Daveboone

Lifer in the upstate NY area...mainly Syracuse and the Tug Hill, for the past 33 years. This year was what an average year used to be like...granted, the Tug did get a memorable hit a couple times, but overall the season totals were barely a historic average. The past twenty five years have been pretty wimpy. That said, I got snowed out from my last week of Northern TIer deer hunting. I couldnt get to the camp! I was just glad to see the deer herd overall came through in good shape. A year ago though, we moved to Cortland, and as we expected, a mild winter compared to what we were used to.

I love reading classic books from the 1800s from the pioneers....If I recall the title correctly, 44 years of a life of a Hunter...the biography of a gentleman originally from New Jersey if I recall correctly, but moves inland over time...He tells of the deer and bear hunts of the time (he was a market hunter) particularly in the fall, where game gathered especially in the chestnut forests to feast. He describes bears literalyt juts rolling on the ground, dragging themselves from one area to another to feast, ,and it was common to shoot multiple bears and deer from a stand (a stand meaning where the hunter chose to shoot from after a stalk). Certainly the native population also took advantage of the same opportunities. Just the same also, the indians took advantage of salmon/ trout/ sucker/pike /eel runs that occured over known areas, to stock their larders.

Granted, I do understand the only reason they have deer in numbers such as they are is because of the supplemental feeding and water...but I agree with you just the same. Different neighborhood...different games.

One of my best friends has hunted Texas a fair number of times. Most of Texas is private land, and feeders are allowed. they were enjoying an afternoon preparing to go out for the evening, and he asked about when..."The feeders go off at six". They were put on stand at five thirty, at six the feeders went off and it was like a call for "last call" in a beer bar. The deer came literally running to the feeder. Not much hunt there.

Kinda like shooting deer in a pen....turns the sport into just shooting...not hunting. Besides...doesnt it exist already? Its spelled...CORN. One reason it isnt legal to bait.

We moved from town of Constantia to Cortland last spring...smaller, easier to maintain house, better weather. Same commute to work, but boy what a change for weather. No snow that wasnt easily removed with a shovel, and this week end /past couple weeks really shows all that we are not missing. We sure know it is winter still, but we dont worry about it.

Muzzlebreaks are a mixed blessing...they are quite pricey to have installed, I hate the increased bark. Semi autos also go for a lot more than a bolt and will be a longer action/wt, proportionatly. Some loss of accuracy as its lock up simply isnt as tight as a bolt...but for practical hunting accuracy probably no concern. I highly doubt anyone of average size would have any problem with recoil from a .270....dont shoot off a bench with a T shirt only. Wear your hunting clothes and dont be afraid to pad your shoulder. I routinely do no matter what I shoot...I am a bit boney, and even light calibers can start to bruise after a while.

Felt recoil from a bench will be much more than off hand...be sure to wear your hunting coat, etc.. For that matter, I allways pad with a folded towel also. My main rifles have always been 8x 57 Mauser and .308...bullet wt and felt recoil very similar. I picked up a .270 several years ago and was delighted with its light recoil and wonderful accuracy. The .270 certainly has much more capability than the .243 (my opinion is the .243 is totally inadequate for consistent results on northern white tails and larger big game), and is capable of taking any thing short of the great bears...and has been used for that! Of course, the exact bullet wt you shoot and rifle set up makes a big difference.

Sorry, no pic. First week of NT muzzleloading season started off real slow as hot as it was, but for thursday a cold front moved in with rain forecast for the pm. I was in my stand at the camp, and about an hour before sun down heard the lovely prancing sound of hooves coming up from behind. A nice three point (2 1/2 year old...they dont get much for antlers up there) wandered into my food plot. Of all things, wouldnt ya know... mis fire with my cap! I shoot league every week with that rifle, and all year never had one! Luckily the silly deer couldnt figure out where I was, and I was able to get another cap on, and boom. I dropped him where he was with my .54 cal. Lyman Great Plains rifle, about 35 yards. I was glad to get the meat early, and really didnt have a chance to get out much until my planned for last week of the season after Thanksgiving....and then wouldnt ya know, heavy snow kept me from driving to the camp. I did walk in, but the snow was deep enough they deer werent moving, and I didnt know how I would get one out anyway, so i bagged it for the season, being grateful for my black powder buck.

I dont have a chance to chase them much anymore, but they are some of the first critters scampering around in first light. Once the sun is hitting the tree tops they like to soak up what they can. Then the last couple hrs before dark.

We had a very busy last year, selling our old house and moving in/getting established in our new (to us) home. Time is opening up now, so I am working on completing a flintlock rifle I have been building, catching up on some reloading needs, similar projects. I have to make time to get up to our camp buried in the Tug Hill to check on things...I have to hike in, so it will be at least an overnight. I want to heat the place up well to melt the snow off the roof.

When we are up to camp, any deer seen in the yard/neighbors yard are off limits. They are visitors. When I was hunting in Georgia a bunch of years ago, some of the guys there talked about using dogs (legally). They hunted huge tracks of swamp land, which was pretty much inaccessible, so dogs were allowed to move them out. Ok, I get it. But they had one hell of a lot of deer down there, with amazing bag limits. Not my game, but it is thier neighborhood so ok by me. High fence/pay hunts. Nope. Not a hunt. Its a shoot. I have no need to have an engineered freak on my wall. I will be happy with what nature intended them to be. It may take more time given the size of the area, but if you are paying, you are shooting

You be asking, so you know it is time to get it checked out. May very well be just overdid something, but if it is unusual for her, worth getting it checked.

Good luck finding it. It is cool enough if it dies overnight it should be fine. Even if gut shot...and it dies, it would likely be bloated, but that doesnt mean the quarters/etc. were ruined.

? New York has an overabundance of deer with declining hunter numbers, so the length of the season is moot. I start hunting the first week of NT muzzleloading, but dont get serious until snow is on the ground. the past few years it has been so warm early on I didnt hunt much at all...then, right before my last week of NT that I always take off, we got 3 feet of snow which effectively put an end to my hunting. I was delighted at the chance to get out with the late season in the southern tier. My problem is, I am new to the ST and am still working on access sites that are worthwhile. I dont know how any one would critique an increase in hunting opportunity.

I used to enjoy "The Last Alaskans". The first few seasons they were real sourdoughs who knew what they were doing, Really though, even they didnt live year round off the land. They had summer jobs and homes. The show only showed the fall/winter lifestyle on their trapline. they brought staples, but depended on caribou/moose for meat, and several seasons some of them didnt get a moose and ended up needing to go out for the winter. Very tough to even come close to living off the land. Granted, living above the arctic circle is the harshest environment imaginable in my line of thought. Probably the most limiting factor in the lower 48 is living within game laws. I love reading of early pioneer/ settlers in Alaska, or most anywhere. I have read quite a few times that a lot more wanna be sourdoughs and just plain old sourdoughs just disappeared over the winter, starving in thier cabin or freezing to a stump. illness, injuries, etc. with little doubt that contrary to Disney line of though, more than a few burials were inside a wolfs scat pile.

Unfortunately, zillions. All it takes is a dollar and a dream. And in the same sense, many a business man boasts of his trophys on the wall, which are only resin replicas of another buck.

It looks very active and family oriented...I particularly took notice of the monthly winter steak bakes and sportsmans flea markets!

Looking on line, actually they look to be one of the more varied clubs, with a decent rifle range. Many in this area are almost exclusively geared to shotgun sports with the rifle ranges (if there is one) minimal. I actually spend most of my time with traditional ML, and spend a lot of time with the bench with them. I am going to check them out my next w/e off.

We moved to Cortland last May. I have been trying to find a shooting club in the area without much success. I have found a few, but most seem to be very skeet and trap centered, and both of those also have a lot of shooting time restrictions due to an agreement with the Cortland Police Department for training. I can appreciate it, but at the same time, the times they have reserved are the times I would be wanting to shoot...mainly weekdays. i bench rest /sight in centerfires, but do a lot of black powder/muzzleloading (traditional cap and ball/flintlock) too...more than anything else, with some handgunning (target) work also. Can anyone make any recommendations? Oxford is a nice club I have shot black powder at, but they are an hour away...

Great season! I was able to get a big bodied 2 1/2 year old up in the NT ML opener. It was very warm with not much moving, but I hunted the oncoming cold front and caught him at about 30 yards, dropped him clean. I held off going out most of the rest of the season, having the last week of NT off...but wouldnt ya know...3 feet of snow in the week before! I got to the camp, but it really wasnt practical to get out...I would have had to drag anything back through 3 foot of light snow! Well, that is hunting, glad I put venison away early.

I didnt see one big enough...I only shoot 14 points or better.

how long do they work for? Sound like a good idea, but when they go dead...how long to charge back up?

Sure isnt any two year old. One heck of a lot of venison walking around there.

You were in my neck of the woods....I spent most of the fall tromping Happy Valley and surrounding areas. I headed up to my camp further north (East of Mannsville, Winona State forest area), for a long awaited week of deer hunting...I always take the last week of the season. I had to walk in to my cabin...about a 1/2 mile, as it is on an unplowed road. And my snow shoes were at the camp. GRRRR There were recent deer track, but they had to plow through the snow. I went out on stand, but called it quits this a.m.. I was concerned about leaving my vehicle out on the main road (there is a wide plowed area for parking), but the snow was still coming down, and if I shot something....how the hell am I getting it out through 3 feet of light fluffy snow? I was lucky enough to get a deer up there during ML season, so I am ok with that. I am always happy to see the small game hunters. I used to be one of them, and hope to do more again. They may just move a deer around for me. It used to be that there was no sunday deer hunting to allow the small game hunters a chance, but there are darn few out anymore.