nyslowhand

They are about 10 days earlier than usual. Around here (N. Wayne Co.) they are picking beginning labor day. There are later varieties that typically get picked in early Nov. Don't think it'll be a season ending situation. May see them traveling to/from orchards earlier than usual.

I'm enlightened! Never knew! Thanx for the lesson!

Excellent photos, great predator control, looks like fun! Heard of hunting foxes with hounds, but not coyotes. I would of thought the coyotes would head for the hills with hounds on their tails. Do they react the same as foxes and return to the same basic starting point? Do you follow the hounds and the coyote eventually will stop and try to hold his ground? Educate a naive person.

From what I've read, I fall into the typical time frame of harvesting a buck with a bow. Over several years my "sweet spot" has generally been about Nov 3rd to 8th. Got some earlier and later, but the majority within those dates. Putting the moon phase theory and non-typical weather patterns aside, I think this is when bucks are historically more active & searching does. Maybe hunting near food plots could skew this "sweet spot" some, I don't know. Is this your best time to harvest a buck? If not, when has your most productive timeframe been a bow?

Didn't I see this on craigslist while searching for "hunting"? Was looking for a used climbing treestand.

Along with the huge boulders, I have several stone fences along the width & length of the property. Then throw in wet areas and deep logging equipment ruts, a bulldozer was my 1st thought also. Looking back at what we have accomplished with our own hands making a decent trail/path system, we feel a sense of accomplishment. To me that is worth more than the instant trail system I could have gotten by paying several thousand dollars for a dozer. Easy for me to say this in hindsight, it was an ominous undertaking at 1st. So (burmjohn) you like the brush cutter? Once you get the harness adjusted and the cutting technique mastered, it's a breeze to use! Yes? I've gotten so I use mine more than the brush-hog mower.

I think a lot of bow hunters already use the "mature" judgment option. A little more difficult at greater distances or in thick cover to judge a buck by body size/shape and demeanor. Comes with experience and how would a new hunter be required to make this call? I don't see how the "width" means of judging a buck's age has worked in the states that use it. Must be more of a request than an enforced regulation...? Some people are poor judges of distances or sizes. In NY more than likely we'll see the antler restriction "points" criteria become more refined & widespread. If we are going to promote harvesting mature bucks and also get new hunters involved, this is the better option. The first two have judgment criteria than may not be favorable to a new hunter with limited experience.

I'm not aware of the matlock, is it also called the fussil? Guessing they both pre-date the flintlock. Yes, open sights were also a requirement for the suggested primitive season.

Maybe we are not understanding each other? Percussion cap or caplock have generally been grouped with flintlocks as primitive. Caplock rifles were developed in the 1840s. Rifles such as the Hawken and others. Is this not correct guys? Inlines using #11 cap or 209 shotgun primers are a modern muzzleloader type. Primitive muzzleloader season would require a primitive rifle using a patched round ball. I do understand your point about flintlocks!

But not the percussion cap style of longrifles?

"Ive always kept it to ladder stands and climbers, but this year I am going to give a hang on and strap on steps a try. Its the only way Im going to get a stand in one particular spot. I plan on using a rope with a prussic knot with that stand so I am attached on the way up and down." I'm in the same situation and just got a used Summit Viper. Not real thriller about using a climber again, but gotta go where they are. Like you, I can't pick-up the ladder stand & move it every time I need to. Once in the summer is my limit for doing that.

Topic closed!

I do agree with you Doc about deer behavior in rain & snow. I've read contradicting opinions about the deer's scense of smell in moist/wet conditions. I don't know!!

We're beyond the aerosol discussion and into the atomic war zone now!

If I recall, the food pantry got the venison. Maybe eddie knows for sure.

Enough of the frivolous scenarios! Didn't want to push this "Hot Button", but here goes... Steve863 and Buckstophere, I agree with your opinion about food plots and baiting. Here's a real life scenario: My neighbor (apple farmer) put in ~12 rows of corn by ~30 yards in length, within 30 yards of our property line. Approx. 80 yards from the corn is a shooting house and they also have a hang-on stand within 40 yards. No one will ever convince me that patch of corn is nothing more than a baiting station. FYI - There are no other agricultural (grain, beans, ..) crops within ~2 miles. The family is also of the mind-set, "if it's brown, it's down". Think they are protecting their apple harvest. Are they helping the wildlife with that garden sized plot of corn? What about he "Secret Hot Spot" food plots that are ~1000 sq' and directly in front of a stand. Are these not a means of baiting deer into a specific place (stand) for the hunter's benefit? To attempt to quantify or define an ethical food plot would be futile. My opinion is that the wildlife should benefit more than the hunter if it's to be a true, ethical food plot.

Read/heard too many treestand horror stories over the years to not use one. When I was using a climber I was lashed to the tree going up, in the stand and descending. Always kept a couple of screw-in steps in my pocket just in case I was left hanging. Use ladder stands now and a majority of the time I have my HSS vest on. I'm also very particular about my stands and their construction. Never used anything other than Summit climbers and ladder stands. Hang-on stands and those strap on steps make me cringe. I apparently have no scense of adventure!! lol Guess it's not the type/mfg of the stand but carelessness of the hunter? On the other hand I see $75 (Sniper) treestands. How safe can they be….? Yeah, they probably support the required weight as prescribed by the Treestand Assoc.

Didn't they do this in Rochester (Irondoquoit) at Duran-Eastman Park a few years ago?

Any of you relics, other than myself remember ions ago when Muzzleloader season ran with the Archery season? This was pre-ML inlines and maybe in the early 70's....? See there is talk about adding a primitive (patched round ball with flintlock or percussion) season. Seen a couple of different proposals, last week of September for anterless deer only. Other one was week before gun season for what I believe to be either sex. Any of you traditionalists up for this special season??? Maybe I need to dust off my TC Renegade? The ole boy was replace by my Triumph with a scope. Do you recall the concurrent seasons?

I shoot just under 60#. Can draw more, I like to be able to hold at full draw for a short peroid. 60# with my letoff allows me to do this comfortably. Generally get a pass thru at that weight also. 80# is African dangerous game draw weight. lol

"I plan on replacing myself with as many younger hunters as I can when Im done with the sport." Fiancé know about these plans....? lol The golf clubs will be your bargaining chips to keep using your bow/gun. But don't sell the clubs, you'll use them again in the future. Congratulations!! Greatest feeling in the world!!!!! Yeah guys, better than the annual whitetail rut!

Very strange!!! Can't imagine a little would hurt them!?! Probably wouldn't digest it anyways. Keep my ribbon up 5-6', normal person's viewing height. Deer never have bothered it on my place.

I don't mess with paint. I use the UV resistant surveyors tape/ribbon. Comes in most flouresent colors. Think a box of 10 rolls cost less than $30. Enough there to last a life time. Put 2-3 wraps around the trees where the stands are.

About an 1" or multiple wacks into a 1 1/2" sapling will cut it down. The other mutli-tooth cutters are more specific to cutting saplings, etc. Blade I use is good and convient for general purpose trailblazing.

You'll like your brush cutter. Trick is to use it like a scythe. You'll get the hang of it! Two years ago I splurged and bought a brushcutter like you mentioned. Lot of different brands, mine is a Stihl FS450. It was an investment, but has paid for it self many times over in headaches and abuse to my body. Three years prior I was using an axe or chainsaw to cut paths into multiflower rose patches. Use to go to work Monday mornings with my arms all scratched like I was in a steel cage match with 10 barn cats. Cutter takes many different style blades, but I like the 2 sided, 4 tooth blade cutter. You can sharpen it with a flat file or flip the blade over and use the other set of cutting edges. The brushcutter is a dream in areas that have downed trees, logging ruts, stone fences, wet areas, etc. My Swisher walk behind brush hog is torture wrestling it through these conditions.