sailinghudson25

Currently, no problems getting it. I keep around 3 years worth in my garage just incase. Phosphate may be banned, but bonemeal will likely never be.... Just curious if anyone has thought about it. I hope it doesn't happen. Also, if it does part of my plan B is just to use nature's fertilizer more. Besides, my soil need conditioning. And my neighbor has about 30 sheep and little motivation to muck their muck out.....

I have read that NY is trying to handle algae problems in lakes. In long island, they banned phosphate in lawn fertilizer. If you could not get phosphate for your food plots. What would you do differently? I could imagine my love affection for clover would not be so strong.... Just something to think about...

Anybody ever plant from the NYSDEC nursery? Will the deer destroy these things without protection? Even If I let them grow for a year or two in a fenced area first? Looking to spread these guys out on a large parcel, so fencing them in will be tough.

What powder were you using? Did the gun get fired? I have used pyrodex loose powder, but now use real blackpowder in both modern inline, percussion, and flintlocks I have. Here's how I do it.... Pull the breech if possible. Dip one end in warm water with a touch of dish soap or better yet pinesol, then push a patch back and forth. Then take a brush and push it back and forth a few passes. Change to clean warm water only, then push a patch back and forth a few more times. Push a dry patch or two, then spray inside with WD40 and push a patch with some WD40 down it. Wipe down the exterior with a wet towel, then WD40. IF the muzzleloader shoots sabots, I use a bore solvent that disolves plastic fouling. The proshot red solvent works good for me. I push a patch with WD40 down it the next day, if it looks ok, i'm good. If I see too much residue or any rust, I clean it again. I also cover the scope lenses with plastic bags held in by rubber bands. Too much cleaning of the lenses removes the optics coating, which hurts low light performance. The less you windex them, the better. but do it if it needs it. The breech get soap and water only. The breech is stored by itself and not installed. The barrel points down to drip out oil. IF the gun is percussion or flintlock, I remove the flash hole or nipple and clean the channel area. If the gun will be used for hunting, I clean with alcohol before using to ensure nothing will cause me ignition issues. If the gun is put away for longer than a few months. I will use rem oil or motor oil. Seen lots of old firearms in wonderful shape just from good old WD40......

Anyone got an itch for a certain place. Maybe a must hunt place a hard core ADK hunter should try atleast once? I want to check with Harris LAke campground if they're open for early muzzleloader. Newcomb is on my list. Also, Big Moose River plains with the NYSMLA camping week up there.

MY version of no till is broadcasting half the seed, thendragging a spring harrow or york rake, then broadcast the other half, then drive all over it with truck or ATV.

I'll definitely read it. Hunters do alot for pre season food, but do little for cover and winter forage. This book is right up the alley. For big eoodd hunters, its probably good to know DEC's gamplan they use to manage

You can spray glyphs ate in the winter? I like oats for spring better.

I've done January before. It does survive, but not ideal. I too have a cabin by old forge area. I did it up there. It's a small area I was adding. I do very small plots just to get a good camera background on trail camera. I did it during that mild winter 2 years ago. I did it because I was there at the time. Germination didn't look good and I sprayed and reseed that summer. These spots are like campsite sozed, so I'm not loosing much in seed. Did ladino, red, Dutch blend. All types were seen. I diluted I'm the seed in pelletized lime to spread more evenly.

I like my older remington 700's. I agree with you, I wouldn't buy new. I got a 270 and a 30-06 700 ADL. One is 1978 the other 1982. I am wandering gunshops in hopes to find an old remington 700 in 223. I am set on big woods hunting with a browning BLR stainless steel lightweight in 450 marlin. Sometimes I bring a glenfield 30 with lyman peep, or a chinese SKS with lyman peep. Brakes are grinding on the truck, house roof is leaking, kid in college, and woman is complaining about furniture....... No new gun in sight. Just happy enough to have some extra gas money and free time to get to the cabin for a weekend.

Nice job and even nicer you got him during a snow storm. I use a turkey fryer and put the head in water with a bit of borax soap. LEt it simmer a few hours. every hur or so, scrape it a bit and put it back in. Never painted them though.

I think you will be ok. A few things, Stainless steel does not mean rust proof, it still needs to be cleaned. Blackpowder substitutes do not mean it does not need to be cleaned well afterwards. Seen a few of them shoot good. Fiber optic sights like that can be a challenge to shoot. Sometimes the extra brightness makes it blurry to some. Also, there is a zone between the fiber optic part and the metal housing where the fiber sits in. Different targets will seems to give different results. Once you get it roughed in ok, try shooting at cardboard deer targets to see where the sights sit on the target. MY T/C Omega shoots great with 80 grains of FFFg goex real blackpowder, a harvester sabot, and .429" 240gr hornady XTP hollowpoints. I prefer loose powder over pellets. However, you don't really need over 100 grains in these things. They shoot pretty good w/o them. They pretty much shoot like a 30-30 does. 30/30 is plenty good for most of NY.

paper birch went quick last year. The confier species in plugs go quickly too. For me, (25) pussy willow, (25)specked alder, (100) red dog wood and (25) white cedar to replaced the one deer ate, (100) white spruce for more privacy in my yard and cover for the deer to travel behind, and then (25) toringo crabapples. I am putting the crab apples in pots for a year or two. These will replace my old and dying apple trees in my 25 tree or so orchard... Might expand it a bit too.

One thing I forgot, atleast for me. Going up there can be fun, but can be fustrating. Find a local place and an adirondack place. For me, that easy deer puts me at ease. I used to bow hunt in a few backyards in westchester county. Easy Easy pickings.... Maybe every other or third year I will go to westchester's public land for a late season bow hunt. That 2 weeks weeks after muzzleloader and before the end of the year. LEt's hear what you have to hunt and camp with..... Must have's for me, good layered clothes preferably some wool that breathes, 2 good packs a daypack with waist strap, and a frame pack. A good GPS, A good map, a good compass. IF your hunting in snow, you need a good pair of cramp-ons and snow shoes. I have a ice fishing sled to drag stuff to the cabin, or a deer out. My go to rifle is a 450 marlin browning BLR with a 1.25-4.5 scope. Low power scopes are a huge plus for quick shots.. I'd rather have a 30-30 with that scope, than a 450 marlin with a 3-9x scope. I also have a 30-30 with peep sights if it snows. However, first thigns first, you need a muzzleloader for early muzzleloader. I use a 54 cal flintlock, because I build and shoot muzzleloader competitions for practice. But, I got a T/C omega with the same exact bushnell 3200 elite 1.25-4.5x scope. The added plus of that scope is the rectile is very thick. I do not hunt / camp with my canoe, but I do camp and fish with one. A dry bag or two for a change of clothes, kindling, and maybe your sleeping bag can be very handy. A way to chain up the canoe to a tree and a set of travel wheels. I made a custom game cart that fits my 2006 old town discovery 147. Not the best canoe, but it works. I have a small camping chainsaw, but I think thats not allowed in the adirondacks. You might want to ask. I stack one spot, but most of the pre-cut wood I make is in 4 or 5 pieces in low spots or behind rocks. I camp of a public camp spot in the hudson river by hudson. I usually can recover about 3/4's of my cut wood. I also go in a bit deep and cut notches in logs, so you can drag the big chunk out, and break it to pieces easier. A big notch on one side and a little notch of the other... Going back to scouting. A mountain top that has a flat top is ideal. Those fingers on top are great for bucks. They can sneak one side to another. Bucsk tend to be on the downwind side of the fingers. They smell what on the upwind side. But, they also smell what downwind by the widn creating a small vacuum drawing the valley areas wind up to the blowing stream of air on top. Saddles are great too. Saddles are the highest path between two hill or mountains. Swamp edges can be good. Overall, these bucks are concerned about 4 things. 1st their horny.... 2nd they worried about other bucks, 3rd they worried about humans.. 4 they want to find the easiest way to get #1, but avoid #2 and #3. A bit elevated patch, a ditch, or areas that are brushier than others are prefered travel routes. A wide open valley area is the novice hunters first choice, but the deer's last choice........... Bucks do not care about food much during the rut. They have a bit of a concern about water. However, does are going about most of their regular routine. Learn to ID prefered forage. If you feel your on a travel route, look at forage closely. See what's nibbled. You should be able to ID young birch, mature beech trees, cherry trees, speckled alder, and striped maple... http://wildadirondacks.org/adirondack-shrubs-white-meadowsweet-spiraea-alba-var-latifolia.html

If you're gutsy enough to put cameras on public land, by all means do so. I hunt public land in pa. They have food plots, they have loggers clearance the oaks trees for light, they help make brushy areas for bedding and browse, they allow residents a permit to take firewood. They do it right in pa. They also have some nice bucks, fair game densities, and plenty of easily accessible land. Heck some state forests have plowed out forest roads and parking lots. The forest manager plowed out my campsite during January flintlock season. Can not beat that. I see deer every day, 8, 10, and 12 pointers most days. Now getting a shot with iron sight and roundball, that's another story.... Some years a debate not buying a ny license and just do pa only. And I got food plots on my property....... Only thing that sucks for traveling hunters. .... no Sunday hunting. I pack up camp and scout sunday, if I didn't take Monday off.

Parlor tricks are for the range..... Personally, I will never hunt with a handgun. A rifle does a better job every time. I shoot powerful calibers that I can handle at reasonable ranges on calm animals. No running shots, never anything beyond 200 with a rifle or 30 with a bow, no shooting through brush either. I'm happy to see a nice deer walk by than to possibly wound one.... I use 450 marlin, 30-06, or 54 cal round ball.

Storm, Hunting places with low density, you only true advantage is knowing the land. The closer you are, the better the chance you can learn the place. Where do you live? The best place might be nearby. Sterling forest in the lower catskills can have good deer, but you need to do your homework. Another good tip is to find a place where a forest fire happened a few years ago. Shawgunks had a big one in 2015, that place will be in the upswing. They did reforestation work, I am not sure what they planted. 2,000 acres burned. This place will be better hunting each year. IF your 914 means an area code, this can be a day trip for you instead of a weekend only place.... With crossbows being legal in NY, you have a chance to get a buck on foot in pre rifle season. Maybe not the best chances versus a gun, but seeing a deer during peak rut time will definitely put some fire in your boiler to get up there for rifle season..... http://www.watershedpost.com/2015/fire-burns-over-2000-acres-shawangunks Call up the local forester, get a better idea where the fire was, and what they did to restore the place. Find an adirondacks hunting book, and learn where the deer like to be.... Salerno brothers have videos. I have a few of these.... http://adkhunter.com/books-dvds/ Here's some info on the fire.......... http://www.watershedpost.com/2015/fire-burns-over-2000-acres-shawangunks

I tried getting a Savage 24V ready for deer season..... A 20ga / 30-30 combination. Huge mistake. Iron sights point one direction. So, you can have the rifle barrel shoot right, or the shtogun barrel. If I remember it was a fixed full choke barrel too. Long story short, the top barrel would make weak primer strikes, even after replacing the spring, hammer, and firing pin, and even strengthening the spring too. The gun aimed ok with the 30-30 barrel, good enough for 75-100 yard shots. The shotgun part sucked. IT fired reliably, but trying to get a good lead and sight picture when shooting trap was a big challenge. MY dream was to stalk hunt deer, but shoot grouse I flushed. Not legal to do in NY. Now, when I stand hunt in a good grouse spot, I keep 110gr 1300fps handloads for my 30-30 and use it as a big rimfire gun... I think those shotgun rimfire combos are only good when you're in a populated area small game hunting. Use the 22 when it'safe, use the shotgun when you shoot up in a tree.... Out of 30-40 gun pruchases, trades, etc.... That gun was my biggest firearm mistake hands down...

White pine, blue spruce, red cedar grow slow, but works. I planted white cedar. The deer just hammer them, even in the summer when everything they can eat s around them. I planted white spruce, not the best for deer to sleep under, but they'll bed in a thick area. Close out a small spot in cedar and pine, and then let the middle thicken up.... They may not bed, but they'll use it as cover to travel atleast.. I make 3 types of cover........ Bedding, travel corridors, and spots for the hunter to travel to their stands. One place I got thick cover on one side, but planted a patch of grass for quiest travel alongside that thicket.... NYSDEC is a great resource, but they're small and young. Critter can tear them to bits in no time. Red dogwood is a nice one to get too.

I have been going up to the Stillwater area for about 6 years now. I am in a very reasonably priced lease with an established cabin. I'm happy with the place, know it reasonably well. I have not connected with a nice buck, but have passed up shots on lsser feller's. I can also bring ATV's right up to the deer. I got 2 treestands there and I have a decent trap line for mink, breaver, and fisher boxes up there too. I can also use a shower every night. I can leave stuff and have trail cameras all season. Heck I got a moose on camera last year.... However, this is not big woods hunting. No huge views. I hear ATV's, generator, people talking, and pop shots... I am torn..... I won't leave the club, but get the itch to hunt elsewhere. It's good woods with better populations, but no big mountains, no canoe trip in, no roughing it camping..... Anyone relate here............. I am tempted to have a plan B that is local to the area, so I can build knowledge, but can go there when the hunting pressure gets high after the first week of rifle over there.... I know other hunters are pretty jealous at time of us folks with leases........ But, you know about the grass on the other side.

I can't hugely comment on places. The best is one you know well. What I would try. Ask the NYSDEC forester about what has been logged in the past 5-10 years. Plenty of forage is what keeps deer around. Also, my experience with the Stillwater reservoir area. Once there is a good foot to 18 inches of snow, the deer go to dense confier lowland areas. They yard up. There has been a few new places the DEC has acquired from logging companies. These might be good. I'd do a real early april weekend with some snow cover. See how many footsteps you see in the area. Make the hunts enjoyable. Work hard to get some venison in the freezer the first 2 weeks of bow season. Then the pressure is off.........

In all reality, they're everywhere. For you......... THe place you get to know the best...... Places of high pressure...... Do late season small game hunting, learn the woods, find the older rub lines, find the lines of heavy foot prints going in to the swamp. Then make a plan for early bow season........ Places of high pressure.... Rifle season. Park on the side of the road, work areas far from typical good spots. This one public land spot I know well. A.) Get there really early with waders B.) find oddball spots alongside a road that other pass on. The worst thing to do, find a place with a long range shot........ Plan A works good.....................

For folks who do not have private land at all to shoot, Catskills look pretty good. I live in the catskills, but prefer to hunt in the ADKs. Mainly because their season is early. If I find a nice one up there, I shoot. If I don't, I know I can get a nice one much easier in the souther zone during the southern zone's later start date..... They're trying the 3pt a side restriction in the catskills to drum up hunting for recreational income coming to the area. The old catskills is not the same as today's. Farmland cut to fraction of what it used to be coupled with no logging makes it rough to hunt. I have spent many hours in the windham area. I have cut huge areas into square a week after a snow storm and have found many of them not to contain a single footstep of a deer....... I have aslo seen a public place that was logged 5 years ago come alive with deer and grouse again......... I hunt on a logging lease with some typle joe schmoe hunters. They love driving their ATV's 30 yards away from their treestand..... This is why many travel to the ADK's, to hunt on managed timber stands and to play with their ATV's before and during ATV season.......... If they added a muzzleloading season in the catskills 1 week before rifle, then folks would really warm up to the place again. But in places with no deer in 70ft tall almost dead norway spruce stands, no point restriction in the world will fix that..................

Glassing is an important part of being a successful ADK hunter. Deer blend in so well and are very quiet. We do not blend in well, or are very quiet. So, being able to see them easier helps a ton. Glass all the time. I take about 10 steps and glass all around me. Open areas I glass so I can travel a bit faster to denser areas. Dense areas need to be closely checked out. I'd easily say my binos are on my eyes almost 2 hours a day in the ADK's. Not the best, but certainly not the worst...... I use steiner marine 8x30 binos. Pretty decent optics, a generous ability to focus well on closer distances like 30 yards or so, but can see farther out clearly too. The binos are very light, and they come in olive green to boot. Without binos, your gun is just about useless in my opinion.

Well, I usually go up there to puke around the campfire................ The temp can be limiting though. In febuary I fell through some ice near the creek and got 1/2 by body wet. It was about 5 degrees out, but I was luckily only 200 yards away from the warm cabin. My 20ga 870 was completely encapsulated in ice....... Coudln't unload the gun for about an hour........