nyslowhand

Exactly why it's suggested in caplocks and inlines to dry fire a cap or primer before loading the charge! Clears any oil build-up or blockages in the ignition port. Not familiar with sidelocks, but there must be a similar procedure. Little off topic, back to bow hunting "oh crap" moments!

That's why I carry ~3 of those plastic charge tubes with primer, pellets and sabot all in one place. I usually forget the starter ram rod.

I'll take turkeyfeathers bet! Nothing unsafe about ascending or descending the ladder of a ladder tree stand, other than icy conditions! Sketchy moment is when you initially put one up and climb it before the ratchet straps are attached. Once secured,hopefully you're climbing it with both feet on the rungs and hands grasping the ladder sections. Falls would obviously occur when standing on the platform before being secured to a tree strap or at the "moment of truth" when you probably are NOT paying attention to your footing or leaning to the side too far. IMHO, Ladder stands are the one exception to the three basic types of stands (climber, hang-on, ladder) when you are more likely to create an unsafe situation using a lifeline going up the ladder itself. Clearly when you step off that last ladder rung onto the platform, safety then becomes an issue! But..to each his own, if using a lifeline gives you a "warm fuzzy" feeling about safety, by all means use it with your ladder stand!!

Exactly where is that going in? On Rte96. past mall & more towards Victor? Never mind, it's in article & I googled Lane Rd. Much closer to Victor than Eastview,huh?

Fortunately, nothing forgotten this year! Worst was several years ago when after ~200yrd trek in the dark I realized I forgot my release. Worst screw-up while in the stand was when I was getting ready to quit for the day, tied my bow to a haul rope and started to lower it...ZING, down it went & bounced off the ground! Only saving grace was it was the last day of bow season, because it needed a new cam! Needless to say I don't use those ropes with the clasps/hooks on the ends any more! As long as we're having confession, couldn't tell you the number of times I've dropped things from the stand in the dark; quiver, flashlight, release, fanny pack. And of course, occasionally forgetting my dry seat cushion. Nothing like a wet butt to shorten a hunt! ML season is a whole other scenario, just way too many gizmos & crap loading accessories that you could easily forget.

OMG, you could fill a book with info about ladder stands. From the "trap" of buying them online w/$$ s/h, assembling them w/included instructions, the crappy ratchets, hardware & seat cushions that are included, techniques about how-to erect them w/o an incident, to which ones are best for your style of hunting. Obviously there are a lot of decent inexpensive ones and some much better ($$) ones w/HD material construction. Had them all, from the minimal $50 ones I found on sale to the top of the line name brand ones in the $250 range. Best ones I own were from Dick's that I got on sale as an end of season promotion for ~$120/ea. Believe they were Comfort Zone brand Outlook something or the other model, don't see them offered on their website. They have "D" shaped ladder vertical supports making the entire stand super strong. A little more difficult to erect due to added weight, but much easier because there is NO wobble in ladder section when walking them upright like an extension ladder. Do a forum search, if I recall there are several other threads about assembling, transporting, erecting & using ladder stands. Lot of "learn from my mistakes" type of advice!!!

Confusing at best, huh? Like I mentioned, wasn't sure about ones you had shown. Legal, that's cool!

These are the adjustments for the entire housing, which you adj towards where your groups are. Then the pin is only for elev or up/dwn adj for yardage variations. Don't get frustrated. Not something you're likely to get completed in a single day. The more you force it and the more you shot, the more inconsistent you'll become. Making any adjustments at that point non-productive. Better to walk away & come back later!

Not up on my dog breeds, esp looking at a pup. Is Baron a Brittany or Springer spaniel?

The rule of thumb phrase is chasing the arrow. If your groups are to the right and down, move the entire sight pin housing to the right and down (micro adjustments?). Until your groups become centered around the bullseye, consistently. This is your only & last chance to make adjustments for L-R deviations for most models of sights. Individual pins are then adjusted for elevation (up-down) only and to specific yardages. Down the road.....I'm not a big fan of fixed blade BHs with replaceable blades. Rather go with one (ie; G5 Montec) that is a one piece design and I can resharpen it myself. Lots of other great BHs on the market! All fixed BHs need to have the sights tweaked when switching from FP to BH. Mechanical BHs are a completely different scenario. They typically don't need as much tweaking as the fixed blade BHs do! Mechanical BHs do have their own set of issues! Hang in there dude, you're getting there!! Overwhelmed yet? lol

Your BHs are okay. Photo by other member with those swept back blades looks questionable (legally). Not criticizing, but Dude, you're chasing your tail & creating more problems for yourself when you keep moving the Whisker Biscuit to get clearance for your BHs!! Get that straightened out at your bow shop by paper tuning and then begin the sight housing and pin adjustments. This needs to be a step by step process, never going back to readjusting the arrow rest to compensate for any clearance issues. Know you don't want to hear this but your clearance issue with BHs is from too short an arrow. Changing your BHs per their design is a band-aid fix. BTW - A web search or browsing arrow mfger's websites could tell you a lot more about arrow construction, spline weight and suggested BH wgts. If I recall, most have charts of suggested BH weights per arrow length & spline. I'm full of bad news, huh? LOL

I applaud you for getting into bow hunting and trying to do it on a budget. Don't need to tell you, that's not an easy task with the cost of arrows, BHs, bow accessories...not to mention the $$ of at least a used, decent bow. Like to suggest you get hooked-up with an experienced bow hunter for their advice. Apparently, haphazardly buying supplies you can afford is proving to be super frustrating. Hate to see you give up before actually experiencing the thrill of bow hunting!!! Good luck!

Now that's a very handy & cool bow tuning guide!

In my experience..once you get the arrow rest (whisker biscuit) squared up and true, never touch it. By making L-R adjustments as you mentioned, you're forcing arrow to leave at some skewed angle. Possibly in for a lot of inconsistency and erratic arrow flight! Doesn't this go back to basic bow s/u 101, paper tuning? All follow-up adjustments should then be with sights. For what it's worth, IMHO....go back to where you were and buy longer arrows.

Oh yeah, issues with neighbors can definitely turn any dreams you might have about your new property into a reoccurring nightmare!!!! To make the posting legal for your situation, I'd put your dad's address on the signs w/o a phone #. Last name only & a PO box # would work too. Not all vacant properties have official address #s. But..to a trespasser it may look legit, a lawyer may look at it in a different view legally, if it were to go that far. Unfortunately, that's the world we live in.

Each new property, whether given access rights or purchased comes with a steep learning curve. Each subsequent year you'll learn more about the seasonal deer movements and fine tune your stand placements. The first year you're at the mercy of the old owners advice, limited scouting and a lot of luck. It'll get better each year! When I purchased my property ~10yrs ago, it also was in the late October time frame. Immediately cleared & mowed a lane so I could get off the main road and park. Hauled a ladder stand ~300yrds into property & hoped for the best my 1st year. Opening day of regular season I got to new property ~6AM, there already were 3 trucks in my new driveway. After explaining my new ownership, they understood & left. Encountered 2 other hunters that day and explained situation to them also. They got somewhat testy about not being able to hunt there since they had for years. Stood my ground & they left, grumbling. Also got caught up in the middle of a deer drive since my other neighbors were not aware of me being the new owner. Needless to say the following spring I put up lots of posted signs and have not seen any trespasser since, that I'm aware of. So...other than the fact that your timing of the purchase sucks, you may or may not have to deal with legacy hunters &/or trespassers the 1st deer season, regardless of any new posted signs put out. Lot of theories and opinions about how to best post a new property and with what signs. I treated this as a necessity and an investment in the property by buying rigid, HD vinyl, orange, pre-printed signs. Lot of sources, I used http:/www.minutemansignsinc.com/. Somewhat expensive, but they are super visible and haven't shown any signs of wear or fading in 10+ years. Just a project I only wanted to do once and not have to re-do every few years with paper signs. NY DEC's outline on the legalities of posting: http://www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/8371.html On that web page, it states the required contact info need on a posted sign: "Signs must bear the name and address of the owner, lawful occupant or other person or organization authorized to post the area." A phone # is not required! Only loophole in adhering to the contact info requirement, is that it lets any potential trespassers know you're an out of area landowner! So..your surveillance may get tested..!??! Also not a bad idea to met any neighbors that border your new property and let them know you have or will be posting it. Have to go about this very diplomatically & in a goodwill manner or you'll make enemies right away. Pretty sure all counties have online web sites that list property tax maps info and you can look-up adjacent property owner's contact info. You'll need specific addresses or tax #s to get started. Formulate a plan for your property over the upcoming winter months. If it is strictly for hunting, do NOT try to overly landscape or improve it! Numerous 5-6' wide ATV paths will not hurt anything! Putting in a driveway for a vehicle far into the property probably will disrupt the deer's security and affect their movements. As proud as you'll be as a new landowner, choose your improvements wisely and stick to your plan. As tempting as it'll be to turn your property into a well landscaped, park-like setting, it has it's drawbacks for hunting. Small clearings for food plots or fruit trees are the exception to the landscaping pitfall. Plan well and stick to the plan!!!

Who took this photo, Mathew Brady?

Now those are some big old hogs for NYS! Congrats folks! Those northern Canadian whitetails are big for a reason, to survive the extreme winters! And what can I say about the Lakosky operation you all don't already know? QDM gone wrong!

Don't let him kid you..he has tame deer in his backyard! Sorry Oak, couldn't resist knowing how much of a "licking branch" fanatic you are!

Recently? Still pretty rare to see one up here, although there is a season ~25mi to the south (Rte31). Just a matter of time! Know there was a young one captured on trail cams in Sodus area (north, central 8F) ~4yrs ago and from what I heard probably the same one was hit by a car in the Wolcott area. I usually take these sightings with a grain of salt. Coffee shop chatter is unreliable, at best!

Again...How is the DEC's stat of deer sighting #s/1k of hours hunting interpreted? Do they really think it's different deer every time you report some sightings in the same location over a period of time? If the DEC is using the findings of the Bowhunter's Survey Log as partial input into determining deer density or populations, it's skewed or corrupted data, at best! Same scenario as any of us that have trail cams near food sources. We know all the deer we're seeing are NOT what might look like an overpopulated herd of deer passing in front of our cams! In reality is some finite numbers that routinely are captured on photos/vids, repeatedly! My bad, almost forgot...the DEC has their infamous, "statistically sound" fudge-factor they apply to all their findings! Granted, the DEC is understaffed and has asked for your boots-on-the-ground assistance. It gives you a warm-fuzzy feeling to be able to help them out! Hell, they even give merit badges for longevity of your assistance. Just be aware, you may be contributing to some of the misconstrued overpopulation estimates the DEC is reporting! I could see I was, so I quit!

Ahh, the old adapt or perish adage applied to aging hunters. Goes much deeper than just failing vision, like long hikes to the stand, moving treestands. length of sits, tolerance to bad weather conditions, long drags, on & on.... And my nemesis, a weak bladder!

Thought I was being helpful to the DEC's efforts by doing these surveys, until a light came on! When I'm reporting seeing numerous deer every hunt in a specific location, how is that data used other than deer sightings/1k hours??? Didn't think they could differentiate the fact I was seeing same 8-10 (ex.) most of the time and not far more (additive #) deer than were actually around! So I quit doing the survey and maintain a personal log with more specific input items!

Very cool challenge! Enjoy it while you can, before the old eyes begin to go to hell and scopes become the norm.

...pepper spray, a sharp stick, an arrow, 20ga or sit in the car waiting for him to show up like Wooly hinted at! They are easily trapped in a cage trap baited with sardines. Can probably buy one for what $$ an exterminator would charge. If he decides to set-up housekeeping in the SIL's garage or attic, then it becomes a real problem!