New York Hillbilly

Nor do I, but you nobody wanted the reputation of being the person repeatedly wounding deer, or hunting with those with the attitude People with that philosophy were not welcomed in any deer camp, or game club I ever knew of or was associated with, and in fact I was an officer for many years of our local F&G club, as well as at the county level, As they say, talk is cheap, and a picture is worth a thousand words. The seeming endless pictures of deer shot in hind quarters, guts, head, neck and everyplace other than where you are taught to shoot one from day one, tells an entirely different story.

Thanks Pygmy, you too! Stay safe...I'll try to do the same!

lol......memory medication...... for old guys like us! Thanks for the laugh by the way, you got me laughing hard enough to hack up a lung! I may clear this illness in time for the opener after all. : )

hahaha......yup......as long as you keep taking your Aricept it probably will remain that way! : 0 or they put me on it....then I'll catch up....lol!

hahaha......yup......as long as you keep taking your Aricept it probably will remain that way! : 0

You have me beat by 4 or 5 years of deer season it seems, and you are entitled to your opinion. We will simply disagree, as it has not been what I have experienced or witnessed.

I think the volunteer work you and others like you do is noble and selfless, and speaks to your good character. It also shows a level of patience most, including me, fail to possess, at least when it comes to this subject. While life teaches us something new everyday, and none of us are above making mistakes and learning from them, I think the basics I would venture to guess are still taught in hunter safety classes, should be pretty hardwired long before one pulls the trigger or release. My extended fear is that poor decision making and reckless behaviors are not likely limited to just one activity. In other words; I'm certain many of the same people who make such poor choices will be out and about the woodlots next week, this time armed with firearms. A slippery slope, and not a comforting thought!

We will have to agree to disagree on this one. I forget if this is my 44th or 45th year of deer hunting, but can tell you I have never seen anything like how this has taken off with tracking dogs. Don't get me wrong, I think they are an excellent resource to have, but I think they have become the excuse in many peoples minds why they can take iffy shots. I won't be convinced otherwise. I just see too much of this going on.

I have been, and his comment/opinion after tracking all the deer this year, is that many of these "hunters" have no business even being out there. I'll take it from the guy closest to the action, and wearing actual blisters on his feet chasing gut shot deer, deer shot in the rear ends, through the back, and with legs blown off and chunks of bone on the ground, and on and on. Not my opinion, it's all over the hunting sites.

After oh so many deer seasons, I still get pumped when I have any deer around me, let alone a big buck. I suspect the sight of a large racked buck makes most hunters pulses get going, which also has had me wondering. If the craze and/or trend, however you want to frame it, is about passing smaller bucks to grow big ones, and knowing the reaction such encounters bring, will the increase chances of running into bigger bucks lead to more incidents of poor choices, and high risk shots to be that person who got the big one, and subsequently continued increase in lost animals? Rather than making such behaviors acceptable as just part of the hunting experience, I think we will need exert a little peer pressure once in a while, to make a stand that it is not. Again, bad stuff happens under the best of circumstances, and ultimately only the shooter in most cases knows what really went down, but we should not normalize wounding animals. Although I would like to take a big buck as much as the next hunter, the goal I thought ultimately was to feed our stomachs, not our ego!

As would I. Good call! Perhaps some of your good sense can rub off on a few more people! BY the way, I love Cooperstown! Worked there for a couple of years. : )

I agree totally that nobody is perfect, and sadly know the feeling of losing a deer. But, it is the knowing of such a sinking, sickening feeling that I believe kept people from pushing the envelope in the past, at least for some of us, and I think,as a result we may have actually passed on if there is such a word, "shootable" deer, rather than run the risk of going through such an ordeal. And make no mistake that word got out quickly in an area if your were "that person", who made a habit of wounding and losing a deer. There does not seem to be the same stigma anymore. Anyone who shoots moving animals, takes marginal shots on purpose, is just winging shots.

Congrats on successful hunt, and an impressive deer!

Argue if you want, or put your head in the sand over this issue, but this is NUTS! Too ignore it is even nuttier! Since someone tagged me into the site NY Hunt Club, it is a nonstop daily occurrence, multiple (very many) people talking about wounding "Big", "biggest", "buck of a lifetime, "slobs", that they admit to being shit shots, hurried shots, front on shots, deflection, etc., and now "need to number" for "the nearest tracker dog". Today there is even one asking pre-emptively; "I don't need now, but for when I do", "how much", actually planning for shit to go wrong. As I sit here trying to get over the "flu", I actually got from the flu shot I took before I came back to protect my 10 month old grandson, I'm left to do nothing but heal up for next weekend opener, missing out on the bow season I desperately wanted to enjoy after all my work, planning, and travel. To pass the time, I'm left reading this site and others, hoping to cheer others, and living vicariously for the time being through them as I hack up my lungs. But, now making matters worse, and my mood, are the dozen upon dozen of people admitting to what amounts to winging arrows at deer with bows and crossbows, at weird angles, out to 70 and 80 yards, moving deer, as if if they are simply lucky enough to get an arrow into the animal they can call for dog backup. If you think I'm exaggerating, take a peek at that site. Granted, there are some impressive deer being taken also by proper shot placement and recovery, but the number in the other camp is frighteningly staggering to me. Hate to rain on anyones parade here, but it IS a problem, and others are also beginning to raise noise about it.

Good shot, good tracking, good deer, good example of how to do it, good job!

Exactly right in my opinion. I do think the numbers of shot and lost deer is far above what it was in the "old days". I also think technology has played a significant role, and as odd as it may seem, not in a positive way. In my earliest days I hunted first with a long bow that was really nothing more than a toy by today's standards, and then a Bear recurve. With the uncles there to guide me, and also threaten to kick my ass if I did something "dumb", I hunted the first 6 or 7 seasons and had some of my closest encounters with deer, but never released an arrow, even though I drew back several times. The reason why I did not shoot, was my fear of wounding an animal I could not recover, and then suffering the wrath of my uncles, real or imaginary. Six or seven seasons with no deer taken, but some of my earliest and exciting hunting memories. I took my first deer, a spike buck, with my then new "Robin Hood Little John" compound bow, that again is a toy by today's standards. The deer died within 30 or 40 yards, and was cause for great celebration as my Uncle Bill practically witnessed the whole event, as the deer passed him and walked to me, and it's end. The deer was within 15 yards, and with only one exception, (27 yards), all my deer with bow have been under 20 yards. It has been my experience, not only does one have to be more proficient at longer distances, but as deer can respond so quickly to the threat of danger, it is only common sense that the further the distance to them, the higher the probability their response will result in poor shot placement. The new equipment offer as false sense of security for many I am afraid. It does not make up for a lack of skill, or replace the need for practice, and only increases the physical and metaphorical distance people are now willing to go to fill a tag. The "social media" has turned deer camp, into something entirely different. No longer is it limited to a nephew, his uncles and a couple of close friends, with the face to face relationships, guidance, banter, laughter, and verbal jousting, and system of checks and balances that comes from respect for each other and ones self, and the real or imaginary fear to be the one to disrupt that hunting family. Deer camp now seems to be the social media sites, and the dynamics are different due to the feeling of anonymity. Screw up now, tell your story, and get group hugs to feel better about yourself from those who have done the same, or like you because you're popular on a site, or catch hell from others and just turn it all off and walk away. There is no human fallout to deal with after the fact. Lastly, in the old days we would hang our deer in the barn, or meat pole in the yard, and very one would stop by to check it out. Now, the Web is one big meat pole, and it makes me wonder if people's desire to be noticed and/or known as successful deer hunters, drives decisions and actions to take shots they normally would not take.

Ditto!

Someone tagged me, or joined me up somehow on a Facebook, NY deer hunting site, and I have been watching the flood of "stuck a good one and can't find it", "need the number for tracking dog". One tracker and his Golden retriever said he had 61 calls in just one day, the other day. And, I saw more just now on the same site. Anyone who has hunted any length of time, if being honest, will admit to have suffered the loss of a deer during their career, but this looks out of control. Maybe we can say it's just more obvious with social media, but no matter, nobody can deny or dispute the problem exists, when it is all over these sites. Deer after deer being shot, lost, and followup calls to wonderful volunteers with their 4 legged partners, to "come find my deer". I wonder if all the trackers keep record of how many times called, how many times they go out, and report this and recovery rates to the DEC?. How bad is the shot placement? Look and see how many deer, and bear, are recovered and/or lost, even with the skilled help of a tracker, and the sharp nose of his dog. Where is the honesty, or integrity, to recognize, own, and work to fix the problem? Is the new motto, just sink an arrow in, and call the dog? If you lose one, get right back on stand the very next evening or morning? Losing a deer used to be something we feared, sick over, and nothing we wanted to be known for, which is why we had strict rules to not shoot at moving animals, and they had to be broadside or quartering away. It's also why we practiced, practiced, and practiced, from the ground, and from tree stands. Nobody is perfect, and/or immune from losing a deer, certainly not me. But, it looks like something is trending in a real bad direction.

Coyotes used to freak me out in the dark too. That is until I moved to Alaska. Now I have been desensitized, after three years living with big wolves, small to medium sized black bears, and REALLY BIG Brown bears in my yard from time to time, and always never far away. There have been several severe Brown bear and Blackie attacks on people, some fatal, since I moved to the Kenai. Scary to me now is fishing Salmon on the Kenai, in the bush, knowing full well the bears are doing the same, whether or not I'm there, and me not packing anything other than fishing gear. Coyotes be damned at this point! : )

To call squirrels all you need to do is sit by a tree, and make noise like a “nut”!

I agree at least 4 point. Right side looks like may have small browtine as well.

November 1st through January 2nd. Flying back to visit family and hunt my property in CNY. Leave it to me to forget to put in for my landowner permit, again! Urghhh!

I admire the little fellas interest, passion and creativity, but as a father, grandfather, and medical provider, the thought of him or anyone else up there frightens me. Might better get him an inexpensive ladder stand and harness, or a nice ground blind. Must be a real good boy! And, a brave one at that! : )

First I thought it was Blackberry, but now thinking it might be Wineberry.

Oops...sorry guys. I figured folks remembered I was living now up here on the Kenai Peninsula, Alaska. I'll be back in NY though for couple months, to spend with my son, and daughter, son in law, and celebrate my grandson's first birthday, and the holidays. I'll also get to my property in 7M to do a little deer hunting. : )