phade

This cam is 8 feet off the ground on a slight slope. Same buck nearly a month later. He still notices it. Did he get used to it? Maybe not as bad of a reaction right? He never showed up again. This is a cam at a scrape. He never showed on the property again. People love to make generalizations that paint with a wide brush. The truth is deer are like any other animal, including humans. They each have their own disposition. Thinking that all deer are not afraid of trail cams if they constantly encounter them is short-sighted at best. I play to the lowest common denominator and use trail cams as if every deer were like the ones above. Some are not, but some are.

Gibbons - his work is a recipe to the downfall of most empires. Not an exclusive list, but nonethless a recipe for the foundation to crumble... 1. Decline in Morals and Values Those morals and values that kept together the Roman legions and thus the empire could not be maintained towards the end of the empire. The dramatic increase of divorce undermined the institution of the family. Crimes of violence made the streets of the larger cities unsafe. Even during PaxRomana there were 32,000 prostitutes in Rome. Emperors like Nero and Caligula became infamous for wasting money on lavish parties where guests ate and drank until they became ill. The most popular amusement was watching the gladiatorial combats in the Coliseum. These were attended by the poor, the rich, and frequently the emperor himself. As gladiators fought, vicious cries and curses were heard from the audience. One contest after another was staged in the course of a single day. Should the ground become too soaked with blood, it was covered over with a fresh layer of sand and the performance went on. The drive for personal pleasure had become very intense, even to the point of obsession. Gibbons noted that, at the very end, sports had become more exciting and brutal. 2. Public Health There were many public health and environmental problems. Many of the wealthy had water brought to their homes through lead pipes. Previously the aqueducts had even purified the water but at the end lead pipes were thought to be preferable. The wealthy death rate was very high. The continuous interaction of people at the Coliseum, the blood and death probable spread disease. Those who lived on the streets in continuous contact allowed for an uninterrupted strain of disease much like the homeless in the poorer run shelters of today. Alcohol use increased as well adding to the incompetency of the general public. Recently, some postulate that the Roman Empire had extended so far that diseases from other lands could easily make their way back to Rome. Resistance to those diseases were weak. 3. Political Corruption One of the most difficult problems was choosing a new emperor. Unlike Greece where transition may not have been smooth but was at least consistent, the Romans never created an effective system to determine how new emperors would be selected. The choice was always open to debate between the old emperor, the Senate, the Praetorian Guard (the emperor's private army), and the army. Gradually, the Praetorian Guard gained complete authority to choose the new emperor, who rewarded the guard who then became more influential, perpetuating the cycle. Then in 186 A. D. the army strangled the new emperor, the practice began of selling the throne to the highest bidder. During the next 100 years, Rome had 37 different emperors - 25 of whom were removed from office by assassination. This contributed to the overall weaknesses of the empire. Hidden conspirators were working within the government to secretly destroy it. They worked quietly, invisibly and deceitfully; during the entire time they were secretly dismantling the government of the Roman Empire, they publicly proclaimed their unswerving support of it. People lost their faith, both religiously and in their government. The efficient Roman Government gave way to chaos and disintegration. 4. Unemployment During the latter years of the empire farming was done on large estates called latifundia that were owned by wealthy men who used slave labor. A farmer who had to pay workmen could not produce goods as cheaply. Many farmers could not compete with these low prices and lost or sold their farms. This not only undermined the citizen farmer who passed his values to his family, but also filled the cities with unemployed people. At one time, the emperor was importing grain to feed more than 100,000 people in Rome alone. These people were not only a burden but also had little to do but cause trouble and contribute to an ever increasing crime rate. 5. Inflation The imposition of higher taxes undermined the economic stability and vitality of the Empire. Taxes were raised to pay for deficit government spending, to pay for food for all in society and to pay for government-sponsored activities of diversion, such as circuses and sports. Interestingly, as the time of the final collapse drew closer, greater emphasis was placed on sports, to divert the attention of the public from the distressing news of massive trouble within the Empire. The Roman economy suffered from inflation (an increase in prices) beginning after the reign of Marcus Aurelius. Once the Romans stopped conquering new lands, the flow of gold into the Roman economy decreased. Yet much gold was being spent by the Romans to pay for luxury items. This meant that there was less gold to use in coins. As the amount of gold used in coins decreased, the coins became less valuable. To make up for this loss in value, merchants raised the prices on the goods they sold. Many people stopped using coins and began to barter to get what they needed. Eventually, salaries had to be paid in food and clothing, and taxes were collected in fruits and vegetables. 6. Urban decay Wealthy Romans lived in a domus, or house, with marble walls, floors with intricate colored tiles, and windows made of small panes of glass. Most Romans, however, were not rich, They lived in small smelly rooms in apartment houses with six or more stories called islands. Each island covered an entire block. At one time there were 44,000 apartment houses within the city walls of Rome. First-floor apartments were not occupied by the poor since these living quarters rented for about $00 a year. The more shaky wooden stairs a family had to climb, the cheaper the rent became. The upper apartments that the poor rented for $40 a year were hot, dirty, crowed, and dangerous. Anyone who could not pay the rent was forced to move out and live on the crime-infested streets. Because of this cities began to decay. 7. Inferior Technology During the last 400 years of the empire, the scientific achievements of the Romans were limited almost entirely to engineering and the organization of public services. They built marvelous roads, bridges, and aqueducts. They established the first system of medicine for the benefit of the poor. But since the Romans relied so much on human and animal labor, they failed to invent many new machines or find new technology to produce goods more efficiently. They could not provide enough goods for their growing population. They were no longer conquering other civilizations and adapting their technology, they were actually losing territory they could not longer maintain with their legions. 8. Military Spending Maintaining an army to defend the border of the Empire from barbarian attacks was a constant drain on the government. Military spending left few resources for other vital activities, such as providing public housing and maintaining quality roads and aqueducts. Frustrated Romans lost their desire to defend the Empire. The empire had to begin hiring soldiers recruited from the unemployed city mobs or worse from foreign counties. Such an army was not only unreliable, but very expensive. The emperors were forced to raise taxes frequently which in turn led again to increased inflation.

I have seen in Ohio and VA where feeding was/is legal...alot of times I see the haybale design. Two haybales set aside to allow the snout in but deep enough to push the antlers off. Safer than the fencing but still dangerous in that it could prematurely force the antler off - although everything I read and understand is that the chemical make up to a shedding process is that the pedicle has the make-up to keep the antler on and then get weak to allow it to shed within a very short period of time (ie an hour or two). I came across one here in NY on private ground (fence style) and I knocked it down too. Whatever. I strongly doubt the person had a research project on the private ground nobody else was to be hunting on according to the owner.

What it does is provide supporting evidence that the "big buck" years have gone by for a reason or reasons. When alot of states are showing smaller antler size or avg book size entry, the sum of the parts is the greater message. So, it does mean something...because of the trickle down effect you noted after following up on the statement. Generally speaking, the years avg book size goes up, the more b and C entries there are and the inverse is same...lower avg book size goes down...and fewer entries. I have seen/held three in 9 years and I believe two entered, not counting the ones down in LI that I have covered. It does amaze me how many are not entered.

Some states need the physical card/cert. and not the license number. I believe Iowa is one based on my research and prep.

They just recalled it a day or two ago. Lots of news on unintentional discharge. There is a viral vid on youtube with the flaw.

I have mandatory OT for my reporting structure about 4-6 Saturdays a year.The thing is though, people actually enjoy it because it's usually 1 or 2x a month in Nov. Dec. Jan, and Feb. They crave the OT because it pays for Christmas. I may also run OT in July if we have a busy month, but again, its summer, vacations are in play, and people want the spending loot to pay for them...and school clothes. I take less time now for hunting than I did before. It stinks, but it's also a trade-off. I worked 9 days in February because my wife fell ill and was in the hospital. One hand washes the other when it comes to situations like that. If I were hourly or maybe at a different company with people who cared less, it would have been tough to navigate. I just took care of what I needed to take care of and there was minimal talk of anything related to being in the office. When I check my remaining PTO balance, it still says the same as it did in January....maxed out. Essentially I took 13 working days off in Feb. and didn't burn an hour of PTO, sick, or anything else. I'm not in manufacturing, which it sounds like alot of this topic applies to when talking about large businesses. I am in the services field working for a company with zero debt and not a single layoff in 35-40+ years of business with 12,000-13,000 employees. That is likely the exception to the rule, but these companies exist and if you are working for a company that isn't the exception to the rule, some of the "man keeping you down" is on your shoulders to a degree. I will say one of the mistakes I made was being comfortable working for such a company. I never took the time to network for the first portion of my career and it probably cost me some opportunities. Now, even though I am quite happy where I am and who I work with (equally as important), I always have one hand in the game. There isn't a month that goes by where I don't receive or discuss opportunities with a couple headhunters. They know my current state and what it takes for me to look seriously, but like anything in life, complacency kills, so I've made a commitment to my family to maximize whatever potential there is. Last time this happened, I got a great offer from a massive, sound company every adult in this country knows...on the same day my company offered me my current role. Do you think I'd be as well off if I only had one offer in hand? Nope. You better believe I leveraged the hell out of it - to the point the VP of our division sat down and asked me what it'll take to keep me here after I turned down their counter offer. I burned a bridge at the other company, but it is one of those times where burning a bridge is worth more to you and your family.

Looks like a good show. Hopefully there are alot of trappers who can attend that are not chasing turkey or at work!

The one component of this that remains a mystery to me is how they value the processor sampling. Logic would dictate the rate of non-reporting would be lower for deer taken to a processor than deer not taken to a processor. I know their methodology is used in the majority of eastern states, but that component always eludes me.

B and C just released new data showing NY entries are down 75 percent in 2013 as compares to the prior 5 seasons. The drop is the biggest in the country tied with other states like IL and WI.

Spent all that time putting the light bar on the truck and now your light bar and headlights don't match! You have to do a HID conversion on that thing...

You are welcome, lol.

WJ - this is a tough one to stand on - pretty sure we can safely assume the people behind the nonhuman project are not conservative. Conservatives are concerned with the child and not chimps' status as a person. Whatever disagreements reside among the parties and its peoples, tying up court resources for something like this just seems like a bad idea. Reading some of the comments of that link are pretty scary.

That's a powerful statement.

That happens when avg parcel sizes dwindle over the years. We push usually the last weekend or MZ weekend, but we're pushing several 10-40 acre blocks within a 30 minute drive. We don't push them much before because it only takes a few minutes to burn through a small parcel like that. Larger land holdings would be awesome, but hard to find up here access/value wise for leasing/buying.

I scout twice as much as I hunt for deer - that is something that isn't likely to change. For turkey, I probably hunt twice as much as I scout because I find it more of a recreational pursuit. My available time to hunt is dwindling with family and job responsibilities, but when I do get out, I am having more fun with my friends. Maybe a quality vs. quantity thing mixed in with good great company. My out of state hunting has disappeared the past two years. Last year was the first year in 10+ years that I did not take two consecutive weeks off to hunt. I managed to get seven business days off, but that was a noticeable difference for me. I doubt I'll have the luxury of two weeks off in a row any time soon and this year is the year I'd like to do it if I could due to the calendar timing. Ah well. Game cameras keep it interesting for me. Case in point, while I was typing this, I got a pic sent of a few turkey passing by. Confirmation they are back in the area! Sure helps when I'm stuck in the office.

Wine grapes are way more effective as getting the system moving if you understand my drift. Like clockwork to me.

Wow that is slight expensive for the ladino...I found a place running a "white" clover at $4.25 a lb. Guy didn't know as it is a horse/equine place...it's ladino.

Agreed, good recovery tool. Expensive though.

No worries, you live down there.

It is what it is.

Ballparking a lease is not worth it. Determine a value to the parcel. You can try to use comps all you want, but a 40 acre piece in the right spot might be worth $2k to you (maybe not, who knows). Marginal properties (just trying to find a place to get out there) could be $400-600....basically the answer to a guiding rate isn't all that easy. It really does depend on the property. People pushing comps as what to go by are smart because they drive up the price over time. It's not going down any time soon. Best to look at the value, lease it one year with the option to renew long-term, with a scheduled payment plan and modest escalators by year. Also potentially worth looking into right of first refusal for sale if interested.

Finger Lakes acreage in vineyards: 2013: 9,130 2014: 9,393 Wineries 2013: 112 2014: 119

I don't think he is a dbag bow designer. That is where I disagree. His business sense and the way he acts...completely agree. People like KS are brilliant for a reason - the specialize in something in a way other people typically can't. They usually suffer from other maladies/weaknesses. I can't comment to any role KS plays in Obsessions marketing of their IBO speeds. Maybe he's yelling to high heaven, or maybe he's not involved in it, or maybe he is a part of it. If not, that'd be good by me...let him design bows. Let the marketing people push IBOs. People are really mad at him, some for good reason. But, I don't think anyone can say he isn't or hasn't been one of the preeminent bow designers of the last two-three decades.

I tend to disagree with this from a bow design perspective. His bows really were/are transformative. From a business side of things, I can understand where people get mad at him. He should just stick to designing bows. Bowtech, Elite, and other companies wouldn't be where they are without him.