Caveman

The T/C Impact is a nice gun. It just went on sale at my local dick's for $199. Kinda makes me want to pick one up even though I already bought a new ML this year.

Oh and I forgot to mention my other co-worker shot a turkey two weeks after the season closed with a rimfire rifle out of his bedroom window last week.

I considered it but after talking with my cousin (a NYS Forest Ranger) he said it probably wouldn't do any good as the only thing I had on the baiters is a rough description, the guys with the .17 probably weren't going to report their deer for the ECO's to follow up on and the evidence from my co-workers un-tagged deer is gone by now.

I get people coming into work asking for c'mere deer, asking for timed feeders, buying .17 HMR rifles and admitting it's for big game. Two of the guys I work with shot bucks that they didn't tag or report because they said they know of bigger bucks that they want to kill this season. What the hell is so hard about hunting within the limits of the law? Are big antlers worth compromising your morals (provided you have any) and potentially losing your hunting privileges? Sorry for the pessimism and the rant but I see it day after day and it's starting to wear thin on my patience.

Field and Stream makes nothing. It's the other brands renamed to be sold as a Dick's exclusive. Those bibs and jacket are made by Walls. The bibs I love, the bomber jacket is junk. They do have a 3-in-1 parka though that is very good though you'll pay about a hundred bucks for it this time of year. If anyone else wants to know who makes what field and stream products let me know lol

1) You can always make up overtime at work or find time to finish school work later. Life's too short to miss time in the woods or just doing the simple things that make you happy. 2) Who cares what you shot this season or what others think, if you enjoyed every outing into the woods and had a good time (even not seeing one deer) it was a successful season

I didn't really want to mention it for the same reason that otherwise credible don't admit that they think they saw a UFO. I'm a bit of a skeptic so I'm not sure I really want to guess as to what happened myself but here it goes... I was sitting against a tree a few weeks back when I heard hooves behind me. Not deer hooves though, it sounded like a horse. I looked to my left and about 35 yards away there was a man on horseback riding through the woods. He looked right at me (I was heavily draped in orange by the way) and made no attempt to change his course so as not to interfere with my hunt. He just kept on riding, never acknowledged that I was there. I shouted, "Thanks a lot a$$hole!" Still he never even turned back. I decided to follow him to give him a piece of my mind for being so rude. At this point he had gone rounded a stand of thick trees and was out of sight. I could still hear the clip-clop of the horse though in the mud. As I rounded the corner only about 45 seconds behind him I was surprised at what I saw...nothing. There was no man, no horse, but I could still hear the horse walking. I looked down at the mud to see which direction he had gone and here's the part the freaked me out, there were none. The ground was soft enough that I, at 180 pounds, was leaving clear impressions yet an 800 pound animal did not. Over the next ridge I came across a headstone dated 1871. There are many cemeteries in this WMA dating as far back as the revolutionary war and I've come across a few random burial sites in the last few months there so that part alone did not freak me out. But that discovery in such close proximity to the horse incident got to me. I don't know what it was, for all I know it was a random man with no manners, but we'll just say I made sure to leave the woods well before dark that evening. As for the man's dress, he was wearing a dark colored black or navy blue peacoat with gold buttons. Pretty generic with no real connection to any time period.

I was going to shoot it and claim it charged me lol

I let my excitement get the best of me when I first saw them. I started to think a rabbit later too. Just too big to be a deer I think.

My hand is in the picture as a size reference.

I came across this track in the snow today. I think it's a monster buck but when I looked closer I started to think it might be a rabbit with an awkward stance. What do you think?

The mentor aspect really hits home for me. I started hunting at a fairly normal age but I'm the first hunter in my family and have had some trouble being very successful since I learn mostly from mistakes rather than an experienced mentor.

Exactly! This is my first season in the Albany area so my first impression is strange to say the least. This stuff never happened to me in WNY.

That thought actually crossed my mind but two things stopped me...not wanting a violation if it was illegal, and the thought of packing out all that meat the mile back to my truck.

Most of you read about my mishap with the 12 point I finished off for another hunter. I didn't tell too many people about my strange encounter with a man on horseback that seemed to disappear and left no tracks. And now today an even more random occurence in the woods. I'm sitting on a stump watching a promising clearing. I hear something crashing through the trees and my first thought is, "it's a monster buck." Then I see something black moving in the treeline and my new line of thought is,"I'm gonna get a bear today." And finally when the beast comes crashing out into the open I didn't even know what to think. It was a cow...a domesticated cow. I was at least 5 miles from the nearest known farm and a good deal into the thick brush. Not where I was expecting to see a cow. I haven't filled a tag yet this year but it's an enjoyable season just because of the weird and random stuff that's been happening to me.

I can relate. I'm twenty years old and a lot of the time I find myself trying to disassociate myself with the other youthful hunters. I find I much prefer the company of old-timers at the counter in the local diner listening to stories of how the world used to be. Kids these days are texting in the stand, need to have the newest most advanced hunting gadgets, and a lot of the have told me they are willing to poach if it means a trophy. I can only hang my head at the way it makes me look as a youthful hunter. My parents always told me I was an old soul and I should have been born 70 years ago. I think I believe them.

Easy there ultramag. Just a question.

I use Hodgdon's Pyrodex pellets and it works for me. I've never used anything else so I really have nothing to compare it to. I am meticulous about cleaning my guns regardless so cleaning is never really my issue for me.

Antone here watch "Gun it with Benny Spies"? Check it out on Versus friday night. He's entertaining to say the least. No high fences, no expensive outfitters, just him and his buddies, a 1973 Minnie Winnie full of guns and beef jerky and the best part is he doesn't always leave with a kill.

See, the problem is that the native americans were a nice shade of light brown, helped them blend in. When that morning sun hits and reflects off my pale Irish skin I would light up like I was wearing a suit of aluminum foil!

Great looking deer! I haven't gotten a chance to get out for gun yet but I switched to Hornady's this year, but the SST. Got pictures of entry/exit by chance?

Mine was a 1...I saw almost nothing, but I believe time spent hunting can never be a 0.

I hope you didn't mean small to large in terms of caliber because a .30-06 is bigger than a 7mm

Fasteddie for president!

I will agree that the Israeli's have the most effective security in the world. And although no method is 100% preventative, I'll take anything that makes it more difficult. The Israeli's require that passengers arrive at the airport 3 hrs early so there goes the hope of preventing long lines. As for giving up freedoms, we do it every day. We give up our freedom to drive when we choose to drink, we give up our right to carry a firearm (provided you've got the permit) when you go to a school. I've personally got nothing to hide and I don't consider a scanner to be a huge invasion of my privacy. As for the 4th amendment, it all depends on how you define "unreasonable" I suppose.