Five Seasons

that sounds just like a woman. says one thing, but means something else

My point, is that if he's out on patrol, i'd rather he stay patrolling then come to my house so i can nail a 6 point rack to my barn off a roadkill. It's not worth the hassle to me. I don't think a small paragraph on roadkill, dead deer found in the woods, injured deer etc would be a waste. Sounds like there's confusion even here. I know a guy that was issued another tag for shooting a wounded buck to put it out of his misery and a lot of the meat was bad. That's good info for a hunter to have no?

would be hard to prove that wouldn't it. You may buy 6 new gadgets before the season. You land a trophy buck. Which gadget did it, or was it none of them? Unless you're on a drive it's hard to say someone pushed a deer your way.

all those leafs it actually looks pretty comfy haha

i think i posted the story somewhere else. maybe even in this thread. cliff notes. He purposely hunted near some of our boundaries to see if anything hinky went on. Had 2 or 3 occasions of multiple 20 gauge shots. Spooked running does and a doe standing on the ridge blowing and stomping. We fully believe they were actual youth hunting, but it was not a typical bowhunt. Ruined may be a strong word. this was my thought. thanks for confirming. It seems most fall squirrel, bird etc. hunters don't bowhunt themselves. JJB, would you go squirrle or turkey hunting in late October? CD, Let me just pull tens of thousands of dollars out of my ass and I'll be right on buying that land. I'm not sooo opposed, I just feel the timing was not well thought out.

yeah I have no doubt that calling an ECO would be the correct thing to do, but I'm not about to waste some officers time for some roadkill when I'd rather he be looking for poachers. I also don't keep old tags to your point. I just wonder why it's not spelled out in the book. I think I'll just pass on pulling over haha.

irish, usually the dec will issue you another tag if you'd like to keep the meat from a roadkill. That way you can prove you didnt poach it. But just the horns?

that's awesome. He is going to be disappointed from here on out haha.

don't be discouraged. it's still VERY early and warm. Heck 2 years ago you wouldn't even be in the woods yet. One day you'll be in the stand and there will be 4 doe and 3 bucks around you. Like someone flipped a switch. Save your vacation days for the end of October and early November.

all over my neck of the woods. watched an work one right in front of me on saturday.

i've heard good things about the new rugers and the savage 308. I would also say that your boys will grow into the bigger guns. I would not pick a gun based on their starting age, assuming they're average height and weight. At 16 my 12 gauge gave me a good kick. Still does, but I'm glad I have a 12 gauge now and not a 20.

I have shot my fair share of yearlings, and I've shot some 2.5's and 3.5's. If I waited to only shoot 5 year olds I wouldn't have a horn on the wall haha. I think area is important. In my woods the food and genetics are great. A 3.5 is on 95% of hunters walls. I also think there is a thin line with hunters. You have to enjoy hunting and shooting deer. If it becomes too scientific or job like then where is the fun? I also still believe that new bow hunters should try and shoot almost any deer they can. If you wait till the 3.5 is standing broadside you may very well fling the arrow over his back. My knees still shake and I have about 5 bow kills now. Now my father is going on 60, hunting since he was 16 with several big buck entries. He's passing on everything under 3.5.

see that's what gets me. What is the difference when you boil it down between a shed and a roadkill? For what it's worth, I have no need for these roadkills other than maybe decorating my garden shed or something haha. I do believe what some of you guys are posting, but I guess I'd like to see it in print. If someone has a link I think we would all appreciate it. I've read the reg rules front and back and never seen anything claiming it to be illegal.

All I hear in this thread is squirrel hunters. How many of you actually squirrel hunt AND bow hunt. If you do squirrel hunt the same woods you bow hunt, how is that working out for you? A few of us said it earlier, but there's not many squirrel hunters around me till after deer season. And I'll be honest, and maybe I'm alone in thinking this, but deer seem to know when they're being shot at. target practice, duck etc have never seemed to bother them around me, but they certainly start using their nose a lot more and acting a lot more skittish come gun season. Heck the guns are going off during spring turkey too and the deer will come withing 20 yards of me and I'm not even covering my scent. I know it sounds funny. But they seem to know. Especially the mature deer who've been through a season or 2. the hunt didn't wreck my weekend. it did affect my dad's. But it is what it is. I just hope it helps I guess.

what about bluegrass? my ego is sensitive. i do require pats on the back too

my .02 I think it's early to be grunting every 15-20 min. like some people do during the rut. I soft grunt here and there shouldn't really hurt anything, but be sure you're alone when you do it. I once grunted after a few hours of nothing only to scare a 6 point that had bed down at some point right next to me haha. I also believe if you have a buck coming in, then it starts to leave it really can't hurt to give a couple soft grunts. I mean... he's leaving anyhow. haha.

What is an illegal post Shawn?

Anyone ever stop and cut them off? Is there any law against it? If not what do you use? 2 dead bucks on 104 today if anyone's interested haha.

don't worry. I'd jump out of the way with my super sweet paintball skillz yo. Still waiting on an answer to the question I asked you btw.

would you let someone shoot an arrow at you at 50 yards?

you keep picking apart the cons i pointed out and read right through the pros. patternable deer is one thing, but opening weekend of gun could and usually is the rut. Much better success rate. the few bad apple example was just a shot at your "zero infractions" stat. Of course they're not going to publish that. the warmer weather thing is exactly what some people point out as the setting up false expectations concern. I said my peace. I don't believe I was that out spoken, I just said I believe there could have been a better time for it.

so if those successful hunters become to old for youth and don't land a deer in the harsh cold weather with pressured deer and stop hunting. Was it still successful? I'm not sure what drum I'm beating. All I said was only time will tell if it was successful. You spouted a bunch of facts (i find it hard to believe that not one of those was an abused tag) but silly for me to think the DEC would publish that anyhow... i mean it's their program and they can publish what they want. All those facts are great. When hunter numbers rise in 2 or 3 years after the first wave of youth graduate from the program then I'll be the one leading the parade down main street. And trust me, I want it to succeed. I'd be happy. I just don't agree with the programs logic, and I'm skeptical it will help. I would move it to first weekend of gun.

i would probably pass on them. Would have to reinforce my wall to keep them from falling off. That's too much work.

lol elmo. that's awesome dude. but even a few inches, should not result in a clean miss if you're shot was at the vitals. and if it jumps enough, you might even spine it.

i stick to my guns that 95% of those youth would still hunt opening day. The point of youth is to increase hunter numbers right? How does it do that while also not setting up false expectations?