Daveboone

Great book. The family has a long history in the Maine woods well before then, too. Another great book is "Hunting Big Woods Bucks, by ....Blood (last name), another north woods guide. I wish Ihad the time to put all those books teach into practice.

They are old school woodsmen, the likes of which are seldom seen. Many of the newer generations of hunters cant understand the knowledge and time, mind set and way of life that they live daily. Without the immediate gratification of modern conveniences and distractions, most young hunters or indifferent hunters do not believe in the success and tactics still practiced by them.

I depart tomorrow (may 21) for southern NB, Canada. My 4th time going, having gotten 3 previous bears. I am just as excited this time around. I am going to Lindsay Sporting Camps again, bringing my proven Browning 45-70 single shot.

You could use a muzzleloader at any time, but the ML season was implemented in the early 70s due to the resurgence in popularity around the bicentenial- 73-74 I recall.

I hunted it intensively for many years, and took one of my best bucks out of there. It is big woods hunting. You need to do your homework, and alot of scouting. Hunting pressure is a fraction of what it was when I started there in the late 70s. It has a healthy deer population, but it is widespread. Dont expect open country hunting.

Very random. Of course any shooting over/ along a road would not be legal, or within (I think its) 500 feet of occupied buildings. Out in the middle of no where I have been told by game officers no shooting except in designated areas. They dont want the landscape, trees chewed up. Fair enough. Some allow it in old gravel cuts. I would notify your local DEC officer of the situation. Usually they are very prompt in responding. What they can do about it is another matter.

Of the three bears I have shot, the meat itself was as clean and appetizing as any other appropriatly treated butchered meat. I have to agree that the skinned carcass looks very human like (other than the skull). The first bear I brought home put us off eating it for over a year on the memory of looking like a young human! Yes, it was a small bear.

My belief on why no spring bear hunting is several possibilities: First, NY does not have a very large (though stable) population to start. Next, spring bear hunting is usually baiting oriented, which isnt allowed. Fall bear hunting is pretty much on a stumble upon basis. Next, the bear take in NY is apparentlly effective enough in removing the desired # of bears, as the population is at a stable level for decades.

I have been out in the woods pretty steady along the NW corner of the Tug Hill, east of Mannsville over the last few weeks. I dont think the kill will be significant in that area. The deer seemed to be moving very well, and the deer I am seeing now are in good shape. Many deer in this area drop down the few miles to the lower land when it gets too deep, and are only just now returning.

East of Mannsville, snow is melting fast, All the snow is gone from the yard at the camp, and you can easily walk through the woods. As of yesterday, the Redfield area is still buried. Careful around the creeks though, the water is high and running hard.

I have shot many two+ and three+ year old bucks that would fall outside QDM standards. (and many 1 1/2 year olds that would). If circumstance dictates limited time to hunt, or simply a poor selection in any given year...it still boils down to dictating what some one should shoot. less than 20 years of celebrity hunting show oriented hunting mentality has driven our sport into a "mine is bigger than yours" mentality, and taken away the respectability of hunting sportsmanship for a competitve "superbowl" sport mentality. I hunt from the beginning of NT ML season through the last day of ST ML season when I can, and do not lack for opportunities. Over the 40 years I have been hunting, deer populations and success rates have skyrocketed throughout the state. Hunters no longer hope to get a deer, they expect to get multiple deer. Now they want them bigger. There is little justification or respectability in the sport when we brag " I only QDM hunt, so I passed alot last year". Yeah, ok. B.S. Any QDM hunters I know dont eat venison to start, and it (qdm) just gives them another competition to participate in.

Limit the legal take of bucks to one per hunter, and there will be more bucks out there. We are hunting for meat anyway, not bragging rights. I will be very upset when I am told someone else is making the decision of whether or not I can shoot the buck of my choosing for my freezer.

I recently sighted in two inlines with Nikon blackpowder scopes, after the package (Cabelas) scopes failed to zero. I was very impressed with the Nikon quality. I purchases a new Redfield for my own inline, and the quality was not what i expected, it does not zero as closely as the Nikons did, the cross hairs are not as precise to sight with...overall, regardless of it being made by Leupold (and I own 4 other L scopes) the Redfield is going back for exchange on a Nikon (I cant afford another Leupold right now). No matter the gun, you are allways well ahead buying the very best scope you can afford. I agree with the other assessments of the refurbished scopes: but they will never be any better than what the scope already is. Even if hunting only a few times a year (maybe even more so) you dont want a scope to ruin that rare day hunting by failing on you.

The overlong cylinder on the Rossi also makes for inefficient powder burning, and the long barrel will not maximize velocity because the round is designed for use in short barreled pistols. The gun is strictly a novelty.If you are looking for performance you are looking in the wrong place.

Several years ago I shot a buck that had several of those tumors on it- one hanging off of its r eyelid the size of an apple! very unappetizing, but on skinning they are totally confined to the skin- as has been mentioned previously. The first deer pictures is diseased enough with them I wouldnt say they were harmless...theyre growth will sap the body, and when they get that clustered around the eyes, nose , mouth etc. they certainly can harm it.

The starting post sounds awfull confusing as to just what they are referring to with handicap access,etc. I had spent a fair bit of time up there in years past and currently there isnt any ...it is rustic camping sites. Very rustic. I believe it was the Sportsmans News that had an article on the outcome. I am sure it can be found in the DECs website. for most folks, it doesnt change anything very much. It is a huge area.

Yo. There are at least two Annsvilles in NY. Which county?

I am out in my deer woods year round, snow shoeing when the snow is too deep to walk. The Winona Forest Association canceled their winter fun day yesterday due to the cold and snow, but I was still out up there.

I hunt primarily the western edge of the Tug Hill and Yates County near Dresden, have bow hunted but primarily gun and ML. I am actively outside in my deer woods year round. Many hunting acquantances of mine complaiined of no deer in these areas...Bull. There were plenty, and I had plenty of opportunites and made meat. Success is equal to the amount of time you spend in the woods, it isnt a video game or TV show. It is realistic NOT to shoot a deer every year, and more than likely. New York has a huge deer population. It is a detriment that hunters are allowed to take more than one buck a year- as many succsessful hunters do. That is one less deer for another hunter. I want to hunt the longest season possible, because it is my sport...I want to stretch the game out for the whole season.

I would like to, but my concern is that if the deer congregate near my food and we get heavy winter accumulation, they may not be in the area they should be (for shelter, water, natural food, etc) and I could do more harm than good. We should not be a substitute for what old mother nature intended.

I spent alot of time joy riding around on my motorcycle in the areas I was interested in (Tug Hill- Oswego, Jefferson county), then called the realtors specifically for the properties I liked. I ended up buying from an individual not listed with a realtor, 10 acres surrounded by state and county land. I couldnt be happier. I had found there were alot of properties to be had very reasonably (4 years ago) if you looked hard enough.

It doesnt help that so many "hunting" tv shows depict canned hunts. Youthful hunters taking huge deer week after week make the everydays hunter (especially inexperienced) feel the only deer worth shooting are 41/2 yr old 180 score bucks, that would never typically be seen in their lifetime. The deer shown on the TV shows and taken at great expense at high fence operations are not typical of the breed, and to me look like freaks. Kind of like Dolly Parton showing up at a high school beauty show.Huge rack, not typical (sorry if a little coarse).

I love running across th old abandoned camps that are scattered throught the adks and Tug Hill. It is always sad to think they are no longer used, but I enjoy imagining what happened there.

I have a Ruger Mk 11 18 1/2" bbl in .308 which is my everyday deer gun. Although in my opinion all the military toys they have put on the scout gun are unneccessary (except for the doom and gloom crowd), I would like to see my gun offered with a slightly heavier barrel and removeable box magazine.

We see these old photos and are amazed, but usually the city "sports" hired a guide, who was more than happy to be sure the hunters got their meat. Dogs were still used, as well as jacklighting from boats, and of course bait piles. Even when the populations were low, good deer could be had.