Two Track

a handed down pre-war Belgium Browning A-5 in 16 gauge for deer or small game. As a youth, started out borrowing my uncle's single in .410 for rabbit, move to a 16 double, and tried my grandfather's 12 gauge pump. Never got the feel for using the pump. The Browning just feels right.

If extereme weather, I stay home. Need the fingers to stay employeed working on computer systems. I wear multiple layers starting with thermals. If I can squeeze it in, an old 100% wool Woolrich jacket and my blaze orange insulated jacket. I have a pair of baggy fleece-lined climbing pants that I wear a pair of moisture-wicking pants over, followed by my hunting pants. Toss a pair of toe warmers in my insulated boots and wear wool socks. Place mega warmer on lower back in my base layers for very cold days. Have hand warmers to drop in my insulated gauntlet-type gloves. I have my grandfathers zippo hand warmer, but not tried it yet. when I take a lunch break (by my vehicle) I pull out a stove and fix some soup and hot cider. My dad takes a thermos of hot spiced tea - but that is not my cup of tea. Orange herbal tea - only ever choked down 3 sips just to warm up. If my feet and lower back get cold, I am done. My body will start to shiver and I have to call it quits. No fun climbing out of ladder stand that way. For past couple years I have be ground hunting. Huddle down behind a big tree for a wind block. Pile some leaves up in front to keep the heat close to you and sit on a hot seat - beats the cold ground or hard rock wall sticking into your bottom. Right now it is low 40's and rainy by me. Weather is supposed to break this afternoon. Had to work remotely from home this morning even though I took vacation time starting today. Hopefully something will be moving this afternoon.

They are saying 16/29 for Sunday and windy by me. Glad it is not archery season still - would never be able to shoot a recurve in that. This also cuts out an afternoon pheasant hunt - too cold and windy for them to make an appearance. My pickiest child wants to eat another pheasant - guess she will have to wait awhile.

I am off next week, so maybe I will get my NY deer finally. Only saw 1 deer while turkey hunting - none while archery hunting. Saw several trucks with deer on the back on Sunday from the morning hunt and they hunted the rest of the day too. Guessing that they were hunting to fill their hunting partner's tag.

I didn't a reservation either, so went in late morning (which was good for since I was in the office until 11 PM) Don't park at Lorraine Road - it is not P6. DEC officer was nice about it, but did get a ticket for illegal parking. At least he didn't write one for trespassing, which he could have done both for me and my son. Have to send it in to find out the cost of the fine. Another officer mentioned another piece of state forest where there are some active buck scrapes to take a crack at.

Got to give my hunting pants a wash or I will be using my dog's scent as cover scent. I am locked out of my closest public hunting land until Monday and of course I've got to work all week. I am hoping to get in at at another piece of public land this weekend but have to compete for a spot with the early am bird hunters - a few start up at first light with their bird dogs making limited spots available for deer hunting. May have to try another location - one that I have not had time to scout at all. Working 10-18 hour days for two weeks has left me with little prep time. If I was off today, I could out there sighting in and packing gear.

Crap.. time flew by fast. Been busy relocating offices for past couple of weeks. Guess its time to start digging out my deer gun gear.

Figures, my company is moving to new facilities this weekend. Have to have everyone's computer equipment re-assembled and operational by 9:00 am Monday. Moving starts tomorrow afternoon. Good luck to everyone else out there. Just save a couple for me - doe or buck for next week???

If you are not seriously just baiting looking poachers, but brand new hunter. You definitely need to re-read the regulations. You can print out a list of season form the DEC website for quick reference to carry with you as needed. I have not taken a shot and gotten back home only to see that it was already in season - better to err on side of caution than be locked up for poaching. Here is a quick break down: Current gun season (smoothbore shotgun) is for Pheasant, squirrel, rabbit, coyote, fox, raccoon, bobcat, goose/duck (subscribe to HIPs and purchase Federal Migratory stamp), and Turkey(if your purchased turkey tags). Of course this also means a different round for taking those: # 71/2 or 6 's for pheasant, squirrel, rabbit # 6 or 4, or 2's for Turkey Non-lead #6, 4, or 2'S for goose or duck For goose or duck there is a limit to use a gun that can hold no more than 3 rounds (federal migration game law) Deer and bear gun season starts on Nov. 16th until Dec 8th. for the southern zone. Last years license is for use prior to Oct 1.st when the 2013/14 licenses take effect. That would be only for early bow in the Northern zone, and squirrel in the southern zone. I grew up in another state and had different dates for the hunting season and some differences in game species. So I always check and have it marked on a calender for easy reference.

I have done this two ways: pre-dose the wicks before heading out and keep in a small sealed container that is then bagged in a zip-lock. Put out just before climbing in stand 20 minutes before shooting time Set up stand, then layout the scent before climbing up Normally I wear BDU style pants and try to put the wicks and bottle of lure in the lower patch pockets, but pack it back up in my waist back for the trip out. Of course if I get in a rush in morning, I remember that the scent is in waist pack after I start walking in. Since I am currently limited to weekends, I am forgetting to pull scent out Sat. am, but am all set on Sundays. If packing scent in pants pocket, recommend double bagging the bottle. My dog was all over my lower patch pockets where the scent managed to leak out (didn't get a good seal when closing it). Good thing rut hadn't fully started yet when that happened.

looks like some rot and woodpecker damage at the top. Not sure on the hanging strips of bark - porcupines do kill trees by stripping the bark off a eating it. Could be just rot. If it was bigfoot the tree would have been pulled out and re-planted upside-down - everyone knows that

bow deer season & turkey - wear camo gun (small game/bird/deer) - wear orange Keep orange vest in the back seat if bow hunt or turkey hunt in the morning switch to small game or pheasant in the late morning or afternoon. usually have an orange cap in my waist pack just in case...

My astigmatism was on the dominate eye. I say had, because wearing gas-perm contacts (rigid or hard lenses as some call them) gradually re-shape your eye's lens after years of wearing them. Gas-perm lenses last longer, don't tear, and don't fold up in the eye - down-side is they are more difficult to take out, especially when they get dry. Had had soft lenses tear, turn inside-out, dry-out (as in not re-hydrating), and fold up in my eye if I rubbed them. But they still beat wearing glasses that fog up, slide-off when sweating, and provide no peripheral vision. Now I just need to keep the shooting glasses from fogging up - unless I am having a bad contact lens day.

went there once. Heard a couple shots further up the mountain from where I was. Saw no deer but a couple tracks crossing a stream. Left after the fourth or fifth car load of hikers started up the mountain around 10:30. Two with their dogs off-leash - not wanting to chance shooting someone's yellow lab belonging to an irresponsible owner. Mandatory 6' leash law there.

Maybe what I had was determined to be not so good for you or the environment - it has been about 20 years since then.

Welcome joining us. From the sound of it, you drive right past me to get to your cabin. I-87 to Route 17 west right? I occasionally head up to Mongaup Pond to go camping and check out the fish hatchery in Sullivan County near Livingston Manor. I have yet to hunt Catskills - but want to try that at some point. Beautiful countryside there. Good luck out there. Have a safe and enjoyable season.

.300 savage is tough to find too. Spotted some in a small local shop when my funds were low. Have to get back there to see if they are still in stock. Problem is they close at 6:00 and I am still working at that point. And they are not by my house either - requires a special trip. If I get there, I can see if they have those 200 grain 308's. They are over in Rockland county.

I try to wear my contacts when out hunting. Better peripheral vision and no fogging. In some brushy areas I do wear yellow shooting glasses to enhance what I see and keep stuff out of my eyes - they fog up when using a facemask but at least i can see when I take those off. I did use some type of anti-fog spray back in high-school before I got my contacts. Glasses fogged over during every Friday night half-time show and I was marching blind without pre-treating my glasses. This one time at band camp... Have to see if I still have a bottle of it somewhere.

That really sucks. My son who is now in high school as broken both arms over the past few years, one on a play date, the other in Phys. Ed. Last year we added a broken thumb to the list - also in phys. Ed. He does not feel pain like most people - a scratch or minor cut is worse for him than anything he broke. Walked around with a broken arm for 4 days each time before we knew he needed a doctor - nurse at school said just a sprain, go to class here is a ice pack. For him it was just some minor discomfort until we grabbed his hand on day four. At least there was no screaming, but we never really know how hurt he may be if something happens to him. He started out in the NICU for respiratory distress for his first 15 days of life. Since then he has played lacross and football, and tried cross-country (said it was too boring for him). They bounce back pretty well. Just have to cope with his ADHD. For some people, the following may help with pain: cool room temp favorite music or movie (good distraction to ignore the discomfort temporarily) something funny (comedy show, cartoons, jokes) - laughter is suppose to be good medicine (except broken rib or sore throat) Most people I know went down to just Tylenol after a week or so. One of the guys I ran track with had broken both his legs by the time he was in 6th grade. He could race anyone while he was on crutches too. It gets better. Atleast you can tell that your kid is hurt and try to help him. Not knowing for sure if they are hurt always leave doubt in your mind.

A guy I went to high school with shot one that was in his garden. Bad shot placement, the rabbit went with the arrow under the wooden fence. He never found either one. I don't have and can't get any of the details other than he used a compound bow - he developed one of those degenerative muscular diseases and had a stroke. He passed away a few years ago. He was only in his mid/late 30's. He was a good guy to have along camping and backpacking - we did 60 mile backpack trip in New Mexico. He was great at cooking (camp stove or in the campfire) and first aid (patched me up until reached a hospital for stitches in my knee).

Those weedy fields/meadows really are too high right now without a dog. I hadn't seen any deer in the morning lately, so I listened to my wife and went looking for turkey on Saturday morning and planned to look for deer in the afternoon if didn't bag any turkey or pheasant. The ideal turkey areas were taken already, so i decide to try out the field on the north end - a stone's throw from I-84. I hiked through to the woods bordering in the swamp and set up for turkey - only saw a couple small non-game birds and one squirrel - gave up at 10:30 and figure I would try to chase up some pheasant as they do release some birds near there. 30 yards from from the field I walked up on a doe. So I slip back to the car to pack up the gun and grab the recurve. Tried to trail the doe but the weeds quickly reached should height - hard to tell before I started in as I was going up hill and the weeds started at waist height by the trail. Bow was snagging on the weeds constantly - no way to take shot in there with the bow if I did find her again. Even if I stuck with the the gun and shot a pheasant, I would probably never find it unless I had a bird dog. I saw 3 other areas that are known for pheasant in the same condition. Hope they work on the fields soon. If they gave me the keys to a tractor with the brush hog attached I could clean some of that mess up. By the way some areas in Sterling Forest are looking similar. The wild blackberry bushes are taking over a field and blocking some old trails and abandoned roads I was on a couple weeks ago. Last year saw some deer on those old trails and roads, and took pheasant in that same field that I can't walk through now.

Nice looking deer, congrats.

Chefhunter86, One trick for getting a 3P at license purchase is to apply for that one first. Get mine every year that way. Of course it is only 5 miles or so down the road from me. I have applied late before and gotten 1 after Nov.1st. I think my son got his license and 3P tag after Nov. 1 st last year. My son hasn't decided if he will have time to hunt this year, so no license purchased for him yet this year. Otherwise we could have signed one over.

I just started bow hunting this year. I am using an old recurve I picked up second-hand. 15-20 yards sounds about right for what I have done while practicing. Anything further out, you have to be good at guestimating the elevation you need to release the arrow at to hit the intended point of impact. Those compounds feel toyish to me - small, light-weight, and little strength required to hold at full draw. Of course the recurve does not fit laying across my back seat, so can't exactly leave it there and hide there while at work for a quick hunt on the way home. Not much to go wrong other than breaking the bow string with them - no tuning, adjusting pull or let off, replacing worn cams, breaking sights, etc. I have been staking out old sunken logging/forest roads by brush or just behind large oaks and maples for cover. I often spot game trails crossing them and using those abandoned roads for several yards. I figure that is the best bet for traditional bows with shorter range. I would suggest going to a range that has an area for bow and see if anyone there is using traditional equipment. They could give you tips on site and help you correct anything you are doing on the spot.

Remember to leave gun offsite when you have to pick of your kid at school that is sick or have to run to the Dr. when you are carrying - or lose everything. That would suck if you work armed security and had to directly pick up your kid for stitches and or broken limb. I guess technically speaking, if someone starts in on you and throws punches at you, then you could lose everything too because you were involved, even as a victim. Also just love how out-of-state police can carry as long they are here on "business" (note it does not say police business, just business), but active military personnel on leave can't.