mrmagoo

I personally have mixed feelings about the term. I personally do not shoot smaller deer, mainly because I would want them to stay in the area. If a young hunter shots one more power to them because they need to get a feel for what it takes and the responsibility that comes with pulling the trigger. with that said have I shot small deer, oh by far. But at this point in my life it is not so much about filling my tag as it is about my kids and getting together in camp. Do I still hunt as hard as before by far, does it make my heart skip a few beats when I see an animal oh yea. But it doesn't mean I have to kill it just because its there. I personally prefer larger animals that's all mr magoo

Machinist, if that's all the meat you want, could you find some body to take the rest of what you do not want. Ask if they would split the cost of the processing if you do not do it yourself. or [possibly donate it to a needy family that would appreciate the meat. Just a thought. The reason I say this because this is what I do. (when I get one). I have people who will trade salmon for venison, or I will give to the church for their local game dinner. Or to anybody else who wants some. My family loves speedies (?) so that's how most of it cut. mr magoo

That's funny you guys are saying you are having a hard time finding these guns. I ordered one for my daughter in 243 youth and she loves it. I went through my local gun dealer and got a better price then I could at Dicks and Gander mt. . I know at Gander they were starting at 100 more then my actual price with tax and all. She loves shooting it and it does look preeeety to boot. But then again her shotgun is the Remington 870 shoot like you can girl gun also, which she also loves. Right now school has gotten in the way of shooting a lot for her, so in time I am sure she will out shoot the boys just like her mother. She just waits till the shot is perfect and is not impatient or rushes the shot mr magoo

I am sure that when the road kill crew comes along and finds a tag on it they will get a hold of the person. Probably fine them for at least littering if not with others, like improper disposal of a carcass mr magoo

This to me is a an moral question, the letter of the says that if you shoot the animal then you must put your tag on it. But lets play devil's advocate here, lets say I shoot the animal and it wanders off and then my buddy also shoots the same animal and then the animal drops dead. Upon inspection both shots are lethal who lays claim to the animal, first blood??? or when it is dead. Or lets make it muddier for people lets say the original shot is lethal but will take time to die, and then some one across the property line then shoots and kills, two wounds, who claim is it? Some will say the original others will say the second. It is grey area. Now have I heard of people who hunt together as a group, if one member shoots a deer that they have no legal tag for but some in their party does and then that person tags it, legal probably not. But when you are in the middle of no where, or on private land and the chance of getting caught are slim to nil, it can and will happen. To me personally as long as all parties involved are "hunting" then it should be their choice, but if the party tagging the animal is not present then that's a different story. mr magoo

Or make them taste sooooo good next to the taters

Living near Ithaca I have seen some of this first hand, heard of it and just shake my head in disbelief. This is also similar to what happened at Binghamton University either last year or the year before. They were going to bring in sharp shooters to cull the herd, when the students were on Christmas break, The general public caught wind and had a fit over it and put in place all the injunctions and stuff and tied the hands of the School. Then they turned around and complained about the car collisions and their bushes being eaten. I am surprised that when the shooters come in, they do not state that the meat will go to feed either the homeless or less fortunate, that normally helps take the sting out of it for a lot of these people. Just as long as they feel it is going to good and being wasted. mr magoo

I' ll put my 2 cents in on this. I hunt in Chenango county, one of the first counties to go to rifles. I love it personally, the number of volleys I hear has gone way down, and single shot or two seem to be the norm. At times you can tell the difference between shotgun and rifle others hard to. That is a plus, less things flying in the woods. Like with most of you I had concerns about safety. The area I am in has woods, meadows and houses all in close quarters to one another. When this was started it was a trial period and it made it through fine people are and have been aware of their surroundings. Will this change in time maybe, but so far all is good. The group I am with are even more careful because we know that there are houses down the valley and we make sure of our angles, and where the bullet is headed, of coarse we were careful with shotguns, but not as nearly so. Plus not everyone in our group has rifles, and to be honest there are some I hope never get one. But like anything new, or with change it will take time for people to adjust and become comfortable with the new law. Every deer season I get excited and scared all at once. Excited the season is here and scared that something will happen, either to our group or some one near by. that's why I can't wait for opening day to get over with, then most people are done and the woods start having fewer people in them mr magoo

When I hunted with one group we made our own breakfast and hot sausage, patty style and it was quite good. We ground the venison first added equal amounts of unseasoned pork mixed in the seasoning to the meat reground it again and then let sit for 24 hours in fridge then packaged up. My kids went nuts over the breakfast sausage, I went through what I had in a couple of months. We found it easier then working with the casings mrmagoo