Doewhacker

"You don't throw a kid a weapon and call him and tell him he's a hunter." That is exactly it, you don't do that, you teach and are required to be right there with them the whole time and they do the shooting. If kids are ok to small game and turkey hunt at 12 with a gun, why aren't they ready to go with a bow too? Bow's are safer than guns as far as I'm concerned and if a kid can shoot good enough and the parents are fully involved, its ok. Its not the end of the world and may be a great idea for bowhunting. I respect your opinion by the way and I'm not trying to argue just stating my opinion too.

This is for you guys that don't have snow banks still, quit yer whining! lol I am happy knowing some one has more snow than I do left in their area, I just don't know when its going to leave... ??? Side note, we had 10 deer out last night acrossed the road from 6pm on right in the neighbors yard, it was fun to watch them from a nice warm house.

You guys are forgeting the biggest key here, the parents. Its our jobs to decide if a child or adult for that matter is ready for hunting. Not every person is ready to hunt unless they have guidance of some sorts. I see no issue with allowing 12 year olds to hunt as long as the parents are there, which they are required to be. I am all for it, it will help get kids exposed to the outdoors a little sooner which is a great thing and might add hunters to our ranks. Not all kids are glued to the TV and video games, my son could give two poops about video games and I could see him being ready to go at 12.

Where's Doc or Eddie when you need an old guy? Taking a nap probaly, or maybe they are driving with their blinkers on even though they turned four miles ago....oh wait its about 3, that means its early bird special time.

Back in 1963 my Mother tells me on April 12th the day I came home from the hospital in a horse and bugy it was 95 degrees! No old jokes from you youngsters! WNY went first so I figure its ok, I added the part you left out Burt.

Not even one Burt?

Can you put them in front of the powder for me? (you know make a complete round) lol

I'd be happy to trade temp's and left over snow with ya, interested? haha Say yes first and then I will send you a picture of my yard. Some how we didn't get anything form that storm, and only got a dusting in Albany.

yup Reflex is no more.

We are going to add a kit to our camper, with kids you never know what will happen. But I don't carry much beyond a bandaid or two in my pack for hunting. My dog has a whole kit devoted to him that I have in the truck for emergencies, so I take more precautions for him than I do myself. :

I already did the math for you earlier, taking two or three deer does offer a savings provided you don't spend a butt load on hunting. Me for example, I don't run out and buy the newest most expeansive stuff every year, so most years it cost's me the price of a license and gas to and from my hunting location. By no stretch of the imagination do I need to get meat to survive but it sure doesn't hurt things and I sure do love the meat alot. For me the meat deer provide is one of the main reasons I go every year.

Sampling is very important, you are doing her a favor! haha

I think he was reffering to traditional cooking methods, not crock pot or canning.

Oh I missed that part.. ;D One more reason I shot as many doe as I can, its like a broken record in my head..."Fill the frezer", and the voice is my wife..lol

In no way do I want to sound like an a-hole, but, is there no way you can scrape up $279? Like maybe cancel the cable for a few months, or cell phone, or what ever else. Being a mother of four, didn't she get a tax refund? Just trying to give you some ideas... A brand new Parker Side Kick with pink camo goes for $279 on their website.

I'm not so sure about that, I guess if you included the price of gear and really were to total it up maybe, but keep in mind the average American consumes about 200 pounds of meat each year. Multiply that by an average family size of four and you are up to 800 pounds of meat, now lets take say 200 pounds off and dedicate that to venison. Ok so we are going to guess the average cost of that venison is $300 as you sugested, that works out to $1.50 a pound providing you cut it and package it all yourself as I do. Now lets guess the average price per pound of beef, ground goes for @$$3-4 a pound and choice cuts of steak can be $18-20 a pound..suddenly venison sounds cheaper then beef does it not? At my house we do not eat beef untill the venison is gone, and we rarely eat beef the rest of the year, so by my logic hunting for venison is still cheaper than shopping for beef.

What a difference a week can make..now if I could just accelerate the snow melt I would be fine. I am betting I'll have snow of some type till Mid-April, hope I'm wrong.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Oil-prices-fall-to-lowest-apf-4024907371.html?x=0&sec=topStories&pos=2&asset=&ccode= That tradegy in Japan may just have saved us from $5 a gallon...

I think its actually alot easier to back up with the longer camper, with the shorter pop ups one blink and you are off in the broccoli.

Thanks for the advice, I actually went for the heavier duty sway system when we bought the camper last year. I have a dual cam sway and a weight distribution hitch on it, and I am so glad I upgraded from the el-cheapo stuff that they give you as the package deal. I can only imagine what it would be like with the lighter duty sway system.

What does every one tow with, we have a 2009 Suburban 1/2 ton with the tow package. I would have to say I don't have anything else to compare it to, but it tow's very well. I went up and down some real steep grades last year on our trip to the north and never had any issues. The engine braking on the downhill's was odd to me at first but once I realized everything was ok I was less worried we were gonna blow up, haha. The total tow rating is 8400 pounds on the bus as we call it but we went with an ultra light camper so's not to over work the truck, the camper weigh's in at 5400 pounds, plus hitch and gear. The only thing I will change are the tires, the bus comes with Passenger tires to soften up the ride and when its time for new I am going for Light truck tires. This will help with the feeling of sway I get when the wind blows me and the camper around. I got to know that feeling real good when we went to costal Mass. last year and drove through the remnants of a hurricane for 3 of the 4 hours...talk about white knuckle driving... ???

Its nice to have room to move around, AC and a shower. It took a little getting used to towing that long of a camper but now its no biggie. Our total length is about 50 foot counting the truck which is by no means the longest but it does require us to make sure and let the campground know how big we are so we will have room to back her in. Pull thru's are the best thing ever as far as I'm concerned..lol When you do upgrade don't be afraid to spend a little extra on the anti-sway bars, they told me it was overkill when I wanted to beef it up but let me tell you it was the best thing I spent money on concerning towing.

For me it was simple, my father and uncle and brother and cousin all shot in the yard and hunted so I was exposed to archery from a young age. I grew up shooting from a very young age and never stopped, shooting squirels in the back yard, 3-D shoots and finally hunting. Nowadays I like shooting because I can compete against myself and I try to shoot better every year, although I am getting close to maxing out on that I think.

Man WNY you did a job fixing that thing up, it doesnt even look like the same one! Our hand me down Jayco pop up looked alot like your camper before you fixed it up.

I realized we don't have any real good pictures of our camper and set up, I will have to work on that this summer..lol Here it is any way....