Doc

Yup, that's how it is supposed to work isn't it? If the leadership of an organization that you belong to comes up with something that most of the members disagree with, and if you are a member, you can gather support and shoot it down. Unlike the free-loaders that never join anything but simply sit along the sidelines making a lot of worthless noises. I sent a rather strongly worded message to the president of NYB (apparently along with a whole lot of other members), and yes, that deal was quickly dropped. I would say that the system worked exactly right. It's funny how I and a whole bunch of other members knew about early enough to stop it. However, I do find it a bit hilarious that the NYB is called selfish (oh and that favorite word "elite" that anti-NYB people think is so clever) when they take a hardline against crossbows, but then are called traitors when they try to negotiate a settlement with others that are trying to shove their way into bow season. It sounds like they are kind of stuck in a no-win set of attitudes from those that really couldn't care less and who aren't all that consistant in their criticisms. That really does point out just what the attitudes are against organized bowhunters. I happen to agree that it was an ill-conceived plan that should never have been put forth. And it does show a weakness of listening to all these people who carp about their hard-line approach to protecting bow-hunting. I do believe they learned their lesson about appeasement and compromise. Probably one they won't soon forget.

Snow depths have the most impact, but low temps also mean calories burned. Neither condition is good when it continues too long after the normal winter length. We haven't had our normal March storm yet and I hope we don't. This is not a good time to be seeing any extremes of winter. The good news is that this is a lot closer to normal than last year was. Who knows, maybe I will get some fruit off my trees this year. Last year was the "perfect storm" for screwing up blossom survival. Early hot weather for forcing blossoms out way to early and then several days of hard frosts after the blossoms were out. I don't believe there was an apple anywhere in the valley.

Getting rid of the stock would be a good start.

I wonder how the crossbow activists will welcome giving up part of their season to the early muzzleloading season when that finally gets pushed in. Can I expect you to continue with your "non-elitest" attitude by inviting anyone into the bow season that tries to force themselves in or are you going to join the hypocrits that speak a good game of being unselfish until it affects you. Let's see how you all react when the shoe is on the other foot. Frankly I wouldn't be surprised either way. On one hand you talk about the NYB being a tiny minority in the hunting community (which they are) and then out the other side of your mouth you claim they are bullies. Actually the term bully is a stupid term to be using. If you want to say that this organization was very effective for their size and resources at defending the integrity of bowhunting and bowseason, then I will agree with you. They do seem to function very effectively when their back is against the wall and they are being attacked. I suppose that is what really irks you about them. For such a tiny organization, they sure did keep the antibow forces at bay for a heck of a long time. Anyway, twist whatever you feel you must about the truth, but the one thing you cannot twist is the fact that the crossbow factions were the aggressors in this issue. They were the ones that decided to insert themselves into bow seasons. No amount of lying or name-calling, or stretching of the truth will hide that fact. Demonize the only NYS bowhunting advocates if that's what floats your boat. Deny all the accomplishments and good works that they do if that makes you feel better, but for crying out loud try to be a little bit honest in whatever personal problems you have with them and recognize that if the crossbow proponents hadn't decided to bulldoze their way into the sport of bowhunting, none of this angst would have ever occurred. So when the Rodney King fans come along and start whining, "Can't we all just get along", understand just who it was that had no interest in "just getting along". No, the NYB didn't fold up when put under attack, and I do thank them for doing their job in the best way possible given their size and resources.

The deer have had a reasonable winter so far. But this March has been consistantly below average in temperature and the way I hear it, April is supposed to be below average as well. That is extending winter beyond the length that is normal. The longer winter is what stresses the deer more as the deer are starting to run low on reserves. The older deer still look pretty good, but some of the fawns are starting to look a little "ribby". I think your dropping some saplings for them may be a life-saver for some of those fawns.

If I can get them all trained to enjoy this salty delicacy, that may solve the problem of trying to take the car to the carwash periodically. Right now judging from the tracks, there is only one that has used my car as a snack.

Ha-ha .... a day late and a dollar short. No, it's good to learn from the past, but I will believe it when I see it. At any rate, if they don't sieze the opportunities that are handed them, and they can't re-ignite the passions of the gun owners who today feel they have been wronged, another golden oppportunity to use a voting block that should be tightly united, will be lost. My biggest fear is that the unity we now enjoy will fade into oblivion and be replaced with other unrelated issues, which will leave the Republicans or whoever with nothing to exploit against these gun-grabbing vermin. Also, lets not forget that this really is not a Republican vs. Democrat issue. Pay attention to how many Republicans voted for this law. The punishments cannot be limited to just one party. The message needs to get out that anti gun votes cost gun owner's votes, and that legislators can be evicted for anti-gun attitudes and voting records, regardless of party.

Hundreds of man-hours have been spent on this site explaining how it matters. If you really are interested go back and review the past couple of years of posts and replies. Let's not start re-hashing them all over again. The fact is that it is not a matter of whether crossbows are going to shoved into bow season but when. My only concern on this topic is merely keeping the record straight and maintaining an honest portrayal as to who it was that was the initial aggressor in this fight. Because the organization that everyone has been so gleefully trashing will be the very one that they will all be calling on for help in the future when the next aggressor comes along to claim their chunk of the bowseason.

You can't imagine how much I hope you are right. But how often have we been reminded of the short memories of the voters. And to count on the Republicans to make use of a very good issue may be wishful thinking. They have blown opportunities in the past. Here's the deal. I hear all this outcry of passionate indignation right now. My gosh we even have people threatening to become felons over this issue. But I will tell you right now that gun owners are no different from any other voter when it comes to forgetting the issues that are so important to them at the moment. This weirdo Cuomo may be a treasonous SOB with his assault on the Constitution, but do not mistake any of that for a lack of intelligence. He knows his way around politics. And I will predict that around election time, some new issue will arise to capture the attention of voters, and all this stuff will be quickly forgotten. It's just human nature that's been proven over and over again. And this is not a feature of voters that Cuomo is unfamiliar with. He knows exactly how to play people. I know I will be doing my best to work for the defeat of this creep and also all the others that voted with him on this. I consider him an element of evil and an enemy of the Constitution. But I do not expect to see too many gun owners joining in the fight when it actually counts. I hope I'm wrong and you are right, but history does not bear out that kind of universal dedication to making these out-of-control politicians accountable. If I am wrong, I'll be cheering right along side of those that kept their eye on the ball. If I am right, I'll at least know that I did my part as well as I could.

Call the NYCC what you want (perhaps the term fits), but it was not the NYB that was pushing and shoving their way into someone else's season. I repeat, it was not the NYB who were the aggressors here. So just who was it that was pitting hunters against hunters? I know how you and other crossbow pushers like to demonize the NYB, but lets at least be honest and keep it straight as to just who it is that had no interest in "just getting along" and who it was that was pitting hunters against hunters.

I know, it's that Rodney King thing all over again ..... "Can't we all just get along" .... lol. Frankly, I think that if half the people who say that, weren't exactly the same ones who initially decided to shove their way into bow season in the first place, there might be a tiny element of credibility in that sentiment. Look, it wasn't the bowhunters who began this hostile takeover. A majority of bowhunters never really argued the point of crossbow legalization for the regular deer season. I'm sure we will hear this same old Rodney King quote over and over again everytime someone new wants to muscle their way into the bow season. And it will continue to come off just as hollow and disingenuous when they say it too. But I do have to congratulate the crossbow lobby for being better organized and better financed, and they saw what they wanted and they simply took it just as any successful aggressor would. I have to congratulate the NYB as well because in reality they were taking on the gun hunters as well on this issue. It was a good fight, but the outcome is pretty obvious. And once this nonsense finds its way into law, everybody will once again, "just get along" ..... lol. Until the next time bow season is recognized as an easy mark.

One thing we have to eventually realize is that there is not an infinite amount of hunting time to establish all kinds of unique "special" seasons. Just where can we stick an additional season without starting to hunt in the "hot weather" season, or after the "antler-shed" part of the year. Everytime we turn around somebody is suggesting new seasons. There are limits.

Damning evidence of a salt-lick baiter. tongue-prints everywhere

Actually, that is how it is going to work even if crossbows are included in bow season. I believe that is why so many people are for the inclusion of x-bows into archery season. Those that own their own hunting land, or lease it or otherwise have control of it, could care less whether crossbow are stuffed into any season because they know that hunter population density is still a function of their choice as to who hunts or who is excluded from hunting their property. In other words for a large contingent of hunters, it is a non-issue because they have the final control.

That's nice, but there does come a time when the next generation has to pick up the flag and continue the battle. Sure let's do what we can, but what I see is that each generation wants things in a new way that in no way represents what the older generation has been fighting for all our lives for. So, those that are impacted, and have an updated set of expectations have to at some point learn to fight the same kinds of battles that we have fought in the past. I'm not interested in saddling future generations with things that they don't even want. I represent how hunting was ..... it is up to those who will have to live into the future to begin shaping that future and the way they want it to look like. There does come a time when the geezers (and I do put myself in that category ....lol) let go of the reins and let those who will actually be affected lead the charge to fashion their hunting and surrounding issues to look like what they want it to look like. I can serve in an advisory or historical capacity to represent what I consider the good parts of our generation's view and attitudes were (I have found that not many of the next generation are really all that interested in that sort of thing .... lol). However when it comes to the actual decisions, battles, and struggles, those rightfully rest with those that will have to live with their results. It is important that we each learn to recognize that time when our views have become obsolete and stop trying to interfere with the wave of new ideas and attitudes.

That is a lot like the big-ol' racoon that I thought I had dispatched back at the trap-site that came "back-to-life" while I had him slung over my shoulder. I remember giving out a scream when I felt this thing start to jump around, banging and scratching against my back. It wasn't one of my more composed and dignified moments ...... lol.

As far as the Cuomo-types, they really don't care about whether the law is effective, or does any of the things that they advertise it will. They were simply looking for an issue that would gain nation-wide attention and which makes them "look" like they are doing something useful about violence in America. It has nothing to do with whether any of it really works. By the time anthing substantive can be proven that this law is simply window-dressing and fakery, That creep will be sitting in the Whitehouse, planning his next outrageous stunt in preparation for his next presidential term. We are the ones left sitting here with our rights shattered, and wondering what the hell just happened to us while Freaky Andy is politically 6 steps ahead of us. His gun-grabbing laws and proclamations don't have to make sense or have any effective impact on anything. It's a sly, calculated political move that takes advantage of the dead children's bodies and those of the Webster first responders. This creep has no conscience or sense of right or wrong. He is just an opportunistic politician who will use every trick in the book, moral or not. It's these kinds of people that we should fear most.

There are parts of the law that I could live with, and even support. Tightening up penalties for crimes involving guns and gun laws is something that we have all been calling for for years ...... More effort spent on enforcing the laws that we've got rather than conjuring up new harrassments for law-abiding people. The only problem is that no one ever does the full term. Between plea bargaining and parole actions, tightening sentencing is only window-dressing. There are some parts of the mental health part of this law that with a little polishing might actually be beneficial. The rest of it is simply some more harrassment tactics designed to shut down the private ownership of firearms. Whatever good that might come out of this law is buried by the intentional harm that it all does to the people's constitutional rights as guaranteed in the 2nd Amendment.

I have this image from back in my childhood of woodchucks that our dog used to drag home. You know .... something for him to roll on. The smell and appearance and the maggots were somewhat traumatic for a youngster ..... lol. I think I won't be eating any woodchuck soon, even though I know through all logic that they should be as good as any of our more common edible grass-eaters.

One thing I have noticed is that each generation of hunters evolve into something that finds ways of coping with the diminishing state of hunting. So inspite of all the ugly scenarios that we can imagine, hunting most likely will evolve into something that is compatible with whatever it has to be to accomodate whatever conditions exist at the time. I just hope future hunters somehow remain as resilient as we have. Hunting off in the future may not be anything that we would recognize, but hopefully it will be whatever it needs to be to survive.

Last I heard, Andy "the Creep" Cuomo is having none of this. Yes the legislature is talking modification of the law, but that is without the buy-in of the governor.

Got a beef with your neighbor? Here's a way of putting him on the defensive and handing him a whole lot of opportunity to defend himself against nothing .... lol.

And yet we still have those among us who would claim that the possibility of gun confiscation is an exaggerated figment of our imagination. Can't happen here in the USA .... right? We have the protection of the constitution and the 2nd Amendment ..... right? Just combine the events during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina with this story, and you can see just what is possible and likely. And then too, stir in the actions of creepy old Andy "crazy-eyes" Cuomo and his obvious intent to destroy the 2nd Amendment, and you have a crystal clear blueprint of future attacks on all gun owner's rights as these wack-jobs continue to muscle the 2nd Amendment out of existance. I have no idea how this guy's problems will eventually wind up, but from what I see, he may well be in for a whole lot of harrassment and perhaps legal expense and may still be in trouble based on some secret loophole that the law will pull out of the books. I'm just glad I am not him.....yet.

If all the court cases should come up without the law being shot down, there is still one other way to get rid of the law. Vote that stinking creep out of office along with all of his gun-hating cronies. Vote in a pro-gun governor whose first order of business will be to toss that law into the trash can where it belongs. If we can show the same level of resolve that we are showing right now, I believe that a properly motivated pro-gun body of voters could get the job done. Yes, we are badly out-numbered, but considering the actual small percentage of the population that actually votes at all, whoever could muster the most efficient "get-out-the-vote" campaign with dedicated an motivated pro-gun voters would win.

Now he has put a bounty on defenders of the 2nd Amendment. Does that put things in a clearer perspective as far as to what extent these anti-gun creeps are willing to go to eliminate firearms and those people who use them?