mxsmitz201

man its a darn shame you can no longer hunt there, looked very promising!

i have to agree with everything you said. personally at this point id be happy to have a small game hunter push deer to my stand i havent seen crap lol

regardless of what anyone thinks, it is not far out of the question that some day maybe in the near future we could have a breeding pair of cougars in the state if there isnt already and we are unaware of it, which would mean the DEC would have to change their stance on the situation. obviously the evidence is there that cougars found in the wild do show up in ny from time to time. so you cant deny that our state is most likely on the outer edges of their range. which to me means there here, maybe not often, but you certainly cant count them out. it is entirely realistic that cougars could be making a comeback just like the black bears. in my opinion considering how elusive they are, and the confirmed sightings/evidence regardless of whether the DEC has been contacted, that there is a small population somewhere in the state, most likely the adirondacks.

im sorry but the DEC needs to read the signs, and man up and quit telling us that every confirmed sighting of a cougar was of a cougar just "passing through".....cuz thats what cougars do is pass through. but to where? if a truly wild cougar is here on its own free will then id consider its well within its home range lol i dont care if its dna traces back to north dakota...... my dna traces back to europe... your point??? one reason you may not hear about sightings as much out west is simply because of the vastness of the area and there is a lot less people in a given area.

yea ive even seen deer eating right along side cows, thought they were really skinny baby beefers until i looked a little harder! my neighbors have horses and they are always outside and the deer dont pay any attention to them or get spooked by them. however, im not really a fan of cover scents because i believe deer will decipher every scent that crosses their nose. so whether you smell entirely of a horse barn, or fresh earth or whatever you use i think they will "uncover" your scent lol. i try to have my clothes and equipment scent free, whatever comes in contact with vegetation or whatever. case in point, yesterday walking into the woods with my climber, as i entered a hedgerow my climber got a little tangled in some branches. the deer were walking perpendicular to my entry along the hedge and spent about 5 mins sniffing the branches that came in contact with my climber. up goes the tail, and they slowly retreated the way they came and eventually out into the field anyway. its darn near impossible to pull the wool over their eyes, so instead of covering it up i try and eliminate as much as possible. but to each his own.

Squirrels are determined little suckers where im at. Just saw one lugging around a full cob of corn.... except the closest corn field is 300 yds away or more lol

what kind of stand? or is this for a safety harness?

^^^hunting socialism right there^^^ couldnt agree more!!!!

Got down from my climber early due to the rain didnt want to take any chances sliding down. Went to the edge of the field i was hunting and the field had 8 deer and 1 spike. Every single one walked past me 15yds away wind was perfect field edge ran north south couldnt ask for a better hunt besides taggin a monster lol. It was so cool to be that close on the ground just standing outside the hedge and have them that close

Gotcha... now that you put it like that it makes sense. My climber is eerily similar to yours but its summit. Prolly all build there stands off the same plans lol

Am i looking at that picture righit?? If that gave out and by looking at how it bent.... you had your base upside down, but i dont see how that could possibly ever get you up a tree if it was lol Is anyone else seeing this or is just me? Im sittin in my climber right now checking the orientation of mine and im royally confused how that bent in that manner.

After sweating about 10lbs off carrying my stand and setting it up 200yds from the truck lol i sweat easy, i get my climber up the tree im in and realize i forgot the tie down straps to secure it firmly to the tree.... not too worried about. But im curious as whether or not some of you guys strap your climbers once youve gotten to where you want to be in a tree?

Since when is donald trump a small business?? I about died of laughter when i heard that lol. That statement reminds me of an "uncool" kid at school tryin to talk back to the bullies but fails miserably.... almost have to feel sorry for the guy. Haha yea right.

id be careful using that call because if you do attract a deer they wont be there on their own will and they will be on the alert and probably wont stick around very long. that said, with blind calling, youll have no idea where they come from. they might be in close to you and you dont even realize it and give yourself away with movements or calling too much or too loud, you never know. especially since the leaves and ground are wet you wont hear a deer until they are on top of you especially when they are on the alert. when the woods are dry, with all my experience ive figured out i wont usually see a deer until they have come within 60-70 yds of me. that seems to be the range when i first pick up the noise and catch a glimpse of them. i prefer to remain quiet and if i know there is a deer in the area then ill use a call to draw it in closer IF i think it will help my odds. but rarely do i want to put the deer on the alert with any sort of call. patience is key. if you can sit, be silent, play the wind right and let the deer come in on their own you will have the upper hand in any situation.

yea buckwheat is the way to go for spring summer. keep winter rye in mind too for a fall planting it will grow anywhere, and is a very good natural herbicide. if you blend it with some clovers/chicory i think youll be impressed. the sudangrass wont appeal to a deers diet much, its very similar to corn but without the corn lol but does act as very good cover, and as a screening tool. ive heard of people planting it around a foodplot to make the plot more secure to the deer.

ill be sure to do that!!

Doesnt matter what you do if a deer is going to wind you hes going to wind you. It cant hurt to be on top of your scent control but playing the wind is key.

Ill have an arrow nocked if i still hunt my way back from a stand and always when i get down after a morning hunt. Almost got a beauty 8 point last year doing this but a doe winded me and he immediatley found cover.

Couldnt believe it but i was out putting tin on my hut and whatta ya kno theres a big fat doe 150 yds away in my foodplot....been out for 5 sits havent seen a blessed thing. Its like they checked a calender to see the seasons dates or something lol

I knew obama was really struggling when he said the moderator interrupted him and had 5 seconds left like those 5 seconds were gonna change anything...all he did was bash romney and talk about what he wanted to talk about instead of answering the questions directly. Which romney on the other hand was very specific and quite honestly i thought romneys ideas and points were spot on. If youve ever taken a business class or economics class it makes perfect sense. But before anyone harrasses me i havent been following the race closely at all politics make me sick but from what i took from last night romney had some very good points and obama was just out of place and didnt make much sense at all.

Thanks all i did was prep the seed bed and broadcast it. Lucky to have great soil here. I am going to give winter rye a go next year, no one plants it around here

If you read the thread on the link i posted, they planted tecomate and they claimed it was a lot of wasted seed because there was clovers and chicory mixd with the brassicas. When planted the brassicas just edged out the clovers n chicory so it was wasted seed to them. BUT they never followed up after the brassicas dies off i would think the chicory clover should take over at that point. Any input? Personally i wouldnt want the legumes in the mix because i plan on planting an early season soy and throwing the brassicas in later in the season just like you mentioned and then rotating with winter rye or something. But i found the container the seed came in and its preferred wildlife not tecomate, i believe it is a local seed company. After reading the seed container and the help of that thread i found, i was able to figure out whats growing. I picked one of each and when my dad saw i had radishes growing he couldnt wait to pick more for his home made horse radish. Not sure how thats gonna work but ill try anything once. Im excited to see what becomes of this plot late in the season, everything you guys have said is pretty encouraging. There is definitley no shortage of food around so we will see what happens.

i found a really cool thread on brassicas on a different website ill post the link here... but from reading it i was able to determine what exactly is planted and that in some cases deer wont give it any attention. i guess time will tell. but check out this link its very informational about planting brassicas...oh and ill never buy tecomate brassicas mix again. although it grew phenomenally with no fertilizer or any attention to it what so ever. http://iowawhitetail.com/forum/showthread.php?t=15388

this is the best picture i have of my brassicas plot, disregard the hut i built lol. the plot is roughly 1/3 of an acre with massive plants/leaves. if i were to walk through it, it is well up to my knees. deer activity has been slow since i moved the hut there but before it wasnt unusual to see them eating the leaves like it was going out of style, and to my disappointment they love the flowers of the mustard grass!! anyway there is 2 distinct plants growing, one has a deep root with a bulb 1-2 inches in diameter. the other just a deep route but has very soft velvety like leaves and almost broccoli like stalks/stems, best comparison i can come up with, and of the two, very appetizing as i tried one and it wasnt bad!!! (this is what the deer have been eating) but my main concern is, is the plot overgrown? i just cant get over how thick and large the plants have gotten, and am worried its unpalatable to the deer. does it take a few seasons for the deer to become accustomed to brassicas? the deer havent discovered the bulbs, and i am afraid once a frost hits the plot will just rot away and stink up the area more than it already does lol

i thought about you and your falconry as i sat in my stand yesterday with 2 very young hawks in the same tree as i. they were very curious as to what i was to the point i was getting nervous with how close they would get to me. really enjoy the pics and stories you have.