dbHunterNY

I've used similar stands in the tree. if it's big enough I go to the crown where the trunk splits angling out and place the stand in the center as much as possible without getting to confined. idea is you use the others splits to the trunk as cover partly surrounding you and to brace your gun (hand) for the shot. also found you don't need a bigger platform as when you tip the stand back while leveling the platform it hunts bigger than it is. usually throw on an extra strap too. stability sucks with the more angle you've got.

while I think the tag will be purchased anyway and used otherwise, don't forget participation in late season will be dismal. only those procrastinators or unlucky that still very much so need to freezer full will be out.

the only math and number of doe they want taken that you'll get is what I put in my previous post and then plug-in the numbers for your WMU (9F?). not sure if you'll be able to find number of doe taken with a bow for there, but you won't find success rate I'd imagine. doesn't matter though bowhunters can't do it alone. more participation is needed across the board to achieve those numbers. those that hammer doe don't need to take more and/or can't take more. those that don't should do their part in taking doe or not discourage others to do so.

a few people I know use them with no complaints. I think they really only save you time initially. once your setup is all sighted in, you no longer need it's functionality. it seemed to be a quality well built sight though.

sounds like a good day. nothing wrong with lakers.

swamp bucks are definitely the hardest recovery I've done. in my experience travel patterns are to spread out to bowhunt in them without getting busted unless you're at the fringes of them. I've weed wacked a 2-3' wide path along my preferred trails I want them to take with good results. just once then stay out of there. banks creeks along the transition from timber to swamp are always good spots. especially if the wind is coming off the swamp to there. shot bucks scent checking swamps that way. just have to make sure you're not silhouetted up in the tree as you're near an edge. looking at topo maps work great for bigger swamps to predetermine where bedding most likely will be. deer will go where it's wet if they have a reason but they seem to always bed where it's higher and dryer. likely you probably already know much of this. thought I'd share anyway.

it's supply and demand just like everything else in this world. your asking for something that there's a lot less of. so even though you're not getting it your $10 pays toward getting. it works out that you just pay more for a DMP. What happened to Papist isn't right he should have a preference point and should look into getting it.

looks like two different 3.5 yr old bucks. they seem like good ones to me too. good luck if you're going to get after them.

the colorfulness of it seems to defy logic of it being ok to eat but then again I said I didn't know much.

not really a fan of mushrooms and aren't really up on edible stuff in the NE woods. if it's not rubarb, apples, rasberries, grapes, or blackberries. I probably would walk by it and fall over from starvation or kill something.

in 4C a couple co-ops made up like 50% of the doe harvest. I guess others just weren't filling DMPs and we were filling DMAPs and DMPs both.

yea I feel like DMP participation has gone down since it costs $10 unless you're in areas where chance of drawing is HIGH. DMP allocation looks like less and less are preference point lottery and more end up being low and landowner 50+ acres required. might be that way to increased % filled. idk.

yea I'm not close but that's not a bad deal... I use a similar setup with a Alpha hang-on and muddy sticks. happy with both.

yea last year and this year seem to be a bumper year for mast. many just checked Sunday and most of my apples in cover are still not dropping much but will based on how hard I had to shake some limbs.

it could be natural effects or human vermin related. if someone takes a buck or you find one dead we've set them up on a saw horse just inside cover but visible from the road. it works whether DEC is there or not. as soon as they shoot once or multiple times you hear squealing tires and can assume someone's sweatin bullets too. if DEC is there they can write a citation though. around here, most of the time it's road hunters shooting bucks, not tagging, and not reporting them. natural effects are if in previous few years you've had mature doe groups push bucks out to seek home range else where and/or had button bucks and yearling bucks pushed out by big ones. other things like TSI or tilling up CRP. many fields around here are open to view from roadsides. much of it changed from corn to soybeans which doesn't have the draw due to lack in cover that corn has. just some of what causes a change around here. once velvet sheds, but still pre-season, things could definitely change.

I've got acres and acres behind the house and all I've got are doe and lots of fawns. only 1 buck so far. a lot of survivors after last season too. it'll start to change soon.

Walmart definitely dictates more of that compared to other stores. you even need a card versus looking up the number. if I'm out and about and dad remembers he needs something for the farm. he can't call me and just have me pick it up. need the card and I don't have one. even then some stuff they just don't allow at all, even if it's clearly justified.

it's a very touchy subject. I know good deer hunters that swear by if you don't use a 200+ gr bullet (not so much mag powder charge) then you're crazy. I guy I know shot through an iron wood tree with his 338-06 and still had the bullet go through the deer and drop it. that said i'll still roll into the woods with my 30-06 or 30-30,150gr bullet, and not think twice.

they all seem to be different bucks it looks like. I only commented on the first two. when I said anywhere I mean in NY. even in managed areas many hunters still think the second buck head down is a nice buck. some people on here post bigger bucks on trail cam and that are harvested but it's not the norm. a majority of people "holding out for a nice deer" start pulling the trigger at 2.5 yrs old here in NY. the last two bucks are very nice deer for more than just here in NY. what you see on TV and magazines are almost always cherry picked from the crop of the best. hard to compare experience... I'm 31 and have less years of hunting experience than many on here. being lucky enough to grow up on the family farm I have a wall of decent bucks and have even lost some of the racks. I guess I'm crazy too because the last handful of years I've passed them up and hunted where ever I found a 3.5+ year old buck. it's hunted very hard here with little good cover. sometimes I swear I could be crazy.

goldtip expedition hunter arrows are a great durable arrow.

I've actually found that shooting 3D doesn't matter as much as I'm shooting field points. if I shooting fixed blades I really like the straighter arrow. if you've got an arrow saw often you can get a less straight arrow much straighter by cutting from and squaring both ends. Deer are killed with cheap arrows every year.

I agree they are all different bucks for what it looks like. most people wouldn't think at all here in NY about passing the last two so I didn't comment on those. I'd be more than happy to take either of those two last bucks. I guess I wasn't very clear.

spot between roosting and food source. call like a boss hen and mimic her. many of them come right in until she gets bothered and comes over to investigate.

actually it's not open for anyone still have to ask. however, many co-op properties have crop farms as part of their acreage. many of these farmers are open to allowing you to hunt if you ask and agree to follow the co-op rules. usually they're open to all the doe harvest that's legally possible. ours tends to have a mixture of these as well as non-hunter properties that have no hunting. we use them as sanctuaries to offset that take.

first one is definitely a 2.5 yr old I agree. that second one is a nice deer anywhere.