dbHunterNY

family time and the holidays. hunting related though it's never over for me and nothing to do with my hunting. in the spring a group i'm part of will host an educational field day to teach habitat improvement related to deer and other stuff like trapping for predator management. also going over plans working with foresters and land specialists to come in and offer services to the community where the QDM co-op i help run is located. also there's some pro-hunting legistlative stuff to tend to that runs through the summer. youth involved turkey season is around the corner. aside from that stuff it's silly stuff for myself. relocate a couple trail cams to keep them running and get confirmation a few bucks lived. clean guns. wash and store away some gear. indoor pistol competitions are going on now. have one this evening to go to. shooting and hunting you can say consumes portions of my life throughout the year. sometimes it gets difficult to work it all in.

definitely cool. i know who i'll be pulling for this spring! never know the beards could get rather long. i'd put it under the euro mount.

you both make a good team. 12 deer and a bear is still a heck of a season. even more people got piece of mind knowing their deer would make it given the tracking. others is just tough luck and maybe should practice shooting during the off season as much as you and luna practice tracking. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you before the mild weather returns.

help with that could be coming. were they reported?

we put in perennial not annual rye grass though. there's differences between the two when it comes to things like shade tolerance, wet or dry soil, and plans for the plot.

on the family farm all the grazing beef cattle are gone. some of the smaller secluded pastures we weren't quite ready to turn into alfalfa hay fields and got a forage rye grass to keep the rose bushes, trees, and weeds from coming in. it's worked pretty well. the deer prefer the nice lush alfalfa growth after each cutting in other fields, but they do feed on the forage rye grass. especially into later november and early December as everything grows more dormant and brown. even more so with them being secluded and having less hunting pressure. with food source availability not the same for him, he'd probably see it be even more of a magnet for deer. acorns within cover might be the only thing that trumps it.

haha... before i even saw that i thought that and was going to post and ask how much would that piss Uptown off. it's a valid point but some make it seem like it's premeditated. guy was a billionaire and just vested in a lot of things.

i've seen some really nice ones out of areas not far from rt30 anywhere from indian lake to sacandaga areas. speculator is within reach but i'd be burning lots fuel and pre-dawn hours to get there. you live close enough by or staying somewhere for those areas?

the idea of losing my dad would scare the living h*ll right out of me. looks like he's got the build of a sheep hunter which makes the situation crazy too. God willing he got his wish though. Hardly a better way to go in a life as a hunter. sorry to hear this kind of news still. i believe ya that strangers on here seem close to you to post that kind of news so soon on here. i've been told it's not easy even with time. hope you family and friends all get through it alright.

so the snow leopard might be fabricated but i read his horse can pull a flask of booze from his pack and open it for him to stay warm. seriously i'm sure you'll hear of the account online. cool horse.

only twice i didn't know right after the shot. both with a muzzleloader. the buck i thought i saw the impact but no blood and no deer. that one was early muzzleloader in another state. it was a heart shot though and died out of site within 35 or so yards. second was a doe here in NY. close and didn't understand what happened until after i started tracking it. i was then obvious in the snow that she was hit in the upper front leg. had to track her down and catch up to follow up. i chaulked that one up to a twig. it was thick where i shot her.

done that before while on the trail. it otherwise would just look like a spot where something tiny blew in the wind and then fell into the surface of the snow. i've even had to pick the snow up and rub it between my thumb and index finger to be sure.

sounds like a hell of a close out to a season.

so i feel a bit humbled.... for years now i've been using a couple cheap folders from Lanski that i bought for $5 each. they get a pretty good edge and hold it okay enough. folded up they're only a few inches long. for deer and smaller they work well. not in anyway attached to them though.

why would you even say the word "lost"? just don't. i'd cry for you. in today's world of excessive options for hunting gear, stuff like that trumps all.

there's a plus or minus 2 yards for error. on top of that some tournaments and clubs stretch it another yard or two. my fixed pin setups have a 40 and 50 yard pins. all pins are .010"

i know a guy that dug out and extended his basement beyond his house to get a full 30 yards. he's dedicated to say the least. i can't get much more than 10 yards with all the crap i've got. i just scale down vegas face targets and print half size. indoor leagues start up after the holidays.

Honestly it'd help to mow it and spray it a couple times to let it break down before the growing season ends then frost seed. Depends on what's there. I've got these weeds in one creek bottom plot i made that grow 6' tall only thing that will keep it at bay is perennial clover. Rest is native swamp grass around it that grew on its own that I haven't touched except for each year mowing or weed eating narrower paths thru it where I want to encourage them to go.

Never have heard of anyone planting golden rod. I'd much rather go with a taller forge grass or like culver brought up switch grass. Depends on when you want deer to have the cover and when you need the food for them whether it's warm season native grass or more like cereal grains. need height but most you should get to a few feet or more. its good to have something that doubles as food and cover. Sometimes makes it harder to hunt though because deer have more of what they need right there.

Sorry. It was sarcasm. Most hunters are more than happy with age and whatever associated antler size comes with it.

depends on when you're planting it and soil type to push height. i think it has a lot of uses. fawning and buck cover. transition cover. bucks seem to love it for bedding on top of a knoll. don't use it for screening nearly as much but it works well that way too. it's a bit cheaper than other stuff used for screening cover... like standing corn that i know some people use. love it compared trying to utilize rose bushes. kind of stick of those things. i feel like zag's going to have a lot of debris pushed with the dozer that he's got to do something with anyway that can work as screening. as it breaks down though switch grass could be a good replacement.

exactly what i saw.

this is what i've seen on family properties and elsewhere. taller pines that are open below work get on south face slopes. they provide thermal cover from sinking cool air but then let in sun light for warmth. especially if it's not visible from access or high traffic locations. pre and post rut, i've found bucks use this to hold out until last light before they get one their feet. another thing i found... if i have a brushy or taller grass/weed littered area with pines clumped in it deer bed right at their bases. heavy snow or rain they love it. i think it provides a canopy from the elements and sun on hot summer days. doe family groups bed together and like to watch each others back. they typical bed facing different directions when not on a steep side hill. clump a handful of trees tighter together barely 10' apart. in a cluster. once they touch trim up all the branches underneath to leave it open to at least 6' up for them to see out and to have room to leap and run to escape. keep the roots buried and ground bare underneath. plant trees much farther apart, 20 yards away from the cluster, in sight, and on all sides. orphans, weaning button bucks, and bucks during the rut will use some of them depending on the wind and whatever else. shorter full evergreens also can create that visual barrier so bucks can't see into your plot and move them to one side or as they travel perpendicular across it, like i told you before. plant on only north and west sides so you don't end up shading your plot. if you've got an ideal stand location that gets to thin with back cover while you're doing your work plant one evergreen tree they grow quick and you can put a hangon and sectioned sticks within it. just trim away branches enough for shooting and visibility at eye level only at whatever height you get the stand at. now you've got plenty of back cover. don't hunt it right away though after trimming unless you like getting covered in pine pitch.

keep us posted.