agross

When i got serious into hunting with a recurve i read somewhere that you first need to concentrate on technique and consistency of draw, anchor and release...before i even went to the range i was practicing drawing, anchoring, and releasing into a target 5 yards away no caring where the arrow went...sometimes with my eyes closed just to get that muscle memory...with me its all about concentration and thinking about what i am doing...if im in a bad mood or have something on my mind my days at the range suck...also try changing your draw hand from split to 3 under (if that is the case) going to 3 under really helped me get much better accuracy.

I like Charlie and his articles (geared towards New York b/c of his farm here), big follower of his but regardless cannot get past experiences out of my head...that being said i am always up a tree from November 8 through November 11. Thats when i see evereything and have had my best luck. May be only b/c those are the primary days i hunt also.

just got the new deer and deerhunting mag. there is a great article in there regarding north and south rut dates. for the north he has best days to be in the woods nov 5 to nov 10 th i believe.

I was upstate in Chenango County 7P this weekend with the family near Coventry and as i was on the way home from the lake i saw a tom in full sturt and fan with 3 hens. It was so obvious at 150 yards off the road that my wife even spotted it. Is it just a messed up year of is this normal. Never ever saw them strut this late. I have heard them gobbling on November in Pennsylvania while deer hunting but never saw them strut.

I did a google search and cam up with a few ways ... The metheod i chose was to take the seeds out of an apple...let them dry on a paper towel just to the point that they are no longer wet (why this step i dont know)...then i put them in a tupper ware container with 1 piece of papertowel on the bottom and then the seeds and then another single layers of papers towel...the lid to my tupperware didnt fit exactly so it wasnt air tight...sheck them every 2nd day or so to make sure that the papertowel stayed damp...if looking dry it put a few drops of water on until paper towel wet again....20 days or so later the seeds that were good had a white root looking thing sticking out of them...i then put them into an old cardboard eggcrate on the window sill and added water and they grew.. The egg crate idea is not the best because as fast as they grew up the roots were growing down and when i went to transplant them 10 days later the roots were already starting to grow into the egg crate. I trying round 2 with a couple pear seeds and some mcintosh and empire apples. If it all works out fine...not looking for an apple orchid just seeing if i can get at least one to a big enough tree to produce apples...plus my 3 year old loves to look at the baby apple trees and help water them. I laugh at myself sometimes with the QDM and things i do for deer hunting etc...I am babying these trees like they were kids or chickens or something...put them in the sun, (now outside in gallon black plastic pots from Home Depot) make sure watered, worry they are not getting too much sun while they are so small that they dry out We shall see how it goes. I should post some pics of how they look now and give updates

Thanks, I have them potted in back yard now...just an experiment for the cost of 2 apples...the trees / seedlings at about 4 inches tall now...have to get some size on them before moving them to the woods.

Last fall it looked like the third picture, not too much clover mostly the wheat and rye but the deer were on it every day through november gun season when i took my trail cam down. No actually i never got around to doing a soil test, that is coming this summer next time i get up. Wheni started the plot in June with the buckwheat i just put down about 200 - 250 lbs of pelletized lime and disced it in. THen when i disced the buckwheat in (August 2011) i added more lime and a starter ferilizer my ag store recommeneded based on the blend of seed i had. Then again in March of 2012 i overseeded / frostseeded with clover (at this time the clover from last year was just getting started going). May 2 this year i added more lime (250 lbs) and fertilized per my ag store recommended blend based on a clover specific plot and the plot took off. The last green pic is from May 18 or 19 cant wait to get back up and see how she is doing...I also weed whacked the entire plot (about 1/4 acre) so just the clover remained. Also started a second plot (.2 acre) for my brother about 140 yds away. Was limed a few times last sumer couple hundred pounds but then this MAy i disced it in real good and added some left over winter rye in early May. When i returned on May 18 the rye was about 6 inches tall very sporadic so i added 200 pounds or so of lime and fertilized then disced it all in real good and seeded with Tecomate Monster Mix (a clover chicory blend) we shall see. Dont know about you guys but after i plant im glued to the weather channel checking each day for the first few weeks after planting praying for rain. This year we had a good soaker the day after i planted, some small rain showers during the first week and then another good soaker 10 days later so my seond plot should beoff and running.

Well i saw on another site somewhere that you could grow apple trees from seed. So me and my kids decided to give it a try. Well i went through the steps and now have 9 seedlings growing and they are about 3 inches tall. My question is about planting them in the woods. I have read plenty about mice voles deer etc etc. Instead of spending close to $200 on the tree tubes (i think you can only get a minimal order of 25 tubes) when i only have 9 trees i was wondering if anyone had any other advice to planting the trees and what protective fencing or wrap should go around them. Would simple chicken wire (1/2 inch or so squares) if staked into the ground be good enough for thedeer to keep off. I also heard about metal window screen for mice and voles or should i just bite the bullet and get the trees tubes? Not interested in growing an orchid just getting the trees to grow so that they can say i was 4 when we started that tree. I also know that im not getting the same apples. Anything that grows for wildlife is fine by me. Thanks for any iinput.

Just wanted to share some pics of my first time attempt at a clover plot. It back in the woods, i was lucky enough that we got an old disc from my uncle and worked the plot alittle last may (2011). Planted buckwheat in June 2011 and let it grow till end of July 2011 and then disced it in again with more lime and fertilizer. THen i broadcast mossy oak biologics green patch plus. THe rye and oats cam up great last fall and the clover got a headstart. Well this March i reseed the bare spots with Whitetail institute clover. Then in early May i limed and fertilized the plot and cut the rye and oats back to clover with a wed whacker. When i returned in end of May the plot took off. Here are a couple pics from start to finish. Just goes to show you that a little hard work and some rain can make a great plot. Although coverage wasnt 100% of the plot with the clover im hoping that the clover i overseeded in March will comeup. Have to wait until une to go back up then imsetting up the bushnell trailcam to see who is coming to the dinner table.

Was just wondering if anyone has been up turkey hunting this past week or so and if they have heard any gobbles. I know it seems to be quiet this year (i was up May 2 and 3 and didnt hear a single gobble). Planning on going up this Saturday and Sunday for one last attempt to get my first bird of my life but this season seems to be stacked against me. Thanks.

Thats why sometimes you have to believe that a straight value added tax ( i believe that is what it is called or consumption tax: where you pay taxes on what you purchase) i maybe not such a bad idea. I think the quote that i heard was that with a tax system like that all the pimps hoes and drug dealers all no have to pay into the tax system as opposed to just paying for what you claim on your taxes.

I would check the specifics on the time lengths on those cams. I though i heard somewhere that the total amount of lapsed time is not very long. Maybe only a couple of days or so (because it is taking so many pics). If its set up over a large field or large area where there are multiple deer trails its a good idea because the preset trigger times are supposed to catch the stuff in the background that is beyond the trigger mechanism of the camera. I have the 2011 Bushnell and love it. I have it set up over a 1/4 acre plot and get pics from all over the entire plot...in daylight to the other end (about 50 yards or so) and at dark a little closer. Good luck

They are definitely in Huntington, I have been to Caumsett park dozens of times and have seen them (only does and fawns so far) but have seen scrapes, hugh rubs and tracks...its my new secret shed antler spot, take the family out for some warm day hikes in February and March. Little do they know that i have an alterior motive. Also here is a pic of a doe that was hit on ROund Swamp Road last summer about 100 yards south of Jericho Turnpike by the old Sun Ming restaurant. My sister saw and sent me the pic as i was leaving for work so i had to drive by myself and yup she was there. I will post as soon as i figure out how gees

GReat story...gonna try his trick in the last line of the story...i was up in beginning of season and didnt hear a gobble anywhere.

Sleep when your dead is the answer i give my wife when i tell her that i was up 1/4 to four am to go after gobblers...he likes to sleep.

E, i was in the same boat as you a few years back, started with a small woodland plot (actually where 2 logging roads met) and kept expanding until my plot is now about 1/4 acre plus... I planted buckwheat and it grew great (partial sun shade spot) and when it was eventually turned over it became what others termed "green mannure" to increase your soil value. The only issue i could see with buckwheat in such a small area is that i could only get it in a 50 lb bag... But you could also try "green patch plus" from mossy oak biologic, i think it is maybe a $20 bag will plant a 1/4 acre and it has rye, wheat clover...mine came up good last fall and the clover was left around this spring and is starting to grow well. Regardless of what you plant you need to consider taking away at least some of the trees that will block the sunlight, which in effect will increase the sizeof your plot. In my experience (im in Chenango County) regardless of what you plant they will eat it (unless something really foreign to them like rape brassicas during the first year or two) ...then the issue becomes that in the late summer a doe with twins could wipe out that plot in a week... i have a trail cam over my 1/4 acre plot and have had as many 5 deer in it during the late summer plus turkeys...i am now in the process or making a new plot 100 yeards away (by my brother stand) to help increase food plot yeild which will hopefully give the plants time to grow bigger. Good luck and keep posting photos as we love to see the before and after. also lime lime lime.

I was up on May 2 and 3 and although a little overcast and misty in the morning i did not hear a single gobble either day. Im in chenango county and was on my property and various pieces of state land. Nothing. Going to go back up next weekend and get after them again. cant give up.

Im the same way. Love going up but i'm starting to find out that with all the projects i want to do i'm starting to run out of time to just sit back and relax and enjoy nature. Thats why on those occasional rained out days im not mad because i can relax without the feeling of wasting time

Speedy recovery is right. One way to think about it is that at least its not your trigger finger.

Same here. Other than my brother who has been my partner since we started hunting at 16 the other guys have gone onto other things and are not as dedicated. To me i enjoy the quiet time and alone time but it is a pain in the but when its time to do heavy work. Clearing food plots with a chain saw and hard work gets rough but the rewards are well worth it.

As always dave great pics.

I was up at our place in Chenango County and on Saturday morning had 3 hens and 3 jakes (1 of them may have been older b/c his beardwas about 5 inches long)... They were feeding on the grass / clover in thefield behind the house so i called o them once and boy did that fire one of the hens up she was yapping away which got all 3 birds to gobbler together multiple times. Pretty cool. Best thing was that when the 3 male birds came into the field their heads were red clearly distinguishable from the hens but after the first gobble the tom/jake's (5 inch bird) head turned blue and white and he was out there strutting for a good 10 minutes putting on a show, struuting back and forth, spitting and drumming...all while we were 60 yards away in the kitchen wathcing the whole show.

Also, if you are only able to afford a smaller piece (as opposed to 100 plus acres) i would suggest going to google earth or even bing and do an aeriel search of the property...then take into consideration the property, neighbors home, wind directions. You will find out that some properties are better to hunt because of the wind direction and lack of homes. No sense buying a property where you bump all the deer out due to bad wind in the fall and cannot use all of your property ot hunt due to close proximity of neighbors houses.

Nothing wrong with that opinion at all. I consider myself a conservationist as well as a hunter. Shoot them all now and there will be nothing for tomorrow. I would rather eat tag soup then cheat to win. Nothing this year means more for next year and just a lilttle bigger. Thanks for the advice.

Considering i have yet to harvest a turkey in my life (being 41 is bad enough) i was wondering what the actual definition of a "bearded" bird in new york regs. I understand a gobbler, but what about a bearded hen (not that i expect to ever see one or get one just asking) or what about a jake. I guess the real question is what consitutes a beard...like an antler point has to be over 1 inch long to be considered a point...is there any minimum or if i can see it sticking out of the birds chest he or she is fair game.