Doc

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?

From what I can see, it looks like there are not any real good trees for a treestand. Not really a lot of other cover for a ground blind either. That's usually the case with apple orchards. If somehow some of the apples last until bow season, how would you go about setting up a good ambush spot? Are there trails leading into the area that might provide better treestand opportunities or ground blind possibilities?

So, will there be any residual effect on your Long Island hunting due to this hurricane? Things like trapped high water where deer trails used to be, or maybe some access roads still being a bit soupy or flooded bedding areas and such? Or do you think all effects will be gone by then? I know there is a lot of time left for things to drain, but I was wondering how something like this might effect deer patterns, and whatever past experiences that you have accumulated over the years.

Back in the mid 80's, 3 other guys and myself went on a moose bowhunt back in the wilderness of Canada. It was quite an ordeal to get back in as far as we did, and involved a few hours on a quite primitive dirt road, and a canoe trip the entire length of a lake, a 150 yard portage and then another length of lake. Things were pretty darn desolate with no sights or sounds of any sort of civilization or other humans. The shoreline camp that we set up was just the right kind of spot to get your imagination working overtime. We used to have this dog that liked to play tug-of-war with an old towel, and all the time making a gosh-awful viscious growling and snarling noise. She really sounded like some kind of rabid animal that had to be 10 times larger than she really was. I decided to make a tape of one of her tug-of-war fits. I carefully put a 15 minute section of silence on the tape and then this evil-sounding loud growling noise began. I set the tape back to the beginning and loaded up my portable tape player in the middle of my sleeping bag and off to Canada it went with us without anyone else knowing. The first night in camp, shortly after it was pitched dark, I made like I was heading out to answer a call of nature, and I planted the player out in the bush just beyond where I could be seen. I came back into camp and rejoined the other guys yacking it up around the campfire. Of course I steered the conversation toward bears and mountain lions and any other dangerous animal that might lurk this wilderness. The 15 minute silent part of the tape finally came to an end, and all of a sudden this loud growling and snarling began just outside the circle of light of the campfire. It was beautiful. Panic and chaos erupted as everyone grabbed for their bows and knives and anything else for self defense. Finally, everyone got quiet as we all tried to figure out a defense against this threatening unseen creature. Of course I had this great idea that I was going to go out there and drive that thing away. They bought it, and so we all started a slow walk into the darkness. Finally as we all snuck up on this tape player, I dove on it and came up triumphantly displaying the slain animal (my tape player). I got to thinking later that this little prank could have cost me a nightime swim in the lake, but fortunately everybody took it all well. However, I still hear about it everytime we get together. Not for me, but for those guys, I suspect it was perhaps the scariest situation they have ever been in.

Yup.....I'm getting way too many of those pictures of deer zeroed in on my Primos truth cam, giving me that "just who do you think you're kidding" staredown. I bought an IR camera with the whole thing in mind that I didn't want a flash going off everytime a deer came down the trail. What I didn't know was that Primos has a definite "clunk" sound when the motion sensor goes off. Also, the motion sensor works in conjunction with a red LED, and then when a picture is taken, a green (the one color that deer see the best) LED comes on. Well, over time, all the deer in the area have become very well aquainted with my camera. Nobody seems to be avoiding the area, but I just don't like the idea of setting up warning devices along the deer trails. So far I have not had any bucks in the pictures (something that is starting to worry me a bit), but I am beginning to wonder about how smart it is to be messing with the deer this way. I can't say that I've heard anything out of my Bushnell when it goes off, but that Primos is definitely not quiet. Anybody else noticing this "staredown" when the pictures go off? I have seen a few of them in some of the posted photos here. Anybody worried about that sort of thing? Will the deer continue to just be a bit curious about these cameras, or will they eventually change patterns because of them?

OK ..... Lifetime Sportsman license ..... (actually they call it a "Lifetime Sportsman + fish) Here's what it all consists of: 1 - back tag 1 - bear carcass tag 1 - turkey carcass tag (Spring) 1 - turkey carcass tag (Spring) 1 - deer carcass tag 1 - Fall turkey carcass tag 1 - Fall turkey carcass tag 1 - general license 1 - reporting panel 1 - reporting panel overflow The last tag is sort of a bill-of-lading that lists what all is attached. Don't ask me what those last two "reporting panels" are used for. So far I haven't read any further to figure it out. Any antlerless permits or archery licenses or muzzle loader licenses are NOTpart of the lifetime sportsman license and have to be obtained and paid for separately. The fee for $10 permit application fee is waived for a Lifetime Sportsman License purchased prior to October 1, 2009. The archery or muzzleloader license is a completely separate issue and requires separate licenses and payment. For those that are dealing with the contents of a Lifetime Bow License, I can't help you out with that. I don't have one.

It's a lot better now. I had a rather severe speed issue, but I logged back off and came back in and it seems to be ok now. Could have been some issue from my end.

One big difference is that the primos camera only costs $119 and the Bushnell is around $200. Also there is some kind of PC software that comes with the Primos. Not sure exactly what it does, but may have something to do with making the view-back easier.

Yeah, I have noticed those changes. It's starting!