ItalianHunter5

Now that this topic has been brought up, I've been wondering the same thing of why there are no dmp's in the majority of the northern zone. If it's because of population, at least make it a preference point system so there's some out there...but im no DEC. Also, I've been wondering since the first day I started hunting of why on earth 6N, where my father owns property, is buck only for muzzleloader when every single other unit is either sex (except 6A now for early muzzloader according to these new ridiculous changes). We hunt that property 3 or 4 weekends a year before we can jump down to our hometown southern zone and we saw way more does in the area than bucks, even though I was able to take a spike on Halloween.

Thanks Pygmy, I was very into the look of the side by side so I really set out to get one. I read really great reviews of the Ugartecheas especially when I saw that they make a ton of guns valued in the thousands, so I was impressed. My father is also an Ithaca fan, he's got the classic Model 37 and loves it!

So just a little update, on Monday I was set to go to the store to pick up the Franchi but I just felt like I needed to go take another look at the 12 gauge side by side, especially after reading great reviews about Ugartechea. Low and behold, yesterday I checked out the SxS...and I walked out with it. Called a couple of my friends, we went right upstate with some shells, some targets and some clays. I'll just say that after about 60 shots run through the gun, I have no regrets! Turns out to not only be a pretty gun but a great shooting gun, as I already nailed a few clays. In the beginning I set out looking for a side by side, and boy did I get a nice one. (Knock on wood) Thanks everybody for the input!

Espresso, that's exactly another reason I'm leaning towards going back and grabbing that Franchi. I've been using the same 20 Gauge Remington 870 for a few years so I figured hey why not treat myself to something!

Pygmy, surprisingly it doesn't have a polychoke and i'm not sure if it's modified or improved cylinder but will most definitely check when I go back. I was also stunned by the price of $350, almost to the point of scared to buy especially when you find out it comes with another barrel....interesting. The guy there said the only problem is a missing screw but that will be ordered and put on, obviously it has some dings and scratches on the stock but of course a small game gun will have that. Charlie, the Browning has a 26" and the Franchi has a 28" and both felt so nice but the Franchi seems to top it in my mind, I have a question though. You said you have owned both so you would know well, I have read reviews that the Franchi is a pain to unload, is it that much of a pain? Also I've read that some people have had ejecting issues that took a while to resolve, have you had an issues? Thank you guys for the input!

Today I began looking for a general small game gun (pheasant, grouse, rabbit) and at the 4 local stores I found 3 that interested me that I don't know much about so hopefully someone can give some useful information. I found a Belgian Browning 16 GA A-5 in good condition for $350, an Ugartechea from Spain 12 GA side by side in excellent condition for $599 and then a Franchi 48AL 20 GA in very good condition for $500. Honestly, my favorite and the one I'm leaning towards is the Franchi for the way it felt and how light it would be walking around the field. Anyone know anything about these guns??

I wrote that in my first statement because I know exactly what the average hunter is going to look for first, and that's orange. Then I explained to you that I didn't mean it was the man that got shot's fault because of no orange and that it was the irresponsible shooter's fault for not knowing his surroundings. Regardless that the deer was being rolled around on a cart.

So by people first blaming a hunter getting shot for no orange means that it's hard to wear an orange hat? Re read what I asked.

Look what i'm saying is the fact that orange is extremely important. Saturday morning I had a doe walk in front of me and as it was 30-40 yards in front of me a shot rang off and I watched the deer sprint off. Considering it was not one of us in the group, I got down a couple hours later to see who was there. I encountered a man in a tree stand wearing not a lick of blaze orange and said he saw me get in the stand at 9, when in fact that's when I got down to take a leak and walked back up right after. I was in the stand at 6:15. He had no idea I was there and I had no idea he was there and that's how accidents happen. Why is it so hard to throw on an orange hat?

No bubba I wasn't saying it was his fault for not wearing orange because if the shooter had crosshairs on a deer and didn't notice it was strapped to a cart behind held by a person, it's obviously his fault. Irresponsible hunter is what that is.

http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/story/news/local/2014/11/15/hunting-accident-deer-stormville/19095637/ Sorry if this was posted already and I didn't see it, I found it especially interesting because I planned on hunting here during the week...Somebody was in the wrong here, maybe the hunter wasn't wearing orange? Who knows...

At what burmjohn said about not knowing a hunter against AR's in 3H, I do. I can name 8 right off the top of my head.

jjb has a great point that I agree, the people who currently own or hunt land in Ulster, Sullivan, Delaware etc. are suffering from the antler restrictions meanwhile I can freely shoot a spike in the 3 other counties I hunt in. None of this makes sense to me and I also know of people that would immediately stop hunting New York and buy non-resident tags for another state as long as they found a spot, if it became statewide. Besides the fact that I don't know about you guys but out of the 3 bucks I've killed, I've had a perfect look at the head on only one of them and knew that it was a spike. On my other 2 all I saw was an antler and as long as I still have my tag, I'm taking a shot. In the places i'm hunting it's borderline impossible to have the time to count out how many points are on a side when they are in front of you mixed in brush for a minute tops...

We're using our money for a buck tag so obviously we should be able to shoot whatever makes us happy. It could be a spike for a hunter like myself, or wait all season for a "shooter" that may never come by. Voluntary is the answer.

Rotorooter, I guess we're lucky that we can't see a piece of venison red and that it has to be cooked completely through.

Thanks for the congrats guys, we put in a lot of work this offseason and it felt great to put something down up there! I disagree with what some say because my family has been washing out the deer for 50 something years to rid of the blood and debris from the drag like JustRob said. Now, I just hope that my pops knows something that I don't about the water in the pond up there and that any possible bacteria will just be cooked away. I sure hope so at least because we got quite a bit of meat out of that deer.

I shot a spike on Halloween up in the Northern Zone and call me paranoid but all I can think about is what we did and if the meat is still good. We gutted it nice and easy, put it in the Ranger and headed back to the house, lifted it up with the tractor bucket. Now it came time for when we wash it out with water but this time because it was the first time we took a deer up there, Pops told me to use the pond water to wash it out. I asked him if it's good, he said yes and so on and now all I think is bacteria. It's a spring fed pond and it was freezing cold but it still makes me wonder...

Had my opening day last Friday for a day with the muzzleloader up in Lewis County. Saw 2 does in the morning and I nor anyone else in the group saw anything for the rest of the weekend. Saturday was no good and it started to pour in the afternoon, Sunday morning we woke up and it was pouring so there goes that and it was time to come home. But, at least I started off my season by seeing a couple deer, just wish there were doe tags in that unit. The activity has been decent on the cams recently, got the first buck to pop out, a nice 8 pointer. Also some bear activity. How's the season and activity thus far by you?

So I've done a ton of research into this trying to figure out why there's no opportunity at all. As I was reading the 2012-16 Deer Management Plan I saw that they want to open all Northern Zone for DMPs so there would be an opportunity to actually get one because we early season hunt in 6N. As I began to get pumped up for the future, I read that it is in the state legislature's hands to change the law and hand over responsibility to the DEC. So as I was very curious, I called the wildlife office in Region 6 and he told me the same thing. He said not to hold my breath but they are currently working to change the law to be able to issue DMPs and they are hopeful that it can happen to begin the 2016 season. Why such a decision is in the hands of our wonderful (sarcasm) Governor Cuomo is beyond me but hopefully a deal can be worked out. I have 2 cameras on their main runs on the property and there is about the same 9 or 10 does and fawns and even a bear, but no bucks yet. That should probably change soon once it cools down, but what I really want to know is if this is ever going to happen. Open up doe permits in the Northern Zone!

My brother texted me a link to a youtube video that if true which I believe it is, is disturbing. The story comes out of Delaware County and it's a man that registered his assault rifle. Ok that sounds fine but then police showed up at his door and asked to see the gun, turns out they didn't show up just for that. The police took that AR along with all his other LEGALLY owned guns that he passed background checks for, because he had a misdemeanor on his record from 15-20 years ago. They said that he could be a threat to society, therefore taking all his firearms. If true, this story is absolutely ridiculous and it shows how bad this situation is really getting. Could this be the start of something serious?, is the real question.

I'm going to check out that website, thanks loworange and also I just read the same thing somewhere that the holes can be plugged and smoothed out to make it nice again. Then hopefully be drilled properly so the gun can be put into use again.

Ok so I have an update because I became impatient and generally annoyed with it so I called Remington and listened to their horrible hold music for half an hour. I bought the Sporting Clays edition of the 11-87 that was converted to a slug gun with a rifled cantilever barrel with a scope on already. It turns out that the wood I fell in love with was the original stock and forearm of the Sporting Clays which is not meant to fit the size of the rifled barrel. The man at Remington said that it fits too tight which is why the forearm continues to crack. There was a small crack in the forearm on the outside that I told them to repair which is why I became skeptical when it cracked once again in a different spot after only 9 shots. So now I have to order the forearm and stock combo from Remington that will actually fit the size of the rifled barrel and not crack as this one has been doing. But I guess for another $115 to get this problem solved, and many years of hunting to come, it's worth it! I hope

Haha Pygmy it sure was one heck of a terrible drill job and I'm definitely going to look into it. It was my father's first rifle and even though he has plenty other deer rifles to use now, it would bring back good memories for him to go out with his first one. And have a scope on it that isn't cockeyed!

That's far for me but I appreciate it boo711. ny hunter, you know what's interesting, there was a wood set of stock and forearm that the store I bought it from couldn't sell separately so he threw it in with the gun in the deal. Turns out the forearm is actually too long for this model of 11-87. It's longer than the forearm on the gun now by over an inch which completely throws everything off and then I looked on ebay for a forearm like this and can't find it. The crack doesn't seem to be in a horribly dangerous spot but for as of right now I definitely want to have it glued and see if it holds like that.

I just purchased a Remington 11-87 12 gauge today that I plan on using for deer hunting, it has everything I was looking for. I shot 9 shots through it today and when I just so happened to take the forearm off when I got home today, I noticed this small crack in the wood. It obviously can't go any further considering that is the length of the wood but should I be worried that it could do more harm or affect the gun? Also, my father has an Enfield sport 30-06 with Mauser action and all, and he hasn't used it since the 80's because of messed up drill holes for the scope. He said the scope is all messed up when there is one on there, so as a surprise to him I wanted to see if there is a way to fix the drill holes because they are noticeably off line. Anyone know if it's possible?