wolc123

Those I see are usually still with their mothers, until their 2nd hunting season. They are only alone, during the first one, if their mother gets shot.

We just switched from cable to Direct TV and picked up a couple outdoor channels. "Created Outdoors" was a good show, that I saw for the first time last night. It was encouraging to see the credit given to Jesus Christ for hunting success. I know my own hunting and fishing have gotten much better, since I made the connection that it is thru Jesus Christ that all blessings flow. It is good to see that finally moving into the mainstream in the hunting community. This should help some more hunters wake up. After spending considerable time on this site, I was beginning to wonder if I was the only one who made that connection. There are far too many people out there, cluelessing wondering why they lack hunting success. Al Linder clued me in on fishing several years ago with his Anglers edge talks. Here is a hint for you folks who are struggling: spend a little more time reading the Bible. Do that and a lot more than just your hunting and fishing might improve.

The doe:buck fawn ratio conversation is interesting. My own personal observations, mostly in WMU's 9F and 6C, have shown more than 2 buck fawns for every doe fawn. In 35 years of hunting, I have killed approximately a dozen buck fawns, including my first deer with a gun and a bow. I have also been blessed with another half dozen or so road-kills (fortunately struck by others). I have only had a taste of a single doe fawn, that a friend killed on our farm more than 30 years ago. She had no spots, but was small enough to fit into the game bag on the back of my hunting jacket. I remember helping him butcher her. We used my mom's old kitchen grinder on the scraps, giving us each one tender hamburg for dinner, when we finished the job. I see 3 possible explanations for this skewed ratio. First, there really are more buck fawns born than doe fawns. Second, I always target the largest deer when filling DMP tags, so the momma (if present) gets the first shot, followed by the largest fawn. A buck fawn is typically larger, making "little sister" the most likely to escape in that scenerio. Third, the brain probably develops faster in female deer, much as it seems to in humans, again making them more likely to avoid being killed by predators, hunters, and automobiles. I don't run any trail cameras, but extensive field observations also indicate significantly higher numbers of buck fawns. Up in the Adirondacks, where antlerless deer are off limits during gun season, I have had many walk up real close. It is almost like they know they are safe then. More than 75 % of the fawns that I have seen up close were button-bucks. The same ratio holds at home in 9F, watching them grazing in the clover plots with binoculars. Anyone would have a tough time convincing me that bucks and does are born at a 1:1 ratio, because that is in direct conflict with my own personal observations.

My favorite ground blinds are made from old construction-style truck caps. These have fold-out sides and ladder racks on top. On the first one I made, I built a 3 ft high, 3-sided wall, slightly smaller than the cap, on the deck of an old snowmobile trailer. The cap is bolted down on top of that wall. I would park that thing out in the center of a field, such as you describe, in the spring and the deer would get used to it by fall. I have killed a lot of deer out of those, actually more than from tree stands over the last 10 years. They are really nice on windy, cold, or rainy days (especially all of those combined). Those old truck caps are extremely durable (unlike those cheap pop-up blinds they sell these days). Eventually that snowmobile trailer rusted out, too bad to move, so I parked it in a hedgerow, blocked it up, and reinforced the floor. I added a second level up on the ladder rack, and another 3 foot high wall on three sides, making it a two-story. Last fall, I killed a 2-1/2 year old buck from the upper deck, during archery season. That was the first of (3) from that blind last year. On opening morning of gun season, my buddy killed a fine, fat BB from up there. I was snug and warm in the lower level that afternoon, when a big doe showed up at the BB's gut pile at milking time, and soon got to meet up with her son and husband in "deer heaven" (our freezer).

A true tale of two bucks: Prior to last season, I was dead set against AR's. Two bucks, who's home range included our farm last year, changed my opinion on that. They may have been brothers or cousins, possibly even father and son, but they were almost always together. The smaller one was a 1-1/2 year old three-point, and the larger one was a 2-1/2 year old eight-point. My neighbor to the west was the first one to see this pair, on the first week of archery season. He was holding out for an older buck, so he passed on each. He did kill a nice doe that day. He told me about the bucks, when he dropped her off for me to butcher. Near the end of archery season, on an afternoon hunt, the three-point stepped out of some thick cover. He walked within 15 yards of my stand, stopped and turned away, offering me a "chip-shot" if there ever was one. I passed, not so much due to his tiny rack, but because of his equally small body. After standing there for a few minutes, he continued off our farm, into some heavy cover, on my neighbor's to the east. 5 minutes later, his "big brother" showed up on the same track. His body looked to be about 2x larger than the little guy. He looked like decent 8-point, based on the horn on my side. I decided immediately that he was a "shooter". He did not offer me the same "chip shot", but detoured around into a corn field on the other side of the hedgerow that my stand was on. It was peak rut, and I could smell him as he approached from upwind. When he stepped out of the corn, about 20 yards away, my arrow sliced thru behind his shoulder. He stumbled about 50 yards, out into an open field, and dropped dead in sight. He only had 5 points left, with both brow tines and another point broken off during the rut. That did not bother me too much, because I hunt mainly for the meat. Fast-forward two weeks, to Thanksgiving morning. After gun-hunting the first hour, I heard two shots to the east, from the spot where that little buck had disappeared into. My neighbor's nephew killed the little guy. I saw the carcass out by the road, next to his truck, as we drove by on the way to the in-laws in the Adirondacks. I killed a buck up there and when I was taking the scraps out to my bait pile, I ran into the guy out back. He said he did not see those little antlers, and he thought he was shooting a doe. I now see two ways where MANDATORY AR's would have directly benefited me. First, There would have been one more 2-1/2 year old (my favorite bucks to shoot) available for me this year. Second, I would feel safer hunting back there, if these less experienced hunters would be forced to positively identify their targets before pulling the trigger.

A bit verbose maybe, but it sounds like mandatory statewide 3 point per side AR's for the first 2 weeks of archery and gun seasons would be a good compromise.

It has been more than 10 years since I bought a new tractor. Kubota had been number one in US compact tractor sales for a long time and their quality and resale are legendary. At that time, John Deere still used American made engines in their largest compacts. These were Tier 3, JD Powertech engines. That was the deciding factor for me, but having a close dealer, and getting a slightly better price on the green tractor also came into play. These days, John Deere has chose to use Japanese engines made by Yanmar corp in all of their compact tractors, rather than developing their own small, Tier 4 engine. I would not be surprised to see that situation change in the next few years. I have not operated Kubotas, other than the one that I test drove back at that time (A 43 hp, Grand L series). I remember it being very good. I will be spending some time on a new one, starting this year, because my father in law just got a smaller one up at his Adirondack camp (aprox 30 hp). He had a fuel issue with it up there while clearing the heavy snow last week. He was able to straighten it out with a new fuel filter, and bleeding the injectors. That glitch was caused by bad or frozen fuel and would have occured with any brand tractor. Aside from that, he is very impressed with the ability of that small, 4 wd loader tractor, both while pushing snow and pulling logs. I can't wait to try it out myself. A compact 4wd loader tractor is a lot handier than an ATV for hauling deer out of the woods.

Since the local deer population exploded in western NY, and the state loosened up on the DMP's (we can get 4 now), I have been able to feed my family cheaper from wild game than I can from purchased meat. After subtracting all foodplot input, licence, and ammunition costs, boneless venison came in at less than $1.00 per pound last season. We raised beef for seven gerations on our family farms, but were not able to produce it that cheap in the last 50 years, even without adjusting for inflation. That "organic" venison also tastes as good as the beef and is much better for you. We put (6) deer in the freezers last year, including (2) bucks. That should be plenty to see us thru to next season. I have given a lot away already. My boss at work just told me last week how good the backstrap was that I gave him (along with a roast and some grind). You are getting into hunting for the right reason, as God designed us to be meat-eating predators with our eyes in front of our heads and canine teeth. I feel sorry for those folks who only hunt deer for the "sport", or for the antlers. Many of them have no clue how to handle or prepare the meat after they get it, which probably puts a bad taste in their mouth. If you know any cops on Long Island, they may be able to set you up with a road kill. Many are killed from a broken neck when they run into the side of a car. Those are the best, with minimal meat-damage.

Trail cameras have very little value to me. My in-laws operate a couple up at their Adirondack camp. They are a very minor help in patterning antlerless deer movements, but those they see without the cameras are of greater value to me. They only use the cameras near ATV trails, which the bucks seem to avoid. In three years of operation, they have captured a single "fuzzy" picture of an antler. During those same three years, I have been able to take two bucks up there during gun season, by picking the right spot to sit based on the wind direction and knowing where the does were. At home, in the flat ag lands of western NY, I don't use trail cameras. In my younger days, trail cameras were not around, but would have been useful. I sometimes targeted particular, "mature" bucks back then. I would usually pattern them during archery season and seal the deal during gun. These days, with a few more hungry mouths to feed, antlers don't mean so much anymore. I am very happy with any 2-1/2 year old buck, and after mid-seasons, a 1-1/2 will do. The most cost-effective way for me to fill the freezer at home, is to put my time and effort into foodplots. For the cost of a trail camera, I can buy quite a bit of fertilizer or fuel. It is probably easier making those kills without spreading my scent around placing and checking cameras.

History tends to repeat itself. Prior to WWII, that exact same opinion was popular in the US. Because of our isolationist policy back then, we came very close to loosing that war. A forward presence in "trouble spots" has never been more important than it is today. "Policing the world" is not such a bad idea, especially with a Commander-in-chief who has enough sense to get those "police" paid in part by those foreign powers who are enjoying their protection. That is something that was sadly lacking under the previous administration.

Maybe we should thank him for the help in paying for our ships.

I see more of an opportunity than a problem. Trump is planning the biggest Naval expansion since the Reagan era. Japan is unable to increase the size of her own navy, due to restrictions which were imposed following the WWII defeat. For many years, that nation has enjoyed "free" naval protection from the US, while at the same time exporting far more dollars in goods to the US than are imported. Those rockets that the North Koreans have been testing are a negligible threat to the US, thanks to the miles of ocean in between, but certainly are pushing their Japanese neighbors to panic. I see a win-win deal, where Japan will benefit from those additional ships. It should not take much more of Kim's "convincing" to get Japan to help pay for some of those new ships.

I am thankful that bait is not legal in NY. I am also thankful that foodplots are legal. Without them, it would be very difficult keeping huntable populations of deer, on our farms, during the daylight hours of hunting season. I hunt mostly for the meat, and the foodplots are a very cost-effective way to put meat in the freezer. If bait were legal, I might get lazy and try it, loosing some of that year-round fun that foodplots provide. Watching the soil roll off the plow in the spring, or the corn pop up in neat rows in the early summer is cool. Trapping and keeping the coons under control as it starts to ripen is fun. Watching a heavy-bodied, 2.5 year old buck step out from fully ripened and dried corn plot, and burring an arrow behind his shoulder, is even cooler. I must admit that hunting deer in the Adirondack mountain woodlands is better yet. The last few years, almost half of my hunting has been there. What that scenery and solitude adds to the whole experience, makes every deer up there worth about 10 times what those at home are to me.

If you kill the weeds with Roundup, then a small, pull-type disk or a field-cultivator like that shown in your first post would work ok. The old spring-tooth harrow, like shown in the prior post, would require an even better chemical kill to get the ground ready for planting. Rototiller don't do well with rocks If you want to go the chemical-free organic route, then a plow would be a good option. That primary tillage tool will turn under the weeds, but you will still need a secondary tillage tool (disk, cultimiulcher or field-cultivator) to break up the ground enough for planting. Finding a local farmer to plow it for you the first year might save you some trouble and expense. After breaking that ground the first time, you would likely be ok with just a secondary tillage tool in following years. I am not sure if there is a plow made that works ok with an ATV. If not,you could probably locate an antique tractor, such as a Ford 8n, with a 1 x14" or 2 x12" plow, in decent shape, for less than $2 K.

To me, any season that ends with enough meat (4-5 average sized deer) in the freezer is successful. As I stated on 3/11, it is only the ones where two of those are bucks, that I consider completely successful. A one buck rule would bother me a bit, but my suffering would be minimized with full inclusion of the crossbow. That would make replacing that missing buck in the freezer with a doe a much easier proposition.

Are the mod's taking a break? What's up with the language being used here?

What is shallow or selfish about that? Do you like the part you did not quote, about the penalty for non-compliance being the loss of a tag the next year? What about the AR's for just the first 2 weeks of archery and gun seasons?

I would never support the one buck rule. I would rather kill, butcher and eat bucks than does. We consume 4-5 average-sized deer per year. I like it a lot better when 2 of them are bucks, and I would prefer if they all could be. Bucks are easier for me to process, with less fat to trim. I do not consider a hunting season a complete success, unless I kill two bucks. I liked it better when a DMP could be used on a buck. It is not all about me though, and I do understand why does have to be killed. That is especially important in overpopulated zones, including that where I live (9F). I always do my part when given the opportunity, and suffer thru those added hours trimming the fat when I am able to get one. At least they all taste about the same, after you get rid of that. I know that I could do a lot better on doe control, if they ever opened up crossbow for all of archery season.

The .270 case is a "necked-down" 30/06. If you fire one in a 30/06, you will "fire-form" the case back to a 30/06. It could then be trimmed and loaded with a 30 cal bullet. There is no safety risk because the .270 case is completely supported by the 30/06 chamber. Accuracy will be terrible, because the bullet is not in contact with the rifling. Velocity will be down a bit because of the pressure loss around the bullet. The rifle will not be harmed. A quick internet search will show how this has been done (mistakenly) many times without harm (other than missed animals or targets). If I were charged by a hungry bear and had no 30/06 ammo, but did have a .270, I would try that before using the rifle as a club. If this were the other way around, the guy with the .270 becomes bear poop because the 30/06 bullet will not chamber in the 270.

While most of the push for AR seems to be coming from the antler-worshiping crowd, I see a clear benefit, for a meat-hunter. The quality of the venison from a 2-1/2 year old buck is about equal to that of a 1-1/2 year old, but the quantity is significantly greater. With each successive year, the quality (texture and taste) drops off faster than the quantity increases, making a 2-1/2 year buck the optimum age for a meat-hunter to harvest. The AR's would protect many of the 1-1/2's, which would obviously increase the 2-1/2 year olds available for harvest.

I would like to see a compromise version of state-wide AR's in NY state. I see more pro's than con's to that. Pro's: 1.) Improve hunter safety thru forcing folks to better identify their target before shooting. 2.) Allow more bucks to reach maturity. Con:, I only see one, and that is an increased likelihood of "tag-soup". If I could determine the way those AR's were written and enforced, it would go like this: For the first (2) weeks of archery and gun seasons, a buck must have a minimum of {3) 1" points on one side. If a hunter kills a buck that is short of that criteria, he may keep the deer and will not pay a fine. The penalty would be the loss of the ability to purchase a buck tag for that season, the following year. This change would also partially implement the "one buck rule" (on a one year delay) that many are asking for. This restriction would apply to all hunters, regardless of age. A youngster can go ahead and harvest their spike or fork-horn on their first year, but might choose to be a bit more selective on their next. An old hunter who thinks they may be on their last year would have nothing to fear. Anyone could still kill that wide, mature, heavy-beamed four point, if it is worth the sacrifice of a buck tag the following year. I see this as a win for all. Implementation and enforcement would be simple, mostly done by the computers. I don't like laws that increase the burden on the game wardens, who are already stretched too thin.

The only time I call anyone these days, is when I am up in the Adirondacks. I call my father in law on the cell phone, so that he can get his ATV as close as possible, to ease the recovery. I did not need the phone for the first one up there last year during early ML. The doe was close enough to his house, that he heard the shot while eating breakfast. She ran towards the house, after I double-lunged her, and he found the carcass before I did. The first thing I do, after every kill, is say a silent prayer of thanks to Jesus for the excellent food that he just provided. In my younger days, I would call a few of my buddies, on the evening of the kill, for a little "bragging". Now they often don't learn the score, until I run into them at a New years party.

I first heard of this more than ten years ago. For two consecutive years back then, I hunted the last weekend of gun season at a friends family camp in the southern tier. One of the daughters married a very a tightly-wound, former army drill sergeant. The first year, he had his brand-new, model 700 Remington .270, while I had my old Ruger M77, .30/06. I remember him explaining at length, the superiority of his top-of-the-line Remington, and the ballistic advantage of the .270 over over my mid-grade, Ruger .30/06. One evening, after a few beers in town, I asked him for a couple rounds for backup the next morning (I only had half a box), in case I ran out and had to defend myself against a hungry bear. I explained that his smaller bullets would chamber and fire out of my larger-bore rifle if necessary (certainly with extremely poor accuracy). Because my gun would fire his bullets but his would not chamber of fire mine, I claimed that as an advantage for the 06. Maybe even one that could stop a guy from becoming bear poop. That pissed him off a bit and he would not let me borrow any. I pointed out a second advantage, at the little store on the top of the hill, when we stopped on the way home from the bar. They had a few boxes of 30/06 in stock, but no .270. The next year, I was quite surprised to see him packing his old 12 ga slug gun and not his beloved model 700 rifle. He explained the trigger issue that had recently came up. I think he had seen something about it on TV, and he may have also experienced a misfire on the target range. Being a no-nonsense type of guy, he gave up on that rifle and never hunted with it again. I could tell that he was saddened by the ordeal and did not want to talk about it.

You make some good points for the mandatory AR's. I was previously opposed, but after reading that well-written post (in it's entirety) I think I could at least go along with them for the first half of archery season and the first half of gun season. As long as I got 2 buck tags, and could still shoot a spike or four point in the second half, I would be happy. As a pure meat hunter, I have never considered a season completely successful if I did not fill both buck tags. It has been many years since I have shot one with less than six points anyhow (excluding the scrappy, 2-1/2 year old 5-point that I killed last year mid-rut, that started out as an 8-point). I have enough shoulder mounts on the wall now, according to my wife. She struggles a bit to keep them all well-dusted. Those 2-1/2's give us the best combination of quantity and quality meat and the euro-mounts they are good for are easier for her to keep clean. They are also cheap, which frees up more of my spare cash for foodplots and ammo. With a past history in beef cattle, it is hard for me to feel good about killing does. I can't help but to see them more as the source of future-food, rather as food themselves. Also, the antlers make it easier for me to age the bucks on the hoof. They provide good grab-handles to drag the carcass to the loader, and nice reminders of successful hunts in years gone by. I butcher most of my own, and the bucks are considerably faster for me to cut up, always having less fat to trim away. I do recognize the importance of killing does, in overpopulated areas. I do my part whenever an opportunity presents itself, as long as I have the tag. My whole family loves venison, and it takes more than 2 deer to get us thru a year. About half of the deer we eat are usually does. When an antlerless harvest turns out to be a BB, it is a cause for celebration. We were blessed with one of those last year. Button buck liver, tenderloin and backstrap is about as good as food gets. Sorry about changing the subject a bit, but would you say the hunting has gotten better or worse in PA since they allowed full-inclusion of the crossbow a few years ago? I am ok with the NY regs the way they are now. The only little tweak I would really like to see is full-inclusion of the crossbow. That would make it much easier for me to fill my antlerless tags. In the grossly overpopulated zone where I live (9F), they tend to go fully nocturnal after a week or two of archery pressure. It is tough for me to get them with a vertical bow, because the rarely travel alone. Making that draw, around all those eyes, gets me busted most of the time.

Hopefully, the new Evinrudes do better in the cold than they did about 25 years ago. I remember when 4 of us were on a moose hunt up North in Quebec back then. We had two of them, including my old, well-used 9.5 and a friends brand-new 15. The water temperature was very close to freezing and the air was colder. The new 15 was so tight, we could not even pull the rope. My old 9.5 started and ran pretty good. A light-weight battery that works good in the cold on a 5 hp or larger electric outboard might come around in another 10 years or so. Until it does, I am thankful for that 60 some year old Mercury 2-stroke and a good set of oars Another big advantage of the electric is the lack of noise. Not firing up the gas outboard early in the morning opens up a whole new world when it comes to seeing wildlife.