A Sportsman

Or pick a spot where the drag is straight down. If you have to worry about dragging sidehill to skirt private land your not going to be happy.

You may want to consider getting someone to come with you. Or peerhaps be ready to quarter the bear in the woods and bring it out pieces.

You may want to consider getting someone to come with you. Or peerhaps be ready to quarter the bear in the woods and bring it out pieces.

Yeah but I know how he feels. I'm in a similar situation. Very little free time,2 babies, 2 jobs, etc. 8 weeks goes by fast. There are stands to hang, lanes to clear, woods to scout, gear to maintain/clean, a lot of shooting, etc. Its a lot. You do as much as you can. And as someeone said above, you can and should also do a lot of this stuff after Oct 1.

Hahaha. Hey cuz, its albert. yesterday I was reading your post about getting a pack and for some reason I was wondering if that was you. Couple of things, the enthusiam you show for hunting (online writing about it in july) tells me "you got the bug", just like tommy,me and your papa and my dad, who was hunting those woods since 1960s. Its great u and your dad are now part of the crew, and the tradition. Remember that whatever the numerical value of what that buck scores is nothing compared to the value of what we do, as family, as we continue to learn about the woods and work as hard as we do to find our bucks. Great to see ya on here! Now don't be telling these guys too much, ya hear! Haha

Haha. Been there Hunting3M. I was also a small kid. And am still a small kid at 36.

Hey 3M, for hunting from treestand, especially if you are just doing a morning or evening post, you may be able to get away with just a small fanny pack. That's all I use. Most of my pants have cargo pockets, so that helps. But really for a few hrs in a stand, I don't find I need toi carry much. knife, tag, pen, caLl or 2, gps,light, glove, release,face mask,and my extra shirt usually tucked into fanny pack belt, and no drink or food. Its really nice to have a couple different packs that u can use for different types of hunts. And since you have a big pack already, I'd go for a fanny pack. And good luck with working it out with your dad.

A lot of times I think spots are especially hot just for that reason. No way to get in without potentially blowing them out. I had a spot on LI that fits your description to a Tee. Eventually I gave up on it after running into too many hunters. It was hard enuf hunting these bucks without the added hunter issues. There was anothwer way in via a private nursery that would have been perfect. I asked the owner but he said no. Seems like its never easy...

Oh I should mention that I haven't made the leap of faith to use permothrin on my actual hunting clothes. I treat my scouting clothes. I will admit that I can't smell the stuff but deer are amazing animals. And I don't trust it yet. Aside from clothes and ticks, the bigger challenge on LI can be getting used to other hunters, their desires for your chain on stands, antis leaving notes on your car, 4 wheelers speeding around, etc. I'm not joking. There is a mental adjustment. Also assuming u want to hunt from a tree, for public lands you will need a climbing stand as chain ons are not allowed.

Lord of war, as far as the ticks there are a lot of good answers here. in all likelihood you are going to want to take a multi layered approach to it. Permithrin on cloathes. Always long sleeves and pants. Do tick checks often while afield to remove them from outer garment. I often get changed out of my woods clothes at the car before driving home. When u get home you can hang clothes outside so ticks come off. Or put them in drier on high to kill them. Head to toe body check for ticks when u get home. Also, I wear highj rubber boots and tape my boots to my pants where they meet. As someone mentioned there are chiggers and they suck. They wuill get thru your socks. All this may sound like a drag. And it is. But the idea of either not hunting or having to drive upstate everytime we want to hunt is more of a drag. As you get used to it, all this "tickproofing" stuff becomes routine and you won't have to obsess about it. Been hunt LI for about 23 years. Have only pulled 3 out of me and never got lymes. Nock on wood.

Lord of war, as far as the ticks there are a lot of good answers here. in all likelihood you are going to want to take a multi layered approach to it. Permithrin on cloathes. Always long sleeves and pants. Do tick checks often while afield to remove them from outer garment. I often get changed out of my woods clothes at the car before driving home. When u get home you can hang clothes outside so ticks come off. Or put them in drier on high to kill them. Head to toe body check for ticks when u get home. Also, I wear highj rubber boots and tape my boots to my pants where they meet. As someone mentioned there are chiggers and they suck. They wuill get thru your socks. All this may sound like a drag. And it is. But the idea of either not hunting or having to drive upstate everytime we want to hunt is more of a drag. As you get used to it, all this "tickproofing" stuff becomes routine and you won't have to obsess about it. Been hunt LI for about 23 years. Have only pulled 3 out of me and never got lymes. Nock on wood.

I think that irresponsibility manifests itself mostly in long range shots and shots through cover and also shots at deer that are not in the broadside or quart away position. And none of these errors get fixed by the technology itself.

Whitetailaddict, I couldn't agree more. hanging stands and clearing lanes is hard work. Despite all our effort to be scent free, its impossible. I usually sweat like a pig. Nothing like a good rain that day or the next to kill the stank. I don't worry about it too much if the season is 3 or 4 weeks out tho.

Covert, you make a fair point. Maybe I am over emphasizing the advantages of the cross bow.and overestimating the amount of hunters who would take exception to sharing the woods with someone who is using a better (for lack of better word) hunting implement. But I disagree that the crossbow guys would have no business using a compound. Because as I said earlier, we are hunters first. I think In time we would lose compound bow hunters to x bows. Only my opinion...

I think most people are hunters first and bowhunters second. Not traditioanlists. That is why most use compound and not long bow. If cross bow is allowed, there goes the compound. And that bothers me. And I suspect others. Also with so many things changing with our sport (food plots, trail cams, AR being rammed down your throat,etc.) It just comes off like another attempt to make things easier and lose part of the tradition. In 20 years hunting is gonna be buying a Fawn, tieing him to a tree and raising him til his horns suit your liking, and then firing a lazer beam at him.

There are too many people who are just never satisfied with things. You can hunt three seasons in NY. Bow, gun, and MZ. And its a hell of a lot of fun. But your still not happy. Being able to hunt w a crossbow during the bow season is about as ridiclous an idea I've heard. How can u tell a real bow hunter who honors the sport of hunting to simply hunt with a compound while others have it easier with crossbow at the same time. If there is to be a crossbow season it can only be separate from bow. Period.

That is, quiet when it is packed up and you are walking.

I tried the new viper elite stand from summit last season and found it to be noisy. I don't mind a little metal sound while setting up, but its a problem while up in tree hunting. If I am in stand and shift my feet or my weight a certaoin way I can get noise from platform. Unacceptable. Especially for the price. I tried filling the platform with a foam but have yet to take it up a tree and test it. Aside from noise, rest is good. Light, simple, comfy, packs up tight and quiet.

Seems like a lot of the folks here have very understanding wives and husbands. My wife is real gpood about it, but even so, I would be lying if I said that balancing my fishing and hunting with wife and family time was not a constant struggle. Its not really the wife tho. Its the 2 jobs, nightschool, 2 young kids, house,etc.. Also, I don't care how great your wife is about allowing you to hunt, if she isn't mad at you by november 15th, your doing something wrong.

Just realized that the original poster likely read these 15 replies and decided what most other hunters typically do. That "this isn't for me". That is one of the things that I love about the big woods. That its allure is really only understood by those who do it. I spend 7 to 10 days a year hunting deep in the catskills forever wild woods. Its the best 7 to 10 days of my entire year, every year.

Some real good tips here. Odd that the original poster never came back. The only things I would add is that 50 acres is nothing when it comes to big woods. You can walk the length of 50acres before first light and possibly not cut a track. Not to say that it isn't worth scouting out to see if there is a hot area in there. Also, even with a bow, and depending on your sign, you may want to consiser hunting on foot. And forgoing treestand. Also, pay close attention to the conditions you have and what the deer sEem to be doing and hunt accordingly. Is there snow? Is it crunchy, is there a breeze to cover your sound? Based on sign and sightings do deeer seem active? Or are they bedding all day? And one more thing, if u want success figure on putting in a lot of time out there. Too often in the catskills my success is determined by conditions. And the conditoins can be lousy for days on end sometimes. Stay the course and be aware that the Biggest deer of your life could always be seconds away.

After seeing this thread, I had to give it a shot. The only thing I did different from the recipe mentioned was that I browned the roast on all sides in a little bit of oil before I put it in crock pot. For seasoning I used salt pepper and garlic powder. simple. I also used sweet baby rays sauce. came out excellent. definitely a keeper of a recipe. Also, just wanted to add that for a readily availible "store-bought" bbq sauce, Sweet baby rays is pretty darned good. I make my own often, but its time consuming and ingredient heavy. the sweet baby rays is a nice compromise.

Just wanted to say thanks to Phade and some of the other NON-AR people on here for continuing to have the energy to argue against the Pro AR Meat Hunter and the rest of them. This guy meat hunter is relentless....With all that is going on with respect to gun control right now, its really sad that hunters are still beating the snot out of this topic. If someone else shoots a small buck, who gives a &*^%? So what? there's one less for you. Get over it. Better yet, congratulate the guy. Life is too darn shoot to worry about it. Just go hunt and enjoy what you do. If you don;t like where you are, move. There is tons of opportunity in this state. Control your own destiny. Go make it happen. Still not happy, try harder. Im really beginining to think these outspoken AR people are just another product of the instant gratification, ME-society we are living in. Scares me man.

Great for stand hunting....but lousy for still hunting. I prefer to walk so I'm not thrilled with forecast.

season has been generally poor for me too Waterman. Lately though (last week or two) i've been seeing deer consistently, which is good. but only 1 that I would have liked to shoot. A high 8 ptr. He was out of range and was stuck with a couple of does. Honestly, thats the only Nice buck I've seen all season. its disappointing that with so many deer on Long Island, it could be really tough to get eyes on deer sometimes, no less a big buck. Just gotta stay with it. remember things you did right and things you did wrong and adjust accordingly. I think this october i hunted too many spots instead of focusing on two or three. Like i have in the past. Good luck. It aint over. keep hammering away!