Fletch

I had a problem 2 seasons ago. Actually you can read all about it in my journal from that year! I had two dogs running deer behind the house. Multiple times on stand had them chase deer past me. I talked to DEC, police and finally the dog controll officer for the town. He is the one who finally helped out. Pics are real good so you can have positive identification. They were dogs of a newer neighbor and it took a couple visits from the DCO and one from me and they finally got things under control. Ruined a lot of hunts for me and harassed a lot of deer. I was temped let me tell you to take care of it myself but I really would hate to do that. Usually not the dogs fault but the owners and as others said is against the law and you could be held liable for damages.

I can not even watch hardly any of the shows anymore. They are just so unrealistic and some of the celebrations, like Potts, just seem disrespectful. Kinda like the pro football players after a touchdown. Act like you been there, show some respect and humilty, sportsmanship maybe....

My prime spot is behind my house and is a great area once the bucks start cruising. I do not want to hog it up too early with scent before the bucks really start moving.

looks like my lawn just less weeds in it!! lol

This is one food source I never figured did much for me during hunting season. Usually by the old bow opener every acorn had fallen and been eaten where I hunt weeks prior. Not sure if even with the opener earlier there will be any left. I always read about folks hunting the acorns and scratched my head because they are long gone by hunting season.

That bar is sweet! Nice job.

The one by me I noticed had a small hunting gear section for the first time. Some stands, game cams........

I have dragged out plenty of deer after dark all shot before dark of course. Not to highjack the thread. But say I am an hour walk back in, shot a deer a half hour before dark, find it, gut it drag it for two hours. I still have my unloaded weapon with me as I come out of the woods 2 hours past dark. Can I get ticketed for having a firearm in the woods after dark? I am not going to walk two hours to bring my gun out. I always end up back at the truck at least 30 minutes to an hour past dark depending on how far back I am in. And I am always carrying a weapon. Or later if I am dragging out a deer. And I have actually had DEC waiting for me more than a few times and it has never even been brought up.

I have never been a big fan of the first week or so of bow and with now the earlier opener I am going to have to change some tactics. I will try to stay out of my prime spot behind the house for the first couple weeks. I do not have any farm crop summer food pattern spots so I may be testing out some new spots early season just to keep pressure off my usual spots. I will also play the weather, I can not stand being out hunting when it is 80 degrees out!

All good advice above. A couple things on top of that. Practice at low light conditions as well. This way you will see if your selected types of sighting, be it peep and pins or whatever..... can muster up to first or last legal light when deer activity is higher. Also be very aware of your sleeves and front of coat or whatever you will wear. Practice in hunting gear to make sure your clothing can not impede your bowstring path. When you get your arrows get a dozen and shoot them all. Any continual flyers I set aside. Pick 4 or 5 of the nice consistent ones to set aside for hunting then use the others good flyers as your practice arrows. Pick a good broadhead, and there are a ton of good ones, but key thing is make sure they are sharp and keep them that way. Very sharp arrows make better blood trails. And the last one is your range is now been severely shortened and you need the deer to get a lot closer to you. Better scent control, wind play and absolute minimizing your movement are critical in this. With the range of a gun you can slide on some errors with bow a lot less. Have fun! The guys and gals here are a great resource. I am a self taught bowhunter and I think I made every mistake in the book!! But there is no comparison bow season is the best. I see so many more deer and the close encounters....better weather also is nice.

Denied 7M and got 1 for 7F

Nice!! That one on the left is a doozie!

I had an old beer cooler given to me. The kind the bars used to have with the three push back doors on the top 6 foot long. It keeps temps down in the 30's if needed. I figure I can fit three deer in there if I had to. I put one in there last year for a few days when it was warm. Just next time I will cut legs off at knees. Once rigor set in had a tussel getting the deer out with the two cross supports for the lids. Also seconds as a beverage cooler if having a big party. I had started a closet sized deer cooler in the garage, it is all insulated with an insulated steel door just never got the how to cool it figured out when the bar cooler was given to me.

Man that dog must not have given up it has got guills everywhere! Ouch!

mmmm blackberries, have been picking them here for a couple of weeks. Wife also made some jam.

Inlet and Old Forge area have deer all over in the town. They were fed very regularily by locals and tourists up until the ban. And since it is pretty realistic that some level of feeding is still going on. You stop your car and they come up to you looking for food that is a pretty trained behavior.

I am thinking broaden your term weekend and go from 11/2 through 11/12!!

Mine came as well. It is coming quick!

When I was making mine this spring once I started carrying all the stuff in I went with my closer option!! lol Good luck and hopefully it is a bit cooler when you start it, and less deer flies!

Fresh out of the garden tomato sandwiches Fresh picked blackberries in a bowl with a little cold milk and a sprinkle of sugar

This is a perfect example of what is wrong with some hunters. Sir you embarass me as a hunter. I wonder what percentage of the AR supporters would still support it if it was mandated all antlers must be destroyed or turned into DEC. Horn porn will kill traditional hunting as we know it. I am not against QDM but AR is not QDM and is really a poor across the board solution. I would be in total favor of it if it was say put in effect for all hunters after their first 5 hunting seasons. I have read, as I am sure most of you have, of the breakdown of the stages of a hunters years. SHOOTER STAGE The hunter talks about satisfaction with hunting being closely tied to being able to “get shooting.” Often the beginning duck hunter will relate he had an excellent day if he got in a lot of shooting. The beginning deer hunter will talk about the number of shooting opportunities. Missing game means little to hunters in this phase. A beginning hunter wants to pull the trigger and test the capability of his firearm. A hunter in this stage may be a dangerous hunting partner. LIMITING OUT STAGE A hunter still talks about satisfaction gained from shooting. But what seems more important is measuring success through the killing of game and the number of birds or animals shot. Limiting out, or filling a tag, is the absolute measure. Do not let your desire to limit out be stronger than the need for safe behavior at all times. TROPHY STAGE Satisfaction is described in terms of selectivity of game. A duck hunter might take only greenheads. A deer hunter looks for one special deer. A hunter might travel far to find a real trophy animal. Shooting opportunity and skills become less important. METHOD STAGE This hunter has all the special equipment. Hunting has become one of the most important things in his life. Satisfaction comes from the method that enables the hunter to take game. Taking game is important, but second to how it is taken. This hunter will study long and hard how best to pick a blind site, lay out decoys, and call in waterfowl. A deer hunter will go one on one with a white-tailed deer, studying sign, tracking, and the life habits of the deer. Often, the hunter will handicap himself by hunting only with black powder firearms or bow and arrow. Bagging game, or limiting, still is understood as being a necessary part of the hunt during this phase. SPORTSMAN STAGE As a hunter ages and after many years of hunting, he “mellows out.” Satisfaction now can be found in the total hunting experience. Being in the field, enjoying the company of friends and family, and seeing nature outweigh the need for taking game. Not all hunters go through all the stages, or go through them in that particular order. It is also possible for hunters who pursue several species of game to be in different stages with regard to each species. Some hunters feel that role models of good sportsmen, training, or reading books or magazines helped them pass more quickly through some stages. I would hate to deprive the new hunters of experiencing all the stages. I am well past the first two stages now but man did I enjoy them. And for those that care or say there are no meat hunters bull! 80% of the reason I hunt is for love of the hunt and bringing home meat. I take pride in preparing and eating that meat all year long. My family will eat 2 to 3 deer a year and I rarely if ever buy beef. In fact I will be grilling venison steaks on the grill in about an hour. The next 19.5 percent is sharing the hunt with family and the social aspect. The other .5 % is my care about a big buck. The stage I am in now I let a lot of young ones pass and if you read my journals on this site you know that and that I usually do not take 1.5 year old deer but this year I did and he tastes great. And for those of you that say take does!! I wish I had that opportunity. Some of you guys with too many need to start sending out invites!! Just my 2 cents and I respect all your opinions except the poster above. Peace

Does anyone have any idea what the point is not being able to hunt from a raised platform??????? A shooting house would be the safest place in my opinion!

I am eating venison to open up freezer space!!

I guess it matters where and what I am hunting. For squirells and such with 22 or pellet gun I put a handful maybe 25 in my pocket. For deer shotgun 4 or 5 in the gun and 2 in my pocket. Then a box in my pack and one in the truck. I have no issue shooting 3 or 4 deer in a day if I had the tags and chance. I have never shot more than 2 so far though! Rifle 3 in the gun and two in the pocket then remainder of box in truck. Muzzleloader 1 round in the gun and two speed loaders in pocket and 2 in the pack. If I am hunting out back I carry less than up north in the Adirondack a few miles in. I could not carry in a stock holder the way I usually hunt I would lose all kinds of rounds!

we need pics