Doc

Maybe ...... or maybe it's one of those crossbred coywolf things. ;D Either way, I'm sure that's a very tiny man.

Here's what I have found over the years, and bare in mind that I am only talking one small area of one small valley in Ontario County (one small county) and is not backed up with stats and is only an impression that has developed over a whole bunch of years (50 0f them to be exact). First of all, there has been an exact opposite change depending on whether you are talking gun season or bow season. During bow season, back when I first started (1960), throughout the entire archery season, short though it was, I never was aware that any other bowhunter existed ...... anywhere in the valley. I pretty much had our entire chunk of the valley to myself with only my Dad and a brother-in-law. I still remember the shock when I saw my first bowhunter still hunting through the woods, and by the way, almost all of my hunting was done on state land at the time. Today, it is likely that anyone who spends a lot of time on public land knows that that is not the situation anymore. Now, you not only have to find a spot that has deer, but also find a spot where your hunt is not likely to be interupted or deer patterns constantly disrupted. So my experiences show that bowhunter numbers are massive compared to years ago. I am still getting the impression that the bowhunter numbers are continuing to grow. Gun season hunter population and participation changes are exactly the opposite. Even though actual deer numbers are far larger, the sounds of the hunt are much less. It used to be a case where you could track the movement of a buck across a hill by the shots. Hunters were everywhere. State parking lots were full and overflowing on to the sides of the road. Cars were parked all over the place. We used to go about 3/4 of the way up the far hill on opening morning and get on stand while it was still pitch dark. Looking down on the valley, the view of headlights and tail lights on opening day traffic looked like a long snake with very few empty spots as hunter's cars headed south. Today, the traffic on opening day really doesn't look a whole lot different than any other week day. The shooting these days is a fast and furious little burst at daylight and then around 9:00 or 10:00 it tapers off to just an occasional shot here and there, and the afernoon gets to be absolutely boring. The days after the opener are even worse. Of course there are a lot of reasons besides fewer hunters, but judging by the half empty state parking lots and the empty roadside that used to be lined with parked cars, I have to believe that hunter numbers have diminished significantly. I'm not talking about licenses sold, but rather the actual numbers of guys afield. So it looks like a lot of gunhunters have moved into bowhunting, and most likely the over-all numbers of deer hunters are slipping severely. Certainly, the level of participation in gun hunting has collapsed regardless of what license sales are doing. We have a lot of 1-day hunters and/or 1/2 day hunters that are buying up the licenses now. My guess is that a lot of those probably will be quitting within a few years. That's just an opinion, based on what I have seen. Doc

Actually, that's a rather typical coyote. It's just a very, very small man holding it up. Doc

Setting the eye relief on a scope- The scope has the ability to move or adjust in a fore and aft position within the mounting rings. So how do you know where the right location should be ...... exactly. With the gun empty, close your eyes and pull the gun to your shoulder with your face in your natural position relative to the stock, as if getting ready to shoot. Open your eyes and see if you have just the right full sight picture without adjusting your head position back and forth to accomodate the scope's position. If it's not right, slide the scope fore or aft and repeat the procedure until finally it comes up with exactly the proper sight picture. Tighten down the rings. I just got done watching the whole thing explained on "Gun Nuts" on TV just a few minutes ago. Quite a coincidence .... eh? Doc

It's kind of like those car ads that show somebody ripping around the curves on some mountain-side and bragging about how the car will do way more than any safe and sane person would ever do.

I have never been able to figure out the fire ratings and relate them to anything practical. For example, if I had a safe, I would also like to use it for storage of important papers and documents. However, I have absolutely no idea what temperature paper/photos/etc. ignites. Also, when it comes to ammo, I have no idea what temperature ammo will start going off and wrecking every other thing in the safe. So if there is a sticker on a safe claiming that the safe will withstand a fire with temperatures of 1200 degrees, how do I know if that's adequate. Then there's the question of just how hot is it in a typical house fire, and for how long. You would think there would be someplace that would have stats on that, but I haven't found it yet. So whatever figures the safe companies throw at you, that's only half the story. They're telling you what you get, and what you also need to know is what do you need. Doc

Probably the biggest problem I have with bowhunting in that kind of extreme weather is the amount of clothes I have to pile on. Trying to get string clearance with all that stuff sticking out is just about impossible for me. Also, trying to get good form, alignment, and consistant anchor, etc. is another thing I don't have a whole lot of luck at. My shooting falls completely apart as soon as I have to layer-up to that extent. And eliminating some of those layers resulting in hypothermia is not an option. Doc

Wow, what a disturbing view of your fellow hunters. So can we assume that in your mind you have decided that you are now the perfect hunter? ;D It's beginning to sound like you are the only hunter you can stand.

Fawns and does ..... We don't have ag fields or pastures or any other good open areas to spot deer. So unless They cross the road, driveway, or lawn, I have to get a whole lot more intrusive than I want to at this time of the year.

I'm pretty much done by that time.

That's fair enough. Not everybody watches the same TV programs. Lol.... I'm not sure the barefoot, loincloth thing would do much for me either.

Sorry if you got offended, but your "bloodthirsty days" comment kind of made me figure that you felt anyone who shot animals without eating them was simply bloodthirsty in nature.

Actually, I didn't see where anybody was blaming their hunting woes on TV shows. I'm pretty sure I am missing the point of your reply. Must be a bit too early in the morning ..... lol. Sorry about that but I'm having a problem relating all that to anything that was posted. could you clarify a bit more? What specifically are you replying to?

Good points, I think about that scenario each time I am hunting. How about the guy in full camo who is still hunting and just like a deer he materializes from anywhere. It makes my heart skip a beat! Lol .... This is where somebody usually comes up with that phrase, "Well, you're supposed to always be sure of your background and what's behind the target"...... kind of like you only take a shot while hunting where all vegetation has been cleared and every deer poses in front of some earthen backstop. Nope! that almost never happens. I once performed an experiment where I sat out in the woods wearing my ghillie (sp?) suit behind the house and had my wife step out and try to spot me. It took her a full 5 minutes and then she wasn't completely sure until she walked a whole lot closer. I was in the woods, but we keep that area picked up and cleaned up pretty good, kind of like a park and I was simply sitting down leaning against a tree. that was at about 40 yards. So, if I were stupid enough to do that during deer hunting season, just what chance would another hunter have of seeing me sitting behind a deer that he was drawing a bead on? Let's put that scenario into rifle country and have me 100 yards away. Think about that, all you people that feel comfy wearing your camo out there in gun season.

That I have experienced and that does get my blood boiling. That pretty well kills the area for that hunt ...... :-\

I certainly agree that TV hunting shows may be the worst thing that hunting has ever had to endure. I do think that they give unrealistic pictures of hunting. I think that generally they are bad for the hunting image in that they portray hunting as "no-fail" activity in which all kinds of super-weapons are used, and the prey has little opportunity to win. They also tend to foster unrealistic expectations, especially among some of our younger or newer members, and now even some of that seems to be creeping into the expectations of many of the people who should actually know better. Also, I find that an opportunity to be a bit educational is being lost. The hunter-heroes are more interested in promoting themselves than they are in serving any useful function that might benefit hunting. And of course they spend way too much time hawking products, to the point where many of these shows just seem to be primarily infomercials with a vague hunting theme added in. The only way that these programs have any value is if you look at them purely as entertainment and don't even try to make them anything more than that. They're not going to be educational. They are not going to realistically portray any kind of hunting that 98% of the viewers are used to experiencing. They simply are a story-book presentation of what hunting could be in a very contrived land of make-believe. It's a story to entertain the viewers. We really shouldn't even try to make anymore out of than that. So, when I see guys like Shockey, Waddell, or Barta, etc., I understand that what ever goes on there is strictly for my entertainment. That includes their personalities as well. So I never get all that hung up on personal characteristics of these players. I understand that however they come across, it is most likely because that is what has been determined to sell the program and the advertised products.

For me, more is better. I have known a few people who wound up with a little half-moon cut over their eye with a little trickle of blood running down. I've even seen it with Jim Shockey. I think eye relief requirements might be quite individual. What kind of recoil do you expect? certainly, with a .22, eye relief should be no consideration. But with my nasty old 12 guage, I put a nice long eye-relief leupold on that critter. There is also a consideration as to how your body reacts to recoil. I have a fairly loose reaction and my shoulder tends to ride a long way back when absorbing recoil. So I pay a lot of attention to eye-relief. That's why I say that it seems to me that each individual and each gun has its own requirements.

Actually, I don't. He is not afraid to show himself in some rather humbling situations, and does. However, there is no shortage of hunter-heroes that make a regular practice of hacking the bad parts out of their videos so that they can maintain that unblemished expert image.

If they still refuse permission do you rip the pie back out of their hands and walk away? ...... ;D

So, how do you feel about those that do hunt woodchucks, crows or anything else they don't intend to eat? Are they living in their "bloodthirsty days"? ....... : Maybe those people that trap and take animals that they don't eat are bloodthirsty too? I suppose those that give away their venison are probably also just exercizing their blood lust with their hunting. They obviously are not hunting because they like the meat. How do you feel about those people? .... just curious. No seriously, I do support your highly evolved sensitivity, and appreciate the fact that such attitudes fit well with this century's political correctness. A few more of us could use a little more of that kind of enlightenment. Maybe next year I will adopt the more tender-hearted attitude and give up predator hunting. I'm no darned good at it anyway, and there is no way that I'm going to start gnawing on some coyote's leg. Doc

That's good to hear. For a guy with as much energy and drive as he has, paralysis is probably the worst sentence a guy of his age could ever have to live with. It's good that in this age of technology, there are ways that a guy with his gumption can modify his methods and still do what he wants. As far as the grizzley bear with a bow, I have thought about that and absolutely know that that is nothing I will ever do (with or without back-up). I can just hear the back-up gun now ....... CLICK! ??? Doc

Tred Barta ........ Now there's a name that I didn't expect to see here but I do kind of agree. Yes, he did come off as the Rush Limbaugh of hunting, but I always believed that he tried to speak his mind on issues, and always did his hunting according to a rather rigid set of ideals. Doing things the hard way didn't always result in politically correct results, but they always did reflect genuine, uncensored, true to life results without all the bad parts laying on the cutting room floor. I was always entertained with his hunting shows simply because there was no trite script or redundant, boring, staged, predictable results. Also, unlike a lot of people, I took all his arrogance and pompous talk in the spirit in which I believe it was given ....... as humor. He had a good show and I was very sad to hear about his physical difficulties. Nobody deserves that. My favorite episode was the grizzley bear hunt.

As per countless threads across many hunting forums over the years that have asked about the reasons for hunting, I have found "meat" is actually a long ways down the list. Even among those that really like venison, that particular reason for hunting is still a long way down the list. If you ask the same question of a woodchuck hunter, "meat" moves even farther down the list. If you ask a predator hunter, it moves even farther down the list. If you ask a crow hunter, it generally drops off the list entirely. And of course the guy that goes to the dump to shoot rats, well ....... I'm thinking that if meat was the only reason that I hunt, I would probably be hunting black angus in a barnyard somewhere ..... lol. I hope we never get to the point where the only justification for hunting is food. That's one argument that I won't even pretend to support. Doc

We eat every bit of the venison that I get, but in all seriousness, I have to admit that it is not my favorite tasting meat. That doesn't really have anything to do with how much or how little I enjoy the hunt. I do not hunt for the meat. I eat the meat because I hunted it.

Great video. I love to see NYS bowhunts! Thanks for posting it. Doc