Skillet

I'm sorry for your loss. Maybe it was just stuff, but it was your stuff. I'll keep you in my prayers.

Field & Stream is owned by Dick's.

I'm sorry to say it, but I've never been to a Bass pro, or a Cabela's. It blows Gander Mtn right out of the water, though.

Awesome place! Thinking of having part of my paycheck direct deposited to them. We go there at least 2x a month.

Kind of arrogant, to instantly assume a hunter's lack of success, means they are incompetent. Posting novice mistakes as though they are an obvious explanation. It must be tough to be on top, & deal with us fools.

But, for the most part you are 100% correct, Joe.

I mentioned that I won't be filling DMP's, in post #140 of the "Possible reasons for a bad gun season" thread. I've read posts saying similar things, by at least one other member.

I don't watch them either. Garbage.

I still think of that idiot Troy Gentry, shooting that tame bear named Cubby, when I hear of stuff like this. Celebrity hunters don't do us any service. Many hunting shows are just about using sex to sell garbage, & synching punk music to expensive trophy hunts that 99.9% of the hunting population will never be able to access. They misrepresent what the new hunter should expect, & cast a poor image of us all to the non-hunting public. It's all about the latest technology, or the biggest antlers, or the hottest woman. All of it is about as far away from what hunting should mean, as it's possible to get. Another amazing thing, is how often these celebrities just happen to draw highly exclusive tags. Makes you wonder. I wouldn't mind if hunting tv just went away.

Got some news for DEC: If I see a pig, I will probably kill it, & you'll never know. If I don't kill it, I certainly won't be telling you about it.

Love the Claw sling. I got one for my Xcal.

Yeah, I lived in southern Oklahoma for a year. They were around & did a lot of damage, but you rarely saw them. I never got one, despite going out pretty often.

I don't need to kill deer either, for it to be a good season. I've only killed two this year, by choice. I also don't need to find a reason to avoid taking blame for fewer sightings / opportunities. I'm a good hunter, & I can kill deer. I too, enjoy just being out there. There's a lot of times I don't pull the trigger, just because I don't feel like taking a life that day. I just find it sad that the woods is a lot emptier than it used to be. Hunting isn't the same. There's fewer deer sightings, less footsteps in the leaves, less heartpounding encounters. There's not as much watching bucks running does, or does tending fawns, there's not as much watching their breath cloud up while they crunch by you on a frozen morning, totally oblivious to you. There's something sacred to me, about sharing the woods with deer. I don't care how this sounds, but it's lonely without them around. I don't give a crap about shooting less of them. I miss them.

Of course forests mature, & everyone knows old growth isn't prime for deer. Our property hasn't been allowed to mature unchecked. Non-mast producing hardwood & softwood is removed, so there are plenty of open spots in the canopy, as well as different stages of regrowth. Tops are left in the woods. Fruit trees are trimmed in the winter, & deadwood removed. As far as bedding areas, I don't know of anyone who would rip one out to put in a food plot. We make sure to stay away from ours (but yes, they are still bedding areas. They haven't grown from thicket into forest). Our place is tended to and cared for. I devote 90% of my free time to bettering it. Food sources are similar from year to year. Some ridges bear more mast some years than others, & the farmers rotate crops, but that's about it. No new neighbors. We've got plenty of stands, that we hunt only on good winds. We alternate the stands we hunt to avoid getting patterned. I've never filled every tag I could. I've never been that kind of guy.

I'll agree with your #5 G-Man. The other 4, no. I like to think / hope that most of us are skilled enough, to avoid those mistakes.

Has anyone actually seen one this year? For all the talk about them, I never hear anyone actually report seeing one. I know DEC has decided they're off limits to shoot. But, you're supposed to tell them right away if you see a pig. Yeah, I'll get right on that. I'd rather have my whole property rooted up, than invite DEC to come take a look. I saw in the Outdoor News, that they now want to close a "loophole" allowing preserves to keep domestic breed pigs for hunts. Wonderful. Feelings about high fence aside, let's all agree that it's a great idea to make it even harder, for yet another business to succeed, in the People's Republik of New York. I got off on a tangent, sorry. Anybody seen one?

I'm sick of DEC trying to BS us. They must think we're really stupid. "It's lack of participation, lots of mast on the ground, poor weather for hunting, lack of hunter proficiency, blah, blah, blah". I've got some ocean front property you might be interested in, if you're actually buying their lies. At least in my corner of 8N, the deer are NOT here. Like I said before, trail cameras don't lie. We have several cams, in different spots on the property, that have always produced a lot of pics. Yes, we have deer this year, but less than half of what we used to see on camera. Unless the deer (& turkeys, there's not many of them around either) have learned to avoid the cameras, THEY JUST AREN'T THERE. Yeah, there was a lot of food this year, but that's happened before. The difference is, in years past that had good mast crops, there were deer around to eat it. There's still apples laying under the trees at our place, as well as a lot of WHITE oak acorns. Don't feed me some crap about the deer not having to move to eat. There's no magical Mary Poppin's style, endless pile of freakin nuts laying in every bedding area. There were a lot of guys out down my way, too. I didn't notice any decrease in the amount of cars I saw parked, or hunters I saw in town. The only thing that decreased was the amount of shots. It's not just my place either. The neighbors aren't seeing jack. Sightings were even way down this year, at my friend's place in Scottsville, & we always used to see a LOT of deer there. That place was like a meat market, up until the last two seasons. Guys I know who hunt all over the region, are not seeing deer. One guy from my camp is a butcher in Walworth. Last week, he was at #74 for the year, where as he's usually into the 120's by now. Funny thing, he had DEC come by to check him out, & he had no deer on the floor. DEC guy said the last two butchers had no deer either. Strange. It's so disappointing that we hunters just suck lately. I'm sure that somehow, all the guys who know how to kill deer were either butchering them at home, or using other processors. Look at the amount of us on this site, who are just not seeing deer. It's not coincidence. Here at work, the amount of calls to remove roadkill deer has gone WAY down this year. Amazing! What a coincidence. People's driving skills must have improved, simultaneously with the decrease in hunter ability! Know what else is amazing? There's no huge packs of coyotes caught on camera either. No bears, cougars, wendigos, or any other type of super predator who could wipe out the deer. That's must mean it's not the predators! Shocking, right?!! It's the hard winters, too many damage permits, too many dmp's, & a DEC that wants the deer numbers decimated. Simple. They lie, & they'll continue to lie. Hunters are part of the problem, too. We sit here and decry the lack of deer, yet how many of us are willing to lay down the guns, & leave dmp's unfilled? I for one, am not filling any doe tags down at our place. Not this season, nor any time in the future, until I see a turnaround in deer numbers. Screw you DEC.

CWD? He should call DEC right now.

Yup. That's what I'm sayin.

Cape buffalo of the trees.

No, it doesn't work for squirrels. They're actually built to last. Tougher to kill, tougher to skin, & tougher to cut up. Rabbits are like permanent veal. Pasty & tender. They're the sissies of the small game world, falling over at the first punch, & offering no resistance while someone rifles through their pockets. If they weren't dead, I'm sure they would cut & wrap themselves for you, & place their pieces neatly in freezer bags. Squirrels? No sir. They'll fight to the death, sometimes even longer. They're like the guy you wouldn't want to meet in a dark alley. If squirrels were bigger, they'd do a lot more than bark at you while you sit in your stand, & you'd let them. They're put together like little mma fighters. All sinewy & mean lookin. Scars, & probably tatts, too. Don't be tryin to squeeze a squirrels innards out his butt. It doesn't work.

Congratulations!

JK! I'm out of likes for the day, but that's really great!

So, I see you & your Mom in the pic, but where's Dad?