NFA-ADK

Happy Birth Day!

Where is the popcorn?

Simply put a ladder stand when set up properly is the safest. Easy to get into, climb and no sliding down the tree when wet.

Welcome aboard, great to have you! Jump right into the discussions, just understand we like to argue about everything, lol. All good fun! Don't be offended if someone disagrees with you we like to argue a lot. Don't take anything personal and enjoy!

Great song. Thanks to all our troops! Ament to that.

Some great advice here! For me the thicker the area I am in the slower I stalk. When I reach open area where I can see more than 40 yards I will post for a few minutes and scan if its a pinch point or other natural barrier I might sit and post for an hour or so otherwise I will walk through to the next spot and start the process all over again. Typically if I find a spot I suspect deer are hiding I will try to call them in, when I do this a minimum of 20 minutes is required to let the deer come to me. You need good cover for this as the deer will pin point your location. I always slow down when approaching a ridge top, ravine or any other area where I can see a long distance. It keeps your outline minimal and if deer are in the area it makes it harder for them to spot you. After a few minutes of scanning what I can see I will take a step or two more, very slowly to reveal the entire area and scan again. Spotting deer is something I think is learned, some simply can't do it at all but successful hunters can pick out deer in cover, the more you watch deer the easier I think it is to spot them. I like to stalk downhill and have more issues going up as the deer usually see me before I see them. If I can keep the wind in my face and sun at my back I am happy but don't worry about the wind as much unless it is steady from one direction. The Benoit have a great book "Big Bucks the Benoit Way". Even they changed tactics when snow stopped coming, the last episodes they had where about hunting smarter not harder and one episode spoke about Track Rattle and Roll using calls and rattling. Great book with valuable info, another one I have used is "A Guild to Adirondack Deer Hunting" by Charlie Alsheimer. Use your instinct and slow down in area you think deer are located. Try calling it works! Use your sixth sense, smell and hearing, often it will reveal the deer before your sight does especially in cover. (Smelling a bucks stained tarsal gland freaks me out because I know I am really close!) Scan with your eyes not your head, if something makes a noise do not turn quickly to see what is was but slowly turn only your head. I second the shooting often, it makes a big difference when stalking or still hunting. VIP Have fun and simply enjoy every encounter in the woods they are your encounters and no one except you saw them! Loved the story on the buck!!! Awesome! Good luck and be safe!

Simple explanation, this is what happens when you feed deer. They loose their fear of us. Never turn in a deer unless it is going to die. Like you said doing that is a death sentence. PS: Thanks for the laughs on the buck protection program some of your post had me rolling, thanks, I needed that last night!

How many times do we hear the real facts that AR has nothing to do with herd management and is more about hunters wanting 10 point studs walking everywhere. This has already proven ineffective. Do they mention in any of these surveys about how this has been done in western states and found to be ineffective? Do they mention how many young deer are shot and left in the woods? Due to AR? Do they mention how many 2.5 year old deer are killed with AR? Usually the same as spike bucks where before AR. Mission failed! To me I do not see a major problem with NY deer. We have some over population issue and low numbers in some areas but overall the herd is strong! Many clubs and hunters have restrictions they put on themselves for what ever reason that exceed AR and more are doing it every year. Many parts of the state produce huge bucks thanks to these hunters passing them. Yea someone 16 and under can shoot any deer great, what about the hunter 7 years in who has never shot any deer? I would never want to take that away from another hunter, that experience and thrill is what keeps that person in the game! Restrictions for many with less experience and time will mean defeat. If you asked me 10 years ago about AR I would have jumped on board! (I was young and needed the money!) Wait that was the pictures! (I was just young and dumb not as knowledgeable as I am now.) Learning from my fellow hunters on this forum has changed my view for the better! LET US HUNT!!! Keep your regulations to yourself and your hunting spot, I do but want my brothers and sisters to pick and choose what they want. My buddy missed a spike in one of my big buck spots, his first shot at a deer ever, I would hate to take away his second shot because of selfish hunters wanting bigger bucks to hunt.

I do agree that if the population was at a better ratio it would be a more intensive rut where most of the doe are bred in a shorter period resulting in a better fawn drop and possibly better fawn survival. This would also result in bucks surviving the rut in better shape to make it through the winter. I think Mr.Henry's view is spot on but I still would not like to take away the rights of someone to harvest a deer. I also feel this is another thing that will stop new hunters as sometimes all they see are young deer. Real easy to quit hunting when everything you see is "Off Limits". This last issue is just because mature deer are in the area more does not mean hunters will be able to get them. Once they reach 3 plus they seem to understand much more about staying alive!

I find it funny when we say we do not want to draw deer off others property with baiting yet we can have acorns, corn, clover and any other food we plan and think this IS NOT pulling deer off other peoples properties? Baiting wars started a long time ago we just call them food plots. I don't agree with baiting but we still do it with food plots anyway. I also bait using calls, rattling and deer scents.

Very nice, looks like you had a great trip!

Don't let it phase you one bit CanastotaCamo, and no need to apologize. Discussing hunting and opinions are a big part of the site and we all have different perspectives, one of the reasons the site is so good!!! O yea and we like to argue, about everything pretty much. I always considered hunting the ADK in deep woods some of the hardest hunting. I have heard Peter Feduccia the "Deer Doctor" state that NY hunters are some of the best hunters because they hunt heavily pressured deer. I can say that public land is very hard to hunt vs private simply due to the pressure. I know we all have our own views on what is ethical my only point would be not to frown upon your fellow hunters as long as its legal. More often than not baiting is done in states with over population issues and TV shows are for entertainment usually not as much in education. Deer and Deer Hunting is one that has much more education vs entertainment at least from the first 8 seasons I watched. This is why this site is so good, we have some of the best hunters with a passion for what they do and have them all over the state. We also have a variety of hunting methods. I can get advice for tree stand safety, night vision optics, residential hunting and deep woods ADK tactics. Simply put I would consider many hunters on this site expert vs the pro title on TV. The knowledge experience and insight is evident in so many who post on this forum. One of the reasons I love this site, it fills my fix for deer and lets me write a small book, lol. Simply put many of the hunters on this site would be in a class way above most TV show hunters. With that type of experience baiting is considered cheating and always will be! The defense rests and need to get some food!

Happy B-Day!

LOL You had me rolling with that one!

I do agree watching a "pro" hunter shoot them over bait is funny at least to me but in those states or area it is legal. On Deer and Deer Hunting they had an episode where Dan Schmidt had such bad buck fever the camera guy had to tell him to relax and take a deep breath. I remember the buck was inside a low feeder fence and all I could think was SHOOT HIM NOW! lol He had to compose himself before he could take the shot outside the 3 ft fence. Did not bother me that they baited in this spot, I think it was Texas. If NY was allowed to feed the deer I believe many would. Think about having a population of wild deer that come everyday and you hand feed some of them. In the harsh winters we get many hunters could help sustain the herd in the worst of times. Probably why the state does not allow feeding, it would help the population too much and the state wants less not more. I think that if the show is educational or entertaining it is worth watching. This is a show I watched a few seasons, good bunch of regular guys with some funny episodes showing how things can go wrong. This is one of those times.

LOL

Looks like he had fun! Real easy to wear out in snow, especially with those small legs!

You make a good point Belo, makes me wonder if the blades where open when shot, by the looks of the impact area (If that is the entrance.) they where open! I like the shorter rage blades the longer ones seem a bit excessive for the job when the shorter ones work so well. Was that picture of the recovered deer showing the entry, I think it was? If so the blades where probably open as they usually have a much smaller impact area vs the exit which looks like the picture shown! PS: The shock collars with the new blades work much better than just the O'ring.

For me the main reason I use Rage is due to shooting so often. I want that field tip to match my broadhead with minimal if any tuning. Simply put the rage does that for me. I have never found a fixed blade that shoots the same as my field tips until I tried the Rage. For me personally it give me the confidence I need to put that arrow on the hair I pick. If I had problems with anything I use I would change it. Release, broadhead, bow, string, bullets, clothes, scent etc. That confidence is what we all need so get everything how YOU like it, not how others think you should do it! For me the confidence is having a consistently shooting bow regardless if I am shooting field tips or broadheads. Find it hard to retune every week to shoot field tips then reset for hunting even if you mark it.

Saw this a long time ago. It is interesting but to say it changed a river is simply wrong. More of an idea that if you kill wolves you will harm the landscape so do not hunt them. Our PETA friends at work trying to deter hunting. 6 years for aspen and cotton woods to triple in length due to stopping animals from browsing? Far fetched unless they are saplings. Notice they do not show any actual change, if it was so evident where are the pictures of how changed the landscape is now? JMO!

I wear the Timberland for work and use the Merrell for pretty much everything else including hunting and work. For me these boots work well and give me the extra padding and support I need. I have found that Merrell is expensive but well worth it for my feet and back support. I bought redwings but only keep them as spare hunting boots as I like the Merrell support better.

Good luck! Hope everything works out for you.

I love that study!!! For those not familiar with the study here is the link. If you are interested in deer movement this is the study you should check out. Very informative and knowledgeable! http://ecosystems.psu.edu/research/projects/deer

The only thing we have some control over is population and even that is a pipe dream as a harsh winter will self correct any population issues along with disease. If you think we can control those two factors then yes we can control many things, until then Mother nature is the true manager of the animals.

I think this is the video.