Doc

Look at the mass on that rack. It makes his head look small.

I guess I missed it too. I don't own a crossbow, but I was just curious.

Are crossbows legal hunting weapons during the late season in the southern zone?

My old Nikon archery rangefinder has some small magnification as a monocular. It is accurate as proven out with my 200' tape measure. So why wouldn't binocular range finders be accurate too. Are you looking for archery range-finding or rifle range-finding? That may make a difference in your choice.

Yeah, now that all is well in the world with the Donald back at the helm, politics has taken a back seat in the world of conversation. Too bad, it has been an exciting time in politics with old sleepy Joe stumbling around and crazy, giggling Kamala campaigning like a blithering idiot. Oh well, now we can see how a real President functions. I like the start to Trump's term even though he is not even sworn in yet.

I have used trail cams for wildlife photography. At one time I used to use them for assessing the deer population and quality on my property. But I don't really do any of that anymore. It was fun back then, but now I do my deer herd assessments the old way (Actual boots on the ground scouting). That is more fun and it gives me a reason to get out in the woods to snoop around. Studying trails and tracks, rubs, scrapes and all the other things involved with scouting are all part of the hunt. I don't want any shortcuts anymore. I'm actually adding more challenge back into the hunt by selectively limiting the technology involved. I don't get involved in the agriculture of food plots. I have stopped looking for more hi-tech archery equipment. I haven't bought any new archery equipment since 1999, and I'm still killing deer. The cameras are just one more piece of technology that I have thrown aside.

There is a phenomenon that I have noted with my archery when the weather mandates that you start piling on the clothing to keep warm. It may be true only for me, I don't know. But as soon as the heavy coats and other garments have to go on, I have to adjust my sight pins (significantly). Something about the bulk changes my form, or follow-through, or stance, or something that violates the form that I had in the warmer months. For me there is a need to continue practice during the season to account for these clothing changes when cold weather sets in like we are going into this late season with. Like I say, I don't know whether this is just something to do with the way I shoot, but it may not be right to assume that because you were zeroed-in during the more moderate weather, that you are automatically zeroed-in when you are all bundled up. Are there others here that have seen this happen when cold weather hits?

There may also be a correlation regarding all the land that is being locked up with leases, and the fact that there are fewer hunters per acre because of that. Another thing that I have noticed is the number of part-time hunters. There are many who only hunt opening day. There are also a lot of 1/2-day hunters......Those who go out for lunch and don't come back. This sort of thing is what makes the numbers seem not so bad as far as the number of licenses sold. But there is a participation factor among those that buy the licenses. So many reasons for the "silence phenomenon" during the season.

I think there are deer out there that don't even know there is a gun season in progress. My wife tells me that we had deer on our front lawn this morning (of course I was up on the hill). What the heck is going on? This is Saturday, there should be all kinds of pressure and hunters and gun shots going on out there. I haven't even heard a shot in the whole valley today.

Gun laws are not really for stopping gun crimes. They are intended to harass gun owners and encourage us to give up our firearms. No one has any data that can say that any of the laws has discouraged gun crime. The fact is that the more laws and harassments they throw at us the more gun crimes increase. The only way to get the government off our backs is through the vote. We have the power if we ever choose to use it. We did a damn good job of shutting down any new federal gun legislation, now we have to get that sort of thing happening here in this communist state. But it takes dedication to our gun rights. It takes not only our ow votes, but activism to get others out to vote, and to vote correctly. The hunting community may be shrinking significantly, but the numbers of gun owners is growing. We should not be getting over-run by the anti-gun pinkos.

Are we seeing the demise of hunting. Oh I'm not talking about in a few years, but I have to wonder about a few decades from now. There definitely is a trend going on and it ain't good.

I have asked myself this question so many times, and still come away with no one single answer. Yes, there is the challenge of man against animal. Actually back in my trapping days I experienced that challenge thing the most. But even with hunting I have my best times during bow season where the odds are clearly stacked in the deer's favor. I do love to stand there eyeball to eyeball with a deer or even a squirrel. It's a contest between me and them. There are other reasons though. I have always had a feeling that hunting was a link back to the natural predatory nature of humans. There is something primal about the chase. The plotting and planning that are involved and the feeling of conquest when it all comes together in success is the reinforcing motivation to get out there year after year. Then there is the fact that there are those days of calm and sunlight and changing colors of the foliage, and the peace and quiet that makes the hunting woods the place that makes you feel like you would really not want to be anywhere else. There is also the tradition and culture of days way before me when hunting was a way of independence and survival. Even though not much of our equipment comes close to resembling that which our forefathers were stuck with, there is still something about getting your own meat that provides satisfaction that relates back to our roots a bit. Sitting down to a meal of wild game that you have gotten yourself is also a satisfaction that will drive you out into the woods and brush-lots year after year. Even if it is only squirrels or rabbits or game birds or venison. There is also the fact that for our family it has always been a family tradition for generation after generation. Yeah there are a lot of reasons why I get out there every year and get into the hunt, even at 80 years when the struggle to get up that killer hill gets harder every year.....I still do it.

What is it that drives you to go out in this crap weather and sit there with the rain dripping from your nose waiting to kill a critter? Is it the meat? Is it the challenge of man vs. animal? Is it just to get away from the old-lady? What is your personal reason for hunting?

Well, the turkey-bird has precedence today. No hunting for me. We'll pick up the hunt again tomorrow.

Uga Booga is right. You are pretty damn creative. Did you carve that bottom piece yourself? That may make a good winter project for me when the snow has me locked in.....lol.

Well, the feast has not begun yet, and I know that when it is all done, I will be sitting there with my eyelids half closed. I will be holding my big fat belly with both hands with an occasional moan. But I will be so happy and contented......lol. I hope you all enjoy this holiday as much as I will.

I remember when I was a kid waiting for the school bus and hearing what sounded like a war down through the valley. I remember sitting on stand 3/4 of the way up the hill watching the highway down below. It looked like a snake of headlights going south on opening morning. I remember the orange suits seemingly everywhere. I remember being able to track the progress of the deer groups just by the shots across the hill. I remember areas of the hunting spots where there were several hunters visible all at once. I remember some of those big drives that neighbors would put on that kept deer moving all day long. I remember knowing deer were coming just by the advancing pattern of shots. I remember having opening days off from school as an excused absence. I remember my hunter safety course being held in the school bus garage. (imagine that!) I remember State parking lots being filled up with cars lining the sides of the road because there was no room to park. I remember our driveway being full of hunters cars. I remember the large groups of us hunters gathered every Monday morning at work talking about the deer we saw or got. I remember seeing all the deer hanging from trees in the yards. I remember the deer that were proudly strapped on the cars instead of hidden in the beds of pick-up trucks. I remember when posted signs were a rare sighting. All the land was open and farmers were damned glad to see you. I remember when during Thanksgiving get-togethers the primary discussion was all about hunting adventures. I remember when hunting leases that locked up huge areas were unheard of. I remember when so many of my hunting spots didn't have houses on them like they do now. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Oh gosh, these memories just keep flooding back into my 80 year old brain. They are remembrances of times when hunting reigned supreme in the rural areas. Times change, and not all changes are for the better.

I have noticed big changes in hunter participation. It seems that opening day is the whole season for many hunters. Even opening day seems to be a 1/2 day event. If this trend continues, we may see gun season resembling bow season conditions as far as un-spooked deer. Right now we have enough people to send the deer into a survival mode, but not enough people to keep them on their feet. The other change in hunter activity is the popularity of tree stands and the high-tech winter clothing. Guys hunker down in their stands and never move. Meanwhile the deer hunker down in their safe spots and they don't move either. Nobody is walking and forcing deer to move. That will make good hunting days sound real quiet too.

Happy Birthday

I'm usually packed up and on my way out by sunset even now, but I worry about walking out of the woods during that extra 1/2 hour that is now legal. The same feeling applies to the extra 1/2 hour in the morning. It feels a little scary that others could legally shoot in that kind of low light. But on the other hand, it is getting so that you are not likely to be walking by other hunters with so few people out there these days.

The most recent bunch of years, we have seen some pretty impressive hunter safety numbers when compared to the old days of the 60's and 70's. and we have all been patting ourselves on the back for being such good safe hunters. But the other day as I sat on the hillside, with what sounded like almost no one out hunting, I started thinking about those wonderful numbers and it occurred to me that perhaps the fantastic safety record probably is due more to the diminishing hunter participation. What do you think? Are we getting fantastically safety-minded, or are there simply fewer hunters in the woods, spending fewer hours hunting?

We have an excellent thread here on deer anatomy that is very instructive on this subject. There are a lot of illustrations and actual photographs of where the vitals are on a deer. The page is at: https://huntingny.com/forums/topic/6770-deer-anatomy/#comments I look at the size of the neck bone vs. the size of the heart-lung area, and the choice for making a more guaranteed lethal kill is obvious to me.

Yes, there are way too many people who fail to understand that marksmanship is a large part of hunting. And that is a real shame. There are so many shots that are taken that never should be taken. Shot selection is another big part of hunting. There are also a lot of hunters that think they can do much more than it turns out they can do when it comes to proper shot selection and placement. I know, it takes super-human will power to pass a marginal shot at some huge buck. I don't want to sound "preachy" here, but sometimes it is good to at least think about some of these things before we pull that trigger or loose that arrow.

My biggest problem is keeping the cameras working.

That is one of the big problems with thinking that hunting forums represent the thinking of ALL hunters and gun owners. Get outside of the forum and start talking to hunters and other gun owners. I think you will be surprised how many of them do not vote. Also, as someone already pointed out, even some of the forum members vote Democrat. To me that is unbelievable, but I have seen it here for myself. No, if we could ever get all the hunters and other gun owners to vote pro-gun, we would not even be discussing the NY ammo regulations. I spend a lot of effort preaching about the need to vote to anyone who will listen, but the way things are today even something as simple as voting seems to be too much of an imposition. It is a real shame.