Doc

I have yet to see where anyone could claim with any credibility that carbons kill deer any deader than aluminum arrows. In fact, even wood does as good a job at killing deer as either of the other two materials. I have a lifetime supply of aluminum shafting, nocks, inserts, etc. and really have never seen any reason to throw them all away and buy something new. Probably has something to do with the fact that I don't have a never-ending supply of money ...... lol. There was a time when apparently I thought I did, but I finally got over that ....

I always figured that it is just a matter of time before some of the city punks figure out that a lot of us rural folks are just "easy pickins" and we're just a short ride away from their usual stompin grounds. Think about it, a lot of us are well away from the road, at least 15 minutes to a half hour away from any law enforcement, and no neighbors with prying eyes to look out for what's going on next door. The bad news for these creeps is that just about everyone out here is armed. But with more and more city-type Bambi lovers moving out here, that little problem may be getting to be less and less. But there's no question that in many respects you are more secure in the cities. Let's just hope the "home invaders" and such never figure it all out.

Never under-estimate the power and strength that a deer has. There have been quite a few people who have learned that lesson. I always said that if a deer had any idea of just how much damage their strength and quickness can do (and antlers in the case of a buck), nobody would be safe in the woods without a good solid firearm...... and maybe not even then all the time.

I still have a few of them, and they're still killing deer and going into the bulls-eye fairly regularly. By the way, I have never lost one of them. And yes there are a bunch of gamegetters in that pile too. They have done their share of putting deer down as well. Oh, and by the way, that color means nothing to a deer. It simply assists in finding the arrow. Maybe that's why they used that color (I don't know). However, my motto is "When something ain't broke, it's probably a good idea not to fix it"......lol.

Maybe it's because of arrow component weight variations ..... lol. Actually, I would guess that 99.99% of all Robin Hoods are accidental. I don't know anyone who can predict a Robin Hood before they actually do it unless they are just packing jillions of arrows into the same bulls-eye. Response #2: If you are not getting Robin Hoods, be glad They get awful expensive. During the late 80's, I got 7 of them and eventually started pulling them apart salvaging components ..... lol. Since I stopped the tournament & club shoots, I have taken to using a target face with 4 bulls-eyes, shooting one arrow per bulls-eye. That stopped that nonsense.

It would be real interesting to find out where some of these unwritten ethical rules come from. For example, what exactly is wrong with shooting a pheasant that is on the ground? We shoot turkeys that aren't in flight all the time. We shoot rabbits that are on the ground. What is so horrible about shooting ducks that are on the water? Some people get all weird about shooting a bedded deer. And I guess shooting a sitting rabbit is also supposed to be something that is un-sporting. And on and on....... Some of these I can almost stretch my imagination and see where they might not be as sporting as the more acceptable ethical rules, but some of them just seem to be quite arbitrary and make no sense to me. It would be interesting to see what the history behind some of these little rules is.

My scale has been checked against known bullet weights and is always right on. It's a fairly expensive digital unit that I use for reloading, and I have verified the accuracy with other items of known weight. I'm the kind of guy that trickles every bullet powder charge, so you know that I am pretty fussy about accuracy....lol. Frankly, my bow shooting is not that precise and my shooting distances these days are not far enough so that I can prove how much those variations can change the point-of-impact. However, I pay hard earned cash for archery products, and since weight is an important variable in arrow performance, I expect that at least some care in manufacturing should result in consistancy of the product. I plan on checking out my arrows without any heads and see what variations occur there. That will be fletched aluminum arrows with inserts and nocks since I don't have a disassembled arrow shafts. I hope there aren't any surprises there. I don't know why I am bothering since there really is nothing that can be done about it. But I guess when it comes to any of my shooting equipment (guns or bows), I always like to understand the variables.

It gets kind of tough when you try to define hunting with distance. Exactly where do you choose to draw the line? Where does the next guy choose to draw the line. That sort of criteria seems to be a bit too subjective. However, I certainly understand the temptation to define hunting in personal subjective terms. I do it all the time.....Just ask me about canned hunts......lol.

I have heard of some people using wood smoke as a kind of cover scent. That's not something that I necessaily subscribe to, but it is something that I have heard of people doing. I know that the smell is quite strong and lasts for a long time,but I really can't say with any certainty just how deer react to smelling that in the woods.

This afternoon, I decided to check a few weights of a few arrow tips, so I dragged out the digital powder measure and checked out a few things. I started off by sampling three field tips. I figured of all the arrow tips, these would be super consistant. I'm sure they are made with 100% automated machining, so there should be no significant variations. The tips are supposed to be 125 grain field tips. the actual weights were: 123.7,124.2,123.6, for an average of 123.83. What the heck is that all about? What's so hard about machining a field tip so that it comes out exactly 125 grains? So anyway, I had some expandable broadheads. I figured that if any of this hardware had an excuse for a lot of variation these might because of all the little pieces and parts. The weights came out: 125.4,127.3,125.3. Two out of the three were pretty good, but the average of the three came out to be 126 grains because of one heavy one. That's probably forgiveable. Then I weighed the broadheads that I use, 125 grain 4-blade Stingers. They came out: 128.8, 127.2, 129.6. What the heck is that all about? An average of 128.53 grains. 3.5 grains more than advertised, with one of them actually being 4.6 grains more than the advertised 125 grains. So, looking at what I have been practicing with for field points vs. what I am actually hunting with, we're talking about average differences of 4.7 grains with the worst case difference of 6 grains. Considering that my typical shot at a deer is 25 yards and under, even the 6 grains difference probably will not make the difference between a kill and a wound, but even so, it seems like some pretty darn sloppy workmanship and standards that are being applied to these products. It kind of makes you wonder about other aspects of accuracy that we always assume is there. Not only that but I'm willing to bet that the combinations that I happened to look at are probably not the worst that we might find across all the brands of products. This little experiment was quite an eye-opener. Not only are we paying exhorbitant prices for anything that is sold as archery equipment, but we are being sold crap to boot!

They cover the same time period except that last year's stats ran for another couple of weeks. It should be noted that the buck pictures last year were scattered quite evenly over the entire filming period with no significant times of increased activity. Also, it should be noted that for much of this year, I have had three cameras out as opposed to only two last year.

About the most effective way of re-kindling interest in hunting that I can think of would require a bit of infusion of money into the DEC (probably not likely to happen .... lol). With these resources, new personel could be dedicated to a new relationship between the DEC and schools to develop programs where the entire generation of kids could be introduced to an appreciation of nature and all activities that are associated with nature (including hunting, fishing and trapping). When I say that hunting is being weakened by cultural changes, I also believe that it can only be re-strengthened through moves against those cultural changes. We're talking official indoctination. That's not a new concept. Hunters have had their go at it and have come up lacking. Maybe it's time for another approach that is completely out of the box. My feeling is that society is already all upset about child obesity and the fact that kids these days are leading unhealthy lifestyles. Everyone is already frantically looking for ways to reverse that situation. The time should be right to introduce some materials into the curriculum and assembly style presentations that would work toward making outdoor activities "cool" again for the entire upcoming generation. I realize that education is the hotbed of liberalism, but perhaps with the right approach, emphasizing the health aspects of outdoor activities, there is perhaps an opportunity to inject some of our own agenda into schooling and actually turn the societal evolution into a different direction. Of course my original premise was that some new funds would mysteriously appear for this kind of DEC activity. That may not be too realistic. But my point is that coming up with programs that benefit those kids that are already involved or sold on hunting may not be as effective as trying to reach the whole generation of tuned out kids. If we can't get control of this societal move from all things outdoors, I really don't see anything else making any difference what so ever. Some how we have to pull our heads out of wherever they are currently planted and understand the magnitude and direction of the problem. We have to escape the tunnel-vision that we hunters seem to have, and understand that preaching to the choir (those kids that are already committed to hunting) is not cutting it. It's time to go outside our own little closed society and actively attempt to indoctrinate those who currently have no interest in such things. A presence of the DEC within the school system may be the only way to effectively do that.

Yeah, I sure don't want to be cast in the position of arguing that everyone should discontinue efforts to promote hunting .... lol. My comments are based only on the realities of my own lifetime observations and the resulting inescapable conclusion that overall cultural attitudes are definitely going in a defined irreversible direction. I am still waiting for someone to explain a realistic plan for changing what appears to be the inevitable. I like the idea of every hunter bringing his replacement (and a few others) into the sport before he leaves it. I have brought in quite a few new people myself over the years. But apparently there really aren't too many of us hunters that actually do that because our numbers continue to erode. It's just another one of those thoughts that sounds a whole lot more effective than the realities and practicalities actually make it come out to be. That approach unfortunately requires the participation of a majority of the hunters, which it obviously does not have. Unlike those that think they have a plan, I readily admit that I do not. I don't see one thing or many things or even a process or combination of activities that are likely to happen, that will begin to change the trend. if such a plan exists, I wish someone would explain it all to me so I can get on board.

Rubs at this time of the year are pretty hard to come across with all the leaves still on. You almost have to stumble over them to see them. I have only found 1 so far this year. Scrapes this early are pretty rare also, but not unheard of. last year I had a scrape spotted (complete with licking branch and the whole bit), and I believe that was in the 1st couple days of October.

Well, I am pretty sure that all the bucks have not disappeared or crawled into a hole. However if you compare last year's camera results with this year's considering that the cameras are covering theexact same trails, you certainly do have to wonder. I have had some pretty stark differeneces between the two years. 207 total pictures last year, 128 this year. 12% of those pictures last year were bucks. This year it is 0% bucks. That has kind of grabbed my attention .... lol. But since I know that there was not a harvest last year that would account for that kind of drop, I guess I am looking for other kinds of answers. The water-logged theory does seem like a possibility. I am hoping that I get it all figured out before the season starts.

I hate to see people start reloading without at least a few sessions with an experienced loader along side. Is it dangerous? ..... Yes it can be. There are mistakes that can be made that can have disasterous effects. There is a whole lot of info and instructions available in print, and given the right interpretation of what you are reading, and following instructions and procedures exactly makes reloading perfectly safe. However, misreading one crucial thing, or not interpreting one critical procedure can cause serious personal injury and heavy-duty gun damage and expensive damage to reloading equipment. So I don't know how many self-taught people we have here (probably a lot of guys with nicknames like Patch-eye, Blinky and Stubs ...lol), but for me, I am sure that I would have screwed up badly somewhere through the process if I had not had my Brother-in-law sitting right at my side describing each step, stopping me when I did something wrong, and warning me about certain parts of the procedure that are little traps. Also, he provided assistance with purchasing the proper equipment and probably saved me a whole pile of money. So, my recommendation if you absolutely don't know anybody that's into reloading and willing to give you a hand would be to first join a Rod & Gun club or something of that nature that is full of helpful, experienced, people and see if you can get some one-on-one help.

Well, let's hope the courts make examples of these jerks. Somewhere along the line, they didn't receive any home training in decent behavior from their parents. Perhaps it's time for the legal system to teach them in a way that makes the leson stick.

I hope he becomes hooked. Trapping is one of the most satisfying, challenging ways of testing your woodslore and intimate knowledge of wildlife that I have ever come across. When you can read sign and understand animal behavior to the point where you can figure out the exact spot where it will put it's foot, you really have to know your stuff and it is a skill that you can be proud of. It also is an activity that is steeped in American heritage and is one of the outdoor activities that helped to create this country. Also, while the prices of furs go up and down, trapping is a good source of income for a youngster, one that can help him develop the skills of providing for himself a bit and managing some of his own earned money. I think he is going to have a great time.

There is another thread similar to this topic, in the Deer Hunting forum. A lot of thoughts came out there as to why someone might not be getting as many pictures. I don't think this rainy weather was mentioned there. However, you might have figured out something with your comments about the weather. In our area, the most popular bedding area is a rather low stretch of land that can get flooded a bit with an excessive rainy season. I know the water is staying quite high and maybe has shifted some of the bedding ti higher ground. And yes, the excessive water has promoted bug populations. It might be that the deer have moved a bit to escape concentrations of biting bugs. Either of those scenarios might explain why activity is a lot lighter this year than last, even on the same trails. Both the other thread and my own observations have noticed that it is particularly the bucks that have seemed to have disappeared. There may be some weather related reasons for that too, but I can't think of any yet.

I keep looking for anything .... anything at all, that even has the smallest indication that things can be turned around ....... I can't find it. As I said, perhaps some minor, barely significant, stalling tactics can occur, but my sense of reality tells me that there will never be a reversal in the direction hunting is heading right now. I wish I could see it all some other way.

Unfortunately we represent a very tiny minority in society, and no matter what we do, our impact will not turn around an entire cultural evolution. Along with that, some hunters will find that they don't have all the influence that they wish they had with their kids to even change their own little corner of the society. But even worse than that is the fact that we continue to lose hunting parents that will even want to try. I hate to be a defeatist, but if I am to be honest, I have to say that there is a cultural shift away from hunting, and all the best intentions in the world can't stop it, let alone "reverse it". We can hope for minor victories here and there, but I see all that as simply stalling tactics that won't even have a permanent slowing effect in the decrease of hunting, fishing, and trapping participation. To actually reverse it? ........ I can't even imagine a scenario where that could possibly happen.

I'm not much of a bird hunter, and wouldn't have a clue about any unwritten ethical questions about shooting a bird on the ground. So in all honesty, it probably wouldn't even occur to me that there was some kind of ethical controversy over shooting them on the ground. I know I don't force turkeys to fly before shooting. As far as a wild vs. released pheasant, I wouldn't have any idea how to tell them apart.

Oh well, it was a long-shot, but was probably worth an extra look anyway. Some day it would be nice to hear that some thieves got caught on a cam.

You never know, it may also be due to some farmer putting in a crop that wasn't there before. But there was the point made that only the bucks seemed to disappear, but the does were as plentiful as always. That does make the change appear not to be habitat driven. And so the mystery continues ..... lol.

LOL ..... I've had days like that!