Daveboone

We used to do quite a bit of winter camping, usually on state land. Actually, colder is better. The snow doesn't melt on you so readily, and you don't sweat as much...but you need to know what you are doing. Some folks like lean to camping n the winter, but other than having a dry base for operations, it is the cold way to go. We would dig down in the snow, run a rope between trees and put up a fly over our whole, closing in the ends. During the day you keep busy hiking, hunting or whatever, and when the sun goes down hide in the shelter. After putting down ground sheets and foam pads, and lighting a candle lantern or two it could get quite comfy. We used to go to the same few areas so in warmer seasons we would pre cut fire wood and clear our shelter area. We had a "dog sled" we built which we carried water, etc. in, much easier than melting it. We buried the water jugs in the snow, and it wouldn't freeze. Coldest we were out was +- 20 below at night with no problems.

Thompson Center Encore with a .308 bbl would be a nice package...

whereabouts are you located? I need to get up to my camp on the western Tug, but am waiting for a bit of a warm up. I only have wood heat available, and am going to have to wade about 4 feet of snow to get in.

I would be delighted!I will send note.

Along with ordinances, common sense, etc. it also depends on the chunk of land....Ive been on plenty of parcels of land of considerable size that would be useless for hunting. well, productive hunting anyway. On the otherside, I have only a 10 acre parcel surrounded by productive state and county land that is great deer habitat, so it is plenty for me.

Went to Lindsays in New Brunswick 5 years running, many other hunters up there going on 20 years plus.... Primarily Spring Bait hunts. Great family style meals, comfortable lodgings, and usually lots of bears. I say usually because weather of course affects hunting a lot, and the bears want to do their own things without explaining it ... I would happily return every year for the great week away, but have to save my money for a very long awaited fly in moose hunt.

I have hunted Canada for bears 6 times over 6 years, and would happily go back every year. It is a great time of the year to be out, and it is always exciting. Although most stand hunts are very productive, remember it is still hunting- several years I saw gobs of bears, a couple I only saw one or two. One year I saw shootable bears and chose not to shoot, and was still happy. Get a lot of shooting time in from stands. You will be very close with a bow...maybe 8-12 yards. You need to be very still, which buggers a lot of people up. The bears are used to the stands frequently, and are used to looking for hunters. Prepare for the worst black flies imaginable. Get a quality bug suit, and get a thermocell with plenty of refills. They work great. Prepare for the border crossings both ways. The Canadians are more relaxed than we are in appearance at the border, but they don't take no guff. Follow their rules and be polite, and the border crossings are a breeze. Have a good time!

Don't get sold on one brand by reputation: every foot is different, and what is perfect for me could be horrible for you. Asolo, Merrill, other brands mentioned here are all great boots (I am an active hiker, backbacker, and sold shoes/boots for many years), but you must try them on. Go to a store with a good variety (Gander, Eastern Mountain Sports, etc) where you can try them on with the sock you would wear (don't want to start a sub thread, but NEVER cotton), and wear them while walking around the store. EMS is especially comfortable with this, other stores less so... Let the foot be the judge, don't shop by fashion!

Aside from making sure the breech/ touch hole is clean and clear, be absolutely sure there is no chance of oil residue anywhere. Thoroughly wipe the bbl and pop a few primers, then wipe with a new patch. I find Triple 7 fires much more consistently then pyrodex (and black powder is even better= agreed!). Loose measured powder ignites much more reliably than pellets.

Start with the basics: Learn to use a compass to find your way, learn to start a fire under any circumstance, and always wear good foot gear. Then spend as much time in the woods as you can year round, and each outing practice basic woodsman ship.The hunting part follows.

I trim it up the stew meat (removing all fat, silver skin, etc), season it with Bucks and black pepper, then flour, heat an iron pan with peanut oil. I sauté up some sweet onion and maybe some mushrooms, when done,I remove the onions and mushrooms.Then I add more oil to the pan, get it good and hot and sear the venison, ensuring it is still pink/red in the middle, then toss in the onions and 'shrooms, and serve. Very tasty.

Loose powder for economy and improved ignition, but I carry pellets in my reloads for field use. The loose powder is more prone to binding the speed loading tubes, and field accuracy/ off hand shots wont tell the diff.

The argument that a dear dies anyway doesn't hold. Far more licenses are sold than are filled. If a family member buys a tag and doesn't use it, a deer would not have died. The hunter that does use it doubled the number of deer that would have died if taken legally. I have no doubt this practice is a main reason certain areas have so few bucks...the same hunter cleans out the local bucks. I unfortunately know a couple individuals who believe in this practice, boils down to they are game hogs.

I hunt primarily the Tug Hill area, where the deer population is thinner than the ST, but I put meat in the freezer. I saw an average # of deer (sightings/opportunities about 1/4 of my outings), but had an amazing # showing up on my game cameras....at night, including more bucks than ever over the past 8 seasons hunted there. I didn't hear hardly any shots in the area, and was out each w/e day morning and evening, and plenty of week days. I hunted two days in Yates county where our crew had at least an average year, no complaints. Its hunting. some times good, sometimes not so good.

about 25 years ago, a friend and I wearing head to toe orange against a snowy back ground were shot at from less than 50 yards by a hunter (not with us)who mistook us for a deer. Thank god the shot went between us. I have no confidence in orange preventing accidents except that it should increase visibility to others in your party. If I recall correctly, turkey hunters are a huge percentage of shooting victims , and of course are full camo. Myself, I wear orange when moving to my stand or still hunting, luckily my primary hunting area is very thinly hunted. I don't think mandating orange makes hunting safer for all, but I think it does for the hunter with common sense. Fools will continue to be fools.

might not have been hunters. in an area we used to hunt, a group /family of nonhunters used to set off fireworks thinking it would make it more difficult for the hunters by making the deer spookier, and ticking off the hunters who would leave.

oh, and they cross pollinate with crab apples, etc. Be sure not to clear any of those out..

I found quite an overgrown orchard on my property when bought it, with several varieties. Deer eat all apples, with preferences to availability (heck, if they eat super bitter acorns and love them, any apple is free candy!). Open up as much sunlight as possible- super important. clear away as much competing brush/ saplings. .

I love to hunt the wet and cold, and never had a problem. Most likely in NY, as cold as it gets, you probably wont have to worry much unless you have a lot of gunk/grease in your action. Keep your gun clean, and don't use grease or excessive amounts of oil on moving parts in the colder weather, and you should be fine.

If you want to make her day, make a vacation out of it and take the two of you on a guided bear hunt. I have been up to Lindsays outfitters in New Brunswick 5x,(4 for five, with multiple opportunities each year, passing on shooting one year) with my wife going along once as a nonhunter. You are fed, driven to your site, great chance to see multiple bears for a reasonable price. They are a very family oriented camp. We combined it with another week spent driving through Nova Scotia...we are planning on doing it all over again. I would love to shoot a NY bear myself, but they are really a target of opportunity for the most part, with close to zero chance of an encounter where I hunt.

Camp fires are great for cooking when you don't have anything else going on, but if you are tromping around all day it is way too time consuming. Pre cook a pot of chili or stew, spaghetti is an easy two pot meal, etc. Think filling, easy, quick to prepare and clean up.

Looks like a mechanical rub to be. I don't tink it is critter based.

Im thinking it is a blimp of a youngster...head doesn't look too big, ears are pretty upright. the legs don't look straddled wide like an older biggie usually does.Guessing 3 years or so, but it certainly is a blimp of one, just the same.

Just the same, BUT.....even more important than with a deer, 1)make sure its dead , 2) due to the heavy fur and fat content, cool it as quickly as you can. get it off the ground, prop the opening wide, keep it out of the sun (the black fur absorbs lots of heat quickly). Bear is fine eating if the meat is treated with respect.

The animal could have wandered off to die suffering from the sounds of it. I would have chosen a firearm to ensure a perfect final and humane hit, but I wasn't there and it may have been all that was available...no problem from my shoes. Depending on the locale though, a call to the DEC or police may have been prudent and ensured legal possession of the carcass for processing. I know of at least 2 similar situations that the game officer okd the dispatching of the animal over the phone.