wolc123

I shoot them occasionally from my bedroom window with my 22 rimfire, off the carcass pile that is 100 yards out back. I missed one on Friday. I don't think I compensated quite enough for the crosswind (22's get blown off pretty good at that range).

Hunting and fishing are exactly the same to me - it is mostly about putting top quality food on the table.

I just finished almost 3 hours of unwrapping Christmas presents with the girls out by the tree. The best part was the smiles on their faces as they opened up their "treasures" and the cards they made their mother and I. Merry Christmas to all and thanks for the birthday greetings.

I don't do it. That is what nice, comfortable, enclosed blinds are for.

Reeltime, I do agree with you on several points: First, the crossbow should be treated as archery equipment and users should need the archery course to use it. The requirement of that, as well as full inclusion, are part of the current bill that is stuck in state assembly. Second, you are correct that I want an easier way to kill a deer. The primary reason I hunt deer is to obtain food for my family. Venison accounts for the bulk of the protein that we consume, and has for many years. I don't want to see deer wounded and not recovered. It has been more than 10 years since that has happened to me with any weapon, including vertical bows. I have only shot at two deer with the crossbow and both shots resulted in extremely clean kills (1 heart, 1 double-lung). I will say that my record with a vertical bow over 30 years of use was under 100%. I have a lot of respect for my quarry and the crossbow enables me to minimize the chances wounding them and not recovering the carcass. You are way off mark on several points: First, I would never want any type of gun in archery season, including rifles, shotguns, or ML's. The "noise" of these would cause the deer to go nocturnal, making them more difficult for everyone to kill. The reason for your bitterness is that you know deep down that your opposition is based on selfishness and that is a sin. That is due to the Holy Spirit which lives in you and in all people. God's power was never demonstrated more clearly than on this very day 2017 years ago, so it is very understandable that you are feeling particularly bad about your selfishness this morning, as evidence by all the bold in your response. Please try and relax and enjoy this, the greatest of all Holiday's. with your family. The battle you are fighting here is lost. I will leave you alone for a while now, and go watch my kid's open their presents. There is not a crossbow under the tree this year, but there would have been if we had full inclusion. Merry Christmas

2-1/2 and 1-1/2 acres. We had a bad drought this summer which cut yield significantly, especially on the larger plot, which was on well-drained soil. The smaller plot, on mucky, bottomland soil, yielded much better in the drought conditions, and 5 of the 6 deer were taken in and around it. I always try and keep the bases covered by planting corn on well drained and poorly drained soil. I also optimized the effectiveness of the corn that survived the drought by trapping coons (7 this year). In NY state, the regs say coons may be legally trapped by the landowner, without a DEC permit, prior to open trapping/hunting season, if they are doing damage to crops and if the carcasses are burried or burned immediately. After trapping season opens, you can just toss the carcasses out in the fields for the buzzards to eat. The furs are basically worthless in today's market. I like to break up the corn plots, because one big plot will usually become the territory of one mean old doe and her group. More plots means more doe groups, and more bucks in pursuit. Usually I try and keep them 1/2 to 1-1/2 acres in size and try and get in 3-5 acres each year. 3/4 of my total plot acreage is typically white clover, and when that starts to get overrun with grass, I plow it under for a new corn plot. Doing that saves me lots of cash in fertilizer, because that old clover banks lots of nitrogen in the soil, especially if you keep it mowed regularly. I also save money in clover seed by minimizing roundup usage. By applying it only on the corn rows, the surviving clover between the rows usually comes back strong in the nitrogen-depleated soil, the year after the corn, without the need for re-seeding. White clover does very well at our place in WNY because the soil is rich in limestone and never needs supplimental lime. Minimizing fertilizer use also minimizes the need for lime because synthetic fertilizer is highly acidic. For me foodplots are all about minimizing input costs (fertilizer, fuel, spray, lime and seed), and maximizing output (pounds of boneless venison).

reeltime, The poll on this site (in the bowhunting section) did show that a 2:1 margin of bowhunters supported full inclusion. That was a huge revelation for me and I see why "someone" made it go away as soon as the truth came out. Those like you who are opposed do seem to be a bit more passionate, or maybe desperate in their arguments to hold the line. It always gets that way when the end is near. Relax, it will be ok. You will still be able to use your compound or even a longbow or recurve if you wish. Sharing the woods with some weaker, lazier, older, or younger folks won't be all that bad. It might even increase your challenge a bit but isn't that a good thing? It does not sound like you want to use an easier way to kill deer.

I hear you on that. After getting a good taste of hunting up there, doing it down on the flat-lands of North-Western NY looses most of it's luster. Even the racks are cooler looking up there. The one I killed on Thanksgiving weekend had reddish colored antlers. The breathtaking scenery and almost total lack of hunting pressure adds more to the experience than can be described with words. This was an exceptionally good year for scenery up there, with near-peak fall foliage at the start of ML season and snow-covered mountains at the end of Rifle season. Killing deer in both those scenerios this year was especially awesome. What made it even better was the ease of the drags. The doe during ML ran right back towards my in-laws lake-house after I shot her in zone 6C, a short distance out back. My rifle buck dropped dead just off an ATV trail (on the NE edge of the Adirondack park) that my father in law uses regularly. After a call on the cell-phone, he and my nephew were there with the meat wagon in about 20 minutes. I know what those long drags are like and I don't miss them all that much. The last one, that nearly killed me a couple years ago, was a heavier buck that died deeper in park. I had to drag it a couple miles, thru a thick swamp, to get to an ATV trail on the edge. I am looking forward to getting up there in February for a little ice-fishing. I will probably bring the 16 gauge side-by-side and try for some grouse if the snow is not too deep. I flushed a lot of them while deer hunting this fall. I like the taste of them a lot better than turkey.

I tried a Winter Warmer from Genesee Brew House the other night. It was pretty good. I may have to pick some up, for special occasions, now that they stopped making 12 horse.

You might not need the roundup, using the method described above. A lot will depend on your soil type and if you can get it scratched up enough for ok seed contact with the wheat or rye. Those seeds will out compete just about any weed when planted in the late summer or early fall. They will literally choke out the weeds. Not "nukeing" the weeds will make that scratching a little tougher for sure. In more open areas, a bottom plow could work to bring up some dirt, certainly better than a tiller, but roots will still give you trouble. It would probably be best to just add some weight to a disk and scratch the ground up as best you can with that. I had a similar situation in making plots, but all of mine were converted from old hay fields, after we sold our cattle. I did let much of the poorer soil revert to natural vegetation and these are now my sanctuary areas. I did not need to use any roundup in opening those plots, just turning them over with a bottom plow prior to disking. I minimize my use of roundup, only applying it on row-planted corn (just on the rows where the fetilizer is applied). The weeds only want to grow heavy in the rows where the fertilizer is anyhow, and I take out the weeds between the rows mechanically with cultivators. Corn is definitely my "money" crop when it comes to foodplotting. This season, after subtracting all input costs (fuel, fertilizer, spray, etc.), the cost of boneless venison came in at less than $1.00 per pound. That output resulted from (6) deer harvested in and around 4 acres of corn. The action there ended with an 8-pointer the neighbor kid dragged out of the corn field on the last day of ML season this Tuesday.

You sound bitter, I will pray for you to have a good Christmas.

Does it shoot arrows and kill by cutting or bullets and kill by shock? Does it use gunpowder and make lots of noise when fired? That would be a better way to group it. I understand why some of you would prefer to leave it like it is (selfish elitism) but the poll on this site showed that the majority of BOWHUNTERS prefer full inclusion. Christmas is no time for selfishness, so wake up and get with the program. There are plenty of deer for everyone. If you don't believe that, come over here and look at all the tracks in the snow.

please post a photo of one so I can tell if it is an over under or side by side

Is it an over/under or side/side. If God intended for us to shoot over/unders He would have put our eyes that way.

They sure are purty but form should follow function and they fail the later part. Don't do it folks. Our house was lost to a fire around Christmas many years and it is not fun. My old deer grinder, that got saved while submerged by the fire-fighters water down in the basement, still has the burn-marks on it. That still serves to give me a timely reminder of fire safety every fall.

Prayers sent.

Getting back to the OP's question after the timely Jesus diversion: I think more deer will be harvested during bow season after full inclusion for two reasons: First, more hunters will be able to participate. Second, if we assume the crossbow is slightly more effective than the compound, then the harvest success percentage of the participants may increase a bit. I will admit a little selfishness of my own on this one, as I would love it if my 12 and 13 year old daughters could help me fill the freezer and not just empty it. I was not able to fill 2 of my 4 DMP's this season and I think I could have easily done that if we had full inclusion. I don't see an increased harvest of deer during bow season as a bad thing. Venison supplies most of my family's protein and less of it usually gets wasted by arrows (or bolts), than it does from bullets. Also, the warmer weather during bow season makes it more comfortable, especially for the kids. I live in a zone (9F) that is grossly overpopulated with deer and letting the crossbow in would make it a lot easier to get the herd in balance. The deer go nocturnal here real fast after the guns start going off. As far as what will happen to the longbow, recurve, and compound, I fully support their continued use, after full inclusion, as long as the users put in the time and effort rquired to become profficient in their use. It is a lot easier to get a bad hit with any of those than a crossbow, which can be fired off a rest, using telescopic sights, and does not need to be drawn with the deer in close.

Please keep them Jesus bumps coming guys. We just can't get too much of Him as His Birthday is fast approaching. The more help I can get from you other folks the better.

Did anyone else notice that the dissapearing poll on this site in the bowhunting section was showing that bowhunters supported full inclusion by 2:1 over leaving things like they are. ? To me, that say's it all and clearly indicates that it is just a small minority of selfish elitists who are preventing it. As far as the "selfish elitist" term goes, the first time I saw or heard that applied to that minority of bowhunters, was from Babe Winkleman on one of his hunting or fishing shows. Certainly not "politically-correct" but spot-on in describing the reason they don't want the crossbow in "their" season. Why should people who are too weak, or don't have the time to become proficient with a "real" bow be able to hunt at the same time as them? If the hordes of handicapped, very old, women and children are allowed into the woods during their "special time", it will make things more difficult for them. Big, tough, strong guys should get a time when they can have all the deer to themselves, right ? It sure appears that they are fighting a loosing battle, but I give them some credit for putting up a good fight. Much like the Brits during the Revolution, the Rebs during the Civil war, or the Axis during WW 2, they have won quite a few battles, but are clearly on the wrong side in the War. The minority never prevails over the majority in the long run and the cream always rises to the top, no mater how much you shake the milk. Merry Christmas everyone and bring on the Cross-bow. Certainly we know what side my buddy Jesus would be on with this one, and the side He supported has never and will never loose a War. Listening to the dying gasps of the loosers is certainly entertaining though, so lets keep it up for a few more pages anyhow. What else have you got tough guys?

The rental heavy-duty rotary mower for the skidsteer is a good place to start. Forget about the tiller as it won't work with 5 years of root growth. A small boom sprayer for the UTV would be the next piece to get. This is how I would develop your plot: 1.) Bush hog the area you want to plant in the spring after it gets dry enough so you don't get stuck. 2.) Get a soil test and add lime if needed. 3.) Spray roundup in early summer to nuke the weeds. 4.) Get a tractor in the 20-40 hp range, and a 4 to 8 ft wide disk and scratch up the ground with it in the late summer. Or sub this step out to a neighbor. Don't try to turn over them roots with a plow, just let them rot away over a few more years after the tops are cut off and the sprouts sprayed. 5.) Broadcast with a mix of winter wheat (or cerial rye), and soybeans. Cultipack (if you dont have one of those you can just drag a log around sideways and do ok). You can also just use the utv tires with multiple passes. Broadcast with white clover, then cultipack again (90 degrees from the first direction) That will get you a good hunting plot for next season. The sprouting soybeans are like candy to deer and will draw them in first, possibly lasting until early bow season. Next, the wheat will kick in and keep them fed into the winter. The following spring, bush-hog the wheat (or rye) before it goes to seed. The clover will feed the deer for 3-5 more years with just a mowing or two per season. In later years, after the roots have rotted, you can turn over some spots of the clover with a plow and put in some nitrogen loving plots like corn or brassicas.

They have it in Ohio where things are better. Can you name any state where it made it worse? If the vast majority of NY state bowhunters support full inclusion, as was indicated by the "dissapearing" poll on this site then why shouldn't we have it? I could understand how you might have missed that one, but can you present a single piece of evidence how it would make things worse. I just provided 2 how it would make things better. Just admit it, all you got is selfish elitism.

Ohio might offer you a pretty good clue on what it will be. As far as I know they rank well above NY in deer hunter satisfaction and they were the first state to have full inclusion. There is plenty of evidence out there that it will make things better and none that indicates "the sky will fall". The poll that was posted on this site in the bow-hunting section was indicating that NY bowhunters on this site support full inclusion by nearly a 2:1 margin over leaving it like it is, when it "disappeared" because it must not have fit "someones" agenda. That "someone" was no doubt part of the elitist , selfish minority of bowhunters who are desperately trying to hold the line using any means possible. Had that poll showed a majority in opposition you had better believe it would not have gone away.

Same to you Cynthia. Happy Birthday Jesus.

I have yet to have one run off farther than 40 yards, after being struck anywhere (usually behind the shoulder) with an SST. I can always count on loosing a few chops with a high lung hit. I only hit one this year, with a 12 ga SST, and that shot struck high, breaking her spine. Our freezers were nearly full, so I gave the big doe to my brother in law. He always grinds the whole thing anyhow, and mixes 50:50 with ground beef for making jerky. It will be interesting hear how much meat he had to trim away.

There was a lot of bad bullets back when shotgun sabots first came out. I remember drilling a few deer thru the lungs and the exit hole was rarely much bigger than the entry They had a big improvement in accuracy, over the old fosters, but they really forced one to use his tracking skills. The Hornady SST and others that are out now are vastly improved as far as easy recovery goes, the only drawback being increased meat damage.