Doc

Everything today seems to be focused on "shock value". Whoever can come up with the most disgusting ways to attract attention to themselves seem to be the happiest. That is true of body modifications and also the ways people portray themselves in personalities, and actions and attitudes. For me the piercing thing is disgusting and gives me the willies anytime I see it. I can't even imagine what kind of mentality ever got that nonsense going. But then, I am an old fart that doesn't get a lot of the crazy crap that goes on these days ....... lol.

Yes, as great as this growing season has been, we are still vulnerable to damaging hail, and heavy forceful rains, and flash flooding. I'm still keeping those fingers crossed, but so far this season has been the absolute best of all my years of gardening and that includes even back when I was a kid.

I'm afraid that I am of the age where I have to look at the level of physical energy that has to be expended. For example, there are critters in New Zealand that live on mountains that tire me out just looking at them. A lot of where Jim Shocky hunts would be impossible for me. Also, I no longer have any desire to hunt things that hunt back. I think I can happily live out the rest of my years without ever seeing a G-bear in the flesh. There was a time when I would like to have replicated Fred Bear's or Tred Barta's griz hunt with a bow. It doesn't enthuse me at all anymore. Further, I don't want to hunt anywhere that requires you to carry a snake-bite kit. I like to feel comfortable looking around at all of nature that surrounds my hunt and not having my eyes riveted on the next place I am placing my foot. Small game and deer found behind my house is just fine with me from this point on.

More and more, success in deer hunting is a product of glomming onto the best land and locking it up tight with posted signs and fences and reserving the hunting rights to only one or only a few chosen hunters. It is also becoming an outcome of good farming practices (food plots) and many other things that have little to do with actual woods lore and species study and hunting prowess. Is NYS unique in all these non-hunting activities resulting in success that has little or nothing to do with actual hunting prowess?........Absolutely not. But all these things are what makes it difficult to determine who are actually the "BEST deer hunters". It is not all completely about rack scores or harvest quantities. In my estimation, the best deer hunters are those that take on wild deer, with unmodified behavior, that hunt the deer the way they find them without artificial animal behavior and pattern modifications. To me this may be what puts some of the best deer hunters in NYS. Someone who takes on an area like the Adirondacks, far away from the farms and other such artificial deer attractants, is to me the guy who is most skilled at taking on deer in their own element, one-on-one, and is consistently successful in getting any deer. That, by the way is not me ..... lol. The patterns of deer in that kind of area are pretty damn random, and it takes some heavy levels of knowledge and skill to close the deal on those deer. NYS does offer a large area of that kind of hunting for those willing and able to take on the challenge. So maybe NYS does have some of the best deer hunters in the nation.........Maybe.

What a growing season so far. Just when I figured it would be drought that would kill off the garden, we got this rainy stretch. At the end of this week we are supposed to get warm again. Plants are growing way faster than I have ever seen them.

What a story! What are the odds that that dog would show up precisely when and where needed? That would make a hell of a movie.

My my......Aren't we getting sensitive these days. Too many people out there just looking for an excuse to be offended in all areas of life. I guess offense is easily found if you are actively looking for it.

Yeah, that must be why we aren't over-run with turkeys. I'm not out there shooting and trapping every critter walking or flying that eats eggs and turkey poults. I'd better start getting busy ...... lol.

I am trying to make some sense out of the simpletons sitting on both sides of this guy who think that this is all a joke. The one guy even equates wearing blue hair gel under his hat to this outright treasonous expression of his hostility toward this country.

A great identification page from the DEC: https://www.dec.ny.gov/animals/72766.html

That is most likely Giant Hogweed. Stay away from it!

It really is not practical to eliminate all predators for the benefit of one species. Imagine all the species you would have to declare war on in order to eliminate or even put a dent in all the critters that like to dine on eggs and/or poults. There is nothing wrong with recreational predator hunting, or trapping for a bit of cash, but to set out on a mission to clear every enemy of turkey production probably will not turn out satisfactorily.

Approximately how tall was it?

One thing to remember about a zero-turn mower is that the principle of steering relies on ground to tire slippage. That's what allows the zero turning radius. So you will find that any operation that requires traction will not work well with the zero-turn. They are designed to have controlled slippage. They are not a "pulling" implement.

There are still a lot of Ford 8N's around with a full line of tillage implements that will come in far less than $4000. Farmers used to run entire farms with these indestructible tractors. The 3-point hitch and PTO will power a bush-hog, do the plowing, disking, and dragging, and anything else you might have in mind for plotting.

I have run into old horse-drawn implements on top of the hill where there are all mature trees and no fields. One old horse drawn potato hiller was tipped up against a big old dead tree. If you look real close you can see lines of bigger older trees that likely were some old hedge-row, and some huge rock piles that look completely out of place in the middle of the woods. Here and there I have noted ax-cut trees and old horse trails down the hill where the early farmers brought out firewood and lumber trees. I have found the remnants of an old sap-house. If you look hard enough, there are all kinds of stories of farm life of many years ago that can really get your imagination going. Our old family farm house is over 160 years old now. so it has seen a lot of families come and go, each one making their mark on the landscape, leaving a record of their lives there.

You know, a little camo paint job and some brushing in and it would make a great blind. They should have left the seats in there. You could use the dash board for a gun-rest.

I wonder what the kids of today will remember about their childhood. Will it be memories of the high score on their video games that they got while curled up on the couch?....lol

These reunions keep getting smaller and smaller. Our last reunion (50th) was back in 2011 (Naples class of '61) and only had about 15 attendees. I wonder when it will get to the point where there aren't enough left to organize one anymore. Maybe we're there already. Thank heavens for name tags. None of us look anything like the young brats we were when we graduated. Gravity and good eating and a whole lot of punish wrinkling has taken it's toll.... lol.

She wants you to do the mowing for her, so does that imply that she has some conventional yard mowing included in the use. I mean, will there also be mowing around ornamentals and shrubs and other obstacles? Because for that kind of high speed, agility and precise trimming, I no longer consider anything but a zero-turn. I have a lot of acreage to mow, and the purchase of my zero-turn cut about 1/4 of the mowing time out of the task. Not only that, but it has put a bit of fun into what used to be a drudgery. I just slap on my cowboy hat and give out a couple of YEE-HAWS and it is off to the races.....lol. It seems everybody that I see mowing with one of those things has a great big grin on their face.

I don't eat any hotdogs other than the Zwiegles. I love that tough-skin that pops open when they are done right. I also like them blackened a bit over a good wood fire. Add a side of corn-on-the-cob, and some good potato salad with lots of chopped onions and celery and hard-boiled eggs stirred in (or macaroni salad), and I am in hog heaven!

Everything love a good meal of eggs ..... skunks, cats, coons, possums, foxes, just about every critter that lives in the woods. It's amazing that any of the eggs survive.

I am a huge fan of Kimmelwick buns for just about all uses. Even those Zwiegle hots are great on a lightly toasted kimmelwick bun.

That is a "bargain-deer". Look at all the extra meat you get to eat with that one.

Now there is a guy who is really enjoying his spare time....lol. He just is demonstrating that there really are no limits as to what people can come up with and that crossbow technology has only just begun. It's another whole platform for innovative people to play with.