Doc

Actually, I target the best deer that I judge to be in the area and that also includes a doe here and there also. But what drives my scouting philosophy is the reality that I share my time with other activities and interests, and I have to maximize the efficiency of my time afield. I also find that I can cover a lot more ground in a lot less time when the ground is bare. So, that all means that when I go scouting, it is usually at a time that yields the most information per hour of scouting. Looking at non-hunting winter deer patterns and wandering around unable to see sign that I am looking for because it is buried under a foot or more of snow is not the best use of my time. So I look at and find signs of last years rut and patterns and trails more toward the spring when the snow is just coming off. It all stands out like the pages of a book at that time of year. And also the time just prior to hunting season begins to tell the patterns of the coming year, and also starts a picture of current food sources rather than survival foods of the previous winter. Also, whatever I learn at that time of year pertains to local deer that are true residents of my area and not winter yarding transplants that may be miles from their fall territories. Yes, there is a method to my madness. It involves efficiency in using my scouting time. Oh, let's throw in a nifty pun ...... "The biggest bang for the buck". I do believe that more intense scouting trips at a time of year where everything is open to inspection is the most efficient way to spend my scouting hours. But then ... that's just me.

Lol .... Oh my .... the drama. Soldier of fortune magazines and armagedon???? These are all emotional terms that seem to once again related to the physical appearance of the modern semi-auto sporting rifle. I wonder what would have happened if the military had not adopted this "black" look for their weaponry. Would the antis then be looking at our other semi auto hunting firearms for confiscation. I have to admit that the design of today's rifles do "look" rather menacing because they have modeled the appearance after military rifles. They do make an inviting target for those that are simply looking for something to confiscate. I keep wondering what the next target for confiscation will be after these "evil-looking" guns are banned. Perhaps I will make it through what's left of my lifetime before they work there way down to my bolt action and pump firearms ....lol.

We had the same problem with the mast crop this year as you mentioned. No acorns (not even the red oaks), no apples, not much of anything. Amazingly, the does that I got were fairly well layered with fat. Since we have zero agriculture here, I am not sure what they fattened up on, but it still seems like they were heading into winter in pretty good rig. So I am hopeful that they will survive the winter ok. Right now they are feeding on the traditional winter browse which while it may have limited nutrition, it has always brought them through previous winters pretty well ..... especially if winter doesn't hang on extra long during that critical springtime. I hope that roadkill that you checked is not typical of your deer herd. That could spell a larger than usual winter kill. Hopefully next year will get us back to the normal mast situation. We don't need a bumper crop, but I do rely on at least some acorns and apples for food patterns. We don't have much else here in the valley.

Very likely I will know before the start of the next season at a time that tells me that he not only survived the last gun season, but also the winter and the cars. Look, I am not saying that winter scouting has no value. I am simply saying that most of what is truly important is buried under the snow right now. I'm also saying that current deer movement and activities are totally different right now than they will be when next season rolls around (for reasons I have already posted).

Do you really have any idea what they spend their money on? Do you have any idea how many anti-gun pieces of legislation that are proposed each year? How many of these laws have you personally had a hand in defeating? Do you think that legislative alerts that set off letter writing campaigns cost nothing? Do you think that this stuff comes for free? How many of these kinds of things have you been able to accomplish as a non affiliated individual? What kinds of meaningful pro-gun lobbying have you been able to accomplish by yourself? I think that tiny amount of money is a bargain for a service that none of us would ever be able to accomplish on our own. Besides sitting back and enjoying the free ride what's the alternative? Oh and as to why folks are being pushy about joining the NRA, it might have something to do with the fact that the NRA is our most effective 2nd amendment advocacy group and most likely the only reason that we have guns in our possession today. It could have something to do with the fact that we really have no significant political voice individually. It might have something to do with the fact that we are footing the bill for something that most gun owners enjoy freely. It could also have something to do with the fact that if even a few more gun owners carried their fair burden in the 2nd amendment defense, we would have additional power to avert infringments, at even less cost. Yeah, those things could make an NRA member fairly enthusiastic about recruitment and pushing for support of an organization that defends something that all gun owners claim is important to them.

While I agree with what you are saying, I'm afraid your views are a dying view of bowhunting. It all started back in the 70's with the advent of the compound, and since that time there seems to be no turning back. Today, it is just another hunting season with no special significance, and everyone wants to get a piece of the season regardless of equipment. The idea of special challenge is irrelevant. Now it's just a warm weather time to hunt deer ......equipment be damned. I'm of the age where it doesn't matter that much anymore. It is time for me to step aside and let the next generation make of bowseason whatever they want it to be. I may not like it, but then I've had my time, now it will become whatever the majority of others want it to become.

With an excess of a foot of snow covering old scrapes, and old trails, there isn't much info available. If you want to check for trails scrapes and rubs, a good January thaw or barren-ground springtime condition is a much more meaningful time from a standpoint of learning what the activity was from last hunting season rather than when there is a foot of snow covering all that. What I have found is that traditional non-snow trails are ignored in deep winter as the deer wander looking for food. And speaking of food, there is absolutely no similarity between a deer's diet now vs. the diet during hunting season. What I am seeing right now is the tips of spruce trees being browsed, and some of the tips of red osier being munched, and seed clusters of staghorn sumac and some of the low-growing maple tips. None of which is given a second glance by deer in the fall when there is a fresh drop of acorns or apples, or grasslands or ag crops to feed on. Current tracks and trails reflect the different feeding habits and totally ignore the traditional fall trails. So when I see a trail of several deer walking together across my front yard heading for the bird feeder, that doesn't mean that next fall I should have a stand there..... lol. Bedding is now more related to protection from the elements, where in the fall the deer's bedding concern is more related to safety, cover and proximity to fall food sources. So noting where a deer is bedding right now is pretty useless info when hunting season rolls around. Yes, if you want to look for those pinch-points, funnels and hillside benches, and other traditional land features that draw deer, now is a good time to find those kinds of things. They stand out well in a woods uncluttered by foliage. If you want some kind of sense of deer populations, a good snow cover is a good time to do that. But, if you are looking for meaningful deer sign from rut and travel, wait until there is bare-ground conditions. If you are looking for feeding and bedding locations, don't waste your time checking those out during winter because they will not represent anything about fall (hunting) feeding and bedding conditions. For me, it would be a huge mistake to base stand selection based on what the deer are doing in the dead of winter unless I was hunting in those kinds of conditions. Deer are creatures that adapt to current conditions and are driven by their current diet. So my more meaningful scouting is done as close to hunting time as possible. By the way, I do a lot of in-season scouting. Stand selection is based on looking for concentrations of acorns or an occasional wild apple tree that is bearing heavy, or fresh heavily used trails with fresh tracks on them, or even a few sightings, or now we have trail cams to provide current info. Yes, I do keep an eye out at all times of the year for rut sign from prior seasons, because those often are repeated acts and locations. But when it comes to current patterns, nothing beats current scouting and that doesn't happen in the dead of winter.

Something sounds real strange about that story. One would think that such an act by Bank of America would be obviously illegal. Maybe there's more to the story that what we see in this article.

It was probably not his best moment .... lol. Frankly, these guys are playing right into Morgan's hands with all this attention. Myself, I don't see the need to even acknowledge him or in anyway elevate his importance. The guy is just plain silly, but I will say that he has learned to play us gun advocates to his maximum advantage. Even in arguments that he is losing, his stock continues to rise strictly because of controversy and exposure.

And you certainly are entitled to that opinion ....... even though it is wrong .... lol. Look,it is hard to take gun control complaints seriously when the one complaining doesn't even take the minimal step of supporting those that are agreeing with him. It's an unfortunate truth that eventually the gun owners will get exactly what they deserve simply because of their inability to be organized while their opposition always maintains a unified, organized and well financed effort. We have found many ways to justify cutting off our noses to spite our face. We've become damned good at it. And as a result, many of the restrictions that we complain about were placed on our backs by a far more dedicated group of people who not only say they believe in their cause, but who actually do.

That's true. The one thing you can learn a whole lot about right now is the lay of the land and where there are certain deer-magnet features. There is a pile of detail that you can see much more clearly right now that is no where near as obvious when the leaves are on and the visibility through the woods is hampered by foliage.

It's true. They have not changed their minds about eliminating all guns. They have just changed tactics and have found it much easier to accomplish their goals in a piece-by-piece fashion. Magazines, ammo, certain rifles ..... it is so much easier to turn gun owner against gun owner to achieve their gun elimination one piece at a time. Let's face it, that's what all this action against the so-called assault rifles is all about. Many gun owners have no use for those guns and are easily talked into joining the antis in demanding elimination and confiscation of those rifles. I've seen it here on the pages of this forum. I've seen those that would pacify the anti-gun lobby by sacrificing modern sporting rifles. And it is simply based on the fact that it is the "other guys rifle, not mine". All this talk about magazines is the same kind of "divide and conquer" tactic. I think it works, and that the anti-gun people have stumbled onto a successful tactic that will get them where they want to get if we don't start to smarten up. The NRA has been criticized for their "not-give-an-inch" stance. Well, anyone who's paying attention to todays anti-gun techniques might just catch on to the fact that it is piece-by-piece confiscation that has made the biggest strides for the anti-gunners in recent years.

I agree. I've said it so many times, I am beginning to sound like a broken record. You don't have to agree with every statement and issue of a advocacy group in order to have huge value in your membership. Look at the over-all package. You will never find a single organization that provides all views that you can buy into 100%. But if you start avoiding all organizations that don't fit all your views exactly, you basicly will find yourself without any representation or influence at a governmental level, while the opposition makes huge strides by being well financed, and well organized and no where near as fragmented as hunters and gun owners seem to be.

To be honest with you, I have never really even thought a whole lot about it. My guns are usually stored with the action open, i.e. bolt open, pump slide slid back, etc. My experience with designing mechanisms that use springs is that being stored in a loaded position does not effect their life if the initial material selection, design criteria and heat treatment is proper. They are designed to be under load, and they do not rot, or weaken with age unless they were not designed properly to start with. Springs react to heat, excessive fatigue through unplanned cycling, corrosion, and other things that attack metals, but unless you have exceeded the elastic limits of the material, they can stay in a loaded condition forever without ever changing their properties.

Actually, I don't usually do any scouting when the snow is covering the ground. Right now we have quite a bit more than a foot of snow, and deer are doing whatever they need to do to survive. This causes them to travel in random ways, and generally show up in a lot of places you will never see them in hunting conditions. If I based any hunting decisions on what I am seeing right now, I'd be hunting under our bird feeder next fall .... lol. If we should get a significant thaw that exposes the ground again, I may wander around looking for trails, rubs, scrapes, and other signs of last fall's activity. That can be useful info because a lot of that repeats from year to year. But what is going on right now is way to random and patternless to be of any use other than to perhaps see what deer are in your area. And actually, as winter wears on, even that little piece of info won't really be all that reliable as yarding and winter mini-migrations take place.

One thing that should be understood is that protecting gun manufacturers is protecting our 2nd amendment rights. Needless to say the gun manufacturers are a prime target of the antis and also are in a constant struggle with the gun-banning contingent of our legal system. One of the strategies of the antis is to bombard the manufacturers with lawsuits, regulations, and other activities that cause the manufacturers to defend themselves and pass on the costs of those defenses to us .... the gun owners.

I have the RCBS version of the Lee priming tool. It works real slick. And it's fast. I used to use the priming tube on my press, but this thing seems to be so much easier.

Ok, you win in the poverty contest ..... lol. It's a good thing that computers and internet are free ... eh? (just kidding). Anyway, I didn't want to have you provide a financial statement, and if your budget does not include money for NRA, then that is a situation that you have to manage in what ever way is best for you. It sounds like you may have more pressing priorities than your 2nd amendment rights.

Everytime you buy bullet making components, get 2 or 3 times more than you really need and stash some of them away. You're young enough so that you should be able to develop a pretty sizeable inventory after a few years. I have a lifetime supply of everything that I use.

Ha-ha-ha, some of you guys wouldn't have a thing to say if you couldn't include that word "elitist". That is getting to be the most over-used and mis-used word on this forum. That's intended to be a discussion stopper, but really has no meaning here anymore. But anyway I love your psychic powers to see into my finances. I hate to wreck your little convenient stereo-type, but I am living on a fixed income that is well under the annual income that most people live on these days. But instead of whining about it and expecting everyone else to carry the load for me, I do budget enough money to spend the paltry amount of NRA membership fees to an organization that fights for our 2nd amendment rights in ways that no individual citizen can.

I think I would like to see some evidence of these "NRA anti-hunting stances" rather than just taking your word for it. The NRA makes a pretty big target for the anti-gun forces because the last thing they want to see is the gun owners united and organized. I think you are trying your best to help them out in that effort.

There you go ..... "Let someone else do it". That's a pretty popular attitude these days.

Oh, they will be moving this crap along quite quickly. They have come to understand that the time to make the most gains in restricting gun owner's rights is as close to a gun-related tragedy as possible. They are becoming expert at using these tragedies to push their agenda. And part of that is high-balling these things through as closely to one of these opportunities as possible. Unfortunately none of the wacky laws will address the real problems, but instead will focus on extending the, already proven to be ineffective, attacks against law abiding gun owners.

I don't know about gift cards and such, but there is no doubt in my mind that the most effective thing to do to safeguard our view of the 2nd amendment issues is to join and support the NRA. As long as we remain a fractured faction with everybody running off in different directions, we will continue to be at the mercy of the lunatic gun regulators. They have the position of power both in the media and in the government, and unless we back the only power base that we have, the future is pretty easy to predict. So those of you who are always saying, "someday I will", ........ Now is the time.

Huh??