Doc

There are a lot of things that run through my mind when selecting a stand on any particular day. Most of the criteria has to do with what is going on with the deer at that particular time of the season. There are times about mid season and beyond when they are somewhat concentrated in the oaks munching on acorns. Other times they stay more in the valley eating whatever green stuff that's around. Bedding areas change throughout the season as foliage disappears. And then there is the effect of the early stages of the rut. There are certain stands that are set up in areas of traditional heavy rut activity. I also do some careful limited in-season scouting that might prompt me to choose stands in certain areas. Small game season activity has become increasingly more of an impact on stand selection. There is also some hiking and biking activity that can force me to choose other areas. I hunt primarily state land, so my site selection is not always under my control. Needless to say, no stand is ever used when the wind is wrong. That is a factor that is not only about the immediate stand location, but is also effected by where I expect deer to be coming from, and also how I might be forced to approach the stand. Sometimes the difference between apple trees bearing or not will have an effect on the selections of stands. I have also had situations where rain conditions would inundate my stand location or occasionally shut off access. Excessive rain is something that can shift bedding areas also which then effects which stand I might choose. So it's not only a case of whether a stand is my "best stand" or not. There are all kinds of other influences that come into play with stand selection. It's more of a case of selecting the "best stand" for the situations of that particular day.

The doe in the 2nd video is really super-spooky. She seems to see, smell or hear something that she really doesn't like. Does the camera make any noise while taking videos?

Lol..... had to make room for the hammock and the TV set. It does look like a good spot for a rocker where you could sit and play the banjo.

The 500' rule sounds ok to me ...... 167 yards. It's pretty hard for me to imagine anyone wanting to hunt closer than that. Never mind the safety aspect, that simply sounds like invasion of privacy to me. Who needs it? ...... who wants it? Bow or gun, there's no real point to crawling up under someone's window on the pretense of hunting. Does it need to be expanded? ...... I don't see any purpose in that either. One thing that I might be in favor of is some language added to the existing law that talks about pointing or discharging a gun/bow in the direction of a house or other structure, person, livestock or vehicle. You can be out there with tape-measures or rangefinders trying to determine 500' and still not really know for sure. But if you can see the side of a house through your scope or sights and you still pull the trigger, you should be subject to some pretty severe prosecution. I'll leave it up to others to concoct the exact language of such a regulation, but I think distances are not the answer. The real practical safety measure is simply not to shoot toward structures, people, livestock, or vehicles. That makes a whole lot more sense than trying to come up with some kind of "safe distance" reg. Let the distance part of the thing apply with respect for personal privacy kinds of issues.

Yeah, these things rank right up there with Gypsy moth caterpillars and African killer bees and the long list of other things that we have foolishly imported and now wish were gone. There should be some kind of board of review that passes judgement in any case where someone wants to import any non-native species or anything that is known to be or possibly can be destructive. However, for NYS and many other states, it sounds like that sort of thing is a little late.

Eddie Olderthanme- Happy birthday! Now you can start working on the next 70. It's time to get that sign up for real- By the way, we have one of Eddie's baby pictures:

The russian boar thrives in Siberia. That's not to say that they don't have winter mortality just like our deer do, but apparently they are quite winter-hearty and can handle snow depths and low temperatures good enough to survive in climates much more harsh than anything we can dish out. Some of the varieties other than the russian boars ....... who knows? Perhaps some of that winter-toughness has been bred out of them. Let's hope so.

Lol......We've seen how much weight the DEC carries with the state legislators . Probably not a real good idea to count on that sort of thing. Letters, e-mails and/or phone calls are in order.

What is the fabric under the shed? What is the shed sitting on? Is there space under the shed? What I am thinking is putting crushed stone as far under the shed as possible to seal up any access to critters. And then a short apron of crushed stone (maybe about a foot or two wide) around the shed to keep moisture from contacting the walls. Crushed stone is good also to serve as a surface for rainwater to drip onto so that it doesn't begin to pound a trench in the ground over time. Of course, the crushed stone can be as decorative as you want to invest in. I would avoid mulch that might contact any of the wood, or even come close to the wood. That stuff is designed to hold water and could promote rot or mildew if that moisture is held in contact with the wood or very close to it.

One more different look at coyote baiting..... Is it possible tobait coyotes without baiting/feeding bears? How does the DEC view that situation, anybody know?

That could very well be true too. Something sure did draw their attention to this distance law all of a sudden. Whatever it was, we have to make sure to squash it before it gets traction.

Might be a good idea to check with whatever guide you settled in on, just to see if everything is still alright with him after the hurricane (if you haven't already done so). I understand that a lot of Vermont got re-arranged by Irene.

This used to be the time that I was busy boiling and waxing traps. Scouting was a year round activity. This time of year I would be taking care of repairs, and building more stretchers and watching some of those bait bottles full of some of my own concoctions ferment. Another good idea is to check those hip boots for checking and cracks just to see if it's time to replace them. I also used to go through the pack and see that everything needed was there. It's also the time when I would start re-reading some of the articles in Fur-Fish-Game, and checking the fur prices. It's also a good time to build cubbys and any other kinds of special set construction so it can age a bit before the actual set is made. Planning paths and routes for the line is also a good thing to be getting ready. There's not a whole lot that needs to be done, but it is always good to get those things out of the way.

He's just practicing his exercises for "jumping the string" later on this fall.

How long can you stand the suspense ..... lol. Last year was my first year with cameras, and I was checking them almost every day. It didn't seem to bother anything since there were new pictures every day. But ..... I've backed off a lot this year to checking them once each week. Some guys spread it out to once a month. I've got to believe that too much attention probably spreads too much unwanted scent at the locations you are trying to watch. Some of the more mature and cautious deer may begin to shift patterns. That's just a theory, and so far this year, backing off the visiting frequency has made absolutely no difference, but it just seems to make sense to limit the visits a bit.

What the heck is he doing? ....... Stretching? You've got some talented deer there that like to ham it up when they are on camera.

After all the years of having the 500' rule, what do you suppose has brought attention to this distance regulation? I'm thinking that this rash of counties in the southern zone that are allowing rifles for deer season may be what is all of a sudden getting people all nervous and jerky. That's one of the problems with being in a minority. Everytime we draw attention to ourselves with new laws that are good for hunters, there always seems to be some unintended consequences that come along with it.....lol. Well anyway, it looks like another letter writing campaign is in order. My gosh, these idiots are going to give me a case of carpel-tunnel syndrome. When will they stop? I doubt this thing will ever get anywhere, but it's not something we want to take a chance with.

Water is an awesome force. I can't even imagine what it must be like to lose a house to a flood. In some cases, it looks like the floods took not only the buildings, but a good chunk of the entire property. Even when insurance helps to pay for rebuilding, looking at some of the damage, it looks like some don't even have a place to rebuild on. Worse than that, most likely a lot of those people may not even have had flood insurance. In some places it's not all that easy to get.

So, has anyone heard anymore details on these reported deer deaths? It would be interesting to know what's going on there. Perhaps there is another outbreak of CWD.

Well, they're not exactly tree stands, but they are all stands that are located at a tree (the base of the tree that is). No, I don't do treestands anymore ...... lol. It's a "heights" thing. Now I do my hunting eyeball to eyeball with them .... lol. 20 yards on the other side of this stand is a heavily used trail that always gets hot during the early stages of rut. This is what I see looking down one of the shooting lanes: This is a deer's eye view of my stand at 20 yards. This is taken from a huge old apple tree that bears every year. It blends right in pretty well but is that dark area in the center of the picture. Hard to call this a stand, but it has accounted for quite a few deer over the years. This old oak is a bit more than 3' in diameter and is 20 - 25 yard from several intersecting trails. This is the edge of what used to be a small field on top the hill. It is a perennial hot rut area. I do have one treestand that I call my condo. It has a 4' x 5' platform with railings all around and a sturdy chunk of extension ladder that gets me up there. It's only about 10' off the ground. Unfortunately I never took a picture of it. Maybe tomorrow I will go down and get some photos.

The one thing that this video highlights is just how much blood a deer can lose and still be on it's feet. I'm sure the guy was thinking that the deer had to be "just around the corner". Long before he found the deer dead, I'm sure he was thinking that there is no way that a deer could lose anywheres near that much blood and still be moving. Pretty graphic stuff showing just how tough those critters are. Anybody think we could lose that much blood and cover that kind of ground ..... lol.

I'm not sure what a hurricane does to the woods, but a bunch of years ago, we had a huge ice storm, and it totally destroyed my whole hunting area. Everything that I had learned about the deer locally changed forever. Trails were buried under downed trees, bedding area were flattened. Some of the brushy areas never recovered and are now pretty wide open compared to how they were before the storm. Everything changed and decades of patterning the deer were lost. I would think that a serious hurricane would do similar damage. It'll be interesting to hear how you guys make out. Good luck.

Not sure where I read about them being able to see green, but blue and green are right next to each other on the spectrum, so I don't think I would want to see either lighting up on a camera. Actually, the Primos that I am using right now was bought this year about two months ago. I don't know whether that clunking noise used to be even worse, but a deer would have to be stone deaf not to hear it. And apparently it does get their attention because I have way more pictures of deer looking right at the camera than could ever be explained by coincidence.

Good point! I hadn't thought about that

As much as hunting has dominated my life, I can't say that I have ever hunted anything with dogs. So needless to say I know absolutely nothing about it. So here comes the dumb question..... How does it all work with coyotes? certainly there is no way that humans can catch up with chasing dogs so there would be no way of getting out in front of them for an eventual shot. Coyotes don't "tree" like cougars and bears. So what is the procedure? Do they circle or something?