Daveboone

I was raised in a setting where any 8 point buck regardless of actual size was a real trophy. The more time spent in the woods was (and still is) part of the joy of being out doors with friends, family and "nature (to sound a bit too tree huggerish ). I guess that I am old fashioned when I still think the most important reason for deer hunting is for the meat. If just for the bones, it is just a show off. And yes, I have what would be considered a fair number of above average antler sets to show for it. But I also am just as happy to fill my freezer with a nice, fat doe. I have no issue per say with the pay to hunt principal....I have been to New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Georgia for hunting opportunities I don't have here, and even though not high fence, principle I guess is really the same. I considered going to a NY based shooting preserve to shoot a bison....(even the owner didn't call it a hunt, it was a meat shoot...), for the excellent large supply of meat for a better than store bought beef price. But I never considered it a hunt. What I have a problem with is folks under the guise of hunting trying like most every thing nowadays to finish the task as quick as possible with little effort, to show off animals artificially enhanced (however you want to call it...by introducing specialized gene lines for specific traits,, food products, nutrition, etc) " freaks". Animals that are not typical of the species. Most of the trophy animals shown by these breeders to me are grotesque abominations of what a natural deer is, and just because it has outrageously proportioned antlers does NOT mean for a second it is good for the animal. Along with the antler traits, what other hidden traits are passed....The beef bred for quick fattening also has slower metabolism, prone to obesity, weak kidneys, etc. etc. Nature is pretty damn good at taking care of its own. When we start messing with the way things are supposed to be, it is never good. (and please don't try to lecture on the genetics of disease resistance, etc. etc. this would get very long

I used to hunt the area, a lot....living further away now, I havnet been there in years. the area is used heavily for dog trials, my guess is a lot of the brush work is geared for that.

never stop.

my best find ever was back in the mid 70s...I was riding my bike along the road when I found a watch lying in the middle of it. I picked it up and it was still running, but the crystal was broken. It turned out to be Seiko automatic watch, at that time (as I remember) going for about 200 bucks in the sears catalog. We had it cleaned and a new lens put in it, and I wore it for years. I still have it, and pulled it out a few years ago and decided to have a local watch repairman clean it up. He ruined it, and scratched the bezel to hell. Boy, was I mad....hated to pay to get it back, but I hated to part with it. I have owned a Seiko ever since. The 2nd best find was on my paper route....I saw a rifle muzzle sticking out of a garbage can. When I pulled it out, it was most of a Winchester 94, (missing the butt stock and a couple internals). Dad and I completed it, and I had it for years.

we cook almost exclusively on cast iron. Once the pan is hot, you can almost always drop the heat way down, as the iron will conduct the heat very thoroughly. I haven't found any one type of oil to be better than another, but be sure to reapply a coat after using/ cleaning, and before using. I prefer peanut oil for searing steaks or higher heat, as it doesn't smoke as quickly as vegetable oil. Once you get used to it, you will never use anything else again. Cast iron is very forgiving though if you happen to overheat it. just scrub it out good, dry it and reapply the oil, or better yet, deep fry in it.

45-110 in a sharps replica. I didn't realize it at the time, but it broke my collarbone.... I knew my shoulder was hurting afterwards, but my 45-70 handloads I was shooting next were nothing in comparison. My doc found the fxd collarbone about 3 months later when he was doing a chest xray.

Many of the camps were phased out as the economy started to improve, and as the military started to gear up in the late 30s. The CCC is also accredited with preparing a generation for WW2: they were well fed, discipline initiated, physically fit. Many of the NYS Game management areas and reforested areas are due to the CCC work. LIke someone else mentioned, they aren't responsible for the stone walls. That was the back breaking work of the original settlers/ farmers, who simply needed someplace to put all the rocks in the fields. Near my camp is the site of the old Winona CCC camp, several buidlings still exist. It is fun to wander the woods and find the remnants of life. There is a big pile of old china ware from the dining hall marked for the U.S. Marine Corp. cool stuff.

Where did you go? I am hoping to get out on the north end of Cayuga soon, hoping to get a report on if we can launch with the high water.

Your .308 is fine, but I would just go with a heavier bullet: 180 gr. they are heavy boned, and even in spring can be well padded with fat.. The guides love seeing 12 gauge slug guns! They don't care for ML much...mainly because with the ensuring smoke, you cant see what the bear did....bears frequently run a short distance, but baits are allways in VERY thick, freq. swampy areas, and even a short run makes em tough to find...especially in the dark. Most likely you will be relatively close: from bait to stand sometimes is only 10 yards, seldom more than 50, sight your gun accordingly. Myself, my first bear I shot with a .300 win mag...about 12 yards, last night last light, small bear, hit solid through the heart and lungs, blew out a 6 inch square of ribs on the ground and the bear still ran 50 yards., and tore the bear apart. I was disgusted with the gun and never carried it again. My next five hunts (and five bears) I used my single shot 45-70 with a low magnification scope, and dropped each one in its tracks...I would happily bring my .308 or 8x 57, but I do love my 45-70.

The Man Who Would Be King, with Sean Connery and Michael Caine The Great Waldo Pepper, with Robert Redford....great barnstorming! Jeremiah J. of course, Second Hand Lions, with Duvall and M. Caine.

for all of them, a bunch of factors besides condition: barrel length, type of choke (chokes, if variable) ventilated ribs? buck barrels or bird barrels?

IF going up this Saturday bring snowshoes....getting into the woods will be a lot more snow than what it appears. It may be hard frozen crust, but if not, you wont be going far.

I wouldn't worry too much about being "fair " to the seller. You are off a main road, no power, no marketable lumber. Land gets drastically cheaper the more you buy, and chances are he knows exactly what the land is worth, and is thinking he is getting you for a good price, Do you have legal (Deeded ) rights on the access road? Myself, a thousand dollars a year for plowing/maintenance is unthinkable! Try to talk with the neighboring property owners as to the land use, and how the road is maintained. . I have a camp just north of there...the deer do migrate to easier areas (agricultural areas, sheltered regions,etc) but thetre are allways local deer that hang around, usually in the border areas, near roads, etc. where the going is easier.

poor little fella

I would imagine many succumb while in in hibernation, pretty well hidden away.

Braised marinated moose rump roast, grilled broccoli and buttered noodles.

I have to laugh when I think about the time I spent hanging from a couple maple tree branches early on. I fondly smile when I look at pics from hunting in the late 70s, from hunting camp: Dads 8 mm Mauser, an Enfield, a Krag Jorgenson, two single shot shotguns, an Ithaca Deerslayer, and one Marlin 30-30. Nowadays, no one would be happy unless their guns still had the "new gun smell".

They are pretty common around here. I watched a big one for about 15 minutes marking his borders and doing a dust bath. Cool. I was surprised he never saw me. I picked one up off the road , it had just been hit. I couldn't see it going to waste, so my taxidermist did the hide for me. Certainly no where near the majesty of when it was live. I take great satisfaction in how efficient they are on thinning the cat population. They certainly do much less damage to my partridge then the darn cats do.

Call your guide with any and all questions, including type of stands he has. I have been to New Brunswick 5 times and Quebec once for spring bears, and allways been happy. some guides will NOT want you to put up your own stand, some will be happy for you to. DO NOT use bug spray. It is a strong foreign odor. Buy a good bug suit from Cabelas (pants, jacket and hood), wear rubber boots and thin leather gloves, with a boonie cap on top, under the bug hood, THEN duct tape the wrist and ankles. We started using Thermacells for bug repellents, and they work fantastic, bears don't seem to smell them. Particularly good in ghe ground blind, where you can usually do away with the head net all together. Not so much in a tree. I prefer ground blinds (dome tent style) by far (rifle) . You can move around much more easily, the bears cant see inside them, and a simple plastic yard chair will be much more comfortable for 6-8 hrs than any tree stand.

New York has gobs of land that would be appropriate. I used to go up to Happy Valley in Oswego County. I would pack in a ways to get away from the roads, set up and still hunt around the area. The Adirondacks offer huge tracts. Topo maps are your friend.

I was up through there this week end. No more than an average winter so far. Most of the deer up through the Tug yard up, or migrate off the edge where the winter is easier. I laughed at the Post Standards pics...all they did was get pics of the plowed up snow banks from different angles.

My favorite, but all too seldom used rifle is my Browning falling block in 45-70. It just feels so....right. It has taken four bears in Canada, but for one reason or another (probably weight and being as long as a telephone pole) doesn't get taken into the deer woods. I have a tiny Stevens Crackshot 32 rimfire, which is a hoot, but I have to individually hand load each black powder round, and the little reloadable cases are a mint. To rectify that I am keeping an eye open for another crackshot in .22 rimfire.

For Canadian, Crown Royal, best bang for the buck. Irish, Jamieson is great. My current all time favorite though, Woodford Reserve Bourbon. One sip, and its easy to forget there are any others.

When much younger, it used to be a lot of fun to rip off a lot of fast rounds. It didn't take too long that I still couldn't hit...squat. Most serious shooters/ hunters quickly realize there is not substitute for the one well placed shot. Several Years ago at our local range, I was near two fellows with an AK style sniper rifle. They couldn't hit nuthin, despite how fast they shot! I posted my typical Ace of spades playing card target at 75 yards, and proceeded to (very slowly ) prepare and load my Great Plains rifle with its 90 grains of black powder and round ball, and proceeded in two shots over about 15 minutes to make a nice neat little figure 8 on the ace. I retrieved my target , which they looked at somewhat confused, and asked me if that was all I was going to shoot. "take your time, hit it with the first shot, and you don't need more".

I have fits and a total lack of confidence if I don't have venison for breakfast before I go out. Probably my ocd....I have had venison for breakfast before hunting for pretty much 30 years without interruption.