Doc

So what was it that fascinated you about shooting a bow? I remember poking around up in the shop over our garage where I found an old draw knife way back when I was about 10 years old. I took my trusty hatchet and went up on the hill where I hacked down a hickory sapling, and used that draw-knife to fashion something that looked like a pretty good version of a longbow, and built some arrows out of willow branches. The bow worked fine, but the arrows didn't fly all that well. Of course the question comes up as to what the heck I did all that for. There was nobody in our family that was into archery or bowhunting. No magazines or books for encouragement. But as soon as I saw that draw-knife, that was the first thing that came to mind was that I had to use it to make a bow ..... lol. There was just something about a simple bent stick being used to propel another stick at a target that was and still is fascinating. It had nothing to do with getting a deer or hunting anything at all at first. I suppose all of that is not all that strange because quite a few kids get involved with archery and never really do have any thoughts of hunting. It's just a challenging activity. So how about the rest of you? What was it that was the big fascination with shooting a bow? Doc

Am I the only one who thinks that the coyote in the first video was really tame and was simply playing? That sure is the way it looked to me. It never once looked like he was really attacking. No growling or snarling or any real sign of a serious attack. Doc

Don't forget that today if a teacher tries to break up a fight, they may find themselves facing a knife or worse. It's amazing how back when I was younger, you might get into a bit of a scrap occasionally. Most of that would involve a whole lot of wrestling, pushing and shoving, and maybe a punch or two might be thrown. Today kids let their weapons do the fighting for them. Also if they do actually just fight without weapons, the effort is to kill or maim whoever they are fighting with. Doc

Hang in there guys. Better weather is coming ..... slowly. You really can see a change already in terms of the number of days that we are hitting the 40's. I've seen bare ground and that's very encouraging. It won't be long before the bullheads start biting, and the bugs start flying. By the way, I did my first outdoor bow practice of the season today. That's the good news. The bad news is that I had better get in a lot more practice from what I saw.....lol. Doc

Had some extra time, so I thought I would stop in and see what's going on. I took a look at that deer, and I swear he is smiling ...... kind of cracked me up. I guess I never noticed expressions on a deer's face.

Does all this mean that the old .22 that my Dad handed down to me is no longer legal to manufacture and sell? It's an old Marlin bolt action with a tubular magazine that holds up to 20 .22 shorts. It's an old critter, and no doubt is definitely a "pre-ban" gun and magazine system, but it is hard to believe that anyone could have such a messed up mind that they would believe that such a gun is some kind of evil "people-killer" ;D . These gun-control nuts are really out of control aren't they (and getting away with it too).

I have to admit that there is something a bit un-nerving about having someone hurtling down the road toward me at 60 mph and passing by within a few feet with something that "relaxes the mind and the body" whether that be booze, legal, or illegal drugs. I've had enough close calls with people that are addicted to their cell-phones while driving. I probably really don't need to have them all "relaxed" with their drugs as well.....lol.

There's another fact that has occurred to me: If bucks knew how lethal their power and speed is, and the deadly effectiveness of their antlers, there would be no bowhunters.....lol.

I have heard foxes make a super-loud screaming sound. I have also heard them bark. I don't think I have ever heard them make the sound that is in this video. I will say that I might have heard that sound and not associated it with a fox. It almost sounds "bird-like".

Is that black fawn smiling in the first picture?? It sure looks like it. ;D

Hey -hey ...... what's all this about? What was that quote? ... "the rumors of my death are highly exaggerated" ..... LOL. I haven't gone anywhere, I just don't get in here as much as I used to. I've just re-prioritized my activities a bit and I don't have as much time to spend on-line. It's no big deal. I will continue to drop by occasionally and post when I have something to say. Doc

I'm still here. Just giving you all a break ..... ;D .

If I understand their definitions correctly, the figures shown relate to "Wildland fires" which by their definition (previous page) include all fires intentional and unplanned. I didn't see anything that separated out prescribed burns as a quantity from the accidental, natural, and other types of fires. So, I am still not sure if this is still a current practice, or how significant that activity really is in this state. Did I miss something?

Lol .... you know, most of every budget item comes out "pennies a day". Some more pennies than others. And yet when you tally up all those "pennies" each month, there's nothing cheap about the result. That's how a lot of us justify all of our non-essential expenses ...... pennies a day. But this expense is different. This is a government controlled expense, and as long as we keep telling them that we are satisfied, they will keep cranking the price. That's kind of like telling your legislators that you are happy with the taxation level. Guess how that little piece of news might effect your taxes in the future.

That was going to be one of my next questions. Does anyone know of anyplace in NYS that is engaged in controlled burning. If so, is it state sponsored or a private activity. I remember way back to the beginning of this forum or perhaps it was even on the old NYS forum when somebody asked about controlled burns, and I don't think anybody had any answers about the legality of such a practice or how an individual might go about legally and safely doing this without being arrested for being a fire-bug ;D . Also, I don't remember anybody mentioning any state activities involving controlled burns in NY. So I guess that leaves me wondering if controlled burning is really anything that ever does get done here in NYS. By the way, the practice worked great for the indians because they weren't too concerned about burning their neighbor's house to the ground .

I don't have a good deer rifle yet and probably will not get one until I actually hear that the Governor has signed the bill. This bill has been such a fiasco and has been a "done deal" so many times and yet here we are still talking about how it might actually get the final vote and signature. I'm not sure what caliber I will be getting if or when this thing finally gets actually signed. I was thinking .243 but now am leaning toward a .270 .

I saw one of these QDM shows on TV where they were taking about "controlled burns". It was a pretty interesting program and went into a fair amount of detail describing the benefits and procedures. However, the activity, even on a small parcel, looked anything but cheap. There was a rather large mob of people involved, and some heavy equipment for opening up fire-breaks. Also, it was not without its safety concerns. They had to be very careful about forest conditions and consistancy of wind directions. In other words it is not about touching a match and then going home for dinner . It seems to be a bit of a time consuming project too, in that they have to go slow for safety reasons. Now if you concider how many acres are under the stewardship of the DEC, and also consider their current financial situation, I don't think you will see much of that sort of activity being done now or in the forseeable future. Also, I was thinking about the logging activity on state lands. I know this requires a lot of oversight as well with foresters either laying out a plan or monitoring the activity in some fashion. While this can be done and in fact is being done, in a limited fashion, I believe this is another activity that everyone sees as a free activity for the DEC. But I'll bet there is a lot more department manpower and cost involved than what you might think. The good news is that with logging, you do get some money back to help defray the costs of administering the activity. But what I am not sure of is whether the DEC has enough field personel left to plan and oversee logging operations in a significant way. I'm just saying that it is very likely that all these things that everyone thinks are good ideas (and are great ideas) probably have some pretty good reasons for not getting done. And most of those reasons are probably financial and resource driven.

Here in Ontario County, I will believe the rifle bill when it gets passed. I have never seen anything get so screwed up so many times, and in so many different ways. Is this the time that they finally get it done? ..... we'll see. :

I once read that supplemental feeding does little to help those deer that need it. It seems that the stronger deer dominate the feed source, driving away the deer that are weaker than themselves. So the weaker deer are drawn to and are concentrated near the artificial food source, but are not allowed to actually feed. Another feature of artificial feeding is that it tends to concentrate the herd in one area and creates the effect of a deer yard in places where that yarding effect might not otherwise actually happen. The result is that some of the deer will feed on the artificial food source and many others will over-browse the surrounding natural food sources causing long-term natural habitat damage. Also, I would guess that the DEC may have a problem with the additional enforcement problems of monitoring and legally separating legal supplemental feeding from illegal baiting for hunting purposes where feeders and such would pose temptation and opportunity to be used for baiting purposes. Since their resources are not unlimited, probably the last thing they need is new additional widespread enforcement challenges which causes them to have to monitor food piles to ensure they are not used for baiting. These are just a few thoughts that popped into my head when I read the question. However, I'm sure the DEC probably has some official positions on the subject that they would share if you contacted them.

And you know what? ..... Steve is probably right. We already have one hate-thread that is approaching 100 pages. Now we have two more threads trying for the same distinction. It seems that some guys can't get enough of the name calling and such.

Yup ..... I knew I would screw everything up. Ever since I posted the above message, we have been plagued with one storm after another. It seems like I am living on the back of my ATV, trying to keep ahead of the snow build-up. Now I'm starting to get into the situation of no place to put the darn stuff. Coming into the new year, we had the best winter going that we have had in years until I went and messed it up by bragging.

Thanks for the pictures and info guys. Wooly, One more question ....... that red stuff on the glove ....... that wouldn't be blood would it .... ;D .

Could you guys post some pictures of your knapping tools and how you use them? There must be some technique, or way that you hold or apply the tools to exert pressure in the right way to make a chip flake off. I can't even imagine how one would even know where to start. By the way, if someone knows the details, time and date of the Letchworth Stone Tool show for this year, I for one would appreciate it if you could post that here. I definitely would go over to check that out. Going over to the Buffalo Museum for 8 weeks is probably out of the question. That's a pretty good distance for me

Right now the DEC is doing well just to keep their doors open. Don't be looking for them to be jumping into any new fad-management plans. And if they did get a couple of nickles and dimes thrown in their direction, I don't think that AR would be the most pressing thing for them to use the money on. I think that sits pretty low on the priority list.

Yeah but they never tried the idea of keeping alcohol legal and simply taxing it out of existance. They don't need to outlaw it .... they just use financial harrassment and discouragement. I kind of wonder how long it will take for these guys to apply it to booze once they realize how successful their policies involving mass behavior modification worked with cigarettes. It really is a technique that can be used on a lot of things. Perhaps we will see it applied with firearms someday.