mike rossi

Here is the gander Mountain link, but like I said, this is no substitute for the real thing.... https://gandermtnacademy.gandermountain.com/

I was referring to two different things, see below. Also, I don't think $200 or so on shooting instruction is a wasted investment whatever you decide. And I forgot to mention, recently Gander Mountain Stores are offering simulated shooting instruction at some of their stores. That wont replace the real thing, but its something to throw in your tool box. 1)The DEC Firearm hunter safety course and the DEC waterfowl ID course, both of which are free. 2) Private shooting instructors. They are easy to find, here is just one link to start your search. Be sure to scroll down below Nevada, they put New York out of order: http://www.nssa-nsca.org/index.php/nsca-sporting-clays-shooting/training-information/instructors/level-1-instructors/

Sounds like you are a locavore, so I am going to answer you in that context. If you are a locavore, you will be probably be interested in a variety of meats rather than just venison, and have no interest in trophies. If so it is important that you clarify that when seeking advice or a mentor. I would say take both the DEC firearm safety course and the DEC waterfowl identification course. Most people learn to shoot with either an air rifle (bb or pellet gun) or a .22 caliber rifle. However, shooting a rifle is nothing at all like shooting a shotgun. In accordance with the law (most) game birds can only be hunted with a shotgun. Shotguns are also preferred by most hunters for cottontails and hares ('rabbits'). I recommend you find a certified shotgun instructor and tell him you never fired any gun and request if he can also give you a lesson on rifle shooting. It will run you $50 lesson and up but it is worth it. To familiarize yourself with guns and shooting it shouldn't take many lessons, but you may want to continue to hasten the learning curve and shoot well quicker. You should also research public hunting lands, including pheasant stocked lands, using the DEC website. Where to hunt what game is going to take some time to learn. Get a pair of binoculars and go to these lands in advance of hunting season. As far as equipment, don't worry, greed is the guiding hand and manufactures will make sure you know about all their products. In general you will need blaze orange clothing for some forms of hunting and camo for other forms. A pair of insulated, camo, neoprene chest waders is also essential. The most important piece of equipment a hunter needs, besides his gun, is a hunting dog. That is a whole learning journey in itself, but mentorship through dog clubs is plentiful. Consider a dog early in your hunting career as well. As you can see, its not just grab a gun and sit in the woods and shoot something, but a life style. Finally, I want to address what you said about buying wild game meat. Only certified game farms can legally sell wild game meats, a hunter can not sell you meat. Farm raised wild game is not much different than farm raised domestic live stock from the perspective of a locavore. The only way to legally obtain quality free range wild game is to lawfully hunt or receive it as a gift as long as it is packaged and tagged in accordance with the law and harvested legally.

I think it is helpful to keep in mind that when turkeys gobble at noises like guns shots and slamming doors that it doesn't mean the birds are not alarmed. They very likely gobble to keep the flock together or facilitate regrouping after scattering. The reason toms gobble at other kinds of birds is probably territory disputes. The male turkey gobbles to claim territory and attract mates, the woodpecker hammers, and a bunch of other kinds of male birds sing. Just a guess, but there might be extra incentive for toms to challenge crows and owls if hens in the egg laying mode take cover when they are around; because that would disrupt the tom's "agenda"...

When the birds are responding to locaters why not use them. But sounding them for 7 hours when the birds are not answering isn't the answer. Some hunters come in, hoot call, move, hoot call, and repeat from like 6:30 to 7 am and then leave - I am not saying do that type of brief hunt to avoid a 7 hour sit, I am saying they are out there alerting the birds during prime time and keeping them on their toes for days... You cant expect youth weekend or opening day birds on May 10 or even May 5. Pressured birds are an entirely different ball game.

Sometimes it is almost like that, a crow and/or other birds goes off and turkeys try to be louder - like its a shouting match, and that can go on for some time. By the same token, as I said, when they are afraid to gobble they wont.

And then try the softest scratch on a box call - they will gobble back at that too when they are in a gobbling mode. It sounds like what is being suggested here by several people is that if you 'get loud' you will evoke gobbling when the birds are not in a gobbling mode. Hunting pressure takes them out of the gobbling mode. The fact that they do gobble at gun shots, slamming doors, and unnatural calling in the absence of hunting pressure or the first few days of the season; does in no way prove that loud calling / shock calling will turn on gobbling once the birds are spooky. Furthermore, the less realistic the calls are, the more likely the birds will associate them with hunters and not regularly occurring natural sounds.

No need for shock calls when crows, geese, and other noisy birds are sounding off. And once birds feel hunting pressure they stop gobbling or cut it way down. Shock and regular turkey calls carry long distances and some hunters just keep calling and loudly at that. All that is telling those birds is hunters are still in the woods. Walking around, getting into the woods too late or leaving too early doesn't help either.

Thanks, that is good to know. The DS would fill the same need covered by blind/handled retrieves, however, some will argue that a straight line out and back disturbs less cover than a dog sweeping the cover. In any event, the better the dog marks, the less often is the need for either a DS or a blind. Then again, one can debate the frequency that the hunter marks the bird and the dog does not, which bodes for the DS ala NAVHDA style....

The DEC division of special licenses, the office which issued you your $200 permit to possess live bobwhites, which I am sure you have, also issues the game bird breeders their permits, so they probably can direct you to licensed breeder.

Regarding NAVHDA, although they do water work, they are a pointing dog organization. Another thing, which is bound to be an unpopular statement, is that I am not sure if the way they train water retrieves would be considered legal during actual hunting in the USA. Here is my explanation: In the USA federal law states you must retrieve waterfowl immediately. The NAVHDA method, which purportedly originates from Europe, the dog is sent after the hunt and it searches for the dead or crippled birds. IMO, under the broadest interpretation of the law, that might be a violation. Americans do it different. A retriever is trained to 'mark' single and multiple birds and sent on command to fetch them. Occasionally, the dog will not mark a bird, but the hunter does. In that scenario the retriever has been trained to 'handle' or make 'blind retrieves' such that the hunter directs the dog to the area of the fall. Granted, there are times when neither the dog nor the hunters mark the bird or the bird drifts or swims off the mark, which justifies a 'search'. Usually when that happens, dog and hunter(s) get out of the blind and sweep the area for the bird. A retriever trained American-style may or may not be trained to 'hunt dead' for this situation, either way most adapt quickly and learn what is going on. If a dog owner undergoes the NAVHDA water training regime, it wont necessarily interfere with Americanized training methods, but I think the dog owner needs to be aware of the difference , that it may breach the law, and that other methods even exist. If a hunter does not develop his dogs marking ability, there will be more searching as well as more handling to blinds than should be. To my knowledge, NAVHDA does not do any training to enhance a dogs marking ability, as a matter of fact, I believe their water certification tests require a dog to start from behind a curtain which obstructs the dogs view.

Someone asked the dog's age, that's important to know. I see a problem though and you need to get a handle on it asap. If a dog or pup is responding to a food reward and giving you 'refusals' without the food reward you are heading down the wrong path. It might be the dog has not 'generalized' the response to scenarios without the treat; but if it is a mere refusal you can be letting the dog train you and/or developing a stubborn or even dog which is aggressive toward people. Without knowing you, the dog, or even the dog's age, I hesitate to tell you this, but generally if a dog is along enough to respond to a food reward, it is real close to being along enough to respond to some moderate force. If the dog is 6 weeks old I would assume she just doesn't 'get it'... But not much older, depending on the history, I would evaluate if the dog is 'playing me'. I generally don't go off like a typical dog trainer by pulling the alarm, but the behavior you describe is something you need to pay attention to. The other side of the coin is that if you push a dog, especially a young dog or puppy too far too fast, other issues develop. You might consider getting some help, a book or internet advice might not cut it.

Not really, I am trying to address your question. If you were asking about public hunting opportunities because you might be moving there it would be a different question than the productivity of a tract of hunting land. For deer and turkey harvest data as well as deer permits issued can give you a clue to the population status of those species, but the deer strategies will change with social wants. If I was looking for hunting land I would look at soils, plant communities, connectivity to source habitats or lack off, and how much land is permanently conserved - including those connective corridors. How that public land is managed or will be in the future is important too. A monoculture of mature softwood for example wouldn't be much of a source habitat. A high percentage of private land in the area is unreliable and don't depend on it to be conserved indefinitely or managed in a productive way; unless they are conservancy lands or permanent conservation easements.

Hopefully this PDF attachment will work. This flyer can be printed out and put at hunting clubs, sporting good stores, especially license agents. Please do this, there is still many people we are not reaching. Until we get the Outdoor Writers Association and the NY Outdoor Writers Association to work with us, this is going to be an uphill battle. Until then, use what tools are available.

Is your question about relocating to the area or is it about buying hunting land there?

I can see by the posts by you two that you both got an accurate sense for these events. I would comment that pointing dog trials are even more subjective than retriever events, especially the trials which differ from tests. Subjectivity also ties in with the comment about cover dog trials. Granted, you cant judge a dogs bird work/training on the run alone, but even when you are out hunting and get skunked, you know when your dog worked the whole time, dug into the cover, and at a good pace and range. The situation where a dog makes a find in a cover dog trial and a bird less dog is placed or wins the stake naturally draws controversy. But if a dog slams a bird at the break away and then doesn't work the entire heat, he just got lucky and bumbled into a bird. I am not necessarily defending that call but I understand it. Rich man's sport anyway, not for the average hunter...

I know in the past the AKC held breed specific national championships for Brittanys and German Shorthairs. They also had an all breed and/or continental breed national championship in the past as well. There may be or have been others as well, I am not sure. If you are building up to the debate over how competitive the continental breeds are against the English pointers and English setters, oh my, here we go...

Here is another page we created to debunk the claims that hunters do not eat doves, waterfowl and game in general. It also has some pretty good recipes and blurbs related to cleaning, storing, and otherwise processing game birds. It has been slow, but as the page grows we will publish articles more frequently. Also: some FB pages do not use the 'notes' section. We do use the notes section, so click on it for more articles, that applies to our other pages as well. Also, if you are going to help in the push for a dove hunting season, and the issue of eating doves is raised, refer them to this FB page as well as our YT Channel. All of our links are in my profile on this site. Please subscribe to all of them and recommend them among your network of hunting friends as well as to policy makers. Cooking Doves and other Game Birds Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CookingDovesOtherGamebirds

Anytime lethal control of an invasive is under evaluation by the public, the antis will raise the issue of non native game stocking and/or introduced game species which have become naturalized, just like this guy did. His premise about brown trout, although valid, was not relevant to mute swans. That causes two problems: 1) It takes the focus off of the original issue 2) It changes the balance of power of the argument. You started having the stronger argument, that mute swans are an impact. When the discussion changed to brown trout you then had the weaker argument and he became stronger.. This is known as a red herring, beware of it...

So next time you will answer them differently?

We just launched a you tube channel. Please subscribe and share widely. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6A4K7i7Ur9AnH20PweuZsg

The toll free consumer hotline number is on there, give them a call and ask them about the details...

http://youtu.be/T_vGhylryWM

http://www.cpsc.gov/en/Recalls/2014/Excalibur-Recalls-Crossbows/

And your original post was perfectly constructed. I am not trying to complicate it. I am trying to emphasize the districts where incumbents will be challenged. In the district I posted about, it so happens the incumbent voted for the SA. But surveying the opposing candidate not only exposes his (unknown) attitudes but it also lets him know we are alive and we are watching him and not just unorganized, bumbling farmers... There is an additional benefit to polling... Surveys as you know, sometimes have ulterior motives. They are used to get people to pay attention and educate them about something. They are considered "persuasive polls". Persuasive polling is done ethically with facts and other times unethically with propaganda...