Caveman

I'm gonna guess Clarence. The little-known honey hole.

Go to your local army-navy surplus store and ask for the ECWCS base layer. It stands for extreme cold weather clothing systems. I got some for $40, both upper and lower. I can't remember the last time I was cold while hunting.

Started to walk in to my spot. Heard a sound like i dropped something. When I looked down, there's my bow sight laying in the grass. Apparently the allen screw that holds the sight together backed its way out at some point. Had to pack up and go back home until I can sight my bow back in tomorrow evening.

I don't mean me, I mean the school itself. Depew schools aren't exactly known for providing opportunities like that. I think it sounds like an awesome experience for everyone involved.

Sounds like a cool experience. I went to Depew so we didn't quite have the same resources to do stuff like that.

The biggest problem here is that society is pushing college education for everyone. For some people, college is not the best option. They may be better suited for the skilled trades, unskilled labor, the military, etc. But we tell everyone that college is a must, we make it very easy for someone who is 18 (a point in our lives when our long-term decision making is less than fully developed) to take on six figure loans, and we lower entry requirements to make it easier for the less than qualified to be accepted. Now we have a market that is flooded with four year degrees in often meaningless fields. All of these job-seekers have huge debt and no job prospects. Then on top of it, if your loans are through the federal government, there's no chance to refinance should rates decrease. It should be noted for the "everything is entitlement" crowd that I'm not talking about forgiveness, I'm talking about the possibility of refinancing to a lower interest rate like every other loan you will ever take in your life. This is all coming from someone who has a bachelor's and will have a law degree in May, both from public schools. I don't blame anyone else for my debt, and I'm doing very well objectively. But, I wish someone when I was 18 had told me there were other ways to approach the future besides college. It's an awful return on investment for anything other than STEM majors.

I just did the exact same thing two nights ago. Waiting for it to show up Thursday. As far as I can tell, the only difference between this year's for $400 and last year's for $200 is the way the wrists tighten. A piece of velcro is not worth $200 to me.

A six pack of Genny pounders is four dollars and change at the grocery store down the street from me. I've been drinking it exclusively for months now.

Speaking of New York's policy toward businesses, I work in commercial litigation. One of my favorite quotes came from a co-worker who told me that "any lawyer who helps a business incorporate in New York should be liable for malpractice."

Stands are legal on most state lands provided they don't damage the tree (climber marks on bark not included) and are removed after the close of the season. Certain areas like state parks have special regs that you can find on the DEC website.

My best advice for hunting public land generally is to get there WAY before sunrise and very quietly make your way deep into the woods (preferably an escape route you've scouted preseason). Then sit and wait for the orange army to push the deer to you.

Mine is reliable as all get out. Shooting 1.5" groups with 100gr Pyrodex pellets and a 250gr Hornady SST. Yeah, the fit and plastic stock feels cheap, but muzzleloader season is also only 10 days long. I like mine and would buy it again.

Depends on the score. A high-scoring typical is more impressive IMO. If it's just an average-scoring deer though, the uniqueness is more appealing and I'm shooting the non-typical.

I passed on the 90 around 8:45 on my way to work and it looked insane. As excited as I am, I think I'll just wait a few weeks unti the hoopla dies down a little.

Hope it works for ya Grow. Though in my experience the odds are against you. Where I hunt we have permission on two conditions, (1) shoot any coyotes on sight regardless of how it will affect the hunt, and (2) boot any trespassers we see regardless of how it affects the hunt. It sees like every year it's the same, we do more policing boundaries than hunting. It drives me nuts and I'm not even a landowner. I just don't understand how people can be so inconsiderate. Someone else bought the land, someone else works the land, someone else pays the taxes every year, and now you want to reap the rewards without so much as the courtesy to ask permission first.

One can drive him/herself crazy with scent control. No matter what you're doing you could always be doing something more. I would say use common sense and always play the wind. I personally wear my base layer and boots on teh drive and my hunting clothes in a tote with some pine branches in the trunk. Field and Stream did some testing where they showed that "scent killers" were not effective at hiding hunters from bloodhounds, but cover scents were arguably semi-effective. Hence why I use the pine boughs. http://www.fieldandstream.com/articles/hunting/deer-hunting/finding-deer-hunt/2012/06/cover-scents-work-better-odor-reducing-produ

New shoulder straps for my climber and some spray-on rubber. I'm sick of my climber clanking around on the walk in and letting every animal in the county know I've arrived. This year I'm gonna try to rubberize everything and muffle a little sound.

I got this too. I decided that I've given technology the only chance it's getting. Looks like I'll be in line at Dick's for my tags.

I was planning on it until I read about the opening expectations. I don't do so well with crowds so I think I'll wait until it calms down.

Yeah, you had me curious so I went on my lunchbreak and found that. That first set is exactly what I had in mind. Thanks for all the information. The question I still need to ask the DEC is whether leaving things like buckets or tin foil on state lands temporarily as part of a set would be violating some type of littering laws, even if I was going to remove it when I take down the set.

I was told, and of course I have to double check it, that 220's could be set on land as long as they are concealed a certain depth in a bucket with 1/3 of the opening covered and set at least 4 feet off the ground. Other than that though, 220's are only allowed in water. I was gonna double check anyway though.

I was gonna make some bucket sets for raccoon.

Thanks for all the replies. I was planning on going to the little valley show. The instructor at the class recommended it to get started for a lot cheaper. I have access to a few places nearby where the farmers want predators kept in check. There's also some state land around the corner that's not used by outdoorsmen because it's in a town where you can't discharge a weapon. And Grow, I actually set up my subscription to fur fish and game this afternoon. The only downside to all this is I now have even more to distract me when I'm supposed to be working. Any advice for preparing traps? Do used traps still need to be boiled and dyed? Or can you skip straight to waxing?

I just completed my trapper course yesterday and I was wondering if I can get some advice from the experienced guys here. I learned a ton from my class but at the same time it was pretty overwhelming to see all the equipment the instructor brought. Can anyone help me put together a list of equipment to buy to get started without breaking the bank? I'll be targeting red fox, coyote, raccoon, and muskrat this season. So far I'll be looking for 160 and 220 connibears, #1.5 and #2 coil springs, cable stakes, various lures and baits, a cable stake driver, multi-purpose hammer and digging tool, and some trap dye and wax. Anyone have any suggestions to get me started?