New York Hillbilly

I have taken several bears, years ago in Canada, by gun and bow. My family enjoyed eating each one of the bears. Like any other animal, you need to pay attention to how you handle it after the kill, and in preparing it for cooking. We liked the meat cubed and on skewers after soaking in "speedies" over night and cooked on the grill. The kids went wild over it! To the wide eyed amazement of my neighbors at the time so did their kids. LOL! I would say however, the bears we shot were in way back "in the bush" as they refer to it in Canada. I might not be as quick to jump on the chow wagon to eat a bear that has spent it's life time raiding dumpsters and the town dump as some unfortunately do these days. A fella I used to work with years ago talked about the wonderful time he and his wife and grandkids had "over the weekend" once. I will try to say this as close to how he said it to me, "watching the momma bears, daddy bears and their little baby bears playing and eating at the dump, it was beautiful..........nature at it's finest!". Honest to goodness I almost choked! Something in my minds eye says watching a bear walk around with an old dirty diaper around in it's mouth, or some other nasty garbage, is certainly not nature at it's finest! Oh well, to each his own. Bon appetite.....lol!

I was complaining and protesting loudly about this very subject, twenty years ago. For several years I was a representative from our Rod and Gun club, and then an officer to our county level sportsmen's organization. My major complaint at the time was the fragmentation of the farms that was occurring as several land buyers were swooping in and purchasing as many of the large farm parcels they could from the aging owners who fell behind in their taxes, as cheaply as possible, far below the lands actual value, and at times only for owed back taxes. The practice at the time seemed to be, buy big parcels cheap, clean them of any and all marketable timber if the farmer had not already been forced to do so to pay taxes, chunk the land up in parcels, and then sell them to others as a place to build and live, or to have as hunting land. I expressed the very concerns mentioned in the article about the difficulty to manage deer and other wildlife populations, the potential restrictions that could be imposed on hunting, the likely hard feelings between neighbors, and a list of other reasons to watch the trend of chunking up and selling off farmland. Very few seemed to share my concern then, and to be honest I finally just tired of "wizzing in the wind", and with all that goes on in ones life, I tired of grumbling and instead devoted my time and efforts to things like my job and raising my family. Funny how things go full circle though and this is an important consideration and the right time. As this very moment our town is working on their new comprehensive plan and I will bring this up at tonights meeting. Thank you for bringing this up at this time and making it fresh in my mind.

Dinsdale, Glad you liked it and feel free to use it when and where necessary for educational purposes. lol! Peace

I had posted in response to an earlier thread, I planned to hunt with my grandfather's Savage Model 99. The original plan was that I would take a deer with my grandfather's rifle and then clean it and put it away. I wanted to take a deer with his rifle as a tribute, and out of my love and respect for the man who looked out for me, and my brother and sister's. Because we grew up without a father things were hard growing up. If it were not for the milk, bread and peanut butter runs to our house that my grandparents frequently made, there would have been nothing in the house at all to eat at times. There would have been no birthday cakes, no Christmas presents, and nobody to look up to, or to respect and fear just enough, to keep us in line, and to learn the value of working hard and trying to do “the right thing”. Well my plan changed somehow and as a result, me and this rifle have spent many hours in the woods together this season, and I have enjoyed every minute. Because I have not hunted with open sights for many, many years, I limited myself to only shooting 40 yards and under. Prior to opening day I put a group of three shots all in the heart of my paper deer target at 40 yards and was confident at that distance. Since opening day I have passed on no fewer than a dozen little bucks and countless does all well within my self imposed limitation. Each time a deer has presented an opportunity I have just sat and watched as they came and went. For what ever reason I just did not feel pressured to kill a deer, yet. I had even thought maybe at 53, I had just finally lost my edge. Then, this morning after watching between 15 and 20 does walk up the hill about 60 yards away I had a thought. Maybe the reason I hadn’t shot a deer thus far was because I didn’t want to put my grandfather’s gun away. I was enjoying sitting in the woods with his rifle. It was like he was there with me, and it was a good feeling. I remember he spent so much time working at his business and taking care of family he never had time to go hunting himself. In fact I could not recall ever in my lifetime him going hunting at all. All he did was work until he sold his business and retired, and by then he was to old and tired, even though I frequently asked him to go with me. I do remember however, him sitting and cleaning his rifle from time to time, and then putting it away in his room. He seemed really proud of his rifle and kept it nice. Maybe while sitting cleaning it, he thought back to his days hunting in the Adirondack’s, with his hunting buddies, in their old canvas wall tent, with the smell of a smoke fire and a deer or two hanging from the meat pole. I’ll never know because he never said and I never asked. I wish I had though. But, he was at least on the outside a gruff man, not the type to express his inner feelings or likely to admit he even had any. The feelings were obviously there however. I learned that he as a boy and young man, he had loved the outdoors and hunting in particular. In fact somewhere in the family there are even some stories written by him as a child about “how to trap a rabbit”, and “how to start a camp fire”. It amazes me, so much of who I am is who he was. And while he didn’t speak much, it was his actions that said the most about the things he felt inside, like quietly cleaning his gun, or driving my grandmother to our apartment to deliver something for us to keep us going. Again, quietly, without celebration, or any expectation of anything in return. With my vacation winding down, the need to return to work, and my epiphany this morning, I decided that today, “we”, will kill a deer. I positioned myself on side of my hill, in a head high golden rod/over grown brushy field. It is a field that separates their bedding area from a woodlot that then leads to the cut over corn fields where they feed at night. There is a five foot wide mowed swath that cuts through the middle of the fields from behind my house all the way to the top of the hill. With a small fold up stool shoved into a small thorn apple tree that has taken up residence in the field, next to the mowed trail, I sat in ambush. I was sucking on a Worther’s candy, trying to stay awake, and listening for a deer to come through the golden rod. A gray fox scampered across the trail about thirty yards from me and made me realize that any shot I would have was likely to be quick. A five foot window was not that much, a bit like jump shooting rabbits. I repositioned my self slightly, because I knew with very little doubt which way the deer would be traveling, based on my years of hunting this same hill. With the Savage rifle at the ready, my heart began to quicken it’s pace as I heard a buck grunting, and crashing coming towards me. I had the very real fear a deer might run headlong into me because they were coming so fast and I was so well hidden. As the crashing and grunting got closer a doe jumped into the air only feet from me and cleared the trail entirely. More grunting and crashing and then a great big doe leaps out onto the trail and readies herself to leap again. Before she can jump I was already on her, and with the bark of my grandfather’s rifle she is laying dead in the middle of the trail. I was totally impressed with effectiveness of the rifle, and a wave of emotion swept over me. I stepped off 18 yards to where she was laying in the trail. I then took a long quiet moment to reflect, give thanks and pay my respects. Once back at the house, I called my uncle who had given my grandfather’s rifle. I told him about how the deer hunt went and he said “I’m happy you killed a deer with grampa’s rifle”. I asked when he thought the last deer was killed with it prior to today and he said, “Back in the 1940’s” Well, it’s been a lot of years, but me, my grandfather, and his rifle got one today. Now I’m going to clean the rifle and put it away for the season.

Normally I try to avoid stuff like this but this time I just can't. Instead of complaining your husband "only got ONE deer this year", maybe you should congratulate him on the accomplishment. Do you have any idea how many people hunt every year and never shoot a deer, not even "ONE"? Believe it or not some people actually choose to not pull the trigger and still enjoy their time afield. Something is missing in the world today. Everybody is worried that someone getting a bigger piece of pie than them, or in this case more deer. Buying a hunting license is to provide an opportunity to legally hunt for a deer, to enjoy time in the woods for that purpose, getting away from it all, a chance to think free of all the distractions, and lots of other things that are very personal to each hunter, it's not a guarantee that you will get a deer. A deer tag is not a coupon redeemable at your nearest woodlot that entitles you to a deer. Like so may other things these days, hunting seems to have lost it's meaning. It is a symptom of the age in which we live. Rather than measure ourselves constantly with someone else's yard stick and be envious, can't we take stock of what we do have and be thankful. We need to remember maybe someone out there does have more than we do, but there are also those who have much less. Ok, time for me to move on. Oh..tell your husband I said congratulations on his his getting a deer. And there is still time to fill that buck tag, and lots of bucks still out there. Best of luck! Peace

This morning I saw 15 to 20 does, in several groups, all heading for the same bedding area. When I came out for the morning and saw this post I had to smile, because it seems it was the same all over.

Welcome to the site Patrick and to the brother/sisterhood of hunters. Good luck to you!

Fisher? I have one living on my hill and has been here for the past couple of years. I didn't now what he was when I saw him the first time. I looked him up on line and discovered he was a fisher. Looks like a great big mink. He seem to just float over the ground, logs, and in and out of blowdowns, keeping pretty busy. I saw him for the first time this season the others day and was glad he was still around. Interesting thing by the way is that on my way of the hill last week, I had to stop dead in my tracks when I heard a noise that sounded like the grunts of a wild boar. It was the same sound you hear on that "hogger show" and it freaked me out a little. I never saw what made the noise but then while reading these posts on this site I saw one where it said a fisher makes a grunting noise. Makes sense to me when I add up the pieces. Anyway, yup, at least one fisher running around. I can't help in the mountain lion or moose department though.

WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have to move out by my daughter. I think her town, Webster, is in that county.

Hey Muthers you might be on to something. With all the talk about "discretion" when it comes to the application of game laws, if this thing has wheels, will it be considered the use of a wheeled vehicle? Granted it does not wheel you around horizontally from place to place but it does transport you vertically. lol Just a thought.

OK..........a couple observations. First.......cool! Second.......what if like every other mechanical thing on earth it should stop working for some reason, and you are up in the tree? You're there! LOL! The other thing, I was cringing the whole time the guy was bouncing, jumping, leaning on the rail backwards, as I was looking for his safety strap. I never did see one on him, but towards the end he did say they recommend you wear one. Did anyone see a safety strap on the guy demonstrating the stand?

Judging from the activity this morning, I think the deer on my hill forgot to look at their calender. lol!

WOW, I have lots of them over the years. Some resulted in me just not shooting, once or twice a miss, but normally I keep it together and make the shot. Because of my years of bow hunting I for the most part hunt the same way with gun and they are usually very close when I'm shooting even with the gun. And when deer are real close to me the adrenaline pumps like crazy whether I'm going to shoot or not. LOL! I was bow hunting a bunch of years ago and had a tracking string on my bow at the time. I had been introduced to the tracking string by a outfitter in Bathurst, New Brunswick, when I went bear hunting for the first time. Anyway, I was in my tree stand and a high rack six pointer came slipping up on me and was looking straight at me. I don't think he saw me but it was unsettling with his gaze on me. I waited till he looked down to draw back, knowing he would then either take a step forward on the trail or turn to leave an expose himself to a real good shot. I was pumped at that point but in control. When he looked down I raised my bow, and with my bad technique I have a habit of raising my bow skywards, drawing and then lowering, aiming and shooting. It is something have always done,like a I said a habit. Well, I also was using the release that my cousin had given me before he died, and although it was getting old and beginning to fail mechanically on occasion, I struggled with the idea of not taking it with me. So, I tip my bow to the sky, draw back and at about three quarter draw the release lets go and sends my arrow through the tree tops with about a mile and a half of this blaze orange tracking string in tow. Now draped through the tree tops is all this orange string. To my amazement the deer just stood there. NOW..........my mind was racing..what the hell......heart pumping.....confused...now what do I do....what happened........is he gonna take off.....c'mon get a grip..... Ok! With the deer still there and still seemingly unconcerned, I pull another arrow from my quiver, cut the still attached orange string with the broad head, loosen the broad head, twist the string around the arrow, tighten the broad head to secure the string, stand up, attach my release, point to the sky, draw the bow and................twang...whoosh........off through the trees again goes my second arrow and string. This time again at three quarter draw and the release lets go. To add insult, or I should say "assault" to injury, this time when the release let go I pop myself in the mouth and almost knocked myself off my tree stand. Ok.....that's it, I'm done! I felt totally spent. I stood there at that point and all I could do was laugh, as I watched the deer calmly just turn around and exit on the same trail he came in on, as if totally unconcerned about my antics, and as I looked at the seemingly endless amount of this blaze orange string decorating my tree tops. Once he was gone and my legs stopped shaking enough I could climb down without falling, I got down. I pulled as much string as I could get free from the trees and had to leave the rest a testimony to my fiasco. I did find one of my arrows and the other as far as I know remains someplace up in a tree. I retired the release and stopped using the tacker string that day. Both remain in my pile of "stuff" and whenever I see them I think of my cousin "Doug" and that "high rack six point".

I was out for a couple of hours this morning but wow was it busy. It was cold, still, crunchy, and very pretty as the sunrise greeted me in my tree today. First here comes a medium sized doe and her little fawn from behind me, and I let them quietly walk by. Momma taking a few steps at a time, stopping and looking around checking the area for danger, and baby trailing close behind moving only when her momma moves and clearly totally relying on the doe at this time. Next from across the hill in front of me, out of the hemlocks and through the tree tops left by loggers two years ago, comes two bucks walking together. They looked like brothers, with the first one on total hyper alert mode. The lead buck was smaller in body size but was a basket six point. The one following him was bigger bodied, with a rack very similar to the first buck but he only was a four point. Like the fawn with the doe, the four point was clearly just following the movement of the smaller lead six point. He looked kind of clueless and only moved when the lead buck moved and stopped when the lead buck stopped. They turned on the hill and walked down, then broadside to me at about 25 yards, with both of them having the crosshairs on their kill zone as they slipped into the brushy bedding area. Next, I watched a small doe picking around in a blowdown for a long time. I thought she was going to bed there, but she finally hopped out and walked in front of me and into the same bedding area as the other deer this morning. Finally, a big doe and her two nice sized fawns came across the hill on the same path the bucks had been on and also passed by me and into the bedding area. I decided to call it quits for the morning even though I would have liked to have stayed. With my vacation time quickly slipping by and winter almost here I figured I better get some more of the "honey do list" out of the way. It was a great morning in the woods and I just thought would share. Oh..and another neat thing today was I saw the same black mink I have been seeing this season, and for the first time this season also saw the fisher I have seen the past couple of seasons on my hill. I was happy to see he is still around. He is a great big, fuzzy fellow. What a great morning!

Update? How are you making out finding your deer?

Welcome to the site Hunter7mm-08. I was in your neck of the woods over the summer, visiting friends. My family is originally from up that way. I live just south of Utica, lots of deer and unfortunately......coyotes.

Sorry about the spelling I'm in a tree myself at the moment. "hint" was "hunt", and "fun" was "gun". It's a little tough with wind blowing snow in my eyes. Lol!

Tyman I grew up in Utica but haves lived most of my adult life in Waterville. There are thousands of acres of public hinting here and in Brookfield. Other than opening day and the first weekend of fun season you can have most of it to yourself. It's not like the old days with a hunter behind every tree. Good luck finding someplace that feels right to you, and happy hunting.

Looks to me more like a high hit one side/one lung and out the brisket. My cousin hit one like that a lot of years ago and we tracked it on hands and knees in the dark with a flashlight we had to keep hitting to make work. In the end we (me first) crawled within feet of it as it was bedded and laying there looking at me. It looked real angry and I felt real NERVOUS. We quietly crawled back out on the same trail with me just waiting to feel that little six point rack in my backside. Went back the next day and it had moved a few yards and was still alive. It jumped up and I put it down for keeps. We didn't have near the blood you have though and judging from your past picture, I bet if you go back again he will be pretty close and dead in his bed. Good luck. Keep us posted. I'm headed for my stand now.

Congrats on your deer. And as far as shooting to get a deer moving "your way", what a joke. The more likely real deal is that he "missed", was feeling like crap, saw you with the deer that you shot that he missed despite him hijacking your favorite spot, and was too embarrassed to just say nothing, so he got down to put a bandaid on his injured ego and provide it some desperately needed damage control. Then on the other hand maybe he just wanted to see what a deer looks like close up. LOL!

OK I admit it. I must be as tacky as you think the paint job is........lol...........I love it........especially the gas tank. Maybe not so much the hard saddle bags because the deer look a little "cartoony." (lol...new word) But the gas tank gets thumbs up from this tacky Hillbilly.

I can just imagine the hunter just texted his buddy; "Hey buddy.........I'm telling you they MUST be close, I swear I can smell em!".

That should make news if the deer falls. "Hunter killed by deer dropping!"

We'll have to agree to disagree on this one I guess and that's ok. I hold my opinion that one acre of land is not safe to be hunting with firearms. And, as far as knowing what beyond, that should be no problem because unless your sitting smack dab in the middle of the lot and are over your head in brush you should be able to see a coupe hundred feet without any problem. LOL! Lastly, even on big acres the thought of having a round traveling across onto another's property is a scary thought to me. That is why on my land all my stands are placed so that we fire into my property and never towards my neighbors land. I would rather be overly careful than risk someone getting hurt.

All settled in, quiet and still this morning. Things not awake yet. Only sound is distant roar of tires on the highway and hum of the corn driers.