Pygmy

You hit the nail right on the head, Dave. It's all sad, but true. I'm glad I'm an old fart. I can deal with things the way they are . Actually, I am very fortunate, because I still have a significant amount of land owned by friends, inlaws, etc. that I can hunt... I don't cover the amount of ground that I did 20 years ago, anyway...

I'm sure you're right, eagle rider... A poster on one of the forums that I used to frequent was a very savvy reloader who lives in Ontario (Canada) and does all of his hunting for deer and moose in areas where a 100 yard shot is nearly impossible and most shots are under 50 yards... He always claimed that heavy for caliber bullets at moderate velocities worked best.. He shot a 30-06 and loaded 180 grain bullets to around 2400 FPS, and used bullets that expanded readily, like Nosler ballistic tips and Sierra gamekings.. He maintained that a relatively heavy bullet at a moderate velocity penetrated farther and wrecked less meat than the high velocity loads. He was shooting game in close cover, often from less than ideal angles, like a shot at the southern end of a northbound moose.. A lot of times in the thick stuff, you either take whatever shot is offered you, or you don't shoot. Some folks may argue that a shot at a less than ideal angle is unethical, but in the real world of hunting, sometimes things pan out that way. Once again...The right tool for the job.. High velocities and corresponding flat trajectories have thier place. I have shot my fair share of game at ranges from 300 to 400 yards, and at long range the high velocity loadings make hitting your target much easier. But for much of the hunting that many of us do, at woods ranges, they aren't necessary, and at times they are counterproductive.

Let me jump on the bandwagon and heartily agree. A relatively heavy bullet at moderate velocity is a great killer and is much easier on the eatin' meat than lighter , more explosive projectiles at higher velocity. My medium bore rifle is a 9.3 x 62, which is similar to a .35 Whelen, except with a slightly bigger bullet. My pet load features a 250 grain Barnes X bullet at about 2500 FPS muzzle velocity. It hits hard and penetrates like crazy. Every head of game that I have shot with it has gone straight down. Typically it produces half dollar sized exit holes, and very little bloodshot meat , much less than my .280 with 140 grain bullets at 3000 FPS...

That's what makes this forum special.. .. Entertainment ..One of the main reasons that many of us are here is to be entertained..

Hehehehehe... I see you have at least one Polish hen.. I love chickens also...They always seem to be having such a great time, just pecking and scratching around.. They are one of the things I miss most from my "former" life, now that I live in town... ....

Bald and golden eagles were shot for bounty until the 1960s in the western states, mostly because of thier depredation on lambs..If they could take a lamb, they surely could take a fawn... Golden eagles were the main predator since they prefer live prey and bald eagles prefer fish and carrion..However all birds of prey are opportunists and will take an easy meal whenever it presents itself.. Golden eagles are relatively scarce in NY, at least compared to bald eagles, so I doubt that fawn depradation by eagles in NY is significant.. I'm sure that MANY more fawns are killed by domestic dogs in NY than are killed by eagles of any sort..

Pat..I understand your angst.. However, as other posters have said, if you don't do it, he'll get someone else..It may as well be done by someone who cares.. There is a lease near me where the landowner has DEC people come in every year and determine the number of deer that need to be taken to keep the herd in balance and the landowners crops relatively profitable... The landowner makes no bones about it..If the guys on the lease don't kill enough deer every year, he will find somebody that will.. Hence they have BROWN IS DOWN days until the numbers are satisfied... As an interesting aside, the hunters manage to kill some fine bucks there every season, including a couple per year in the 150 class..

Yeah, I know, Dave..There are always guys who feel they can hunt anywhere they want.. Most of them don't own land, or own a little parcel which they keep to themselves and then hunt on everybody else.. They are a problem for all of us... Not an easy solution...However if you can catch and prosecute a couple of those guys, trust me, word gets around..

I never understood that mentality.... When I grew up, my family owned a couple hundred acres, more or less... It was posted, but friends and neighbors were welcome to hunt it, and we were welcome to hunt neighbor's land. Strangers would usually get permission to hunt if they stopped and asked politely... Then my ex wife and I owned a couple of hundred acres...pretty much the same deal.. There was never an issue of US owning the deer..They were just there, and of course, they moved from property to property.. I currently control the hunting on 100 acres of good deer woods.. Several friends and neighbors have permission to hunt there... The change came when the land use in this area changed from agricultural to recreational...Older farmers and landowners died or could no longer afford the taxes, and the land was sold off in 50 to 100 or 200 acre parcels, mostly to people from out of the area.. They pay the taxes, and most of them don't want anybody else on thier property...That is thier perogative.... When I was a kid, I could walk as far as I wanted in any direction and never be on land where I was unwelcome.. Nowadays I stop at the next property line, and I'm lucky if the owner will even allow me to track or retrieve a wounded animal.. Sad, in a way, but that's the way it is...I am glad I had a chance to hunt in the old days, when people were not so self centered and selfish..

Now THAT's funny right there....... ............

Congrats to a fellow future Grandpa, Dave.... ;D .... My daughter called me and gave me similar good news.... Now I'm waiting to see if they decide to find out the GENDER of the little nipper, so I'll know whether to buy him/her BLUE camo or PINK camo.... ....

Great story, Eagle Rider... You have a talent for narration... Next year when I'm hunting with my Garand I'll think of your Dad and his 03A3.. I am a big fan of the 03A3 Springfield, and one of my regrets is that I did not buy one (or ten) years ago when they were available dirt cheap.. I can remember when you could buy one mail order for less than $50 ..That was before the GCA of 1968..

PEDOPHILE...!!... ... ... Never thought of it, Burt...Actually, those backstraps would be about the diameter of a hot dog... A hind leg might make a decent meal though... Leg of vealison... Years ago I was in Monterey, Mexico on business and went out to dinner with some locals.. The dish I ordered was the hind leg of a kid goat...It was very good..Reminded me of rabbit, as I remember....

Eagle... Actually Patton said that the M1 rifle was the greatest battle implement ever invented, or words to that effect.. Of course you have to consider that he said that in the 1940's when every other major participant in WWII was still using bolt action rifles as thier primary battle rifle.. Some of those bolt actions are pretty cool, also, like the German K98K Mauser and the British SMLE Enfield, among others.. I killed my first deer with my M1 last season, a nice doe...Shot her at about 50 yards, sneaking through some thick stuff in one of my favorite hemlock/hardwood sidehills.. My only complaint about the M1 is that its safety has an audible CLICK when it is disengaged..Could make things pretty dicey if a deer shows up at close range, as happens often in treestand situations..Defintely a cool rifle, though... Very accurate and the issue peeps sights still work well with my old eyes, unlike the open V sights on Mausers and some other military rifles..

What SteveB said... Picture sure looks like a photoshop to me.. I'd like to see the deer and coyote pictures from the same camera..

I have a thing for bolt action rifles....For that reason , my "woods rifle" for whitetails is a Rem 700Mountain Rifle in 7mm08, although I readily admit that in many cases a short, light lever, auto or pump gun would be a more practical choice... The only "non bolt " centerfire rifle that I use for deer is my M1 Garand, and at 10 pounds it hardly qualifies as a handy, light rifle for use in close cover... However, I enjoy carrying it and hunting with it , because it is a fine piece of firearms engineering and a part of history... My rifle is a 1943 vintage Springfield Armory (reciever) and it may have seen action in the hands of a G.I in WWII or Korea...

Good luck in the drawing..I applied in Maine for about 20 years and finally gave up...NH and Vermont are a little better odds to draw... Probably the best draw odds in the East is New Brunswick.. Last time I applied there NR draw odds were around 1 in 20.. I drew a tag there in 2004... I did not apply anywhere this year, because I am booked to go to Newfoundland in September... The Rock has OTC tags and many camps have very high success rates, some over 90%...

Ain't no flies on the .35 Rem in the deer woods... Nothing wrong with using the right tool for the job... The .35 is proof that high velocity is not a requirement for an efficient killer, within woods hunting ranges...

22LR works well on coon...Steer away from the solids, and shoot the hollow points... As the previous poster said, CCI Stingers work well, but regular .22 LR hollow points work well also... Head shots are always preferred, but body shots will work also..Some of the most perfect mushrooms I have ever seen were Win HV hollow points that were recovered from under the off side skin of coons taken with body shots..

There is absolutely NO reason why an 180 grain bullet would not serve well for any deer hunting that exists in NYS, at reasonable ranges ( from point blank to 300 yards)... It ain't like you are talking about 500 grain .458 bullets here.. Do you think that a 180 grain bullet turns a .308 into an elephant gun..??.. There is only 30 grains bullet weight between the 150 and the 180...Trajectory differences are only a couple of inches at extreme range.. We are splitting hairs here.. Shoot whatever bullet that groups and functions well in your rifle from 150 to 180 grains and be happy with it.. Trust me, the deer will never know the difference.. Please, don't take this post wrong... It's fun to discuss ballistic differences, even if slight.. But to get too wrapped up about the differences between a 150 -180 grain bullet in any standard .30 cal. cartridge is kind of silly..

I have heard lots of stories of premium bullets not expanding on deer sized game... Nosler partitions, Barnes X, Swift A frame, numerous other bonded core bullets... 99% of the stories are pure BS... Those bullets all work fine on deer... It's just that there are many LESS EXPENSIVE bullets ( like corelocts or Win power points) that work just as WELL on deer sized game at half the cost... The only bullets that won't expand adequately on deer sized game are FMJs...

I love all kinds of fishing... I do lots of fishing on local streams,ponds and lakes ( Finger Lakes area)... I fish for trout, pike, walleyes, bass ( mostly smallies) and especially panfish...I'm planning to fish Honeyoye lake Wednesday for bluegills.. I used to a lot of ice fishing, but the last few years I have not done a lot..Getting too old to endure the cold... I live quite a way from salt water, but I usually make a couple trips to fish salt water each year..This year I fished a day in the Gulf of Mexico, out of Florida, and I'll be doing a 3 day cod trip out of Mass. in June..

June is the month when cold/wet weather can really have an adverse effect on the turkey hatch.. Average hatch date in NY is around June 11.. Cold/wet weather then will put a hurting on the turkey hatch.. A warm, dry June means lots of turkey poults survive...Weather like what we are having NOW would be deadly on the hatch if it occured in June.. No need for alarm yet..

Congrats my friend....Good job on a fine bird... ;D ..... P.S. I assume that you are as happy as you look... ...

Yes indeed... I checked every last one of them for a GREEN CARD before I shot them... ....