Daveboone

All too often the local courts /judge, know the perpetrator, thus a stupid small fine. Up in Canada, violators can lose all equipment....including dogs, vehicles and firearms used in the crime. I think the fines are antiquated, and have no teeth. It doesn't help that we do not have a dedicated game department for enforcement....our DEC is totally overwhelmed with way too much enforcement activity. I am sure if we had a separate game commission like some states (Maine, for one) enforcement could be greatly improved.

I am mixed about encouraging beers (oops, bears) to frequent the area. I love bears and bear hunting, and would like to have the occ. sighting, but a lot of the time bears and camps don't mix. A friend of mine (now passed), was highly knowledgeable on bears, was a veterinarian and hunted them twice yearly, learned everything he could on them. I took his knowledge as gospel. He stated bears were unable to live anywhere there weren't blueberries.... that may have been a bit absolute, but where you find them is dependent on a wild berry crop and mast more than anything else. My guess is if you don't have appropriate bear sustaining habitat, you wouldn't keep the bears.

I read a couple different hunters biographies from the 1800s that referred to hunting elk in south western NY...sorry, cant remember the names. I went to a couple of ROcky Mountain Elk Foundation dinners, (almost twenty years ago, probably) and at that time the speakers were pretty realistic in reporting that elk were never numerous in NY and there were very few areas that would be practical for them. I liked that they were that honest. I guess I am fine with the thought that there are better places for them.

Wow, he is awesome. Unfortunately if we were lucky enough to have the same scenario, the camp rule is any in the yard are safe, and considered guests. Silly, maybe dumb, but....oh well....

I was lucky enough to have the time off at the right time...with changing weather patterns, wind was right, and most importantly....SNOW! I saw more deer this year than in a fair number of years, and I am pretty sure it is because I more so than usual went out of my way to be sure my stands were fully down wind from the area I hunted (I get a lot of swirling winds), and was out in the woods earlier and when the weather was crappy ( I have always had more luck hunting the slop). My biggest weakness is that I just love being in the woods regardless of if I am seeing anything, but by later in the season am getting lazy. I certainly think hunting the productive times (weather changes, conditions) you can optimize your luck, but then you can never account for ...luck. Sometimes the darn deer just do what they want to do.

Great pieces! It is amazing how many families nowadays have no appreciation for the simple but important items from their families history, like your hooks. I have a simple claw hammer which was my great grandfathers....(I am actually lucky enough to have quite a few family items/ tools, etc). I fondly remember the day when I was small, and was helping dad with some project...he bent a nail, grumbled with a smile, and said "Ya know, considering how old this hammer is, you would think it would have learned how to pound a nail strait by now". He then mentioned that it was his grandfathers. My wife grabbed it to do something out in the garden with it, and she couldn't understand the big deal when I found it lying on the ground later.

We already have an early in the NT, but I don't think I would want one in the southern tier. Ample opportunity already, and wouldn't you rather hunt in the later muzzleloading season anyway?

Wonderful looking doggie, but he really doesn't look to happy to be there....Might not like your dog chow. Send him my way..... Is he painted, or do you flame him (is that the term...use a torch for the coloring?)

All the damn hairball hunting shows that try to keep score while selling all their doo dads make a joke of hunting. Why worry about who is best? Who gets the biggest? Are you out there just to show that "yours is bigger?" Thousands of dollars are paid by those who think it is important, to buy show off racks...either from canned hunts or already mounted to maintain their image and show how they excel. BS. I know plenty of darn good hunters, and a lot of very lucky hunters, and very hard working hunters. None have anything to do with how much they enjoy hunting. I had the privilege of sharing a camp with a heck of a nice guy once, who you could say was a professional hunter. Very well known writer. No dang way do we go into who that was. It did not seem like he was enjoying his hunt at all. Too much pressure to perform. If you are looking at the professional entertainers who have hunting shows, throw that "best hunter" idea right out the window. Although there are a couple who I respect, most filmed hunts are done in high yield areas because they need to show results. Going to a prepared stand site on a paid hunt doesn't make anyone a good hunter. Now, I have had a guide or two who I would call best level hunters....knowledgeable, respectful, full of love of the game and their part of the world, and they would never go hungry. They had skills no one I have ever met had.

sigh. This is not rocket science. MANY hunters take full legal advantage of the system. Acquaintances….people who I know, but do not hang out with, does not mean I hang out with them. I have been deer hunting / involved in the outdoors for almost 50 years, one way or another, and am involved with hundreds of people, many landowners and sportsmen of many generation. The more you know, well...the more you know. As I made clear, I feel one is plenty per hunter. It was the law for many years. Our sportsmans laws are changed largely at the interest of the hunters themselves. I am very surprised that there hasn't been more interest in this (one deer limit) but on several different forums / topics, it was resoundingly shot down. It is actually an interesting topic for a new topic? Have at it.

At that time, regular season buck, muzzle loader, archery. For a few years in some units, deer management tags were either or. It has been a bunch of years since. No need, no want, and selfish. I no longer archery hunt, and don't have access to the land (changed owners several times since). Finger lakes area. Generally, one big deer is more than enough for us now. Occ. like this year, I will take a 2nd.

step one...make sure its dead. A buddy got real close and personal with a doe that he thought was dead, when he touched his knife to the peri anal area.... Scoot around the anus first with the knife, as deep as I can go, than tie it off (if I remembered the string/zip tie). Then I stand on the lower back legs to hold them open while I slice through the skin/ abdominal barrier from the crotch to the sternum. No reason to split the sternum, it just opens it to contamination., same as with splitting the pelvis. Reach up and cut through the diaphragm fully around, then reach as far up as you can to grap the trachea/ cardiac arteries and valves, wind pipe, and severe them. The winds will pull right out. (SAVE THE HEART). hold the guts to one side, then the other as you severe the connective tissues, roll em out. the rectum will pull through if you loosened it deep enough, and I pinch off the bladder and cut it loose, tossing it aside. if it leakes a bit, not a big deal. all the blood, etc. will help flush the area. Tip the carcass, spread the back legs and let drain. Hopefully there is snow to then pack in the cavity, and scrub out nice and clean, or rinse with water. I have seen guides field dress without opening the carcass....they cut off the quarters, hair and all, then split the hide down the back to get the straps. Do the same on the front of the chest for the brisket, , and take a hand ax to split the spine to get the tenderloin out. Took about the same amount of time but you didn't have to deal with the guts. There is a lot of leeway on the routine...the critter is dead and doesn't mind, but it is a good idea to allways rinse the cavity when done and hang asap to get the cooling started. The more dirt and crap you get on the cavity/ meat, the more the quality of the meat is affected.

Looks like a small bear to me.

I own ten surrounded by hundreds of acres of state/ county. What do I hunt ? it is kind of a misleading question...I probably only actively hunt about an acre of it....but I have done a lot of woods management on the surrounding areas, and the surrounding state land is involved in the deer patterns. The deer move to and from my next door neighbors land which affects how and where I hunt. Depending on wind direction, I may not be on my land, but off on the public lands. Rule number one of deer hunting....hunt the wind.

Oh, man, if that is like the thornapples I have on my property, they can be a serious problem. A few years back, I had a branch snap back planting about a 3" long one in my left forearm, snapping off, leaving it just under the skin. It was near a nerve, and anytime I moved my arm it was like an electrical jolt. I had to have it surgically removed at an ED! When I got home, as I was showering I found another of the damned things in my L bicep! That one with some help from my wife, I was able to hook with a small bent fishhook, catching the swelled base of the thorn with the barb....might try that?

I had seen this fellow several times starting opening w/e, and since early fall on my game camera. Last sunday he wandered past me looking for some girlfriends.

Oh my! What a splendid animial. At least you found him, and now he will be remembered.

I am not sure what temp. urine freezes at....urine is salty, but I am sure like all liquids it evaporates more slowly in cold temps. I tend to use urine more along trails I am watching, to catch a bucks attention as he is passing through to offer a better shot. It worked to a T sunday. A little spray of Tinks #9 along a trail, the buck was cruising along and would probably have only offered a shot at a trot, but slowed right down to check it out. Tag filled.

They should be fine. Modern ammo components are stable as a rock...exception if there was any chance of them being stored damp. I would only err on the side of setting them aside for practice/ range rounds.

I think it depends a lot on other factors too...the wind, precipitation, etc. On a cold snap like Thursdays, I would certainly be keeping a close watch on the sunny hillsides. the deer will move to those, and then probably earlier in the evening than normal to get to food sources. They will still need to drink, also.

There are absolutely exceptions, just as plenty of the guys who shoot only one deer do not always take them legally. I admit I in the past had taken three legal bucks (regular, ml, archery, and lets not forget that for a few years deer management permits in certain areas were for either / or). I decided for myself, despite being able to purchase AND legally shoot three bucks, it was excessive. I have a number of acquantances and friends who are excellent skilled hunters who (unfortunately now in my eyes) can and do take three bucks, legally and ethically. Myself, I look at the ML/ archery season as only a way of stretching the season, not making it more productive.

Without looking it up, I recall the statement that the deer legally goes to the hunter who "fired the killing shot". Technically, even a lower leg wound/ gut shot is going to kill it eventually (infection, etc), despite the potential argument that amazingly some recover, but lets face it, the hunter who fires the shot that put the deer down for good has best claim.

sharpies are a good thing to keep in the bag for that.

I always thought the easiest and best way to that end, was to make a one buck limit per hunter a year. I know many hunters who (legally) take a buck with bow, muzzle loader then in regular season. I guess nothing wrong with what they are doing except being a bit of a game hog. That could be two more successful buck hunters out there, / two bucks growing older.

I love heart pickled, I usually try to get a couple of them before I do, but it is super simple and quick. I was really bummed last week when I shot lower than I anticipated and vaporized a big does heart. (them made the wife grumpy when I left the liver on the ATV seat).