sampotter

I had heard the story growing up and then I read it in an Adirondack book of true short stories as told by one of the other posse memebers.

Back in the 1930s-40s an escaped convict was discovered living in the Adirondacks.My great-granddad was part of the posse that hunted him down. It all ended in a shootout with the convict dead. He (the convict) had animal skins wrapped around his feet for shoes and he was using ammo stolen from hunting cabins that was too small for the gun he was shooting so he had wrapped leather around the ammo so the pin would strike the primer to explode the round. No wonder the posse was unharmed.

I wouldn't disagree with that. I do hate little yap dogs though, maybe a little toe flick would've been just as effective on a 5 pounder!

Some dogs need to be shot. Anyone see the pitbull that attacked an ACO after the fat sow in a nightgown owner sicced the dog on the cop? Also, there certainly dogs being abused. 172 dogs on one site is a lot. That being said, HSUS can suck it!

Yep, can't help feeling sorry for the innocent. Not sure what I would have done had I found one alive and reasonably healthy.

Good to get back at it!

If you showed a progression of hunting implements by degree of difficulty from highest to lowest it would look something like this: rock>knife>spear>atlatl>longbow>recurve bow>compound bow>crossbow/primitive ML>smoothbore shotgun>inlineML/rifled shotgun>rifle As can probably be figured out from my previous posts; my contention is not with the crossbow per se, more with the baggage that comes with it. If crossbows are pushed into bow season why not shorten the gun season and implement a 1 buck rule like Ohio?

Ah, yes. That is the puppy.

I'm having a hard time figuring out what picture you are referring to?

Geez Chevy, where have you been the last 2 days?

Ah, well this feels like a religion or politics discussion. I'm pretty sure neither side is going to sway the other.

Ok, by reading your previous post it appears you are in favor of crossbow inclusion during bow season. If this is true what are your reasons?

Joe- if the crossbow has no advantages over a vertical bow then why do people want to include it in bow season and why hasn't it always been a legal implement? Where does the line get drawn? Why not have a general "deer" season where anyone can use their weapon of choice be it poison dart or scud missile? If I were to agree that being against crossbows during bow season is motivated by selfishness then you have to agree that being for them is motivated by greediness.

We are all entitled to our own opinions. For me, hunting is about the experience and it's a lot more fun if you don't see another hunter and there's a chance that deer will be acting naturally. It's no secret that once the gun season opens where I live deer either leave town or go nocturnal. You can forget about everything you've read about patterning deer or trying to call them. The only reliable way to see deer is to see deer is to stomp them out of the brush, which is my least favorite way to see or shoot deer. My overall assertation is that allowing crossbows as a legal weapon during bow season will mostly draw gun hunters into crossbow hunting rather than converting bowhunters into crossbow hunters. Anyone can go in the woods with a bow regardless of if they practice or not and yes there are morons that "bowhunt" but for the most part they quickly lose interest when they aren't successful, which is where the practice comes in. I'm not sure how you managed to derive an insult from a simple question. I asked it because I didn't know the answer for sure and didn't want to assume... Depending on what the answer was I had more questions that would help me understand the motivation for wanting crossbows to be legal. There is nothing wrong with not being a bowhunter and it shouldn't be taken as an insult.

If there weren't horns sticking out of that pan I'd say you were making some campfire maple syrup! Looks great and the only way someone will notice the missing nasal bones is if they are looking straight up the nose.

Not sure where this is going? No, I'm not a hunter. My rules are pretty much the same as the current NYS game laws although I would be in favor of antler restrictions if you insist. Elitist isn't really the proper term for me as I don't feel as though my opinion is any more important than yours, I just happen to see things in a contrasting light. There is no reason why any person can't take up bowhunting as the current rules stand, they just need to be willing to put in the time if they want reasonable success. Unfortunately there aren't many qualifications needed to be able hunt in the US. Ethics certainly isn't one of them and it is undeniable that there are people that are out hunting that in a perfect world wouldn't be let out of the house. I thought of a good Gun Goon example (not all gun hunters are goons): I let a guy I work with sit in one of my blinds and he brought his young son along. He hunted with his pistol for the first time ever even though and a doe came along. He took the shot and she ran away. He found a bunch of hair where she had been standing but no blood. Because he saw no blood he figured she was fine. Later his brother in law noticed that he shot her with self defense ammo! This wasn't exactly his 1st time hunting. He is exaclty the type that would pick up a crossbow if it were legal.

You can call me elitist all you want, you're not going to hurt my feelings just because I think the current NY rules are just fine. Just like there's a reason some streams are flyfishing only, there's a reason to not allow crossbows for able bodied hunters during bow season. There are indeed slobs in any endeavor regardless of tool used and I prefer to not be associated with them. In my neck of the woods (not far at all from you SteveB) there appears to be a lot more slobs, aka Gun Goons (goon is a hockey term that would be a good label for the Hanson brothers in Slapshot) that gun hunt than bow hunt. I see it every season. Trespassing, shooting from and across roads, etc. The idea of having to practice a lot with a vertical bow to become proficient has been daunting enough to keep a lot of hunters from taking it up. It makes bow season a very enjoyable time for the hunters that enjoy the quiet, solitude, and lack of deer drives. It doesn't mean that gun hunters don't get to deer hunt for over a month with gun and ML. Making crossbows legal for anyone to use during bow season would suddenly be enough for those that were on the fence to start "bow" hunting because crossbows are indeed a lot easier to be good 'nuf with.

Taken in context the statement is "Most SLOB HUNTERS hunt with a gun because they are too lazy to put in the time with a bow. I'd prefer they didn't hunt at all but thats not an option."

Really? What are the disadvantages that a cross bow has that a vertical bow doesn't. That you have to use your feet to cock it? That they are more expensive to buy? My gripe is that a fair percentage of gun-goons that usually aren't in the woods until the weekend before the gun opener to make some last minute hammer and chainsaw adjustments to their box blinds will suddenly take up "bow" hunting if they are allowed to use a crossbow, thereby polluting the woods and causing deer to shut down. There's no denying that there are slob hunters that give hunting a bad name. Most hunt with a gun because they are too lazy to put in the time with a bow. I'd prefer they didn't hunt at all but thats not an option.

Wnybuckhunter- Do you currently bowhunt?

Haha- thanks Wooly. I'm getting there. I think that set is the first sheds i ever had prior history with the buck that grew them. They rode shotgun all the way home- so i could reach over and touch em every once in awhile... Headed to Wisconsin on farm business ... I'm arriving a half day early to squeeze in a quick wander before my farm stuff. Then Iowa 2 weeks after that.

I've been out a few more times and tallied some some miles with the girls, even managing to pick up a few more antlers along the way, proving that this is not an entirely futile quest for inanimate pieces of bone. Shed antlers here in New York seem to be scarce but I did manage to pick up a fresh spike with a small brow tine. I headed down to a family friend's property in southern Ohio this week. The 1st day there was a light blanket of snow on the ground which made it difficult for me to see antlers, so I focused on walking the many trails in an effort to map them with my GPS. Fleur and Ruby had other ideas and used their sniffers to each find their 1st horns of the year. Both antlers were still smooth where the squirrels hadn't chewed them and also had good color. Too bad they weren't found last year. On our way in for lunch I checked out a little clover patch and spotted a nice antler in the snow. As I moved in closer to get a picture I realized there was a matched set, and a really nice set at that! The antlers looked familiar and it dawned on me that this was the buck that I almost had a chance at last fall, but a pack of feral dogs came in and chased him away. This is the nicest set I've picked up with no chews from squirrels and extremely symetrical. Scores about 140" with a 20" spread. After lunch we were following a logging trail and both dogs showed an interest in something down in a small hollow. Turned out to be a nice 120" 8 point buck. The next day it had warmed a little and the sun had burned some of the snow off. We spent more time scouring the ridgetops and following the sidehill deer trails. Fleur managed to pick up her 2nd antler. Far back on a hillside we found the sad corpse of a puppy. Cause of death was unknown but it had no collar and was a spitting image of one of the feral dogs I saw the previous fall. At one point the girls managed to flush a young coon out of a hollow stump that created some momentary excitement. “These are antler search and rescue dogs!” Miles: 60.8 WT Sheds: 10 · Sam: 7 Ø New York: 5 Ø Ohio: 2 · Fleur: 2 Ø Ohio: 2 · Ruby: 1 Ø Ohio:1 Dead Bucks: 5 · New York: 4 · Ohio: 1 Dead Does/Fawns: 5

I like to throw potatoes and carrots in with mine.

Man- you had a lot of spare time. The boiling water takes care of those extra details. Bet it smelled wonderful too.

You call that fun? There's a guy that lives near me that tackles them from the sled with ducktape in his mouth and hogties them like its the rodeo. Now that sounds like fun...