Doc

Mine simply hangs in a rack on the basement wall that has 1" dowels wrapped in leather. The bows that I am not currently shooting are wrapped in clear plastic garbage bags and also hung in this rack. They are hung by the string which I assume is probably quite harmless. There is no relative motion of the strings vs. the dowels (aside from the occasional Adirondack tremor ....lol). The only pressure against the strings are the weight of the bow itself (negligible). Recurves are wrapped and hung with the limbs resting on the leather clad dowels. No direct sunlight and fairly stable temperatures.

Don't get me wrong, I am not talking about anyone's specific management of specific plots on specific parcels. My question was more of a generic kind of inquiry. I am not criticizing anyone's management, and none of my comments are aimed at anyone or any specific person or situation. I have seen pictures of plots that look more like an agricultural enterprise. They appear to be huge, and so it makes me curious as to whether there are practical limits. I have seen the prices on some of these bags of special deer formula seeds. I know that gas and diesel fuel prices have gone to ridiculous levels. I know that most people put some value on their time and all these things taken together can represent a huge cash outlay that I would think people would try to streamline to as efficient an operation as possible. Like I say, I have seen pictures of what I suspect is gross over-kill and so with all those things in mind, I was curious as to whether anyone even thinks in terms of over-doing plotting from an efficiency standpoint and from a standpoint of trying to balance created food sources to the size of the herd and the actual usage of what is being put in. It's a subject that I have never heard anyone talk about. I really was not trying to get into whether huge food plots can be "detrimental", other than the thought of simply throwing away good hard earned cash with no return. There has to be some practical limits. I was just curious as to whether anyone has established ways of determining where those limits are and how they are established.

I'm not bashing anybody. I have not said anything about favoring high fences, low fences, or no fences at all. But I will say that this attitude of "gotcha" seems just a tad unfriendly and unnecessary when we have a feature of PMs available.

So let me understand ..... are you trying to extend the NYB bash-fest or trying to ressurect the crossbow controversy. Just trying to figure out exactly what you are trolling for ..... lol.

All the old places where I used to do my woodchuck hunting have grown up to brush or had a house plunked in the middle. Most of the woodchucks I see anymore are next to the road .... lol.

Excess bedding areas are a different story because of the wandering nature of deer, but excess food is simply a waste, and hence my original question. Providing more food than resident deer can consume is something that makes no sense to me. First of all no property exists that does not already have some natural food sources there. So erring on the side of providing slightly too little probably is solved by the natural browse that currently exists. Too much is simply too much. Cover areas (bedding areas) are useful for providing browse (deer being naturally browsers rather than grazers), and also provide food and shelter for other species. I assume no one is interested in creating a "single-species property". So, I see a problem with opening up too large of an area to create an excess of deer food. So, I guess those are some of the thoughts that I had in mind when I raised the question about creating food plots that are way too large to ever be properly used by the deer. It seems there could be a danger of simply wasting time and money, and also creating nearly a "single species" unbalanced eco-system that is great for deer and little else. ...... Not so?

Lol ..... you haven't seen "harsh and attacking" yet apparently. It's turning into the latest great American pastime ever since internet forums began. But seriously, Understand that hunters have ethics and judgments that have been handed down to them from family and friends and a lot of this stuff is firmly entrenched in the way they view fairness in hunting. Also a lot of this stuff is regional. I'll bet everyone here (yourself included) has something that they would not consider "fair chase" tactics or even hunting. Different people have different limits, traditions and rules of fair play. A forum which consists of the airing of opinions creates an atmosphere where those opinions will come out. It is no surprise that we don't all agree, and that may appear as harsh and attacking. I see it more as differences of opinion. This particular forum may not be the place to bring up those differences, but it is understandable that some reactions have surfaced.

I suppose anyone can start a thread on the illegal uses of bait/feed (or any other legal concern) anytime they want without causing embarrassment to members. I mean, if it's just membership education that's a concern, there are a lot of ways to go about that.

I guess peope will be people and they doi tend to be gullible. That is what advertising is all about, and I guess no one can dispute that it works. The TV hunter heroes and their producers simply use that gullible nature and make perceptions even worse by biasing the notion of what bowhunting is all about. And I suppose foir people that only gun hunt or don't hunt at all, that gullible nature may really be simple ignorance. I think there is probably enough blame to go around when it comes to depicting bowhunting as something it's not and then accepting it all as gospel.

By the way, anybody who thinks these wackos are not fiancially well supported and organized might just want to take a look at that camera (which the now claims to have two) and that crazy-looking helicopter thingy. I'll admit that this guy is a bit out there, but they do have some well-healed followers and apparently the ability to sell their nonsense to the public via as much cash as needed. This actually was a good add to the thread in that it illustrates that these technological spy-gizmos are available to a lot more than just government agencies. So anybody who has cash and a desire to use harrassment against whatever cause or person their twist mind deems worthwhile, are apparently free and legally within their rights to do so. How long before some disgruntled neighbor decides to fly his drone surveillance gadget over and around your house .... lol. Technology ..... a wonderful thing, but maybe completely out of control.

That makes sense.

I've been trying to think what the proper response should be when we think we have found something that we think is inappropriate or in this case illegal. My sense is that vietvet50 probably was unaware that the setup is illegal. Not too many people knowingly document their illegal activities through pictures on a public forum.....lol. Probably the best way to handle that would be via a private message informing of the illegality along with an offer to take the picture down. That avoids inadvertant embarrassment and perhaps the loss of a member or the perception that we are just waiting to pounce on anybody who makes a mistake (which in turn loses even more participating members). At this point, it is probably best to just let the issue quietly fade off into oblivion.

Great for making hockey sticks and boomerangs. Really, I look at some of the lumber they sell and wonder how they have the gall to charge the prices they do. A lot of it is suitable only for firewood. Every year the quality gets worse, to the point where you often cannot find the quality of lumber that you need even if you are willing to spend the whole day sorting. It's pretty frustrating.

I'm going to do it. Sounds like fun!

Is an aoudad a goat or a sheep?

Excerpt from your ad on "Guides and Outfitters" forum: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Fall 2012 Whitetail/Exotic Hunt Super Package!! *3 days Guided Whitetail Hunting *4 nights Lodging in one of our 6 very nice Lodges( Most of which are newely remolded with Directv and all the Luxurys of home) *10,000 HF acres in South Texas to Hunt!!! *This Beautiful working cattle ranch is complete with over a thousand acres of hay fields(oat in the winter) lots of water, 50 corn feeders, 35 Blinds and list goes on and on!!! * All Blinds are Custom-made Very modern and comfortable 4x8 elevated shooting houses. * High-Rack trucks and Rangers. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- So is it "the whole 5000 acre ranch is low fences" as stated on this forum, or "10,000 HF acres" from the Guides and Outfitters forum?

Elevated "shooting houses"? "Trophy fees on top of those exorbitant prices? Feeders? I guess I'll pass on this "super package" ... lol.

So how does that work? If the aoudad can get in, why can't the hogs get in?

Really? .... I thought I was the only one that worried about running over a honey bee with the mower..... lol.

Right-on with that thought about the TV programs. We sure do take a beating with the way bowhunting is portrayed on these shows. Between those hunter-heroes on TV and the over-stated advertisements for archery equipment, it's a wonder that we even have a bow season. That definitely is where these people get those wacked out attitudes.

That's a good question that I would also like to see answered. I started some seeds from an apple, and they actually germinated and got up to about 2" tall and looked very strong and healthy. And then they just up and croaked for no obvious reason that I could figure out. I'm going to try again, but it would be nice if anybody has any tips on a procedure that somebody has actually worked out through experience or some source of knowledge.

One of the things I have noticed is that even on some rather prime feeding areas, deer seem to be "in-motion" feeders. What I mean by that is that they seem to be always on their way to somewhere and even in the dead of winter, don't stay in a field very long. It's kind of like they do an awful lot of walking while feeding and before you know it ..... poof! ..... they are gone and on their way to somewhere else. Some of that may have to do with their multiple stomach digestive system, I don't know. So anyway, that is what kind of brought that thought of "over-kill" to mind (that and some pictures of huge food plots that I have seen on the net .... lol). The actual area that a deer will actually use would seem to be quite small, to the point where 5 or 10 acres might have an awful lot of it that a deer may never actually use. I would think that many smaller plots might be more efficiently used by deer with their wandering habits. But then I am only guessing.

Unfortunately, she really doesn't care whether you shop there or not. Probably should have had a conversation with the store manager, or somebody that sets store policy. Nothing against the clerks at the counter but their ability to challenge store policy on their own is pretty limited, if you can even find one that even cares. They kind of do as they are told.

Actually, I don't believe his "ended rut" comment is exactly accurate. The truth is that the crazy disruption of gun season itself kind of drives it all nocturnal so that it seems like it is all over. At least that has been my experience. I have seen a lot of rut activity in the first part of opening day of gun season. But anyway, people will believe what ever makes them comfortable with their own lack of success.

Years ago, I remember a material that we used on the chicken coop windows. It had a 1/4" x 1/4" grid of thin wire and was covered in a thin layer of some pretty tough clear plastic. I've never seen it for sale since, but I would think that stuff would be perfect for young seedlings. Nothing will get through that. And then a cage of welded wire over that would keep the deer from coming down from the top.