phade

Trucks are mandatory in my opinion. Part of the reason I have three vehicles. A truck doesn't have to be pretty. It has to be reliable and functional. We drive two small SUVs daily and I keep the truck for truck things. Best of both worlds. Sure the trucks don't get small car gas mileage, but having an old truck around for hunting or hauling, etc. is a big benefit when you do need it. Heck, my truck carries deer for some people on this forum who don't want to get their own truck dirty. Seriously!

Sad day for sure. Uneasy future in Buffalo. Bad week for the team/town with Kelly's cancer, too. I spent many a Sunday at the stadium. The first game I ever went to was THE Comeback. The noise level at the end of that game is seared into my mind. I have never seen or heard a louder, crazier mass of people.

I don't buy the visual pollution either. People don't like crazy. People don't trespass on crazy people's property. Every ten feet sounds about right to me.

Actually what surprises me is that most members on their forum are actually less concerned about taking those top end bucks and are more concerned with the "taking care of land" angle that WesternNY talks about. I see more talk about the crude protein % and the "what type of tractor to buy" topics than I do topics about bucks. There's a handful of outfitters on the forum, but most of them are actually officers of their local branches. I'm all for a balanced approach to land and deer management. But I also want to kill bucks of an older age class and even score AS WELL. I'm a minority on that forum in that sense. Pretty shocking.

Gander was going down and was taken private by a firm that is known to strip down a company to make it profitable again and then resell. Problem is, they are having a tough time making the company profitable enough to sell. This massive store redesign is likely a sign they feel they can do this finally, because they'll want to sell with the updates fresh. Probably a sign that Gander is at least break even.

That 770 make a great boat anchor. Heck it's a better baseball bat than an actual shooter. One of the worst guns ever made. I think open sights are fine if you plan on conventional loads/distances. People shooting hevi at 50 yds+ I think do better when dialing in a scope. Not so much for the far shots, but the up close ones when the pattern is the size of a quarter.

Therein lies the problem. What are you going to do? Kick them off their own land? Unless you try to tie together them somehow in a financially binding manner - which most people won't do - there's no hammer behind the rules. If 6 BB were shot out of a 100 DMAPS, that group is doing things right. That's freaking 6% rate for pete's sake.

I got married. I have a personal "finder." LOL. Its ridiculous, I can lose something and she knows right where it is.

Landowners agreeing on 3.5 and up is rare here in NY. If you can do it, then that's a big deal. Problem is most hunters in NY don't have 3.5s and many don't have 2.5s on the wall. Might be best to think about setting 2.5 across the board for now and then move to 3.5 as people buy in a year or two down the road. Small steps = big victory.

Welcome!

I instantly thought LoveHate when I saw it. It's a great design.

You already have a good game plan. Dock fishing is pretty much the best for starting out. Simply dropping the line with a worm on a hook will catch the sunnies and occassional other fish. THe push button style reels are probably the best for him. By dock fishing, he won't need to cast it and can just reel the fish back up after he drops the line.

This differs from your original post. Best and affordable and comfortable rarely go hand in hand. Cheap would be dicks stands. Comfortable....m100 or the large heavy rivers edge hangons. Best...lone wolf.

Sorry to hear, Larry.

This winter has put me behind for scouting unlike any other. Here's to hoping there's a few weekends before green-up. A couple years ago we went from winter to green-up in zero time flat and it made scouting difficult.

You may experience this, but chances are, there's someone willing to show the ropes without the fear of land mongering if you ask around.

Also - look up the youth hunt. I believe your son would qualify. Look up local QDMA chapters - Quality Deer Management Association. See if they have any openings for youths for the youth hunt. Many chapters will offer up a few slots for the youth to get out and hunt (you can accompany him). It is held in October, so it is good weather and a good time for a first hunt. I know the local one here in Rochester offers it. If you were willing to travel, you could probably reach out to them. There's several board members on this site from that chapter. Arguably, some of the better hunting in the state in this area, too.

Congrats to both of you wanting to join the hunting community. I'm on the other side of the state otherwise I'd be interested in helping you land a spot to hunt. As noted, many many hunters would (or should) be interested in helping you two get out for your first few times. There probably isn't a more rewarding aspect to hunting than to help someone new join the sport. Hopefully someone downstate on this forum steps up to help you out. I wish you the best of luck.

Sweet looking rig. The 2014s are really getting a good following.

Once I got over the new bow each year fetish, I spent that time actually hunting, or doing hunting things. I now find it a waste time and money to repeat this year after year. I could see someone maybe looking every 3-5 years, but bows aren't THAT revolutionary with each model year. My pair of Z-28s are staying in the stable for this year and maybe next. That'll put me at 5 years with them. They haven't let me down yet. I get my bow dialed in and I don't screw with it. It's a hunting machine...a tool.

Whatever can be diluted, will be diluted in the ACT. I doubt it'll ever be repealed. The best we can hope for is a paper tiger Act. One that after considerable back-pedaling and correction, only includes the parts that increase penalties as noted above. I do think getting the weapons definitions and ammo check costs (database) will be hard to overcome. I don't see New York giving up any revenue generating aspect.

TDM and QDM are indeed different. There's a big difference in the roads to get there with TDM. You are talking about growing bone at the sake of all else. http://www.qdma.com/articles/qdma-vs-trophy-and-traditional-deer-management-stratgies

GJS4 is talking about a better management bureau as a whole, including the management of the resource. None are perfect, per say, but certain bureaus are more adept at managing the herd. He's familiar with Ohio and they are light years ahead of what the DEC is, even on their best day. There are good people in the DEC, but they are usually handcuffed in what they can do. Ohio is fluid - they make changes with reason and science and do so swiftly after considering the facts. They are willing to move and change seasons because its the right thing to do rather than talk about talking about it. They manipulate doe harvests based on numbers and do so openly. Now, that's not to say Ohio is perfect, again, but their management of the deer, the natural resources, and the hunters, is light years ahead. Shoot a 185" illegally in Ohio and do the same in New York. I can safely say, you'll want to be in the New York courtroom rather than the Ohio one. GJS4 doesn't have to worry about growing the big bucks because he already does that well. He is victim to slob hunters year in and year out and I feel for him. The DEC hasn't done much if anything to help out his situation and he's approached it correctly and was pretty much crapped on if I recall properly.

QDM or QDMA? Kind of confused on that. It'd be interesting to see your mindset in a co-op. If antlers rule the day, you may have some challenges trying to implement a QDM co-op. You may want to move to south Texas where TDM is prevalent, lol. Whether QDM or TDM, the lowest hole in the bucket for 99% of hunters is going to be their hunting skills. The problem is that many people believe that QDM or TDM will overcome that...so they plant plots, do TSI, and invest a lot of time and money into it, rather than trying to better understanding their hunting weaknesses, scouting skills, etc. Managing the hunter is just as important as the habitat. The only case where I've seen skills not really be a factor is when someone has best in class ground within the area. Many of such hunters who hunt this are skilled, but just as many cannot hunt themselves out of a hole in the ground, yet take large bucks year in and year out. I've met a few over time and you can pinpoint them pretty quickly - it initially frustrated me, but you can't let that bother you. Let them be in their own world. For the 99%, hunting skills rule the day.

It all depends on the county and the judicial staff. Livingston Co. is about as good as it gets for the permit process.