wolc123

1

Everyone has standards that are a little different. That is fine with me. I see nothing wrong with folks changing their standards, depending on how much meat they have in the freezer and how much season remains. I know I certainly do it, and Rob said he does. I really don't know why folks think they need to condemn other folks for having standards that differ from their own. Why not embrace all of them ? I am about as far from a trophy hunter as one could get, but I appreciate the trophy hunters and all the deer they pass. Those small-antlered and young bucks that they pass may very well end up being what keeps my family fed through a tough winter. I also appreciate the brown-down guys, who always shoot the first legal deer they can. The big one that might have showed up right behind it might run my way and provided me with some bonus meat, as well as a cool wall decoration. Its all good, just enjoy the hunt. There is only one valid reason that I would support forcing "higher standards" on all hunters through mandatory antler restrictions. That would be if it could be shown, using data from other states that have them (ie PA), that these AR's result in less hunting accidents. It makes sense to me that it might, by slowing hunters down and causing them to identify the target better before pulling the trigger. I would definitely NOT make an exception for young or first-time hunters. If real data does not support that theory then there should be no mandatory AR's. If AR's ever do spread though NY state, I hope it is a 3-point per side restriction, which would not impact my personal standards at all. Like Rob, I also don't often settle for less than 6 points. I don't mind using my DMP tags on button bucks however, as long as there is not a larger doe available first to use it on.

There will be no vertical bow hunting for me again this year, but I am almost ready for my first day of crossbow hunting up in the Northern zone a few weeks from today . I just need to mend the serving a little bit on my string and lube the rail after three practice shots with it yesterday. It was hitting right where I wanted it at 20, 35, and 45 yards. After a day up there with that, my ML is all set for the next day and a half, of a long weekend up at my in-laws place in the Adirondacks. I should be ready for any weather conditions, with a new pop-up blind I just bought and the tree umbrella that I picked up last year. We should still have a little more than one deer left in the freezer, by the time of that trip, including plenty of grind, so a buck would need to be at least a solid 2.5 year old for me to use a tag on that trip. I would be very thankful to fill my antlerless tag again, with a 1-1/2 year old doe, like I was able to do last year. I had planned on staying up there thru the opening weekend of gun season last year. The weather got so bad, that I came home early with my ML doe, and never even took my rifle out of the case. I will not hunt deer at home in the Southern zone this year until crossbow opens, so I still have plenty of time to get things ready here. Hopefully I can trim up some shooting lanes around all of my stands at home this weekend, and over at my folks place next weekend. The food plots are all looking very good. I am going to be a bit more selective with my buck tag up north, because the neighbors have seen a few nice ones running around at home that would be nice to tag. All I have seen at our place is does though, but they should be my "ace in the hole" when crossbow season opens at the peak of the rut. I did see a nice 2-1/2 year buck over at my folks place a few weeks ago that I would love to get a tag on.

It all depends on where his travels take him. If he wanders too far into zone 9f, and there are no larger antlerless deer with him, he might be in some trouble. The only wild game I have had that is better tasting than whitetail button buck liver and tenderloins is moose tongue. My chances of getting any of that this fall are mighty slim.

I am glad to hear that still works. It has been a few years, but maybe I will try planting some pumpkins again next spring. I will definitely have some old line to replace. A big king just broke off on us, a couple weeks ago, so it is time for some new stuff. Do you have one of them little jacks for pulling the t-posts ? They work awesome. My fall plots are totally unprotected, but are looking pretty good in spite of the lack of rain over the last couple weeks and some decent browse pressure. There seems to be enough dew every morning to keep things growing. The deer are grazing the winter wheat pretty heavy, but it is keeping up and about 6" tall. Unfortunately, I did not have any leftover soybeans to throw in with the wheat/clover mix this year, but they are still hitting those plots pretty hard right now. My late July planted turnip plot is not getting any pressure yet, but doing very well and about a foot tall. The warm weather is really putting some tonnage on the field corn plots, with most of the ears about doubling in size over the last two weeks. So far I have taken 7 coons and 3 possoms off them, and am headed out now to set some more traps for the weekend. There should be more than enough food back there to keep plenty of deer around until Christmas or so.

I opened a case of Genny Scotch Ale last night that had been aging for over a year down on the basement floor. (They were selling the leftovers after last year's Octoberfest for $10 a case). It was 8.5 % when bottled but tasted like a smooth 10 - 12 % now. I was not feeling much pain after one of those.

Is English your native tongue ?

I was thinking the same thing. Was it one of those 8.5 % or so types ? If so, that could explain the "feeling no pain". I would try it again in a couple days without the beer first. If the pain comes back, I would get a crossbow with a hand crank draw device and use that this season (you still get the peak of the rut), then consider surgery after Christmas. If something is torn in there, pushing it might make it worse. A few weeks of missed archery season is a small price to pay in the long run.

I think that you have to purchase a big game license first, and that gives you a buck tag that can only be used after gun season starts. If you add a ML or archery you get an either/or sex tag. You need to purchase both archery and ML to get the extra antlerless tag. For late archery or ML seasons, your gun buck tag becomes an either/or tag. This is all pretty confusing, and even more so when you consider the Northern zone. Hunting both zones I have to stay up on all of it. The northern zone crossbow season is listed as 10 days (fortunately for me almost a month earlier than the southern zone). It really only gives me three additional days to use my crossbow up north however, since ML opens for the last 7 days. The only way I am going to use my crossbow during ML season is if my ML breaks or if it pouring rain out. That is because my ML has an effective range of 150 yards, while my crossbow is just 50.

The rack looks 3.5 but the body looks 1.5. Taking the average, 2.5 is a pretty safe bet. Hopefully he puts on a little weight by the start of the rut. As a meat hunter primarily, I know I was not supposed to answer (sorry if anyone takes offense), but I would be shooting that one even if I was a trophy hunter. As a meat hunter, 2.5 year old's are my favorite antlered bucks to kill. They offer the optimum combination of quantity and quality venison. That one would make a great euro and getting a look at the teeth would take the guesswork out of the age question.

But only one of them can have an antler more than 3" long, until gun season opens.

My wife picked up the last one they had at the Aldi's near us on Monday, along with one of those stools (they still had lots of those). I wonder how the blind would work for an ice fishing shelter to get out of the wind. Even if I don't use it for hunting, it might be nice for that.

I think the main issue is waxing the rail where the string rubs against it during the shot. A little rubs off every time, which is why they say to add more every ten shots. Wax is cheap, so why not err on the side of caution. I waxed my Barnett recruit last night and just finished verifying the points of impact a few minutes ago. My first shot, at 35 yards struck dead on left/right and one inch below the point of aim using the top dot. My second shot at 45 yards, also struck an inch below the point of aim, using the middle dot. My third shot, from 20 yards, struck 2" above the point of aim, again using the top dot. With those three shots, I am good to go for opening of Northern zone crossbow in a few weeks. Even though it has only been three shots, I will wax it again before the trip. I am sort of forced to continue practicing throughout the season, because this entry-level crossbow must be shot to unload. I like that, because putting that "unloading" bolt right in the center of the bull after every morning and afternoon hunts keeps my confidence up for the following hunt. It also is a little light on energy compared to the faster, higher-priced models. For that reason, everything would have to be almost perfect for me to take a 50 yard shot at a deer with it, and I would never shoot at another deer that is farther than that. A deer that gives me a shot at 45 yards and under might be in some serious trouble though.

How's the edit teach ?

I am thankful that they are allowed in the Southern zone for the whole "peak-rut" period. It is also nice to have (3) additional days, prior to the early ML season, up the northern zone, almost a month earlier. Some day, when you get a little older, you might appreciate them because they may add a few years to your own archery hunting. Even though I could handle a bow, I love the crossbow because it gives me better control over the deer killing process, and almost eliminates the chances of my wounding and not recovering a deer. I am 2/2 with it, and both bucks died in sight, or close enough to hear drop after taking the bolts. I also like the symmetry of the crossbow, in that I can evenly use the muscles of both arms and shoulders to draw it back. You get kind of goofy looking arms if you shoot a high poundage vertical bow right or left handed all the time. It is great not to have to draw with a deer in close, and to be able to shoot from a rest with telescopic sight. I do not hunt for the challenge. My desire during archery season, is to kill the deer as quickly and painlessly as possible, with the most lethal, legal, affordable, silent weapon available. I would prefer to have all of archery season to use the crossbow, but I am content with the peak of the rut in the south and the extra three days up north. A nice fringe benefit is a little extra time in early October for some fall fishing and small game hunting. I think there may still be one or two states that don't allow the crossbow, where you might consider a move. Good luck this season whatever weapon you choose. I just waxed the rails and strings of my crossbow, put a new battery in the scope, and will start practicing this week.

I tried it a little bit the previous weekend when it was a little cooler. I saw a couple, but could not get my cross-hairs on them for a shot with my .22 rimfire. It is tough with all those leaves on the trees. One was close enough that it would have been a chip-shot with a shotgun, but I hunt squirrels mostly to "tune up" for deer hunting, and that "cheating" would defeat the purpose. The mosquitoes were bad then and I imagine they were much worse yesterday when it was a lot warmer. I suggest you take up fishing and do that until we get a hard frost or two. There are a lot less bugs out on the water than there are in the woods. That is what I am planning. Hopefully, a few more big king salmon will cooperate next weekend.

You do not need the ML tag for archery, but if you get it, you can use it on an additional antlerless deer during the early archery season. That would let you take a total of (4) deer but (1) buck would have to be taken during gun season. You could take (4) doe during the late ML season if you saved all of your tags until then. You can not take more than two bucks. If you apply for DMP's in certain overpopulated DMU's, you can kill as many as (8) does during the late ML season. That would include your (2) "first pick" DMP's, (2) transferred DMP's, (2) "leftover" DMP's (available fist come - first served after November 1), the ML/archery "either/or" tag, and the gun buck tag which becomes an "either/or" tag during the late ML season.

I can relate to that. Between my parent's farm and our's, I have about 100 acres to hunt for myself. It can get boring at times. That is where my wife's parent's place, which is adjacent to the 6.5 million acre Adirondack park, comes in handy. It never gets boring up there. When and if I retire, that is probably where we will stay.

Besides buying the family farm, marrying the right girl has worked out well for me. I worked very hard when I was young and single. I was the only grandkid that helped out much with the tough tasks like haying and cleaning stalls. All that sweat and drudgery eventually paid off, proving to me again that it really is better to give than to receive.

I won't watch another NFL game until all of the players start standing for the National Anthem. The Bills should have went to Toronto. Then at least their name could have made sense, we would be free of the tax burden and traffic issues, and the die-hard Bills fanatics could still make the trip to see them occasionally. They could call them the Canadian Dollar Bills. I don't believe Buffalo Bill Cody ever set foot in Buffalo. How can a team expect to win a Superbowl if their name does not make any sense ? Pay the Bills ? Maybe thats it. There are lots of ducks around here and they have bills. Who knows ? Go Yankees !

I don't do anything about it, and just hang my hunting outerwear in the basement until hunting season, then bring it up for the season and hang it in a back room of the house or throw it in a footlocker for trips up to the northern zone. I don't even make a point to wash it every season, unless it gets real dirty. I do believe that scent control can be effective, based on an experience that I had at about this time of year, roughly 10 years ago. There were a pair of camo coveralls that I had forgotten about, hanging in an old grainery out in the barn, where no human had entered in over a year. I put them on after work and walked back to the pond, for a little goose and bass action. I had my shotgun in my left hand and my fishing rod in my right. It was extremely hot that afternoon, and a doe and fawn were cooling themselves off in the shallow water. The doe noted my approach and charged right at me, showing none of the usual caution that old mature doe with fawns normally have. I am convinced that she had no idea what I was, and probably thought that I was another deer. She did not make contact, but ran at me snorting, coming within a few feet, several times. The fawn stood by watching and I just ignored her charges and went about my business. I laid down the gun and made a cast into the pond. The doe kept up her intimidation tactics. On my second cast, I hooked into a nice largemouth. When it broke water, the doe and fawn finally high-tailed it into the brush. I don't believe that a deer can smell me if it is upwind of me, but it is not always possible to get there, and there are always a few calm days. Someday, if I get desperate enough for meat, I might make a little effort at clothing scent control again. I don't see that happening too soon, based on the deer populations, and the ease of filling tags right now.

The northern bite has been in decline over the last several years and was the worst I have seen this year. I think it is related to the round goby which have exploded and which do not seem to feed the pike as well as some other species (like smallmouth bass and walleye). I have never targeted perch up there. Smallmouth bass are always my main target, and they have been steady with numbers down slightly but growth rate way up thanks to the round gobies. The largemouth bass bite has been improving the last few years. Good luck on your trip.

That looks like a sweet deal. Those things were way overpriced in the beginning. It reminds me of the butt-out. I never went for one of those until the price dropped to around $ 5. I have to admit now, that was about the best $ 5 that I ever spent on hunting equipment, if for no other reason than I was able to use it as a bore gauge to prove that I finally did make a perfect shot on a deer after 35 seasons of hunting. I will ask my wife to pick one of them blinds up for me when she goes shopping this week. Maybe that will help convince our daughters to go out hunting with me when we visit their grandparents up in the Adirondacks this fall.

The trailer appears to show things in a fair and balanced way. If anything it helps expose the loose ground on which the ant-hunters stand. For folks in the middle on the hunting issue, it seems more likely to turn them towards supporting hunting than against it. My only problem is the title choice "Trophy". I do not see any way to gain public support for trophy hunting. Now if they named it "Meat", I would probably be 100 % behind it.

Tie - I would aim for the hair half way between middle and back. The middle ups your odds of double lung but back ups your odds of a pass thru, and an easier to follow blood trail. Aiming for the point that optimizes your odds of a successful recovery is always best.