incognito

I have the local DEC agent's number in my contacts. They will investigate harassment issues when called.

The location is busy. There is usually a hunter every time I pass. I take the time to drive out east because I am more likely to see deer out there.

I am not going to try to convince you that you are doing it wrong - using the wrong tool for the job. So this is intended for others reading this thread. Never use a rifle scope to identify your target. The number one rule of firearm safety is: 1. ALWAYS keep the gun pointed in a safe direction. This is the primary rule of gun safety. A safe direction means that the gun is pointed so that even if it were to go off it would not cause injury or damage. The key to this rule is to control where the muzzle or front end of the barrel is pointed at all times. Common sense dictates the safest direction, depending on different circumstances.

Ask if the town/village has a deer management assistance program. That may lead you to knowledgeable staffers. The town/village police or attorney may have knowledge. Bring a permission slip with you. Click here to download the "Ask Permission Slip I am not a lawyer. Check out this link in its entirety. Edited to add: The town or village may have its own laws requiring you to have written permission before hunting on other people's land. Edited to add: Consider contacting the environmental conservation officer assigned to the area. http://www2.dnr.cornell.edu/ext/info/pubs/LegalFinancial/liability_boundary_posting.htm Property Rights of Landowners and Recreationists New York laws provide a framework in which landowners have the means to control recreational use of their property. Landowners, by their actions, can allow blanket permission for anyone to use their property; they can exclude all recreational use; or they can decide whether to allow recreationists on a case-by-case basis. Two sections of New York law, Penal Law 140.00-140.10 and Environmental Conservation Law (ECL) 11-2111-2117, define the rights of landowners versus recreationists or others who might enter or use private property. Penal Law 140.10 states (in part): A person is guilty of criminal trespass in the third degree when he knowingly enters or remains unlawfully in a building or upon real property which is fenced or otherwise enclosed in a manner designed to exclude intruders. Note that in Penal Law 140.00, which defines the terms used above, the term "enter or remain unlawfully" is explained as follows: A person who enters or remains upon unimproved and apparently unused land, which is neither fenced nor otherwise enclosed in a manner designed to exclude intruders, does so with license and privilege unless notice against trespass is personally communicated to him by the owner of such land or other authorized person, or unless such notice is given by posting in a conspicuous manner. ECL 11-2113 makes it illegal for persons to trespass on private lands that are properly posted under ECL 11-2111. ECL 11-2115 makes it illegal if hunters, trappers, or anglers do not leave private lands, whether posted or not, immediately upon the request of the landowner. Finally, ECL 11-2117 makes it illegal for hunters, trappers, or anglers to kill or injure dogs or livestock (including poultry), or to damage gates, fences, vehicles, farm equipment, or buildings on private lands. Violations of any of the above laws for which you wish to press charges should be reported to the proper law enforcement authorities. If the violation involves hunting, fishing, trapping, or disturbing wildlife, it may be reported to an environmental conservation officer or to your local sheriff. Environmental conservation officers are not required to enforce trespass laws that do not involve fish and wildlife activities. Other forms of trespass should be reported to your local sheriff. Recreational Liability When No Fee Is Charged Liability is a concern that all landowners face in arriving at a policy about recreational use of their property by others. What if a hunter, hiker, or another recreationist is injured on your property? Are you liable? The New York State Legislature was among the first in the nation to realize how much people depend upon the use of private property for outdoor recreation. To encourage landowners to keep their lands open to recreationists, legislation was passed in 1956 that limited the liability of landowners who allowed hunting, fishing, trapping, and training of dogs on their property when no fee is charged and the landowner receives no other consideration from the recreationist. In the succeeding years, numerous other recreation activities have been added to this list in General Obligations Law (GOL) 9-103: canoeing, hiking, horseback riding, bicycle riding, motorized vehicle operation for recreational purposes, snowmobile operation, cross-country skiing, tobogganing, sledding, hang gliding, speleological activities, boating, and the cutting or gathering of wood for noncommercial purposes. GOL 9-103 does not totally exclude the liability of landowners toward recreationists. Assuming no fee is charged, the statute states that the landowner owes no duty to keep the premises safe for entry or use by recreationists pursuing the listed activities, or to give warning of any hazardous condition, use of property, structure, or activity on the property to persons entering for recreation. It also states that farm owners or lessees have no duty to keep their farms safe for use by recreationists or to give warning of hazardous conditions or uses of the property. However, landowners are not protected if they intentionally harm a recreationist, or if they "willfully" or "maliciously" fail to guard against, or warn recreationists of, a danger on the property.

Campsite in Huntington carries it. In addition to my clothes, I spray an old sheet and lay it out on the floor of my SUV. I also spray a small towel and put that in a plastic bag that I put my hunting clothes in at the end of the day. I focus on spraying my scent lock base layer and my knee high baseball socks.

Doesn't depend on lots of factors? If you are new to the area, looking for sign could be the priority to figure out how deer use the property. If you are walking to a know spot/stand, looking for movement could be the priority. I look for worn trails or prints. If there are fresh prints, I know I can't be too far from the deer since I am in their range.

I was 20 feet up in a climbing tree stand. I was using a Rage mechanical broadhead. I spotted the deer slowly moving from my right to my left. He was just on a trail just beyond a small clearing where multiple paths cross at about 20 to 25 yards. I drew and held for about a minute waiting for him to emerge from behind some trees. I shot as soon as I saw his front leg clear the trees. I learned there is a balance between rushing a shot or waiting for the better shot that you never get. I may be guilty of rushing the shot in this instance. I hit behind his outstretched left leg but I did not account for where his organs were in relation to his leg. I also hit low, just catching the bottom of his rib cage. I hit forward of his heart. The heart was intact. The arrow did not pass through. I never found it. However, the pit of the far leg was cut open slightly and the vein/artery of the far leg was severed (visible when I opened up the cut in the pit). Interesting is that the exit wound is higher than the entrance wound and I was shooting down from the tree stand. The far leg was crippled and twisted when I found him - either broken or ligaments and tendons severed - I did not examine it closely. So it will remain a mystery of what damage was caused upon impact and what damage was caused by the deer's movement with the arrowhead still in him. Since I did not find the arrow, I was not about to reach into his chest cavity and pull out his lungs in one shot. Therefore I don't know what damage was caused by the arrow versus from slicing into him with my knife. Since the ground looks a lot different from 20 feet up, I was not sure exactly which group of small trees he was behind when I shot when I got down. With a thick cover of leaf litter, I gave up looking for the arrow on three separate attempts - after the shot, the following morning and when I went back to pick up the surveyor's tape I use when tracking. I never marked the first place I saw blood on day one. Another mistake. On the first day I started tracking before sunset. The blood was wet and shiny and easy to spot in the beginning before sunset. Since I thought I had good shot placement, I figured he would bleed out fast even though I did not hear him crash. There was a good blood trail and it did not take long for me to track 200 yards before I jumped him on the first night. I did go back around 8:30 p.m. the first day to see if I could track further. That did not work well at all. It took a while to find where I left off and the blood trail was thinning. I don't know if I made more than 20 yards of progress in the dark in an hour and a half before I gave up. The following morning had its own challenges. The blood was absorbed into the leaf litter so there was much less contrast and it was no longer shinny. The amount of blood was also significantly less at this point. Most of the blood trail was reduced to pin head sized droplets with an occasional splatter here and there. It was interesting how the larger splatter marks would disappear for a while and then reappear further down the trail The next 60 yards was fairly open with multiple crossing trails, so it was possible that he could have gone any direction from the last blood found. Many of the trails had disturbed leaves from either the deer I was tracking or some other one. Luckily I could tell from the splatter pattern on the leaves which way he was traveling and so much blood had run down his legs at this point that there were dots of blood when there were no larger splatter marks. This was a slow hands and knees operation. It took three hours to track the last 60 yards. I got discouraged many times but I kept telling myself that this is part of the experience and it was my job to persevere. Ultimately I found a large pool of blood where he had bedded down. Then at some point he got up and collapsed about 10 yards away. The bottom line is next outing I will spend an extra few seconds to make a better shot and hopefully avoid an multiple hours long tracking job.

Recovered and donated to the food pantry.

Quick update: I found him at about 10:00 this morning. Bad shot, low forward. I crippled his far front leg and slice the bottom of his brisket. Long version to follow tomorrow.

Thanks for the replies. Let's hope I find it in the morning.

I was not concerned about finding it. I think I can do that on my own if I let it bleed out. It is possible that the deer that I jumped is not the one I shot.

I shot a deer late this afternoon at about 3:45. I thought it was a good double lung shot right behind the front leg but I did not notice any bubbles in the bright red blood. The deer staggered as it ran. I put my tree stand away and started slowly tracking at about 4:30. I got a good blood trail - real easy to follow. I saw some pooling where the deer must have stood still for a moment or two. At about 5 o'clock and 200 yards in I jumped a deer and I decided to pull out when I got close to some houses since I was in real thick stuff and I am not so familiar with the section of woods I was in. There is still plenty of blood flow. It is going to be around 32 degrees tonight here on the north fork of Long Island. It will be a challenge trying to follow the blood path out dragging the deer in the dark and really easy in daylight. Safety is not an issue, I can see street lights almost from anywhere where I will be. My question is should I go back in after having something to eat or should I wait till morning? ETA: I don't know if the arrow passed through. I stopped looking for it once I picked up the blood trail since I was running out of daylight.

I broke one of the safety rules regarding the use of treestands by buying a used climbing treestand. I was told it was an API treestand, but the only marking says USL Outdoor Products. An internet search of ULS Outdoor Products only found old posts asking what happened to the company. I am assuming that the treestand is an older model but it seems to work just fine. Does anybody know anything about these treestands and the company?

https://sawyer.com/where-to-buy/

FYI - API warns against bouncing on the treestand to get it to bite in. It also warns that the treestand should be level. YMMV.