steve863

This isn't stopping many landowners. There are easy legal ways to avoid a lot of liability, especially when it involves an activity which has risks involved to begin with. If landowners were really worried about getting sued, then they would surely NEVER allow anyone on their land. You can be sued for anything. Doesn't mean you will be liable in all cases, but you CAN get sued whether there is a cash exchange or not.

This is a bit of an exaggeration in my opinion. Lots of other things come into play when people interact. Yes, being polite and respectful will never hurt, but you have someone come into a job interview who is all "Yes sir" and "Thank you, Mam" with mediocre skills, experience and school grades, he will most likely NOT get the job over someone who is just so-so in the politeness category, yet has great skills, experience and school grades. The person who is totally obnoxious may not stand a chance either, but having impeccable manners won't get you far if there is little else backing you up. Not having perfect manners doesn't automatically make someone rude, lazy or entitled either. Lots of obnoxious folks have become quite successful in this world. And this goes back decades and centuries, not something that has only happened in the last 20 years. Also tell me that a sexy looking girl won't have an advantage over one that has these impeccable manners, yet looks like Rosie O'Donell? It will be NO contest.

I would most definitely agree that others have screwed it up for many of us in trying to get permission to hunt. Maybe it's possible to find that kind landowner/farmer that would let a total stranger on their land, but they also probably have friends and family that might be hunting their land. He can't let everyone hunt, or if he is the type that don't care how many hunt, then the people hunting it will probably be stepping on each others toes sooner or later. I hunted a place like that years ago, and there were times the place was a total circus. Lots of issues and factors to consider or might come into play. I still think it's the exception and not the rule to find private spots being a total stranger to the landowner. And the search for hunters might be a very LONG one if he does ever find one.

That's why I said that cash won't even work in many cases. Most people who have to drive a good distance from suburban or urban areas to get to their hunting spot have almost ZERO chances of finding land with or without cash. Heck cash won't work so why would a landowner give access to a total stranger just because he might be dressed nice and is personable? Doesn't happen very often in the real world. A guy would have to spend an entire summer going door to door with little or no luck. One HUGE reason why many hunters are giving it up. Just not worth the effort, nor do people have the kind of time needed to devote to such a search that will end up in failure 97%+ of the time.

Funny how these type of articles forgot to mention the tip that is probably most important these days. That would be to offer some cold hard CASH. And that won't even get you access in many cases either. More and more landowners are leasing out land and then we should think that we can win them over by being dressed nice, having fresh smelling breath or bringing our cute little kids along? I guess it's possible, but good luck in finding a landowner who will be so easily suckered when his neighbor next door is getting some nice money for the use of his land! Possible but NOT likely.

I think Rinella would put $#!+ in his mouth. This video pretty much proves it.

Yes, all it would take is an hour or two to get it skinned, quartered and iced in a cooler. Not much time at all. Of course this would take away time from hunting that big buck, which is what worries them most of all.

Yeah, then they will complain that they are missing out on the rut! LOL Again, it's all about killing a buck.

I don't get it? For years bowhunters wanted the season to open on Oct 1, and now some are saying that they don't want to kill a doe because it may spoil in the warm early October weather?? So the point is that you guys only really care to kill a buck? And you don't care if it's meat spoils or not. If this is the case, how are those wrong that think bowhunters aren't getting the job done on does? I realize that bowhunter will never kill many deer, period, but you guys are practically admitting that all you really care about killing are bucks.. Have at it guys!

I WILL be quiet for a change because I couldn't say anything better than what you two already have. There are hunters out there. They are a dime a dozen. Then there's Wooly who is in a class by himself!

Wow, two great posts back to back! Quite refreshing in comparison to the usual dynamic duo VJP and Papist.

I picked a Mosin-Nagant up for about $25 a few years back. Best deal I ever got on anything. Would have no issues hunting with it. More than accurate enough out to 100 yards with open sights. That's as far as I'd ever shoot without a scope anyway. Nice having a long gun like that where you could be 20 feet away and finish the deer off with the bayonet if it's still kicking. LOL. No flies on the rifle OR cartridge in my opinion.

I didn't say hunting was going anywhere anytime soon. There are more deer and fewer hunters, so it will be a challenge to keep deer numbers down. They may have to beg people to hunt with the way things are going. Everyone can't hunt on state land and private landowners either won't allow hunting or will charge you thru the nose for the privilege to hunt their land, so how will these deer get taken out? Many hunters are already giving it up because of lack of finding private land to hunt. Things might probably get worse with deer population numbers if there is NO one who wants to cough up big money to hunt them, so the need for hunting definitely isn't going anywhere anytime soon! Whether there will be hunters willing to hunt them, that's a different story. Just look at all the bowhunter who now want to take their bows and go home because of this rule change? Don't take much to get people to give it up.

I like the mohawk haircut on your boy. If you are ever in a pinch for a broom you can just turn him over and sweep away! LOL

While yes, I agree with what you say on the revenue front. Money surely talks as we all know, but I will disagree with what you say about nature balancing itself out. There are MORE deer these days in the suburban areas than there are in the rural areas. Hunters for various reason can't get the job done in these areas, so how will nature itself? Would having more predators in these areas do the trick and would that be a good thing for the human population in these areas? Nature itself would not be as easy a fix as you claim, thus hunters are needed. Yeah, the states love the revenue from hunting, but believe me, with all the anti-hunting sentiment in todays world, hunting would have already been banned if there wasn't a real need for it. They'd get their revenue in other ways, like taxing your paycheck and your property some more. They'd have NO problem thinking of ways to steal more money from you to make up the difference.

I think people here are completely forgetting why we are allowed to hunt at all. The ONLY reason we are allowed is to control the animal populations. Yeah, the game departments might cater to us hunters and let us get our kicks and continue our tradition just so they don't lose us to do the job they need us to do. They might give us special seasons, longer seasons, allow us to use different weapons, methods, etc., but the name of the game is population control. If there weren't enough animals out there to shoot, NONE of us, bowhunters, gun hunters, slingshot hunters, etc. would be allowed to hunt at all. I think people need to keep this in mind before they think their beloved bow season or any other season is being picked on. We are just a tool for the game departments, and if they didn't need us anymore none of us would be hunting, period. All the bitching in the world wouldn't change things either. So we should all consider ourselves lucky that there are animals out there to hunt and that we still can hunt eventhough things might be a little different than they used to be.

I know where that is. Honestly $40K for 10 lousy acres seems like a crime. Will your Dad be hunting there by himself if you aren't with him? Something to think about as he gets older, and as you just got married and once you have kids it won't be as easy to accompany him.

$50K for that dinky cabin and only 4 acres, plus another 2 hours drive time? No way! I've seen bigger sheds on display at Home Depot.

Taxes aren't exactly low in Delaware county either. Probably not as high as Putnam/Dutchess, but you will be paying more than you should for the barren land. I hear you on the AR's and in not being interested in shooting does, but for $60K without a place to spend the night, along with the yearly taxes, you guys would do way better continuing to go on those outfitted hunts. You can go on a good many trips for years to come for that kind of money. I guess it will ultimately be your Dad's decision, but knowing that it took me 3+ hours to get to my spot in Delaware county, I surely would never consider owning land even 2 hours away if I didn't have a place to spend the night on it. Driving back and forth after each hunt becomes a pain in the ass mighty fast, that I can assure you.

I don't see an attack on horn hunters at all here. Only point some of us are making is that horns are not what motivates us to hunt. You guys have a hard time believing it for some bizarre reason. People like Four Seasons tries to bring this horn factor up in thread after thread. To him horns are obviously everything along with a source of income and he can't fathom anyone else thinking differently. What else can we tell you guys? Should we tell you that you guys are right and that we are wrong and stupid just to make you feel good??

First off, you are correct this isn't a good idea, especially for someone his age. For $60K, you'll get a small piece of land but probably won't have a cabin on it, thus you have to drive back and forth the 2 hours or try to find a motel, which might be a good distance away. I hunted in Delaware county, around the Hobart area which is not too far from Margaretsville, Arkville from 1991-2013. The area is surely NOT overrun with deer, but I had good success over the years. You definitely have to put your time in, however, to be successful. In recent years with antler restrictions in the area along with very few doe permits issued, the area has lost a good bit of its charm for me. Even if I was given some land in the area, I'd probably sell it and look elsewhere where there are no AR's and more doe permits issued. My .02.

Yeah, you would have thunk? I'm glad someone else brought this up. I guess to spite the DEC they will be doing exactly what they were pissed off at many of us for doing, which is not letting the 1.5 year olds walk.

Is your camp a new structure?

I get excited over many things I see in nature. A nice long hike thru the woods is enough to make me happy. Those who only get excited over a big buck miss out on a hell of a lot of other things. Again, you guys have been programed by TV shows and advertising to get excited over one thing, so have at it.

Yes, I would agree with you that many "modern hunters" are most interested in big racks. And the main reason for that are those TV shows that you also mention. "Modern hunters" have been brainwashed by these programs, magazines and various other outlets to think that big horns is what it's all about. I feel sorry for all of you. Like Barnum said, there is a sucker born every minute, and that's exactly what has happened here. Just as society has been brainwashed into thinking that they have to have the latest iphone, ipad, the latest this or that, YOU guys have been brainwashed into thinking that hunting is ALL about racks. Like I said, I feel sorry for you all. I and some others on the other hand aren't as easily suckered as you guys. We hunt for the various other benefits, and big racks is definitely NOT what it's all about for us.