nyantler

I got my kids a H&R single shot youth 20 gauge when they were 12... very inexpensive ( $100 new ) and they learned to make one shot count... they killed a lot of turkeys with that gun... when they outgrew it I passed it on to a friend who's son turned 12 and told him to do the same when his son outgrew it. pay it forward!!

I think so too.. I wasn't sure so I dialed it back... Northern Maine it definitely vast and I'm sure you could find a place for the camper. I hunted Old Town, Benedicta, and near Moosehead Lake all where excellent.

Extremely hard terrain because of all the logging... clear cuts are huge but get like a jungle after a few years... some places get so thick you can walk on top of the new growth... deer are so use to seeing loggers that when they're jumped they don't run far before stopping to take a look back to see if it was just a logger.. usually a fatal mistake...lol.. Got to be in great shape to hunt far from the road.

I have a cousin who is the Dean of Biology at the Univ. of Maine.. so I've hunted there quite a few times... tough place to hunt, but I loved it. 1000's of acres of paper company land to hunt and the bucks grow BIG there!

I'd have shot him too... from what I saw.. may be more to it though...

I would have tracked her down but she is a doe ... that's all you buddy..LOL

Most animals have the ability to sense changes in barometric pressure. When the pressure drops they know a storm is coming and will be very active before it hits and they have to batten down the hatches. But during the heavy winter months it is more about catching up on nutrition... they will feed anytime that the weather is good enough where they don't have to expel a lot of energy finding food... for example during winter thaws when the snow leaves for a bit or melts enough so that it is easier to move around.

We all keep saying how we want more people to take up hunting... worried that hunting numbers are down... so now your saying we ought to pick on the crossbow because of the added pressure from more hunters? so if more guys start hunting with a compound or recurve that would be ok? Because they probably aren't going to be a lazy smoker with a crossbow? I've seen guys walking through the woods whistling carrying their compound... I would hate to see more compound hunters because I'm worried they might be whistlers too. Unfortunately, there are always going to be a list challenges for guys that hunt small parcels or state land... I'm pretty sure crossbow hunters aren't going to be the biggest challenge on that list.

Yeah I really went off there a bit...

Being tradional bowhunter... I would not trade my recurve or longbow for a crossbow during the archery season. Never have I thought that anyone in the woods was at a huge advantage because they choose to hunt with a more modern weapon. Every weapon takes skill to master, saying that using one weapon over another makes a hunter lazy and taking the easy way out could be said about every weapon after the rock. I have never felt at a disadvantage because I choose to carry a more primitive weapon. In fact, I wouldn't even know if the other hunters in the woods were using a crossbow, a compound or a trad bow for that matter. What difference would it make anyway? Should I be concerned about someone with a different weapon than me killing a deer? Is that the issue? I really would like to know why I'm suppose to be threatened by any other weapon being used to harvest a deer. Because they have an advantage? Is it because we are afraid that they have a better chance of hitting and killing a deer because they are using a "lazy hunter's" weapon? Is it because we don't want another hunter to take a deer that we might be able to kill instead? What is it? Somebody please tell me!! I thought the whole idea was to harvest whitetails... Maybe its because the success rate for hunters would increase from 30% to maybe 50%? God knows that would be horrible... more hunters enjoying success? We certainly wouldn't want that... Maybe there is a safety reason I should be worried about. Sorry but I'm just not getting it... and I hope I never do... I'm too concerned about enjoying what Joe is doing to be concerned with what weapon or how many more deer other hunters are killing than me... I am just glad that the others are out there hopefully doing the same... I would feel sorry for the guy that sits in his tree stand worrying that someone else might possibly be in the woods somewhere with a crossbow and could maybe have a successful hunt with that crossbow... and more sorry for the guy that thinks more about what others are doing than enjoying his own experience.

Yeah I like my whitetail too... but it would be nice to do something different for a while... can always find a place to hunt whitetails.. only a few places in the world that have what Alaska has. I couldn't live there, but wouldn't mind hunting and fishing there for a few months.

Great find... looks very promising... a sportsman's paradise. Congrats!

I am of the same thought... population control is paramount at this point here in NY as far as the DEC is concerned... I think it is evident from the increased number of tags and lengthened seasons over the years giving hunters more opportunities to take deer. Even with that we are barely keeping up... taking away buck tags probably isn't in their the plans.

To each his own... I think the Adirondacks are as nice as anywhere in the US... and since the whitetail is the most popular game animal in the world... NY ain't that bad. Makes going to other states for different game a bit more interesting not seeing them everywhere you look here. Although Alaska would be my pick for great hunting... I wouldn't want to live there.

That's a good view from the point of the DEC... But to the hunter compromise means ... "I'm okay with the conservation side as long as you give me what I want, if I don't get what I want then screw conservation." That was my point... and with that the DEC sometimes ends up caving on good management practice to appease the self serving hunter who talks a big game about being all about the animal. The human condition is usually conservations worst enemy.

My dream property would be anywhere I could see this!

I'm in total agreement with this, but here is a good one for ya... I have talked to several biologists and asked them why we don't do it exactly how you described... none of them ( yes that was NONE) thought that it wouldn't make any difference and argued that their statistical means are just as accurate... I disagreed stating that nothing can be more accurate than actual numbers, but they remained steadfast in their opinion. Kinda tells me there won't be any mandatory reporting any time soon (or at least the enforcement of it)... probably because it might eliminate a state job or two if we made it too easy.

I wasn't necessarily referring to you... I agree about bows in archery season and guns in gun season. I just find it funny that some are willing to impose limiting the number and/or sex of deer along with eliminating a week of the season and think that is somehow different than imposing an antler restriction.. it isn't. It is the same imposition on hunter choice... I, and others, may choose to keep things as they are, you and others may not... how is that different than some wanting AR's and some not... each will impose on some hunters what they don't want... my point is that either way we have hunters that really are only interested in how it affects them not how it affects actual conservation. Hunters are notorious for talking a good game when it comes to the actual welfare of animals, but when it comes right down to it they only want to serve their own interest...case in point... the coyote vs. deer thing... some hunters value the deer over the coyote as if one is more important than the other

Not understanding how hunters hate the fact that they can be told what size buck (or turkey for that matter) to take because it infringes on their right of choice given that they pay a good amount for their license.. yet have no problem accepting being told the number of deer they can take and of what sex, plus have their hunting season reduced by a week (for the same cost of a license). Totally throws the "freedom of choice" argument right out the window. I also find it funny how bow hunters don't have a problem with reducing gun hunting season and gun hunters have no problem reducing bow season. LOL... it's a joke sometimes how hunters talk of being conservationist and the importance of hunting and conservation, when really it's all about "What will make it better for ME."

I'm sure the OP appreciates all the help he has gotten... he must be so confused now that he'll probably give up bow hunting before he s even started... stick to trad stuff OP... stick bow and arrows, practice 20 yards and in... have fun instead of driving yourself nuts trying to figure out all this crap.

I am in Madison county as well and have noticed a drop off in turkey sightings...

The anti-crossbow movement boils down to a group of bowhunters that can't seem to get rid of the hardon they have for crossbows.. if it persists for more than 4 hours you should see your doctor...

I was talking about personal bowhunting experience... most people will have no idea if there is a crossbow hunter anywhere near them... it shouldn't and won't have any impact on your day of bowhunting... the fact that a lot of hunters in Ohio and PA are taking deer with crossbow has no bearing on what crossbow hunting will be in NY... the best you can figure from that info is that crossbow hunting is very popular in OH and PA and those guys are pretty successful... maybe that's what makes it popular.

My guess is nobody will even notice the addition of crossbowers during the archery season...Oh, maybe those that just can't get it out of their head, but I will always fail to see the impact of crossbows on anyone's personal bow hunting experience...

wooly is that a 10 gauge... I have one just like it but in 10 gauge... I love it.