nyantler

There is no shortage of deer in the Adirondacks.. in fact it has one of the highest populations of deer in NY... you are mistaking population with deer density... because it is so vast there are less deer per square mile... this is common in most large tracks of land...most, if not all of the adirondack hunters that I know (and I know many) are extremely successful in the "Dacks"... One can not hunt most of the Adirondacks the way they hunt other areas of NY... if you're hunting from a stand.. I promise you your success rate in most of the ADK's will be extremely low... your sightings will probably be low as well... it just is nothing like any other place in NY as far as deer hunting is concerned... yes it has it's habitat downfalls, but one of them isn't lack of deer. I have hunted vast amounts of Adirondack wilderness in all areas of the ADKS and still have only covered a pimple on the ass of it... no there isn't the population there was years ago, but it is not the same woods it was years ago.. not even close... despite it's downfalls... it is still is one of the only areas where mother nature is still in control... much of the woods is as it would be if man didn't exist.

It absolutely helps... it gives a glimmer of hope sometimes to a seemingly hopeless situation... hope is what keeps us all going during the rough times.

The only problem with a State land BO rule is that in some spots there are poeple other than hunters using the land sometimes.. they would have to be required to wear it as well... and I just don't think that would go over well. Good idea though.. especially in huntable State Parks

John, I thought for sure I saw you gathering up 8 deer, dressed in a red suit lugging a huge sack of presents around.. didn't think i'd hear from you til after xmas.

Great Idea.. I had a friend that did that and they turned out great.. he has been using them for years

I still am always curious what story they tell when someone asks them about the rack... I bet it's a doozy!!

Wonder what he thought they would do at the hospital for the deer?...lol

It's really nice to see the enthusiasm that hunters have over their success... always reminds me of what I like most about hunting... no matter how much opinions differ on some subjects, we all seem to enjoy this part and make it a point to congratulate each other on our success... one thing we all can agree on is that the success part is enjoyable to share with others... congrats to all.. Merry Christmas and God Bless

I would also go to the extent of holding the parent criminally accountable if his kid gets shot and doesn't have orange on.. some stupid we can fix or at least make an attempt to..

I really don't see the problem with bubbas position... he isn't saying that you shouldn't wear orange... in fact, he even has said that it is safer.. he was just making the point that a mandatory orange rule would create a situation where hunters might just be looking for orange instead of identifying their target.. I think thats valid... I am all for wearing something orange during the gun season... I am hoping that others are doing the same... I am quite sure that I will never mistake a man (or woman) for deer... but I may not see a hunter in camo standing still in the woods behind a deer that I might be shooting at... and I would say that any hunter that shoots someone under that condition should not be held accountable... yet that wouldn't change the fact that the hunter would still always have to live with the reality of having shot someone.. not something that anyone should have to live with through no fault of their own... We can tell by Docs fact find that even mandatory BO laws won't stop all hunter shootings... nor will it keep some from still wearing all camo... and I think the only mandate should be that any young hunter under a certain age should be required to wear B/O... keeping any stupid "camo only" parent from putting his young childs life in jeopardy by not allowing his kid to be seen by other hunters in the woods.

I'd help you build it but I'm kinda far away... good luck

Nicely said Grow... there is definitely a silver lining in everything if you look hard enough.

Nothin' like a new truck! It's a guy thing...

The amount of fawns born can be related to population, habitat, amount of food source, stress etc. Mother Natures way of ensuring survival.

If there is anything that you should really spend the money on.. it's a pair of good boots. A $20 pair of boots isn't gonna cut it for very long.. I spend between $150 - $200 on my Wolverines.. nobody is tougher on a boot than me and I can get 3-4 years out a boot before it starts to let a bit of water in... a good waterproofing extends the life even more... I keep my old boots for dry days... even though they aren't very waterproof anymore they still are extremely warm.. I buy one size bigger than my normal shoe size and wear a good wool sock. I haven't had cold feet in many many years.

I'm definitely for wearing at least an orange hat while gun hunting.... Bubba does make a point about hunters needing to be absolutely sure about what it is they're shooting at... my problem with camo during the gun season is the guy sitting against a tree or standing in the woods and not being able to pick him out if a shot at a deer is available... obviously if the idiot gets shhot by a hunter who is shooting at a deer its his fault for not being visible, but nobody here wants to be the guy that shoots an idiot.. no matter how stupid he is. Wear something orange!!

I would love a flintlock only season.... even a doe only like PA had would be nice.

true...

Didn't see anything that I'd call negative... remember.. I'm antler your doe... I can see where you'd find negatives I like the one buck rule anyway

Speaking of social issues.. I like how Doewhacker and Steve took time out from "Occupy Wall Street" to post on this thread. Always glad to hear your imput.

It is very logical.. and I do agree with it...I especially liked the parts where participation neither dropped or increased in the AR areas and hunter satisfaction is slightly up in those areas as well.. and that most hunters still support AR's in those areas... the thing that I really thought was interesting was that hunters reported that the AR programs have made them more apt to voluntarily pass on younger bucks in non-AR areas... all seems very positive to me.

As long as there are high populations of deer.. there will be always be hunting...

Can't help that guys aren't good enough hunters to kill the older bucks..lol.. seriously though the reason for that I think is because hunters want to always play close to the rule... in other words they are still settling for the least that can be taken instead of realizing that there are more 3 and 4 year olds to hunt and hunting them. Unfortunately the 2.5 year olds aren't yet as experienced as the older bucks and will still be the easier ones to kill... AR's have done there job by balancing out the buck herd, now it is up to the hunter to do theirs... kill the deer... and never say never.. say yet... as hunters start to adapt over time the kill numbers will climb.

In a way killing smaller bucks is putting a limit on the amount of bigger bucks avialable for everyone... so it still works in both directions I think... a 3 on a side AR rule would still allow for some of the small bucks to be fair game, but also would allow for more hold over bucks each year.. so the limitations would balance out... remember that AR's will only reduce the buck take for a couple maybe 3 years until the ages start to balance out.. then hunters will be taking the same amount of bucks they do now.. just more of them will be bigger... everyone wins.. even the bucks The truth is all of this would really be just theory if AR's hadn't already been proven to work time and time again for balancing out age structure and buck population. It's just a fact that can't be disputed... whether or not it should be mandated is arguable... its value to age structure and amount of older bucks produced is not. Will it gaurantee a buck for every hunter each year?.. No.. but neither does what we have now...

Absolutely right... the DEC has given all hunters the opportunity to hunt from Sept 27th until the middle of Dec. If you don't take advantage of all the seasons that is on you... I have gone from just being a shotgun hunter in the southern tier in the 70's which made my season short.. to hunting with every weapon during its season both north and south... I made the choice that I wanted to have a longer deer season.. so I did something about it myself... without asking for longer shotgun season at the expense of other hunters.