catskillkid

Sightings of poults in my neck of the Catskills have been very sparce. The two that I saw 2 weeks ago looked like day old chicks. I've seen a few hens with no poults also. Must not have been a good hatch in the western Catskills. Maybe too much rain.

I have cam pics of tiny poults from a few days ago that must have been recently hatched.

The Mint Saloon in Sheridan is a classic old time bar. It's a must visit. The White Buffalo is another

I've had my place next to Walton for over 40 years. Deer hunting in 4O is good but not great, it will take you a few PPs to receive an antlerless permit unless you are a landowner with at least 50 acres. Buck size has been increasing since NY started the 3 point rule. Grouse hunting is very good if you manage your property correctly for thick cover. Turkey hunting used to be awesome but the numbers have gone down over the years just like everywhere else. Although there is still pretty good hunting in areas. Bear Spring Mountain is a very large Wildlife Mngt. area where you can spend days walki

Very interesting

I would strongly urge you to hire a certified forester. I have had my land in the NY State Forestry Program for many years now and had my land logged two years ago. I was very happy with the process and the end result. A certified forester will mark the trees that HE believes should be removed from your property. Trees that are 16" DBH or larger. This will allow your land not to be over harvested so smaller trees will be released. This will also let you have a timber harvest approximately every 15 years. He will also mark trees that are deformed and diseased to be removed for firewood and bio

I had a hen with a 5" beard in front of me last weekend. i have seen many of them over the years. I didn't know they are such an oddity. I just couldn't bring myself to shoot it considering the lower population in my area now.

My other buddy called yesterday and said he was bailing on me because it was going to rain. Well, I've had my most memorable turkey hunts in the rain. Turkeys love feeding in green fields during a light rain. I was going to guide myself this morning. 8 3/4" beard, 1 1/8 spurs about 20 lbs

I finally got my buddy to see the whole show last Sunday. Tom's were sounding off on roost. Seven hens flew down into the dekes. Hens feeding a couple of yards from us in the blind. Told him not to even blink an eye. Hens looking into the blind at us but my bud is a good listener. He never twitched a muscle. A 5" bearded hen is looking at him square into his eyes. A few minutes later he whispers to me that he can see a white head slowly making its way to us, the dekes and live hens that are all around us. Now the Tom is listening to soft purrs from my slate. The old long beard is getting clos

When I was in Nebraska last year, there were large ranches covered up with those eye sores. When the sun went down, all you could see in the black night were long lines of reds lights destroying the night skies. The outfitter told me that there was a full time employee whos only job was to pick up dead birds and get rid of them before the do gooders or reporters found out about them. The locals hate those windmills, they are being forced upon them by the companies and ranch owners looking for the money. Unfortunately, the wind mill companies know to install them where the rural population is

Here is a pile of sheds from the outfitter in Saskatchewan I hunted with a couple of years ago. He picks them up from the thousands of acres of grain fields when farming. They are big problems for him, they puncture high cost tractor tires. He was really pissed off at his dad the following year when I returned. A stranger had stopped by the farm when he was away in town. The guy offered his dad $200.00 for the whole pile and his dad sold them to him. He thought he was doing his son a favor by making room in the barn.

I had used cameras up to a couple of years ago. I guess getting older is making me revert back to my older hunting ways. It's fun being surprised when a big buck that you have never seen before appears in front of you. My hunting buddies are not happy about this though, they were spoiled having me to do their pre-scouting for them. I will still use a camera or two on foot paths just to keep the trespassers under control.

Looks like a sweet machine, Hope it works well for you. Keep us updated

I bought my land 21 years ago when mineral rights were not even a discussion. So they conveyed to me upon purchase. The big natural gas craze started happening around 15 years ago and gas companies were leasing rights from landowners all over our area in Delaware County. I think it was Cuomo that banned all hydraulic fracturing and the gas prices tanked also. So gas companies did not renew leases. Last year I was in contract to purchase an adjoining parcel of land. The seller wanted to retain 50% of the mineral rights. My attorney advised me not to agree to this condition and would requi

Nebraska bucks