Doc

It doesn't. For most, hunting is intended to be an easy activity, apparently. It seems to be human nature to remove any and all obstacles and challenges in hunting by using the least amount of time and effort and letting technology to do as much of the hunting for us as possible. The history and evolution of NYS Bowhunting is the best example of that, for those that care to look at it. It is all just a sign of the times.

It seems that every year I hear the gunners complaining more and more loudly about the quality and quantity of big bucks that are frequently being taken in a supposedly "more primitive" special bow season. I also have noted that there are more and more gunners asking why there even are any special seasons that they are excluded from. The bow equipment changes over the decades have evolved to the point where some of that talk may actually be warranted. There are a lot of people being kept out of a desirable part of the hunting season with ever-diminishing justification, and it is beginning to catch the attention of the gun hunting community. Perhaps the bow season is just a cobbled up excuse to get the gun hunters out of our way so we can have access to a much more pleasant time of the year. But now we start including weapons that don't even slightly resemble the primitive weapon that the season was initially designed for. But we say "What's wrong with adding weapons that are easier to shoot? Doesn't that mean fewer wounded deer". And by golly that is a true point crossbows are way more efficient and accurate and require nearly nothing to become proficient. So I guess that is intended to imply that conventional archery is inadequate or inhumane and needs less challenging weapons in the name of being humane. But it doesn't stop there. Now there are people coming along suggesting that adding just one more little feature like pneumatics would help ensure real humane kills even a bit more. You know there really is no end to the justification of cramming all kinds of weapons into bow season. I have no idea of what comes after that...... maybe inserting more muzzleloader options into bow seasons. That's not an idea that I never hear. I'll bet there are plenty of dandy rationalizations that can be made for that too. If you have a weapon that you want to see included in bow seasons, there are all kinds of made-up reasons for doing so. So now when I hear people beginning to talk about getting rid of special seasons (bow season in particular), I am beginning to understand where all that is coming from. I may not agree with it, but I am understanding exactly where that is all coming from. We are working our way out of having any bona-fide reason to hang on to our hard-fought-for bow season. And eventually there will be plenty of gun hunters that will be supporting that idea. So as we continue to fiddle with what weapons can go into bow seasons, maybe we should be looking at where this is all going.

And then there was the big buck that I saw that had his lower jaw swinging from his head like a big bag of hamburger. Kind of hard to ever eat again with only one jaw. And there was the one on the other side of a huge ravine that I could hear wheezing all the way across that distance. Probably a windpipe hit. Both deer likely will go down of hunger after a heck of a long time. Not much meat saved there. I have no idea what the details of those wounds were but I would bet dollars to donuts that they were attempted shots at the neck or the head. That's not to say that shots attempted at the huge boiler room never go astray, but the odds are so much more in your favor with the massively larger heart/lung area.

Ha-ha-ha..... Don't count too much on license plate numbers. I have seen a pile of them that even with a good picture you likely wouldn't be able to read it. How are people getting away with all these unreadable "peeling" license plates.

I think they put a time limit on it to try to ensure that you don't ignore reporting completely. Of course they want the report in time to be useful in this years data, but I think they are thankful that you produce the data before the end of the computation period.

Sure, even on public land, we try to do some serious scouting and usually pick out a spot as being pretty darn likely to be the best spot in the area. We know what kind of sign we are looking for, and eventually get convinced that some rather intensive scouting has produced THE spot. And yes it happens that the same sign and deer activity has caught the attention of other hunters. That is why these confrontations can frequently occur. We put our entire opening day strategy on a single spot and when someone beats you there, it can be devastating. That is why I put in extra effort and develop several spots. It means extra scouting and more time invested, but often it will result in more options so that if someone beat you to that primary hot-spot, you have three or four other places to set up at. There really is nothing you can do to effectively reserve a spot on state land, so instead of trying to bully another hunter out of his stand, put in some extra effort and have good alternate options. I have had situations where other hunters set up in what I consider to be unsafe proximity, and I have moved because I am concerned. Perhaps that was their intention, but I see those kind of people to be potentially irrational idiots that I really don't feel comfortable hunting that close to. Again, alternate stands are a good option. I don't want to even see another hunter because if I can see them (even as a tiny orange color), that means to me that there is a hole for a bullet to get to me. That's too close for me.

I found the whole governmental experiment in citizen behavioral management through taxation to be kind of interesting. The government learned that they can successfully use our tax dollars to modify human behavior. They found out that they can dictate behavior of their constituents simply by mounting a large enough campaign (taxpayer funded) against a behavior and then taxing the behavior out of existence. It makes you wonder why they didn't simply take the honest approach and declare nicotine a "controlled substance" and pass laws that declared it illegal. It was interesting to see how everyone (myself included) immediately fell into lockstep as the government taxed cigarettes almost out of existence. I wonder when it will occur to them to use the same tactics on guns, ammo, and accessories. I know that it has been threatened with diet, and is what is behind the gas taxes. Just think of all the tempting targets that there are out there for this kind of tactic.

Nope! those bonehead moves are just too painful to admit to. But there have been some great ones.....Ha-ha-ha-ha.

I have gotten to the age where there are situations where there can be too much snow. I can't go anywhere around here that isn't up some damned steep hill, and when you add a foot or so of snow to the effort, there are some of these situations that pretty much shut me down. Also, for those that have to drive to their hunting grounds, there are road conditions that can turn off a hunt too. As a younger lad, I have found myself in those kinds of road conditions. I recall one hunt in particular when we were stuck in the middle of a huge hill down in Naples on a two-track not able to get up or down the road. We had to walk a couple of miles down the road to my Brother-in-law's place to get some chains to get out. That was one time where today, I am a bit older and wiser and wouldn't think of getting caught like that.

Years ago when I used to smoke, I will confess that I never was concerned about kicking the leaves aside and grinding my butts into the dirt. The fact is that I never found one of them remaining at any of my stands during subsequent years, so I have no idea where they disappeared to, but they did. I can't say that I have found it any problem worth mentioning since then either from other smokers. I know that smokers are a prime target these days for any kind of criticism, but I do try to remember that I was a smoker at one time, and I do remember just how aggravating and self-righteous reformed smokers can be. If I'm going to whine about something, I try to limit it to something that really is significant. How about those mylar party balloons that people mindlessly turn loose every year by the thousands and think are so wonderful. Bottles, cans and plastic sandwich bags and wrappers are cases of real litter that deserve comment. So as long as smokers aren't burning down the woods, I think I'll give them a bit of slack. They get enough crap from other whiners about how they are considered to be evil people that I think I will give them a bit of a break if they should happen to put a butt out on the ground.

It reminds me of a buck several years ago that I got while walking down the driveway to get the mail. I always take the gun ...just in case. It's a 1000' driveway through a dense swampy thicket and super cover for deer. It was the first snow of the year, and probably as he had done many times previously, this buck was all hunkered down about 30 yards away in a tangle of grape vine and other crap willing to sit tight and let me walk right on by. I'm sure he was convinced that the trick would work as it had so many times before. What he didn't take into consideration was how well he stood out silhouetted against the new fresh snow. He stood out perfectly against the white background. It was a short drag to the car because he never even moved when I shot. So I like the snow. I think there are a lot of deer that have gotten used to sitting tight and letting us just walk right on by that are now quite visible.

Let me add another possibility....That tail looks a lot like an otter. Any water nearby?

Probably the best Foreman fight that I ever saw happened in 1976 when he fought Ron Lyle. It was not marked with outstanding defense as they took turns knocking each other down several times. It was just a battle of raw power between two outstanding punchers and a great display of courage and toughness. It only lasted 5 rounds, but finally after both fighters were up and down, and almost out many times, Foreman put Lyle away.

We sure do have some nasty weather, but when I compare it to hurricanes, tornadoes and such, I think I will take what Mother Nature hands us here in NYS.

So I guess the new rules of conduct that the Dems have set up over the past two years, when elections don't go the way you expected is to cry and weep and give out your best primal scream at the sky, and throw things through store fronts and beat up opposition voters, and stand outside opposition households chanting offensive slogans at the spouses and children of opposition candidates and supporters, and refuse to consider the leftist winners as legitimate election winners. Is that how we are supposed to react now?

Drones. We will be hearing a lot more about those as prices come down and people start using them more. The potential for abuse is huge and I suspect it is human nature for people to push the envelope as far as they can. I don't even think we can imagine the extent of how these things will be used for terror activities in the future, and the invasion of privacy, and other offensive uses. I have no idea how extensive the regulations go right now, but I do hope that somebody is thinking real hard how to safeguard individuals from the potential abuses that will arise in the future. I understand that they probably are fun to operate, but knowing how people like to push things, I suspect we are in for some interesting events that involve this new challenging technology.

What sort of peer pressure do we have today that causes people to resort to such things. Are we saying that baiting is really the only way that we can be successful? I look at all the things that people go through just to get a deer, and I have to wonder just what is it that drives us to believe that we have to resort to these activities.

Just about all of the herd management solutions that people come up with these days seems to involve eliminating the choices and options for hunters. You know, such things as EAB (earn a buck), AR's, and a whole string of other limiting suggestions. At the same time, we have a shrinking participation in hunting. Perhaps we have to factor in some form of hunter encouragement as a means of maintaining and growing our numbers. If all we can come up with is to confound hunter success, perhaps we are working contrary to our own purposes. What do you think?

That is a plausible alternate explanation.

That is another good reason to tip off the DEC. Let them investigate it if they choose to do so, or ignore it if they think it doesn't warrant investigation. That is up to them once they get a tip.

The location would just be the icing on the cake, but not having that info does not mean that the tip without that information is useless. As far as the guy who sells the corn, I have no idea whether that would be useful to the investigation. It would not get him in trouble, but it might help in the investigation. I don't know about those that say to mind your own business. Breaking of en-con laws is your business. The DEC is not the enemy. I see them as trying to do a job with the handicap of being underfunded and under manned. Who's side are we really on?

8 Tons of corn is a dump-truck full. Would be no problem locating it from the air. The DEC with their shrunken law enforcement crew needs your help. We cannot whine and cry about game management shortfalls and then ignore offenses when we come across them, knowing that it is highly unlikely that law enforcement would ever catch them without help. Do the right thing. But I will say that what you have written here is not anything that would stand up in court so there needs to be some corroborating evidence available. It would be great if you could find the exact location of the dump(s) of corn and supply that information.

This is probably the closest to my thinking. It seems to me that disrespecting the laws that govern the rules of hunting is the same as disrespecting the act of hunting itself and any gains derived from hunting.

Ha-ha....Yes, I do understand that there are some like you that are reading-challenged and can't handle anything more than 3 or 4 sentences at a time. So I thought I would give you a break. Maybe this time you will actually be able to comprehend a bit of the content. Probably not, but at least you won't strain yourself too bad by having to read too much.....lol.

I guess some people's principles can be bought. Frankly, I know a lot of people that own sporting arms that are semi-autos just like all those super scary-looking AR-style "black rifles" that have all the libs so spooked. And those sporting rifles can fire ammo just as fast and efficient as those rifles that have been labeled assault rifles by the ignorant "Chicken Littles" that are all running around in circles worrying about the appearance of certain guns.