Five Seasons

great to see a few more deer down... was too quiet the last few days. Despite drowning in personal life stuff, I'm going out this afternoon, if for anything to just quiet my mind.

Yeah I mean what working man father of 3, doesn't want to get up at 4 on a Saturday or get home past 9pm to hunt pressured land? I hunted public land for 2 years in Alden and 3 down south in Mississippi. I know all about it. Those drives are only worth it if you have literally no other option.

this exactly. I bet less than 10%, if that of deer that are wounded are due to string jump. Studies show that string jump is really only a factor at 25+ yards and I bet most of the kills on this harvest thread were under that, if not under 20.

Do you really think that side by side, per capita the bowhunter (who is often also a gun hunter) doesn't edge out the gun only hunter with their style and approach to hunting? Just on its face if you consider the bow hunter is so obsessed with deer hunting he decided to invest thousands of dollars and countless more hours to do more of something they have a passion for. Take any hobby or sport, the truly dedicated and passionate tend to be the most outspoken and greatest advocates. They know what's at stake and what can be lost from bad apples. Baseballs and steroids are a great analogy. Sure, no single group is pure and without their rotten apples. But I do think in general, the bowhunter is a more ethical hunter. If someone wanted to study this they could always research the number of DEC violations during regular season vs archery and that'd be a good start.

I don't really buy that either. It takes some dedication to consistently hunt whitetails year after year with the a bow. The guys that think it's easy quickly find that it's not and give up. Those that stick with it are pretty dedicated and committed to doing the right thing, and of course even then the unfortunate happens. To think former gun only hunters picking up a crossbow would lead to less wounding is a little naïve. This hunter doesn't replace the bowhunter he's just in addition too him.

my guess is that you practice extensively at 45 with your bow. I'm a pretty good archer and wouldn't take that shot. Meanwhile, Bill could pick up a crossbow at dicks and shoot bulls at 45 within a few hours or less. As others have stated, that brings a different breed into the deer woods.

snow on the ground in 8F. Wish I was out!

PS I formally request that this topic be used to discuss deer hunting regulations by those that actually deer hunt and not types of trees and turkey hunting or kung fu.

I don't think either of those are true. Range is greater with a crossbow and that's a fact. You don't need to stand and draw with a crossbow, thereby reducing movement and the chance of getting busted. A scope allows you to more easily pickup up on twigs and branches that could deflect your bolt. At the end of the day, I'm not nearly energized enough to have the same crossbow debate we've had a 100 times. But there is a clear advantage to hunting with one, or we wouldn't be such a proponent for allowing it for the elderly and disabled. That alone is a good barometer.

i'm not so sure on the .308 recommendation unless you're just looking to destroy everything. The recoil alone would have me wanting to go no higher than a .243 even if I wasn't interested in trying to save the pelt.

what happened to doewacker? nothing since the spring? did he get the vid?

yep. midweek post vacation, rain, full moon, busy weekend of woods activity. This is a good time for guys and gals to take a moment to catch up and give the woods some time to bounce back.

it's a tough time to find guns, ammo and parts, let alone a deal. I would advise you to wait for what you want rather than settling for your second choice. Firearms are generational.

I don't disagree with your comment. It's a tricky situation. Take someone who lives in Rochester, NY for example. Not a ton of good public hunting land. So selfishly I'd rather see new land access opened up then a boat launch repaired near Albany. My family also has land in the Adirondacks surrounded by more public land then anybody knows what to do with and I put out trail cameras every year and only capture a few deer. A lot of our NY public land data is skewed by the mountains which hold deer for sure, but nothing like the population downstate.

this is how mine is. epoxied. and man did I learn what a safety nightmare this makes for the owner in the event of a double feed. Thanks NY, you've made the world a safer place. I really would have preferred the system they have in Cali... can't believe I'm saying that lol.

you 2 aren't the target for this law. It's the non-hunter summer home owner, the old widowed lady that owns a farm, the farmer haha. What really needs to be added to this is some liability forgiveness. I've been denied more than once for fear the landowner thought they could be sued if I was hurt. Even with insurance and all that, the state is a legal nightmare sometimes and they could make it much easier to get boots on the ground. Heck, many of those land owners might already have "public" access and not even know it. Give them a few hundred off their taxes in exchange for hunter satisfaction and population control seems fair to me.

i guess we were not. what have you been hunting with thus far? That might help us advise on where best to spend your $2k

full transparency, this is where I struggle. I'm not big on hunting what I don't eat. I looked into tanning my own hides and that process is way more involved then this father of 3 has time for either. That said, I understand population control. I understand they're invasive. But the hobby is missing the hook I need... of course lets see when I roll my first yote if my tune changes haha

i started out last year. used my deer rifle with a light and bought an e-caller from a generous forum member. I bought an AR over the summer and a nice scope with it. Still going to use a light as I'm not 100% sold on the hobby yet. I'd caution you to try it cheap a few times before going too deep. I'm not sure I'm sold on it, and I'm glad that I didn't sink a ton into a thermal build. I always wanted an AR anyhow, and if I do get hooked, I can go thermal later on. If I don't get hooked, I still have the AR I always wanted too. just my .02 as someone who toyed with this idea for a long time and finally went down the road last year. You're going to spend $100 in rechargeable batteries alone

there was a laundry list of reasons and a lot had to do with youth and school. Some also thought it'd help the economy, which they got wrong. And of course I would be remise if I didn't mention that it pissed off a bunch of bowhunters who cherished that last weekend during the rut. Of course they gave us 2 weeks of warm mosquito October in exchange

very well said Chris. Honest and true. The only point I'd add on to what you said is with regard to challenge. Archery was meant to be a challenge. It was never intended to be easy. Yes technology has improved over the decades, but fundamentally the hunter still chooses his or her challenge. The obvious reply to this is "well let me choose to use a crossbow" and that's a fair counter, if it wasn't for the type and style of hunting being so drastically different. I think many of us anti crossbow guys know it's a matter of time. I've said 100 times though, keep it the way it is and make it easier for elderly and disabled. The season is fine with me today, even if my nose twitches when i see those crossbow selfies in the "live from the woods" thread

hey now, you probably hit exactly on their intent there! Scare the crap out of them with what could be, so what we actually want doesn't seem so bad. very clever. very clever indeed.

I was a little surprised to see this isn't already a law. That being said, this state is great at writing laws and ordnances about how many people can gather, what attachments your gun can have etc. Yet we don't really have any way to enforce it. Heck even the most egregious poachers rarely get caught even with the laws we have today. With 1 DEC officer per 100 square miles or whatever it is, I just don't see how they'll enforce this. The hunter who cares about the law isn't wasting to begin with. It's the criminal and gun control argument.

I haven't replied to a Bill post in months. and thanks

yet you don't hunt with the crossbow now when it's legal? This comment doesn't make sense.