nyantler

If there were millions of coyotes in NY I would tend to agree, but 20-30,000 coyotes does not make for an epidemic. I agree with the topic of the thread, predators should be controlled... but anyone talking about complete eradication is speaking from a position of ignorance... and my point about those that enjoy hunting coyotes is still valid. Why are deer hunters more important than coyote hunters. Contrary to popular belief there are some who like coyote hunting better than deer hunting

I know of just as many "unsavory" bow and muzzleloader hunters... the weapon has little to do with anything... it can't pick the idiot that decides to use it in an unsavory manner.

Personally I don't get the aversion to using a crossbow in the archery season or any other season for that matter. Probably because I have no interest in the crossbow and it has no impact on my hunting what so ever. God forbid someone kills a deer during any season with a legal weapon... you could mess up someone's "hit list".

Fingers, no sights... I have never shot any archery equipment with a sight ever... I have no idea what it looks like to look through a sight from behind a bow.

If we eradicate the Coyote... won't the coyote hunters be all up in arms when there aren't any to hunt? What them? Eradicate what ever killed the coyotes?

I have thought about this a lot and believe that as people get more and more embedded in an urban society, the less apt they are to get the younger generation involved in the outdoors... fast paced lives and computer technology has made it hard to grab the attention of the youngsters and I think they see themselves as having little room for hunting. Even those that were avid hunters and grew up in avid hunting families seem to make less and less time for a sit in the stand or a walk in the woods... so it stands to reason they won't be taking their kids hunting any time soon, and if they did... it wouldn't be like the ingrained traditional experience some of us had as a kid. I don't know about you, but opening day as a youngster was just like Christmas in my family... even mom, who didn't hunt, got up bright and early to make breakfast for us and joined in on the excitement of our anticipated hunt

no different than it already is... the addition of a weapon that kills using the same cutting edge as any other arrow throwing weapon and still requires a deer to be standing in front of the hunter will have little impact on overall kill numbers... and most hunters that I've spoken to aren't giving up their compound or trad bow for a crossbow any time soon.

It wouldn't really matter what the DEC did with season lengths or bag limits at this point... most of what goes on is a direct result of the actions of the hunter. A good example would be the guy that says the season is too long and the deer population is taking a big hit... yet he continues to fill 3-4 tags every year. Or the guy that whines of the herd being too big, but is against killing a doe or advocates for a 1 buck only season. Usually when someone becomes adamant about changing something it's because it isn't working for them personally and they want to change things to make the game a bit easier to play for them... most don't really care about the overall conservation impact, just the personal impact on themselves. The answer to solving conservation problems is really easy when there is full understanding and cooperation from all hunters... the real problem is that for most hunters (me included) their is the personal experience element that make things much more complicated and tends to mucks up the whole works. The proof can be seen in just the number of different opinions offered in this thread alone.

For me it's about the ultimate competition... I have always been very competitive... sports, martial arts etc. The experience of testing myself against something or someone in a challenge of strength, wit, and skill. What better than the challenge of man vs. beast where the opponent has the home field advantage, is faster, stronger, has keener senses and is a master at surviving under extreme and dangerous conditions? Then throw in the experience of being out in nature and the serenity of the outdoors... and I'm thinking the better question is "Why not?"

See that's where you go wrong... you actually think what he said and what you said are even close to the same.

Not only do I shoot feathers, but I shoot them on a cedar shaft

For those who want a shorter season... you do realize you can always voluntarily not hunt the whole season... you don't need the DEC telling you how little to hunt. Seems like with all the support we have for that on this forum more of you would be cutting your seasons short for the cause.

all the seasons are long enough... I'm so lame by Dec 20th from all the walking I'm glad when it finally comes to an end.

I'm sure that there must be a reason they are former cops if you know them and they still speak to you... you could always take a shot at the job if you're so up on how they should do the job they were trained for and you weren't. Maybe you could try talking nicely to the thug trying to grab your gun and kill you with it... let's see how that works for ya. Now back under the bridge with you.

...and I rest my case.

Well it hasn't worked with you so....

Success has a lot to do with where you hunt and how you hunt... the term "good hunter" is very subjective and has a different meaning to different people. For example the guy who sits in a stand all day and kills deer would have a tough time doing that in the middle of the Adirondacks... just as the Adirondack tracker might have a hard time being successful from a treestand and neither is necessarily a "good hunter"... they may just be luckier than the next guy. A good hunter in my view is someone that hunts for the right reasons, cares about conservation, knows and follows the hunting regulations and safety procedures, and most of all is enjoys all his hunting experiences... Although there are many skilled hunters that are successful, some fall short of being what I consider a good hunter.

May God bless you and your family. Very sorry for your loss.

This is so true... I missed a chip shot a few years ago with my 870... before that day I had never had to so much as rack another shell with that gun... it's a tack driver. On that particular day I tracked this buck and got the drop on him walking broadside to me at less than 40 yards... The situation was so exceptional I got complacent and had that buck in the freezer before I pulled the trigger... I forgot to bare down and concentrate... and after the shot caught myself having already peeked over the gun thinking the buck would just drop. As he ran off I wasn't even thinking that I missed. I just thought I'd find him around the corner piled up in a heap. There was plenty of fresh snow and easy to see any blood trail. When I walked to the spot that he stood at the shot there was nothing.. no blood, no hair, and most of all no deer... I tracked him until dark and never caught up to him again. Lesson learned... there is no such thing as a "chip shot"

Think about it... a 7 foot hairy giant that has supposed to have been seen all over the world for the last 50 years by 1000's of people and still not a single bit of credible evidence of it's existence... no dead bodies, no trail cam pics, nothing... it doesn't take a rocket scientist to know it doesn't exist. Just like wolves in NY that were supposed to be introduced 40 years ago, but somehow have not populated enough to see any evidence of a pack or pack kills anywhere in NY... use your heads people.

For me this is where the whole "buck management" thing falls apart... I am not of the opinion that there is such thing as a "poor" rack on a mature whitetail deer... beauty is in the eye of the beholder. One mans perfection is not necessarily another's. This is more "rack' management than buck management... my view is that there is no good that comes from rack management as it pertains to free range, fair chase hunting.

Agreed.. over the years it seems that we have gone from a really good buck being a handsome 100 class 8-point maybe with a spread out to his ears. Now hunters poo-poo that nice buck as a "not shooter". The whole new age idea of what is a mature deer leaves me a bit uneasy...

The science of buck age structure goes back to the 1950's and your theory has no merit as it relates to age structure and having future older bucks... maybe some merit in relation to culling for more perfect racks, but only in a controlled environment where certain bucks are selected for culling from the herd. Plus, not all spikes and 3-points are inferior deer... most eventually catch up as far as rack size in their 2nd or 3rd year... studies have even documented exceptional rack growth from spike bucks that have been allowed to reach maturity. Nothing personal... even a good guy can be wrong sometimes

So if your killing the 1,5 year olds to let the 2.5 year old grow... Where do the 2.5 year olds come from? The truth is there is no merit to his opinion... I will agree it is an opinion though.

Exactly! I would have told the management that they better call the authorities or I would. I would have never let those people out of the store before the authorities arrived.