wolc123

There are always exceptions. My buddy killed one of the largest antlered bucks in the state a few years ago (he got a free full-body mount of it). That same year, I killed a busted-up 2.5 year old (5 point that was an 8-point before losing a few tines in fights), with a body that dwarfed his "close to 200 inch" buck. He would have a far more impressive trophy in his family room today, if he would have asked the taxidermist to mount that rack on my buck's body.

If they are the same size, it still makes more sense for the meat hunter to not shoot the doe, because they always have a higher percentage of fat and deer fat tastes like crap.

Inches of antlers does not always translate to pounds of meat.

You have me confused with someone else. What I have always said is: 6 month old bucks are in a class by themselves (much more tender than anything older, and better flavored). I can not tell the difference in texture or flavor of 1.5, 2.5, or 3.5 bucks, provided the meat is properly aged prior to freezing. My experience is limited in bucks older than that, but the bodies of wild deer don't get much bigger after 3.5 so why bother ?

Right you are. In order to avoid store-bought/farm-raised meat, my family needs (4) average sized deer to get through a year. Since NY only gives out (2) buck tags, (2) of those usually need to be antlerless.

I will shoot the buck every time because doe fat sucks. It is too bad they dont go back to making the DMP tags either sex, then I would probably not shoot another doe.

I am very thankful that NY state's rule-makers think otherwise and cater more towards us meat hunters. My wife made button-buck stroganoff for dinner tonight and it was amazing. So good in fact, that I will target a bb before his momma this season, if I get the chance and the choice. We do have some evidence shows meat means more than antlers to the majority of the members of this site (the 2:1 majority on the poll that I referenced above). I agree with you that there is many other benefits to deer hunting. What we are lacking is any evidence that shows antlers are more important than meat with the majority of the members of this site.

Shortly before you discovered this site, a poll was conducted which indicated that meat was more important than antlers, with those who were able to make up their minds, by more than a 2:1 ratio. In the old days, meat was certainly more popular, but we did go though a period where antlers may have had an edge. Thankfully, those days are behind us now. That is indicated not only by that poll on this site, but also in the increasing polpularity of hunting shows like "Meateater" which stress the food aspect of hunting. Since FSW's livelihood depends on antlers, it is easy to see why he gets so upset when confronted with the reality of the waning importance of them.

As a pure meat hunter, antlers don't mean too much to me. Because larger-antlered bucks usually are older, and have larger bodies, my primary use of them is to provide a rough estimate of how much meat I might get, before I pull the trigger and punch my buck tags. Since gaining access to some decent hunting in the northern zone, about 10 years ago, I have been passing up bucks with less than three points on a side, during the first half of the southern zone archery and gun seasons. That has allowed me to save my buck tags for some hunting up north, and/or resulted in my killing of some larger-bodied (and antlered) southern zone deer. As far as antlers and records go, I would not "enter" a NY state Booner or even have one scored, unless it looked like it might green score larger than Roosevelt Lucky's NY state record typical. Besides providing a rough, on-the-hoof, estimate of a bucks age, those antlers also indicate the sex of a deer with very good certainty. As most on this site are well aware, I have killed more than a few bucks without protruding antlers, but not a single doe that had them. Since I process most of my own venison, I much prefer that it comes from bucks. They always have a lot less fat to trim, so I can get that job done faster. No one at my house likes that doe fat sticking to the roof of their mouth at dinner time, so I really have to go overboard on the trimming on does when they are included in our annual venison supply.

Eye donut no, maybee sew, maybee knot.

Sounds cool. You make it, I will wear it.

The bb's may be safe from me this year, because I usually only end up with one every other year. I will not hesitate to send it, if any opportunities presents themselves, especially after reading about that tractor tire issue. The best way to save the tires is to nip them antlers in the bud.

That's why we need to kill them bucks before they can shed those horns. Hang them up in the house or barn and keep them tractor tires safe.

That picture brings back memories of a few of my old stands, which I lost over the last few years, due to the emerald ash borer. The first one was built by my older cousin, years before I was old enough to hunt. l remember killing my first antlered buck from that one, more than 35 years ago. He used white oak boards, for most of the steps. A few of those 40 year old steps were still good when I cut the supporting trees a couple years ago. I added lots of nails over the years when they loosened up. I am still finding those on occasion, in the ash bucket when I clean our wood stove. Pressure-treated lumber came along, by the time I built stands of my own. They still loosened up in the wind or as the trees grew, requiring inspection and repair, prior to every hunting season. The lumber used to make those stands was resistant to rot, but the supporting trees were not, after the emerald ash borer got into them. About half of the trees on our farm were ash, but I am very happy to see them go. I don't think they do much good for the deer (other than formerly providing sturdy platforms to help us to keep their numbers in check), compared to oaks and maples. I also like those other species better for firewood, because they don't require the ashes to be cleaned so often (that must be where the ash tree got it's name). Most of all, I am thankful that none of those old, high stands ever collapsed while I was in them. One of the best things about getting older, is that you learn how to kill deer from the ground, or a lot closer to it. Some day, hopefully soon, I will sing, to the tune of that old Roy Clark song: "Thank God and emerald ash-borer they are gone".

I agree with that. Unfortunately, close to 90 % of CUT's are sold with those. Turfs with chains will provide significantly better traction in wet or soft ground than industrials (R4's). That said, a lot of the soil in the area where Goose's property deal recently fell thru, on that chunk of land next to interstate 90, is pretty well-drained. My dad's 2WD, JD CUT, about that same size, does ok with turfs without chains on a 5 ft, pull-type disk. The only time I need put on the chains, or fire up his antique JD M (with loaded Ags) is when breaking new ground with a two-bottom plow. It a whole different deal in the mucky, Tonawanda creek bottomland soil over at my place. Here, any moisture at all in the ground makes 4wd tractors, with R4 or turf tires, struggle to develop as much drawbar pull as an equal-weight 2wd tractor with loaded ags. So, depending on what type of soil he has, and how well it is drained, he might be ok with the turfs. As long as there is a loader on the front, the rear tires should be loaded (and probably already are). If traction becomes an issue, getting a set of chains for the backs (fronts and backs if it is 4wd), might make more sense than getting another set of rims with Ags (R1's) on them. Those chains are also a big help on the snow and ice, in the winter with turf tires, whether they are loaded or not.

My wife has it pretty easy this Valentine's day, with just two deer hearts to pickle for me.

Nope, the hair is all wrong. Here is an old one from back when he had a little more:

Our spectacular hunting and fishing and superb climate help compensate for the dysfunctional politics. Without that, hunting pressure on public land, crowding at boat launches, and traffic would be much worse. Keep up the good work Andy.

I have not tried coon yet, but that is something I would not mind. Most that I have killed have been early, prior to opening of trapping season, so they have to be burried whole (or burned). I also would not want to skin and eat one early like that because there are so many bugs on them. Their hides have been nearly worthless for many years, but if a young one made it until the first hard frost, and the opening trapping season, I might give it a try in the crock pot. I usually have the local ones trapped out by then, so that is not likely to happen. The few that I have taken later (when the carcasses can just be tossed out in the fields to feed the vermin) never last too long. They are usually picked clean in less than 24 hours. By contrast, even a crow will not touch a coyote carcass. They just shrivel up into "coyote jerky" until they get plowed under in the spring. I think Steve Rinella tried coyote in a "Meateater" episode and had nothing good to say about it. I would eat one of those, only if it was a matter of survival.

If I ever saw one, while deer hunting in NY, I would shoot first and ask questions later. With a couple of teenage girls that like to play out back, I ain't taking any chances. I would call the DEC and turn myself in immediately after recovering the carcass. If nothing else, that would prove that there really are some here. A couple of neighbors told me they saw one, but I have doubts (they had no pictures). They also said that their coyote sightings went way down, while the cougar was around, two hunting seasons ago. My own coyote sightings were also down that year, but were up last season, so maybe there was one "passing thru".

It was a decent weekend. The snow piles at the end of our driveways were getting too high to see over, so I spent a couple hours Saturday morning moving them away from the road and closer to the house with my loader tractor. I formed it into an almost olympic-sized luge run for the girls. That kept them entertained most of the day Saturday. Sunday, the weather was warm enough to take the family shopping up to the outlet mall in Niagara on the Lake, starting out at Bass Pro shops. They had some decent sales prices on Cabela's brand jig trailers and on jigging Rapalas. I should be set on my tackle needs for the year. The girls scored some good deals on clothes at "Forever 21" and we had a good lunch at "The Eatery". We got home in time to watch the game. That was not too bad, but I would have liked to have seen the Rams win. Wade Phillips is may all-time favorite coach. I was glad to see them defer and let the Patriots receive the opening kickoff. Picking off Brady's first pass was the highlight of the game for me. It is too bad they did not recover his fumble when they sacked him later in the game, and that the offence came up so short.

We are talking about the same place - Bartel road Bait and Tackle. I do remember the old place that was closer to the 81 exit (right across the road from Morabidos. I think they closed about 15 years ago. I bought about a case and a half of 16 gauge Remington sluggers for $1.00 a box at their closing sale. I still have a couple dozen boxes of those.

It has been about 30 years since I fished that lake, but we stop a few times a year at Bartel road bait and tackle (just off rt 81 Brewerton exit), Their prices are good and they have an excellent selection of tackle (way more reasonably priced than the Thousand Island Tackle shop (TITS). We also stop for gas almost every trip by there at Morabidos, or the newer place (with better food and bathrooms) across the street. That is almost always the cheapest gas between Pembroke and Alex Bay, not including on the native American reservations.

My folks have had two or three of them, since the first year they came out and never had any issues. I borrow it for a while every summer, when we take the family up to the Thousand Islands. My wife, daughters and I stay in our truck camper at a state park on the river side of Goose bay. The family cottage is on the other side (I keep my boat over there). I use the equinox to run back and forth every morning and evening. The 2018, that they have now, has the four cylinder. It seems to have plenty of pep, even on the hills. I can't say that I notice any less power compared to their previous 6 cylinder. I have never towed with them. It sure is a lot easier to get around with than our full-sized, 8 ft box, extended-cab Silverado. It seems to handle the hills with ease, even when loaded with 6 or 7 passengers. It also goes the the snow pretty good. They came over here last Sunday for a birthday party and blew right through a deep snow drift before I had chance to clear it. That same drift stopped my little front wheel drive car two out of four times that I tried getting thru it, when it was considerably smaller.

I am glad I watched to the end, because the closing scene was spot on. I sure would like to get that other, wasted 11-1/2 minutes back though. The guy thinks smoking is good and that mass shootings did not really happen ? What's up with that ? How does that help the pro second amendment cause ?