Doc

I'm kind of a "one and done" guy, but that's only because we don't need anymore than one deer in our household. That's just a personal limitation. However, if I didn't have that limitation, and assuming that there was nothing else to do in the area, I guess I would ask my partner if he had any problem with me continuing to hunt. It might also make a difference if I could see any way that my presence in my stand would impact his success. But if that were the case, we probably shouldn't have been hunting there in the first place. I don't know, I guess there are a lot of different circumstances that might change my decision. But I do think that if possible, the successful hunter should at least consider doing whatever possible to help the other ..... if that help is acceptable and wanted. I might also consider some one-man still-hunt/drives for my partner if the area is suitable for that. There's a lot of different ways that decision could turn out depending on the conditions and circumstances.

How does that saying go? ..... "If I had known I was going to live this long, I would have taken better care of myself" ..... lol. I've had the same kind of years of health self-abuse, in fact I went 30 years without ever seeing a doctor. The smoking and drinking and eating whatever I wanted ...... yup, I did it all. I have never been babied ..... lol. Sounds real bad, but I will say that I enjoyed every darn minute of it, and don't regret having lived a pretty full life. Wouldn't change a thing. As far as the kayaking eighty-year old, I have always marveled at some of these guys that never seem to really age. But I have to wonder how much of that is really controlled by genetics. Most (all) of these active old timers that I know never worked out in a gym a day in their lives, or really did any of the health-obsessed activities that we use our time and energy with today. And then of course, we all know or have heard about the guy(s) that was skinny as a rail, had a program of regular exercise and diet control and then died at 50. So even though I have started a belated physical fitness regimen going, I have no illusions about climbing Mt. Everest or running marathons when (or if) I hit 80 ...... lol. My main concern is enjoying my stay here for as long as it lasts, and not getting too obsessed with trying to live forever. The fact is, it just ain't going to happen.

Well sure...... There is nothing about the appearance of that critter that would make me even think for a minute that it was a coyote.

Yeah, there are so many positive aspects to hunting besides just the kill. But I have to admit that the conscious motivation for my hunting is to actually have some success in gathering a bit of protien and experiencing the rush of adrenaline of those seconds before, during and after the kill. I have to say that if I spent a whole lot of hours sitting in the woods hunting and saw absolutely nothing, I probably wouldn't have too good an opinion of that particular season. I love the atmosphere, and the quiet times and peaceful hours in the woods. But by golly when that deer shows up and the shot is successfully taken, that sure is what puts it all together.

Run? ....... Run? ....... I haven't ran since third grade. I'll admit that if you were going on a grizzly hunt, I'm probably the guy you would want along that you know you could out-run in case of a charge ....lol. If man were meant to run he would have been born with 4 legs and a tail. Seriously .... most of the runners I know or have seen are trotting along the highway gulping down all those hydocarbons. It must be great when one of those diesel dump trucks go ripping by with the nice thick black stuff spewing out. The treadmill and/or stationary bike do the job for me. Funny sounding dietary additives....... Usually you find out 10 years or so down the road that you shouldn't have done it. I'll stick with my veggies, meat and potatoes. No "test tube" muscles for me. I'll probably last long enough with just that. Actually, I've got to admit that it's not my goal to live so long that I get to continuously drool, crap myself and spend my days staring at my slippers......lol. That ain't fun.

And they made fun of George W ....... lol. Funny how the liberal media never gets into the goof-ups that this guy makes, but they never did cut George any slack did they. Remember how quickly they jumped on Dan Quayle because he spelled potato wrong. Love that double standard. Frankly, I really worry about a president that can't keep track of where his thoughts are heading.

Excellent decision! It's about time that people started understanding that you don't have to (and probably never will) agree with every statement and position that your gun and hunting advocacy groups make. In fact it's downright silly to make that a condition of membership in any organization. We are very fortunate that we (a truly tiny minority of the total population) have such an incredibly strong and effective organization fighting for our 2nd amendment rights. I suspect that over the years, our gun ownership rights would have long ago gone the way of European countries if it were not for the NRA. It's good that there are enough concerned gun owners that have been putting their petty concerns aside and have done the right thing in supporting this vital organization. As you say, you can be a responsible supporter, or simply a freeloader that selfishly takes advantage of rights and priviledges that other pay and work for. I prefer your choice.

I have never found an accumulation of stats relative to "house - hits". Over the years I have seen quite a few newspaper articles of people pointing to holes in their livingroom walls and such, but I have never seen any place where they were actually keeping count. I'm not doubting the numbers, but would like to see something that gives the numbers some credibility in case I ever want to quote them. I will say that 8 house strikes in one county is a bit troubling and seems alarmingly high. But then, I wonder how many go unreported or even un-noticed.

I think I adequately explained why I made the blaze orange comments that I did.

I try real hard not to get too obsessed with anything, but in the winter months my wife and I do show up at the YMCA about 3 times a week to work out on the weight machines and some of the cardio machines and occasionally the pool that they have there. Old geezers with the right insurance get free membership. It's not a big deal, but it is just a minimum effort to keep the weight under control and break up what might otherwise be a couch-potato existance. Of course this winter, weather has been so great that I have been able to do more useful and interesting exercise up on the hill and yard activity. I do regard gym activity to be just exercise for the sake of exercise and really nothing useful is accomplished there. Clearing brush, grounds-keeping activities and hours of uphill hiking and scouting at least have a purpose, and also provide enough activity to keep the body functioning.

State land can be a little nerve-racking to hunt, but then there is a lot of so-called private land that gets even more pressure simply because it is "private" and everyone wants to hunt private land over public anytime.....lol. I sit on one hill hunting on state land with very few hunters around while the private land across the valley is slam banging like some kind of war zone. However, I have learned is how to hunt defensively. I understand that I am hunting with some people that could be absolutely wacko. I don't know any of them from Adam. That does concern me a bit. So on the more busy days, I don't move around a lot, and I sit with my back to a big tree, watching anybody that comes into the area. I am decked out like some kind of orange neon sign, and always make sure that anyone coming into the area knows I am there. Also, if someone does set up a bit too close, I move out. Of course all of this would be done on private land also. Once opening weekend is over, the state woods that I hunt seems more deserted than the surrounding private lands. Parking lots get down to a couple of cars, and the I pretty much have the place to myself. Of course that can be a double edged sword too. The deer that have moved into full survival mode are not being pushed around by anybody so tactics have to change from sitting all day to more aggressive hunting techniques.

Yeah I understand that, but I just can't let those kinds of comments go unchallenged. I have noticed that we have quite a few brand new hunters as members as well as a substantial number of youngsters who read these things. For that reason, you can always expect me to comment on these kinds of posts. It's not for the ones that post these comments, but more for those that might read them and be swayed by them if left unrebutted.

The old Ford 8N was always my favorite for versatily and ease of use. The rear hydraulics and 3 point hitch a full line of accessories can do an awful lot of work around the small farm. My Dad bought his new back in 1950, and he sold it for more than he payed for it. I bought a used one back when we first moved onto the property, worked the hell out of it and finally sold it for more than I payed for it. It takes an incredible amount of severe abuse to destroy them. However, this unit that Pat Rockets is talking about is in a whole different category and is used for a lot different activity than the little 8N would ever be expected to handle. It's kind of hard to find one tractor that does everything, so you have to figure out the particular duty that will be expected. But as far as the comment about preferring the "oldies but goodies", I totally agree.

One thing I will never understand is why some will state that they don't believe in blaze orange for whatever kinds of reasons and then list off a whole bunch of exceptions. If "the orange gets too much attention from the critters and other hunters looking for something to aim at", I would think that same danger would be in "the catskills and other orange army area's". One might think that the same thing would be even more dangerous in a drive situation. The idea that it is "it is better to be hidden than seen" really doesn't stand up against the statistics. The B/O discussion doesn't really relate directly to this particular shooting, but don't take that as some kind of indicator that camo in a gun deer season is in anyway close to being safer than blaze orange. It just plain isn't.

Somehow, I don't believe a coyote that size gets that big from eating mice and insects ...... lol. I wonder how many deer per year it took to maintain that body size and weight?

I had an interesting experience with a Primos that I bought at Bass-Pro in Auburn. The camera that I bought there quite often would take pictures in marginal light where the IR flash would not trigger. The result: nearly black pictures. So I ran some prints of these un-exposed pictures and took the camera, receipt, and prints back to Bass-pro. They wrote me up a credit toward another camera and I went back in and bought a replacement (pretty simple process). So sometimes it makes a difference depending on where you are buying the camera as to whether or not you have to wrestle with the original manufacturer, and the postal service or not.

Is that a "home-brew" trail-cam set-up, or a hand-held snap-shot?

I'm a big fan of the .223, probably because I just bought one a year ago ..... lol. It's a nice flat shooting caliber which is cheap to load, and has plenty of energy to do the job without ruining pelts. It's also a good economical caliber for summertime practice.

Well, I'm not sure about neighbor relations and all that nice stuff, but with the experiences that we had with dogs vs. our sheep, there is no doubt in my mind that dog predation on livestock is a serious offense, that definitely warrants an immediate call to the sheriff's office as an official report that get's logged in. The pictures of your visitors afterward should have been another additional call to the sheriff's office along with the identity of their owner. Even if nothing ever comes of it all, those are the basic responsibilities that a farmer of livestock owner should take on when something like this happens. Sheltering dog predation is never a good idea for the sake of other livestock farmers or pet owners and should always be reported. That is how the dogs that eventually put us out of business were finally stopped, and it would never have happened without the other sheep owners in the area reporting attacks with as many details as possible.

The only way to prove a dog is a killer is to catch it in the act, or check it's teeth for hair right after the attack. The sheriff found some of the dogs that were killing our sheep by checking the teeth of suspected dogs for wool jammed between their teeth. Kind of like elementary CSI ..... lol. Of course in your case, too many hours have already elapsed, and presence of goat hair could simply be due to a dog coming across the goats that had already been killed and taking advantage of a free meal. Also, since the dog that you captured wanted to eat you too, checking its teeth probably wouldn't be real practical. I have a sneaking suspicion that you have found the culprits. The next problem is proving it. If somehow you can prove it, and trace these critters back to their owner, you have a good case for recuperating some money for the damage. I know that even that would be poor compensation because I am assuming these goats were more pets than some kind of commercial enterprise. But some form of financial retribution would be better than nothing. And maybe it would teach the dog owner something about responsible pet ownership. At any rate, it doesn't look good for proving the case that these dogs were responsible. By the way, I agree with Cynthia ...... that dog looks pretty under-fed and neglected. He looks pretty "ribby" and boney in the hind-quarters. It may be a case of animal abuse.

That's a pretty highly rated camera although for a "white flash" it is a bit pricey (~$200 ?). However, as your pictures clearly show ...... you get what you pay for. I'm throwing that one into the mix for my "white-flash" camera hunt. That quality looks like something I'd be interested in. Don't like that price-tag though. Thanks for posting the great pics!

As I understand it from several articles, the claim is not that the state has absconded with the funds ...... yet. The mis-use that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is alledging is that language has been written into the NYS budget bill that would allow the misappropriation of those funds and the pilfering of those funds for addition to the general fund for use of general budget balancing. Even such language when written into law is a breaking of the rules for these funds to be allocated to the DEC and hence the promise to withold the funds.

I saw a farmer over in Ionia that was feeding pumpkins to his sheep. They seemed to like them, so I would suppose that deer would go for them as well. I have thrown out old butternut squash that had gone bad, but found that they would eat them quicker if I broke them up first. And then they would disappear in a couple days.

Which model Cuddeback is this one?

I think that would do. There's also an L50 now that looks pretty good and goes for well under $100. Also there is a couple of Cuddebacks and Stealthcams that have great pictures but the price increases significantly. So again the battle will be between cost and quality. I'm pretty sure that I'm ruling out the homebrew versions because of cost. I'm seriously looking at buying two, so cost is a big deal.