Pygmy

Looking forward to seeing the picts, Larry.... Hmmm.. I have a BUNCH of Colorado preference points.. 13 deer and 9 elk, if I remember correctly...

Holy smokes...!!.. I'm getting SUCH a warm and fuzzy feeling...!!.. Auntie EM, is that YOU ..??.. Auntie EM..??...

I agree that raptor numbers today appear to be higher than they were back when Doc and I were kids, back in the Jurassic Age...Hehehehe.. No doubt there are several factors involved.. One factor is that 30 or 40 years ago, many hunters and farmers shot hawks on sight, despite the fact that they were protected..I know lots of people who shot hawks and I admit I shot my share ( I think the statute of limitations has run out) . Other factors like banning DDT no doubt had an effect as well, and may well be the biggest reason for the recovery of certain raptors such as eagles and ospreys. However, another factor is involved. Most raptors are NOT especially prolific. In general they don't raise multiple broods per year and don't raise many nestlings per brood. A pair of hawks or owls might raise one or two nestlings per year, unlike some species that raise multiple large broods per year.. SO, even when they are relatively plentiful, they are never REAL plentiful...

VERY interesting... My ex wife did maple for years and years... Never have had syrup quite that good since she kicked my sorry butt out...

Sounds like time for a big group HUG !!...<<grin>>...

You guys are a bunch of sissies.. I have seen videos of Barry Wensel, who has shot MANY more big bucks than ANY of you, shooting deer on the run with his recurve. Of course, the key to his great success was the fact that he had his stupid looking hat on sideways.. I think you guys who can't kill running deer are just wearing your hats the wrong way.

Point well made, Doc... A number of years ago I was talking to the head DEC biologist in region 8. His name was Jim Fodge and he was head honcho for a number of years back in the 70s or thereabouts. He said that he saw no biological reason against regulated harvest of certain raptors.. I think he was talking about red tailed hawks in particular. Of course that is a moot point due to the fact that they are totally protected at the federal level.

......+2 .....

........YAWN.......

Reminds me of the old woodsman in the rain forest of Washington State who had reportedly killed and eaten a spotted owl. A federal fish cop was sent to investigate the case... The old woodsman readily admitted shooting the owl and eating it because he was hungry. He said he had no idea it was illegal to do so. The Fed decided that the old boy was sincere and decided to issue him a warning instead of throwing the book at him. Before he left, the Federal Agent said... " Just answer me one question...What does spotted owl taste like ? " The old woodsman told him.. " It tastes like a cross between bald eagle and whooping crane.."

I do the same as you, Doc... However, there are lots of hunters out there to whom a good running shot at reasonably close range IS a high percentage shot.

No Huntress..It ain't pretty...If it were MY video I would not show it for that reason... But it happens... The shooter dispatched the doe promptly...

I grew up with people who hunted deer MOSTLY by driving... If you couldn't hit a running deer, you didn't get much venison.. TRUE some deer were wounded and lost, but over my 50 years of deer hunting I have seen lots of deer wounded and lost by stand hunters and stillhunters as well. There are LOTS of hunters out there who are perfectly capable of killing running deer, ESPECIALLY when they they as close as the one in the video... The camera makes things look farther away..he probably could have hit that deer with a slingshot.

If you shoot enough deer, sooner or later you'll need a finishing shot. I don't like when that happens, and I'd prefer not to have it recorded on film, but it's part of the game. I had it happen in PA this year...I shoulder shot a doe and she was struggling trying to get up. I hit her a bit higher than I should have and she wasn't going anywhere, but she may have lived several more minutes. I administered the coup de grace as promptly as I could.

The first one was a clean kill..Went perhaps 20 yards and piled up. The second one needed a finisher..Sometimes that happens..They were off camera, but #3 and #4 dropped in thier tracks, according to the shooter, and from the location of the wounds on the deer, I'd believe that. As long as it was legal where he was hunting, I see nothing wrong with the video.

I'm certainly not endorsing the shooting of eagles...I see them on nearly a daily basis here in the Chemung/Canisteo drainage and it's still a treat to see one. Fortunately, attitudes toward all predatory birds has changed for the better over the years..When I was a kid, most of the people I knew shot "chicken hawks" although it was illegal . I admire all birds of prey, from the redtails and rough legged hawks I see hunting the fields, to the sharp shins and Cooper's hawks that occasionally hunt my bird feeders..Hey..They gotta eat too.

To Chenango Dave and others interested in raptors.. The rough legged hawks that winter here seemed to get here EARLY this year..I have been seeing them for about a month... Perhaps the lemmings are in short supply up north, which would support the snowy owl sightings this early in the winter..

He's older than I am...Not sure how MUCH older..I'm 63...He spent most of his life as a commercial fisherman and refers to eagles as "white headed buzzards"... Alaska removed the bounty from eagles in 1953, but as far as I have read it was not illegal to kill them until Alaska achieved statehood in 1959.. Prior to protection in the lower 48 in 1940, some western states bountied them. Elmer Keith , who considered high velocity, small caliber rifles inadequte for medium and big game ,lived in Montana and once made the statement that the .270 Win was a "good eagle rifle"...

Breeth...Looks like it would work well for cleaning bad guys out of elevators...Hehehe.. I remember a couple of my buddies when I was a teenager ( 50 years ago) had cut down side by side doubles..Back in those days there were no such things as choke tubes, so with the cut down barrels they were wide open cylinder bore... They shot wide patterns and were absolutely DEADLY on small game and upland game birds out to 30 yards or so, and most upland game is shot within that range anyway.

Very cool pictures Dave, as per usual... I have never been lucky enough to lay eyeballs on a snowy owl, even on my trips to Alaska and northern Canada. I've seen lots of great Horned owls and barred owls, along with screech owls, long eared owls , short eared owls and even a couple of great grey owls, but never a snowy. Perhaps THIS winter I'll see one.

Nice bear..!! Color phases are not common here in the southern tier.

As long as he has a walk in cooler with temp control, it's no big deal. IF you can keep temps in the 30s, aging venison for 8-10 days improves it, IMHO. Many deer processers cut deer ASAP, because they tend to get large numbers of deer in a very short period of time, such as opening week. That is not to say they might not get BETTER meat by aging it for awhile, but with the high number of deer taken in a short time and the short turnaround time required by many out of the area hunters, they don't have that option.

Holy SAWDUST, Batman !! That thing is just slicker than a finger in the A**.... What a way to make firewood, if you are doing enough volume to afford it..

I shot lots of them in my barn over a 40 year period. I never had any hi-tech BB or pellet gun. A Daisy spring powered would work if you hit them it the head, but it would bounce right off on a body shot.. A cheap, pump up type Daisy worked better, although sometimes it would take a couple of hits on body shots.

My first handgun was a S&W K22, 6" BBL. which I bought in 1974...It would be the LAST handgun I would ever part with.. Outstanding quality...Ruger also makes quality, rugged, revolvers..