Curmudgeon

Happy Bday

I didn't say, or even imply, I was perfect. Any animals I am hunting deserve respect, meaning a quick clean death. What does VJP say? Something about only taking shots you cannot miss? I agree with him.

I hope this is a joke. Poison is much more likely to kill ravens and eagles. Just ask that farmer in western NY. BTW - read this month's National Geographic on vultures.

Not by me. One shot. If not, I failed.

Maybe it is just my neighborhood but there are a lot of problems around here with dogs running where they are not wanted. The practice seems to be to drive the town roads at first light after some new snow. When they cut a fresh track, they release the dogs regardless of whose property it is. A friend and neighbor caught one guy releasing dogs on his posted property. The guy got belligerent when confronted. I found another spot where this was done on my next door neighbor's place. I know they didn't have permission to be on there. These guys track the hounds with GPS. One pulled into a neighbor's yard - at the dead end of town road - and started blasting away at a coyote while he was just 30 yards from the house. DEC was called and he got ticketed. Re repeating shots at anything. If more than one shot is needed, someone is not accurately hitting the target, resulting in wounded, crippled and unrecovered game..

What is the effective range of these things?

I have hounds run through here many times. I know several people who have witnessed them being released onto posted land. When a coyote comes into sight, you can hear the semi-autos going pop-pop-pop-pop at animals running full speed. Where are the houndsmen to defend themselves?

A good thing about my neck of the woods - Amish. The subdivisions of farms has stopped. The Amish buy them whole. They may split a big farm among a couple of families but you don't have a bunch of 20 acre lots.

That's good to hear. What a waste of tax money if PA goes ahead. And, for nothing.

Doc is right. We are biased by our personal hunting experiences. I have a different metric. Right now I need road kills and they are scarce, especially in Delaware County.

If local residents in suburban/urban areas are willing to put up with excessive deer numbers, their local representatives should do what they want. These areas are already ruined ecologically - at least for any species of concern. If Cayuga Heights residents want to trap does and tie their tubes so as not to conflict with their Disney values, it's their money. Parks and areas of natural habitat of any significant size are a different matter.

I don't understand how reducing deer numbers is part of the "liberal agenda". I would think the liberals would want to protect the deer. Forcing villages to allow hunting sounds pretty authoritarian.

This is the release that went out last week.Emphasis in red is mine. DEC Announces Availability of a Draft Environmental Assessment for Deer Damage Management in New York Public Invited to Comment by January 15New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Acting Commissioner Basil Seggos today announced the availability of a draft Environmental Assessment (EA) entitled "White-tailed Deer Damage Management in New York." The EA, prepared by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services' (WS) New York Office, describes the need to manage white-tailed deer to reduce and prevent damage associated with these animals in New York; discusses potential issues associated with managing damage caused by deer; and the environmental consequences of alternatives for WS involvement in deer damage management throughout New York State. The proposed action (preferred alternative) is to implement an integrated approach using a variety of methods to reduce deer damage. DEC issues permits to landowners, municipalities and resource management agencies to address deer damage and as a cooperating agency on this EA, DEC is encouraging the public to review and provide comments on it. The abundance of deer in many parts of New York State is causing a myriad of problems, particularly in suburban and urban areas, where deer densities are highest. Agricultural, horticultural and silvicultural damage, impacts to biodiversity and native plant communities, and threats to human health and safety are consequences often associated with high deer populations. Deer population levels in most parts of the state are managed primarily through regulated recreational hunting, but there is typically little land accessible to hunters in developed areas. DEC issues damage permits in situations where hunting is not able to reduce deer populations sufficiently to alleviate negative impacts. Some communities and landowners who receive permits choose to hire WS to carry out the damage reduction activities. Actions proposed in the EA could be conducted on public and private property in New York when the resource owner (property owner) or manager requests assistance, a need for action is confirmed, and agreements specifying the nature and duration of the activities to be conducted are completed. WS would conduct most deer damage management projects in urban or suburban environments and properties where access to the general public is limited due to safety or security concerns. WS prepared the EA to facilitate planning, program management and interagency coordination, to clearly communicate with the public the analysis of the impacts of managing deer damage across the State of New York, and to consider comments from the public on the proposed action. Six types of potential adverse effects of damage management activities were analyzed in detail: effects on deer populations; effects on non-target plant and wildlife species; effects on human health and safety; effects on the socio-cultural elements of the human environment; humaneness and animal welfare concerns of methods; and effects on the regulated deer harvest. Alternatives examined in the EA include an alternative in which WS continues the current "integrated" deer damage management program; an alternative in which WS is restricted to providing technical assistance (information) only; and an alternative in which no deer damage management is conducted by WS. The preferred alternative is for WS to continue a deer damage management program that includes the use of the full range of legal non-lethal and lethal management techniques. A major goal of the program would be to resolve and prevent damage caused by deer and to reduce threats to human safety. To meet this goal, WS, in consultation with DEC, would continue to respond to requests for assistance with, at a minimum, technical assistance, or when funding was available, operational deer damage management. Based on site-specific evaluations, property owners or managers that request assistance from WS would be provided with information regarding the use of non-lethal and lethal techniques. Preference would be given to non-lethal methods when practical and effective. After receiving any necessary DEC permits, property owners or managers could choose to implement WS' recommendations on their own, use volunteer services of private organizations, use contractual services of WS, use contractual services of other nuisance wildlife management businesses, or take no further action. Interested parties may obtain a copy of the EA and submit comments on it by entering "APHIS-2015-0093" in the search box at the Regulations.gov website (link leaves DEC website.) Comments may also be sent to USDA APHIS Wildlife Services, 1930 Route 9, Castleton, NY 12033-9653, but electronic submission of comments is preferred. All comments must be received by the close-of-business on January 15, 2016 to receive full consideration. All comments received, including the names and addresses of those who comment, will be part of the public record and will be released for public review as required and allowed by law.

Animals that adapt to human environments will continue to thrive. Those that can't or won't, don't.

Rough-legged Hawk. I have yet to see one this winter. Good to know they made it to Chenango.

Maybe you should flip your camera over. The world is upside down. Or, you could flip the photos over.

We'll start our winter scavenger camera trapping next week. I'll post photos as they become available. For anyone interested in last year's thread, go to - http://huntingny.com/forums/topic/26264-aep-photos/ Great coyote shots Cabin Fever. I've got hundreds of thousands of photos and none that good.

Wrong. Read the thread about the bounty proposed in PA.

Well said but still won't convince the coyote-haters.

Papist - Do you know the best and highest use of domestic cats? Coyote food!

And, you think coyotes are the only thing that changed during that period? Your powers of observation are impaired. 40 years ago the same thing could be said about areas I hunted in wilderness areas of the Dacks. The turkey increase and decline was entirely predictable - with or without coyotes. The changes in habitat across the state are clear. You can see those changes expressed in population changes in multiple species. Find a brown thrasher in Delaware County, or a golden-winged warbler. It must be the coyotes killed them all. Heck, where did all those fishers come from?

Personally, I think the season needs to be shortened so it ends at the end of February. I've told DEC this. Running gravid or lactating females with hounds in March is less than sporting. I did not realize that some houndsmen change dogs mid-chase. That is even worse. Here is some good information from ESF. I'm sure VJP will want to ignore it - http://www.esf.edu/pubprog/brochure/coyote/coyote.htm Chris - I think 4 seasons has a nuisance permit for coyotes because he has a deer farm. He lives across the road from Fort Drum so has an unlimited supply to fill in the vacuum he creates.

It really good to see so many people on this site making sense. In the past, ignorance and coyote hatred seemed to be the rule.

I have to wonder about your powers of observation if you really believe there were no coyotes in Delaware County 20 years ago. I know there were. I've been involved in wildlife issues in Delaware and Otsego Counties since I moved from Cortland County is 1982.

Actually, Adirondack Park protection is in the NYS Constitution. That is why the environmental community will be fighting a constitutional convention. The young forest initiative is clearly focused on promoting game species, in spite of the mention of a few others. Call a spade a spade.