Mr VJP

Welcome Aboard Fellow Member Named Vincent! ;D

Maybe one day you might want to bring them up by my place and run bear over here. The farmer would sure like that.

HounderEmily, I'm in 4P and am most often not at home when the hounds are running there. I was just curious what the deal was on the dogs running. The farmer up the road hates bears and claims to have 7 of them roaming around and causing problems. One came right up under my back deck this past May. Have you ever run the dogs near Delhi, NY?

I always try to shape up for hunting starting in August. Diet is the big problem as I go to the gym twice a week all year. I need to lose 10 pounds this season to get down to 180 again.

And all of the current ammo one has stored now would no longer be useful? That's bull.

Junk science should never be used to make policy. This agenda will accomplish nothing. Go to Gettysburg battlefield and see how much lead is in the ground there. No harm has ever come from any of it.

You're next door to me. I didn't know you could hunt bear with hounds.

Welcome aboard!

I'm in 4P. What is 4X now?

There are fewer does in 4P and fewer permits than 5 or 6 years ago. There seems to be about the same number of buck though and seems more bigger buck too. But maybe I just see more now that they have to move more to get to the fewer does in the area now.

They are earlier this year by me. Not sure if it's from the rain in the spring or the hot summer weather. Just gets the deer feeding on them sooner and once they are gone, they'll move on to other food sources.

Not even sure if they are considered legal, but I would think they would work if you can get them to shoot accurately. Talk about a long hang time. I would have to sit in a dry ground blind looking over a good trail upwind to even try it.

I still use the old T/C Maxi-Balls. Those old lead bullets probably leave a good blood trail. I don't really know, because the deer I shoot with them just fall down where they are.

You're Welcome. I think if you do a Google search on the web you will find more sellers. Another good site to check is www.auction arms.com.

Rifle hunting usually means a deer on the opener more than any other day. But the odds are still good for the whole first week of the season too.

I have had luck with rattling on a number of occasions. I use real horns. I find if you use them during the rut they will lure a good buck in out of curiosity even if there are too many does in the area. I also find when I'm rattling with a large rack pair of antlers, it will scare the small bucks off, but not the big ones. Getting them to come in within bow range is a whole different issue.

Hound hunters shoot treed bears all the time. Nothing wrong with it.

Welcome aboard.

Welcome aboard.

Welcome aboard.

Welcome aboard.

I like early November. From the first to the 12th seems best.

Welcome to the forum fellow Catskill Mountain hunter! What town do you hail from?

Welcome Aboard!

Time to Make Our Collective Voices Heard Yesterday, the Environmental Protection Agency opened the public comment period on a petition from the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) to ban all traditional ammunition and fishing tackle containing lead under the Toxic Substance Control Act of 1976. Never mind the fact that ammunition was specifically exempted from the act, the CBD now says that the EPA should consider banning lead as a component of ammunition and not the final product exempted from the Act. Ditto tackle for recreational and commercial angling. Despite any convoluted logic CBD employed in their petition, the EPA is required to accept or reject the petition by November 1, 2010 -coincidentally the day before the midterm elections. As you've read here previously, there are serious concerns over the petition because the current director of the EPA, Lisa Jackson, has proven herself to be no friend of hunters or hunting. Hopefully, Mrs. Jackson has risen above the political aspects of the job, but there's no guarantee. Because of that uncertainty, the National Shooting Sports Foundation is working to mobilize everyone in the shooting industry - that includes you and me - to participate in the public comment period and let the EPA know we're not looking favorable on that petition - or anyone who would support it. Fortunately, NSSF has done the heavy lifting on making it easy to comment on the petition. If you choose to stress your opposition to this measure, NSSF has the following suggestions for points to stress: There is no scientific evidence that the use of traditional ammunition is having the claimed adverse impact on wildlife Wildlife management is the jurisdiction of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services and the 50 state wildlife agencies, not the EPA A 2008 study by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on blood levels of North Dakota hunters confirmed that consuming game harvested with traditional ammunition does not pose a human health risk A ban would have a negative impact on wildlife conservation. The federal excise tax that manufacturers pay on the sales of ammunition (eleven percent) is a primary source of wildlife conservation funding. The bald eagle's recovery was made possible and paid and funded by hunters using traditional ammunition-the same ammo that the CBD is now demonizing. Recent statistics from the USFWS show that from 1981 to 2006 the number of breeding pairs of bald eagles in the US increased 724 percent. Much like the bald eagle, raptor populations are soaring. You can take several steps: Comment online to the EPA- here's the link Comment directly to Administrator Lisa Jackson either by writing, calling or email at the address below: Lisa P. Jackson Administrator, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW Washington, DC 20460 (202) 564-4700 Fax: (202) 501-1450 Email: [email protected] You can also contact your senators and representatives and tell them to use their not-inconsiderable influence to stop the EPA from banning traditional ammunition. It might not hurt to gently - and tactfully- remind those elected officials that an announcement on the petition is scheduled for the day BEFORE the midterm elections. It's not often that we add our voice to a call for public action, but this is another of those times when our elected officials and public administrators need to be reminded that there are millions of us "out here" and we're expecting them to represent our interests. - Jim Shepherd The Outdoor Wire