Doc

So is a sasquatch called bigfoot because it only has one big foot. If it has two big feet shouldn't it be called a "bigfeet"? Which of course brings up another question ...... Is the plural of sasquatches "bigfeet"?

This is likely the most intelligent response that I have seen on this whole thread, and I fully expect to see no rebuttal for this one. Chances are good that this comment will be purposely ignored.

Actually, I get more of a kick out of catching the occasional photo of some of these other critters rather than just looking at one deer after another. There is something fascinating about seeing just what is cruising around out there when you're not there. In fact as soon as I get a chance, I am going to pick up one or two "flash" trail cams (IR cams just don't cut it as far as artsy-fartsy quality is concerned) so I can get a few good quality critter pictures....... Probably next spring. I want to check out the swamp across the road.

On the way into town today, I saw some yards and fields that looked like a barnyard. Even if the same deer spent the night circling around several times, there still had to have been an awful lot of deer in these spots. It's obvious that there are some places that don't even get touched by hunting season.

I go just one more step than I have been reading here. I use an electronic powder scale and trickle each load. I found that my RCBS powder charger could come up with some variability, especially with the rod-shaped powders (probably due to "bridging"). So I purposely set the powder charger a couple of tenths under and use the trickler to bring the weight up to perfect every time. Yes it adds time into the process, but re-loading is usually done when I don't have a lot to do anyway (winter time). Along with meticulous procedures for the cleaning, priming, case trimming and bullet seating, I know that each loaded cartridge is as identical as I can possibly make them. I don't set any records for reloading time, but I do get the consistancy from my cartridges that can't even be bought, which after-all, is the primary purpose for reloading in the first place.

My gosh.....can you imagine walking to your stand in the dark and hearing something like that ..... lol. I'm sure that could send some guys running and screaming out of the woods, never to come back.

Back when I was a kid, my folks raised sheep. We had several attacks from feral dogs such that after being in business for about 7 years, we had a flock that was significantly smaller than when we started. We were driven out of business by predation too. It was a pretty sad thing going out to the barnyard and finding dead sheep all over the place as well as others that were so wounded they had to be put down. Of course back then, coyotes were unheard of in our area, but today I often wonder how anyone can successfully raise sheep, goats, or those alpaca things or any kind of small critters with the coyote numbers exploding across the state.

Seems to be new diseases coming out all the time. Wait until one crops up that is transmissible to humans. Imagine the implications for population control of deer if we didn't dare eat the meat.

To me, there is a point where it all becomes an ugly killing frenzy. I guess each case has to be evaluated on its own merits. I do know people that are quite poor who do supplement their diet with venison. For these people it is not a sporting activity anymore and simply is a way of adding valuable protein to their family's diet that frees up some grocery money for use on other necessities that the rest of us take for granted. So, they are looking for all the tags they can legally get, and the whole activity takes on a lot different meaning than for most of us. However, that is not the case with other people that try to grab onto and fill every tag they can get and simply go on a killing spree. I can only consider these people "game-hogs".

It all depends ....... if those 4 guys were spread across an area like Hi-Tor game management area, those 13 harvested deer wouldn't even be noticed. Do that on a property that is 20 acres or so, and it would be a tragedy for future years.

I expect that some day we will be reading about some hunter using that old Indian trick of throwing a deer hide over their shoulders and wearing a mounted deer head and antlers on their head. It probably would work pretty good ........ for a while....lol.

I don't know whether they have improved those 3-D deer targets any over the years. Mine is over a decade old. But I remember when I first shot an arrow into it, I thought I was going to have to destroy the arrow to get it back out. That stuff just put a death-hold on the arrows. I had to lay the damned thing down on the ground and stand on it to pull those first bunch of arrows out. It wasn't until I got the kill zone softened up pretty good that I was able to easily remove arrows. The other thing about the 3-D targets is that basically you have one aiming spot unless you get goofy and start shooting the head or butt or guts. So if you are shooting multiple arrows, you run the risk of constant damage. I built a 4' x 4' corrugated cardboard, compressible butt that even now after more than 20 years still stops arrows. It has one soft spot that I probably could rebuild, but I hang a bag target in front of it now. 4 separate aiming spots keeps arrow disasters from occurring. For broadhead tuning and sighting in, I buy one of those cheapy styrofoam targets about every other year.

As far as a bow is concerned, I go to great pains to clear every last obstruction out of my shooting lanes, and eliminate all interferences and points of contact between my arrow and anything on me or the bow. Why in heck would I purposely shoot my arrow through a plastic mesh and not expect some kind of effect on the arrow's path. No, the windows come down, screens and all.

Isn't it animal tissue that is the basic cause for the origin of some of the animal diseases such as CWD? There was some talk about how it was taxidermy waste that started the CWD in NYS.

I've had a beard and mustache since the beginning of bow season in 1972. I wouldn't even recognize myself if I were to shave it off. It does require trimming about every 4 days or so.

Some guys just like to push the safety envelope a bit ..... lol. No, we manage to shoot enough of each other just using live deer. I don't think we really need to set ourselves for drawing fire with decoys ..... lol.

Unless I missed it somewhere, I still have not heard how many guys these 15 tags were split up amongst. If you had a dozen guys with 15 tags ....... what's the big deal. If they had 15 tags apiece, that's a completely different deal. But Robinson never said that, nor has he clarified how many people were there that got the 13 deer. Same deal ..... 13 guys getting 13 deer is just some good hunting. Two guys getting 13 deer would be a whole different story. There's some key info missing here........ or did I just miss it?

Generally speaking, my wife and I only require one deer per year per season anymore. That would be a max of two deer (one bow - one gun). That's plenty for us. So I really don't care how many I'm entitled to. As to engaging in "sign-overs", why would I even bother. I'm not trying to set any records for quantity of deer ...... lol.

The mesh screens on my blinds have zippers to simply drop down out of the way. When I'm in it, the windows are always wide open. If a deer notices the difference, or can see that a window is open ....... it's already too late.

"He said he fired shots into woods on his property southeast of Indianapolis shortly after noon after hearing a disturbance he thought was a coyote attack." ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- What the heck does a coyote attack sound like? And exactly what did he expect to accomplish by firing shots into the woods? One thing is clear, even though the odds would seem to be a jillion to one, random shots into a woods do apparently find a human once in a while. For those that think it's impossible, this is just a reminder that "stuff" happens when proper respect for rules of safety are ignored ...... even when the odds seem totally impossible.

I Googled "PETA kids" just to see what that was all about. There really is an effort focused on turning children into hunter-haters. The real bad news about that is that all this is being done with none of it actively being refuted by hunters. It's all going on under our noses, and the only clue that we have that it's working is the continued decline of hunter numbers. We have a lot of other things to blame it on, but I really don't think many hunters realize the successful role in destroying hunting that PETA is having with their $30 million dollar marketing budget. Just to put that number in perspective, that is more than the NYS portion ($21 million) of the P-R funds that form a majority part of the fish and game operating budget of the DEC. We love to mock and ridicule those wackos, and consequently ignore them. But I think while we simply make fun of them, they are having a whole lot more long-term effects than we are willing to admit to.

The only reason that the mechanical broadheads were even invented was because bow-hunters often have bow tuning issues and/or arrow tuning issues and/or shooting form shortfalls that will send even an arrow with the best fixed blade design spiraling through the air in an unpredictable direction. In order to fix those basic set-up and form problems, inventors decided to eliminate the planing features on the broadhead. That doesn't mean that the tuning problems or the shooting form have been cured, it only means that a band-aid has been applied that masks those problems. However, for many that does the trick and does eliminate some of the inconsistancies. I guess whatever it takes to get the job done is what you have to do. For a lot of people, mechanicals have made the difference between a kill and a wound. I guess it is just one more potential variable that is put under control. For myself, I do spend hours practicing form perfection, and bow tuning, and have had pretty good luck with fixed blade heads.

I haven't seen the hawks taking any downturns either. They must be on the up-swing side of the cycle. I can hardly drive anywhere anymore without seeing them perched on a power line or up in a big old dead tree.

I'm pretty sure that predation has to be factored into that cycle too. And I'm also pretty sure that the studies that all led to the length of these cycles were probably done decades ago. So I have to wonder how any conclusions arrived at years ago have been impacted by the general statewide rise in coyote population, and the continued un-checked population of hawks.

Ok now say "rabbit habitat" three times real fast ..... lol.