Curmudgeon

The people I spoke to said to inoculate when temps are reaching 40F regularly. I have no prior experience so followed their instructions. Everyone seems to agree the logs should be cut when dormant and stored in the shade for a couple of weeks.

The sawdust spawn I used was soft and damp, not the dowels.

I read French news because one of my kids lives there. Of note this morning, sex workers looking for government relief. https://www.thelocal.fr/20200406/sex-workers-in-france-seek-emergency-fund-for-lost-income

I saw an op-ed headline in my news feed yesterday, something like "When can I go back to hating Cuomo again?" I feel that way too.

I just tried planting logs a few weeks ago - shitakes in hornbeam, oyster in poplar. A friend who has done this a handful of times came over and helped. She has had regular success. I'm hopeful. Of 3 friends who tried it on their own (no expert help) only 1 got mushrooms. She lent me the tool for injection sawdust spawn. I bought a drill and adapter for the angle grinder. Three of us did about 40 logs in 4 hours. Now I patiently wait.

Have you noticed that Cuomo's approval on this issue is 87% - 70% among Republicans? Trump is under water again. Who among us are the outliers?

The report can be found here: http://www.dec.ny.gov/docs/wildlife_pdf/2019deerrpt.pdf After the season, I started a thread about the frustrations of many hunters in my area (Grumblings 4F, 7M & 7P). Deer were hard to kill, even though there is no shortage. Looking at the maps on page 7, 4F had a greater than 20% decrease in the antlerless take. 7M & 7P each had a 10-20% reduction over the previous year. Buck harvests were stable. My priority is always anterless deer. Killing bucks does little to help with our population problems.

My wife's sister works in the hospital in New Rochelle, lives alone and is worth a lot. We can't convince her to write a will.

Rattler, It's good to see you are alive. No one's been trolling me lately. I was worried about you.

How much ammo should I have on hand for the apocalypse?

What about the PREGNANCY rate?

I don't like either but Trump is definitely worse in a crisis.

I left the property for the first time in 2 weeks yesterday. (That's not because of C19, it's just normal.) It's a different world. Gas is cheap and some things are hard to find in the supermarket. I'm guessing for most of you, this is not news. Anyway, I can't keep up with this thread but thought this article The Incompetence Pandemic was interesting enough to share - https://www.politico.com/amp/news/2020/03/16/coronavirus-pandemic-leadership-131540 On the home front, SIL works in the hospital in New Rochelle. My son's business services the restaurant industry in France - an industry that is now closed. The Mrs. has not canceled her trip to France for the grandkids spring break in April, as yet. I'm probably going to continue as normal, isolated and happy about it.

I just found this coverage of the Humane Society making its case on newyorkupstate.com -- https://www.newyorkupstate.com/outdoors/2020/03/humane-society-condemns-ny-coyote-hunt-contest-as-cruel-wasteful-unsporting.html. Someone spoke to the bad optics of these contests. You may not care what the general public thinks. However, the politicians do. From a messaging standpoint, they are winning. "participants were “piling up dozens of dead coyotes, weighing them for cash and prizes before discarding some in a trash dumpster.” Jack Danchak, president of the sportsmen’s Federation: “We’re helping to deplete an exploding coyote population,” he told the newspaper. “They are all over this state.....are increasingly targeting not only wild turkeys and deer, but sheep, chickens and goats being raised by farmers.” And if given the chance, will go after small pet dogs and cats, he added. “wildlife management professionals and scientists stress that killing coyotes in these contests will not yield more deer and turkey for hunters.” The group, citing a Pennsylvania wildlife biologist, stated that “wild carnivore species like coyote and foxes do not ‘overpopulate.’ They self-regulate their own numbers based on available habitat and food sources.” "New York’s wildlife belongs to all of its citizens, not just those who selfishly use and kill animals as disposable objects in a contest for cash and prizes.” Danchak way overstates the case, and is full of bunk on the "exploding population". The dumpster thing looks really bad. With the current makeup of NYS government, they have a winning issue.

Bobcats fed over 2 hours. Those times mean little. One left, the smaller approached from a different direction. I chose photos of the cats in the same spot. Besides an obvious size difference in multiple photos, one has a weird ear. Different cats.

Several days back we found a dead 2019 fawn right above the sheep pasture. The hind quarters were consumed. It was a really small deer. I assumed coyotes had killed it. The snow was crusty. I could not see tracks. Given the amount of meat left - all the front and the entrails, I expected the predator to return. We checked 4 days of photos today and no coyote showed even briefly. A grey fox spent a lot of time feeding, as did 2 bobcats. They alternated feeding in a very short time. As you can see, there is a remarkable difference in size. One is a very large cat. What do you think? Bobcat killed?

From last season: The redtail is on the gut pile of the last deer I shot. The golden is on the bones of the first.

Congrats, it's a thrill to get eagles. I had a golden on my bone yard last fall. I posted a photo in one of those non-lead ammo arguments that are common on this site. (You know, the ones where I'm regularly accused of being part of an anti-gun conspiracy.) The first photo has 3 eagles - 2 adults and a juvenile that looks like a hatch year bird. This type of feeding is why we keep pushing non-lead ammo. Redtails and eagles love gut piles and dead deer. They are incredibly sensitive to lead. A Catskill wildlife rehabilitator has treated 7 eagles since deer season for lead poisoning. Those are what survived long enough to be found. You can find tons of information on this topic at the link in my signature line. We also produced a 13 minute video a few years back. It can be found at doas.us. BTW - lead is also bad for people.

American Gods, YES!!!!!!

Belo, I looked at some information on the documentary he produced. It was all about the industrial meat industry. So, maybe he didn't eat the deer. It's still quite a leap for someone like that to shoot a deer, and publicly defend it. I was in Ireland last summer. I was reading about the deer culls in Killarney NP. I never did see anything on the disposition of the meat. BTW - I detest the industrial meat industry. I shoot it, raise it or barter for it.

I tend to look at the UK press fairly often. I like an external view on American politics. Occasionally, I find something else of interest. The commentary below is from a filmmaker. He decided to shoot a deer to act on his belief that reducing the red deer population was the right thing to do. He had not hunted previously. His comments are thoughtful. They are worth a read if you have a desire to understand people who oppose hunting. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/feb/19/wildlife-killing-deer-diversity-resources-environment If you haven't read Michael Pollan, he also took up hunting as part of his research into food. The Omnivores Dilemma is the book that documents his hunting experience. I credit it with getting a lot of young foodies to pick up a gun or bow.

Some years back, one of my daughter's boyfriends treated her to a cruise. When a family member tried to convince me that I would enjoy one, my daughter chimed in "If my Dad went on a week long cruise, he would commit suicide by jumping overboard before the week was out". I'll think I'll pass.

Belo - To quote Mrs. C, "STOP MAKING SENSE!"

While I think much of the concern about coyotes is way over the top, I will admit to having been made nervous a few times. Several times while surveying for owls at night, a noisy pack has raised my blood pressure. That is not due to any rational fear. It's something from comes from my brain stem. The last one I encountered while hunting was walking right at me. If, at about 30 yards, I hadn't whistled, it would have been in my lap. I like a little distance. It was a great experience. I am not unrealistic about the potential for problems. We never allow ewes to lamb outside. There appears to be a correlation between shepherds who have coyote problems and those who let their sheep lamb on pasture.

Definitely something going on there. Notice he assumes we have no coyote experience. They walk up my driveway regularly. Occasionally, we see them during the day. I shooed one away when it came walking towards the dog. The only coyote anyone in my family killed somehow got locked inside the tall high tensile perimeter fence with the sheep. It hadn't harmed anything but it also couldn't be persuaded to exit through an open gate. I really don't understand this fear and hatred. I don't deny there are problem animals that kill livestock. However, my local yotes do no harm here. I don't want them killed so potentially problematic animals may move in. Better the yotes I know........