CNY_Archer

Hello. I'd like to offer you $500. I have 2 kids in college, so I have to spend wisely. I hope you understand. I've bow hunted for over 45 years and I really could use a more modern bow. Thanks,Bill Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

2012 started in the summer glassing 7-8 bucks in a grass field with my nephew Chris. Come bow season, Chris put a hanging stand 15 ft up a tree about 32 yards from 2 scrapes under 2 pine trees. What was unusual about this spot was my buddies son's mow the back 3 acres. Yet, there were many scrapes under pine branches. The bucks pawed in the short grass and stripped some sod away to make scrapes. Not your usual looking woodlot scrape for sure. The area is basically all open except for a few very small thickets. My buddy has cleared most of it to plant more XMAS trees. I had trail camera pics of a nice 7 pointer in one of the pine trees from the week before. I had put a dripper above the scrape. Veterans Day Monday was very warm 70 degrees. I had grunted in a 6 point and a spike a few days before. I got in the tree stand in the dark as I knew the 7 pointer could be very close in the area. I had spooked him the week before. I pulled out the grunt call once again and did some loud calls as the wind was quite strong. A minute or so later, out steps this big 7 pointer and he went right for one of the scrapes! I watched him paw in it and freshen it up. That was exciting to see. After he was done with his business, he walked closer to me and presented me with a 20 yd broad side shot. I hit him high in the chest. He turned and ran into the sand bed next to my buddies property. I got down right away and walked over to the edge of the cut corn field and looked into the sand bed and there he was. He went less than 200 yards. He was a big deer. The Rage broadhead did its job. This buck was my nicest one to date.

I belonged to a 2000 acre lease with 7 hunters a few years back. 15 minutes from my house. I shot a nice 6 pointer and I thought "WOW! I can hunt here for lots of years!" yeah, right.... Last year, 14 Amish families from Ohio moved here to central NY and bought the entire property! They turned the hunting camp into a livable house. I live near Utica, a few miles west. Last year, I joined a club with land south of Syracuse near Fabius. 192 acres of open hard wood on a 45 degree steep side of a hill. No farm crops and did not see hardly any deer or sign. I left at 9 AM opening day of deer season in November and went home. The sad thing is this... I am getting older obviously and as time slips away, so does having access to good hunting ground. Very recently I got access to 20 acres of bow only for deer and turkey north of Utica.The owner calss them 2 and 4 legged rats! Soon, I will put out a few cameras and see what's there. I like small plots of land if they have lots of deer sign. Come late October when the deer are more active, I will be on this 20 acre plot. I would still prefer hooking up with some other hunters and join an existing club if possible. But until then, it looks like I will hunt the three 15-30 acre plots I have access to.

I have been hunting for over 40 years in the CNY area. Over the years, as we all know, access to private land is getting more and more difficult to find and even hang onto for our beloved hunting tradition. Gone are the days in our youth when it was sometimes a challenge to locate a specific deer stand among all the hundreds and hundreds of acres we had access to. More recently, leases have been tried by myself on land that turned out to be not very productive. A few hundred bucks per year just for the sake of having some land to hunt on. One would assume that the leased land would be productive. Not so. I have found out that not all land is suitable for hunting. These last couple of years, my access to local hunting property has been reduced to 15 acres with other hunters also on the property. I do not bow hunt or shotgun hunt it as it is too small for all the hunters on the property. Other hunters currently have permission from the owner to hunt the property also. During muzzle season in December when almost nobody hunts in the cold, I bundle up in my ladder stand and I enjoy hunting over a small cut bean field where the deer come out to feed. What kind of a hunter am I? I am a responsible father with a 16 year old son. I would very much desire to continue and pass along the hunting tradition and all the wonderful hunting stories to my teen age son. Like a typical teenager, it is a real challenge for him sometimes with his busy schedule. School, work, sports, job, boy scouts, (he is working on his Boy Scout Eagle project now), (NO girlfriend) all occupy his time. He very much enjoys hunting and getting out into the outdoors. And I sure do enjoy his company. If you are a land owner and would be willing to offer us the use of some of your property, we would be more than willing and be able to assist you in farm chores or small projects. Like the days in my youth with my Dad, friendships with farmers were established and enjoyed for many years. I believe in the same principles as my Dad did. If you have a leased property or belong to a lease on good deer hunting property and are looking for some new, responsible members, let's get together and discuss the details. I may be very interested in what you have to say.