Two Track

Welcome, Looks like your first year was a success - saw and got a shot. Didn't see a deer during season between shooting hours for first 2-3 years. Here are the guidelines: practice with intended weapon and ammo/arrow/bolt to get your eye set pre-scout intended areas pre-set up stand if use one and can leave it out there arrive early and go in quietly (have spooked deer on the trail in the dark berfore) stay calm and relaxed for the shot (no buck fever - cost me deer before) be excited after it drops to the ground be calm when field dressing (cut up fingers not fun, and don't puncture the bladder) save energy for the drag out May want a clothes pin if get a buck in rut. I may see you out there as we are both in the Hudson valley - good luck. It may say that I am a newbie, but that is because I am a recent NY hunter. I harvested deer where I use live before I moved to this state. Now I have to deal with hunting public land.

I always do a tick check, but those deer ticks are very small. When you are five minutes out in the field/on trail and are plucking off ticks already, additional protection is needed. Some locations I bird hunt and hike turn seem to be a sea of ticks part of the year.

Normally I just spray my outer layer with Deet, but still have a few ticks crawling on me occasionally. I try to avoid spraying my skin, but have to break down for the warm months. When get back home, I immediately wash up before the dog tries to bathe me in affections for deserting her. I try to keep DEET off my hands - like to have a snack while out on hunt or hike to keep the energy up and stomach quiet, plus I wear contacts so I do not want that stuff anywhere near my eyes. Sunscreen, peppers, and gasoline (under !@#! vehicle gas line filter change) burns the eyes, can't image what DEET would do.

Have to be careful with Frontline on pets. Dosage size is very important. If your pet is between dosage sizes, use the smaller dosage. My brother-in-law's German Shepard was sick for almost two weeks the first time she was treated. Now they use the lower dosage and she does not become ill. I know some people, including my wife, are sensitive to petting a dog that has been treated with Frontline - makes her itch. Our dog, and my wife's other brother also has a German Shepard that does not make her itch - neither have been treated with Frontline. Only the one dog makes her itch when the dog has been treated for the spring and summer months - rest of the year does not cause the itch from petting her. The instructions for administering it on a pet is to wear protective gloves - I am not going to wear that stuff.

Why are they not pointing the muzzles towards the walls (stage left and/or stage right)? The pistols should have their magazines removed and placed next to them, the revolvers should have the cylinder open, and long guns should have their breaches open. They could have used pistol racks to keep the barrels pointed down too My kids know that the business end never gets pointed at anyone (unless it is disassembled and you are examining the barrel or cleaning it). Isn't it supposed to be pointed at a safe direction at all times, loaded or not? If these are seizures: Where are the evidence bags or tags? Where are the uniformed officers making sure no one takes any evidence? I was under the impression that once they were evidence, the tag stayed on until destroyed for inventory reasons or until the weapon was returned to proper owner if it was stolen property. I wonder how many were actually from a buy back program since there were no tags.

I think the emergency powers so be re-defined to for end-of-the-world scenario's, natural disasters, and war-time needs like during WW II. Any other use should be an impeachable offense and automatically re-tract the forced legisation. Cuomo needs to be keep out of any additional political offices once his term is done. We do not need any more trampling on any part of the Bill of Rights, Constitution, and state constitution. NY may become the next police state. People need to vote by their choice - no more vote because I am a party member of... or vote for XXX because my religious leader said to. They need to vote for who is best for the state as a whole and that uphold the laws and rights for all citizens of this state. If they truly want the gun crimes by the real criminals to go away, hand-down 100-year sentences to all the gang-bangers and serial murderers and send them to an deserted atoll to live out their life . They obviously do not want be part of our society, so they can form their own there. Or they can actually carry out the death sentences - none of this sitting on death row for 10 years of appeals and end up just sitting in prison for life. You commit multiple murders, you get to face god earlier than intended. Until then, we need to keep on our elected officials that we voted for (or got stuck with and are suppose to represent us) to use good judgement by providing them with the proper information to enact just laws and uphold the constitution that they are sworn to follow in their term governance. If they step on our rights and support unjust laws, they get the boot from office the next election. Meanwhile, my ammo is my ammo - 2 years old or 10 years old. If you have a couple boxes same manufacturer, the shells/casings are the same. What are you supposed to do if they enact this, disassemble and see which one has a code on the base? The idiots in Albany need to have an actual firearms/ammunition expert give them an education. Gee, isn't Remington in this state - they could send someone over to Albany.

Those pesticides that worked so well and were later banned had serious side effects on the human side from long term exposure, not to mention environmental issues. My dad (a non-smoker) has been diagnosed with early stages of emphysema - possibly related to spraying some of those pesticides. In the fifty and sixties, tractors did not have any cabs on them, spray trucks did not have AC so either the windows were open, or removed the doors in the summer for ventilation. Could also be from all the dust from working on the farm until his 20's. The doctors' don't know the root cause and probably never will. Permethrin is a neurooxic insecticide - use on clothes only. It is highly toxic to cats and fish. DEET is repellant that has some cases of neurological damage to some users that have had high exposures to it. DEET can melt some synthetic fabrics like nylon. DEET can repel fish (keep it out of your tacklebox, and off your waders and fishing equipment.) Weigh the side-effects and choose what you want to use carefully. Just try to keep the ticks off - Lyme's disease is no joke either. I know someone whose wife was bed-ridden for a year because it was mis-diagnosed for several months. She got so weak she could no-longer walk.

Thanks Predate, but already knew that. My A-5 doesn't like reloading unless it is set for heavy-loads. Had in for repair 10 years ago - a piece of the reload mechanism snapped and she jammed closed with a live round in the chamber. Of course I was up in a stand and had a deer to track at the time - what better time for that to happen. Good thing my uncle was there at the next stand over to help me out of that problem (and on the other FRS radio to call him over). Getting replacement parts for a 16 gauge is not easy - it was out of service for over a year. My dad had a 16 gauge double to fall back on if I needed it. No chance of having any ammo that I can't shoot. I know close range she shoots pretty straight - at 15-20 yards nearly took head off of a pheasant last year. No shot in the body, but the neck was fairly shredded. Made for a no worries meal - nothing to crunch on pick out (unless you did not like the bacon on top).

This will work well. Try defining an assault weapon caliber. You can get an AR in .22 or install a conversion kit in them - same gun different round. Pistol rounds - .45 isn't this the same bullet to reload for a 45-70 rifle? How will they differentiate between ammo sold for an M-1 Garrand sporting a bayonet w/folding stock and hunting rifle in 30-06. How are they going to track them once fired they get mangled on impact? What if you no long use that caliber and sell/give-away that ammo it is listed as yours? Does that mean it has to be sold/traded via an FFL dealer to update the records? I read a proposal to ban all 50 cal guns earlier this year - guess they don't know about black powder hunting requirements in this state. Face it, it is a microcosm of Washington DC - a lot persons who don't know anything about what they are writing these laws on. We have to keep the few intelligent persons in office for a reasonable term limit and give the rest the boot and never put them back in any office anywhere again. This bill has to be shot down on its absurdity.

The stands I use to use had a max at 12 foot - ladder was 3) 3-foot sections that interlock and then you have the foot rest and seat section. They were custom-made by a family friend 30 years ago. He was an engineer by profession and did welding during his stint in the Air Force. These are heavy stands - 70 lbs mostly of steel. A couple people in our hunting party were hefty, so they were over engineered. At the time I lived in very flat terrain so 9-12 foot worked fine. I not very fond of heights so 9' works for me on windy days that makes the trees sway. Of course the deer have come from behind to the right instead of up from the natural spring as they did in the past. That is when you wish you were on the ground instead of in a stand.

I need to sight in my grandfather's Savage '99 in .300 Savage to see how it shoots - ammo is just hard to find for it, so I until get a full box, I not taking out the few rounds I have to the range yet. I am tempted to remove the scope as I have only shot a using a scope twice before and it felt awkward. I have not sighted in my shotgun (pre-war Browning A-5 in 16 gauge) since high school (I am not that old as it was handed down to me). It is shooting about 1 inch high to the left at ~40 yards(or it could be me) . The only time it hurt was after sending 20-25 rounds through it wearing just a t-shirt in the summer. Some of those were paper cartridges - haven't seen many of those since that summer. My dad's using a H&R 20 gauge magnum heavy barrel with scope dialed-in at 120 yards. Dropped two deer in one shot at 130-140 yards. He bore-sighted it in first, then put a few rounds through it.

The instructors preferred that we brought own bow and field point arrows last year for mine in Putnam county. Makes sense when the class is co-ed. Image only having bows set at 70 lbs and handing that over to a 14 year-old girl to use. They quickly looked over at each bow to make sure that it was serviceable and had a decent string on it. The persons with compounds had the identify their draw weight settings - gave the instructors observing the usage to make any recommendations to adjusting the draw-weights. Re-curve and long bow users had to string their bows so the instructors could make sure it was done correctly. The guy set at 90 lbs basically lost his arrows - impaled the deer 3-d target and the backstop. The arrows would not budge to retrieve them.

Congrats. Took my class last year. Need to get some more field points - son sent two past a target and into a swampy pond. Considering going to start archery this season - just need to get a target and find a safe location to practice. I was one of two persons there with a long bow there for my class. Those compound bows just don't feel right to me. I always carry a copy of the seasons and limits with me to refer to as needed. Shooting hours were different where I grew up so that is something I had to drill into my head when I moved to this state. For planning purposes print a sunrise/sunset calendar for the season - http://www.sunrisesunset.com/USA/New_York.asp

I have not seen a tick in a couple months - only treated pants from knee down and forearms with Deet when out hiking. Been exploring some abandoned woods roads and overgrown disused trails for new locations to set up. Found turkey sign and a couple deer tracks there. Went off-trail to get to the fire road for easy hike back and found myself going through weeds chest high in a area that use to be mowed off. The only thing biting was mosquitoes. My son was working for one of the state parks and only saw ticks twice in two months. He was out collecting for educational displays for summer programs conducted there and picking wild blueberries to feed to the "campers" on blueberry pancake Fridays. Maybe ticks are in decline at the moment. Last year was "how ticks do I pull off today". I had a blood test done for Lime in June due to some long term aches in shoulder joint - came back clean for now.

I see some these deer everyday along the Saw Mill River Parkway on my way to work. There is some local park land in the area. I think they should set up a one-time hunt over bait in several locations and have local hunters reduce the population after closing the park land to the public temporarily. Perhaps even shut down the Saw Mill River Parkway and have bow hunters in the woodlands surrounding the Saw Mill. If that is not enough to make a difference, then consider entertaining the deer vaccination option. If the problem was wild cattle running around eating everything, bet some of these people would still be opposed to killing some of them. Yet they run out to grocery store and buy their slaughterhouse sirloin steaks to grill in their back yard.

Where I grew up, we would go spend weekends at my grandparents farm. We would go rabbit hunting with my dad's cousins and uncles that had rabbit dogs at least twice during the season and some days it was just me and my dad. Would go out a couple times to keep dad company for deer season until I was old enough to deer hunt. The farm was sold off long ago, and I live in a different state in the 'burbs now. Less opportunities for my son to get out hunting when he is not busy with school projects and college prep tests. There is no "lets go out the backdoor and hunt for an hour before dark" for us when I get home from work - we have to load up the car and then drive to public land. The opportunities are less for persons in live in some areas - is not same as living the more rural areas. If you live in 'burbs, and have limited/no places to hunt because of opening weekend for gun deer season is assigned spots, if you get one. If you are not lucky to get one, it takes out the whole weekend to get a kid out to gun hunt deer. In my family school comes first, so they are not missing school to just go out and hunt. Remember, not every youth has the opportunity learn archery skills and a place to practice them to go out in archery season - please don't say, just practice in the back yard. I am in-town and my neighbors are a LEO and a judge. Imagine if their dog got loose and got skewered while practicing archery in my yard. The closest place to hunt by me is closed to hunting for half the fall turkey season. There are lots of trails that people use for experiencing fall foliage and the like. So they delay the hunting season for safety concerns for the hikers. The second closest is a night-mare to draw a spot for opening weekend. A youth hunt almost guarantees a spot for kids in my area to be able deer hunt without the madness of opening weekend if all you have access to is public land. Now just have to see if I can get my daughter out with me for small game to get her started.

I am I better off on on the portion south of 84 or the portion north of 84 just east of Port Jervis? Do you know which area is more heavily hiked? I have hunted another in another public area and had someone take their yellow labs off-leash during deer season - I left to avoid any potential issues or be accused of hunting deer with a dog. That was the second person that went through with a dog that morning - I figured that would mess up the hunt as it was a loop trail and I was in the middle off-trail. I may try to squirrel hunt Huckleberry ridge to scope out the terrain and see what's around in Sept. Know if there is any chance for turkey there?

Youth season is be easier to introduce kids to deer season by me, since public lands are limited and I have been shut out of 2 of the local public lands for opening weekend - did not make the list to get a spot for opening weekend. This reduces moms' worried about their "baby" being out in cold on a dark early morning. If you think about it, when you take a kid out for rabbit/squirrel/pheasant hunt the sun is up a little and it is 5-10 warmer than when you typically start a deer hunt. The aren't used to starting out a hunt in the cold unless you have taken them along in the past just to tag along. The upside of a Youth hunt is the mentor gets a couple of days to scout while helping the youth to bag their first deer and not have to monitor their own weapon as well as the youth's while watching for game. Of course, being warmer watch out for the ticks. Last year on the warmer days I was pulling off 12-20 ticks off of me and my outer layer of clothes - they didn't seem to mind the Deet last year. Wished they has youth season set up a lot earlier last year - it was same weekend we had pre-paid for a family camp-out with friends. Now my son is 16. He will just have to wait another month.

Being that my son is busy building sets for fall stage production and is also has been involved in providing special effects (and hoping to be moved up stage manager), I don't have his help for most of the season. He has his permit, but does not go out to practice driving to get his license - so he requires parental transport. That means wife is busy too. She enjoys going camping, so want to try to take out with me sometime, even to play dog for pheasant hunting would be nice for some company. Not sure if she would go. She is a little gun shy. According to her, me going out hunting, even for a couple hours, makes me a better person to be around - come back de-stressed and more relaxed. And if i brought home something to clean and eat, I am happier person. Note: I did not say brought home for her to clean - I kill it, I have to clean it. She cooks it. Wonder if I will get help cutting up a deer when I bring one home - she picked up a sausage press for that I think. Wife tries to plan out my vacation time - I have to keep reminding her that I need some days for hunting. I guess I need to print out the hunting season dates an put that next to her wall calendar for reference. Of course my wife does some hunting while I am out hunting - her hunts are at yard sales. Did get nice old 3-burner Coleman stove from one of her hunts and some turkey calls at another.

Jewel weed works good on mosquito bites. I got bit up picking blackberries last night on the way home, one felt like a sting, but I could clearly see the mosquito impaled in my pinky finger. I found some jewel weed nearby. Broke the stem open and rubbed it on a couple of the bites, especially the one that felt like a sting. After few minutes it was only a minor irritation. The bites treated with jewel weed are fine today, the others still itch occasionally and have welts. Next time out, try nature's remedy for some relief until you get back home. . I have heard of making a tincture from Jewel weed using alcohol or witch hazel. No idea how to make it myself.

I can vouch for reaction changes over time. My reaction to a bee sting is less than when I was kid and teenager. However I seen to be developing slight-mild season allergies that I never had before. I have not gotten a poison ivy rash in years, but do use Technu soap within a couple hours of exposure the last few years. So either Technu works great, or I no longer re-act.

I was looking to see other options to hunt when Stewart State Forest is full. I saw that near Port Jervis is Huckleberry Ridge state forest. Can you hunt there? Is there a practical way to get in there? The parking area I saw on a map is not by any trail head and you have to hike just to reach a trail or the state forest land. Since it is name huckleberry ridge, Are there still huckleberry/blueberry bushes there to attract bears that I will need to watch out for?

Technu works well. Witch hazel should help with removing the urisol oils and may provide some relief. Jewelweed is the nature provided solution. Sometimes found nearby or with the poision ivy. Same family as impatients. Water on their leaves can look like a jewel or that part of the leaf may appear silvery. The flowers are orange in color. Split the stalk and rub its interior against the affected area. When I go out in the woods, i wear long pants and change as soon as get home, to play it safe. When I hunt, I wear either shorts or other appropriate pants for the weather and then my hunting pants over, and a long sleeve shirt. I remove the outer layers when get back vehicle. If I know that I have treked through poison ivy, I wash the outer layers of clothing in cold water and a little technu immediately and separate from the rest of the laundry to keep secondary exposure down. This includes the gloves if they came in contact with the poion ivy (dropped mine in the poison ivy patch last turkey season). Then I wash up from handling the affected clothes.

I have not camped and hunted as a combined trip yet. Want to try it some time, but wife doe not want be to be out alone for safety reasons. Son is busy building sets for fall stage productions as a member of the tech crew - if he makes manager, he will be out for most of the hunting season for deer due to rehearsals. The only area I know of to camp and hunt are the Catskills. I suspect the same is possible for the Adirondacks. Around me camping is not allow during big game season, or it is a area that does not allow hunting and prohibits any firearms/archery but you can camp all year. You definitely want good quality gear and take care of it so it does not let you down. Carry an extra flashlight, it really sucks when changing the batteries don't fix the issue because the bulb failed - and that was in a mag-lite led mini-light. No light, no way to change out the bulb in the dark. When getting a tent, you still need to seal the seams - even pre-sealed ones, even on the fly. You do not want leaky seams in the rain. A wet sleeping bag is a freezing cold bag. A solo tent is just that, one person with sleeping bag - no gear. If planning on storing gear (never any food) in the tent, then go for 2 person tent. A 2-3 person tent is too big to solo in cold weather - did that in the after a snow storm (as in 2 feet with some white-out conditions) and then had another 3-4 inches fall while camping. Did not sleep well, cold all night long in a 0 degree mummy bag with a fleece liner bag, winter coat on top of bag, and wearing a knit hat. Cold weather tip - bring a bag to put boots in and sleep on top of the boots to keep them from freezing. We had 3 people in a four-man tent on January trip. I slept on top of my boots. I had the only pair of boots that would open up and the laces worked. So I drew campfire duty to thaw out their boots. At least they cooked breakfast. To save some funds, check out end-of season sales, outlet stores of REI or Coleman, and yard sales. For car camping, I picked up a Coleman 3 burner stove from the '50's or 60's at a yard sale for $35. Only needed to clean it and get a new fuel cap for the tank to get it pressurized. My favorite place is Campmoor for camp supplies. Their only store is in NJ, but everything can be ordered online. Their staff does go camping, biking, kayaking, and climbing, so they know their gear. --Stephen

I recommend sticking with external frame packs - easy to tie other items on and distribution the weight better. I have backpacked with and internal frame pack and an external frame. Much easier carrying a load up/down terrain with the external frame - wished I bought that inside of the internal frame one. Have to re-pack sleeping bag just right to put back in the pack's sleeping-bag compartment with the internal frame. But it is nice having an extra layer to keep the bag dry in bad weather. If you are packing in and then hunting, camo does not matter. I have carried a dark blue pack and an orange pack - observed deer with both. The deer just walked slowly away when they saw me. I carry the following every camp out: two knives(one on me and the other in the pack) sharpening stone 3 methods for starting fire - matches, lighter, hot-spark kit cotton dryer lint (excellent fire tinder) fire starter sticks for damp weather use extra knit hat, gloves, and socks instant body warmer heat packs hatchet lip balm 10-15 ft twine 25 ft rope extra tent stakes TP (for intended use plus as knapkins, to dry off utensils, facial tissue) fleece vest for extra-layer if needed backpack poncho (Fits over you and the pack for rain cover) headlamp with extra batteries a small flashlight (AA maglite) as a backup for headlamp failure Loud whistle for signaling or scare off predators, like bears sleeping bag rated for the temperature range expected May want a pair of lightweight slip-on shoes if you need a nature-call late at night. I would recommend a water filter/purifer too. Unless you want to wait for the 5 min. boil, or like the taste of iodine flavored water. By the way, some bottle/canteen materials soak up the iodine taste permanently. Get a good ground-pad to insulate you from the cold ground. Suggest piling up lots of leaves/pine needles, put down a ground cloth, then pitch tent over that. Sleep warmer and more comfortable that way!