nyslowhand

Holy crap dude, just how many cams do you have out?

Very neat rack! Next photo I'd like to see is of you holding that rack with a big smile on your face.

Seems to be a recent epidemic of actors and athletes stating their opinions or stances while in uniform or in the spotlight. Very few even worth listening to and most can't be taken seriously. Just another A-hole with an opinion! When people on social media or the press respond with opposing views, they are only fanning the fire. Wonder if he'll protest when he's in the CFL?

Believe they are uploaded the same as they are stored on your cell/PC!??! Could be wrong!

Don't call the PC cops, but that was one of the best movie lines of all times.

Voluntary restraint is the only answer to seeing & harvesting BBs, not DEC regulations (AR, doe-only, etc). The restraint philosophy has so many "speed bumps" it's almost impossible to implement. That is unless you have several hundred acres of land you own/lease and all the surrounding neighboring hunters follow the same principle. Sure everyone has seen more & more large acreage farms sold off into mini-farmettes. Difficult to micro-manage a 30 acre hunting parcel when some of the neighbors are the "brown is down" type of hunters. Throws your restraint principles out the window. IMHO, micro-managing your hunting area(s) for sound deer mgmt principles is going to produce at least a better opportunity for BB sightings. Whether you go all in with QDM, harvest some does or just let the young bucks walk, it'll all help! Now if you can get your neighbors onboard, so much the better. God bless you if you're satisfied with shooting 2-3yo bucks or strictly a meat hunter, but don't complain about not seeing any mature BBs! To each his/her own, but it really should be about the hunting experience and not some measureable stat like inches, pounds, harvest #s, etc. And my pet peeve - the phrase Trophy Hunting. Like to get its' useage banned! It has so many undesirable implications and negative influences on the hunter's mentality, all of which are bad! Don't know if you're still with us, but sorry Joe - The NYS BB club feeds into &/or off of this phenomenon. Sort of sets NY hunters up for disappointment. Okay, must admit I do drool some and am a little envious when I'm occasionally redirected to the website and view those brutes.

Gotta agree with Fasteddie, the real solution to the dragging issue is to either shoot smaller deer of hunt closer to your vehicle. Kidding...! Excuse the pun, but you young bucks can drag or pack out a deer all you want. I'm retired, so dragging isn't in my vocabulary any more! Famous last words from my dear, old dad, "Don't get old!"

Might be simply an "old fart" mentality, but if you are sitting in the woods (supposedly hunting), why do you feel the need to read a book, search the web, text everyone of your contacts just to pass the time..... IMHO, are you really in the game? My philosophy had always been to carry the phone for emergencies, on vibrate and pulled out only to check the time. Broke my own rule a few years ago. Answering a text from a fellow hunter, "seeing anything, what's moving", when I look up and a nice buck was @ 15yrds broadside. Stashed my phone, struggled to get bow ready & up as he walked off. Crap! Back to texting same person - "I just blew it, nice buck, blah, blah"..! Don't I look up and he's made a semi-circle coming out of the brush on other side of stand @ 15yrds. Dropped phone & made a less than desirable shot, but I did get him. Lesson learned & since then,.. back to my original philosophy of keeping phone in my pocket and focused 100% on hunting!

Amen brother! My dad, with his infinite wisdom, which I always questioned, forced me use a single shot 20ga when I was starting out. When I got out of the military, brought home a Browning Auto lgt 12ga and did it ever throw lead at the deer. Sits in the gun case the past 12yrs. T/C Triumph 50cal ML is go-to SZ regular season rifle. Haven't even considered getting a rifle since they've become legal in my county. Just maybe my dad knew what he was trying to instill in my hunting ethics!

What Grampy said - 100%. Date in my honey hole may vary, but basically Nov 5-10th has been ideal (for me) to see bucks seeking does! Forget the chasing phase of the rut! Fun to watch & be in the middle of, but you're better off with a camera than a bow when all that frenzied running around is happening!!! Ignore the photo-peroid vs moon theories, Halloween is what triggers the initial phases of the rut! That's when you better have your "game face" on! Not sure how all the satanic influences or the spirit worlds effect the deer, but they do!! Right...!?! OMG, I'm disillusioned, deer don't just have sex!

Don't limit yourself by setting rules you know you'll never faithfully follow! Adrenalin has a way of over-powering sound reasoning or better judgement! Difficult to not take that shot that's beyond your effective range, the deer is oriented for a poor shot placement, a walking deer or you get hypnotized by a big rack glistening in the sun - after you've been sitting in a tree for days. weeks w/o seeing anything! Been there, done that and always wish I had that arrow back right after pulling the trigger/release. I digress.... Anyways, to a new bow hunter: Practice until you're confident and consistent out to a given range. Then shoot beyond that & you'll see what'll happens if you shoot too far. Hail Mary shots are rarely successful and have consequences! Hunt for the enjoyment of all it offers! If it ain't fun or you just can't roll out of bed on that rainy morning - by all means stay home and enjoy the family. As soon as you make hunting a task, it's no longer enjoyable! The more you hunt the better you'll understand whitetail behavior, the more successful you'll get and learn from your mistakes! There is a steep learning curve to deal with, so don't get frustrated! Oh yeah, buck fever! Once you've decided to shoot, range the distance, pick the point of your arrow's impact (vitals), focus on that target point and DO NOT look back at the headgear. Easier said than done!??! The longer you've hunted the better you'll be able to sift through the advice given by others and use what's applicable to your situation! My hunting situation probably differs from yours, so my advice may not be applicable. Feel free to call BS on my tips or tactics and disregard them!! AND... as you have seen from another topic, take those reality hunting shows on TV with a grain of salt!!!

Inherent issue with BTCs. I know I've had several over the past 5-6 years. Issue is due to the LED flash &/or ambient light detection. non-tech explanation. Don't know if this is same issue with their black flash models!??! Especially prevalent during early AM or late PM hours when the sun is at a lower angle and light gets filtered in wooded areas. Cam thinks it isn't getting enough light, so it flashes and daytime photos are washed out. Really has little to do to the cams orientation, N, S, etc. There are some settings on the cam's menu you can play with, but I've never been able to completely remove this annoying issue. Unfortunate situation is during those same hours (post-dawn/pre-dusk) is when there is the most deer movement.

Anticipation gets the best of me, so I swap SD cards about every 7 days or so. During early SZ bow season, swap memory cards every time I pass by or hunt near a cam. Never longer than 5-7 days. Towards the end of October and beyond, check cams much more often for obvious reasons! This is an interesting situation! Wish there were some science or data to determine if deer actually get acclimated to routine intrusions, noises & scents and are able to access it as non-threatening. Or is it better to try and be as scent-free as possible while checking cams and then when deer get the slightest trace of your scent during hunting season, do they avoid it!?! Sometimes I believe me try to "out think" ourselves! Whatever works for your situation! To each his/her own, but here's how I put out & check cams. Cams taken out of box, batteries & memory cards installed, carried into woods with street clothing & work boots, similar attire worn when swapping SD cards - lots of my scent left around. Sure I get close-ups of deer's heads, ears &/or noses, but the property I hunt has a lot of work activity and ATV riding by owner from spring to fall. So I'm guessing in an area that has less or no intrusion, scent may be a problem. IMHO - Think the deer are more spooked by the flash &/or the red indicator LED coming on, than any scent left around! Works for me where I hunt!

Save yourself a ton of money on those OTC products. A bag of corn costs ~$10 and you can fill your pockets all season from one bag.

The thing that absolutely amazes me is, that aside from the fact the DEC doesn't have a good handle on the real deer population numbers, they do NOT understand the hunter's mentality. The data from last year shows bow hunters will avoid the temptation of seeing a BB and not being able to harvest it by simply not putting themselves in that situation. Most of us are BB addicts, so avoidance of the temptation is necessary with any doe-only regulations, regardless of weapon carried. Why the DEC thinks ML hunters will react any differently than bow hunters baffles me! IMHO, the only logical regulatory solution is the dreaded EAB. Which opens the DECAL's system to a lot of fraud, unreported buck &/or false doe harvest reports. I still think education is the long term solution, where hunters micro manage the deer herd for their respective hunting locations. Not to hijack this topic, but there's also the Xbow issue...... With what is looming in the near future (ML in Sept/Oct), you'd think the super avid bow hunters would concede and accept Xbows into bow season. Baby steps...

Must not see how to fix it, but the browsing of topics is cumbersome. Why isn't there an option (or am I not seeing it?) to browse new topics and see ALL. When you do that, it omits anything you've read or posted to. When you use the Activity option, it show every single post to every thread, not just the main topics titles. Sorry John, but the old way was better for browsing topics that have activity on them.

Okay, so the arm rests & shooting rails on a ladder stand are more an option for security &/or comfort! The flip-up seat option is definitely helpful when bow hunting & getting into the stand. Have to agree with Culvercreekhuntclub, always have my weapon laying across the gun rail, regardless of whether it's bow or regular season. During bow season, I have it adjusted more horizontal or flat. With a Xbow or long gun, it's adjusted up at an angular position. Something no one has mentioned is the size of the platform. I'm a big fan of bigger platforms, since I wear size 14 hunting boots and moving & positioning myself for a shot can get awkward on the smaller, narrower platforms.

I've learned I'm really an incompetent hunter. I don't pack in an Ozonics or 100# or other seemingly useless gear, so I'm lacking in enthusiasm or not investing enough $$. I learnt I don't have access to 1000s of acres of managed land, so a trophy buck is a "pipe-dream" for me. I've learnt I'm totally incompetent because I can't shoot a bow consistently out to 70yrds nor a rifle at ranges of 700+ yards. Have learnt that if I don't partake in a guided hunt my success will be very limited. Best lesson is that when I hunt endless days to simply see a buck, I should have gotten one in 30min or less. Finally, learned that if I don't get a 170" buck, I have no real bragging rights. Why do I even bother! Joking, of course!

When the school buses hit the road again is my 1st trigger. The countdown to Oct 1st begins. After I've sat in the tree a few times in the 70-80deg temps, my enthusiasm wanes. Then it picks up again when the leaves turn color, begin to fall and morning temps become much cooler. Okay, maybe to some extent seeing the smaller bucks roaming around in daylight mid to late October is encouraging and frustrating all at the same time. The main trigger for me is Halloween, time for getting serious from then on!!

Obviously there have been some issues with the new permit applications at the Federal level. Most of the longer wait comes at the county level. My county (Wayne) takes up to a year to completely process a new pistol permit application, which involves those Federal checks also. They've vowed to improve this, but may be a long time happening since it's basically a manpower issue. Once you're new permit is approved, the initial background check is good for 5 years, I believe. Pretty sure a purchase can then be confirmed via a phone check & the required wait period. Like I just went through recently, once the 5 year background check expires, it'll take somewhat longer to actually take possession of your new handgun, In my case, 5 weeks. Best philosophy for applying for a new pistol permit is to apply, forget about it and then be surprised when it finally shows up! Won't help your frustration level to constantly check your mailbox hoping it's there. Anyone that doesn't see this whole process getting worse in the future is delusional. If you ever thought you might want a handgun some time down the road, start the process now!!!

That's got to be up in the Dacks. Little early for us flatlanders to see leaves off the trees that much by mid-Oct.

I'm an old codger, so "dragging" a deer isn't in my vocabulary any more. This is 1st thing that comes to mind with those sleds. Aren't you still dragging a good portion of the dead weight? Granted with much less friction, but still dragging. Plan is, if I'm lucky enough to get a deer down, I'll simply return to my vehicle, get the cart and go retrieve the deer. So, a lot of noise or strange odors isn't important to me at that time. No way in hell am I taking or backpacking one in during a hunt. That'd put the voodoo hex on my hunt being so well prepared to get one! LOL. Okay, so if you're hiking miles to your honey hole, could see packing one in with you. Still interested to know how difficult it is to get one onto a cart and sort of balanced over the axle. Not impossible, but certainly looks like it'd be an awkward, cumbersome task.

Have any of you had experience with retrieving a deer using one of those deer carts? New scenario for me this upcoming season, retrieving a deer w/o an ATV by myself, so I have some concerns. Any favorite deer cart models? Your experience using one? How easy is it to get a deer onto & lashed on a deer cart? Looks like a PITA. Looked at the basic $40 carts and up to the $200/$250 Rolls-Royce models. They all seem to present some issues of their own. Looking at product reviews isn't much help either. Sort of run the gambit of 1 up to 5 stars for the same mfger's model. Tips or tricks for using one...??

Don't know about you people (guys esp), but I've enough credit/debit cards, medical cards, driver lic, pistol permit and misc crap in my wallet already w/o adding hunting licenses and tags. Am I the only one that has ever run their wallet thru the washing machine? Worse case scenario, believe you can get replacement lic & tags with only your driver's lic...!??!

Feel your pain dude, but unfortunately I have no answers. There is a small trailer park (6-7 units) next to my house and at least 2X/yr there's a backhoe digging up someone's yard or the road thru the park. Assuming that's kind of typical for trailer parks, esp the ones that are ever expanding and never upgrading the main lines of the water or sewer systems..? A lot of the park owners only want to see the income and never seem eager to invest in improvements. Hope that's not the case with your situation!!!