Doc

It's getting so that I don't even look at the covers anymore. When the magazines come I simply look to see which one it is and then open it up and start reading. They could put a picture of a horse on the cover and I probably wouldn't even notice. Yeah, I got sick of that nonsense a long time ago, and I'm not really all that impressed anymore.

Ha-ha .... I love it when gun hunters want to compromise bow seasons. Let's try this: quite often you read opinions on here that gun season is way too long. How about we wack the gun season in half in the spirit of "compromise" .... lol.

Sam- I suspect that there are a lot of non-professional hunters who put in more time than the hunter-heroes of TV put in. You don't really believe that those guys really do their own hunt preparation do you? Sure they pack their own clothes and their own advertiser supplied equipment, and they drive themselves from ranch to ranch, outfitter to outfitter and guide to guide. That is pretty much the extent of their hunt preparation (preseason and otherwise). The rest is handled by guides on the various game farms ranches. I don't for a minute believe that those guys ever scout, locate or install a single stand other than with the exception of the occasional photo-op for video purposes. I just don't believe it. It wouldn't be practical. They couldn't make a dime if they had to do their own scouting in a random piece of public or private land. Sponsors would drop them like a hot potato. Shows would be folding up for lack of programming. They need all those shortcuts. On the other hand we have people right here on this forum that put in hours and hours with food plots, scouting missions, stand placement and all kinds of real preparatory activities. No they don't have the travel times that these nation-wide celebrity hunters do, but I believe there are a lot of people out here that are putting as much or more actual hunting and preparation time into hunting and they are doing it in a self-reliant way.

No, nobody would read them. The minds are already made up. It's just a favorite topic that has to come up every so many months so people can vent. Archiving is not near as much fun as venting ..... lol.

First of fall, no one has described the youth hunt as "an army of unsupervised kids shooting recklessly at anything that moves". I'm not sure what you have been reading, but if anyone said any such thing I must have missed it. As far as what is in the minds of those that have not been mentoring their kids in the past and keeping up with the recruitment needs, is anybody's guess, but obviously it is not getting done. Apparently taking a kid out during the regular season is a "burden" to an awful lot of hunters, at least that's what seems to be historically indicated.

Lol .... here we go again. Are these the 2012 summer re-runs? Kind of another version of oldies as applied to hunting topics.....lol. Break out the popcorn folks.

Think of these shows as fantasy hunting .... kind of a cartoon version of what hunting really is. We all know the score on how these all work and how these hunter-heroes could never make a decent living hunting the way we do. We all know that they would never be able to fill a season's worth of shows if they had to hunt the way we do. So just view these shows as someone's idea of how easy they have been able to make their hunting, and also as simple mindless entertainment. The real question to all this is, "Are they harmless?" My observations are that the wide exposure to these make-believe hunting shows is having an effect on hunter demands and expectations that exceed any sense of reality. I have seen controversy and friction developing between factions of hunters in the belief that some can duplicate what they see on TV. That's not harmless. I have seen hunters criticizing the harvests of other hunters because they don't measure up to some ever increasing standard that some have applied on themselves and are trying to force on others. That's not harmless. I believe that these programs put unrealistic expectations into the minds of hunters, new and old, creating doubt as to their capabilities and skills. Perhaps some of this is adding to frustrations and self doubts that may be driving out some of our hunters. That's not harmless. Perhaps some of our youth are being indoctrinated with unrealistic expectations that when not met may turn them off. That certainly wouldn't be harmless. So yes, we should be able to view these things for what they are (fiction). But do we? We tell ourselves that it's all ridiculous misrepresentation, but I have to wonder how much of that is subconciously soaking into our expectations. It sure seems like attitudes about harvests have been affecting changes noted above ever since these videos and TV programs have been flourishing. Maybe our cartoon hunting shows aren't as harmless as we think.

Sounds pretty good. 150 yards from another property may be a bit close for bow season. You might want to contact that landowner and try to get recovery permission and ground-rules ahead of time, just in case you get one of those tough old deer that has the endurance to cover that ground and get onto the other property. I've had some hard-hit deer make it well past 150 yards before going down. I don't like the major trail being right under the tree. That never does give you a broadside shot. But then if that oak is the only suitable one in that area, you can't very well move the tree.....lol.

I tend to agree with you. I think one of the problems is that some of these guys really don't want to hand that shot at the buck over to their kids. Or maybe they anticipate that the kids might somehow otherwise disturb their hunt. That really doesn't sound like the kind of guy that will take time out from his weekend in October to attend (mentor) any kids during a special hunt. In fact, who knows, he may be busy bowhunting that weekend now that they have forced him to make a choice. So, I still wonder where all these mentors will be coming from that refused to offer such services before. See my feeling is that some percentage of the supporters of this season are these selfish hunters that want things both ways. So they are in favor of this special season hoping that someone else will take over the "burden" of mentoring their kids. Unfortunately there may be fewer mentors available since they have purposely overlapped the special season with bowhunting. And once again the job will not get done. But everybody will walk away patting themselves on the back for having solved the recruitment problem, unfortunately ending any creative thought on real innovative solutions. Pessimist? ..... Maybe. Or maybe just a realist.

How can anyone seriously compare domestic terrorism activities to the 911 style actions of a foriegn entity against people in this soveriegn nation. Are you serious? That's a pretty snappy tap-dance, but I've got to believe you really did get my point.

I know I can't do it without standing up and changing position. So, if the deer's got you, he's got you, unless you stand all the time (which I can't). And then even standing all the time, you're still going to have to turn or move in some way to get positioned. Hey, there's just some circumstances that you can't avoid. The big thing is to not take a foolish, low percentage shot that you know you have little chances of making. There are a lot of different things that can happen that force you to pass. You can try to slowly make the move and get turned, or hope that it moves into a more favorable position. But other than that, I would think the best move would be to sit still and let it go and hope it comes back another day.

I realize that, but that doesn't mean that I automatically feel good about that situation. I simply do not believe in mixing gun deer hunting with bow deer hunting. As far as my comment about no one taking kids out hunting before, I am referring to the situation that made people want this youth season in the first place. I am assuming that the reason being given is that we have a recruitment of youth problem because nobody is doing it today during regular season. Those kids that we failed to recruit were first time eligible hunters as well and mentors have been dropping the ball completely. So what is it that is going to make us all of a sudden take interest in our youth and utilize this new season? Do you get what I'm trying to say? It was never the lack of a season that caused the lack of mentorship. It was the lack of interest by potential mentors. We have done nothing about motivating the mentors, and therefore I suspect nothing will really change relative to recruitment or participation in this new season. We have put the lipstick on the pig, but it's still a pig.

Scent elimination is impossible. Scent reduction has value. How much do you want to spend on scent reduction? How much effect on scenting distance do you feel that purchases of those products will supply (in yards)? Is it worth the cost? Pretty tough questions. The manufacturers are of no help because they are constantly over-claiming the benefits and exaggerating the effects. Anecdotal evidence is worthless. I myself have shot a deer that was on the opposite side of the tree that I was standing behind ...... about 4 yards. I was a heavy smoker at that time and had just put one out. If I had just got done hosing down with Scent-Away, I probably would be singing the praises of the product .... lol. But, I didn't .... and I'm not. So you're kind of on your own on this one. Your guess is as good as mine .... and that's all it really is, is a "guess".

I have never been in the woods in camo at the same time that muzzle loader deer season was in progress. For me that would be pretty stupid. I see no difference between deer rifles, shotguns, and muzzle loaders when it comes to the need for blaze orange. As far as turkey hunters are concerned, I believe that in all the years that we have had a fall turkey season, I have seen exactly one turkey hunter. However, mixing gun deer hunting with bow deer hunting is just not a real smart idea in my mind under any circumstances. I will say that I suspect that bowhunters will probably never even be aware that there is a youth season going on, so safety concerns probably won't be as big an issue unless you happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. I don't expect it to be that big a deal. Nobody found time to take these kids out hunting before, and I don't expect that to significantly change now. But it seems to be the "feel-good" flavor of the day salvation of hunting in many people's minds. So, like I said before, I think I can easily fore-go a couple of days of bowhunting without any problem at all.

Yes, scent elimination is not the same as the original question about cover scents, but it all is related. I have mixed thoughts on cover scents as I said before, but one more thing occurred to me that I read about that varmint hunters are now working with. They have developed a spray bomb that sends out a whole cocktail of scents mixed together that simply confuses the critters into ignoring what they are smelling. Apparently it works pretty good which does kind of lend some credibility to the cover scent theory. As far as scent elimination, I agree that it is impossible to a certain extent. But I do believe that totally ignoring that effort has to make your scent hold together for longer distances. In other words if you have limited the amount of scent that you are putting into the air, it logically should disperse quicker and not travel as far along air currents. As far as simply relying on playing the wind, I think that my experiences hunting the hill country has shown that that is important, but nearly impossible in some of the better deer hang-outs. I have seen wind directions change 180 degrees about every 10 to 15 minutes depending on natural land features that can baffle wind around and turn it into a very unpredictable set of directions. I have a huge ravine area that is an absolute magnet for big bucks, but wind directions are never predictable there (maybe that's why they like it). Also, I am never surprised to find the wind directions on top of the hill exactly opposite that of the valley bottom with both being different than what he weatherman is saying. Also, there comes that time in the last hour or so when the sun gets behind the hill and the prevailing winds die off and the thermals start reversing scent direction. I have ended many a hunt with disgust and frustration as the wind direction suddenly is aimed right at the trail I was watching. Yes "mind the wind direction" is a great idea in theory, but can be very difficult in practice.

The way things are going this year with my equipment, I'll still be tinkering with it until after the season is over..... lol. I'm quite sure I will not be ready by October 1st. But anyway, I'm figuring that temperatures will be figuring into hunting comfort at that time, and anything that doesn't "breathe" probably will be pretty ugly to wear. We'll see. Actually with leaves still on the trees, I'm not sure how visible any color of clothing will actually be unless your head to toe covered with blaze orange. I think it's just easier to stay out of the woods for a couple days.

Speaking of changes, I have to mention the old 3-holer that was a nice 5 minute brisk walk from the house on a cold winter night. I never could figure out why you would put 3 holes in an outhouse. Were there some people that needed company when they answered the call of nature? ..... lol. Things were a lot better when we finally got that nice chemical toilet a couple of years after we moved onto the new farm (you don't want to know about the old farm .... lol. And the trips out to the well for water were a nice touch also. What a great deal when we finally got indoor plumbing. Ha-ha, I haven't thought about those early years in a long time. Thanks for posting that article. It's been fun.

Yes. I believe that if someone wanted to they could listen in on your conversations just by picking up their own phone when they heard the ring. I was pretty little back then so I don't remember ever actually using it more than once or twice. Kids didn't get on the phone much back then .... lol.

The fact is that if there is any deer season that involves guns while bow season is in progress, I will simply delay my bow opener by a couple of days. I personally don't think it will be a great loss. But, I will not be out there in camo while any gun deer season is in progress. It just plain is not safe, supposedly mentored or not. The only blaze orange that I have is pretty heavy gear, and I am not buying special summer blaze orange (if I could even find such stuff) for just a couple of days of bow hunting. So I get a few more days to get my bowhunting gear straightened out ..... big deal.

But at least the blind won't have any moths.

Sure, in our house you had to remember that your phone ring was 4 longs and three short rings. Imagine that! and the phone had a separate ear-piece and the mouth-piece was a part of the box on the wall. I had to get a chair to stand on to speak into it. We still have one dial-type phone in the house just for nostalgic purposes. I laughed my butt off when my grand-nephew tried to use it. He didn't have a clue what the heck the dial was all about. I remember our first TV. It was the goofiest looking thing, and got a whole 3 channels. Of course it was black and white only. Oh yeah, I could go on forever ..... blah .... blah .... blah. But over any significant period of time, we do get to see some awesome note-worthy changes. And the comment about the old days when everyone sat around the console radio staring at it ..... yep, I've been there too ..... lol.

None of this is usually about reality, but more about the quality of your imagination ..... . And then of course you have to ask yourself, "who wants to be the first?"

For us "numbers guys", the chronograph would be a very useful tool. You just pointed out a few of the different aspects of equipment set-ups and inter-relationships of changes that you could learn about. It's not a waste of time and money if you can satisfy some of the questions about these things, or just want to debunk some of the suspected BS that you think you have read or heard. It's all just another aspect of the sport of archery.

I blew my bow up about 5 days ago. Well, that's a bit dramatic but the string broke and I had bow parts dangling all around me including one of the limbs that just missed my head. So I'm knee deep in tuning, re-sighting and working out all the little noises and things that just didn't come back the way it was shooting before. On top of that, I bought a new release as a spare ($80 Tru-ball), and I'm wrestling with that. The strap is about 3 times thicker than my old tru-ball and it's stiff with a very sharp leather edge that seems to want to dig into my wrist (not drawing blood yet but close). I have put a layer of moleskin along the edge and it seems to be working. Also, I have gone from the aluminum "D" loop to a rope loop. A little messing around there trying to get the peep to align. Too much crap going on with my equipment at a point that is getting too be real late. So I'm getting a bit nervous about the season rushing at me too. I really don't like the way things are starting this year. But anyway, in the greater scheme of priorities, I think the house is a much more important thing to get finalized and set up. As much as I love hunting, I think the highlight of the year would be a different house and losing a few days of hunting will be worth it..

I'm not too fond of hearing a screaming cottontail, especially if it's on the trail to my stand in the dark. It's amazing all the different things your imagination can picture having ahold of it. It only has happened once, but that was enough to get me a bit nervous as I walked toward it trying to get to my stand.