JJBat150

Started out with 30 lbs of ground sausage mix, plan was to pack it into 1 lb portions in vacuum sealed bags. If each bag is just 1 ounce over a pound, you end up with 28 full bags, and a 29th that contains about a half a pound. Took me and the wife a few minutes to figure out what happened. That is all I have to say about that...

Good info on this thread.... Wife is currently driving a 2008 GMC envoy; she loves the size of the vehicle, but with it's ago it's getting ready to start causing high repair bills. Our plan is to start looking next summer for a replacement, but she's pretty particular on wanting something around that same size (she absolutely hates driving my 15 Chevy Equinox -says it's too small). Her drive to work is <5 miles, and with other driving, she's lucky to put 10-11K a year on a vehicle. For those of you driving hybrids, what's the "tipping point" in regards to annual mileage where the hybrid option off-set annual fuel / maintenance costs ? Also, with such short driving distances, is there an economic benefit ?

Any the florescent pink colors instead of orange. Even DEC is buying into it : "New York State law requires hunters age 14 and 15 and their mentors who are hunting deer or bear with a gun to wear fluorescent hunter orange or pink..."

As long as we're discussion the use of Muzzleloaders, here's my experiences.... I'm in Ontario County - 8J - southern zone; Since 2010 I've only carried a CVA Buckhorn .50 caliber muzzleloader with a 3 x 9 scope. 2 years ago, I upgraded to a Traditions Pursuit G4 ultralight .50 caliber and have been carrying that ever since. Only shoot Triple-7 pellets with 209 primers. The CVA shoots best with 230 gr. T/C SureFire JHP's and the Traditions with T/C 250 gr. Shockwaves (both are sabots). To me the decision wasn't to extend my season, but to simply carry something lighter that the Remington 870 12 gauge that was always my go to deer gun. Even with the 870, I hardly ever took 2nd or 3rd shots, so I don't feel that the single shot muzzleloader was a handicap - but it definitely made me concentrate more on my shooting technique and to think twice about taking questionable shots. Ultimately IMHO this made me a lot more proficient shooter both with MZ and other rifles. I am comfortable with both guns out to 150 yards and have harvested deer from <20 yards to ~ 110 yards in the past. Over the years, I have taken 12 deer via muzzleloader, and have never needed a follow-up shot or lost an animal due to bad shot placement. 1 Thanksgiving morning, I actually took 3 deer in the course of 10 minutes by slowly reloading and shooting when the group of does wouldn't take a hint and move on. Have also used them for raccoon and woodchuck hunting and other plinking/playing in the off season. Have carried in the rain and snow with only 1 misfire my 1st season - was in the habit of leaving it loaded (primer removed) between hunts keeping it in the unheated pole barn. Learned my lesson that night, and since then, if weather is bad, gun gets unloaded each night either by pulling breach or firing the load. I do nothing more than electrical tape over the barrel, and with the CVA, keeping the breach area clear of snow and ice. Only weather-related issue is scopes fogging up. Yes, I purchase muzzleloader tag, can't say that I've been any more successful in that later season - only 3 deer were taken over the years in the actual muzzleloader season - the rest have been during regular deer season. The only other advantage to the muzzleloader tag is now it covers crossbow the last 2 weeks of bow season.

The same reason why NYS went to a longer bow season and more liberal numbers of DMPs. Less hunters means less game harvested, so IMHO it's an attempt to better the harvest numbers, by increasing the length of seasons and opportunities.

First competition and she's set a new state record; congratulations are defiantly in order. Sounds like she's got a very promising future in the sport.

2 people made bad decisions yesterday and those decisions will have lasting effects on a number of lives. I don't know the 2 hunters involved, but know many of the 1st responders that were involved. Many themselves are hunters, and being Thanksgiving this incident has affected many of them as well.

8J - Ontario County here... In 2009 I switched from using a Rem 870 12 gauge with a rifled barrel & Red dot scope to a CVA Buckhorn .50 caliber muzzleloader with a 3 x 9 scope. First season with a mix of carrying both the 870 and CVA depending on mood. since then the 870 hasn't been shot. (It's a dedicated slug gun that I never change over to a field barrel). 2 years ago I upgraded to a Traditions Pursuit G4 ultralight .50 caliber and have been carrying that every since. When Ontario County started allowing rifles, I stuck with the muzzleloader, even though I have a Rem 700 SPS in .308 - I've carried the .308 if sitting at a distance watching a field where deer are feeding, but it's only been a handful of times over the years. My oldest Daughter has been hunting for 8+ years now, when she started, I got her a Mossy 500 20 gauge with a rifled barrel. It's a tack drive and a lot easier on the shoulder then the 12 gauge. If I ever went back to carrying a slug gun, I would probably go the 20 gauge route, expectably after pulling the 870 out of the safe last month and disassembling and cleaning it - what a heavy-ass hunk of steel and wood that thing is....

8J here - Seeing lots more movement 3:00 PM til dark then any other time of the day.

And this is why the Un-safe act said only 7 bullets were legal.....

For the not so technical folks out there - https://www.zdnet.com/article/what-took-facebook-down-major-global-outage-drags-on/

Seen alot of people out with x-bows practicing before southern zone opener. People who I know don't normally bow hunt. Connect the dots. Sent from my SM-G981U using Tapatalk

And what did he discover ?

Personally, didn't get out this am. Seeing more doe activity in fields in the evenings, so may do a quick sit at the end of the day. Too many other plans to commit time this weekend Sent from my SM-G981U using Tapatalk

So let's hear those opening day stories and see pictures of successful outings,,,,

I remember when ammo prices were like this, and Dicks Sporting goods actually supported hunters... Sent from my SM-G981U using Tapatalk

I have bought my licenses online since they turned on the system. This is the first year I've had any problems.... Went to logon shortly after Aug 1st, and the system wouldn't accept my logon, so I ended up calling the toll-free number to get things reset (quick and easy, and was logged into the system before hanging up the phone). Agent on the line said as long as you're on the phone, she could go ahead and do my order - so we did. First time around, she said I was selected for 2 DMP's for 8J. She entered my credit card #, and said "Hmm that's weird, it kicked me out of the system." She got logged back in and it didn't show that my transaction went through, so she did it again - said she did the same tags / privileges and this time the credit card went through. Got 2 separate email receipts - 1 showing 2 DMPs, the 2nd showing 1. So I went on-line and checked, and sure enough only had 1 listed. Used the "contact us" link to submit a request to have someone contact me. A day or so later, saw that there were 2 credit card charges, so called the toll-free number. After 30-40 minutes on the phone, there was no resolution - "If you would have called back immediately, we could have refunded one of the charges, but now the State has to do it. ". "Can't help you with the 2nd DMP, it wasn't requested by the agent.". "We'll contact the state, and someone will contact you... Typical BS from a 3rd party call-center that isn't authorized to do much. When my tags came in the mail, there was a (518) area code # listed to contact regarding any licensing issues. Called it, and got ahold of someone; just by the way he answered the phone and conducted himself, he wasn't a customer service representative - but wow, within 10 minutes (including transferring me to someone in accounting) he had things straightened out. A few hours later, the system showed a "DMP Correction Tag #2" and within 2 days, I was refunded the second charge.

Yea, realize that - it just messes with my mind when I take a doe in December that hasn't gone dry yet. I suspect there's a bunch more in that condition in September.

Have DMP's for 8J - Unsure if I'll be out or not. Seeing lots of does with their fawns feeding in fields in the AM and PM ; not sure if they're still nursing, but seems a bit early to harvest a doe. Not too worried about processing - if I do get one, most likely it would get broken down pretty quickly into tenderloins / Backstraps that can be aged in the fridge, and the majority of the remaining into grind for homemade sausage.

For the early southern zone season, does a crossbow count as a "Legal Firearm" ? and would I need to have a muzzle loader tag ? Asking for a friend....

Don't forget the new requirement of a pink or orange hat to complete the ensemble.

When I was 13 or 14 years old, myself, father and older brother would butcher any deer we could lay hands on... Anyone from our hunting group, neighbors, we'd even go around and get road kill if it wasn't too messy (it was nice being knowing all the local deputies). As life when on, I've had a part in butchered pigs, cows, bison, and all kinds of game animals / birds / fish. Over the years, I've paid someone else a few times to butcher a deer for me, but it wasn't the norm - usually some odd-ball reason for it. (like leaving the next day for a 14 day trip for work). So I'm comfortable with the process and know my way around the different cuts of meat. My 23 year old daughter hunts with me - She's a LMT and has a pretty extensive biology background and not at all afraid of field dressing or butchering, so now she helps with the process.

EDgun Leshiy - YouTube

@NYBowhunter - What's the purpose of the galvanized sheet at the base of ladder ?

Here's mine with the factory barrel. And dressed up with the 20" turkey barrel in MO Obsession finish. Sent from my SM-G981U using Tapatalk