nyantler

I think any Netflix original series is worth watching... but I really liked Godless and Frontier... another good one is "The Last Kingdom"

Sorry... but it's hard for me to get my head around being a hunter, and a part of population control and conservation, only to interfere further with mother nature by not allowing her to play her part in natural selection. If the animals don't make it through the winter... that is part of the plan. I'm just not that guy who thinks that the object is to preserve or raise a species simply for the enjoyment of hunting them, but rather enjoy my hunt knowing I'm helping mother nature with the daunting task of balancing things out given mans role in causing the reduction of natural habitat. We're just of two different mindsets i guess.

I'd love to see that proof... there is no evidence to the contrary that I'm aware of other than you saying so. Unless we're talking about plantings of winter browse material, which is not what we're talking about. We're talking about using artificial feeding stations here and one is not the same as the other. One will allow animals to find and feed naturally and instinctively, the other programs animals to eat somewhere that is based on a human schedule which is not always reliable.

http://www.dec.ny.gov/animals/74763.html

After looking again at the 2nd molar I think you're right... at least 4.5... I'm not as good as I think I am sometimes.

If they're half as good as the strings you sold me for my recurve they gotta be great... you do nice work.

Agreed, but with the penalty for breaking that law very stiff!

I feel no obligation to take every scrap of meat from my deer... I take only the best cuts... which are the back straps and six roasts then I have the butcher grind the rest into burger and donate it to the locate soup kitchen

And there still would be a set time in other states... there is no arbitrary "when the hunter thinks it's light enough or too dark" law. In fact, most other states offer a day by day schedule of what those times are in their game regulations... and they are strictly enforced. Not that I think it is bad to make one half hour before sunrise and after sunset the law, but letting hunters decide on their own idea of when to start or end would be asinine.

It's a wonderful life... yeah I know, I'm showing my age

I have quite a few hunter friends from Vermont and they all bought camps in NY and hunt here... What does that tell ya?

They won't do anything because that is exactly how they want it... their thought process has little to do with caring about the deer herd and everything to do with hanging trophy heads on the wall and getting in the record books. Less hunters means less competition from other hunters and more big bucks for them. They probably won't even plant food plots any more because they won't need to... there will be no need to attract and hold bucks on just their property and away from other hunters. They will however still use trail cams so they can name each buck and create a "hit list" of which bucks will take priority over other bucks for the next place on the wall.

Need to see 4th, 5th and 6th molar on lower jaw to examine the dentine vs enamel. This deer looks to be 3.5

I believe I mentioned that it may have a short term effect for ranchers, but it will be an ongoing war year after year... I have nothing against hunting or trapping them in open seasons as a means of controlling populations.

We sometimes forget why hunting still exists at all... yes, tradition may be one part... but in a world of growing development and increased loss of wildlife habitat, wildlife conservation and population control are the real reasons. Moving to justifying the killing of animals just for the sole purpose of hanging a trophy on the wall or getting in a record book will surely be the death of hunting. Maybe if we start working toward true management and stop trying to pass off trophy management as wildlife management we can be seen as real stewards of conservation. This new self righteous attitude has pitched hunter against hunter and does not bode well for the future of hunting.

Hey girls.. you're photobombing my selfie!

Although I'm not for mandatory AR's in NY... The idea of an antler restriction is much more appealing than the self righteous, so called, QDMers attitude of shaming anyone that doesn't shoot a buck that meets their personal standard. The Whole idea of managing for trophy whitetails has gotten out of control - with little real thought of establishing total herd health in a given habitat ( the true QDM ), and more emphasis on beating their chest because they passed on a 2.5 year old 8-point... only to shoot it at the end of the season when they become desperate for a buck... and accompanied by a " not what I was looking for, but it's meat in the freezer" explanation for why they chose to kill it the second time around. If managing for bigger bucks is what some hunters want then at least lets stop the elitist type attitude that demands others change their way of enjoying the hunt to fit someone else's version. It's about time a big name deer hunting publication came out with the reality of what this boom on trophy buck management is actually doing to hunting... As some of you know, I'm all about hunting big bucks, just not about forcing other hunters to forego their hunting enjoyment to meet my personal standards.

I'd do a canned hunt if it was with a lasso and a hammer. That might be challenging!

I have to agree with most of what you have said except for this... as one understands the structure of coyote families it becomes easy to see the logic. What happens when ranchers wage war on the coyote families is not keeping populations at bay, but rather recreating a new family structure that has not yet established the ranchers livestock as part of it's diet. It won't take long before the rancher will have the same problem and will have to wage the same war against a different coyote family. Having said that, if this gives ranchers some piece of mind then I suppose it is an effective response to their problem.. at least in the short term. But as most farmers will find out, they may win the short term battle, but will forever be fighting the war... and hunters will be doing the same.

I've been doing the morning hunts and find that the deer here are bedding early... long before sunrise. But I know that bucks tend to get active with does again in this late season and... well.. ya never know.

Not this guy that's for sure... I am still venturing out with the muzzleloader though... and that is still a challenge on these frigid days. As a younger man I remember grabbing the bow on these days and experiencing exactly what you describe. Maybe that's the education I needed to realize I didn't want to do that any more.

Every season I am still able to hunt the big woods is a good season... there is no place like the big woods.

It is hard to wrap my head around any explanation for why someone would do this.

yes.. or maybe that

Well Thank you... maybe you'll get lucky like that some day as well