phade

Long story short, Gander Mountain screwed the pooch when I had them mount a new scope to my H & R. They resolved it and comped me a $50 gift card. I simply don't go there enough any longer to use it. If someone does, and wants to save $5, I'd gladly part with it for $45 via paypal gift (to avoid fees). I have a solid standing sales history here and on AT, ebay, etc.

I bet Letchworth would stay shotgun only. Many state parks do have their own requierments (and Letchworth does now) seperate from state regs. .243 here I come!!!! LOL.

I hope so, that'd be cool!

I'm sure you will!

My truck broke down last September in Ohio while we were out there scouting. I didn't get it back until late October. Cost me $900 for the repair (PCM), $600 for the car rental, and $200 in hotel fees. Plus gas, and ticking the wife off for having to come get me in Ohio on a Sunday. Yeah. Fun times. I now have three vehicles...two daily driving SUVs and the truck.

Trigger control education. We will still have those who want young bucks because they don't have the time, access, or desire to dedicate themselves to holding off. Their license dollars and rank keep the hunting voice loud-ish. I should look into it, but I wonder if PA had a license sales drop post AR. I thought I remember seeing info that they did.

As time has went on, I've taken less time in regular season and more in bow. I'm still going to take a day or two for regular season.

Razor Edge is a great bow for ladies. My wife has one and shoots it like a champ. But she won't hunt.

AR doesn't fix deer populations. They should get rid of the statewide tag for that area because that's the problem I alluded to earlier. Since you CANNOT shoot does, does will likely rebound naturally in a relatively short order. The force acting upon them are the bow and smoke pole toters keeping that number in check. While I am sure a fair share of 1.5s are shot, plenty make it through to service the ladies.

Dove hunting is one of the best ways to get a kid into hunting. Period. Usually great weather, fun, lots of action, and great for developing shooting skills. I started out dove hunting in VA. Talk about fun!

OBR impacts hunting on a variety of levels. One - for those who do not let OBR impact them (ie they shoot what they want - a spike, fork, etc.) Once they do that, they are done buck hunting. For the most part they are out of the woods or just pounding does. Two - A portion of hunters have loose standards to fill that first buck tag, they will take a small 6 or a 4 to "say they got their buck" and then begin in earnest to hold out for that mature buck because they have that "second" tag. By removing that second tag, this group is willingly more selective in harvest. Three - OBR in general terms, usually means a higher overall age class breakdown of buck harvest. Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, etc. are examples. Between 5-10,000 hunters a year take two legal bucks in NY. Not a lot, right? But a large portion of the young buck harvest are taken by that second group - the ones who take one to "get their buck" before holding out. 5-10k bucks also don't seem like a lot, but in certain areas, eliminating that harvest better balances the deer herd, especially when paired with legit, sound doe management. OBR is simple, effective, and biologically sound. It's a no muss-no fuss system. No need for WMU 7P, 3M, etc. to be AR and 8H, 8G, etc. to not be A/R or compared to 3 a side in 7P but 4 a side in the neighboring unit. There are not many statewide regs or tag structures that will work well across the board. OBR is one that will.

There are some impact differences - assuming that the button is merely a YOY and the 8 is 1.5, 2.5, etc. The button is statistically less likely to survive winter and the 8 is likely more proficient at breeding. A better statement would be a 1.5 4 point and a 1.5 6 pt.

Yes, I've done that a bit before...those artificial trees are a good tip. Even work for hang-on platforms or to hang on tree limbs to give background cover. Another thing you can do, is visit the stand site, and trim some live branches that are still green and set up them in the peg holes of the stand or platform. When cut green, the leaves will stay on into winter as the material doesn't break down (similar to grabbing a buck's rack in October vs. late December here, lol).

You should be...is a mature buck suddenly worth two small bucks or something? Last time I checked, both have a pair...and only a pair. AR is most often joined at the hip with an over-the-top DMP/doe tag plan. Withouth the doe tag management, you are not impacting the B:D ration with simple AR. You may be thinking of herd dynamics?

Whoah, I didn't say that. All I said was that the B:D ratio was not impacted.

Also, AR doesn't factor into B:D ratios. Doe tags, do, however. If you kill a young buck or an old buck, you still kill a buck.

You are missing the point. What I am saying is that had you shot better, you'd already have mature bucks on the wall. You've proven to get close enough to them, so you don't need AR to kill mature bucks. Again, please take this as literal and not a bash against you. As you noted, you want better hunting. Sealing the deal is much better than AR brother.

The biggest dividend to you would be proper shooting form and practice, and not AR. And, with this being an internet forum, you cannot read intent. I'm not being sarcastic or holier than thou because I have most certainly missed my fair share of deer - I probably missed more than most before I got my first one. It's just that for personal gain, as you noted, to improve your hunting experience, I'd do what pays the biggest dividend. People seem to want the easy route, there won't be big bucks roaming behind every tree with AR...but one thing is 100% certain, if you practice to become a better hunter, you'll be more likely to kill a mature buck. It seems to me that hunting skills are overrated in today's hunters. I know I have plenty to work on, including tracking a buck down. Someday, that's going to be a focus of mine in the big woods some place.

Good, for those that it wouldn't impact, they still get their deer and are out of the woods and only take one from the pool. Others, it'll make the trigger a bit more difficult to pull. Best of both worlds, imo.

Education has shown improvements already according to the annual reports issued by the DEC. I think this past season there was a slight uptick in 1.5s but that it was statistically insignificant according to them. The rate of 1.5 harvest has dropped a fair amount in the past 5 or so years. Most of that isn't credit to the DEC, though. It's a bit of a slippery slope, but some of it comes from groups like the QDMA, but also that double-edge sword of deer porn on TV and in the rags. The hunting industry has grown quite a bit and that is protrayed pretty heavily. But, suffice it to say, there will always be the group of weekend warriors or just the ones who go out on opening day, or the ones who simply are happy with a spike. And, really, if that's the case, I can't find fault in them for that. What exactly would you kill buck wise? I'm just asking out of curioisity? Is it a set number/age? Or just a "trip my trigger" thing?

Thanks. Things always come up in life. Hopefully a winner is chosen soon to clear it off of his list of things to do.

How do they pay off better during the season?

So many variables grow...everything from the plot and nutrient uptake itself, to geographical location to beds, security cover, wind direction, thermals, annoying dogs, proximity to water, etc. So many reasons why deer choose what they do.

Regular Gun hunters make up the overwhelming, large majority of hunters in NY. They do not get an antlerless statewide tag. The bow/ML statewide antlerless is also a dangerous tool and the state has caught on to it and at one point thought about removing it. Why? Because it was being used in areas with no regular DMPs. Think about that - why - if the DEC thought no DMPs could be used because the doe population was too low to support harvest - that it would be OK now for some bowhunter or ML hunter to come in there and kills does on the very same ground designated as being a NO DMP area. The DEC has gone on record and said that this tag is slowing down the ability for NO DMP zones to have rebounding doe populations. Negatives: Hygrading is a legit concern and one that has mixed data out about it Adding a variety of complex rules/regulations to micro areas - one statewide rule will not be effective (i.e. 3 a side). About two-third of 1.5 y/o bucks in my area will have 3 on a side. 4 a side is flat out insane because now it starts to rule out deer above 1.5 y/o. Casual hunter, recreational hunter, weekend warriors, old people, etc. shouldn't be forced to abide by rules designated to grow bigger racks. We simply do not need more regulation - we need education. And, honestly, it's voo-doo science. It's not a science of the deer, it's a science of the people who lack trigger control. Restructure the season dates, remove the second buck tag, and have a flexible, fluid doe management system. Done...darn near instant increase in deer quality and one in which people can CHOOSE the deer they shoot. It's a testy topic on this site and in general. People in large don't change their minds. You rarely see large landholders or those who can kill mature bucks in today's environment calling for A/Rs. And, I quantify this with a grain of salt, but most people who do want it, don't have very many big racks on the wall. The ones who do, don't need a system change.

What's your point? That's a common argument of A/R supporters, but not always realistic. DMPs are not available in several units, they are limited in several more, and some people simply hunt a day or two a year. The areas with high doe populations are usually in the areas where A/Rs are LEAST necessary imo. People who post on forums aren't the ones who need help being retained. It's the ones who hunt a day or two an entire season that make up the majority of license sales. I've just seen too many people happy they shot a small buck to tell them otherwise. It is their decision, imo.