Two Track

I would be grilling dinner and watching whatever I wanted on TV. Eating some things that she prefers me to not eat (she says not healthy for me). I would hope she takes her parents with her, or I would be stuck grilling their dinners too after working all day. I can't cook steak for them, we have two very different opinions of what is considered "done". Would probably go for hike if the weather is good.

Hopefully just bruises, scrapes, and broken pride. If still really hurts to move it after a couple hours - get it checked. My bad knee was already feeling a bit loose as I was walking across the office, now it feels off just sitting here after reading your post. I may still have a quick pace walking in the office, mall, walking the dog, etc, but hit the woods, fields, or trails, I slow it down. I don't want to drag myself out later. I'm not really old ...yet - have teen-agers, but beat up the knees back in my high school days. Hope it gets better quickly.

Have have seen bears in 4 spots of public hunting lands in the early bear season zone in Orange county. Bad-part is the Palisades commission doesn't allow firearms until Nov. 1 in Sterling Forest, which is where 3 of those spots are. I have had 3 encounters and a sighting in the distance of single bears while out turkey hunting this Spring. I am seriously considering a bear hunt for the first time (just don't tell my wife).

lost one of my strikers for a pot call and made a new one-piece one from left-over cedar spindle from decking scraps. Sounded decent, but it snapped off in the fall season in my gear bag, only got to use it for a couple weeks total (end of last Spring and part of this fall). Guess should have it a little thicker. It wasn't pretty, just my first attempt at making one to see if I could. It was rough - hand-held jigsaw to rough-out the shape and carved it down with a pocket knife, then sanded smooth. Don't have a workshop or a workbench - limited facilities for constructing anything. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. No pics of it. if I make a new decent looking one, I'll post it. Love to make a wing bone call, but need to get a turkey first.

I may lay off the slate, that is what I called the bears and coyote in on and go back to glass and the box call. I did have some response on the glass, just nothing coming in (bears or turkeys). Thinking of changing to Stewart too, away from the bears - that will make the wife feel safer about my location. Also re-washed my gear, I did cook a lb of bacon with my gear still out on Sunday and whole house smelled like bacon. Will be trying out new tactical fingerless-gloves that arrived yesterday. The palms were coming apart again on my original pair of fleece-backed camo half-gloves (and getting tired of pulling seeds and burrs out of the fleece, and stitching up the leather palms again).

I know how you feel. Saw nothing on Sat. and my dad sends me a text that there 3 toms 20 yards from my grandmother's house (5 hours drive and two states away from me). If he had tags... Last year my wife sent pics of a flock at the pre-school she was working at during turkey season, and deer pics during deer season while she was baby-sitting. Of course the best is going out hunting all day, come home and find one sitting in your yard after shooting hours are over. Or last week, hearing gobbles, but not calling one in, then have one fly at you at 12:10 as you are leaving.

used Browning A-5, and no need to change barrels. Same modified choke barrel taken: ducks, rabbits, pheasants, squirrels, and deer. Hoping to add turkey to the list soon. Clean it after done hunting for the year, just wipe down with a little oil after exposure to rain/snow during the season.

Gettysburg is my favorite place to visit - Devil's Den and Little Round Top are my favorite locations on the battlefield. General/President Eisenhower's farm is one of the sites of the Confederate encampments - need to take a bus tour from the visitor's center to visit his house. In college, did a work project on the battlefield to clean up brush and trash around some of the older monuments that are not as common to visit. Gloves required for the multi-floral rose and green briars.(and a bit of poison ivy). If you really want to see it - hike the battlefield. There is an award for scouts visiting there. No map, you get a starting point map, a list of directions to follow by compass and yards to travel. bearings are off of monuments to have to locate. It was actually fun. You visit areas most people don't see from cars/buses, and you can really appreciate the distance that Pickett's troops had the cover in the open - you can't see the sunken road from either-sides lines. if you want to find items to keep, then you need to work with the farmers on the bordering properties of the National Park. FYI. Custer led a cavalry unit at Gettysburg and he has a monument there in an out-laying area to east the main National Park property.

That is a good book to use as a starting point. I have hiked pieces of the AT (day hikes) in NY and Virginia. Bear Mountain/Harriman State park has many trails through it including the AT. I have camped in three areas of Harriman on overnights with the Boy Scouts. Doodletown is one area - old house foundations, the village cemetery is there. Nice cold stream near the remnants of a garage/carriage house. No cell service in that area (discovered that when needed to call out for a medical issue - a kid broke his arm). Fingerboard shelter overlooks Lake Tiorati - steep hike up. Small spring 1-2 minutes uphill from the shelter. Some cell service there if needed. White Bar off of Route 106 (western edge of Harriman State Park). Bring some water with you and plan on filtering/boiling (or both) any water from streams or springs. We used an old coffee can (#8 can) to boil the water right on the camp fire - when done, simply crushed the can to pack it out. Not sure when you are planning on going, but right now we have fire ban - it is very dry and have seen ground fires between housing developments traveling up hill through the trees. So streams are low or dry now most-likely.

Grew up playing army or cowboys & Indians with a couple neighbors, made forts in sand box for the plastic troops. Had a couple brush forts with tree-based look-outs for full-scale play across the road. We had quick-draw gun-fights using holstered cap pistols. When in town played Pacman, Donkey Kong, Centipede, Q-bert, or Galaga at a pizza place or bowling alley. Had friend with an actual pinball machine down the road - his dad was a game vendor, so an older machine would come home for a month or two and get swapped out again. really nice having those blanks to use instead of quarters. would walk or ride bike 1/3 of mile or so to his house without any parents in tow, or in line of sight. Did have to make the call home, that I got there using an actual telephone that had to be plugged into the wall. Built models of planes and tanks from WW II. Built models for, and ran my HO train set (passenger and freight service). Catch lightning bugs in the summer and use them as a night-light (set them free in the morning) Rainy days or night time, hide-n-seek in the house, spent time reading books (yes actual paper books), watch TV, or play Atari, or watch those ancient things called VHS tapes. If went over to my girlfriend's, had to rent Beta-max tapes. Weekends at grandparents farm meant hide-n-seek around the barn, walking 1/2 mile to the field pond to fish, picking apples, peaches, and blackberries, and hunting (rabbits, deer, arrowheads, spear points, axe-heads, & grinding stones).

3.35/hr loading straw, watermelons, cantaloupes, and sugar babies during the summer for a farmer friend of the family - I was 13 at the time. Also a percentage of the honey profits for build/painting bee boxes and processing the honey.from my dad's bee hives that we rented out. It all went to my college fund. Had to wait 4-5 years to see money from the Christmas trees we planted from seedlings - for college money also.

John Wayne Robert Mitchum Clint Eastwood Jimmy Stewart Cary Grant Gregory Peck Katharine Hepburn Erroll Fylnn Sean Connery Michael Cane Harrison Ford Kurt Russell Denzel Washington Tom Hanks Tom Cruise Matt Damon Adam Sandler Sandra Bullock Kate Hudson

Sawyers, Deep Woods Off, and Deet do not keep those gnats, black flies, or no-see-ums away from me. Sometimes even the mosquitoes ignore the Deet and bite right through my gloves or head straight for my eyes. May have to break-down and try the Thermacell.

I'm not really into bow hunting, but in Orange County, it is not crowded during bow season. It is the gun season (especially the first week that it is crowded). Pochuck was very crowded on the first two days of gun season - 12-14 vehicles there. Stewart Bufferlands - not very crowded during bow season (except tough to get into spots near known turkey areas and stocked pheasants). Gun season for deer requires a reservation for first 3 days. For Sterling Forest hiking is free, hunting requires a $5 permit. Some areas are bow only for hunting. Tried Storm King Mountain 3-4 years ago - had a few hikers with dogs off leash (not one hiker with dogs, but multiple hikers with dogs) during deer gun season, never been back since then. Not sure for hunting, but you can also hike Huckleberry Ridge. If you just want to do a hike, there is Harriman State Park/Bear Mountain, lots of trails and the AT passes through it - no hunting there at all, but there are many areas with great views (in every season) if you just want to get away to hike nad back-country camp

Last week we had venison curry over rice. Good thing my dad had a successful season, or it would have been chicken or beef curry instead. The next weekend my son is home it will be my dad's venison steaks on the grill (weather permitting grill access). Its nice to have the first (and only) grandson in the house that happens to like venison to have a few lbs thrown my way. I get to benefit from my son's request to my dad for the "speed beef".

They should open Sterling Forest to the early bear season, that is where they are in Orange county. Have not seen any bears or bear sign in Stewart or Pochuck Mountain our other public hunting parcels. There is no bear hunting at West Point, have to be active military or a vet. They want the bear pop. reduced, allow us to hunt where they are. But then again, that would be logical.

My brother in law just moved to the Walden last spring. He really lucked out - was in Texas at a conference and flew directly to Florida for a weeks vacation on Friday afternoon. The other guys he was with there couldn't fly back home to NY. Normally North of I84 is bad as well as by me, it tends to funnel into the valley I am in. I got about 10 inches out of this storm,. The office in Westchester Co. got about double that. One of other staff members here finally made it in from Queens today. I usually hear its not bad, it didn't snow much, meanwhile I usually get double what comes at the office. Now I can tell them what big snow storm? It was only a typical Orange Co. snow fall.

Blackberries - eat as is, make preserves or blackberry mush (try it warm over vanilla ice cream). They also are a food source for deer and bear. Could also be black raspberries and some wine berries. Picking time starts around early July to August around here. Sounds like a nice parcel.

I know where there is a flock frequently in Sterling Forest, East Mombasha road in the Doris Duke wildlife sanctuary - no hunting area. Tried calling them over to a huntable area before, but to no avail. There are in other areas of Sterling that available for hunting too. Just make sure you have a hunting permit for there. Stewart, but it does get crowded early in the Spring season, and plan on hiking in or riding a bicycle. Pick up a book or two that Bill Schmidt wrote for some clues about locations in Orange County for turkey.

If the bees are staying but the equipment goes and you want to get the honey, I can give you tips on robbing the hives (can't physically help on that- bee sting allergy), and help you process honey if you get an extractor and a hot knife for it. I processed honey from 21 hives for 6 years when I was growing up. Plus built the bee boxes (hives, supers, and frames). It's not real difficult, just time consuming.

That is one of the reasons we never had a ladder stand in the woods for 24 hours. We might set it up in the afternoon, and leave it over-night. Once the morning hunt was done, and we determined to try another spot, the stands were brought down. We knew there were occasional trespassers, so we just avoided the risk of theft or destruction. A secondary issue was avoided this way, no overnight rain or ice on the seats the next morning. The downside is carrying a 70+ lbs stand in the dark and setting it up waiting for the sun to come up. But the ladder makes a nice ramp to load deer into the back of a pickup.

bad nuts... ( Indiana Jones with Sulla and dead monkey "bad dates..") or scared stiff of future father-in-law

My daughter's class did an actual field test carrying in a group, changing directions within the group, and managing obstacles (trees, ditches, bruch, fences) safely while carrying a firearm, and had an hour of range time while tests were being checked.

Keep checking. Some pop up in March and April to get new hunters ready for Spring Turkey season. I ended up taking my daughter to Sullivan county last Spring for her classes and there were a couple city and LI folks taking the class then too.

That is definitely the best pizza. We have standing orders in the family - if you make a trip into Brooklyn, buy a whole Sicilian pie or two to bring back and a container of Spumoni. fftank21There are foxes and coyotes in Sterling Forest (Orange county) for your predator hunting fix. Need to go to visitor center and buy a permit for the season ($5) and bring your hunting license for the paperwork.