Five Seasons

I don't think we're syncing up here. I'm not bitching. book bucks are taken from both properties every year. I'm generally happy. What I'm trying to impress upon you is that 98% of hunters don't put the leg work in that you do, or don't have the time/money or means to. And you're probably better off for that or you might not have any properties to hunt unless you held the deed. We all agree that access is the issue most hunters face. It's not impossible to get land. It's also not simple. Heck, I could have booted a guy off a farm he had been hunting for years after I married into the family and the grandpa said I could. Not cool of course so I didn't. I'm simply saying that it is highly unlikely to find land at NY that isn't already hunted, is free or wont take some effort to get into.

I shot plenty of small bucks from the age of 16 through about 28. I didn't feel it was a bad thing when I decided to start letting them walk. I made my own choice. if anything I should have shot more doe, but grew up with an antler crazy family. the issue I see with years is that you're not guaranteed a harvest every year. A young kid who maybe can only hunt thanksgiving week might miss out a few years. In a perfect world the new hunter should be allowed 5 tags, not years, but tags before AR's are imposed. Good luck educating people on that it'd have to be an automated license thing and would probably drive underreporting.

I'm simply playing devils advocate. What other reason would the state have to enact a bill? The answer is to benefit a group of people through control. For someone who is in the minority such as yourself who may have many parcels or good neighbors the law doesn't matter. For the majority of the state it "could" improve mature buck odds. Personally I have 2 spots. 1 is ~100 acres with extreme pressure on all sides. the other is hundreds of acres with little pressure but a long drive and very difficult hunting. So yeah, I'm not asking for sympathy, it's on me. And that's why I started with saying I'm mostly anti-AR. But I also "get it".

I don't think that's untrue either. I am pretty serious with hunting, but not so much with fishing or golf. I still consider all 3 hobbies of mine. I don't compete against others, I'm not sponsored by UA and feel obligated to kill a big buck to keep my sponsor. I don't film a show or compete in golf or fishing tournaments for money. All those things are options and if someone does engage in them, they are certainly past the "hobby" stage. But for many, I think hobby or pastime is a fine definition for what we do. For example, during icebreakers or get to knows at work I almost always including hunting and fishing in the activates of things I do outside of work for fun.

if you're drinking during softball and golf that's fine. I don't see how you drink and play any decent basketball. if you're drinking on the sidelines, that's no different than drinking on the sidelines of any sport.

every hunter should do what he wants and how he wants so long as it's ethical. going against the grain because it brings enjoyment to you is what hunting is all about. If a new hunter asked for my advice, the first question should always be "what are you looking to get out of hunting". Only then can you even point a hunter in one direction or the other. And from there, the hunter will make up his own mind about what he wants to do. Don't want to wake up early? hunt afternoons. Don't let early morning alarms drive you from a sport. Just want meat in the freezer? Let me show you a field where you can hunt over some food and get a nice shot a doe etc.

apparently you haven't seen the crossbow harvest section

while I don't disagree, what is often overlooked for a state like NY where most hunters hunt small parcels is the fact that you may never see a 3 year old, if your neighbor shoots every yearling buck that walks by. I tend to side more with non-AR rules, but after spending some time down south where hunters had thousands of acres to themselves, and the state would allow the hunter to manage his own property. It made sense. In NY it's hard to manage your own property for your wants and needs if you're anything under 100 or really 300 acres. I believe we all know some hunters who have given up because of this, or worse yet the youth who never started.

part of the issue here is there is never an equal playing field in hunting. every animal, day and area are always different. Therefore it's impossible to judge skill. Sure we know some are better than others, but there's way too many variables. Where as in shooting the rules and field is the same. At the end of an hour we can clearly define who is the better archer or shooter.

yes men competing against each other for no other reason that to see who is better at the task than the other... certainly not the very definition of sports right there. It may not be the most athletic sport, but it is very much a sport. btw, million of dollars to be had for such an easy task.

Parts of hunting are sporting. It's all just really a word I guess. I don't consider a football player a sportsman, but I do consider a hunter a sportsman. I don't consider hunting a sport in the athletic sense. It's not that some types of hunting don't require physical skill, but I also don't consider running on a treadmill a sport. I suppose the only competitive part that puts it into the sports category is human vs animal.

did you just call ME a libtard? wtf?

Somewhat endorsing man/boy sex at 13 is not catering to the PC crowd. That's just principals. Now go back to watching Rachel Maddow so you can feel good about losing the election.

I didn't say he wasn't entitled to speak his mind, but he's not free from consequences. And thus why he lost his job.

i actually like the guy. the common sense and libertarian ideas. what he said here is not in the same bucket. I agree he is not promoting pedophilia, but 13 year old boys and men? We need to stop blanket support of people who say a lot of things we agree with. That doesn't mean we have to support everything they say. trump is a great example. I believe in most of what he says and does. That doesn't mean I defend everything. Some of the things the guy tweets are ridiculous. You can like Milo and not defend what he said here. I know a lot of you have kids. If you're having trouble grasping some of what he's condoning here think about your 13 year old with an older man.

most of us don't own enough land to control the "too many people" issue you speak of. And honestly, I don't even fully agree with that. the adirondaks is barren, and probably from us people controlling mother nature's way of replenishing through fire but still. so if I can't control "too many people", I can kill predators and plant food.

2 posts in and El Mas is ready to make friends.

This in a nutshell is what is wrong with our country. There is no such thing as a real American other than the fact that they have a valid social. A black gay guy in the city who couldn't change a light bulb is just as much of an American as the auto mechanic from Iowa. Both sides have this image in their head about what an American is and how they should act. That's the beauty of our country. We come in all shapes and sizes and with all sorts of backgrounds. The liberal columnist for the New York Times turns his nose down at the blue collar worker, but still relies on them to build and fix the car he drives. The conservative ship builder dislikes the white collar accountant, but still relies on them to make sure his mortgage paperwork goes through. We all rely on each other. it's the definition of society. So no, just because you can turn a wrench and you shovel your driveway you are not anymore special than anyone else who can't, and this comes from a guy who voted for trump has torn down and rebuilt engines. The only people who we need to do away with are the Kardashians. They do not apply.

it's not an insult. I truly can't follow your train of thought so it's hard to converse with you. And if that's not an original opinion about your posts, then maybe do a little searching within on why people keep saying that. Even Paula called you out in this very thread, but I'm the jerk?

I had a subscription for a few years. read it on the shitter. it was cool to flip through and see some pretty woman and also some good articles, so the repetiveness wasn't a big deal as it was just a flipper for me. certainly the internet tended to my other needs. magazines in general are a dying breed. now I play games on my phone in the shitter.

I can't even follow your thought process. I know I'm not alone.

Again, you don't have any idea and either does this guys neighbor about what his health situation is. And every other chore minus raking leaves are farm chores. 98% of America doesn't live on a farm and do any of those tasks, and if some of us do they're all mostly done on our terms when we feel like it. Shoveling is something that has to be done on the weather's terms. I had a smallish driveway when I lived in Alden. 26 and first time homeowner. No budget for a blower and there were some doozies my wife and I shoveled. They were good workouts and we were young, but there's no question they are strenuous for even a 26 year old who worked out. This isn't a discussion about work ethic as the OP made it out to be, it's a discussion of health and preference. If the dude has the means to pay someone else to do it, then good for him. Stop being a hater. I would bet a good healthy portion of this site's members have a plow service. Are they lazy for not blowing their own driveway? What about us with blowers who don't shovel? Are we lazy. Stop equating a guy who doesn't do yard work as lazy, he could be working 60 hour weeks crushing it at some law firm making bank. I doubt that's the case, but less judging of people in this world would be the best approach to this situation.

You should get an email that you created an account. If not just do it again?

Having a job doesn't mean you can do something like shoveling which is heart attack city. I know plenty of guys who park their butt in a chair at the office and only get up for lunch.

subscribe to the DEC weekly digest. they're as transparent as any other government office but are pretty good about putting their ideas out there. Think about the AR survey a few years ago. Usually you can see where they're headed and I've never once seen this brought up.