Two Track

We'll see after my daughter goes out with me for the first-time - if she decides its not for her then that saves my wallet. Otherwise will need to gear her up for some cold and damp weather, and vest designed for a more feminine figure. Her goal is pheasants- she already helps to plunk them and loves to eat them.

Just remember to apply for your hunting permit early if you plan to hunt deer opening weekend there. No guns until after Nov. 1 in Sterling. When you get your Sterling Forest permit, they provide a map of the allowed hunting areas and restricted areas (either no-hunting, or archery-only areas). I recommend purchasing a trail map - it provides more info on the terrain (elevations, streams, swamps, etc) and shows the trails, roads, and parking areas (including the seasonal parking areas as in deer season and Spring Turkey). Every year, there are a few bears taken during Deer gun season, saw one opening morning not far from where I had spotted a 6-pointer while pre-scouting last year. Since the bear went through - no deer came through that spot Depending on where you go there, you may see hikers and dogs off-leash, so be aware. Same day I saw the bear and I was heading out for lunch, I had to pause a watch the trail as something tall and black-looking was upright by a tree - turned out to be a hiker in a navy blue coat and black knit hat. A week later saw someone let yellow labs off-leash during deer season (never-mind the 6-ft leash required at all times law that is posted). We may cross paths there some time. Good luck.

Some of you seem to have forgotten that this is a 1 buck state for Rifle/Shotgun hunting. If you purchase a Bow or Muzzle-loader tag, you get an either sex tag for that hunting with that implement, not another buck tag. If gives you a choice of which to use it on - handy if hunting with a bow in an area that has few/no doe tags and all you see is does. Not every hunter has bow and a muzzle-loader as well as a shotgun/rifle. Please remember what the tag really is. When I first started hunting, we had two deer max for the year (all seasons and implements combined, and at least one had to be a doe). there was no sign-over of doe tags or the like. One of the seasons was an anterless-only. Be thankful for we have here.

I see deer every season, problem is 3/4 of the time it is while driving home after hunting all day or they go in the one direction that is is not safe to shoot. Sometimes everything aligns so you can make the shot, It is a mix of luck and skill, especially if on public land. Some places deer go to the some area everyday around the same time, others have a varied pattern over couple days or so. If you can visit the same area a lot or have trail cams to assist in this, you can pattern the deer to make it easier to hunt. I you have a long commute and some weekend obligations, it does it make it more difficult. So at least learn identify tracks and identify game trails - it will help put you in a good place. Just have to figure what time they use the area. Good luck out there.

The high deer take area in 3M is Warwick - almost all of it is private land. Lots of farms there and all small villages in the area - not much for high capacity roads there. St. Anthony's hospital is nearby. Frequently see geese in the fields in the area, not far from Davis' Sport shop/range. There are dairy farms and a few places with horses, so if get a place and hunt near them, make sure you have a good backstop and watch for any strays that got loose. See deer and geese around Washingtonville (some of them in town) when heading to/from Stewart Buffer lands. Areas around Stewart airport are shotgun-only (you got planes flying and some large fairly flat areas there). We have some smart wildlife in my area, deer and turkeys hanging out at a Catholic church/school and a synagogue, and sometimes they head over to the real green stuff, a golf course.

The score that really counts is the lbs put into the freezer. Having a couple antler points or more on it is nice. There are many people who don't get why there are environmental studies before a bridge gets replaced, or a new development gets built - they only see it as a waste of money and time. Then there are those who ignore the laws and build any way and say no big deal. Of course they may complain that their property is too wet and ducks are all-over the back yard every Spring. Well, dummy, you built in the wrong place because there was no environmental study done and you evaded the law regarding wetlands and property drainage.

If you are shooting at 140 yards or less, you can even go for a rifled shotgun. I know someone that shot at deer at 120 yards and it also dropped the deer he couldn't see that was a few yards behind it using a H&R 20 gauge magnum. The best round to use is the legal one you are most comfortable shooting and lugging around (possibly all day). Whether it is something like a .300, .30-06, 7.62, .24, or something else, it is the shot placement that makes it. Knock-down power is just the icing on the cake.

My family has done well with Ford pickups, both the F150's and the now discontinued Rangers. Dodges seemed Ok. Don't have any of the more recent models with ECO-Boost in the family yet. We always had issues with any Chevy/GMC products (pick or car) that we bought, so we have stayed way from them for the past couple of decades. That being said, a friend of ours still has the same GMC pickup for 30 years - of course there is a steel plate in the bed to cover a hole that watermelons could fall through. My understating of the Nissan trucks is they are horrible on gas mileage, but are sturdy. Toyota 4X4 TRD models are supposed to be very good off-road, giving Jeeps a real run for the money. The Toyota trucks are built in US. So they are American made, just not an by American owned company.

Core, Sort of get the idea.My wife was a Brooklyn girl, me from a small hick town out-state. I got her to the suburbs and even interested in camping. It took a few years to convince her that an empty gun, locked and in case was not going to hurt anyone. So I missed out a few years of hunting (plus the fact I moved to NY, and had to find places to hunt). Enjoying nature although you didn't see your intend game, is great day out there. I have had owls and hawks hang out in trees over me, squirrels climb the same tree I was sitting in, red foxes come with 30 yards or less while I was sitting still on the ground. In the Spring during turkey season, watch small birds chase and court each other and have a young weasel pop-up 3 feet away and crawl almost under my feet. It is tough when you have kids in sports, scouts, plays, and they participate in game tournaments. They get older and have to put in service hours to graduate. Sometimes when there are no conflicts, you can share the time outdoors with them. There are days that I can only hunt a half-day (weekend play, SAT tests, etc). I have the youngest ready to purchase first hunting license to go hunting this year. I am about to move my first one off to college, so there will be additional time spent to go visit, bring the next season of clothes, holiday breaks, etc. You just have to take what time you can and enjoy it. My wife says I am more relaxed and happier after coming back from hunting (even if empty handed and could hunt only half the day). By the way squirrels and chipmunks are extremely loud in the leaves. Sometimes you think you hear deer coming and it is the squirrels. Later you may dismiss the sounds as the squirrels again, and it is a deer, or deer just sneak up quietly making almost no sound. After working inside for years on computers and then go outside to hunt, you may notice the your field of vision you focus on seems small compared to the view in front of you. After awhile, your vision will seem to cover a wider area and then going back to work, you re-adjust looking at a monitor and narrower view. If your existing gun has the option of changing barrels, see if you can get a rifled shotgun barrel for it. Using Sabot rounds, it puts you in the 75-150 yard ranges for deer hunting. Should cost less than buying another gun.

40 minutes to an hour isn't bad to go hunt public land. Most of where I hunt is 30-40 minutes to the public parcels that allow hunting. Sometimes I may spend another 40 minutes finding an open parking spot, then hike in from there. There are people who drive 1.5 hours to hunt the same public land I do. It would be nice to just walk out the back door or have a 10 minute drive to hunt some place, but it is not the norm for most people these days. You never know when deer may appear. Two years ago I parked in a spot, put on my gear. and took my gun out of the case. Walked maybe 15 yards from the car and a deer jumped up and ran over the hill. I hadn't even loaded my gun yet. Remember - any day out hunting is better than a day at the office. Getting out there for fresh air, and a little exercise is good for you.

Welcome to the forum. I get to try something new this year, my daughter going out hunting with me for the first time. She only has one game in her mind - pheasant. So new partner/new hunter for me to teach. If you re planning any all day hunts, remember to pack TP for her and plan on providing privacy when she needs it. Here is a helpful tip if on private land, take a 5-gallon bucket, cut out the bottom and you have a "toilet" for the woods. Take a camera out with you for the first's - first hunt, first animal/bird harvested, etc. Regretfully we did not think about it when I was growing up and there are no pics of my first rabbit, or deer. Good luck out there and be safe.

where I grew up salt-licks are allowed if put out at least 30 days before season starts. You couldn't hunt over them though. Before the farm was sold off, we put one out near the natural spring in Sept. and hunted 200 yards away off one of trails in late Oct. In between bedding, water, and salt-lick 60-70 yards from an apple orchard. Sometimes we got deer, some times saw none (or none in range). Salt-licks are no guarantee, just may increase the odds - but each state has its own rules. So my dad can use salt-licks, but no hunting on Sunday (that is his state's rules). At least we do get Sundays to hunt.

congrats on the new job... grand-child spoiling.

Couple years ago took out my grandfather's scoped deer rifle to do a hunt in the snow. Saw nothing but snow and few tracks. Slung the rifle over my shoulder and headed back. Slipped on large embedded rock that was snow covered and fell backwards. Yes the scoped gun ended up between me and the rock. As luck would have it, just a couple scrapes on the barrel and stock and snow stuffed all around the scope. 20 years ago was tree-stand hunting deer. Nice size buck pops up, took two shots, It disappears down a slope, looked like I mis-judged the distance and missed. 20 minutes later a smaller buck pops up from under the brush 15 yards away. Take a shot, saw it was hit watched it as it tracked similar path the other deer took but turned a bit more east and saw it drop. That is when I tried to unload and it was jammed with another slug in the chamber. Luckily we had FRS radios with us, so I called that the deer was down but I have a loaded jammed gun while still in the stand and need help. My uncle was in the next stand over, so handed the gun down and he used his leatherman to get it open to empty it. Almost had to walk it across a dual-highway, as the reloader mechanism broke and was difficult to get it open. It was in the shop for two years - hard to get parts for a 16 gauge semi-auto.

We have an early bear (Sept) season by me. Here is the problem, the state land I see the bears on is closed for hunting until late Oct (bow only) and no guns until after Nov. 1. They let the Palisades Park Commission set the regs for Sterling Forest. The other two state land properties in the county have no bear activity on them, but hunting is open on them. Do they want the Bear population reduced or not?

If It is $60K in Orange county, it will not be big enough to hunt on unless it backs up to a state forest. There are a couple more developments in the works in Orange, so land is disappearing to developers. The only area I would suggest is land surrounding Huckleberry around Port Jervis area. Otherwise buy a piece by a rural farm and get a deal to hunt on the farmer's land.

Maybe it was a goat because she wanted kids.

There is usually less rain pooling on a dome tent than on the "cabin" or walled-tent. Domed and A-frames have done well when camping in the snow too. Have to use our big dome tent with the wife, she likes airbeds. So our 8-9 person tent sleeps 5 - a queen and a full size air bed, plus one cot. Room for gear, and a small table for a lamp to read by. Let us know how the Bushnell tent does. I have a backpacking tent that is ~ 20 years old. Not sure how much longer it will last.

Unluckily, like Elmo, I am in a high pressure public land area and it makes it more difficult to hunt. Sometimes it is so crowded, you get shut out to hunt, Only 78 spots and some of those you will never see deer there. The other large property you get interrupted by hikers coming through, sometimes with their dog(s). Not like any of them will wear a black hat and jacket and lean against a tree to take a break when you saw a bear in the area an hour earlier. Deer hunting is a challenge and a long drag is frequently unavoidable on public land around here. A good day out deer hunting, with no cuts,scrapes, brusies, and nothing lost helps to recharge the soul and commune with nature. Get to relax, exercise in the fresh air, and observe nature. It improves one's metal health by de-stressing you. Not to say I don't have few choice words for any ticks that may get through and have to be removed afterwards.

Well this sucks unless they change the rules for Sterling Forest. No firearms until Nov. 1 means no turkey hunting in the largest piece of public land in the county. They have it end on a Friday, further reduction to the normal working person's time to hunt. Stewart will be a nightmare to get into to turkey hunt. Have to compete for parking with the deer bow hunters, small game (rabbit/pheasant/squirrel) hunters, and the other turkey hunters for 78 spots. It will be interesting to see if this reduces the number of persons Fall turkey hunting in 3M and 3P (3P will be closed unless bow hunting).

Canvas tents in summer, way too hot. But they were nice winter/colder weather camping, keeps in more heat, but the canvas does freeze in the extremes. I have been in a variety of tents over the years, floor-less hunter canvas tents, canvas pup-tents, platform canvas tents, backpacking tents, and various family tents (wall tents and domed). I am not that old, but first time tent camping I was 4 years old, and in scouts we camped in a few different tents. The easiest tents i have dealt with are the A-frames and domes. I can set up our 8-person family dome tent that has 2 dividers up by myself, and some assistance getting the fly situated properly. I have had or camped in Hillary, Coleman, and Eureka! tents for the most part.

Not bad, but I was expecting something different. Gigging is something we did for frogs.

My peppers never got blooms, neither the bell nor the jalapeno's. Suspect too much rain early on. They and the tomato's have been drowning off an on. They got drowned again on Monday, perhaps they will start recovering again. This year had a great crop of black raspberries compared to the last couple years. First time we had enough to make some jam ourselves. Now I have to expand my plants out to make more next year. Thinking time to make a few boxed beds to control their spread (and make a natural barrier fence in the process).

These days rabbits are just if the opportunity is there. The coyotes and foxes seem have reduced their numbers around me. Only see one two after dark. in a month's time during season. Growing up (not in NY) small game we hunted was rabbit, dove, and quail. Since moving here and not really see rabbits while out hunting in first two seasons here, I look for squirrel and pheasant.

To me it looks like a re-brandeded tent or a copy of a Coleman Sundome or Eureaka! (forget which model, as I haven't needed to tent shop in a while). The design looks good for wind/rain. I never ever trust the seams to be sealed and do it myself, both the fly and tent seams. If get one of the major brands, usually you can order replacement parts for damaged poles (pole section, joint, and/or shock cord). If the tent just needs some repair, Campmor in NJ does tent repairs(re-sewing seams, replace torn-out stake loops, and screen windows). Tall tents are nice to fully stand in to change, move around to get everything laid out inside, but winds reek havoc on them. The tents i have camped in that weather the storms well, were all either A-frames or domes. We are talking tropical storms and winter snows, not the average spring/summer afternoon rains.