JFB

I never called anyone a "slob" and never said drivers were any kind of person or hunter associated with other things so not sure how I'm broad brushing anything.

You guys make a good point because I'm in agricultural farm area rather than hill country and it only takes a few pick up trucks full of guys to really impact an area and effect stand/still hunting. I'm not trying to tell someone how to hunt, but I just wonder how the drivers would feel if roles were reversed and if my stand hunting had major ill effects on their ability to drive deer? Frustrating when one of the trucks full of guys pull up to you and say "hey, we hit a big 10 point in the a$$ so keep an eye out of him"...

I was curious as to how many of us who consider themselves avid bow hunters participate regularly in big block deer drives once gun season rolls around? We are three days into the gun season and already it seems the masses have grouped up to "drive" every nook and bush in the neighborhood. I wonder how much more enjoyable gun season would be and how many more deer would stay on their feet during daylight if this didn't occur? I'm only asking this question to people who also bow hunt because I know the average brown/down gun guy just loves to drive and unload their gun. For myself, I'd very much like to only stand hunt or still hunt but once the local drivers start their thing and deer become nocturnal, I will do one man pushes on occasion. So how many of you bow hunters do large group drives?

I know that more than once I've misjudged lights (and reflections) that I've seen in the dark and it made me do a double take. Lights from a distance can be tricky to judge... both in distance and in determining what you are actually seeing. My first guess is that you might not realize how far away the light was and it was not a trespasser. But I'd certainly be looking for foot prints, cars parked where they don't belong and I'd also be right back there to see if it occurs again. I'd be surprised if it was a bug.

Dave took the words out of my mouth, and I approach calling the same way. I would add that I typically only call to deer I can see. This way I can monitor their response and be sure that I don't over call or educate them. Personal preference though so go with what works for you.

I hear exactly what you guys are saying and I agree 100%. The thing that may not be realized here is that the very reason I jumped in was because many of you were doing the exact thing that you now accuse me of. Before I posted, people even asked if the unproductive conversation could just be dropped... but it didn't and I made you aware of what was occurring. I think the most recent posts have taken a much more productive and informative tone so perhaps all our anguish did something productive. Shoot straight.

Perhaps my mistake.. I assumed this was the same group of people who were a part of the "Empire.." site that I was referring to years ago. Seems like that forum was nothing but people bitching and I sure recognized some names here. "Pansy ass"... if you only knew.. I appreciate the people who PM'd me who opened my eyes a bit as to what goes on here with clicks and unavoidable ignorance. I'll just try and use the site for what it can provide to me and mostly ignore the others. Just don't expect me to pass on people trying to be tough guys and pretend like they invented the arrow.

Very mature comment Dave. What is comical (and sad) is that based on your earlier post, you actually agree with me when you said "I don't have a problem with experienced hunters taking longer shots". Anyone who can read can see that is my main point as well. But even though you a agree with me, you try to attack me with your ignorant comment just because you're friends with someone on this board. How old are you? You act as if I've posted recently with "one more bit of wisdom" but I've not posted in years other than some help with turkey hunting. Isn't that what a board like this is supposed to be for? If it's just a hobby to pick on people, man up and go somewhere and try to pick on people to their face. Do you ever wonder why kids these days get into cyber bullying? Heck, you "adults" can't even resist. I see that a few of you "liked" Dave's comment. Other than standing up for your buddy, can you explain to me what you "like" about this? Dave's point was my exact point yet you "like" his classless comment. I know I'm swimming up stream and you can't fix ignorance but I'll take a stab at it.

So unfortunate that a moderator of the site can't let an unproductive conversation die. I left the site years ago because the guy with the most time on his hands seems to think he knows his opinion is the only opinion that matters and he just never stops typing. I'm sure I'll get banned or something but I'm not shocked that within a short time of my observing this site again that I'm seeing the same fights by the same guy. My 2 cents on the matter and then I'm likely done... Everyone has different skill capabilities and some people also work harder than others. Given that fact, to try and say someone can't effectively do "this" or "that" is wrong. I will quickly say however that most guys are likely not skilled enough to be considering shots much over 20 yards based on my observations and experience. Further, inexperienced hunters should probably stick with shots within their experience wheelhouse. Wounding a deer literally makes me feel ill and wounding an animal is far worse than the joy of harvesting one. But based on my skill and work ethic, I'm planning on taking a shot at 47 yards if the shot presents itself again and if I know it's perfect. Wether it's 7 yards or 47 yards, I think hard on wether or not this is the right thing and what the outcome is likely to be. I tend to go above and beyond in many things I do and preparing for a certain shot is no different. Although I don't know Phade, I certainly relate to him. If you can't relate, that doesn't mean you're right or should flame on.

Thanks guys. The education is appreciated! Went out Saturday and there was a good amount of birds moving around but not much Tom activity and only a couple gobbles. Seems like the hens were really fired up and talking but not much else.

Ok. Helpful stuff. Last question... Generally speaking, if birds roosts at a certain place one night, what are the odds they will be there two days later? How frequently do un pressured birds alter their roosting site (I have an opportunity to try and put birds to bed Thursday for a Saturday hunt but don't have time Friday for Sat)

Ok, thx. I was just curious how big the window of time was in the evening to search. How many of you guys check high percentage roosting area's in the pitch dark and well past an hour after pitch dark? I'm just worried that if I go in the woods near known roosting area's too soon, I'll spook them because they on the ground. So it seems easier to go around in the dark and locate them and they are less likely to spook?

Generally speaking, how long before dark do the birds usually roost? Lets say you are in a forest and can still see 75 yards but light is clearly diminishing... would they still be on the ground? Do they wait until almost dark or is it still light when they get in the tree? Any rule of thumb? Thanks

Just wanted to report back because I went out this morning. I could not find any roosting the evening prior so I just set up in the fields where I've seen them prior. Very quiet. After 1.5 hours, I visited some other fields and saw a small flock with Tom. They were not responsive. Oh well, will try again Saturday. The decoys looked nice though. Thanks again.

Ok, I think I'll just start basic with a jake and hen and then go from there. Fortunately, this is a healthy heard and very little pressure. So hopefully that will match up with my novice skills. I'll be sure to report back if I have some action. Thanks!

Thanks again all. Deerpassion, I'm going to take your recommendation on the jake and regular hen. Would there be a advantage or disadvantage to having the jake, the regular hen, AND a breeding hen at the same set up? Or should it just be one hen or the other with the jake?

Ok, thanks a lot guys. Can you guys offer some "do's and dont's" when it comes to decoys? I see there are regular hens, breeding position hens, jakes, and even full strut toms. I'm willing to spend some money if certain ones are worth it (the breeding hen was $75 and the full strut Tom was $40. the regular hen and tom were $25 a piece). How many do you suggest and which combination would be a standard safe bet? I was thinking of a regular hen (or two) and a jake? Thx again.

Hi all, I'm a novice Turkey hunter and although I understand some basics I would not consider myself a good caller yet. But I've located a couple fields on my property where the Toms and hens are using in the mornings and I've scouted them from a couple hundred yards away. My thought is to put up a ground blind in the middle of the plowed corn field they are using. My question is whether or not turkey need time to adjust to a new blind before hunting in it? If I pop up a blind tomorrow afternoon (Monday), is Tuesday morning too quick to hunt it? Any advice would be appreciated. Thx

Bottom line... ask a gun hunter who does not bow hunt currently why that is and they will admit because it's "too hard" and takes "too much time to practice". But give them a x-gun and they can shoot it a time or two and put it in the closet till next season it's no wonder their is support to put it in archery season. Why not just put riffles in bow season too while you are at it. X-guns in NY archery would dramatically change the quality of the current bow season and the herd overall- we already have one of the longest seasons with multiple buck take opportunities and now you want to expand the weapon choice during the season which deer are most vulnerable. You have cross bows in a season already.

Dave, there are no gas leases or other leases on this property. All mineral, gas, and timber rights will go to the new owner. Thx

Thanks for all the private messages and interest- hopefully I was able to get back to everyone quick enough. This past weekend we consulted a realtor for the potential of signing him later and to get an education on reasonable selling prices. We are going to advertise the property ourselves to start and if we need to reach out to more people later we'll utilize the realtor and list for higher. He confirmed that this type of land is actively going for $2000 an acre. We have 22.67 acres. The cabin is a bit more subjective but it's on the top end as for quality and condition. If we can avoid a realtor and hassle, we're going to let it go for $78,500 firm. I don't want to list high and then have the haggle game and I'd rather just list what research shows is more than fair for the place. Mineral and timber rights included and we've passed on many mineral lease offers in the past. Please send me PM's with any serious interest and several of you have my phone number already. Thanks, Jim

Very nicely done for sure!

Thanks for the kind words guys. The camp has been very good to us. We purchased the land in 1994 and put up a trailer for the first several years. We liked it so much we build the camp in 2001. Now that my brother and I both have young kids that are getting active, we just don't get there much at all and my father is now 76 and hunts a bit less. Not posting a price is nothing more than a function of us not being organized quite yet. What we are probably going to do in order to figure out a fair price is get an appraisal at some point soon. Or, we'll just bite bullet and incur the realtor costs. We were hoping to avoid the realtor and pass along/split the savings. Of course if anyone is very serious and ready to move we'd entertain reasonable offers and can set up calls or showing it. I'm not sure if this photo will come out.. but it's a big picture frame that hangs inside our camp. We call it the "Wall of Fame" and we used to put up a picture of each buck (and doe) we killed. My brother had the luckiest hand with two monster bucks (one bow, one 44 mag) and then there were several other nice deer.

Here are a few photos I took today of the Bath/Savona hunting camp that I posted about last week. The camp is actually 24' x 30' (built 2001) and sits on 22.67 acres. Vast private land on one side of the property line and a large State Forest on the other. Short drive to several other large State land tracts.

This property is not yet listed, but I figured I'd give site members an early tip on a property that may go up for sale. The cabin and land is on the Bath/Savona border. 22+ acres of thick woods which directly joins to a large State Forest (Moss Hill State Forest). It is also a mile or so from Birdseye Hollow State Forest which is another 3442 acres. The Cabin is a very large 30x20, two Bedroom with a huge loft. Easily sleeps 8, large open living area, wood stove, propane oven, propane lights, indoor shower area. Front and rear deck. So if you know anyone who has been looking, pass it along and PM if there's interest. I'll be getting photo's as we prepare to sell. Thanks.