Doc

Yes.

I just got the latest issue of New York Outdoor News, and they said that the Ontario County rifle bill "failed to advance beyond the environmental conservation committee during this legislative session". I'm not sure what that all means, but last time I heard that kind of talk, was the last attempt and they had to go back to ground zero to get it started again. That was last year when the budget process stalled (killed) the bill in committee and it had to come all the way back to the county board of supervisors where it got voted down at that time ( I thought permanently). This Ontario County rifle bill seems to be doomed. It all probably means that I have at least one more year to endure a beating by the old 12 guage.

Ha-ha .... wait until you're sitting in your stand and they go merrily marching by just about the time you expect the deer to be getting active. I've had that happen. They're probably just a couple of health-conscious hikers who have decided to make your property part of their daily routine. I'm sure they meant to ask permission. Lol .... where is that chubby little kid on the bike? He should be along any minute.

See, it's a hard thing to say since we have never hunted in the theoretical circumstances of the original post. We have never seen situations where the does were the sought after gender, and the bucks were becoming used to getting a free pass. I think the old lady-goats would surprise you with their adaptability. And then given that bucks have those rutting frailties, I suspect that they would appear real stupid, real fast. Not to mention that they would eventually significantly outnumber the does, and actually become plentiful compared to the does.

I lugged my 3D archery deer target down into the thicket in front of the house, and all I got was a whole lot of foot stompin, head bobbing, and snorts from the group of does that came in. I don't know what went wrong, but they weren't fooled for a minute. Not only were they not fooled, but they were downright irritated. I don't think it was a scent thing, because the wind was in a good direction and they really weren't that close to it. Anyway, after that experience, I never bothered with trying to decoy deer again. I know they work, but just not for me.

That place is stinkin' with poisonous snakes right? Lol ..... your not likely to ever see me stumbling around in the high grass and brush down there looking for hogs. Now I ain't saying it was so, but there could have been a time when I might have been stumbling around some Florida bars looking for wild pigs. It's possible there could have been a few snakes there too ...... lol.

I don't dare hunt for wild mushrooms. I can't tell an edible one from a poisonous one. And then I hear there are copy-cat mushrooms that are poisonous but look like edible ones. Mushroom picking sounds like something I would normally be into, but I just don't know enough about them, and mistakes in selection can turn out rather bad.

Good question. I am interested in what the criteria is that different people use when deciding what guns should be banned. Perhaps if the gun has that threatening look like the so-called assault rifles, maybe that should be used to determine which ones should go. That black color is very lethal you know.....lol. No seriously, exactly what features on a gun determine whether it is more likely to be used in criminal activity and should be eliminated? There are some that would ban all hanguns because of the concealability. Some would outlaw all semi-automatics based on fire-power. Some base their decisions on caliber, or range, or sometimes just the emotional reaction to the appearance of the weapon. So I guess I would also like to hear more on the selection process for gun banning. What exactly is the hot-button of the year?

Come-on ..... I don't want to hear that.

I think you might be surprised just how smart a doe can get if they became the sole target during season. If the population ratio were to reverse and does became as scarce as bucks are today, you might just be surprised how they would adapt super-survival tactics without the defence liabilities of rut that bucks always will have. At any rate, as you pointed out, it is truly all a moot point because does will always enjoy some level of protection.

Now see .... there's what I'm talking about. There's one of them slithering disgusting things that have to crawl around on their belly and hide in the grass and such and the damned thing don't even sound off with a rattle. At least a rattlesnake will occasionally give you fair warning. Granted, you probably are within striking distance by the time you hear the rattle .... lol. Kill them!!!! Kill them all!!!!! Bury them deep then bury the shovel!!! No place poisonous stuff.

I think there are a lot of places that look rather nice as long as I am not actually living there. What the heck, there are a lot of other states that look rather nice, but again I have not experienced actually living there encountering all the day today crap that they have to put up with. Remember that old saying about the grass on the other side of the fence. Some times it actually is and most of the time it isn't.

They better hurry up if it is going to be in effect for this year. It takes me a long time to settle down on things like calibers and makes and models. I usually have to study and research and agonize for months when it comes to these kinds of purchases.....lol.

Don't forget the sharpness of them little snots that the old lady goats hang out with. Those extra eyes and ears seem to be some of the sharpest in the woods. It's usually those little guys that seem to be the ones that wind up doing the foot stomp and staring and doing the "head-bob" trick and then give you the whitetail version of the raspberry.

I think nobody is running yet because there isn't anyplace to run to .... lol. Our biggest problem is that we are trying to change to be like every other country. We keep trying to convert other countries to Democracy, and all that is being accomplished is that they are moving us toward their socialism (and worse). It all relates to the globalization of America in which we are letting foriegn countries influence our values and theories of government. Let's hope those smart sheep can figure a way to get us back to a little bit of nationalism and forsake this damned copy-cat attitude that our leaders have come to embrace.

I know they kill rodents, and supposedly have a place in our eco-system, but if something happened that eliminated all of them, I wouldn't really shed a tear. There are plenty of places where they don't exist, and I haven't heard of any ecological disasters occurring because of that. I don't really need things that hide in the grass and have the capability of killing me. Geesh! I don't even like the non-poisonous ones. Anything that can get up and walk around where you can see them is one thing. But I have no use for things that hide in the grass ...... lol.

I agree, but so far as I read all this stuff, I have yet to see where any of these intrusive processes are doing what they were jammed into law to do. For example, I see nothing that gets at the mental state of permit candidates. Not that I can think of anything that would do that. But every law that has been passed (and there are volumes of them), I have heard no one state which law should have prevented this event. Of the few actual suggestions that I have heard offered here, there are none of them that actually would do what people think they would and none of them would have prevented what happened in Colorado. I'm having a hard time jumping on this new gun-law bandwagon, when no one has anything new to offer. As I said once before, I think we have reached the end of the road in terms of effective, useful legislative solutions. Now all I see is a bunch of re-runs. It's a tough deal, but there is no way I can sign onto this idea of flailing around passing laws that have no true realistic expectations of actually doing anything. We have already had far too much of that.

Yeah, I read that Messenger article, but I know there is a lot of time that can be sucked up in legislature. Last time that part of the process got all plugged up with other matters (budget). Also, we even had the damned bill on the Governors desk with him willing to sign it and it had to be yanked back because of a composition error. So, I am not taking anything for granted .... lol. It's a long process between sending a resolution to Albany until it gets a Governor's signature. When the bill has a governor's signature on it, I will be in the market to buy. That's why I would like to track it on the computer, but I need a bill number. By the way, I am currently thinking of a .270 caliber. Just a little more than a .243 but still not something that will beat the hell out of me. Also, probably a 3-9 variable scope on top. What do you think of the .270?

Sure hunting is "fun and exciting". And that is because I have taken on the challenge to get some of that meat the hard way rather than simply buying it. I will flat out say that if hunting was easy I wouldn't do it. If there was no challenge to hunting, I really would trade in my guns and bows for a good camera or some better hiking equipment or maybe some new bowling equipment .... lol. But anywho, I know from all the discussion about ARs and such that many (most?) members here see hunting as a challenge, and they have a desire to lift that level of challenge pretty high. I kind of agree with that thought .... maybe in different levels or ways, but the challenges of what hunting offers is the very reason I hunt instead of just observe. Perhaps that is why bowhunting is my first love in hunting. Me against the deer with an awful lot in favor of the deer. That's a challenge. And that's what makes it all worth doing. And based on that, and getting back on topic, I still feel that if you are looking to hunt the most challenging deer in the woods, the old antlered buck may not represent the biggest challenge in the woods (for reasons that I stated above). And if does were all that were legal to shoot, I think I could be very satisfied hunting the old lady-goats. It would take a bit of de-programming to get that antler measure of success out of my head, but I'll bet they would pose a real challenge if their numbers were cut substantially and they became the primary targets as the bucks are today.

Ha-ha ..... Nobody is supposed to be that sure of themselves. And everybody loves to hate those that are. They sure do make great targets for those looking for someone to bash (especially among the anti-gun crowd). he may be awful harsh and abrasive to those that are soft on gun control, but I seldom hear him speak when I come away disagreeing with what he is saying. When I see someone putting themselves "out there" as often as the Nuge does, I guess I will allow a bit for an occasional over-statement. I don't see any other celebrity or public figure speaking positively and publicly about hunting and gun ownership. Even those public figures that are gun owners and hunters generally lack the spine to defend those things in public. So, I tend to cut Nugent a bit more slack than most are willing to. I kind of put myself in his position and realize that it would be pretty hard to be absolutely perfect, especially when there are so many people and organizations out there bent on silencing you.

I probably don't really have to be concerned, however the thought does cross my mind occasionally. Not too many decades ago areas around Naples and Honeoye were known for occasionally coming up with a rattler or two. In fact 50 or 70 years ago there was a character over in Honeoye called Rattlesnake Pete who regularly went out hunting for them with apparently some success (hence the name). However, in the decades that I have been running these Ontario County ridges, I have never had an encounter or heard of any others that have had any sightings. So perhaps they have been systematically eliminated. Also, I heard that if you have black snakes, you are unlikely to have much of a rattlesnake population. We have tons of black snakes. I wouldn't swear to that local myth or fact, but that is a local thought that I grew up with. At any rate, even though this area has been rattlesnake free for decades, I still can't help but wonder everytime I step over a log, or mess around any of the many rock piles that I encounter.

I have never applied for a handgun permit, so please excuse me if this question sounds a little bit ignorant. But, I was wondering if the issuing agencies get into psychological analysis, or any kind of activity to determine your mental state? Obviously if you have a criminal record involving eratic behavior, they may have a chance of somehow finding that out prior to a permit being issued. But barring any kind of such record, do they do anything at all to discover psychological problems including outright insanity? Like I say, I have never had occasion to want a handgun, so I am completely ignorant of the process other than a comment here and there mentioned through casual conversation. So, since it is primarily in cases of these clearly mentally disturbed perpetrators that all the registration talk is spawned, I was wondering just how effective the licensing process really is in weeding out insane gun buyers. Also, are there any credible guesstimates as to how many criminals (insane or otherwise) that the registration and permitting system has turned back from a gun purchase? Again, I have no knowledge in that area, so I just figured it was worth a question.

Ha-ha .... I am going to have to resurrect that word. It has a lot of practical use on just about any forum....lol.

I am not saying that things will never change. I'm not even saying that there aren't plenty of signs that things are changing. What I am saying is that when we discuss the greatest nation on the planet, we cannot ignore the evidence where people vote with their feet. Right now, I see more people trying to get in here than those that are trying to get out.

Doesn't matter ..... The remarks and questions still stand.