top of the hill and the thermometers at the house in the valley bottom. Generally speaking, the thickets in the valley bottom provide protection from wind when winter gets a bit taxing. Another point of interest is that many of those so-called bedding areas are seasonal. As I said, the food sources are what puts deer in a specific area, and the bedding areas at any particular time of year are not really all that far away. In the dead of summer, there is almost no deer sign anywhere on the top of the hill. In the fall, when the acorns are popular the top and side of the hill are the hot-spots and you will find bedded deer there. Late winter, you will find the deer in the lower parts of the valley, with very few tracks or beds on the hill. every season has its own set of patterns. Again, it is all food related and in the winter there is a consideration of shelter as well. So, bedding area locations become a pretty complex subject when you have fairly heavily forested hill country. A lot of the standard farmland rules go in the dumper when you change habitat that dramatically. Deer are not relegated to this particular block of woods and that particular ag crop. So many competing motives for bedding selection come into play in all sorts of combinations that I find very few rules that can be 100% counted on. Just generalities that perhaps hold true...... some of the time.

We often talk about deer bedding areas like they have an exact spot staked out where they go everyday. I don't know whether there is a difference between hunting mature woods where I hunt vs. open-ish agricultural lands, but that has not been my experience. I find that deer have a whole lot of bedding areas that relate to what ever food is in season. When the acorns are the main souce of food, the beds are generally right out in the middle of the woods, usually in the middle of a blow-down or up against a fallen log, and generally a good area where the view of the surrounding area is best. Generally within a bound or two, they can be out of sight over an embankment or down into a ravine. About this time of year, when they are feeding primarily on green vegetation, they will sometimes bed up in the nastiest thickets that they can find (particularly if there is a lot of human pressure being put on them ... hikers, bikers, hunters, etc.). Other times you may find them half way up the hill in some tangle of vines or on some bluff that overlooks big areas below them. And I am not just talking about does. So, it is not always rut that causes them to choose where they will plop down, in fact for most of the time it is more related to food. Also, I have noted that most bedding activity is quite random. Yes they may have some general areas (big areas) that they use, but there has never been a time when I could count on a deer (any deer) being in a specific spot. This idea of laying down and chewing their cud is one major reason that deer flop down, and that usually is not all that far from where they just got done gorging themselves on something that they found to be tasty just a short time before. So when bedding areas are part of the hunting strategy (almost always), it generally is food dependant which means that it is also "time-of-year" dependant as well. I think the trick is to note the historical encounters and relate them to what the food choices were at the time. I have always found a correlation. Knowing what is on the menu, can often give a clue as to where this bedding to feeding pattern sets up. It's a constantly changing thing particularly from early bow season (late summer) to the end of bow season as the summer turns to fall which then takes on winter aspects. Food sources react to seasonal changes and the deer simply follow the food.

If deer can run into cars (and we know that they do), why is it surprising that deer can run into a motorcycle. I know a guy that stopped riding his bike at night because of the number of times he hit or nearly hit deer.

Well, if I were an anti-gunner, I would spin these numbers as meaning that the thousands of gun laws are finally having an effect on crime. And with just a few thousand more, they can make even more inroads into reducing crime stats. Be careful what buttons you push.

Did you bury an electric line from the box in the house out to the shop? I didn't see any overhead wires running in.

How come nobody has come up with a powder or something that could be broadcast across a lawn that would repel ticks? That seems like a product the market just needs.

I too have long ago sworn off the TV hunting shows and videos featuring the latest hunter-heroes and their home-grown "trophy deer". They simply are like watching incessant summer re-runs. Nothing ever changes. There is one exception to that which is that goofy show on The History Channel (Chasing Tail). That is just so stupid that it is funny. Also, there is no egos on parade, or people trying to fool us into thinking they are the most effective hunters to ever walk the planet. It's just good ol' fashion humor of hunters making fun of hunters.

What a wonderful system of government that can withstand so much incompetence for so long and still exist as basically the most free country in the world. It is almost human-proof.

We seem to see a lot of threads that take these hunter-heroes to task for the phoney hunting, and the staged scenes, and the unrealistic hunting arrangements. Here is what is needed.... Some outfit should be offering to air private hunting footage gathered from "everyday" amateur hunters across the country. With so many hunters videoing their hunts these days, I'll bet there are a lot of good hunts that would be fun to watch. Also, these guys that are self-proclaimed "experts" at deer hunting should be putting on more shows that focus on scouting, stand placement, blood trailing, and other aspects of hunting. Sure, we all consider ourselves somewhat well versed in that stuff, but who couldn't use a few different viewpoints on things that we take for granted. I personally would like to see an in-depth detailed discussion of thermals and features that impact the direction and intensity of wind. There are a lot of aspects that would make good programming about deer scenting ability and how scent is dispersed in different kinds of terrain, and how long scent maintains it's presence and over what distances. The point is, there are a lot of hunting subjects that are never talked about, and instead of trying to impress people and feed their own egos with bogus hunts, I think if these guys are half the experts that they have convinced themselves that they are, they should be sharing some of their knowledge and making some shows that are worth watching.

Probably new Owners. I can't remember the old man's name, but he is probably dead now anyway. And his kid's would have been the next in line and his name was Brandon and his wife I think was Cindy. But that was a lot of years ago .... lol. It was a great place with a bar/restaurant and some pretty basic cabins (that we only used for one night).

Come-on guys. Now you are beginning to sound a bit paranoid. So what if they do know you own a gun? There's already a dozen different ways to get at that info. Hell, when they get this ammo background check up and running, they'll not only know you own a gun, but they will know what caliber it is and how often you use it ..... lol. And, it's still useless information. If there was really something to worry over regarding this gun-safe proposal, the NRA would not be supporting it. They aren't exactly an organization that favors invasive information sharing....lol. As far as the deduction, I'll take it if offered, but it is not the kind of money that would convince me to buy a safe if I didn't already plan on buying one. It may wind up being not all that effective, but at least its a whole lot better line of thinking than the usual "let's ban guns" kind of thinking.

Yeah, when you get all done, it may not be worth the effort of keeping track of the paper-work. It certainly wouldn't convince me to buy a safe if I wasn't already convinced to get one.