Doc

It is kind of fun just to see what's out there under the cover of darkness. It's kind of like throwing a line out in a river and seeing what you can catch or running a trapline. I am expecting to eventually get a better look at some of those coyotes I've been hearing. I've got to admit that I look forward to going out and seeing what I've "caught". It is just plain ol' fun. As far as patterning using a camera, if it all looks like random movement now, imagine what it will look like when the rut begins to have some real influence. Things are going to get real crazy, and I expect to see some deer that have never even been in the area before. But I have seen the accusation of trail cams supplying some kind of mysterious unfair technological advantage and began to think maybe I was missing something or simply under-using the capabilities of the cameras. ......Apparently not. That's good, because I would rather use it for just a fun activity of snooping on unsuspecting critters that think they are fooling somebody by only moving in the dark.....lol. There has to be a few surprises out there. Doc

By the way, did you realize that you have to keep that string taut in order to get those cans to work? Long distance is real tough. But the rates are great! Doc

Ok, I haven't had my camera in use for too many days, but I am still trying to find out the big technological advantage that hunters using trail cams are supposed to have..... : So far, all I have learned is that there are a lot of deer that use a particular trail sometimes. I've got two pictures of a 6 point. One at 9:19 pm and another at 3:22 in the morning. That's nice. he uses the trail no where near any time that anyone can hunt. Certainly there is no pattern either. He just goes there whenever the urge moves him ...... not real useful info.... So other than knowing that a buck lives somewhere nearby(which is nice but hardly anything that provides a lock on his demise), what is the big advantage? The does are also using the trail at night. Big deal ..... I have seen them, real/time in other places without the camera. So those people that beat up on us for using cameras and getting some kind of unfair advantage are going to have to explain to me just what that advantage is ..... ha-ha. I must be doing something wrong. By the way, it has occurred to me that it is entirely possible that I am doing something wrong or using the camera in an ineffective way. What exactly do you people learn from your cameras other that what some of the deer on your hunting area look like. I still find it fascinating to be able to see what kinds of critters are moseying around when I can't be there, and it looks like a pretty neat photography activity, but maybe I'm not getting the maximum benefit out of my camera. Anybody got any thoughts on how best to use these cameras as a hunting tool? I only have the one camera and an awful lot of where I actually hunt is on state land where I wouldn't dare to leave it. Doc

You know, I'll be darned if I can figure out that sail-boat question. Sometimes I go out to the lake and watch some of those guys on those sail-board thingies and try to figure out how on earth they could possibly move against the wind. I don't think I will ever figure that out. :-\ ;D Doc

I remember 41. That was the time when that saying about, "If I had known I was going to live this long I would have taken better care of myself", became my motto. That was also about the time I took a look at my retirement planning and realized that I had none. That was the year the "great cheap-skate" was created and a mad, panicked financial plan for the future was born....ha-ha. All that just in time I might add. 41 was very important to me. That was when I realized that I just might actually live to become old and maybe I had better have that eventuality covered. Doc

Well, I am starting to get a bit behind on the computer and technology front. I don't have any of those tech-savvy guys up to work any more who used to keep me moving forward. It's not all bad though. I no longer try to keep up with the latest and the greatest tech gadgets. That helps with my new "cheap-skate" attitudes.....lol. Ha-ha .... you won't see me walking around with ear-buds stuffed in my ears bopping down the sidewalk, or working the arthritis into my thumbs texting someone. I still use a camera for taking pictures instead of my phone (although my phone does have that capapbility). I still buy CDs, and even use tape cassettes in my older car. We,ve got to have some things to tell one generation from the other.... ;D . Doc

A couple of old plow-points and a horse-drawn potato hiller. right in the middle of a fairly big mature woods. Also found an old horse skull and some other cow or horse bones. Also, I am constantly running across old fencelines out in the middle of nowhere, and lots of piles of rocks right in the middle of a fairly mature woods. It kind of shows the extent of the farming back in the old days and how most of what is old woods now was once cleared and farmed. Also, there was a time when I was hunting and came across a totally deserted, centuries old, cemetery in South Bristol that was completely over-grown with vines, fallen trees, weeds, and vines. It turned out that it was the graveyard of the town's original settlers (there were also gravestones of a couple Revolutionary war vets and one Civil War vet which means that the cemetary had been used for a lot of years. I went back later in the spring and took all kinds of pictures and forwarded them to one of the town web-sites. Shortly after that, the town had a big activity bringing the cemetary back to a reasonably well maintained condition. I kind of hope it was my pictures that spurred that effort. I also found an old deer skull ( 7 point buck) in the bottom of our ravine that had a piece of an antler embedded just under the eye socket. A little evidence of a fatal deer fight. Years ago, I came across the remnants of an old saphouse that was half way up our hill. There were all kinds of pieces of cast iron stoves, old bricks and pails and foundation stones that showed the outline of the building and scraps of evaporation pans and boilers. That was the second one that I found. There was another one on the other side of the valley that was a little more together with the actual building still pretty much intact. Can't even hardly find that one anymore. I knew the people who built that one. About a quarter of a mile up our hill, I came across an old shallow dug well. It was full of leaves and crap. I have always wondered just what would cause anyone to dig a well up there in the middle of the hill. The only thing I could think of was that maybe someone found a flowing spring and decided to dig it out and wall it up and save it for some reason. Down by the farmhouse they have two dug wells with lots of more handy water, so I haven't got a clue why they went to all that work to develop a water source that was too far away to be of any use. One more weird thing that I found while hunting was an old axe head. There was this big old hemlock, probably about 3+ feet in diameter that had a huge hole in the side. Inside the hole was an axe head laying there. Yeah, I could go on and on with all kinds of stuff that I have come across, but I suppose this is really starting to get pretty boring by now. Most of this is pretty interesting to me, but to everyone else ....... probably not so much....lol. There's all kinds of things laying around to find if you keep your eyes open. A lot of them give clues to local history and what has gone on there in the past. It's all interesting and really sparks the imagination. Doc

Looks more like "bigrump" to me. Doc

That is a good time to read the signs of the season past and like you say, it serves as a good baseline to compare against the following fall. Also, it gives you the added benefit of perhaps finding some sheds. That is a good time to be out snooping around the woods. Besides, after a long boring winter and a hard case of cabin fever, it is a good excuse to get out and limber up those muscles. Doc

If the guy could just keep his foot out of his mouth for 5 minutes, he probably could make a good fight of it. But politics is an art. It's too bad, but that is just the way it is. And Palladino is not even a little bit skilled in that art and apparently his handlers aren't either. Let's face it, he's got an uphill battle in this liberal pinko state as it is. But the Democrats are in a bit of a wounded state with all the scandels and with the performance of their current Governor. Any reasonable Republican candidate probably had a shot. But you can't keep providing the negative headline of the day and still expect to win. Yes, I will hold my nose and vote for Palladino because I have to do my part in attempting to deny the office to Cuomo. But I really can't hold out any real confidence that my vote will make the difference. It really doesn't look good. Doc

I agree as long as the snow is off, trails and scrapes become obvious and since they are features that are habitually re-used, finding these things are quite valuable. Of course rubs are always visible regardless of whether there is snow on the ground or not. However, checking out tracks, bedding areas, feeding areas and movements of deer in the midst of winter will likely lead you to incorrect conclusions about what deer will be doing when bow season rolls around. So if you are going to be scouting at that time of the year, you have to pick and choose what info you place any stock in. Doc

Here's the problem I have with deer always using the wind direction when they walk. Just like everyone else who has ever still-hunted, I try to keep the wind in my face (for obvious reasons). Approximately 50% of the time, it is impossible because eventually I have to get back to where I started from. Deer have to return also, and therefore eventually have to have the wind exactly opposite of what they had. Doc

I guess I don't really understand the controversy. I would say that given the circumstances, the assumption that these guys were up to something weird and probably illegal, is most likely a correct one. The fact that they ran away sounds like pretty good confirmation of that. I certainly wouldn't call it "nazi, hunters eating hunters stuff". Also, the landowner has every right to make a trespassing arrest even if there were no suspicious circumstances (which of course there were). So I'm not understanding all the indignation over the actions of the landowner and the attitude of the forum member passing the story along. Doc

It's hard to say anything applies all the time, but yes, what I have seen is bed patterns that looked like they were arranged for maximum vision of the entire area. Is it intentional or just some kind of randomness that looks like they have a plan? :-\ I don't know. I try not to give them too much credit for logic and deduction because after all, they're just a bunch of silly goats .... lol. But who knows how much insight Mother Nature has given them through instinct and natural selection? Doc

I'm still waiting to hear one of our members start talking about taking a deer (any deer) with their home-made single piece (no laminations) long-bows with the sinew fastened, knapped flint broadheads, and wood arrows fletched with hand shaped turkey feathers ..... etc., etc. What a great thing that would be. You can't get any more traditional than that. Can you imagine the satisfaction of taking a deer with a completely hand made bow (not a kit) and accessories? Has anybody ever considered doing that? I have ...... Of course "considering" is about as far as I ever got. ;D Doc

I have two of them (actually, I think mine are called the Fletchmatic because they have the string retention instead of the jaws). I'm pretty sure they are in the 25 year old range. I used them for tournament and hunting, both. They're still the sweetest action (over-center link, all rotation action) and absolutely the most durable and also the most adjustable. Only problem is that they cannot be used with the "D" loop on my bow string. Doc

Not me ..... only 66. I think SOB has me beat. Doc

Dilbert ...... My favorite cartoon. This one is great!

If you can apply any logic to what a deer might do (and I believe in their case logic is replaced by instinct), it certainly would make sense to let their eyes cover one direction, and let scent cover the other. Although if you check out a bedding area in the snow where several deer have bedded together, you will almost always find the beds laid out with deer facing in all kinds of directions. It almost looks random. Doc

That gal really gets around ! I think she's a poacher.

Yes, there are people who work up some pretty interesting sterotypes in their minds, but they don't rule my life nor does it mean that I should treat hunting and hunters as some kind of secret society that has to hide their existance and live in the shadows. Fear not ...... They can't hurt you!

No. I'm pretty sure that is an actual un-modified photo. I get pictures like that on my trail cam all the time. ;D

See ....... AR really does work!!

I don't know about the rest of what you guys are talking about, but I've got news for you. Hunters are not the only ones wearing garments with camo patterns on them. I've seen a lot of kids that have camo tee-shirts and britches that couldn't even tell you which way to the nearest woods. So wearing camo is not making any kind of statements or advertising or anything else. It has become simply another clothing fashion. However, even if it was an automatic association with hunting, I guess that wouldn't be reason enough for me to be embarrasssed or cower in the corner or feel out-of-place. My gosh people, hunting is not something to be ashamed of, and I have no problem with letting other people see that I am a hunter. Also, it feels a bit weird to be lumped in with "republican, democrat, catholic, jew, protestant, athiest, a member of PETA, black panthers, neo-nazi party, pro-life, pro-choice" ..... lol. I sure don't see hunting as any kind of political, religious or ethical public activists. And if I happen to be wearing a camo hat or jacket, I guess I won't be apologizing for that. It's kind of like when I pull into Bass-Pro, I don't dress in a long trench coat with a hat pulled down over my eyes and heavy sun glasses, and a Richard Nixon plastic face mask on, to be sure that no one knows I frequent such places ..... lol. If anyone has a problem with my being a hunter or with that fact being visible, I guess I'll just keep it their problem and not try to let any of that negativity rub off on my psyche. Doc

I see it as a prepared deer-feed product which is no different than a pile of corn. Doc