wolc123

I forgot to contribute, when I bought my licence earlier this week. I paid $ 10 for (2) dmp tags in my WMU. My plan now is to contribute $ 10, towards the venison donation program, when I go back for (2) more dmp tags after November 1. Normally, they do not charge for those extra tags. Lots of folks go back for that second draw. I have always got those (2) extra tags, but It has been a few years since I filled one of them (I never filled both and I usually have a tough time filling the first two). I would like to see that $10 go to such a good cause. That gives me more incentive to make the short trip to Walmart, after November 1, to pick up those (2) extra tags.

It sure would suck to lose out on some "free meat" due to a dead battery. By the grace of God, I have not had any "dead battery" issues, with the cheap, Barnett red/green dot sight on my crossbow, since buying it in April 2014. I do take a few simple measures, to help insure that I never do. I start every season with a new battery (they are cheap). I adjust the intensity to a fairly low setting (uses less "juice", and makes for a more accurate shot with a smaller "dot"). It has (6) different intensity settings on red or green and I have never had it set higher than 3. I adjust the setting to a lower or higher level, as the the light level changes during the day. A setting of 1 is perfect in the woods near sunrise and sunset, while a setting of 3 is appropriate for mid-day, on the edge of an open field. For afternoon hunts, I turn it on as I walk to my stand (in case a target of opportunity shows up on the way), and turn it off at the last second of legal shooting time. For morning hunts, when I walk to the stand prior to legal shooting time, I leave it off until I get to the stand and that time arrives. So far, I have not forgotten to turn it off after a hunt. If I ever did, I would replace the battery prior to my next hunt (they are cheap). I always carry at least one spare battery in my pack (they are small and weigh almost nothing). Good luck with your red-dot. If it is a higher end model, it can compensate for failing vision, much like a scope can. Thankfully, my vision is still pretty good, so I can still get by ok with open sights at short range. Even so, I still prefer a scope when shots over 50 yards are expected. No matter how good your eyes are, they can only focus on one thing at a time. A scope, or a high-end red-dot, corrects for that issue. The error associated with an "out of focus" front sight, rear sight, or deer is no big deal under 50 yards, but will surely come into play at longer ranges. p.s. There is no such thing as "bad luck". It all comes down to Who has the final say where ALL living things end up. If He wants them in your freezer, that is where they will go. If you want to find out who "He" is, go pick up a copy of the best-selling book of all time and read it.

If your main concern is the 20-30 yard range, you might be better served by fiber-optic open sights than a red-dot, because they are not affected by rain, sleet and snow. That said, I love the cheap, Barnett factory red-dot (actually only used with "green dots"), on my crossbow. It has been 100 % effective for shots in the 15-59 yard range, on (3) standing and (1) fast-walking buck. I have yet to shoot at a deer with fiber-optics, but am hoping that changes this year, and I get a crack at one with those that I mounted and sighted on my Marlin 336 BL lever-action 30/30. That is my rain/sleet/snow Adirondack deer rifle. It shoulders and points exceptionally well and it seems that target acquisition should be a snap. Time will tell I suppose.

At least the DEC guys pulled the mower deck off their beat-up, hydrostatic-transmission Cub Cadet and put chains on the turf tires before hooking up the meat wagon and heading into the bush to recover the carcass of that possible CWD/EHD-infected 10-pointer. I wonder what caliber they used to bring down the "circling" buck, and how many shots it took.

Check CNN, that is the place to go for fake news.

I am not buying it. The pictures look fishy. Why would the DEC use a beat up cub-cadet lawnmower with tire chains on it to retrieve the carcass ? Don't believe everything you read on the internet.

I do a slight variation on Grampy's trick. I skip the every other cut scrape (actually I skip all of the scraping). At the end of the season, I remove the deck and take off and sharpen the blades. Before re-installing the blades, I power wash the underside of the deck, let it dry, then coat with used motor oil. The decks do seem to last forever that way and only cutting the grass when it is dry keeps it from building up too bad during the mowing season.

I just picked up all of that without the fishing (I bought that back in April) at Walmart today, and the cost was $ 72. No rule-books were printed yet, just a little 4-page flyer with the hunting dates. I received (2) DMP's for 9F, and will likely go back for (2) more on the second draw after Nov 1. I am thankful to see that the WMU where I hunt up north (6C) is still allowing the antlerless archery/ML tag to be used during the early ML season. It is nearly impossible to get a DMP in that zone, where I see about (6) antlerless deer per each antlered one. At home in 9F, where DMP's are handed out like candy (anyone can easily get (4)), I see about (6) antlered deer per each antlerless one, after October 1. The reason for that is because the local farmers work the antlerless ones over quite hard prior to October 1, with their "nuissance permits". Our venison supply is holding out ok and should last at least until October 16, at the current rate of consumption. That is the earliest day when I can get some "fresh stuff" up in the Northern zone with my crossbow. I stopped hunting with a vertical bow after the crossbow was legalized in 2014. It just hit me, that forgot to donate to the "hunters feeding the hungry program" when I bought my tags. I will try to remember to give $ 10 for that, when I go back after November 1 for the two "bonus" tags. If everyone did, that it would help a lot at putting that meat to good use.

I wonder what it would take for NY state to open a year round hunting season on coyotes ? What did other states do to get that done ? They sure are smart animals. I was amazed by how "safe" the one that I saw the other day acted like it was. They never act like that, after the hunting season opens up in the fall. I can understand why the "challenge-driven" folks love hunting them. There are some "positives" of coyotes, the main one being their reduction of nest predators like foxes and coons, which has an overall benefit on turkey, grouse, and pheasant populations. They also get rid of woodchucks, which I see as a benefit. When it comes deer, their taking out of the weakest, may improve the overall health of the herd. We do not have any outside pets, and so long as none of them snatches one of our kids, I guess I am ok with them.

One walked to within 30 yards of me yesterday afternoon while I was on a tractor bush-hogging. It did not show any concern whatsoever and acted like a tame dog. I would have loved to shot it with my .22 but until they change the law, I will hold off.

Mostly ground blinds and ladder stands for me although I do have (2) hang-ons over at my folk's place. They are only up about 7 feet and I use a short aluminum, camo-painted ladder to get up in them. Last year I killed a hefty 3.5 year old buck out of one of them on opening day of gun season. My favorite stands to hunt out of these days are built on the ladder racks of old construction-style truck caps. The year before last, I killed another 3.5 (smaller rack but slightly heavier than last year's 182-pounder, based on a 1 inch larger chest-girth measurement) from one of those over at my folks place with my crossbow. That deck was also up about 7 feet, with a 3 foot high wall all around for safety, cover, and weapon rest. I believe that the buck I killed that year was attracted to the noise of me clearing leaves from inside of that wall (I intentionally tried to sound like a buck clearing a scrape when I did that). The older I get, the closer to the ground I like to hunt. If the weather cooperates, I will try and move on of those hang-ons tomorrow afternoon. The one that I killed the big buck out of is staying right where it is, but the other will be moved to the closest suitable tree to where I killed what might be my largest ever button-buck last crossbow season, from a pop-up blind. The pop-up was comfortable to hunt out, but held spiders in the warm weather, and collapsed under the snow load later.

Like tree guy say's, it appears that you are trying to use a finish mower as a bush hog. Those things are designed for cutting grass, not brush. A 5 foot Bush-hog squealer would be just about perfect for your tractor. That is a light-duty cutter designed for tractors in the 25-35 hp range. Rhino makes a pretty good equivalent (I use a Rhino SE6 on my 43 hp tractor), but it does not make quite as neat of a cut as the old Bush-hog 5 foot "Squealer" that I had on my previous 32 hp tractor. For your tractor and usage, I would avoid the "heavy-duty" cutters. They run a lower rpm and do not make as neat of a cut on food-plots. A light duty bush-hog is perfect for cutting brush up to about 2" diameter. and general food-plot maintenance. Finish mowers are best left on the lawns with the hydro transmission mowers. I would also recommend figuring out a way to get tubeless front tires on your tractor. Repairs are a lot easier to make on those, in the field.

Our farm is near the NW corner of WMU 9F, and my parent's is near the SE corner. The drive between them is 13 miles and takes about 20 minutes. That is the farthest away that I have hunted without spending the night. I had a small chunk of land, about half way between these two places, for about 10 years. I sold it shortly after purchasing this farm from my grandmother. The 10 minute drive was nice, becausue I could come home easily for lunch. I can still count on one hand, the deer that I have killed outside of those three places. That includes my first deer (a button buck of course) down in Allegheny state park, (2) Adirondack bucks and (2) Adirondack ML does. Hopefully I can up that number a bit this season. All of those involved several night's stay. I have driven up to two hours away, to fish for the day, on many occasions. I am very thankful for the deer and other wildlife nearby, and for great places to stay far away, so that I never had to do that to hunt.

Happy birthday Larry. Where did TF's thread go ?

4:05

I also prefer winter wheat over rye, because it is cheaper and easier to find, but mostly because the deer like it better. It looks like we are in for a long dry spell now. As soon as I see some rain in the forecast, I am going to get in a couple plots of a wheat/soybean/white clover mix. Those late-summer/early fall soybeans are the ticket to get the deer using the plots right away, and into early bow season, if we don't get an early frost. The wheat should hold them there until late ML season. I am hoping that my ace-in-the hole at that time will be the purple-top turnips. I planted those on about 1/4 of each of those plots already, one two weeks ago and the other last weekend. The two week stuff is up a few inches already. I hope it does ok thru the predicted dry stretch that we are just now getting into. I fertilized them heavy and seeded them lightly so they should have a decent chance.

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Oddly enough, I killed a big swamp buck from a hang-on that was about 6 ft up last season, with my slug gun. The older I get, the less fond that I am of heights. The land that I hunt, in the southern zone, is all very flat. I like to get up just high enough to improve visibility and to get some down-angle for my shots. I am most comfortable on flat land, about 6 feet off the ground. That is high enough to put my own shots in the ground (after hopefully passing thru deer), and to get me out of the line of fire from neighbors (none of my spots are that big). I never use a safety harness, but most of my stands have 3 foot safety-rail/shooting-rest all the way around (the hang on last year did not, but a 6 foot fall into the soft swamp ground would probably not hurt me that bad). Last year, I lowered my last 12 ft high ladder stand, by removing the lower ladder section. That stand is far more comfortable for me to hunt out of now. I just planted some turnips, in a small plot near it today, so it should be a good late ML spot. Now, all of my stands are less than 7 feet high, and all but two hang-ons have safety rails. I am going to leave the one that I killed the big buck out of last year, right where it is . I plan to move the other one to the nearest suitable tree to the spot where I had a pop-up blind last season. I killed what might be my largest ever button buck from that pop-up with my crossbow last season. Nonetheless, I will not hunt from a pop-up there this year, because I suffered a bad spider bite on a later hunt (brown recluse maybe). When hunting with a crossbow or gun, it is not as important to get up so high, since there is no need to make that quick draw motion, when a deer is in close, like there is with a vertical bow. In 2017, I killed a slightly larger-bodied, but smaller-racked 3.5 year old buck from the second story of a big ground blind (deck was about 6 feet up with a 3 ft high wall for cover, weapon rest, and safety), with my crossbow from a range of about 15 yards. The poor bastard never knew what hit him. Nor did the big one last year, but he was out about 100 yards when my slugs hit him.

Ruffed grouse. Top - wing, Bottom - tail.

Prayers sent for speedy recovery.

Being a Christian, I NEVER feel alone. Staying on good terms with He who controls the fate of all living things has certainly made hunting a lot easier, and a lot more enjoyable for me. He never ceases to amaze me with His blessings and hunting and fishing let me see those more clearly than any other activity I have partaken in.

The folks who live next door to my family's place up there bought a small group of islands a few years ago, not too far from the shipping lane. They built a fancy shack on one and have a grill out there. We take the kids there to swim, because the water is much clearer and cooler than in the bay, which tends to get very weedy and too hot at this time of year. Besides the swimming, It is a cool place to watch the sunsets and the ships go by. My brother's girlfriend is a great cook and she whipped up some tasty cassidias while we were out there last week. I will have to try some fish on the grill next time I go, which probably won't be till next August.

8:00 pm at the Regal Transit/Wherle ? Wife and I were there last night. That was the second time she saw it. She thought I would like it and I did. I was never too fond of hippies or karate dudes and it was nice to see them each handled nicely by Pitt and Dicaprio. My favorite part was the Bruce Lee scene. I would say it is my new favorite Tarantino movie.

It really is a beautiful place. That region is tied with the Adirondacks, for my favorite places to be. I feel very blessed to have family with a cottage and a home in each of those spots. It has been about (4) years since I have been inside Bolt castle (usually I drop off the kids and fish nearby while they tour the castle or eat ice cream at the snack bar). Maybe it is time for me to go back inside and check out the progress. Do they still have the musky on the mantle in the billiard room ? At home in WNY, we have a Niagara river musky, along with a St Lawrence pike and walleye, hanging above the bar in our own billiard room. I caught all of those "by accident" while fishing for bass (I have yet to mount a bass). The last time I was at Bolt castle, a couple from Texas was having their wedding there, and planned to do their honeymoon in the area. It amazed me how the folks from down south talked about that place in the summer, like us northerner's talk about Hawaii, or other tropic retreats in the winter. Apparently, there is no place on earth with a more comfortable summer climate than the Thousand islands region. I would say that is true from about July 1 until around August 15. During that time, the main river temperature runs 75 - 78 degrees (perfect swimming) temperature range, and it keeps the air temperature on those islands in that comfortable range. We are already seeing the start of the cooler nights now, so your trip was just in the nick of time to enjoy the best of the best. When I am up there, I spend most of my time on the water or in the water, and I have not been to Clayton in quite a while. A buddy from work asked me to stop over there for the big antique boat auction and flea-market last weekend, but the fishing and swimming was too good further down river for me to leave it. I also don't care much for the touristy/shopping stuff in Alex bay. Prices on fishing tackle and price and quality at the food joints is better down in the nearby Black lake area (The fish-bone grill is my kind of place). If you need boating supplies or service, Shimmerhorn, downstream on Chippewa bay is the place to go.