Doc

I am having a heck of a time turning a copy of my database into an empty one that anyone can use. When I take large gobs of data out so that all new input can be entered, the formulas seem to get a bit confused ...... no actually they have a melt-down. Excel doesn't like formulas that result in infinity, and when you turn the denominator into zero by eliminating the info, that's exactly what happens. At least that's what I have concluded from some of my attempts. I also have some "read-only" protections on the spreadsheet that don't show up until I upload it to this forum. So I have that to deal with also. I haven't given up, but it just is not turning out as simple a task as I thought it would be.

Would you rather I continue to expose your reading comprehension problem. I thought I would give you a break. ;D

Let me see what I can do. With some work, I maybe can take a copy of my log, gut out the input, and attach it to a message here. It might be worth a try. Of course whenever I try these kinds of things, I always wind up with compatibility problems between my older versions of Excel and the versions that others are using. For one thing, all my macros are written in the old macro language instead of Visual Basic. My version of Excel has no problem with that, but other versions may. I'll see what I can do. If it doesn't work, then so be it. Let me do a quick test with another spreadsheet and see how it all reacts. Doc

;D

Not really any point to even trying to talk to you is there? You can't even read straight forward English sentences and understand what is being said. It's too bad because it kind of wrecks whatever credibility you may have ever had.

There is no question that if you place enough restrictions on buck harvests, you will most likely have more bucks. Anytime you take opportunities away from hunters, you wind up with more deer and some percentage of those will be bucks. So yes, shut down the harvest in any way you want, and you will have more bucks and absolutely some of those will have to get older. AR fits the bill for reducing hunter opportunities. Is that what we want to do? ..... remove hunter opportunities? I have a hard time with anything that eliminates hunter opportunities for any reason other than balancing the herd with available habitat.

Now see, a day on the ice where I am getting that kind of action would make me a whole lot more enthusiastic about ice fishing. In fact, this past summer I ran into a guy that I used to work with who said he would be giving me a call some time this winter to do a little perch fishing through the ice. Who knows maybe I'll become a fan of ice fishing. If we run into the kind of luck that you obviously did, I'll guarantee I'll be making it a regular activity.....lol. Doc

Because I am off all week & don't have to go anywhere.... I love snow, don't mind shoveling / snow blowing... I wish I was a snowmobiler, maybe down the road Those that are looking forward to a day or two off from work because of snow-days ...... I can understand that. Snowmobilers, skiers and snow-shoers, I can understand that. Just enjoying snow because it's snow? ...... That's a little harder to understand . At any rate, we certainly live in the right state for snow lovers. We get some annual accumulations in several parts of the state that are the envy of snow lovers all over the country....lol.

I don't know. maybe there are a lot of things that would make big improvements to deer hunting here in NYS. Probably is, but I haven't seen any of them in this thread. I know we all think we know a lot more than the DEC (it's too bad those guys wasted all those years in school) and we are all convinced that they don't know what they are doing, and we all think that improvement is not taking place unless we totally uproot everything and place all kinds of restrictions everywhere and shorten this guy's season and stand that guy's season on it's head and just work like crazy to irritate as many hunters as possible. At least that is what it appears as I review all the stuff in this thread and a few others. It looks like we are all willing to spread the pain to all aspects of hunting, but every suggestion certainly does seem to involve spreading pain.....lol. I'm kind of the opinion that things are pretty good as they are. Let the DEC do a little tweak here and a little tweak there as they deem necessary and then just go hunting. What's wrong with that. They don't have any money to implement any big changes anyway even if we did all agree as to what changes were necessary (which we don't). So we can all pretend to be experts if we want since none of it will ever get implemented anyway and I guess there is no real harm in that .... ;D

There's no way I can claim to be an activist on gun and hunting issues. However, as a bare minimum of commitment to gun ownership and hunting, I do maintain membership in some of the leading organizations. I may not always agree with the leadership of these organizations, but 100% agreement is not really a requirement. What is a requirement in my mind is that I am counted somewhere on somebody's membership roles, and offer my name as a supporter of hunting and gun ownership. That support to the NRA by myself and the other members, I believe, is the sole reason that we enjoy the gun freedoms that we have today. My membership and my few dollars of membership fees have been the only force that has turned back the Kennedys, Boxers, Fienstiens, Bradys, Schumers and all the others who are equally organized and financed and dedicated to burying the 2nd Amendment and all other gun ownership rights. Yes, we can let others do the heavy lifting for us and reap the benefits of their money, time and activities. But my small level of support is all they have ever asked and it really is a fairly painless thing to do. I have never been pressured to get involved in anything other than my membership. It seems to me that if I really believe in these rights, that's the least I can do. I just wouldn't feel right doing any less.

Well, I read somewhere that "people get the kind of government they deserve". That applies to NYS more than any place I can think of. If you don't vote, or continue to vote for those that have the best ideas and programs of handouts, then you probably deserve a NYS style government. It's too bad the rest of us have to get caught up in that crap. But then if we weren't dragged along, who would actually pay for all the give-aways

I for one will take a big buck and be darned happy about it. Is that "elitism"? ..... Only if you go from that to trying to force that on other hunters or only when you begin to dictate what standards others have to adopt in order to be a proper hunter. Yeah, I guess that sort of thing smacks of elitism a bit. My enjoyment of taking a nice buck doesn't mean that I am ready to strap every hunter with all kinds of regulations just so I can do that. I don't really see so many "trophy hunter bashers" as I see a growing discontent with those that think that success has to be measured in inches and that all the rest of the hunting world has to change to satisfy that numerical evaluation of hunting satisfaction.

With so many threads being about AR or being turned into AR threads, it's likely that members are getting to the saturation point with the subject. It gets tiresome when you have to make the same points on a dozen different threads that have basically the same subject.

That is totally amazing!!!! As I understand it, turkeys have absolutely no problem distinguishing blaze orange. And their eyesight in general is superior. That makes me think there is a vast difference between being able to "see" blaze orange vs. being able to interpret that as something to fear.

Well then try reading the quotes that you posted for crying out loud. What the heck is the matter with you? Don't you understand what it means when a guy says he, "supports voluntary antler restriction programs but does not see a critical biological need or compelling management advantage to mandate antler restrictions”? The only twisting going on is when you try to turn that into meaning some form of DEC support for state AR.

I would have no problem with such a law.

Just out of curiosity, why would you be looking forward to it? Are you a snowmobiler or a skier or something?

On picture number 4, the antler on the left has a little tiny knob on the end of one of the tines. I have a 9-point with that sort of deformity on the end of two tines, and I have seen it on other racks. It's almost like something was constricting the growth of the tine at that point. Anybody know what causes that? Doc

Looks like you are doing ok. Boy, does that bring back memories. Those prices aren't terrible ...... they could be better, but they're not bad. I never could understand the market preference for gray fox over red fox, but it has always been that way. And why the coyote prices are so low compared to fox is a mystery. The public has strange tastes. At any rate, it looks like you are having a great season and are having a great time carrying on a fine tradition. Doc

Actually, he is saying that AR can be part of management, but falls far short of saying that there is really any value in doing so. In fact, to the contrary, he doesn't see any "need" or "advantage" to AR as anything but a voluntary activity. That is far from DEC support of AR as I see it. This all sounds like my original statement: "The wording just didn't sound like it was anything that they were interested in pursuing". And I think Hurst is being quite plain about that. Of course, time will tell, but most of what I have been seeing is that the DEC is not in the AR corner and if it is expanded, it will have to be legislatively forced over their best judgement.

What are lesser canadians? Is that a subspecies?

New York Outdoor News ...... and I think the quote was pretty close to: We see no biological need to pursue AR. I'm sure many here have seen the quote as it has been referred to by other members.

Bubba- That's a pretty accurate description of where I see hunting heading and why. It's not a pretty picture. But the competitiveness, harvest at any cost and the success measured only in inches apparently is the way most hunters seem to want to see hunting go. I guess that's why those baited, box-blind, Texas hunts are such popular TV programs.

So how's the trapping season going so far? Haven't read much here from you guys. Are you guys piling up the fur? What sets are working? How are the prices holding up? What's hot ..... what's not? Doc

Some of the fields around Canandaigua are black with geese. I've never seen them like that before. Aren't those things supposed to be going south or something? Also, where are all the guys that are supposed to be hunting them? It's amazing that all these goose dinners are getting away with these massive public displays in the corn fields without somebody setting up shop and trying to get a bunch of them. These things are even starting to get my attention a little bit ..... lol. Doc