A Sportsman

i hear you Waterman. This gas thing is scary. I had taken off friday and most of this coming week to spend a lot of time in the woods. But without fuel I simply can't go. Sucks. Not as much as having your house torn down. But it still sucks. I can't possibly see myself waiting on these lines a mile long for gas. I think I'd rather just stay home and cancel all plans.

On Long Island, they are talking about highs in the mid 50s after the storm. What a joke! I'm still excited to hunt and will hunt a ton over the next two weeks, but come on already.

Hey Guys, I was in stand yesterday morning and saw a tall 4 ptr. but that was it. I still havent seen any chasing and I certainly haven't been seeing many deer at all. After this storm passes, I think we'll be in business. How could we not be? Yesterday I noticed some deer sign that really surprised me...behind my house. I live in Sayville on a block that has a very small woodlot behind it. Sure enough, I had a lone deer track walking right behind my fence of my backyard. To think what it took for this deer to get to this woodlot is pretty crazy. I've lived here for 4 years and have been back there a number of times, never seen any deer nor sign.

Hanging them by the neck may, or may not, be disrespectful. But I don't find anything funny about discussing how a deer should be handled after it is killed. And that includes how we hang them. We don't have to be nutso about how we hang them. Its not the end of the world one way or the other. But just take a look at how the deer looks hanging by neck, as opposed to hanging by hocks. Looks better from the hocks.

I'm not sure where this drainage thing really comes into play. Having done it both ways, I've never seen any major pooling of blood under the deer either way. The deer is fully gutted out by time its hanging. we are talking about pretty small amount of residual blood from the body cavity. I think its inconsequential.

I hang them by the back legs with a gambrel. Though over the years, some of the other guys at my camp have hung them by the neck. in my opinion, hanging by the neck is uglier. I don't think its necessarily disrespectful but can certainly understand how someone could say that. I would say their are 2 advantages to hanging by the legs: 1. the deer looks better (doesnt look like a noose) and 2. I butcher my own most of the time, and if i hang a deer by the neck, I eventually need to flip it around anyway to skin it. More work.

Culvercreek, Your friend is right-on. I do the same thing exept with paper towel (dabbing what i suspect to be blood). For me, the blood stands out much much better against the white.

I am colorblind and have a helluva time seeing red on the forest floor. Especially, if there is a lot of leaves on the ground that have a degree of red coloring on them. Like most, on a good shot, I somewhat enjoy the track and take it up myself, very very slowly. But on a marginal shot, I call in help immediately. When I am with a non-colorblind person following blood, i am always amazed at how much better they see it. Its very frustrating and kinda embarrassing.

seems like the activity is picking up. seen handfull of does yesterday morning and shot one of them. Butchered it, vacuum sealed it, got it in the freezer and was back out this morning. Went to a different spot that I had a world of confidence in. but Didn't see anything. Then on the way out I noticed 2 hunters walking out. judging from where they came from, I think they were hunting two stands that were up to the north of me, essentially, cutting me off, wind-wise. This could have explained the lack of action. who knows... Hope to get out tomorrow afternoon after I get this doe head to check station. good luck guys.

I've posted 5 times so far this season and have only seen deer once. 4 does and a piebald spike. This is real poor as compared to how my prior 4 or 5 seasons started. But, in general, its been warm and wet and I don;t know how much they are moving. Yesterday morning conditions were pretty good. I posted in a very small spot where I didnt expect to see a lot, just hoping for one big one that I think is bedding in there. no luck. I'm seeing rubs and tracks, so they are there, just gotta stay with it.

I once shot a doe during bow season that was with a fawn. The doe went down almost within view. From the time I shot, till the time I was standing over the doe, the fawn just kinda hung around. It was like it didnt even know what to do next. It left me with a bad feeling. I know doesnt sound great, but given the option between a doe and a fawn (assuming they are together), i'd rather take the fawn.

Unless you are private land, I wouldn't even consider putting out a camera. The risk is too expensive. For as much enjoyment out of hunting LI that i get, there is so much to detract from it. 4 wheelers and motor bikes going back and forth all afternoon, Kids playing in the woods, anti hunters leaving notes on your car or calling the police on you, other hunters who steal your equipment. The list goes on. What are you gonna do? Not hunt the Island at all? I tried that for two years and then came back to it. couldnt stay away.

Totally! If you know other guys could be hunting in a particular spot, you owe it to them to at least get in early. It stinks when you are on stand and you have a guy walking under your stand at prime deer movement time.

I think the details of the spot itself should dictate how you approach setting up in the area. For instance, if you are in big public woods that can be easily shared amongst hunters, you could just let him have the set up and find another area for yourself. If you are on a small woodlot somewhere, you may have no choice but to "share" that location with him. On long Island, this kinda thing is relatively common. I've never knowingly set up a stand/blind within 50 or 60 yards of someone elses stand. But twice in the past few years I've had people set up stands VERY close (within 30 and 20 yds, respectively) to me. Does it suck. Yes. But do I own the woods. No. I tend to camo the heck out of my stands. So who knows, maybe they didn't see my stands. When I hunt those stands, I get in wicked early. If the guy comes into the woods and I am there already, I win. One thing to consider if you want to set up near someone elses stand, is perhaps you can determine what wind that hunter would like for that stand and try to set yours up for a different one. (I realize this may not be practical though). Whatever the case may be, treat the other hunter with the respect that you would like to be treated with. If you run into him, talk it over.

I keep thinking that if they shoot for 150', nothing is going to change. 150' is laughable and it will be shot down. If they provide a realistic set back distance, maybe something productive could get done. In suburban areas, where this distance rule really matters (and why this rule is being disucssed in the first place), the difference of even 100' will have an effect. I can't get my head around why they would go from 500 down to 150'.

Ditto what culvercreek said. Noticeably less meat on a bear than a deer of the same weight. I shot my first bear last year. It was in an area that doesnt have any dumps and is pristine. My family and I enjoyed that meat as much, if not more than deer meat. For me, it seemed that the bear meat tasted best when cooked as a roast in the slow cooker or in a stew. I also made a great chili with it. I always said I would shoot one, just to see what the whole experience was about. the drag, the meat, the mount, etc. Now that I have been through it, I can say it was awesome. The only drawback was the cost of the mount. I wasn;t prepared for that. but I like it now that I have it.

13B Vet, Similar on Long Island. If I;m hunting woods bordering a development, I'd rather not even mention to the residents about the hunting. What bothers me is that I was very much for lessening the set-back distance. But 150'??? Why did they choose such a short distance. Personally, I think 300' is a nice number. When setting up stands, I always have an urge to set up close to houses. The idea being to hunt a stand where my wind blows to the houses. I follow the rules though and keep it 500 feet. Its definitely a hindrance though.

i started using duranon (sp?) made by coultons this year for ticks/chigger. its the type you treat your clothes and allow them to dry before use (dont spray on yourself). its been amazing. in two scouting trips, i havent seen a tick. as for the chiggers, i been tucking my pant cuffs into high boots and then duct taping the top of the boots to my pants. its been working well to keep them out.

Hey sssurfertim, I've also been scouting a bit and setting up a few stands/climber trees. Feels great getting out. Also have seen some deer and am pretty happy with the sign in my spots. I was out last weekend in a peice of woods in Brookhaven that has a lot of white oak trees. In short, I've never seen so many white oak acorns on the ground. They were literally everywhere. I was out on sunday, and it was very windy all day on saturday, so I'm sure that wind had something to do with it. In my experience, a bumper crop of acorns slows down movement in these types of areas. But I'm not sure how it will play out. Last weekend was a full 3 weeks ahead of the season. Will deer clean them off the forest floor by then? could it be that "most" of the acorns recently fell and thats why I saw so many? I don;t know...

If I happen to be watching tv and a show is on, I'll watch some of it. Can't help it if the big bucks get me excited. But most of the shows have gotten so sickening, I find myself turning it off just before they take the shot. In my head, what they are doing is killing, or farming, not hunting. What bothers me even more is wondering what non-hunters think if they happened to be watching these types of programs. These shows destroy our image, and I don;t think their is anything we can do about it, which is sad.

Nice question. This is a real life scenario that happens often enough. I think turning your feet and your body is your only option for making an ethical shot. That said, it becomes a matter of do you make the turn or do you wait it out and hope that the deer moves in a way that presents you with a shot. Other factors will guide me in this choice. Where is my wind? if that deer comes any further along his path, is he going to wind me? Is there any background wind noise/brush movement to cover my movement? Is the deer moving fast? Whats his body language say? Is he a giant? If he is a giant, and I elect to not even try to move and he walks away without a shot, I may regret not trying to move for the rest of my life. This sounds like a lot to consider in a short period of time, but when I see deer that I intend to shoot, these are the things that are flashing through my mind constantly. All that said, going from a seated position to a full draw at 3:00, is a heck of a lot of movement. Even moreso if your bow is hanging on a bowholder at the time.

Hey Bowhunter, I've been there. Not to hunt though. There is definitely a lot of deer there, like much of LI. I don;t think you'll have a problem scoping out the area you;ll be hunting in the amount of time they give you and setting up in a good spot. Hopefully you get to scout it pretty close to the date you'll be hunting. Its cool that the park lets a few hunters in to control the herd. But that rule that you have to shoot 2 does before you can shoot a buck in two days sounds pretty unfair and actually ridiculous to me. Hope the hunt works out well for you.

Thats exactly what I was thinking. At 40 yds, 2-3 inches left could easily be you. I wouldn't touch a thing. In all practical manner, you are tuned.

Over the years, I too have had several good bucks come in on doe estrus scent. One thing I noticed in my experience is when they come in on that scent they are very cautious and don;t just roll right out and offer a shot. They'll circle the area sniffing around before they move in close. Sometimes they'll just keep going back and forth, staying down wind for what seems like forever. More times than I care to admit, they;ve busted own scent in the process.

Hi Troutfisher, I just ordered the new Viper Elite SD stand. I looks to be the same stand as the specialist you are referring to, except that it has the bar that comes around the front of the top portion of the stand. I think the weight difference was 2 lbs. The Specialist SD was 14 lbs, and the viper elite SD was 16. Without the reviews, i also had a little caution with ordering it. But considering Summit's reputation and the specs on either of these new stands, I don;t think you could go wrong, so I made the leap of faith. If you have any particular questions, let me know. Once the stand gets to my house, maybe I can help you out.