genesee_mohican

Right, if I didn't see the conversation on here, I would have still assumed that bear were still off limits in the park. The permits are poorly worded as it is, but making a major change such as allowing bear hunting and then saying nothing about it anywhere on the permits or other hunting information they post is a very poor way to go about it. Now that the guy put it all on FB for the world to see, I'm sure the park will get a lot of calls on it.

Something changed this year for Letchworth Hunting Permits. All permits in the past have said that no bears can be taken in the park, plain and clear. This years permits didn't come out and say you could take bears. I'll look at my late season permit later.

Seeing bears in the park and getting them on trail cam has be a great experience the last few years, but I would not shoot one given the chance because I'd rather see them alive. I bet the park started to see issues with the bears and campers or something so they opened up the season on them. The bears wander off the park and get shot, so it would have been nice to leave them a place to get a pass. It's a thrill to see a black bear.

I heard soft bleats from young deer, heard and saw a few different bucks grunting and one did a low volume snort wheeze while with a doe. I used the can a few times, and called in a small buck.

I've never had a mis fire in my hawken caplock, a few hang fires so follow through is important. Keeping the gun outside in the cold is very important as condensation will happen inside the barrel if you take it from cold to warm to cold over and over. Careful cleaning before and after use is real important and when then is neglected is when I see people have issues.

A great boot back in the day, kept my feet warm and I still have a pair I use to shovel or wear when I work in the garage. The down side for hunting is that they are not very water proof and they are heavy and don't have great ankle support or traction. I picked up a pair of Danner high ground 1000gr this fall and they are my "go to boot" for deer hunting. Warm, light, waterproof, great traction and very comfortable.

2017 was great. The scouting I did the year before paid off, and I took a nice buck on my first sit at a new stand, which should be good again next fall too. I passed a half dozen bucks and does, learned more about the areas I hunt and found a new place that I'll scout more over the months head. I didn't see any shooters the last month, and I should have still hunted on the Saturday it snowed all day but no bad times had all season and was just thankful each day to be out hunting. Next season starts right now and I'll be heading out to move around some trail cameras, put more cams up to see what made it through the year. Soon I'll be shed hunting along with checking cams and exploring new areas all the way up till spring.

Only saw does today on the east side. I found a nice lone track and back tracked it toward the gorge to see where he came up. I would like to get back there and put a cam up, maybe hunt it next season. Great weather for anyone out there today, I'm off tomorrow for the last deer hunt of the season.

We had steady snow all day yesterday and got about 8 inches. I don't think I've ever hunted in an all day snow like that before. I never saw a deer but the snow was pretty. Today I'm headed in a few miles to another stand, should be interesting walking. I have to laugh remembering how Oct temps were in the 80's and we talked about how the deer wouldn't move, how the warm air kills deer movement. If the opposite is true, then they should be running all over the place now, lol

That's a great late season buck, congrats! Sounds like you were the right spot and persistence paid off.

Heater body suit is a great thing to have. I've been toasty this am. Lots of moisture wicking layers helps too. It's not that bad once you get out here, been still hunting, had a 4 ppt walk right up to me. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

12 F, cloudy with fresh snow and I took the day off. I plan to sit for an hour, then still into the light south winds. There has to be some late rut action going on somewhere.

I would say the Allegany Co area up around Rattlesnake hill, Ossian State forest and all the other State forests up in that area would be the best chance for a mature buck. It's vast yet borders farmland and see's very little hunting pressure.

Sitting here and thinking about the question, I know the difference, but I think the hunters that have some acreage and plant an acre of corn on one side of the stand and an acre of some green "whitetail delights" on the other side are at far more of an advantage than some one who's walking in apples or deercain or what ever you call it. A pile of bait would be a smaller, sporadic food source, where one is leaving scent and bumping deer every time they walk in to load it back up. Good for the guy that has acreage and can manage it legally for deer, they are lucky.

Fresh snow here in the southern zone, a late season deer hunters dream! We have about 5 inches here in central Livingston Co. I got out of work early yesterday, arrived at my stand about 3:30. Winds were light so I hit the CAN and a few mins later see a buck pop out of the brush headed right at me. He was a young 6pt and passed by at 30 yards. He'll be a nice one next year. I'll be back out Friday morning. Good luck to those lucky hunters that are out today.

Tag soup means no deer taken all season. I've gone that way a few years and it's not fun. One deer in the freezer and I'm thankful and will be glad every time I pull some out to feast on.

I had a 4 pt come by at 8:45, nice calm morning, zero shots in the area, very quiet for the last weekend of reg season. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Maybe a weasel or dare I say....rat. Sounds like a trail cam project is needed to find out for sure.

I realize the limitations of the amount of apples a dozen trees will provide vs what you can purchase at a store. My point is: One doesn't need to bait in order to attract deer close to a tree stand. If you have ever hunted near a few apple trees on a year that they are producing well, you'd see the the draw it produces.

That would be a major job for one person. I find that dragging a deer is a difficult task. There has to be a reasonable explanation for this.

Plant 4 - 10 apple trees near a tree stand you'd like to hunt on your property. Once they mature that will be better than any bait pile you can come up with. At least while the apples are dropping.

I really like my center point for the price and how well it shoots. The scope works well enough for me, but I know it's low end and an upgrade is something I'd consider.

There was no hunting pressure in the area I hunted. Saturday I had 8 doe/fawns out in the corn at 4:10pm. Sunday am I had a big mature 6 point grunting and sticking tight to a doe at 7:30am and the same does out in the field at the end of the day. A friend hunting a mile away saw 2 bucks and does up and moving at 3 in the afternoon on his 80 acres. With clear skies and a full moon like we had I think they move more at night and tend to lay low during the day, but there is always some movement and with a limited number of days to hunt each fall, I can't see why anyone would stay home on a full moon weekend. Looking at the 'live in the woods' thread, I see some nice deer were taken.

I'll agree with that, I read an article in North American Whitetail years ago that All Free and Clear works just as good. It was written by Bobby Worthington. I use it year round in my home.