nyantler

I said if there was a SEPARATE crossbow season :

A feeder would help the mature buck regain calories thru the winter..or doe..or yearlings...again ..one track mind..you keep talking of a healthy herd..but all you speak of is bucks.. That's because I was responding to your comment on feeders and rutting bucks... : and as far as the rest of the deer... mother nature does just fine getting the deer through the winter in most areas.. especially where you hunt

Most likely the only places that hold really old bucks are remote places in the adirondacks... if there are any other places that hold 4.5 or better bucks it would be due to lack of hunting pressure... I don't think there are many public hunting areas in NY that hold many 3.5 year olds... Like it was said... hunting properties are too small and hunter restraint is to low.

Always here to help Steve..

If there were a separate crossbow season... when should it be?

That's not QDM .. that's AR.. Couldn't really do a statewide QDM.. the plan consists of too many elements that would be hard for the DEC to manage... better that qdm is left to individual privately owned or leased hunting land.

the more I see and hear the more disgusted I get...

just can't help yourself huh Spiker?

If there were as many bucks killed as shots i here on opening day.. there wouldn't be many deer left in the woods..lol I'm thinking kill ratio is LOW

Issue seems pretty lively to me

Even with feeders a buck will forego eating during the rut.. its just in his nature to do so... they have something far more exciting that they want to concentrate on

Great mounts and Deer!

Remember too.. one persons idea of a quality mount is different than anothers.. make sure you see the guys work yourself... if you know someone that has an older mount that still looks great.. then that might be the taxidermist you want to go with... once you pick a good one.. he should be your guy forever or as long as he's in business.

There were only 2 ever in NY and both were captive deer...

I have eaten puffballs... if you get them when they are really meaty and not spored out yet they are a HUGE mushroom.. I fry them in olive oil and garlic (go figure) and season with salt and pepper. I'm not crazy about them but once in a while they're okay.

Refer back a few posts.. I already answered that. And as far as hunting goes you are right.. Big Bucks are all I think about until muzzleloader season... then it's big bicks and big does... I don't see the problem... For the record I only hunt big tom turkeys too..

Do you eat them?

Nudnicks are what I see here...uhhh, I thought it was a deer...I'm old, and can't see...can I still mount it? What's that? What did you say? Time to sit on the porch, and drink Ice Tea..or something stronger.. I love those two guys, but really wouldn't trust them in the deer woods without supervision. Would expect nothing less from you Spiker... Good form Buddy :

I only dig them in mid May when they leaf (it's part of my turkey hunting ritual)... they are easier to find then... usually by the end of may the leaf is dead and gone. I use the leaves chopped in salads occasionally as well.

I find it hard to believe that a deer has the jaw or tooth strength to chew an antler.. but I really don't know for sure.. but I highly doubt it

I think a buck will breed hard no matter how many doe there are.. it is so inherant in his nature to do so that he can't really control it.. as for ratio... it isn't realistic in this day and age to think that we can actually attain a 1:1 ratio of bucks to does... but it is realistic to want better representation of buck ages from 1.5 to as far as 6.5... One of the benefits of a good age structure and ratio is that the does get bred earlier, resulting in earlier born fawns making it easier for the fawns to prepare for the upcoming winter.

Excellent.. I will definitely borrow that one!

All that may be true but what they fail to tell you is that each year.. a new crop of 100 fawns will be born.. meaning that although there are only 24 bucks from the original 100 (which are 6.5 years old) there are another 26 @5.5 year old, 26 @ 4.5, 32 @ 3.5, 34 @2.5, 54 @ 1.5 and a new crop of 100 fawns that have followed along after 6.5 years making a very well rounded age structure... all the more reason to pass on the youngest deer and manage for mature bucks... if mother nature decided to take more of these 100 fawns at a younger age there would have been even less survival to 6.5

Not sure where you got your hatred for bigger bucks... maybe it's because you have trouble seeing any. #1 There isn't any money for the state to maintain feeders #2 So instead we just kill them on their way to the feeders.. what's the difference? #3 Feeders would just train deer to come to feeders and not feed naturally... that would mean that the feeders would have to be maintain forever... I sure hope there aren't any budget cuts! #4 The hunters that shoot yearlings now are still going to shoot yearlings ... remember.. you're hunting for meat and the yearlings taste the best.. even though they don't have as much meat as the big ones

Absolutely .. quality before price... in taxidermy you definitely get what you pay for... most mounts look ok when you first get them... but what they look like 10-20 years from now is what counts... and I won't have a mount done unless the taxidermist has the hide tanned professionally.. the quick tanning process or wet tanning doesn't hold up. It makes for getting your mount back quicker but that's the only benefit.