Curmudgeon

If you don't like ARs, you should write DEC. Talking among ourselves doesn't change much.

My neighbor Old Agnes fills her tag every year even though she can walk and can't see. Actually, I'm not even sure she remembers she fills her tag each year. As far as self-righteousness, I thought I was good at it but since joining this forum I've learned I am just an amateur.

I did it online with no problem. If you don't have your tag # - mine was in the barn - you can put in your license #.

Throw the book at him!

Either that, or they hate tracking deer in the dark, especially in the big woods.

Western 4F: Deer everywhere on the private land. Few big bucks. As many coyote tracks as deer tracks in places. 8 of us killed 8 deer on 80 acres - 5 buck, 3 doe - 7 of them the first weekend. The Monday after opening weekend there were 21 feeding in a field across the road at 4 PM - 100 yards off the road. The big problem here is different rules on each private land parcel. One adjacent farm is owned by deer lovers who allow no hunting ever. One is leased to a few guys who do little hunting and harvest few deer. The farm to my north was subdivided into about 10 properties of modest size - all posted by different people. I have a Christmas tree farm and can only allow hunting when I am not selling trees. People constantly ask for permission to hunt here. Get in line. Someone needs to die before there is room for another.

Great season. My young female mentee shot 2 does - see the thread Mentoring Young Women. My 80 year old Dad shot a doe and a buck.

On too many deer: All kidding aside, in the past 3 years on my property we have averaged 1 deer for every 10 acres I own (80). Monday after opening weekend there were 21 feeding in the field across the road. We have killed 45 does in the past 15 years. Still, too many deer.

Yeah, but I hear bald eagle tastes a lot like whooping crane!

Dear Mr. Ethics - I have a quandary. There are too many deer. They eat my crops. They damage my forest. My large family is poor and needs lots of meat. I have been told that "pushing deer" to shoot them is unethical. Other people tell me shooting deer is unethical. Some others say that eating meat is unethical. One whacko even says using lead ammunition is unethical. I abhor anything unethical. What should I do? Please advise. Sincerely, Confused

Congrats.

"they bring in UNTESTED Elk into that state to release out into the wilds for the public to hunt." 4 Seasons - Please provide a citation. You may be right but just spewing this stuff isn't convincing.

Pinenut - Does "moving" deer mean banging pots and pans? Still hunting thru cover? Taking advantage of other hunters getting cold and walking around? Shooting at running animals? During southern zone gun season we are all supposed to only shoot deer that are acting naturally? We move deer to our crew all the time by still hunting upwind of their cover. We don't shoot running deer. We fill freezers. We fill all those DMAP tags DEC keeps sending me. We allow my crops to grow and my forest understory to regenerate. How is this unethical?

I did when I was 14 or 15. Ancient history. Never since. Oh, and I didn't kill any.

Vortex scopes are a very good value. If I was buying new, I would probably get a Vortex. I picked a Swarovski HD in like new condition on ebay for half price a few years ago. I never would have bought it at list.

Bravo Letinmfly! 4 Seasons is coming undone again. The only hand fed birds I ever killed were domesticated - chickens, ducks, geese, turkeys.

Ditto

Sorry to ruffle feathers. The dog story is just an anecdote. He probably wouldn't have flushed ptarmigan either - unless they smelled like grouse - or capercaillie for that matter. He was my one great dog. I don't have any passion for grouse hunting since he died. I have no problem with pheasant hunting on preserves. I do think we need to acknowledge what it is and is not. I do have a problem with people blaming predators for problems that are the result of poor, limited or changing habitat. That is the problem with pheasants in NY. Don't believe that predator control will fix the problem. Maintaining enough pheasant habitat to support a sustaining wild population would be prohibitively expensive. If you want to hunt pheasants in NYS go to a preserve. I do have a problem with "farmed" deer. Not because I find it unethical. There seems an inherent dishonesty in comparing their racks to wild deer. I think the big rack thing has gone too far. Ecologically speaking, we should all be proud to shoot does. Hunting for me is about family, being outdoors and economics - food and protecting the crops. A big rack is gravy.

Fun, yes. However, very different from hunting wild birds. 70% success is very high. My springer was trained on turkeys, woodcocks and grouse. He knew to ignore the chickens in the yard. Once a released pheasant showed up in the fall and went into the old standing sweet corn. I could not get that dog to go in and flush the pheasant. He acted like I wanted him to chase a chicken.

So, when I put a .22 in the head of a tethered lamb, skin it, gut it, cut it up and eat it, that could be animal cruelty? When the cat lady lived next door and we had a rabid raccoon in the barn, I "removed" a lot of unvaccinated cats from the neighborhood. My vet and the county public health had told me to ignore the law. Was this animal cruelty? It was in the interest of both public and household safety. It was ethical. Certainly, it was illegal. Sorry to those who came in late, I've received deposits on all the sheep. Maybe next year.

How often have I sat on a running diesel tractor during the season with deer standing down wind watching me? Sometimes I wished I had a scabbard on tractor? Every day my wife takes a mile or more walk around the grounds - before light during hunting season. A lot depends on what your deer are used to.

Twice I've had them go right over me. About 10 people each in sight of the next banging pots, baying like hounds. One time deer ran by at what seemed like 40 mph. One young buck had his tongue hanging out like a dog. Granted, I have never hung around to see what happened afterward. Then again, my hunting sensibilities were disturbed. It was time to do something else. I go to the woods to hunt, to observe wildlife and for peace. When I was some distance from this crowd, I have occasionally killed a deer after their drive that appeared to be wandering around lost.

I did ignore the wild vs. captured stock issue. However, it won't matter. Ring-necked Pheasant is a grassland bird. It's fate is the same as every other grassland bird in NYS. Where farming was marginal, habitat is turning from grass to brush to woodlands. Where farmers can still make a living hay must be cut early to get the most nutrition out of it. They do not schedule hay cuttings around the breeding season. What little high quality grassland there is in the state is mowed while birds are either nesting, or in the case of precocial birds like pheasants and Upland Sandpipers, the young hunker down when a threat arrives and go through the mower. There are 9 grassland birds on the states Endangered/Threatened/Special Concern lists. This doesn't include pheasants. However, it does include Northern Harrier, ironically a predator.

But not the same sentence!

We don't disagree. Caution and fear are different. I never locked my door until I was burglarized. Increasing age and infirmity have made me even more careful. I have a 12 ga pump gun in the safe. The tube is filled with #4 magnums. I won't leave it unlocked. Kids are here sometimes. If the home is invaded, I need a couple of minutes to unlock the safe as they batter the door down.