coldwater

The Garmin will get you close to the line in the SD card, sure, but those lines are approximate. Even the tax maps counties put up online are approximate. The difference on the ground can be a hundred feet or more, even the shape of the parcel can be different. My neighbor uses those maps loaded in his GPS to justify his hunting on my property, and it drives me nuts. Walking twenty feet over the line is fine, but planting a blind fifty into my lot is not. Only a professional survey will get it right.

It's my favorite part of the whole season. After opening week when things get quieter, I spend my time off the stand. I use draws and creekbeds to cover distance, then switch to the slow movements many described well above. I scan with good binos at every couple of steps. I crouch down a lot, leaning on trees or stumps. About a third of the deer I see are bedded, another third are standing or walking, and the rest are running away because I'm not good enough at it yet! Even on noisy frozen snow or dry leaves it can work, but then you need to break up your sound pattern (irregular steps, toe-heel, etc.). The binos are the most important element, for me - it allows me to see them before they see me.

Remington 700, .30-06 Marlin 336, 35 rem if I can get my hands on lead free ammo on time

Sure, the rules about shooting times exist for safety reasons. I disagree with those rules, I wish they were inline with what other states do (30 min after sunset, etc.), but they're not, and they're stupid. Now, violating these rules is NOT so much a safety issue as a fairness issue. The big buck I shoot 15 minutes after legal time will not be there the next morning for my neighbor to shoot during legal hours. I would have robbed him an opportunity to get that buck legally. My breaking the law directly affects my law-abiding neighbors. There's where the problem lies. Driving 72 instead of 65, if done safely, doesn't take away anything from anybody. As for the issue of putting down a wounded deer after hours, nobody else is affected. I would do it; call the DEC, fine me, call me a poacher, I don't give a sh*t. I shot it, I wounded it, it's my responsibility to clean up my mess.

That's what gets me about poachers. It's not that they're breaking the law, it's that they rob opportunities from others.

Lurking for a couple of years now, I found lots of valuable information here. I hunt deer & grouse in Steuben & Allegany counties. Cheers!

Just here to say: Cuomo re-elected = aggitated gun & ammo hoarders = more Pittman-Robertson money raised from firearms + ammo sales = more money for game (& non-game!) conservation. That's a win-win right there.