Uncle Nicky

Thanks Pygmy- I re-read my post, and I guess I sounded a little salty, but I have no regrets and the cow I killed was probably the best wild animal I have ever eaten- and there was a LOT of good eating involved. Your trip you described sounds a lot like the first hunt I went on, and both times I tipped the guides well, they all worked their butts off. And yes, it is hunting, and the memories and friends I made along the will never go away. I just figured that after the second trip, there must be some kind of bad mojo involved for me, and wasn't willing to spend another $3,000 (at the time) to prove myself wrong. My most recent obsession is catching the elusive 40" pike...I have the feeling this hair-brained scheme is going to set me back a little also....

Been twice, both times to Newfoundland. First trip was a fly-in, we lost a day going in and had to leave a day early on the back end, so I lost 2 days of hunting (of course, no money refunded). I passed on a small bull the second day, and never saw another bull the rest of the week. I did manage to kill a nice woodland caribou. I saw a couple cows, but of course didn't have a cow tag. I was the only guy in camp who did not shoot a bull moose but a couple were very small. I went back 2 years later to redeem myself, this time went to a drive-in camp. Of course, I picked the week Hurricane Ivan decided to hit Newfoundland. Weather was horrible, rained hard all week long. On the 3rd day I decided I'd take a cow (had a tag this time), since it was looking pretty grim. I shot one stepping into a logging path, I did not know there was another cow directly behind it. The bullet passed through the first one, hit the second one in the face, and she charged me. Shot 2 more .300 mag shells into the charging cow at very close range before she dropped, and in the blink of an eye, I had 2 cows laid out. I gave the second cow to one of the groups in camp, since I was the only one to kill anything that week (only had 1 tag anyway). I spent the rest of the week helping the camp build a new bridge and road so that we could get out, roads were washed out from the hurricane. After the second trip, I made up my mind that a bull moose on the wall just wasn't in the cards for Uncle Nicky, and I pretty much lost the itch at that point. I don't think I'll go back again, unless someone dies and leaves me a pile, even Newfoundland moose trips have gotten out-of-hand price-wise. I will say that the myth of a slam-dunk Newfoundland moose hunt is just that, a myth. At least for me that's how it worked out for me.

Let's be brutally honest here... The handyman has a history with the landowner, you don't. Unless you have something valuable to offer the owner (cash, services), you are lower on the food chain to the owner than the handyman is. I doubt cookies or venison is going to change his mind much. I'd say move on, (or be prepared to do some work or spend some money, if you feel like the property is worth it to you). I would definitely not get the landowner involved, he's liable to give everyone the boot, including future hunters who decide to knock on his door.

PM sent.

Coffee in the morning. Gatorade at lunch break, another Gatorade at the end of the day. All consumed off of the stand, I never bring drinks in the woods unless I'm hunting with my dog, and that's for her. I'll keep a cooler in the truck though.

Yes, you are missing the fact that you have to pay property taxes, which are especially high in NY. You may be able to write the taxes off on your personal return/1040, but you will NEVER get it all back. Same goes for the loan interest if you finance, you will never get it all back (unless you are able to sell some timber or sign a gas/oil lease). As an example- I bought my camp in Allegany county in 2002. Paid $60k for 58 acres. That's 15 years at $2,500 property taxes each year, so I've got $97,500 in already. That's not even including the home equity interest I've paid, let's average that out at $2,500/year also, now I'm up to $135k, add in $7,000 for work I've had done and a small shack I had built, now we're up to $142k. I worked out a deal to sell the place for 80k in 2009 (I want to hunt the place a couple more years), which is pretty much going rate in the area. Loss of $62,000. I was hoping for a home run with the gas leasing hubub a few years ago, but that's on hold indefinitely. I had loggers out looking at the place a few years ago, it will probably be 15 years before it's worth timbering. Obviously, the write-offs on the mortgage interest and property taxes helped, they may have gotten me $1,500 back each year on my tax return, so I'm looking at it as only a loss of about $40k (so far). And I'm not even factoring in the gas and truck depreciation spent on traveling to the camp 4-5 times a year (300 miles each way). One could argue that I should have bought land with more mature trees, but anyone who has looked at land for sale knows the owners log first BEFORE putting land up for sale. Do I have any regrets? No..lots of great memories, experiences, and some great deer killed. But I will never look back on this as a great investment, but I like to con myself into believing it was still better than losing it in the stock market.

Yes, but the rub is you have to pay hefty real estate taxes on your investment each year, NY property taxes are some of the highest in the country. I loved having my own land/camp, but writing these checks in October & February is killing me. I bought my hunting property in NY with a home equity loan, thankfully I was able to write off both the property taxes and the mortgage interest on my annual tax return (itemized). Most of my itemized write-offs are disappearing as I get older, so I sold the land this year (new owner takes posession early 2019).

Same gun all rifle season- Savage Model 99, 4X Bushnell scope, .358 caliber. It has see-through mounts, so if it's foggy or starts raining, I'm covered.

Makes sense, it rained a LOT in May this year, they were probably late hatches. At least some are here now, so that's a good sign. Off topic, but was up at camp today setting up the stands for deer season. Caught movement trotting along the ground, thought it was a tiny turkey poult at first, until it turned it's head- woodcock! Less than 20 feet from me (on an ATV), very surprised it didn't fly off, unless it was injured?

Tonight's feast was wild hog cutlets, with lingune, mozzarella cheese and marinara sauce, and a garden salad.

Good luck with your new rifle. In my experience, the recoil is slightly less than what you experience with a 30-06. Just keep it tight to your shoulder and absorb the shot (rather than flinching) and you will be fine.

And this is the reason I will nver buy another pair. If you live/work/hunt in an area where there are no briars, you should be fine. They ARE warm, comfortable, and easy to take on and off.

I like a scope for spring turkey hunting, my gun throws an extremely tight pattern, which is what I want. When a bird sneaks in, it's easier for me to identify sex & beard length with a gun up on my knee already than fiddling with binoculars. To each his own, I don't have much trouble picking anything up with the scope on 3X.

Currently, yes, along with see-through mounts for rainy days. I rarely move it past 3 unless I'm looking into a large field and don't have binoculars, and no, I don't look at people through it. I hate wearing glasses in the woods, they always fog up, and get knocked off my head. I never "got" the whole red-dot thing, it's much easier picking things up with the old-fashioned crosshairs setup (for me).

I like this, mind if I steal it?

For many years, I've been a fan of Bushnell optics...gun scopes, binoculars, range-finders. I always viewed them as great value and dependable products. The last few years (5?), I've been noticing their quality slipping. The last pair of binoculars I bought are pretty much useless other than 8X (variable), another scope on my turkey gun gets cockeyed when you turn it all the way to 3X (also when you turn it all the way to 9X), the last straw was a scope I bought for the slug gun a couple years ago. I took the slug gun to the range yesterday for a couple "peace of mind" shots before the fall, and noticed I was hitting a little low. I cranked the elevation a few clicks to the "UP" position, and started shooting 6" TO THE RIGHT!!. After I went a few more clicks "UP", I started getting more towards the center but still low. More clicks "UP", and it was finally centered, but still low. WTHHHH???? Anyway, since sabots are so expensive, I gave up after wasting 2 boxes. I'm doubting it was the shells, since I always use the same brand. It was early morning so I hadn't had a beer yet that day, and I definitely had the scope seated correctly on the rings, vertical adjustment on the top and horizontal to the right. Wind was only about 7-10 MPH, and only shooting at 75 yards, so that's not it. I decided that since I'm still working & pretty much in the peak of my earning career, from now on I'll eventually replace good glass on all of my rifles & shotguns, and with some luck, quality scopes should last for most of the rest of my hunting days. I am pretty tough on gear, but a scope should last more than a couple years, IMO. I've always heard great things about Leupold scopes, so I'm going to give them some of my hard-earned this time around, and see if you really get what you pay for. My father always bought Unertl scopes for his rifles, but it looks like they went out of business in 2008. Anyone else have any yays or nays regarding Leupold scopes?

Congratulations! I just started putting in for the GA quota hunt for gators this year, so my name should be up in 3 or 4 years.

Just took a wild hog roast out of the smoker, it's been in since 6:00 AM. Fork tender.

They have brass ones for sure. I wonder how many of these guys have gotten stomped by hippos, elephants, and Cape buffaloes?

I predict we'll be on the European model by then....guns will be basically outlawed, you would have to sign in at the local police station to get your rifle or shotgun, shells will be counted out upon check-in and check-out. Citizens with private land and the rich will be the only ones allowed to participate. Poachers and outlaws will still have bows. Public land will be closed to only the most regulated animal-control hunts, and in more populated areas, government officials will cull the wildlife population if it gets out of control. I would like to think I am wrong, but as the country grows more diverse and liberal, that is what I see coming down the road.

I am sure there is more to this than snarky comments on the internet, but I'm sure the cyberbullying didn't help matters. Always sad to read stories like this.

In this case, I'd probably be more likely to be carrying a gun with me than walking around the neighborhood, I'd also be more likely to have my own dog with me, which usually adds to the conflict with dog dominanace & aggression. A small dog would still get kicked in the chops, a bigger dog might get shot if it seemed rabid or feral, an even more menacing dog would probably get shot before it put it's teeth in me, since we're probably not talking about someone's family pet that got loose at this point, especially without a collar. Again, it's a quick decision to have to make, and one you'll probably have to live with the consequences of, either way. And yes, if I felt like I needed to kill the dog, I'm dragging it in the bushes and getting out of there ASAP, why go looking for trouble?

Just my $.02, but I like the fiberglass mounts better than skin mounts. The skin mounts I've had done years ago all seem to start fading, sorta like a tattoo you get in your 20's and regret later. All the fiberglass mounts look as good as they did the day I picked them up. It really depends on who does the mount for you, if you really want detail, a skilled fish taxidermist will make your fish look incredibly lifelike, but like most thuings in life, they won't work cheap.

Mine too. I can't see blasting away at a yappy Chihuahua or Beagle, especially in a residential neighborhood. I'd be more apt to chuck a rock at dog's ribs or try breaking it's jaw with a boot to the head first, but I'm a stocky guy in fairly good shape, whose been bit a few times before and survived without any trauma. A pit bull or pit mix is a different story, I've seen them hunt and know what they are capable of, but a Shepherd would be a formidable opponent as well. Sorry to hear what greg54 went through, nobody needs to feel threatened when they are simply taking a walk.

Thanks for the explanation. I think the key here is the word "serious". Not looking for an argument, but I'd think long & hard before drawing down on any domestic pet, and I do realize that anyone would have to make a split-second decision between if they are in serious trouble, and if the possible fallout afterward was really worth it. A German Shepherd IS a sizeable animal, makes you wonder why the owner kept this pet, knowing it was aggressive towards other people????