Curmudgeon

Sheep slaughtering remains were first put out in early October. Deer remains have been there for 2 weeks. Things have been slow. Most recent photos are of a well fed flying squirrel. I cropped a couple of the little guy - one "flying". There are lots of ravens and crows around. They have been cleaning up the gut piles. Here in 4F, there is a lot of food out there right now. Ignore the names on the cameras.

Papist - You are slipping. I mentioned then forwarded the item from the local news because it was germane to this thread. First you called it "made-up". I don't have time for such things. Now, you are calling it my "fake fantasy". I am providing information. If that information does not fit with your world view, there is nothing I can do about that. However, it is not "mine".

You need to subscribe to The Daily Star, Oneonta, NY to access their site.

It is illegal to possess a Common Raven - as they are a protected bird - without a special permit. Crows are game so it is legal to possess them. Find a crow.

Made up? From the 11/28 The Daily Star. There were follow up articles.

I don't know if you've seen the news where you live. A few days ago a Muslim-hater headed to NY to shoot up Islamberg. The FBI alerted local law enforcement. They tracked the guy to Scranton but it seems they lost him there. He probably turned off his phone.

Friday morning, a couple of friends and I were hunting, moving deer around for each other. We successfully moved a few deer around but we couldn't fill the remaining doe tag. Getting towards noon, 2 of us quit to eat. I had to work through the afternoon. While eating, the remaining member of our party called to say he just shot a nice 8 point that was sneaking through. I suspect we moved this deer - I had moved a large, single deer - and it was trying to get back to its hidey hole.

Here at the Curmudgeon Christmas tree farm yesterday, a customer cut a tree that contained a desiccated yellow perch about 3" long. This is a bit of a mystery. There are several ponds within a half mile. I don't know what species are in them but there are no yellow perch in my ponds. Thoughts?

Last winter really impacted the herd in some areas. They rebound quickly. The local sports writer was acting like it was the end of the world back in 01 & 02 after back to back bad winters. Deer numbers came back within a couple of years. The problem is, there are areas where deer are actually scarce at the moment. Discouraged hunters, possibly aging, discouraged hunters, may drop out.

Heck, I couldn't hunt deer until I was 16 and didn't shoot one until I was 21. We thought it was normal, not "ridiculous". Oops, I'm showing my age.

Speaking to some DEC R4 contacts, Delaware County deer numbers are quite low. Otsego numbers are better and actually good in some areas. My crew saw fewer deer this opener than in the past but the numbers are still above carrying capacity. I counted 25 together the week before the season. I photographed at least 15 bucks on 80 acres. Some were one time appearances during the rut. Did I mention counting 64 shots before the legal shooting time?

We've had this discussion before. In the school where Mrs. Curmudgeon teaches, this is absolutely not true. There may be individual teachers in that school that are out of touch with the tradition rural attitudes of the community, but as a whole, this rural school is supportive of the hunting tradition.

Note: It is not legal to move a road killed deer without some legal possession permit.

Cats too!

I'm hearing bursts of five that sound like shotguns - even though rifles have been legal here for about a decade.

I counted 64 shots before 7AM - the exact sunrise here. Many more after. I was on top of the hill overlooking the Wharton Creek Valley and Edmeston. I can sometimes on a bad day hear the Unadilla motorcross 6 or 7 miles distant. Of course, many were bursts of shots presumably at running deer.

My family has permission to hunt the neighboring land from the absentee landowner. A couple of years ago, someone else with permission invited his whole church to hunt there. It is packed opening weekend so we backed out due to the pressure and the extreme number of rounds they shoot off when they are there. The first year they hunted, they put a ladder stand over the top of one of our ground blinds (made of natural materials). One year, one came onto another neighbor's land and set up a climbing stand next to another ground blind of ours. At that point I spoke to "Joe" - the one guy who actually has permission. "Joe" didn't even know the guy's name. He was just a church guy he told he could hunt there. "Joe" agreed to pull him back. Two years back I was speaking to the owner who lives in PA. He rarely comes up. the property was bought as an investment. He asked if my family had been hunting his place. I told him we did but not on the opener because of the crowd. He was quite surprised to hear about the "crowd". He said he had been considering coming up to hunt opening weekend himself. After learning about what was going on, he asked me if I wanted him to tell them they could no longer hunt on his place because of me. I said "no". If he wanted them off, I did not want to be the reason. Some of these guys are neighbors. I had no intention of being the bad guy in this little drama. Now being a curmudgeon, I walk thru there covered with orange each opening day just to assert my rights. Call me a fool but I am only pushed so far. No one has shot me yet. This weekend I was spoken to by one of these guys who has third party permission to be there. He said "Joe" was supposed to let him know if anyone else was hunting on the property. I just walked away shaking my head. These guys probably don't even know the owner's name.

Welcome - I like the name. Galliforms are "chicken-like" but the turkey works.

It is unfortunate. I hope they take you seriously.

Found one on me after hanging a deer today.

I know a lot of you guys like to shoot deer with big antlers. I received my instructions from Mrs. Curmudgeon: "shoot a tender one".

Pygmy - I didn't realize you were such a youngster. We had slings with rocks.

What's a "weather app"?

I thought the rule was if it was light enough to see horns.

Welcome.