phade

Bonus permit is an "any deer will do" tag...mature buck, doe, button, etc. It's not the run of the mill DMP.

No, really, it's not. Because you've already labeled him a lawbreaker saying he poached a second deer....and you don't know all of the facts. You're throwing wet noodles against a wall and trying to see what sticks. And, to be honest, I don't often place tags on the ears/antlers...I actually place them inside the gum line of the buck's mouth after a good suggestion by a DEC officer. I once lost a tag on a drag and had to call and spend time to resolve the tagging and that was his suggestion to prevent it from happening. But, that's another issue, altogether. You are ready to fry the guy...prejudging is not necessarily the best thing to do. I suggest you at least let the man explain. He hasn't been on since July 17...all of these post started on July 24 about the poaching ordeal. Phade, you DO know that you dont have to put the tag ON the animal until you get it to your mode of transportation out of the area, right? So you losing your tag on the drag back was completely unnecessary. Its right in the rules. What happens to the thread is up to the owner of the site. Yep, but the mode of transportation is my feet when hunting behind the house. I personally won't hang a deer in teh yard without the tag on the person (deer). Don't know if the 4-wheeler would be considered a mode, but that's sometimes in use as well.

The guy hasn't even been ticketed to our knowledge yet, nor interviewed, nor apporached by a DEC officer. Yet another assumption that if a DEC officer investigates, that there will be a ticket to see a judge? Giving a hunter a bad name before knowing 100 percent fo the facts is pretty lame imo. I think the mods should lock this thread and contact him to let him know of this situation. If the details pan out that's he's guilty of something, then he should be reported. Mods should be objective when making determinations and locking this thread and closing this conversation until the facts are made clear is the justly thing to do. Letting this flame job (it is untill proven otherwise) go on one-sided is not the best idea for this site. Good idea Phade. I hope the guy is clean and has a simple explanation for this. If the guy's not clean...we should most definitely bring the heat. I am just really disappointed all this prejudging went on, even more so by the members who did it. As I said before, I've been guilty of pre-judging myself and we need to work at not doing that.

It's been talked about on this site a few times before, I think. Here's teh language: Bonus DMPs will be issued to increase hunter participation and deer harvest in four Wildlife Management Units (1C, 3S, 4J and 8C). "Bonus Permits" will be available to hunters who take an antlerless deer in one of those units on a Deer Management Permit (DMP) or a Bonus DMP for that unit. Bonus DMPs may be used only in the Unit for which they are issued and will be valid for a deer of either sex. Bonus DMPs that are used to take an antlerless deer may be replaced with another "Bonus DMP". Bonus DMPs used to take an antlered deer will not be replaced.

The guy hasn't even been ticketed to our knowledge yet, nor interviewed, nor apporached by a DEC officer. Yet another assumption that if a DEC officer investigates, that there will be a ticket to see a judge? Giving a hunter a bad name before knowing 100 percent fo the facts is pretty lame imo. I think the mods should lock this thread and contact him to let him know of this situation. If the details pan out that's he's guilty of something, then he should be reported. Mods should be objective when making determinations and locking this thread and closing this conversation until the facts are made clear is the justly thing to do. Letting this flame job (it is untill proven otherwise) go on one-sided is not the best idea for this site.

Kinda of hard to know what you don't know. He hasn't been on here since the accusations starting flying.

No, really, it's not. Because you've already labeled him a lawbreaker saying he poached a second deer....and you don't know all of the facts. You're throwing wet noodles against a wall and trying to see what sticks. And, to be honest, I don't often place tags on the ears/antlers...I actually place them inside the gum line of the buck's mouth after a good suggestion by a DEC officer. I once lost a tag on a drag and had to call and spend time to resolve the tagging and that was his suggestion to prevent it from happening. But, that's another issue, altogether. You are ready to fry the guy...prejudging is not necessarily the best thing to do. I suggest you at least let the man explain. He hasn't been on since July 17...all of these post started on July 24 about the poaching ordeal.

He said: I almost never hunt any place but my own. Again, that's another assumption on your part. You think "almost never" = 100 percent of the time, all the time? No...it's not. He would have said NEVER if that was 100 percent of the time...not ALMOST NEVER. Who knows...maybe he also owns a small plot in 8c...or a relative once in a blue moon, etc. Not saying the dude's innocent, the chances are high something's awry, but there's a fair amount of ASSuming going on before you know all of the facts, in light of a potentially plausible explanation, however low odds they may be. I'd say that's reasonable doubt....not fully conclusive beyond all doubt.

Let me be the first to say the appearance looks bad...HOWEVER, everyone needs to slow the roll on the mob before learning of an explanation. Nobody has mentioned the fact he's quite close to 8c...if anyone knows about that unit...you can indeed take a second buck during bow season. Not saying its likely, but he's only 15-20 minutes from that unit. Out of state...unlikely. Again, it looks bad, but there is the chance he legally took both bucks. Probably not very high that both were legal...BUT...the chance IS there. I suggest everyone not condemn him before knowing the full story. This quick to judge/premature judging stuff is just as damaging to hunting as the poaching act would be/is. If by small chance the 8c explanation was real, there's a bunch of egg on people's faces here, regardless if he should have explained in a kill post. If that's the case, I hope all of you step up, apologize, and do your best to clear his screenname from this debacle. This site is full of people who criticize those who don't know or read the laws/regulations...there's an active bait in the store thread right now with several people who say you need to know/read the regs otherwise you are ignorant. If you read the regs, the 8c explanation becomes a potential factor here....but I see at least 2-3 or more people saying it was poached already, including representatives of this site and those who run other sites related to hunting - which doesn't bode well for the reputation of said sites. To me, that's the pot calling the kettle black. I'm guilty of making assumptions from time to time, too, and to be honest, that's why the potential explanation came to my mind. I'm just saying, take it easy fellas, for the time being, until you are like Paul Harvey, and know the rest of the story. If it turns out to be a poaching job....then obviously the ramifications need to be felt.

Very interesting. I forgot...did you do anything with the licking branch? Shame on the cam...they always seem to fail right at the worst possible time.

Thanks for the info. I figured the deer numbers would be a little lower overall than what I am used to seeing. Thankfully there is a nice corn field to the south about 75 yards from the southern property line and a really solid bedding area on the property so I can get in between them.

My hunting bow rarely sees an arrow tipped with a field point unless its hitting a bag. The poor 3d target is taking a beating this year, though. The practice bh for Grim Reapers are primo.

Nice bow! The coin to get that had to be hard to let go of...I can see doing that for a gun since it'll last a lifetime, but bows to me seem so much more "replaceable". This coming from the guy who for the first time in 5 years...will be hunting with the same bow for the second year in a row.

I was just in the Cicero one this weekend on way to 1000 islands...much nicer store than henrietta. And the braggin board was right when you walk in...loads of associate and customer pics on it. GM has gone downhill a bunch lately...bargains less frequent. I think alot of that had to do with the private acquisition a few years back. They're likely prepping it to resell or take public in the coming years. Likely cutting inventory hold to reduce cost, etc. That's seems to be apparent from almost everyone's experiences there now.

The criss-cross rope method works well when putting up a ladder solo. Never thought there'd be an easy way to set ladders by yourself (I'm not the best at this) but wow, crossing the ropes on the back side of the ladder work well. Walk it up, cross the ropes, tie it off and that thing is stable to climb and ratchet, etc. This product looks nice but I worry about being able to get it in the ground in some spots due to roots, rocks, etc. especially here in limestone country where there are more deposits than soil.

Do they still have the dowels that people were breaking arrows on? Seems like most targets do. I have the Rhinehart Woodland buck and broke two arrows on it already this summer. One of them I was shocked to see it located below the vitals (it was a low shot). It sent the nock back about 15ft from the target and broke the rear of the arrow.

I have some access through family for a small acreage there to do some deer hunting. The 1/2-1 mile area around it appear to be mostly apple farms. Never hunted apple country before. It's a bit of a drive but can stay the night at family's house nearby. Seems like there are potato and corn close by too. DEC shows the deer numbers are lower than where I typically hunt but still decent hunting. Would be a nice change of pace/scenery though. Anyone ahve experience in that general area? I suppose that whole section of Wayne Co. is similar hunting (apple country).

That's a great buck, but don't get too worked up just yet. It's still summer and his range can shift for the fall. Running cams this time of year is a love/hate affair. Love to see the bucks, but you just know some of them are going to go off the ground come hunting season. Bill Winke doesn't even run his cams on his Iowa ground until Mid Sept. I thought about that for a second thinking that's crazy, but it makes a bunch of sense.

Oh I shoot in the yard, but its fun to go to the 3D range from time to time. They have an elevated platform and all kinds of targets. I have some pics of the place, let me dig them out. I put up a treestand in the backyard and now almost always shoot there instead of the range...avoids the fees long-term. No gas cost to get there and back and I can monkey around a bit. Hunting partner will come over and we rotate about 5-10 shots at various distances. At the end we each do a money arrow at a target we put out specifically for that shot, usually somewhere between 0-45 yards. Loser buys lunch, etc. This past Sunday we got a little brave and set up a few crab apples from the tree in the back yard...got mine on the first try at 21 yards and the mushroom swiss burger was delicious...and free! I've been shooting since turkey season about 30-40 arrows a week - but more lately. Got to that burn-out practice stage where I was shooting better but now starting to get a bit off-kilter. I always go through that it seems for about two weeks in August...shoot great during the summer, have that slump where my groups are bigger than normal, and then I refocus and shoot well into the hunting season. Probably just form lazyiness at times, I'm sure. This year I'm fighting with my bow arm and grip.

Agreed. Not the stand type...it's the hunter and their tactics that blow up a spot.

Seeing bucks go all wonky is pretty fun. I've killed a few bucks during that time, but far more in that last weekend of October to November 6-7 timeframe. That second/third week of bow can be exciting if the temps are nice and cool...I don't usually get out to hunt much that final week of bow M-F before gun season because I usually burn up my vacation the first two weeks of the season. Before bowhunters lost that last weekend, it was either a great weekend or a tough hunting weekend based on the rut activity...some years it was great with plenty of bucks chasing. In other years, it was the traditional lockdown and buck sightings were usually sporadic when they were in-between does or so tight to the ones they were locking down that you couldn't make much of a play on them. One of the biggest bucks seen in my life while in the woods was that last Sunday afternoon before the final Monday gun opener. He had a doe locked down and I had two choices to get to a particular stand. I chose the wrong path and bumped both of them up heart-attack style. Other trail would have led me safely to the stand and things may have been different since they were almost borderline bow range when bedded.

I use to stress over avoiding killing buttons. But, dispersal happens (ranging widely in size), and on the small parcels I hunt...they're not staying there. I still avoid shooting buttons if possible and always try to identify them...I have no real interest in shooting one unless it's a last day/no venision scenario...but even then I'm going to think twice about it. But...when it happens (2x in the last 10 years in gun hunting situations...bow is a little easier)...I don't stress it. Dispersal happens and it evens out.

Picked up a Traditions Vortek UL...looking to test it in two weekends at the range and I want to pick up some new projectiles, etc. I bought some BH209 for it and intend to shoot it, if it's manageable with the breech plug (I keep hearing horror stories about how some won't ignite well). I also have 777 pellets, although I'd like to avoid using them altogether if the good qualities of BH209 come through. I picked up some Hornday SSTs (250 gr). I also have a small stock of Hornady XTP (240 gr) and Powerbelts in 223 grain that I've use to use out of my Wolf. I like the Barnes products, but they're a bit spendy and I think they may need a special tool/adapter on the rods to load? So, I'm open to brand, etc. and even powder measurements. My goal is to shoot reliably to 150 yards with the majority of shots 75 and less. Don't care for much more distance than that, although I would welcome it despite little real-world application for me.

I pick them up when they are on sale cheap off-season. That extra 5 ft make those 15' ladder stands pretty lofty at 19' for dirt cheap. They can be a little hard to come by on sale since they don't stock huge numbers like they do the basic ladder stands (when they go on clearance). I've found two so far and they're some of my favorite stand sets.

Don't bother with insurance companies...that's a waste of time since they are a profit organization and not all that likely to provide you such data unless you reach a kind soul. Do you know many in that industry? I don't....and I worked in it for a while. You need to check the municipalities. They have the info...the Democrat and Chronicle ran a story last year about Irondequit, I think, and it showed how the town (and others) had data collection for many many many years. The DEC used to be a little more involved with the fetus studies (don't know if they still do them) on roadkill does that were preggers. The funding issue really put a dent in that. I hunted more last year than I had in the past few preceeding years and I only witnessed chasing on two days...Nov. 2 and Nov. 6. My hunting partner, who usually is within a few hundred yards of me on many occassions, saw chasing on November 9, 10, and 11. That's a pretty big difference in my book. Observation can only take you so far, including roadkills, becuase they don't give you the whole picture (young v.s mature bucks, doe numbers, etc.).