JFB

I'm unfamiliar with Blackhorn 209... Is it said to have advantages over Triple 7? How is it different? Thanks.

If I could only have one change (and I interpret this as changes that I felt would improve the age of the bucks in our state), I would say a one buck rule if I could only have one. But in my opinion there are several things that I'd want changed and it would be in this order: 1) A shorter gun season 2) A one buck rule 3) AR 4) Getting the DEC to view our deer as a resource instead of only a nuisance that needs to be minimized.

Sometimes all it takes is three seasons of a buck hiding in the anti hunters (neighbors) sanctuary and there you go. Either that, or some folks letting them walk a couple years can get those deer to grow nicely. Clearly food and genetics are not an issue. Any way it sliced, deer gotta live a few years to reach that beautiful level. Great deer and great pics.

Glad the DEC has made some impacts in some cases. Personally, I called the hotline this weekend and it was clear that the operator had very little interest in sending an officer out. They asked me so many questions and basically it made me feel like they wanted to see if I had the perps tied to a tree for them as a guaranteed catch. They didn't have the man power to investigate or work on the situation. Sad but it sounds similar to the earlier post who tried to report bait piles but nothing done about it. I sure hope they post the arrest made in region 8.

The weather is certainly a big factor currently, but in my opinion the DEC is to blame for your problem. They can almost wipe out an entire area just by handing out nuisance permits to a farmer or two. Add to that, WAY too long of a gun season, and DEC handing out permits like candy and what do you get? Certain area's that have extremely low numbers. Shooting every deer you see eventually has it's effects. And what does the DEC do in places that actually HAS above average hunting? Hand out more and more permits until that area sucks too.

Something about this doesn't seem right. Perhaps this is a high fenced area? Just hard to imagine a free ranging monster deer happen to stay in such close quarters in front of the trail cam. I didn't see any related articles explaining. I'm just saying..

If I'm not mistaken, it is illegal for someone to not tell you or show you their back tag when asked. That alone is a violation. With his license plate number in hand, and a physical description of this guy, I would have forced the police to question and pursue him to the fullest extent of the law. It should have been easy for the police or DEC to ticket this guy. The police would ask a few simple questions... 1) Your license plate and vehicle was recorded being parked at ______ rd. I assume you parked it there or had you reported it stolen? 2) Can you tell me why you left your car there? Were you hunting? 3) Now that it's confirmed you were hunting, unless you can show me the state land or written permission of private land, you were trespassing and we have a witness. Sad to say this type of guy WILL return unless you paint him in a corner. Do not let him win and stop hunting. You'll need the support of the land owner to pursue the charges and most DEC/Police will not act on your behalf because they need the actual land owner requesting the ticket.

I was wondering who is using Two Way radio brands other than Motorola? I have been using a Radio Shack brand radio that are about 10 years old and no longer made... but they were great. Now radio shack only carries Motorola and I've not been real impressed. Seems like you really lose some clarity when the ear piece is in and that never happened with the old Radio Shacks. I see in the Bass Pro catalog a brand named "Midland". They have a pair for $100 that is rated up to 36 miles (which obviously is not what you'd get in the woods). I also see a "Cobra" brand in the catalog. Any one use either of those? Any other brands I should consider? Thanks.

Thats awesome.. Thanks for the info NYantler. I would love to see those guys work a track. By the way, how come the NYantler outdoors site seems to show some pictures but no associated stories? Is there a membership sign in I'm not seeing for their more recent pics?

Did you get any details as to how they got them? Was it in traditional Adirondack fashion where you hear about tracking them in the snow and then stalking them? Or do they have some good habitat and utilize tree stands, food sources, etc?

Impressive and well said Bball. If you are honestly in those high percentages at running deer, I'm impressed. I just haven't witnessed that over the years so I wanted to see how many are out there who can honestly say what you said. My post is not aimed at anti driving, it's more focused on so many who are taking shots they have no business taking. I did some small pushes on Tuesday... for our small group, the agreed rule was no running deer because we did not want to risk a wound nor did we want to harvest a button buck or any of the nice 2.5 yr deer we've passed up. We harvested two doe that we got to stop or to a walk but passed many shots. Bball, you mentioned the last 2 years... have you been equally efficient prior to that? Also curious how many years you've been hunting? I'm not attacking, just curious.

This question came to mind while reading the post about Deer Drives. Among the many problems I have with the way so many drive deer, is the fact that it appears far too many drivers shoot at any deer they see, no matter the size, gender, how fast the deer is running, what brush is in the way, or the direction the deer is running. Last month I read about many guys who report they've never wounded a deer in their career yet people speak of just "grazing a few" or "giving them haircuts". Come on, really? What are the real chances your bullet just happens to hit the very edges of a deer? Do you not realize how many of these deer just later die from their wound? But back to my questions... 1) What is your acceptable percentage of time that when you pull the trigger, you end up standing over a dead deer? For me, I'm human, and make (not take) bad shots at times. But when I pull the trigger I expect and harvest that deer at least 85% and more like 95% of the time. An unseen twig, a misjudged yardage, buck fever... things happen. But what is your actual percentage? 2) More importantly, who here thinks they can shoot running deer and consistently harvest them cleanly? A clean kill is what we're after, right? Not swiss cheese. I see SO many guys just throw lead at deer and report a clean miss and then later claim they are some super sniper and somehow are able to hit 2'x2' vital area that is bouncing up and down at roughly 20mph (with brush and tree's in the way)... all the while being able to look over the deer to be sure it's a deer they want to harvest (other than it being brown). We all see guys shooting at runners... So for those of you who do, how many can say they get a clean kill even 60-70% of the time on runners? There may be a rare situation where I might think about taking a moving deer... but it's rare if not extinct. And for me, one of the other big reasons not to shoot is because I'm particular of what I want to harvest. If I'm looking for meat, I'm looking for a good sized doe so I need to be able to size it up. If it's a buck, same thing. No way to study your prey when it's sprinting. So for questions 1) and 2), what about you?