Doc

So today I bought the magazine and read the article. I must say that the article was not nearly as controversial as the internet synopsis tried to be. Basically the editor went through descriptions of a series of highly managed hunts on highly managed properties where he was basically super-restricted on what deer were allowed to be shot. He was lamenting how difficult it was to feel comfortable that he was abiding by the ranch owner's instructions because of difficulties in aging deer and estimating scores. He also ran through a hunt in Texas where the specs on the deer that were eligible to kill was almost like a slot limit and was crazy complicated. Kind of like, "If the deer has this number of points and this kind of spread and is this age, you can shoot him. But if he has this other number of points, it has to have this other age". It was so complicated that even written down it was hard to follow .... lol. This left him in a circumstance were he was real nervous about shooting anything at all and it was spoiling his enjoyment of the hunt. Then there was a description of another QDM ranch hunt where the limits were so restrictive that none of the guests there were actually harvesting anything, but surrounding farms were doing just fine knocking off some rather respectible deer. For him all this was kind of taking a lot of the relaxation and pleasure out of those kinds of hunts. Most of the situations he was describing were circumstances where the ranch owners were setting standards that pretty much were unreasonable for the deer populations available, and I suspect way beyond anything that most hunters (even QDM fans) would consider fitting for the circumstances. I don't think it was all that controversial and turned out to be a whine about places that have gone way too far and over the edge without the quality of bucks to back up their demands. When I was finished reading the article I was left with one solution ....... Do your homework and start picking out better places to hunt that don't pose these kinds of problems for you. Nothing controversial about that. Don't like the rules...don't hunt there. Of course being an editor of a national hunting mag, I suppose these hunts were probably all offered free-gratis. That's a problem that I have a hard time relating to....lol. Doc

I assume you are not talking about the endangered yellow-spotted long nosed mole.

I know this is the way it always seems that the DEC operates. It's not really something that can be argued very much. But let's not lose sight of the fact that the DEC is not the sole contributer to dismal state of affairs of wildlife management. Many of your favorite legislators get to share in a lot of the blame. I'm not sure just who decided that it would be a good idea to try to starve the DEC out of existance, but there seems to have been a long campaign to do exactly that by governors, state senators and state assemblymen. What else could we expect from a highly politicized government agency. I'm sure the DEC is populated with a lot of well intentioned people who are doing their best with what they have, but game management has long ago spun out of control and and been placed very low on the priority list of our state government. I wouldn't be getting my hopes up too far in terms of it ever changing for the better.

Ha! ..... You people still going at it here? It seems everytime somebody new joins up, they feel compelled to get this thing going again. That's ok, if somebody didn't re-start this thread periodically we would never hear from squatsInBushes or whatever his name is. He only has one subject that he can actually form an opinion on.......anybody ever notice that? Just a bit limited. And always the same repulsive tone ..... He's a real friendly type. It's kind of fun to watch good ol' SquatsInBushes continue to make a disagreeable fool of himself. Mr. personality .... eh? I suppose every forum has to have at least one of these ....lol. Well anyway, carry on people. I'll check back in periodically just for a bit of comic relief. I'm sure you all feel that you are changing opinions and saving the world, so keep up the good fight.

Actually that's a two-headed coin. The same factors of questionable management and hard-to-believe deer inventory assessments that cause deer over-populations are also responsible for undue deer scarcity in other places. policies of reactive game management are the reason that we see the populations seeming to cycle from high to low and back to high again. At least that's the view and theory from my uneducated position.

I have to admit that even if I didn't hunt with the darn thing, I'm sure I would be messing around with archery anyway. It all has the same attraction as any shooting sport (only more so). The mental and physical discipline required to keep trying to put the next projectile closer and closer to the last one is the same challenge that comes with any kind of target practice. The fact that it requires a rigid set of form and execution consistancies is exactly the appeal of the whole thing. Success and failure is mainly a product of your own physical and mental developed abilities. And then to take all that personal accomplishment and apply it to hunting is just frosting on the cake. For me, I just could never achieve that kind of enthusiasm toward firearms. The ultimate challenges and satisfactions of hunting success just simply could not be equalled with anything but a bow. Yes, I hunt with a gun as well and thoroughly enjoy it, but I have to admit that it is the bowhunts that rank the highest in my memories and supply my standard and definition of hunting. Doc

There are all kinds of ads on TV and in magazines that illustrate the effectiveness of camo in terms of absolutely becoming invisible in a woods scenario. There's simply no denying it ..... a person who wants to be hidden in the background (perhaps behind a deer that someone is about to shoot at) can very easily do exactly that. The old saying about being completely certain about the background and surroundings is only truly possible if you are hunting on a completely cleared and back-stopped rifle range. If some idiot wants to conceal himself in the line of fire, today's camo technology makes that entirely possible. Sure, it's hard to understand how someone can get shot from being mistaken for a deer, but what I worry about has more to do with what I don't see than what I do. Doc

Exactly!

After being successfully voted through by the Ontario County government and getting screwed up in Albany both times, on the third attempt the anti-rifle forces convinced the Board of Supervisors to kill the whole idea. And so the latest vote, the idea was voted down. I guess there will be no relief for me from my old 12 guage shoulder-mangler....lol. This whole thing has been similar to watching a Keystone Cops movie. These people along with the state government just never seemed to be able to pass some simple legislation without totally fouling it up.......twice. Well, by the third time they tried to get it through, the non-hunting public finally got wind of what was going on and kind of grabbed their town supervisors and gave them an earful. Honestly, I guess I really don't care since I had mixed feelings about the safety aspect here anyway. But I sure was ready to retire that old bruiser of a shotgun and take up something that was a bit more user-friendly. My prediction now is that it is a dead issue forever here in Ontario County. I really don't think the issue will ever see another chance that was as good as the two failed attempts that it has already had. 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 .