JJNY

I wanted to Thank everyone who responded/reached out! Between this forum and social media the responses were more than I expected. We received several great tips and the DEC is investigating. I wanted to clarify a few things since I didn't write a novel on my original post... 1. There is a long history of poaching/shooting at night on this property and our neighbors. 2. We contacted as many of the neighboring land owners within 500 yards of this deer to see who may have been on the trail of one. Based on the shot placement and clump of hair where the deer lay, we are certain this deer did not travel far (if any) distance. 3. We spent 30 minutes doing circles out to 100 yards in an open field between 4 guys to locate blood, none found. 4. We would NEVER deny someone permission to track/retrieve a deer, never understood why someone would do that. 5. We weren't Hunting this day so, none of us had a Buck Tag on us when we left the house in a hurry after we were notified of the scenario. After over two hours on the scene, we decided to run back to the house to get a Tag so we could Tag the deer. The DEC indicated it would be 24 hours or more before they could respond, ended up being around 52 hours later. We were going to have one of the guys stay and watch while we ran back to the house but, the rain let loose and we were not dressed for it. We decided to throw up a cell Cam while we ran back to the house not thinking they would actually come back in the daylight. As soon as we got back to the house, we received the pics of the truck entering the Field. 6. This was Thanksgiving and we had other obligations that we had to consider instead of a covert operation LOL I know hindsight is always 20/20 but, we tried to think this through as much as possible in the moment. Would we have done some things different, absolutely. Hopefully we learn from this in case it happens again but, most importantly, we hope we can deter this type of illegal activity.

This morning around 9 am we found a buck laying in our Field about 75 yards off the road with a gunshot wound. The deer wasn’t stiff yet and had been shot recently. We called the DEC and they said it could likely be tomorrow before they could respond. We set up a Cam and got a pic of a truck pulling up and taking the deer around 11:40 am. This location is near the intersection of Hemlock and Bauter Rd in Wheeler, NY. My blood is boiling right now, if anyone knows this POS, please let me know! Happy Thanksgiving SMH

This year we decided to do 2 straight weeks, 1 week of Bow and 1 week of Gun. Typically we do a week of Bow and then come back a few weeks later for Gun. I was able to get full draw on a Shooter at 15 yards during Bow but, couldn't get the pin on him quick enough as he was in hot pursuit of a doe. Fast forward to the last morning of our 2 week adventure, this guy steps out broadside at 50 yards in an open field! I put in over 100 hours in the stand thru some bitter cold temps and high winds but, it all came together in a matter of seconds.

We dropped off 96# last week and are having them ship it to Virginia. We ordered a variety of the Smoked Items since they do not Ship Fresh Products. I expect our bill to be over $1000 before shipping...if that tells you how good it is! I have gave out some samples to my friends here in Va in the past and that was a huge mistake, now they hound the crap out of me about including them in our order. We used to do that but, it became too much work and took the fun out of our hunting, now we just keep it to our group of 4. We have been going to Costanzas for 15 years, I think we paid for his addition LOL

For me, it's hard to pick one favorite as I've had so many experiences over my 30 plus years of Hunting that I will always remember. As Belo states above, our favorite seems to be one we've shared in and the one that sticks out is one that just happens to be from this year. My son killed his first Buck and the raw emotion of excitement that he displayed will absolutely be something I will never forget. He started hunting at the age of 7 (Legal in Virginia) and he was fortunate enough to take a small Doe that year with his .410. After a 3 year drought, he finally connected on his first Buck with his 20 Gauge! The past couple of years he has come to NY with me for the Gun Opener and has been fortunate enough to see several Bucks while in the Stand. All he has been able to talk about is that when he turns 12, he is going to shoot his first Buck with the Bow in NY. Well, maybe his second now LOL! It was mid-day on December 30th and we were doing a small man drive on a 50 acre cut-over, him and I were set-up on the back side of the cut-over in a small gully. The drive had just started when a Doe popped out of the cut-over and stood there about 30 yards away. He clicked off his safety waiting for a clear shot but, the doe cut hard right and did not present a shot. He looked up at me with a frustrated look and the only thing I could think of to say was "be patient, the drive just started". As he turned around, we heard the sound of a deer coming our way from the same direction that the doe did. My view was obstructed slightly by 4 trees when all of a sudden he threw the gun up and fired! To my amazement, I see a deer do a 360 in the air and all I see are antlers LOL. Just like that, it was over, he had his first Buck! We hugged for several minutes and he broke down crying with excitement. What an experience, those of you that have been with your had a son or daughter when they have taken there first deer know exactly what I'm talking about. Pic 1 is where the deer expired, Pic 2 is a visual of his emotions and Pic 3 is the one that we will hang below the Head Mount when it comes back from the Taxidermist.

Prior to about 5 years ago, our typical routine would be... Stand Hunting the first 5 days of gun only and then the remainder of the season, we would Stand Hunt til 9 am, Drives the middle of the day and then Stand Hunt the Evening. Just like any type of Hunting, I had Success and Failures. It broke up the monotony of sitting all day and also provided action when daylight activity was minimal. We have decided not to do drives anymore because we feel the Negatives outweigh the Benefits in regards to disturbing the Deer and pushing them off the Property. There are all kinds of Tactics for Hunting, no one way is better than another, it is a personal preference. I moved to Virginia about 20 years ago and they run Dogs, trust me that was something that was hard for me to adjust to. As time passed and I have started to understand the Heritage of Running Dogs for Deer and the Club Mentality, I have embraced it. It's not my choice for pursuing Deer however, I participate in the comradery and it's a nice change of pace late in the season when I have already put in hundreds of hours on stand. Merica, where we have the Freedom to choose! Don't Hate on others choices!

Our group does a $1000 order with them every year, they have countless options of product. Is it pricey...yes but, if you don't have the equipment, time or desire to make your own it is absolutely worth it! I pass out samples to friends and family and everyone becomes an immediate fan. As far as the hour drive, we drive up from Virginia to pick up our order.

Some hilarious responses! We allowed people the first couple of years we had the Lease to ride and we started having Stands coming up missing, Trails cut thru the Woods, Beer Cans thrown everywhere, etc... We had to put a stop to allowing anyone on the Land no matter the purpose. We tried to be nice knowing that Land Access is hard enough but, a few bad apples ruined it for everyone. Our Landowner allows us to say who can and can't be on the Land year round outside of it dealing with Farming/Timber.

Anyone recognize these Individuals or ATV's? Avoca/Wheeler Area...apparently they don't see Posted Signs and think it's Funny to Trespass.

Originally from NY, live in Va now. Kids can hunt at any age down here, my son killed his first deer in Va when he was 7 with a .410 Shotgun at about 10 yards. Hunting Clubs are more popular here, groups of 15-30 hunters hunting large tracts of land with dogs (that's another story I don't want to get started on). It's nothing to show up on Saturday and see 25 adults and 10 kids under 12 guns in hand waiting to go. Obviously, the kids must be supervised but, in the 20 years that I have lived here I don't recall a child related hunting accident in the news. It's usually the over excited adult who get's out once a year who shoots into a moving bush that you hear about.

Our group hunts in 8P and just as everyone else has stated, it was a very quiet opening day regarding shots. My personal beliefs are that a combination of less hunters per square mile and selective harvest intentions are the reason for this. We Lease over 1000 acres (small woodlots & fields) and we only had 5 guys hunting, it's our preference to not over hunt areas and try and allow the deer to remain on somewhat a normal routine rather than being pressured. We just sit, we do not do drives or bother bedding areas. Being that Rifles are allowed in our area, it's a safety thing as well to be spread out. For the season, we have only taken 1 Buck (120" 8pt with the Bow) and 8 Does. Everyone of us could have Tagged out on a Buck and a Doe by the second day if we had wanted to however, our preference is to take the does for meat (we are fortunate to have a plentiful herd of doe) and trophy Bucks. In our area, the herd appears to be just fine and if anything larger than last year. One thing I am wondering is why we didn't see more 120" plus Bucks on our Lease? Was it the hard Winter last year? Is it possible that rumored Poaching is more prevalent than we have witnessed? Are all the Mature Bucks Nocturnal? The anticipation was high for this year as last year there seemed to be an abundance of 2-1/2 YO Bucks we passed on. One thing to note, a majority of our neighbors (not all) do not have a lot of foot traffic on their property and are selective with the Bucks they harvest as well so, we typically don't hear a lot of shots. The neighbors that we know have the "if it's brown, it's down" philosophy, they certainly didn't experience a lack of deer either from the shots we heard from their direction...LOL

I was reading that just last night...I'll bet that boy never tags a buck with someone else's tag, hunts at night, trespasses, shoots from the road, etc...ridiculous! Way to mentor our future...SMH

Steuben Jerry, couple of Questions... 1. How much do you have invested into that Stand? 2. I can't tell from the pic but, do you have a landing on the back where the ladder is? If not, how easy is it to carry gear up the ladder and open the door? 3. Are the posts embedded into the ground, if so, how deep?

10' or less to the Platform, just need to get up a little to see over the low profile humps in the field. As far as removable, I was thinking some sort of permanent structure in the ground and some type of Bracket on Top to remove the Posts. I don't see our Lease terminating any time soon however, I would like to be able to salvage something should something happen. I was hoping to work with a budget of $400-$500 per Tower. Plan is to build 1 per year.

Looking for some design suggestions/ideas for Tower Blinds. We Lease Land that has a good amount of Fields with Hedgerows and Woodlot edges. The county we hunt in allows Rifles. We spend a lot of hours in the stand and would prefer to do all day sits. Our land is on top of a hill and there never seems to be a light wind day...LOL. All day sits get tougher on consecutive days due to cold weather, wind and plain discomfort in the stand. Not big on purchasing a manufactured "cookie cutter" stand, prefer to build something custom. Some criteria I'm considering... Long Life/Sturdy/Quiet Ability to remove and relocate Possibility of using with a Bow Prevent use by Trespassers without a lock. My thought is some type of removable ladder. Comfort Last but not least, Cost If anyone feels like sharing, post pics or comment on what you have done to your Tower Blind that you feel makes it special. Thanks in advance for your ideas/suggestions!