Doc

It's kind of a variation on an old indian trick that used to be used on deer. This is a lot like when the indians used to drape a deer hide over themselves complete with the deer head and antlers ..... lol. anyway, some dim-wit thought that would make a nice modern day tactic for turkeys and modified the technique to suit. Yes, I would say that it is expected that the hunter would be adequately concealed behind this thing since they did talk about closing the distance on a hung-up turkey. I'm telling you, people are all looking for some silly short-cuts (easy way out) to replace actual hunting ....... and safety be damned. Yes you are right ...... this is a disaster waiting to happen. The stupidity of this farce will reflect on all of us when the first fatality hits the papers.

Well, in spite of my mangey coyote, not all my luck was bad. I did get a fair picture of a heron landing in the creek:

So here is my kind of luck ...... I finally got a decent picture of a coyote, and look at his tail ...... lol

Those herons just always look like they're pissed-off. Maybe it has something to do with always standing on one foot.

As well as a lovely series of nasty rabies shots ..... lol.

I spent a bit of time out on the net reading some of the stuff that is published about Obama care. I have to give a lot of credit to anyone who can read that stuff and come away with any single conclusion. Just about every statement has another site that will refute it. A lot of it is self contardictory as you read further. Everybody seems to represent themselves as the sole authority on the program. No one seems to actually get down to some of the details such as the quality of the insurance that is being forced to be purchased. We all know that there are huge differences in what different policies and companies will cover. Deductibles, and just plain items that are covered or not vary all over the place. So what are the real nuts and bolts of these policies that we are forced to buy. Some may not be worth the paper they are printed on. Also, when it comes to the poor magically being made to purchase policies, there seems to be a bit of confusion about how that is going to happen. They can't afford to buy them now, but some how they will be able to with the implementation of Obama care. Oh yes, I did read something about them getting tax credits to help. Tax credits for the poor???? I think it is the old promise of something coming out of nothing. So, I finally gave up on all the contradictory info out there. I guess we will all have to wait until we are personally effected before we will know whether it is a good thing or not. Imagine some of the shocking surprises we are in store for when it turns out that what we thought we knew isn't true at all......ha-ha.

So, do our names now show up on some sort of watch list? Or will they show up if somebody makes the wrong kind of comment in this thread? Of course you do all realize that I am being a bit facetious .... right? I may be mis-reading the tone of this thread or misunderstanding some of the comments here (and I really hope I am), but really, I'm not ready to give in to paranoia just yet. Sure enough conditions in this country are not truly wonderful and perfect. And certainly, I do not like a lot of the directions that we are heading. But I think we are a long way from having to amass an arsenal and begin planning for the overthrow of our government. I've got to tell you that for all my life, I have been hearing about how the world is going to hell in a handbasket. I heard it from my Grandfather way back when I was a little guy and almost every day ever since. The doom and gloom has been preached non-stop probably long before I ever came on the scene. And yet here we are, still living at the top of the world food chain. Of course anything is possible, and we need to be ever-vigilant as to the undermining of our way of life. But care must be taken that we don't let our fears over-rule our common sense and sanity. This discussion about conditions in America coupled with the talk about the accumulation of arms and ammunition makes us sound just a little on the crazy side.....lol. For those that would advocate or even consider such things as violent overthrow of this government, I think some time should be spent thinking about what they would replace it with. We spend a lot of time complaining about the government and that's understandable, but let's not forget just what is really at the root of all the things that we perceive is wrong and corrupt about our system ...... that being the mental frame of entitlement that grips the citizens who comprise the government. It is this mentality of demanding something for nothing that drives the government. You can overthrow governments, but that basic mentality that exists in the people will still remain. So, for those that might have notions of blowing it all up with armed insurrection and starting over, just remember that old saying about being careful what you wish for ..... you just might get it. It may look good in the movies, but I wonder how much we would welcome that reality and the results that would come after.

So, what's the deal? Are we predicting the rise in internal home-spun militias and terrorism? Are we forcasting the violent overthrow of our government? Are these the kinds of topics that raise electronic flags in a computer somewhere in the Department of Homeland Security?

Ok, I understood that Obama Care was another version of socialized medicine. So what happens to the current medicare program that I have been paying into all my life?

I have just a few questions for those who are all for creating or expanding these kinds of entitlement programs. Do you recognize any limits as to how far the government should take care of us? I have read some empassioned idealogy relating to how providing for citizens is a societal responsibility. Do you see any limits to that at all? Are you for total cradle-to-grave care, guaranteed to all citizens? Do you feel that all life preparations are the collective responsibility of society? Can we expand that idealogy to such things as food, housing, entertainment, etc.? Is this becoming a deal where we all just throw our money into a pot and let the government dole out life's essentials? Where are the limits? Are there any limits? Sometimes I think we all assume that we are a lot more evolved a society than we can truthfully afford to be. I am always mindful that there really are limits. Cold and cruel though that may be, the fact is that for the good and survival of our way of life, we do have to put some brakes on our wish to do good. It's just a cold hard financial fact of practicality that if ignored could cost all of us our survival.

So, I got my first survey to fill out from the DEC. It was all about small game hunting and asked questions that were related to specific sections of NYS about harvest and hunting time spent for each species. They also asked a couple of questions about sightings and quantities of free roaming swine. So maybe there will be some new published info about wild hogs in NYS coming out soon. Anyway, I no longer can say that nobody has ever asked me anything when they start talking about all the surveys they do ..... lol. I still view these kinds of surveys with small samplings with a strong dose of skepticism, but at least I now know that they do occasionally include Ontario County in some of their surveys. By the way, it looks like it is all set up for automatic computer reading, so there really is no logical manpower reason not to expand sampling size to include most of the hunter population. I know I would feel a lot more confident in their survey results if they did that. I have heard a lot of people suggest surveys be handed out with every license purchase, and I think that is a darned good idea. Anyway,has anybody else here participated in a DEC survey?

Ha-ha ..... I got a couple of those last night. Those critters really are curious.

Looking forward to hearing how they work out for you. I am always in the market for another blind, especially at that price (if they pass your inspection).

That is one heck of a good price!

Are there special dies available for slugs. I don't have anything that will do anything other than a star crimp. I know years ago, my brother-in-law started to look at building his own slugs, but he never really got anywhere with it and gave up. I will really be interested in your experiences. One of the advantages to any bullet re-loading is that you have the option to create some super accurate ammo. I have to wonder if that same opportunity exists with hand-loaded shotgun slugs.

No, I would imagine the hardest part would be trying to find your arrows on those first few shots. I remember that way back in the "olden days" (1960's) when I was involved in NFAA field archery, and using a 40 pound recurve, we had an 80 yard "walk-up" that was almost impossible to shoot because my fist was right square over the target, and I couldn't see it. Some smart dude came up with a prism sight that bent the image so you could see the target "indirectly" even though your hand/arm/whatever was covering up what you were shooting at. I wonder if this guy was using something like that. I'll have to go back to the video and see if I can spot what his sighting system was.

What is the official stance by the DEC when you use such things on state land? Isn't there some rule about having to remove all stands (materials) when you leave for the day, or is that just something I imagined reading somewhere? Maybe this is not a technique that one can use on state land.

So, if you ever make the hook-up, let us know how it goes. I have never been to one of these places, so it is hard to judge what the experience would be like. It would be nice to get a report.

I wonder how many hunting partnerships are destroyed by one of them divorcing their wife. I had another brother-in-law many years ago that I did a lot of hunting with, and when he divorced my sister, we almost never saw him again. I guess it didn't matter that no one really held any hard feelings about their marital break-up, but I suppose there was a bit of an awkward feel about hunting going on as usual. In fact, he gave up hunting entirely.

As far as I'm concerned if it has to do with crossbows, this is the place for it. We don't need another "policing activity". I'm sure that if anyone has any questions regarding crossbow shooting and hunting, no one will be keeping you from doing that. That is exactly what was done on the Realtree forum, and all the fighting and arguing pretty much dried up because those that had no interest in crossbows simply avoided that section of the forum. It also kind of kept all these little crossbow arguments from popping up all over the forum as they do now because everyone knew where all crossbow discussions belonged. I think creating this section was a good idea, as long as we don't start creating a bunch of "fine print" as to what will be allowed in it and what won't.

The only time I've been out is when I have gone over to the swamp to tend to my trail cam. I'm usually not all that sneaky when I do that. So I suppose any antlered bucks, or any other deer for that matter, probably are long gone by the time I get there. We don't have any local farm fields where I might be able to see them from a distance. So other than an occasional hike up on the hill, there probably is not much chance that I will see one even if they are there. No deer hanging around the yard anymore like there was.

What is your problem. Don't you think it is rather strange that you creep around stalking every post I make. I think that is rather weird and unusual behavior. Kind of creepy if you ask me.

One of the problems is that few of us are out in the woods right now with all the household spring chores. So we don't get to log as many hours of observations to really see what's going on. But I was hoping with all the shed-hunting going on we might get more reports on some bucks holding on to their antlers well beyond what we normally might expect. It's interesting that erussell has had a report of one as recently as last week. We're getting pretty late in the year now. So there at least was one that has kept an antler into April, or at least darn near it. That is interesting!

Well, it's fun when the hunting day is done, or when re-convening at some point in the day, to have someone to tell what you saw and some of the different results of your hunting. And it's great to be telling this stuff to someone who is truly interested and cares (as opposed to a housewife that is bored with tales of hunting exploits .... lol). It's also fun and useful to occasionally talk hunting strategy. It's also good to hear how things went at another different area of the woods. The conversations are just a great part of the hunt. Rather than having to wait until Thanksgiving family get-togethers to swap stories, you have someone there on a daily basis to talk hunting with. That's all good stuff and adds to the quality of the hunt.

Do a search on "sling bow" and you will find all kinds of you-tube videos on all sorts of different designs of these things. They are not a toy, from what I can see. One video was on taking a standard Wham-o wrist rocket sling-shot and modifying it for arrows. Kind of a do-it-yourself modification. Some day I might just get one just to mess around with. Looks like fun.