Doc

I take most of that stuff but use my cell phone for any needed communications. I also carry a small folding stool, a compass, drag rope, rangefinder, rubber gloves, plastic bags, small pair of binoculars, water, toilet paper (for marking blood trails and also the more obvious use). My knife is always on my belt whenever I head into the woods. I also carry a pair of brush nippers. I'm sure there's other junk stuck in my pack that I have forgotten, but I would have to look . Doc

Lol.....The Boogey Man will get you. It's amazing how those wacky thoughts will creep into your head when walking in the dark. Can't stop them either. Funny how sometimes I don't think about any of that stuff, then other times, I can't get it all out of my mind. Yeah, you bet .... every little snapped twig or rustle in the leaves becomes a rabid 10' bear frothing at the mouth and looking for something to mangle. The human imagination is an amazing thing ..... Ha-ha. Doc

The area that I hunt is the same land that I hunted since I was a kid. I could almost walk some of it with no light at all. So I really don't need much of a light. Just a small flashlight to keep from stumbling over sticks and logs. However, during gun season, I carry a bit larger a light mostly so I can be seen. There are way too many shots heard in the near darkness long before legal shooting time. So, I want to be seen! Also, I want a light that is big enough to shine at any hunters that may not see me and start setting up in an area that I consider too close to me for safety. Doc

Simple - allowing all archery equipment to be used in the bow season - including that 2400 years old. But see now you are going against that wonderful benevolent attitude that you expressed a few replies back. You are advocating now that the aging hunter should not have the right to choose. You want to make those choices for him, and sure enough, that is exactly how these things work isn't it? You are agreeing that we always have to put limits on things. We don't always have the right to choose just because we have reached a certain number in our age. And by golly as long as we are having special seasons, there has to be some limits as to what is put into those seasons. We certainly disagree as to where those limits should be placed, but none of that really has anything to do with age (nor should it) and it's unfortunate that people try to muddy the waters by trying to bring that into the discussion. There are still very viable options open to those that can no longer participate in the physical activity of bowhunting and thousands of people use those options every year. Shotguns, muzzleloaders, rifles and pistols provide those options along with the appropriate seasons. Nobody is being deprived. So to use aging or physical limitations as a reason to cram inappropriate weapons into seasons that were never intended to have those weapons is just a false issue. Doc

Gutting a deer is a stinking, disgusting task. But, it is part of the hunt. A man's gotta do what a man's gotta do. Doc

30 yards is it for me (a lot closer if I can arrange it). Sure I can do a lot better on the range but I get a little nervous about deer reaction when I start shooting any farther. So maybe I pass on some longer shots that might actually be successful. That's ok ....... I'm not into bowhunting to see how long a shot I can take. So up to 30 yards is where I feel reasonably confident. Doc

Wing of a butterfly (moth)? A lot of moths have that "eye" marking in their wings.

Hey, I am an aging hunter. I like choices. I like the warmer weather hunting. How about we change the laws so this old geezer can eventually grab a rifle when I feel like it and hunt deer during the early bow season? How far do you want to go with this nonsense. "An aging hunter has earned the right to choose", you know. Yes, I know how some would answer that ...... lol. If I asked that question in a serious fashion, there would be some here that would say, " yeah ...... what's wrong with that idea". Doc

I try to do all my maintenance myself. I have had a heck of a run of bad luck with small local shops, even some that were well established and had a reputation to protect. When you think about it, most of the so-called experts at the local shops are simply "tinkerers" that have no certification or anything that makes them any better at it than we are. So whenever possible, I take my bow to the one that I trust the most .......... me. One thing is for sure, I will put in whatever time it takes to make it right. That's a luxury that most archery pro-shops don't have. Over the years I have never hesitated to pull any of my bows completely apart. In fact a couple of my tournament bows wound up laying on my workbench with no two pieces assembled so I could give them custom paint jobs. It was no big deal. After all, we are not talking about auto repair here....lol. Doc

Yes, I have heard of "footed" shafts before, but the examples that I have ever seen were purely a shaping of only one kind of wood to get the FOC effect. However, we never messed with them because of expense (regular arrows were expensive enough .... lol), and the fact that we frequently lost or broke arrows. So regular old straight cedar arrows were good enough. However, these multi-wood varieties are quite attractive plus I can see where the different densities (weights) of the different woods could be used to enhance the FOC effect. I just thought they were pretty eye-catching, and would make a great addition to an archer's collection of equipment. The only thing is that I would be reluctant to shoot them for fear of scratching them. Frankly, I would have them hanging on display in a den or something..... lol. Doc

Are we just supposed to take your word for that? How do you know that most older archers don't simply take up a gun when they can no longer use a bow. For me a gun would be the easier thing to handle if the my body were breaking down from arthritis, and other physical maladies. Doc

I honestly did not know that arrows were being made out of laminated woods. Those things are really cool! It actually is an art-form. Things have come a long ways since my days of simple old Port Orford cedar shafting.....lol. Doesn't that mixture of woods and the odd ways that they are integrated into the shafting affect the spine? Doc

Actually, I spent quite a few years shooting recurves before I picked up the compound, so I am very familiar with what it takes to shoot both. First of all, there is nothing about recurves and longbows that require that sights and releases not be used. When I shot recurves, I tried instinctive shooting and in fact got my first deer that way. But it didn't take too long before there was a sight on my recurve. As far as the release is concerned, the turks used the ring released centuries ago and there were some in my recurve days that were using releases. So what really are the differences in shooting recurves and longbows versus the compound? Well, as a matter of fact there is still the entire max draw weight that has to be encountered at some point through the draw cycle even with a compound. Also, apart from the hold-weight differences, the act of properly shooting both a recurve and a compound are exactly the same. All elements and disciplines of form are identical including the stance, draw, consistancy of anchor, consistancy of hand position, consistancy of bow arm bracing and muscle alignment, consistancy of sighting, back tension, release, follow through. Further, failure to abide by these disciplines results in the same penalties in terms of target results. So, all of these elements are required to shoot a compound, a recurve and a longbow and that applies whether you are talking sight shooting or instinctive. Now, tell me which of these archery related shooting disciplines apply to a crossbow? Part 2: If you want to enjoy those hunts with your father again, I would suggest that with the lengthy regular gun season that we have in NY along with the muzzleloader season, there is nothing prohibiting that from happening. If he can cock, load and lift a crossbow, chances are pretty good that he can do the same a rifle or shotgun (perhaps even easier), and can therefore continue to hunt. That is exactly what I will be doing in a few years (maybe even sooner than that) when I get to the point where I can't shoot my bow anymore. That is if I still have the ability to pick it up, aim it and shoot, which may or may not be the case. If I can't do that then a crossbow is hardly going to solve the problem. I hear people talk about the crossbow like it is the absolute cure for all the ails and frailties of the aging process or the physically infirm when in reality, it is severely lacking in that regard. That point is getting clearer and clearer as I begin to approach that inevitable point in my own life. Doc

Would somebody explain to me why these things are even protected at all? There is plenty of evidence that shows there is no way that you could ever wipe them out. Not only that, but these critters are at the top of their food chain with absolutely no natural controls other than disease. What possible harm could it do to simply take all protections off them? Doc

Remember folks, yes piebald are neat to look at but piebald genetics are a defect and are NOT something that you want in a deer herd. If you see one you see one during seer season you should try to remove it. Besides, who the heck wants to see a deer that looks more like a goat than a deer ....... lol. shoot the dang thing. Doc

When it comes to doe harvests, the state does it's best to tailor antlerless permits to local populations. We may argue that they don't always do too good a job at that ...... lol, but give them credit for at least recognizing the different needs required for different localities and conditions. My point is that when we discuss AR, that same attempt to tailor management to reflect herd conditions and habitat, applies just as much. So when I hear people saying that they would like to see AR implemented across the state (and it's amazing how often you hear that), my blood pressure starts to rise just a bit. And when I hear people saying that the key to herd balance and improving the health of the herd everywhere is simply to slaughter does, I get just as impatient with the short-sighted quick and easy answers. None of that stuff is as simple as many arm-chair game managers would like us to believe. But I suppose it would be best if I were to just chill out a bit. Short sighted, quick and easy, one-size-fits-all answers and causes seem to be what sticks in the minds of hunters. No point in getting too excited about it ..... lol. It's always going to be that way. Doc

Quote: "the crossbow is fairly easy for even a beginning archer to become extremely proficient with in a very short time." Quote: "a hunter can zero in a crossbow in 30 minutes and then be ready to hunt , without having to practice for hours like he or she will with a longbow." ------------------------------------------------------------ Ok now those are the words of the Horton media specialist. So let's not be hearing anymore nonsense about how the crossbow is the same as any other kind of bowhunting and how the compound has made the difference between crossbows and real bows insignficant. Obviusly, anyone who knows what they'r talking about does not agree with that. Furthermore, he is not the only person of knowledge that has said the same thing. In fact coincidently, I watched a program on the outdoor channel where another one of the usual hunter-heroes said exactly the same thing ..... exactly. So even though this whole debate is rather moot now at least this article posted by fasteddie has brought out the truth about that one point and in the words of someone who really ought to know. Now, I guess we are supposed to believe that all those who have previously forsaken even picking up a gun (a real gender an age neutral weapon), are now going to flock to inflate the hunter numbers since they can use a crossbow. Yeah .... right .... that's going to happen. I want to see the numbers on that when it happens ..... lol. At any rate, it appears that these kinds of discussions are a bit moot. However, the above quotes just happened to catch my eye and kind of fell in line behind my understanding from other sources as well as a certain basic level of logic even though we have seen countless pages of forum comments devoted to trying to convince us that the ease of crossbow marksmanship were being exaggerated. Doc

The cost of new dies is baked into the cost of any firearm that I buy (other than rimfire). It is just an automatic thing now whenever I buy a gun. I do like to target practice a lot. That's kind of hard to afford if I don't re-load my ammo. Besides, it's a great way to fine-tune ammo to weapon to get the best performance out of each firearm. Plus it makes a great winter pastime. Doc

Of course another thing that enters into the equation is the realization of just where your future crop of bucks comes from. This idea of just arbitrarily whacking out the doe population is another over-simplification that really does not reflect an understanding of the original concept. It kind of stands to reason that you have to take into consideration deer density in relationship to food and habitat. Doe numbers do absolutely no harm to the buck population if there is more food available than the existing herd numbers need and nothing is gained by mounting a campaign to arbitrarily try to decimate the doe herd ..... other than to shut off the source of future bucks. If you have an area that is already hurting for deer population of any sort, It would be kind of counter-productive to start a campaign of whacking does. Further more, that kind of judgement is an ever-green decision-making process because deer densities as well as habitat are never static. That's why I hate it when people just lay out blanket statements on any facet of deer management. It's like the people who call for across the board, statewide, AR. They are standing in their own tiny hunting areas and assuming that everything that they see is exactly the same throughout all of the state. Thank heavens those are not the people making the management decisions in NY. Doc

Yes, I'm not sure just who the organization is in Honeoye, but I also heard a lot of flack on local forums about how terrible it is to have such contests. Actually, I kind of like it when something like that tweaks the bunny-huggers. I think it's kind of funny. I never did hear how that contest ever came out as far as numbers of coyotes taken. It is my understanding that the ones who do well in those contests are the ones that run hounds. Some guy out there tooting on his predator call most likely can save his entry fee and not even bother. Doc

There is no doubt that these kinds of forums have a lot of wall-flowers who join and sit on the side-lines, never posting anything. But in all fairness, a lot of the topics that we come up with have some rather vague titles. It could be that a lot of people do peek in just to see if the topic is what they thought it was or if it really is something that they want to comment on. Doc

If anyone has any doubts about how dangerous coyotes can be, you should probably read this CNN account of the 19 year old Canadian girl who was killed by coyotes. http://www.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/Music/10/29/canada.singer.killed/index.html These kinds of stories keep popping up from around the country in increasing numbers which makes one wonder if there is a bit of a dangerous trend developing. With coyotes populating some pretty dense urban and suburban areas, one has to wonder what other ways these critters are adapting to get by. Doc

I was around during those compound bow discussions and in fact didn't really understand what all the big argument was all about. After all, just about all of the same archery mental and physical actions and processes and strict adherence to form and physical consistency and other archery disciplines still applied and yet these people were adamant that the precedent would be set for the further corruption of bowseasons by other forms of weapons that had little to do with archery. I couldn't imagine how that could happen. So now I find that I was wrong and they were right. The compound did lead us to where we are right now. They were absolutely right. The compound bow was the foot-in-the-door that set the stage for an anything goes attitude and opened up opportunities for anything to be included in bow seasons. So while we were busy calling those guys names like "pure blood elitists", it turns out that they were the ones who had the vision that the rest of us lacked. And now history is proving them absolutely right. Here comes the crossbow, and supposedly given legitimacy by the precedent set by the compound ....... just as predicted by those "pure blood elitists". Doc

One thing that a journal did for me was to substitute fact for vague impressions. I didn't have to sit around and try to recollect a bunch of years worth of observations in order to form opinions. The sum total of all that I had seen for all those years was right there at the push of a button. That makes you a whole lot more confident in your conclusions. Doc

You're going to love it! Doc