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Okay I have had my eye on some new cool weather hunting clothes at Gander Mountain and really took a liking to GSX sweet spot half bibs and jacket. At around 150 bucks each I was hesitant to say the least. Lady told me to hold off last week as a sale was coming up so I did. Picked them up tonight for 98 on the jacket and 104 on the bibs. Turned in a 100 dollar gift certificate and left happy. I cannot believe the prices of hunting clothes now. Last time I bought new ones was 4 years ago and it was scentlok. Got that on sale and still are in great shape but rather on the light side for cooler days but great for bow in N. Tier. I have plenty of cold gear as well but either I was to darn hot or too darn cold all the time. This stuff is wind proof waterproof, quiet and big pockets. I like that they are half bib with straps so it keeps the lower back covered and no need to keep pulling up pants with heavy weighted down pockets. The sad thing however is I think every tag I looked at on all the hunting clothes said made in china. At 300 bucks regular price man someones making a killing off us hunters. Looks like saturday they will get there first outing in the woods. What are some of your guys favorites?

Yep another great opening weekend in southern tier. Everytime I look at the forecast it gets worse. Might stay home and ML hunt.

NYBUCK50 I see your in syracuse. If your interested send me a pm and you can bring the site over to my shop in Mattydale and I will drill and tap new threads in the sight for nothing and you can use it for a backup or sell the darn thing for all I care. Drop it off and pick it up if Im not in.

Get a slightly larger bolt and retap the threads to fit that bolt. Done it myself. Hell one year I got a new sight and they somehow managed to not tap a single thread. Called the manufacturer and they told me a new one was on the way and just throw out the old one. Yeah right throw out a perfectly good sight.

All I can say is at camp the wind does nothing but swirl. Its a rare occasion when it doesnt. Im on top of a massive hill . With lots of valleys and drop off etc. It is always windy I can sit there and blow some of the wind powder spray in the air and wachit float behind me and then in front of me well you get the ideal. Scent management is essential and we alway get deer of the hill.

I seen all that poison ivy and cringed lol. Good job on the doe. What general area in 6k is your land I live in 6k just curious no need to post specific area but a general idea wondering how close you are.

I agree if deer dont move in the higher temps then no one in Norther tier would harvest a deer during bow season. I will be out and a tad closer to water sources especially midday.

Yes if the proposal goes through they will get 2 more weeks but what you just said about ML during bow season will show its head with the early youth hunt in the first parts of the S. Tier bow season. Cant wait to hear those complaints, okay maybe I can. And I totaly agree with you ML should be the first week of gun and push back or shorten the gun season a week. I built a camp in S.tier back in the 90's so Oct.15 I will be there. I live in N.tier and have a fair amount of my own land so ML arent a problem for me either. But its a dumb thing to stick them in with bow hunters for several reasons and the one that stands out the most is the full camo bowhunters mixed in the woods with the ML hunters. Stupid is what that deal is.

60's sounds like a cold front after hunting N. Tier all bow season in the high 70's and low 80's. MY problem is the rain in the forcast starting wednesday for the next 6 days straight. Bowhunting in the rain is a bad thing in my book. Hard to follow a washed out bloodtrail if things just dont go perfect.

The northern zone season isnt 2 weeks long It starts on september 27 with previous years license required and ends on October 21, Thats 24 short days which is almost 3 and a half weeks. What Ranger Clay is trying to say I think is that we get screwed when they throw the muzzleloaders in the woods with us on October 15 for the last week of bow. If your on private land and are bowhunting its no big deal but if you bowhunt places like Happy Valley and pull in on the 15th with your bow your in for a suprise. Our rifle season starts on October 22 and ends December 4th. Which is 44 days straight or just over 6 weeks. Why in the world the DEC doesnt take the first week of gun and use it for muzzleloaders instead is way beyond anything I can comprehend. I would actually dust of the ML and use it.

Go back and read the first paragraph of my last post. That was copied directly from DEC website. Hunters shall not have in their possession, or be accompanied by a person who has in his or her possession, a bow or firearm other than the legal muzzleloading firearm. The answer is no you cannot carry it during ML.

I was paying attention NYantler I was poking fun at you to lighten the atmosphere, hence the reaon I put LOL at the end.

Hey I have planted many an apple tree and varoius other fruit bearing trees an nut producing trees and none of it was for human consumption. So I can say my foodplots I planted and oak trees and berry bushes and apple trees etc are indeed the same. LOL

Heres some cut and pasting from DEC website. .. All hunters participating in the muzzleloading season must follow these requirements in addition to the other regulations in this guide. Hunters shall not have in their possession, or be accompanied by a person who has in his or her possession, a bow or firearm other than the legal muzzleloading firearm. Q: Can I carry my .22 caliber rim-fire handgun with me while I'm big game hunting? A: Yes, but only during the regular deer season or early and regular bear seasons and only if you have a NYS pistol permit. You may not use the .22 caliber rim-fire as a primary or secondary weapon to take deer or bear. You may not possess a firearm of any description while bowhunting. I now am really confused the first part says I cannot have in my possesion a bow in the legal muzzleloading season? What??? Never hunt the late ML in Southern tier but why is it that teh northern bow and ML season over lap then. I dont get this.

Are you big game hunting and asking if you can carry a 22 along with you?

Geez I wonder what the wife is baiting me for dinner tonight? LOL I am amazed at how someone can throw so much judgement on others intentions of planitng a foodplot. I said it a few times on here I do not hunt on or near my plots, the sole intention is to help hold deer on my land and to supplement the food and to help get them through the winter. The days of the farms around me are long gone and the deer population here at home is seeing the effects of it. So for me planting a foodplot and giving something back to the wildlife. I find it a redicuouls statement that all the deers food sources in the woods is baiting. Baiting is a small source of food to draw in a deer to a specific spot that last for a very short period before it either has to be replenished or the intent of the bait did what it was put there for. A large foodplot or cornfield or any other farmers crop for that matter is a far cry from calling it baiting. But like I said before I stand strong saying that those tiny foodplots planted for one intention under a treestand is indeed baiting. Planting a large foodplot to attract, hold deer on your property and to supplement there food is not even close to baiting. Dinner is done time to go eat my bait which is venison stew lol.

Steve Im going to comment here and Im probably going to get slayed for this but in a small sort of way I do have to agree. Heres what I think if its worth anything at all. The difference between a foodplot and baiting is,,,,,, baiting leads deer to a specific spot either in front of a stand or in front of a camera, a food plot draws them into a specific area. Now with that said this is what makes no sense to me as far as baiting laws, what the hell is the difference between that pile of bait and that secret plot in the midle of the woods, you know the ones that are so small you can accurately harvest a deer anywheres in the plot from any location around the plot with a bow. That to me is a baiting foodplot. Now you guys all know I plant food plots, but they are not those smaller plots. And I can honestly say and I know some of you find it hard to believe that I never ever have hunted over any of them have never shot a deer in one and never plan on it. My plots are there for the animals specifically planted for deer but get used by all sorts of wildlife and I like it. Not hunting them is my choice and I do it this way so the deer have their own place in they can safely feed and it helps keep the deer on the property and aids in getting them through the harsh winters I have here at home. There are enough food sources that I hunt over in the woods like acorns and wild apples etc. For me to plant my plots to manipulate a deer within shooting range not my thing. Yes I do have cameras in the foodplots because its cool to see what wildlife is using them and get an idea of what and how many deer are in there using it. Personally if the DEC has baiting as illegal they should have a size limit on foodplots as well. Those small ones tucked under a stand is no different in my mind than a pile of apples in the same spot. Hell I could plant hundreds of those if I wanted but I prefer to stick with much larger ones. Now bash away guys bash away....

Atleast you got a response from the TIP hotline. I have called it twice in the past and had zero reply. Not only is the poaching fustrating but not getting a response was even worse.

I do not have the problem on this site at all but on other sites I do. It seems that IE9 works good here, Google chrome on another site non hunting works the best and then firefox works well on a fishing site. It gets confusing geeesh.

Is that even real? What a jackass.

If I didnt know them I would just shake my head and look away lol. If it was one of my boys, family or a friend I would not let them take the shot. If they did and they told me I would have to bust on them about it. I dont care if its stocked or not there are 4 parts of the hunt that I truly enjoy,watching my dog work, watching a bird flush taking the shot and of course the meat aspect. I think my dog shares my values on this as well. Same as when she works her butt off to find a bird and go on point only for me to miss, she seems to just know I was the one to mess up and gives me an unmistakable dissapointing look. Bird dogs are a special breed and watching one work its magic and learning its body language is just plain fun to begin with. I still get a chuckle out of the naysayers with the stocked bird comments. It is alot of fun especially with a dog and it is not nearly as easy as some make it sound. Im not referring to game farms by the way I cant speak for that I have never done it.

Yeah the wild grape crop here is pretty darn good as well. Acorns not so much and that is what is making it difficult for me this year. Apples are pretty much gone and the acorns are not here this year. Got lots of pictures of does in the food plots but I dont hunt over them or near them for the most part. Putting up a new stand midday tomarrow in a pinch point by the swamp. Probably going to need waders with all this rain.

Ranger Clay I have a similar property here at home in N.Tier like your situation. I have well over 100 acres and access to surounding acreage putting this piece well over 200 and all bordering land to each other. Heres what I have going on for years. Neighbor to the east has an acre foodplot and does not hunt, I have 3 food plots totaling about 2 1/4 acres. A wild apple orchard with about 50 trees in it producing a very impressive crop of apples every year, lots of red oak and few white oak, few beech etc. All woods mixed softwood and hardwoods. There are atleast 4 sections on this 200 plus acres that has pretty significant ground cover and foilage for bedding areas. Some of these areas are off limits to hunting as it is a sanctuary. Now I pretty much know every tom dick and harry in the neighborhood and we all communicate a bit on deer sightings. Now onto the deer. It varies form year to year on the number of bucks I see. Some years I will have 7 or 8 different bucks sighted either via trailcam pictures or personal observation. Other years 1. The past 2 years are in the 1 category. Last year I had 1 picture of a 7 point and I seen him once, This year I have a nice 8 point on camera. I have every year several pictures and sightings of does and fawns and most of the does have 2 fawns. It has been rare and I mean rare to start seeing good buck sign or sightings until late october. What amazes me is that anywhere from a mile to 6 miles down the road a guy has harvested or has pictures of the same bucks I have seen or gotten pictures of on my land. We all have been trying to get this nice big buck for the last 3 years and when I say we I have confirmed the buck via comparing deer cam pictures of it. It also leaves an unmistakeable hoofprint. It has a slight outward twist of one hoof print and it always show scuff marks from print to print. My point to all this, Northern tier hunting and deer is a total different world compared to most southern zone deer. As you know most farms are dried up and overgrowing leaving the deer nothing much more than wild and natural food sources minus a few of us with foodplots supplementing a few deer. Deer here in N.Tier wander and wander alot and wander far. Patterning a buck in our area because of this before the rut is not a simple task at all. But because I hold a decent doe population the bucks do come to my land. Where they are prior to this is still up for debate but I suspect they are growing and getting fat in all the various swamps and marsh land we have. So what I suspect is happening to you is pretty much the same as what happens to me here at home. The bucks are wandering and or hanging in the wetlands for a vast amount of the year leading you to think there are not any around. So then you move onto souther tier land to continue bowhunting as this is exacally what I do as well. While you are down there and the bucks are starting to get frisky they are going to go where the does are. But we are not there enough at this point in the equation to witness it. That is my best guess to what is happening and seems to be the same here on my land as well. I know there are bucks around they just are not visiting my land yet but they will be. I usually take a buck here every few years at home when I skip a few days in southern bow to hunt here or after bow closes in southern tier and rifle hunt here at home. Now another equation is neghboring lands not even necessarily bordering your land are just blasting away at whatever bucks are around. I have had this in the past as well. So the old big gray haired buck are like ghost and those young bucks that are in the freezer leaves little behind for the following season but the button bucks. 2 landowners in particular who are famous for brown and down tatics are now moved out as of this summer. Most of us remaining landowners that hunt have a verbal agreement that we want to see more mature bucks and have decided to leave the little guys alone. Hopefully what we get out of this is more bucks of various age classes. I think on of these two scenarios is your problem as well.

Well I would not have shot it on the ground either. It kind of takes the fun out of the flush and wing shooting, not to mention that if anyone seen me do it around me I would have been harrased to no end. Its not illegal its just one of those unspoken sportmans rules. I remember the very first grouse I shot my first year grouse hunting. It was perched in a tree and didnt flush. I remember thinking this is perfect and harvested that bird. I came strooling home and was all proud of myself until I told dad my story of how I got it. Cant remember his exact words, he was happy I got my first bird but threw out there for me that what I did wasnt truly bird hunting it was just shooting a bird. Never did it again.

If I had to replace any part of my arrow rest I wouldnt be owning that rest for very long.