Two Track

There is the ancient practice of cutting off the offending hand or being branded (literally) a thief. Seriously though, do you have any other cams out there that may have caught them in the act? If yes, send the images to the local PD and/or DEC. Especially if they have illegal hunting implements with them. At minimum, caught trespassing, if it shows them carrying out your other cams, it will be trespassing and theft. Are your cams labeled with name or other info to indicate who the owner is, if they are caught? Will make a better case. If you see boot/shoe tracks that don't belong, have them casted for additional evidence. If they are on camera and have a matching tread pattern, it would be hard to argue, wasn't me.

I am hitting the polls on the way home. Wife should have gotten there already. Two more votes for Astorino. Question is my mother-and-father-in-law. They went to Florida for the week on vacation and check in on grandma. They don't like Cuomo, but not sure if they cast absentee ballots. They talked about it. Have to get my brother-in-law out if he registered to vote. He is staying with us while his house is under construction. We need to get Cahill in too. Cuomo's lacky swore in and provided staff for the Moreland commission.

If it would indicate little chance or no chance of seeing anything, I could sleep in a bit and not use any fuel to drive out to the areas I hunt and back. I could use the time for other things that need to get done. I overslept yesterday and decided that 20 mph winds that may gust to 30 is a little too much for the bow and probably not great to hunt pheasants with a gun either. Took care a few things around the house instead. Still have leaves to rake, problem is 70% of them are on the trees still and are green. Front yard trees dropped leaves, the side and back yard where most of trees are are still green and full. Need the button to give me the all clear to rake up once all the leaves have fallen and no chance of hunting success for the day.

Congrats. They are very tasty when oven-roasted. We roasted the last one with strips of bacon over it for flavoring and retaining some moisture in the meat. I am looking to start scoring on birds again this year.

Her bronzed ruler lol

I try to hang in there until 11:00 or so then break from lunch and decide on rest the day's approach. If close to home, I will go home to eat. Otherwise I will eat a packed lunch sitting back in the vehicle, or if planned an all day, move off good 15 minutes or so of a hike to eat away from hunting spot to avoid food smells that may warn off the deer (like nice warm soup on a cold day). If on public land, I will scout an area that I haven't yet explored for additional spots/options in the afternoon if the morning hunt did not seem to be a productive area. Never know where you will find a rub line.

I use to carry around the empty shell from my first successful rabbit hunt with my grandfather. It didn't seem work after the foxes moved onto the old family farm and did a number on the rabbits. I think that shell is still around in a box somewhere, 5 moves later. Question would be is which empty .410 casing is it that this point. I dropped my empties from other hunts into the same pocket that case was in, so I just dumped them all into drawer back when I was in high school. I have my grandfather's old 10X field coat. Tried squirrel hunting for the first time last year without success. Got my first squirrel wearing it a couple weeks ago (I don't normally wear his field coat, but it was too warm for my insulated jacket). Maybe that will be my lucky warm weather squirrel coat (not insulated for cold hunts, or large enough to really layer up). He died ~ 30 years ago when I was a junior in high school. Still miss him every hunting season. I know it is right-time and right-place to see the game, and some skill in making the shot. Having something that you feel boosts your confidence (or gives luck) is not a bad thing. Feeling dependent on it is another story. Glad that is not the case with me.

How do you think they put down a hog or beef cow for slaughter? Amish are not anti-gun. Anti-war and anti-murder yes. In general, they are anti-violence. They hunt and fish like the rest of us (minus motorized vehicle/boat) since the 1800's. Anyone could be the poacher, Amish or other wise. They may know something about it, but handle it internally within their community if it is one of there members.

Someone was looking out for you to come out with just scrapes, cuts and bruises from that. Never do tree work alone for that very reason. Some trees look perfectly healthy. All branches have leaves, nothing looks dead, etc. You start cutting through and find out it is hollow in center. Goes from a normal job to a dangerous one in a few minutes. Can't always tell on some of those 100 + year old oaks. Glad we called a tree service for that one (girth was too big for our saw anyway) I have to check around where I set up as there a still a few widow makers around from Sandy on some of the parcels I hunt. If I am stalking and the wind picks up, I stop and look up. Had few branches crash down nearby a couple weeks ago. Makes you a bit cautious (or is it paranoid - the sky is falling)

It got too windy for me on Sunday for using a bow so I packed up and went back out looking for other game with the shotgun - nothing. Saw 5 deer laying in someone's backyard and 15 or so turkeys in a construction site on the way home. It does get discouraging at times. Keep an eye out for buck rubs when you move about to plan for next hunt's set up. Pick another point in the rub line. I tried hanging out near a small stream that appears to be drinking source (some tracks near by), but nothing came by - could be taking a drinking at night there. One hunt I was on during gun season we had nothing moving around but squirrels, we decide to call it and dropped the stands around 10:30-11:00. Same leaf rustle sounds on other side of a brush line after the stand was dropped and packed up. Dad said take look just in case. Six deer popped up as I neared the break in the brush. Of course since we just dropped the stands, I frantically had to reloaded. You just never know when they may appear.

Welcome aboard. Next year I may have my youngest hunting. She helped me skin squirrel earlier this season. Only excused herself when time to gut it out. No problems with her having bloody hands. She practiced identifying body parts and bones during the process (which is something she is learning in biology this semester). Hunter Safety classes are booked up by me, so I hope there are classes in the Spring for her to hunt turkey with me. She won't be on the forum/facebook/etc. for a while though.

Cuomo lies that that Safe Act does not affect hunters and made us safer. No box magazines that can hold over 10 rounds - illegal. Of course they were not legal to hunt with for a long time, but use to be legal to use at a gun range. Adjustable stock or fore-grip plus box magazine in a semi-auto is now considered an assault weapon - must be registered as an assault weapon. No inheritance must be sold out-of-state or turned in at owner's death. Of course, no pistols can be brought into the state without a current NY pistol license that must be renewed every 5 years. Can only pass a gun parent <-> child, or between siblings, or spouse. No passing between in-laws or from a grandparent to a grandchild. This is not currently for field use or range use. Owner transports the firearms to place of use (the day's hunt or day at the range) and must be there during its use. So a buddy currently can use your other gun to hunt together, as long as you are present at the hunt. You must take possession back to transport back to your home after the hunt/range usage. They can not take it back to their home to use for the weekend/week (unless you are staying there with it). Safe Act part two my classify semi-auto pistols as assault weapons and further restrict the field usage of a gun. They are planning to outlaw 50 cal rifles (muzzle loader excepted). No grandfathering or registration of them - seizing/confiscating them. There is a rumor all semi-autos (rifle and shotgun) regardless of shell capacity may be classified as an assault weapon in a future update to the Safe Act. All these bills are being sponsored by City people who absolutely know what they are doing - NOT!!! Can't vote Democrat or Republican in my town, a certain group in one of the town's villages own both candidates. We have an independent running against both parties. We hope we can get him enough votes. Please have any NY relatives vote out Cuomo and his lackeys. There is a list in another thread of how each member of the NY Legislature voted on the Safe Act.

Fall turkey hunting on public land is a tough choice with hunter orange. Don't want turkeys to see you, but have to worry about small game hunters covering vast areas looking for pheasant, quail, and rabbits using their dogs. I keep an orange hat tucked away. When temps are low, I will put orange vest under my jacket to increase visibility when necessary by opening or removing the jacket.

I am using a homemade back quiver using leather. Broadheads are starting to slice up the interior. I either need to find something to use as a liner and stiffen up the leather, or buy something to use. Yesterday I decided to have the shafts in quiver, boxed broadheads in my pocket, 1 arrow with the broadhead attached in free hand. Two weeks ago I slipped in the mud crossing a wet area and going up the embankment while stalking with a knocked arrow (lots of brush around so I wanted to be ready). Heard something snap as I hit the ground. There were three possibilities: the branch I landed on, the bow, or the arrow. The arrow snapped. Glad I had it pointed away from me and it snapped on the ground. But there is always the possibility it could have hit something else and had the broadhead tip flying back at me. There is a reason they look like razor-blades, they are that sharp. Lets all be careful out there.

Listen to the Drs on what you can and shouldn't do. Once "recovered" ease back into things and don't push yourself too hard to re-injure. Follow the PT instructions to get use back. The less swelling from the surgery, the easier the recovery should be. Ice down as instructed. My uncle had to miss a season a few years ago due to cyst restricting movement of his index finger on trigger hand. Required surgery to remove it and has to watch out for tunnel-carpel syndrome since. He still helped getting stands out and checking for sign to target hunting area that year. We family hunted for years together so we shared the meat. Hopefully someone can do the same for you while you are on the injured list so you don't miss out on fresh venison.

until I moved to NY, I always had mixed load of 00 buck and slugs out deer hunting. Most accidents I heard of were by idiots/unsafe hunters - did not matter if they had slugs only or were using buckshot. They were mistaken targets: someone wearing brown without any orange, farmer's brown cow, etc. Or they were shooting into/through brush they could not see through because they just knew a deer was there. My dad knows at least two farmers who use bright orange paint to label their cows as COW on both side of their body in large letters. Even their Holstein dairy cows. You just need a more substantial backstop for a slug. If shooting a deer on the move, more care is needed to make sure there is good backstop for the shot and no one is down-range from you. In my family, if the shot will be a skyline one, the deer gets a pass. We prefer to take a shot from an elevated position or towards an enbankment/slope so we know it goes into the ground. Whether it be slugs or buckshot (which is legal where my parents live).

Never been there yet. There are closer places like the Shawgunks. Deer hunting only in Minnewaska State Park Preserve in the northern part of the 'Gunks. Requires an application/permit. There also is Huckberry Ridge in Port Jervis along I-84 near the NJ/PA/NY border and Sterling Forest in Tuxedo. Sterling requires a permit and has a $5 application fee.

Just saw Walmart carrying Allen camo seat cushions with a pocket to put a warmer in it for $15 plus cost of a warmer. Using a 10-12 hour mega-warmer in it, that would be about 42 all-day sits to equal the cost of the battery powered one that lasts 4 hours. I know I do not have 42 days that I can deer hunt in a single year. Or need a heated seat for hunting for most of the season. If the battery re-charges quickly and I went to Friday night high school football games, it may be something to splurge for. Exposed metal bleachers get really cold. Eight years of marching band and field competitions, I froze my butt off. Mom and dad had their seat cushions to block the cold from the metal bleachers from seeping through pants and thermals. If dead set on the battery power, buy an extra battery. The colder it is, the faster they drain.

We had no issues driving through an apple orchard to within 40 yards of the old wood's road and then walking in from there. Once in the orchard, drove slow using parking lights only. We did kick up deer in the dark a couple times, but that was while on foot in the woods heading towards pre-determined stand locations (note we carried in our ladder-stands in for each hunt so it was a bit noisier than on foot alone).

Orange vest and hat in warm gun season, orange jacket & hat when cold. Moving to a spot for Turkey on public land, orange hat, vest too if I can stash it under something once in my spot. If in archery only area, orange hat only while it is warm out to get to a spot - just in case a turkey comes around.

Nice looking deer. Rockland county or the town Rockland in Sullivan county? Better make sure that there no weapons policy on company grounds. We aren't even allowed pocket knives. Company box cutters to open delivered packages is okay, but no pen knifes.

Being not really keen on heights/falling, if it is windy, I am on the ground. Maybe even leave the bow home and hunt for other game - turkey, pheasant, rabbit, squirrel if it is archery season. If it is extremely windy, I am indoors. One I area hunted last year has few dozen trees and tree-tops down. The severe winds took a toll and blocked off some of the game trails and hiking paths. One trail head was blocked for over a year. A few nice-sized branches dropped 20 yards from me in Sept. while scouting. If I go out in potentially dangerous winds, my wife will be very unhappy to say the least.

We usually camp twice a year as a family, once in Spring and then in the Fall. With costs of everything up and college visits, just no time or funds this year. I was 4 the first time I tent camped. I have backpacked in two man tents and split the gear, and backpacked carrying most of the gear (personal gear, plus tent, stove, lantern, propane, 3 qt. of water, some food, etc.) I do not recommend have one person in a tent that is meant for 2-3 when camping in the snow - too dam cold. Did that about 5 years ago during a snow storm. The old canvas tents are warmer to use in the winter than the new nylon ones are. Better off with foam cushioning in the cold, airbeds hold the cold air under you, and cots without a foam mattress allows the cold air to circulate all around you. Car camping with the family is much easier - screen house, 5 person or 8 person tent, two man tent (for gear storage), 3 burner stove, bulk prone tank, table, chairs, air beds, fully stocked cooler, and a kitchen's worth of pots and pans. Plus fishing gear and life jackets for boating. A buddy hauls in 3 canoes and a kayak for a joint family trip. Never used an airbed until took wife camping for the first time,. She heard someone else filling up an airbed and asked what that sound was - the rest is history. No airbed, I don't get my sleeping bag warmer. Eating well and a nice campfire is what makes it enoyable. Dinners may be: burgers and dogs, steak and shrimp scampi, beer chicken, pizza, BBQ ribs, or spaghetti. At least one morning is french toast or pancakes with sausage, or eggs and bacon. We have coffee perculators, a stove top toaster. Our friend has a stove-top oven for baking. We have cooked pies and cobblers for desert.

I grew up using 00 buckshot and slugs in my original home state. Dogs running deer would either be pick up by animal control or shot on sight if deemed feral dogs. 30-40 yards max is what we expected for accurate range buck shot. Use 00 buck for close range or a brush shot (not shooting a moving bush mind you, but through some small stuff that you could clearly see a deer through). We would put a slug in the modified barrel and buck shot into the full choke when using a double barrel. For a pump or semi-auto, loaded buck in the chamber and slugs in the mag for a follow-up shot. The rifle was limited to a .22 for rabbit and squirrel, and ground hog control.

Helmet in stand, no. Helmet for ATV on public roads/lands, yes.