Doc

I'm not sure how much state land is actually considered "forever wild" lands. I think most of it is considered multi-use areas. Exactly how that is defined isn't really all that clear to me. I do doubt that any kind of mining and mineral extraction is a forbidden activity, but I have to say that I have never seen that written anywhere. And since you also included fracking in your post, the jury is still out on that issue as far as I am concerned. I have heard good credible reports on both sides of the issue, and it has kind of been rendered down to a battle of one side's scientific claims against the other side's scientific claims, and it is an even match right now. I will say that anything that offers even a possibility of screwing up our drinking water is not something that I eagerly support. We take drinking water for granted here in the U.S. right? You simply turn the faucet and out it comes .... lol. There were some people over by Buffalo in a place called "Love Canal" that found out that it isn't always that guaranteed. Frankly, I don't think anyone is arguing about what is happening a mile below the surface, but are having a problem with the inevitable spills and other accidental releases of the poisonous soup that they use. There are enough credible episodes of that sort of thing to catch my attention. Perhaps the science of this process isn't quite ready for wide-spread roll-out. Injecting toxins into the ground doesn't sound like a very responsible way to do business. it's kind of a one-way thing. Screw up the ground water and that pretty much is that .... forever. I understand the economic arguments that are brought up, but also understand that those economic windfalls only apply to the handful of residents who happen to own land that is drillable. It's not accurate to portray this as an infusion of cash to a community, or even that much of an employment opportunity. This was the story peddled by the windfarm people, which actually turned out to be the corporations bringing in their own out-of-state crews to do all the work. Yes, a very few landowners added some money to their retirement accounts, and the entire area of residents were left with the huge whirly-gigs over-powering the landscape with absolutely no monetary benefits at all. So one thing I have learned is that corporations have turned P.R. into a very effective science, but the perceptions put out by them are very seldom anywhere near the truth. Let's just put it this way .... all the jillions of dollars spent on convincing the public that this is a wonderful thing, really hasn't worked it's magic on me yet. Don't get me wrong, I think there is enough money involved in it all so that it will come to pass (consequences be damned), but that doesn't make it a good idea. I'm sure it won't bother the corporations a whole lot if I don't fall in line with support.....lol.

Nope ..... no Sportsman Channel offered here either...... unfortunately.

A little bit too "low-brow" for some I guess. But I got enough chuckles out of it to warrent another week of watching. I can almost look at this stuff like from the outside. It's not any style of hunting that I will ever do or ever want to do. So I see it as pure entertainment without anybody trying to fool me into thinking I should take it seriously. I gave up on expecting the TV to be a tool of education a long time ago .... lol. But as for those that didn't care for it, try not to get so crazy-irritated over it ..... relax ..... it's not a program that is going to change any part of your life or anybody else's life either. One of the reasons that we have the ability to change channels is so that we don't have to watch things that we don't want to.

Not much point in buying rifles if you can't find any ammo to put in them .... lol.

Just remember that the taxes are merely the symptom. It is the reckless spending and the belief that government can be all things to all people that is the actual disease. And by the way, it all comes back around in a full circle. The reckless spending is a direct result of demands for goods and services by the taxpayer and our very own votes. Where do you thing these free-spending legislators come from. So as Pogo says, "We have met the enemy and he is us."

Growalot and Predate- Thanks both for the pictures. What we have here are definitely wild chives. And we have plenty of them. Now I've got to take that picture of the wild leeks and start looking around for some. We probably have those too and I just never knew what I was looking at.

Comparitively, Spitzer was a saint. This Cuomo creep is a lot more dangerous than Spitzer ever was. But to be honest, neither one of them deserves the office.

Yeah, it does seem to be running a bit late this year. I'm looking forward to the town-by-town report.

Anybody got a picture of wild leeks. We have tons of things I call "wild onions" which I bet are really wild leeks. But they don't look anything like the domestic leeks sold in the grocery store. The things that we got definitely have that onion smell, and even look like a small version of young onion plants in the garden.

I have no idea whether this guy knows what he is talking about. I will say that if he is a crack-pot, he certainly is a well rehearsed crackpot. I was watching for the usual hesitation as a guy is trying to make up his next response, and it does seem like he went from one point to the next and responded to questions in a seamless fashion. That of course is no proof of credibility, but does make his call a lot more convincing. However, all that stuff aside, this situation is starting to get a bit un-nerving. There is still no sign of it ever going away. Nobody has answers and looking off into the future, there certainly is no sign of any of this ending. So is this the new wave of gun control? Because I will say that over time this will be even more effective than if they came into each of our houses and removed all guns. This situation devolves our weapons into nothing more than expensive clubs. Many people have virtually no ammo to use in their guns. And as time goes on, more and more people will find themselves in that situation. I personally reload my own ammo, but assuming that I live a few more years, there is no guarantee that I have a lifetime supply of components. Somebody is being effective at shutting us down. Perhaps it is us ourselves. Or maybe there is something else afoot. Wouldn't it be nice to know?

I have to say that I believe that darned few non-hunters probably even made through the first show. Really, there isn't a whole lot there for anyone who isn't into hunting in some fashion. But for those non-hunters who toughed it out, they were treated to a glimpse into the kinds of situations that home-owners, auto drivers, and even the animals themselves encounter when deer populations run uncontrolled. Frankly, I think that's a good thing for hunting. As far as the personalities involved, it does demonstrate that we are not all a secretive bunch of crazy wild eyed killers skulking around in the shadows with only killing on our minds. These guys have personalities and a pretty good sense of humor and really aren't any different from any other group of people that get together. It actually puts an agreeable face on hunters and portrays them as real people instead of whatever negative stereo-types we may currently hold in their minds and imaginations.

No doubt about it. I imagine the show does exactly what they intended it to ...... it entertains. It's funny. I doubt they are trying to produce a how-to program on suburban hunting. Contrast that with these other hunting shows where the hunter-heroes take themselves so seriously that it makes you want to vomit. You want to talk about staged situations and scripted dialog, just look at any of the standard hunting videos and TV programs and you will see that this show does the same thing, it's just that they have found some humor in suburban hunting situations and decided to make an attempt at entertaining people with it. Like I said before, I tuned in ready to pan the whole concept and nit-pick the show to death. After a couple minutes, I realized that somebody was trying to entertain me unlike other shows where they are trying (unsuccessfully) to "impress" me. That's when I figured out that the thing to do was watch the program in the spirit of fun that was intended. I'm not sure just where the show will eventually wind up, but what I have seen so far is harmless and fun.

I think his statement probably displays his limited knowledge about building construction as much as his complete lack of knowledge in firearms. There are very few firearms projectiles that won't pass through drywall and still have lethal power on the other side.

I don't see any harm in the show. In fact I thought a lot of it was funny. Of course any relationship between this style of hunting, and anything that I am associated with is purely coincidental .... lol. It's really more about hunters than hunting. The guy hunting off the deck was hilarious. I really don't understand why he bothered to wear camo though. I guess I was ready to watch this show and scream bloody murder as they proceeded to cast the worst possible light on hunting possible. But the two episodes that I saw were kind of entertaining and throughout they slid in a lot of pro-hunting facts and displayed a pretty heavily deer-damaged area. Also, I suspect that non-hunters probably won't spend a lot of time watching this show, so any impact on the general public (good or bad) will be minimal. I do think it will get real old and boring in a short period of time, but I will watch a few more.

So anyone who is on the fence in terms of joining the NRA, here is a good display of how much the gun confiscators fear the effectiveness of the NRA. They know that the only thing keeping guns in the hands of private citizens is the organized efforts of the NRA. If you are wondering what you can do to fight this lunacy and efforts to remove the guns from the hands of legitimate citizens, the answer should be getting pretty obvious.

They have little tiny license plates that you have to wire onto one of your fingers and one of your toes.

There is one snake that you probably wouldn't want to tell a warden that you killed, and that would be a rattlesnake. They are very closely protected. Personally, I can't see a single reason to be protecting something that can kill you or make you wish you were dead. But then I don't work for the DEC so most likely they have their reasons .... lol. Frankly, I have no problem with snakes as long as I can see them well in advance. I don't feel like picking them up, but as long as they don't take off from under my feet, I can tolerate them. I have always had kind of a friendly relationship with black snakes. They are a very beneficial snake, and are very docile. I also have heard that they kill rattlesnakes. I'm not sure whether that's true or not, but just on the outside chance that that might be true, they always get a free pass from me.

Both baiting and feeding are very closely interlinked. The motives may be different, but the potential impacts on wildlife can be exactly the same. So, the reasons that people might do each may or may not be different, but the results and the reasons for the laws are the same ...... That would be the close concentration of deer into a very specific point of oral interaction.

And now the big question ...... What exactly is his legal recourse for compensation for inconvenience, mental trauma, anxiety, public embarrassment, etc.? Who can he legally go after for this mistake and intrusion into his life? Does he have any civil options for punitive redress because of this gross incompetency and potentially malicious action. I'm willing to bet that no such action is available to him.

Last I heard, the law still stands in all the counties other than Sullivan. And the DEC was working on cleaning up the wording of the law to remove the ambiguities that allowed the law to be overturned in Sullivan County. Don't ask me what it is that is taking months and months to do this. In the meantime, the DEC is soft-peddling the enforcement of the law to avoid any other test cases in other counties that might make it become overturned elsewhere. It's all rumor and third-person reports, so I wouldn't rush right out there and start constructing bait piles .... lol. As far as hunting trails leading to bait piles, the illegality lies in the bait location itself. At least that's the way the law is currently worded (who knows how some ambitious warden or J.P. might interpret it). Certainly I would hope hunters would not be expected to avoid trails on the possibility that there might be somebody's illegal bait pile a half mile or so down the trail. I'm thinking the difference between baiting and feeding is simply intent. But either way, as far as I have heard, they both are still illegal activities except in Sullivan County.

The bigger the system, the easier it is to abuse the system. And the gun control system is huge, and betting more huge everyday.

There needs to be some punitive legal recourse to such arbitrary and clearly illegal reactions to this lunacy. Perhaps this points out some needed legislation that any of our pro-gun legislators should be urged to write. It is about time that gun owners receive some fundamental legal protection against anti-gun hysteria. I'm serious, this sort of mindless bias is inexcuseable and should be made illegal with penalties that are significant. I wouldn't be surprised if this guy may have a whole list of civil actions against a bunch of individuals involved in that whole incident...... if he has the stones to push it.

I wouldn't be at all surprised if someone is working on new alternative sporting weapons. Take a look at what we hunt with, and even though we may think it is all modern and radical, the same basic principles remain. When I see some of the amazing wizards on U-tube that come up with some of the real radical stuff, it's only a matter of time before somebody takes on the shooting sports industry with some real wild new ways of knocking things down. Look at what they are doing with air-guns, and repeating crossbows. Some of this military crap is going to be finding it's way into sporting arms. Just amazing geniouses out there looking for the next best way to get rich of the sporting arms industry. We can't even imagine what's coming next .... lol.

Well, I have been planning on brushing up on my wing-shooting. Ever since I got rid of my clay bird thrower, I haven't had a chance to get in any practice. How many thousands of dollars does it cost them every time one goes down ...... lol.

I worry too that they might decide to highlight the wounding potential. We all know it happens, but it really doesn't do us a whole lot of good to have that aspect televised to an audience that may be a bit more judgemental about some of our "dirty laundry". I also wonder why they chose suburban hunting as a theme. I hope that they don't get into neighbor/hunter conflicts. I guess the only way to judge this kind of show is to just watch it. The good news is that there is a show on Discovery Channel called the "Yukon Men" that is just about finished up for the season. This show has a very big part of it that involves hunting and trapping. Apparently that has been working out ok, and they have some very graphic trapping scenes that were handled in a way that depicts trapping as simply a cultural reality and they have not gone out of their way to get involved in a lot of editorial bashing or condemnation. Hopefully the History Channel will take the same approach.