nyantler

All the more reason to leave well enough alone... don't fix what ain't broken.

Then watch how many are shooting just "a little" after dark... after all, what's a few minutes after dark matter.. right? Because "most already go by their own time limit anyway" and who has time to check their watch?... do you see where this is going??? A person could absolutely push it a little further and would.

Shooting a buck before or after legal shooting time is not only illegal, but also not considered fair chase... so if you wouldn't want to kill a high fence deer because it isn't fair chase.. then it stands to reason that you wouldn't want to kill a deer before or after legal shooting hours... yet we seem to have some who are quite conflicted.. talking the talk seems to be easy for some of you... but walking the walk not so much. But, whatever, as long as you can kill a deer right? Because that's what's really important.

Good point... deer patterns can change based on changing food sources... for treestand sitters this could effect deer sightings at different times during the season based on the deer's nutritional needs. Larger food plots will pull more deer for longer as well. Smaller food plots probably get devoured quickly and only have a short term effect on deer travel patterns... this could possibly be a problem for those that hunt land bordered by big food plotters... makes sense.

Deer like bedding on the south side of a hill or mountain because that is the side that gets the most sun... on very cold, sunny days, that bedding area will be a good bet.

Here's a good scenario for those that hunt state land and think "whats the difference who shoots the buck as long as its tagged". You're hunting State land opening day and some "It's no big deal using someone else's tag" hunter like you is hunting a few hundred yards from you out of your sight.. the rut is on and first thing in the morning two bucks following a hot doe come by the other hunter heading your way as well... he shoots both bucks.. tags one with his wife's tag (who isn't there) and the other with his tag... I bet now the "It's not that big a deal if someone uses someone else's tag" is a big deal to you... the law are there for a reason... even if you will never understand what that reason is.

Using another persons tag is poaching!

Given the fact that the OP has been on recent threads where much of this has been addressed... and he has commented... I can understand the trolling reference and the skepticism that this was a legit "I want to know" question.

I like the Raquel Welch season ... Just the anticipation alone would be worth it.

Venison pot roast, mashed potatoes, gravy and carrots... try real hard and you might be able to smell it cooking...mmmmmmmmm... can't wait.

If you want to hunt a buck at camp then you probably shouldn't hunt north... I know many don't remember the old one buck rule with few party permits available for doe like when I first started hunting... but those that do.. know how good we have it now in NY as far as number of deer we can take and length of season compared to 35-40 years ago. I hunt both North and South... shot a buck north with muzzleloader and couldn't archery hunt for a buck for the rest of the regular bow season... its a trade off... you make a decision and you have to live with that decision... simple

If a deer is poached at night what difference does it make that it isn't tagged? A deer is going to die anyway... what does it matter who killed it? Okay... are we starting to see where that logic is going? I think if someone would tag a deer with someone else's tag... that person wouldn't have a problem looking for a way around other laws as well.. JMO... we don't get to create our own rules based on what we think.. we get to follow them as they are written.

Right...I was being generous...

Cool thing about scoring the spread... inside spread can not exceed the longest beam length... so if the spread is 30" and the longest beam is say 24" there is a 6" difference that is deducted from the total score

There is poaching and trespassing everywhere.. no hunting area is immune to it.

Oh yeah.. a little luck now and then doesn't hurt either:)

Trophies with skull plates that have been shattered or split by shooting, dropping, etc., are eligible for entry so long as the pieces fit perfectly back together. Such trophies can only be scored by members of the Club's Records Committee or its designated representatives. This is also true in NY... I believe the same goes for antler points as well. I forgot to mention.. very nice buck!

It wouldn't.. we were talking in general about split skull scoring... just pointing out that in NY we have a place for split skulls.

It certainly is... different goals is good... if we all were the same, life wouldn't be as much fun.. with little to talk about. Getting longer in the tooth has turned out to not be such a bad thing for me... I certainly needed to get a little wiser and slow down some based on my wild younger days... probably wouldn't hurt me to get a little wiser yet! My biggest point here though would be that regardless of how we determine the success of our season... it usually can not be blamed on outside sources, but rather on our own skills and/or short comings as a hunter... I'm sure you're a lot like me that if something isn't working.. you try something different... if we continue to do something that gets no results.. why would we expect anything to change?

That's correct in the hunting catagories... however in NY you may be able to place the score in the found dead or shed antler category where we give the antlers an 18" spread allowance... but it would not be eligible as a NY state record

I get the most kick out of killing a big buck in a place where most guys think there are no good bucks.. I have done it numerous times after being invited to friend's hunting camps where nobody has ever seen a big buck... funny though... I never seem to get a second invite..LOL I have Dairy farmer buddy that can only hunt 3 or 4 days a year... 5 times in a good year... he has killed a mature buck in the ADK's 20 out of the last 21 seasons... in areas where the deer density is so low most guys wouldn't even hunt there... he doesn't let his lack of hunting time or lack of deer determine the outcome of his hunting seasons... predation, limited food source, nasty weather.. etc... don't seem to be a factor to him when it comes to harvesting a deer. Never heard him complain about a bad season despite the limited opportunity.

Sometimes it's hard for me to grasp the "bad" season concept... unlike most hunters I don't judge my hunting experience by deer kills... killing deer is the easy part... making sure it continues to blow my skirt up is a bit harder... I have been fortunate to have avoided being completely skunked for nearly 30 years... each year different in some ways but never bad... a bad season for me would be not being able to get out and hunt at all... as focused and determined as I am when I am hunting I rarely take hunting so seriously that it can't be enjoyed and blunders laughed at... like I've always said here.. some of my best hunting experiences and hunts have been when I didn't kill the deer.. as well as some of my most memorable deer seasons have been when I didn't get a nice buck... usually for me sealing the deal is merely a bonus to an already great hunt... For example.. yesterday I came up a mature buck bedded with a doe in the middle of a huge corn lot... I spent 3 hours slowly crawling about 400 yards in a cut cornfield to get into range of the nice buck... only to have the doe get up just before getting into range and trot off, taking the buck with her. Bad? Not in the least... one of the coolest hunting experiences of my life... disappointed? not really.. I have until next Tuesday to hunt him with the smoke pole... the glass is always half full here.

For the record.. in my personal book that's a 7-point Congrats!

Why is it that when we make a list of reasons for not seeing deer or a "bad" season... one thing that is never on the list is our ability as a deer hunter... 99 times out of 100.. it is something we are doing wrong... For example: Sitting in the same tree stand all season and not seeing deer isn't a bad season it's insane... hammering the same 100 acres of woods every day and not seeing a deer is not a bad season it's bad tactics Whitetail populations can fluctuate everywhere in NY due to many different factors from year to year... a good or bad season is usually on the hunter... unless of course there are absolutely NO deer... If there are fewer deer.. the better hunters will still usually find and kill one.. and if they don't they usually have a heck of a good time doing it and still chalk it up to a good season of hunting. When you have what you call a "bad" season it does much better to look at what YOU"RE doing and what you could do differently to be more successful. The population of deer in any area will always have it's up and down years

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