Lawdwaz

Hey wait a minute.........................................................I resemble that.

No and yes

If he would............grin BUT, I still have my old T/C Hawken 50cal flintlock. I don't think I've shot it in 10 years now and I'm starting miss it a bit. My powder is getting old and my patches could use a little spit.........my round balls (gigidy) still have their flat spots.........my ball starter and all the other accouterments are sitting quietly in my man purse in the basement, ready to rock. Back in the mid 80's through the late 90's I would hunt the late flintlock season in PA and had a blast. Killed a few and had some miss fires. Never missed................NOT. I know this is a stretch but thought maybe we could have fun with it and the "ever lurking" folks at the DEC might catch wind and have something else to talk about at this winters meetings?!?!

You can't count on it. Who did the aging on your two bucks? Do you know if it can still be done after a year or so? The buck I shot last fall was aged by the DEC and me at 3.5yrs old but I have my doubts on this one. The width of the skull and the (yup!) mass of the big 6pt rack has me questioning it?? He dressed out at 182lbs......... The buck on the right........

5.5yr old.........(172lb) 3.5yr old.........(I forget) 3.5yr old.........(217lb) Weight is dressed of course. Age on these was all done by tooth wear via the DEC.

The rack has nothing to do with a bucks age after 2.5yrs.

Probably is an understatement. 8.5 is a dinosaur.

That is quite an interesting way to estimate the age of a deer. Have you run that by QDMA or the DEC? I'll stick with tooth wear guess-timation by me & the DEC until the alternative gets MUCH cheaper. BTW, the 5.5 year old who's jaw is pictured above has bases 3 5/8's and 3 6/8's.

I'm going to start a rumor.........."Next year, 2014 NYS will have a new muzzleloader season that opens the day after Christmas and runs for two weeks. It is limited to percussion and flintlock rifles or handguns, loaded with black powder and sabot-less bullets or patched round balls. No optical sights will be allowed. Tags for the current license year will be valid. A $15.00 ML Conservation Stamp will be required" This hunt is to promote the use of and keep alive the long standing tradition of these type of firearms. They have played an important part of our state and countries history and deserve their own season. OK guys & gals, tweak it as you will. (needless to say, DON'T even mention my beloved in-line rifles for this season)

Welcome Rookie! A member here has been very informative in the push for a dove season in NYS. His name and handle "Mike Rossi" Here is a link to his profile: http://huntingny.com/forums/user/1948-mike-rossi/ Go back and read some of his posts and note at the bottom of them he has a link to some information on dove hunting here in NYS. I've hunted them in PA quite a few times and would love to hunt them here.

Prayers to all involved..............

LOL........................ I can't stand that Santa Baby song.....................<no grin> I like Burl Ives Silver & Gold, Holly Jolly Christmas, Royal Guardsman Snoopy song etc. I listen to Sirius Satellite music at home and in the truck all the time. This time of year 6017 is the Holy station, 6004 is Traditional and 6058 is Country Christmas. I've been jamming to this stuff for weeks now!!

I doubt it fits your budget for money or time this year but in the future there are some great hunts to be had down south. I hunted Alabama a couple times in mid January and had a blast. Relatively reasonably priced hunts with liberal bag limits and friendly folks. You're a young guy and putting in the time and effort now to get your life started in the right direction. You will have plenty of time in the future to fill plenty of tags!! If you do make it out here in NYS in the next day or so, good luck!

Link ?

"Wildly inaccurate" is a bit of a stretch. It is an accepted practice and will be until game departments come up with enough cash to have all their samples sent for analysis. I'd like to send mine out for aging but this method is just fine for me too. I'm thinking the tooth wear method is quite a bit more accurate than the folks that look at a trail cam picture or even a dead deer and tell me how old he was. You know, "look at that Roman nose, he has to be 4.5yrs old". What a joke........... Most people have never looked into a deer's mouth in their lifetime and probably never will.

I must have missed it, what does this have to do with this thread?

Dude.............................. You're lucky you made it out of the woods in one piece.

I try and have the DEC in Buffalo age any deer that is notable for one reason or another. Body size or a bigger than average rack could be a reason for this. Unfortunately I've never aged any of the bigger doe I've killed. That would be interesting to see. In the last few years I've been lucky to kill some good bucks and had them aged and even kept the right side of their jaw bone for future comparisons to a QDM information sheet and info on the web............... My oldest bucks jaw bone (5.5yrs old) on the bottom and a 1.5yrs old bucks above it................. Another view.................. The QDM fact sheet............. I think I got the QDM sheet at the very informative QDM meeting last January that was held in Honeoye Falls NY and put on by the fine folks Greater Rochester Southern Tier Chapter of the QDM. Considering 99.5% (grin) of all bucks killed are 1.5 years old I've always been interested in their age or more importantly their DOD.

No. The rear legs are individual and the front are an attached pair if that makes sense. All pieces nestle into the body cavity; legs, head, horns, ears and tail. Then it all can go in either the orange nylon net bag with shoulder straps or the box for storage.

If you use a dehumidifier religiously in your basement you should not need anything else. If you do not have a good dehumidifier, you sure as hell better use one of those Golden Rod deals. Drill the appropriate hole in the safe if you have to.............. Good luck!

Oh yea, I filled a bunch of pints and quarts with raw meat then dumped them out and weighed the contents of individual jars for future reference; pints 15oz and quarts 30oz.. That way I know what I need for the amount of jars etc.

The spoils of my labor and guidance from you guys here............. I did a second batch and a few jars were handed out as gifts to a couple friends. The current tally is as shown: Fine, fine grub that won't spoil in the event of a freezer failure that goes undetected!!

Come on B, it's the holiday season.

Where (what room) do you keep your safe? Do you have a/c?

Eddie, Eddie, Eddie!!!!!!! Give it another shot, Eddie. The Fat Lady is warming up but she isn't singing YET!!