Doc

"The immediate cause was the leak of a memo, sent by DEC to the Budget Division, that laid out in stark terms the possible consequences of the planned layoffs of more than 200 agency employees. The unsigned, undated memo -- the subject of a front-page story in Tuesday's Times Union -- warned that fewer polluted sites would be cleaned up, fewer regulators would be available to oversee the potential natural gas drilling boom in the Marcellus Shale, and stocking of game fish could halt." ------------------------------------------------------------ Well, there you have it. Somebody leaked the memo that explained what the results of the on-going Paterson dismantling of the DEC. Had this story not been leaked, I'm sure the whole situation could have been forced under control and Grannis would have been back in a properly muzzled condition. My only question about all this is where has all this Grannis "back-talk" been during all the previous, more severe, hack-jobs on the DEC that have been going on since Paterson assumed the governorship? Was the end to his silence because he no longer could quietly get away from shuffling resources from fish and game activities to his more favored environmental activities without public notice? I will give him credit for finally speaking up, even though it appears that it was an accident. But where was all this concern for all the other slashes, when the cutting was primarily in the areas of fish and game? At any rate, it appears that the heat is on the issue ...... finally. Just the other night as I was listening to the debate among the candidates for governor, I was amazed to hear several of the participants mention the horrible deteriorated state of the DEC and the fact that they have been rendered completely inneffective. And now we have this development which is causing some heavy-duty piling on by environmental groups. So, within just a couple of days, there has finally been some very high-profile, super public, attention brought to bear on the dismantling of the DEC. That's good news ..... I think. I think that the state spending has to be curtailed on all fronts, but I do not want to see the DEC take on the lion's share of all of that simply because they are an easy mark. And so far, up until the last couple of days, it appears that they have been a very easy mark. Doc

Always tinkering!! I love it. That's pretty slick. Like you say, all you need now is a deer to hang. Make sure you take a video of the first use. That'll be pretty neat to watch. Doc

I got rained off my stand this afternoon. Wound up pretty soaked and had to leave early. This morning I was a little smarter. It was raining when I got up so I stayed in. AND THIS STINKING WIND!!!!! Is it ever going to quit? The only thing I have heard on the forcast is that it is supposed to keep up until early next week when it is supposed to get worse. Doc

I carry three. Why?? ..... Because they come in three-packs. ;D I dedicate three broadheads to practice. I keep three broadheads in the package on the shop wall peg-board as spares. I use three broadheads to equip my hunting arrows. I hope I never get into a situation where I need more than three arrows ........ but then, you never know. Doc

It does make you wonder ...... Deer are creatures of habit (mostly) and one would think that it takes some kind of memory in order to establish habits. But that's just a guess. Chances are that the deer that do have a good memory are the live ones ..... lol. Doc

Being critical of poachers is not quite the same as being critical of hunters. Frankly, if there are people out there poaching deer, I would hope that all hunters would be critical of that. As far as the odd shot here and there, it's true that there is an awful lot of legal gun activities available at this time of year, and I suspect that all or nearly all shots are probably for legitimate reasons. That's not to say that poaching doesn't happen. It's just that it is likely not as prevalent as some might imagine. However, if someone suspects that some odd shot at some odd time might be poaching, I don't see any reason to jump all over their case as being critical of hunters. Actually, I like the idea that people are on the look-out for suspicious activity. Doc

I Don't, and I have food plots.... Big different from a 2 acre plot and a pile of corn, especially from the CWD reasons that NY uses for banning baiting. Lol.... I found that out last night. I have an area between the house yard and the road that is about 2 acres of lawn that I keep mowed. It is surrounded on three sides by pines and thicket. It does act like a food plot even though it is only lawn grass. It attracts deer so I set up a pop-up ground blind tucked into the pines and brushed in perfectly. Ok ..... that's a great set-up except that I watched deer come out about 70 yards away that never did get any closer all evening. Not hardly like baiting at all is it? Not even close! Doc

I decided to go down to a stand in in front of our house last night that overlooks a small field that I keep mowed that is surrounded by pine trees and thicket. During the afternoon hunt, I invented a new game. I call it "Name That Noise". I found out that our neighbors are some pretty noisy people. First off, the ones across the road had a pair of machines going that I figured were the mother of all leaf-blowers. What a racket! they had those things whining over there all afternoon, and nearly right up to quitting time. Meanwhile, My next-door neighbor must have been working outside, because he had a radio blaring away while he was thumping and banging around doing things that I couldn't even imagine. Now I know why I usually head up the hill to do my hunting ..... lol. By the way, even with all of this crazy circus of noise going on, a doe and fawn did step out to eat, but they were on the other side and never came within shooting distance. Doc

Small game season is open.

Actually, it is my trail-cams that tell me how impractical antler spread rules would be. I have quite a few pictures of bucks starting to accumulate, and just as in hunting situations, I have yet to get one that has the deer's head turned toward me so that I would have even a remote chance of estimating the antler spread. The same thing is true in hunting situations. If the buck turns it's head toward me, it is probably because I screwed up in some way, and the very next move on his part will likely be to blow out of the area never again to be seen. It seems like every thing I ever hear regarding AR involves something designed to frustrate hunters. This antler spread thing is a yet a new level in making that frustration happen. Doc

Nothing exciting to report. Having a bit of a problem making contact ..... Ha-ha. Tonite I saw a couple of does and a fawn charging up the hill, pushed by something. Of course they were about 40 yards away, and got downwind and went through their foot stomping, head bobbing and eventually the big blow to let the world know not to come into my section of woods. Meanwhile, the trail cameras are showing all kinds of deer including a pretty nice 8 point. All that occurs at 9:00 pm, 2:00 am, 3:00 am, and all other kinds of after dark times. Doc

For the second year in a row, I've been seeing more scrapes than rubs. ....... Weird! Doc

Tonight two does and a fawn came charging up the hill just about 40 yards away. So unless they were just out for exercise, something pushed them. It could have been a buck getting a bit pushy. I have also found a pretty good scrape line so things are starting to heat up a bit. Doc

I don't know, but apparently nobody thought it was a real good idea because is has long ago disappeared from the market.....lol. The market-place does have a way of purifying itself of stupid ideas. Sometimes it's just a bit frustrating how long it takes. Doc

I saw another super-bizarre deer hunting product a long time ago. One of the guys up at work showed up with a game call that made that blowing sound that deer use as an alarm. I never did figure out just what that was meant to accomplish other than to make sure that you didn't see any deer. Doc

My job these days is to simply enjoy life for as long as I can. However back when I did actually have to work for someone else, I was a mechanical engineer. Doc

What is with all this wind???? The only deer that I have seen has been in my trail cam pictures ..... all in the pitch dark when the wind has been calmed. As soon as the sun comes up, so does the wind ..... deer head for cover for the day. It's getting pretty frustrating. Doc

Nobody is just "saying" baiting is illegal. It is illegal regardless of whether you are operating a food plot or not (which by the way is a legal activity). That's a pretty important distinction regardless of how we attempt to twist definitions. Doc

It all depends on what you are calling a "Wheezing" sound. That might have been the traditional warning "blowing noise" that deer let out when they are disturbed. Or it might have been something that I have never heard or heard of , that might indicate a wound or something. That probably is not as important as locating the hit location and defining the direction of where the deer went and where it was last sighted, and trying like crazy to locate that first blood. But the thing is that you just have to back to basics and put to use all the blood-trailing skills that you learned in the bowhunter training course. Doc

It means, "I see you. and I'm going to do my best to make sure I screw up the rest of your hunt by telling everyone that you're here, you stupid looking, camo-covered, turd!!!" And, as a matter of fact, I had a doe tell me all that this afternoon. Doc

Make sure it's good tree with no dead limbs overhead. Maybe a hard-hat wouldn't be such a bad idea ..... lol. Be sure to get the lead right as you are swaying around in the tree tops. I've got a feeling that I will really be appreciating being a ground-stand hunter tomorrow. Might get a chance to see how good I am at shooting moving targets as the deer blow by. I think as long as they just roll along and don't start bouncing I'll have a better chance. Doc

I saw some on E-bay. Mostly for people who are into collecting archery oddities. There are a lot of people who collect broadheads. One guy used to have a super display at the Avon National Hunting and Fishing days. He really had some strange ones. In fact, I believe there is some national organization of broadhead collectors who just love these weird ones. Anyway, we used to call this one the "apple corer". they weren't known for their super penetration as you can imagine just by looking at it. The fact that Browning was the one that marketed this thing is what is surprising. They have always been known for quality products and intelligent designs, but I guess this one got away from them ..... lol. Doc

Now those are some real good suggestions for using windy days. Especially scouting. I always do a lot of in-season scouting in order to keep up with the latest and greatest feeding, bedding and other patterns. A nice crappy day of wind or rain that is a bit on the too heavy side, is a good time to get updated on deer schedules and activities. Those kinds of days are not good excuses to stay on the couch, although heavy rains can keep me under cover....lol. Doc

In have also had just the opposite. Spots that have absolutely no obvious drawing features, including trails that just simply always seem to have deer generally passing through. The problem with these spots is that the deer passing through are never shunted down to any consistant specific location where a bowhunter can set up on them. It's just an "area". Doc

I really don't want to upset something that gives another hunter confidence because I know how important that is to hunting success. But honestly, I can probably match anyone, story for story of close encounters with deer including one where I could have reached out and touched a doe on the other side of a tree that I was hiding behind. The only difference is that I have never used any kind of scent killer type products, and in fact was a smoker on many of those occasions. So once again, I have to ask, how does anyone know whether any of this stuff works or not, and therefore which is better than the next? Again if it does nothing more than simply give you confidence then it probably is worth the money, but I always have some real problems figuring out how to measure effectiveness of these products that use some mysterious science....lol. Doc