wolc123

As you have stated, the law is clear and I have the right to kill the raccoons. They are cute and cuddly when they are little. Have you ever seen one out in daylight when they were suffering from distemper or rabies? They are not too cute then. That is how they often end up if they are not controlled. The collapse in fur prices has resulted in way too many raccoons around. Raccoons are particularly harmful to corn, both the sweet and the field variety. They climb the stalks and knock it down before it is ripe. It is a lot easier and more economical to remove the raccoons than it is to install an electric fence, but if that is your wish, have at it.

Sometimes it is just a minor issue that causes the trouble. My 10 year old hot water heater started acting up 3 years ago. I made a few phone calls and was told that they normally only last 6-7 years by several local plumbers. Rather than get a new one installed, I looked at it myself. First, I turned of the breaker and closed the gas and water valves to isolate it from all energy sources. Next, I removed a small cover plate and noted that there was some calcium buildup on the igniter. I scraped that off with a screwdriver, put it back together, opened the valves back up, turned the power back on, and re-lit the pilot. The repair took me less than 15 minutes. It has worked perfectly in the 3 years since then. It does seem like the older stuff lasted longer. I still use an old GE refrigerator from the 1950's to age deer carcasses when it is too warm for hanging them in my insulated garage. It worked great on two again this season. They always tell you: "the new ones might not last as long but they make up for that in greater efficiency". They would need to be very efficient to make up for the loss of several deer when they quit. My grandparents bought the old Montgomery-Ward upright freezer in our basement back in the early 1980's. A few years ago, during the "October storm" our basement flooded over a foot, covering the motor and condenser. After it dried out, I plugged it back in and it has continued to work perfectly. Right now it contains (4) vacuum-sealed, and one zip-locked deer. It might cost a little more to run, but the peace of mind not needing to worry about it quitting is well worth it.

I have had the most luck within a few days of a full moon (I think it will be the 14th this month) , and around 10 pm is a good time. A few years ago, I killed my last red fox (with a load of #4 shot) that came in to a dying rabbit mouth call. It was right around 10:00 pm, on a moonlit night. I only go out when there is plenty of moonlight and snow on the ground. That makes seeing them a piece of cake. Where you setup to call is important. Make sure you can see a long way downwind. Usually they stick to the cover as long as they can but they always seem to make their final approach from downwind.

The several deer that I finished with my knife did not have every chance to recover and in all cases I obtained proper tags from the police. I assume that they would have issued me some type of violation ticket if it was illegal. With the doe, the officer at the desk had taken a call earlier from the homeowner who's house she was struck in front of. When I showed up at the police station for a carcass tag, with the dead doe in the back of my truck, he asked me if the deer had to be shot. I replied: No, I killed it with my knife. That one had kicked a bit, and sprayed a lot of blood on me, as I slit its jugular. I had not yet cleaned myself up. The officer said: "that would be no", and seemed appreciative that I saved them some work. The BB with the wind knocked out of it was not able to get back up on its feet, and would surely have died from it's injuries. The quicker a deer is killed, the better the quality of the meat. The one that wrecked your car will most likely end up as food for coyotes, but they need to eat to.

three important lessons here: #1): always carry a sharp knife in your car. The concussion probably knocked that BB out cold. You could have slit his throat and had some fine eating to take some of the edge off that $500 insurance bill. A BB liver alone is worth about $25 to me. Three years, ago a hit and run driver broadsided and knocked the wind out of a BB at the end of our driveway. I finished it with my knife and had some fine eating. The meat was good, other than some minor bruising on the shoulders. All the damage to your BB was probably limited to his head and you would have had quite the prize if you were quick with a knife. I once finished a doe with my knife that had struck it's head on a car, knocking itself out and there was not a mark on it's body or any wasted meat. #2): don't be too fussy about filling as many antlerless tags as you can, and keep hunting after you have all the meat you need, if you still have some tags. Almost any processor will accept donations, which are used to feed homeless people. Not only will you be providing some hungry folks with some excellent food, you might also save yourself from what just happened to you. #3) never assume a deer is dead until you stick the muzzle of your loaded gun (or knife) into it's eye and it does not blink.

http://www.dec.ny.gov/animals/9358.htm This link shows that raccoons can be killed by homeowners if they are causing damage. Most that I have killed were damaging sweetcorn that I grow to feed my family. I have also trapped some that were damaging fieldcorn that I planted as foodplots for deer. Damage is damage, and does not need to be agricultural. Trapping and eliminating raccoons is actually good for them because, with the collapse of the fur market, not many trappers go for them anymore. That leads to overpopulation and disease like distemper and rabies. The last time you questioned me on this, I located another link where there was a table that showed that raccoons killed by homeowners should be burried or burned, if taken before trapping season opens. I have not always done that in the past but will be sure to do so in the future. I thank you for making me aware of that technicality. It is no big deal for me to dig a hole with the bucket of my tractor and throw them in as I get them in the early summer. After trapping season opens, I will continue to just toss them out in the field for the buzzards. I am going to order a dozen or so more of those dog-proof traps. Them things work very slick compared to the box traps I usually use.

Chef, I assume every shot I take at a deer connects. That means I will continue to fire as long as a safe shot presents itself, if the animal remains on it's feet (or if it appears to be suffering). I am very confident in my marksmanship and only fire on deer (the first time) when I am more than 90% sure of a clean kill. After that first shot, I assume there is a bullet in the deer already and there is nothing to loose but a little more meat in taking additional shots. Over the last 10 years I only missed those two shots on that buck, but I also used second shots (to the head or neck) to end the suffering of (3) different does. None of us down here is perfect. Are you still hunting? Good luck if you are.

How did the field dressing go on that caribou? My biggest surprise on this whitetail 6-point was how clean that went. The Butt-out 2 even worked perfectly after failures on my previous (2) uses. Grow: this 6-point Adirondack buck was not "skylined". I only fired the one shot at it, dropping it in its tracks. The two misses you are referring to were on a larger, 8-point Adirondack buck that I killed in 2014. A careful investigation of the scene of those misses this fall indicated that the first miss was most likely due to the bullet hitting a branch, while the second was due to firing at a 300+ yard range offhand without a rest. I assumed the first shot was a hit and that was the only reason I took the second shot offhand when the buck reached another opening. Fortunately that buck stopped walking when he heard the second shot, giving me time to rest my rifle on a tree for the fatal third shot. That one struck him perfectly, diagonally thru the chest, and he dropped dead there in his tracks. I am sorry for the confusion I caused by mentioning those earlier misses. I just wanted to show you that I am not perfect, and have missed deer before. I do feel extremely blessed to have cleanly killed every deer I have shot at over the last 10 years or so however. I don't want to take much of the credit for that, preferring to give it to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. He blessed me with more venison than he ever has this fall. Hunting (and fishing) go a lot better when you realize who controls how and where the blessings flow. It was quite a blessing not to have a stinky mess when field dressing that THS buck this fall.

Nice gun. My father in law has one with open sights and I am going to try and talk him into letting me use it this fall. Speaking of smelling deer, I got a good whiff of that this fall on the 2-1/2 year old buck that I killed at home with my crossbow. I saw him go into a corn field, about 75 yards away, and could hear him munching on corn as he made his way closer. He was directly upwind, it was peak-rut time, and that piss smell was unmistakable. Now I can understand how that would give away their location in heavy cover as you sneak along downwind. It would probably only work at peak rut time however.

The trick is seeing the deer before it sees, hears, or smells you. That is easier said than done. Dry, noisy leaves and no wind is a no-go, as is crunchy snow and no wind. Wet leaves and steady wind is good, soft, wet snow and steady wind is better. It is much easier to see a deer before it sees you when there is snow on the ground. I was able to stalk into firing position on deer up there 3 times this year (single doe, doe with a button buck, and 1 small antlered buck) prior to the snow. I killed the single doe with my ML in the early season (zone 6C). The buck was distracted, and feeding up on a ridge when I snuck in on him mid-way thru rifle season. He was not yet a "shooter" for me at that point. Knowing where the food is and where the does are is a tremendous help when deciding where to still hunt. You can cover ground fast in between those spots, as long as you slow way down when you get close. When the conditions are right, still hunting is great, but there are lots of times when finding a good spot to sit and letting the deer come to you works better. I always let the conditions I find determine the method I use on any hunt. This year, hunting the Adirondacks 14 days total in three trips, from the start of ML thru almost the end of rifle season, I saw around a dozen antlerless deer (all while still hunting) and 2 bucks (one while still hunting and one while seated). I would guess that I sat two hours for every hour that I still hunted. I have done better up there by waiting until sunrise, then still-hunting to my spots in the morning, than I have by getting to the spots before sunrise. Is that a Marlin 336 30/30? I had one years ago and really miss it now. My big heavy Ruger M77, 30/06 with 3-9 Redfield is not the best for still-hunting. That Marlin would be just about perfect.

It looks like you have most of the bases covered there. One thing I would add (if you don't already have one) is a big, old refrigerator. I have an old GE, non frost-free model from the 50's that does a great job of aging the carcass (1 week for a 1-1/2 year old deer, 10-14 days for 2-1/2 or older deer) at just the right temperature (around 35 degrees F). I removed all the shelves and drawers from inside. I skin the deer, and cut the hind quarters off. I hang the hind quarters from hooks on the top and rest the front section on the neck against the bottom. More often than not, over the last 10 years or so, it has been too warm to age carcasses by just hanging them inside my insulated garage (with all the windows covered), especially early during archery season. Aging the venison allows a breakdown of rigormortis and produces more tender red meat. Some say it also improves flavor. What kind of skinning setup do you have? A small block and tackle and a gambrel to hook the tendons works pretty well. I usually saw off the front legs above the knee and the rear legs below the knee, then skin them back far enough to expose the tendons for hooking the gambrel. When it is cold enough to hang the carcasses outside the fridge (it was for (1) of (5) that I did this year), I leave the hides on to insulate against daily temperature extremes and to keep the meat from drying out too much (not an issue inside the non frost-free fridge, but I don't know if it would be in a modern one). I remove the hide a day prior to finishing the processing job, to split up the work load a bit. I tried the "golf ball" /truck skinning method on a fresh-killed one this year without success.

There, or a head on, open-mouth, down the throat shot would be the two perfect places to put one to eliminate all pelt damage. I went for that one with a big red fox with this bullet from my 22/250. I was slightly off target, creasing his jaw a little. It was nothing that the taxidermist could not cover with a banty rooster in his mouth.

I would go with Hornady V-max bullets to minimize pelt damage. These will give you a tiny entrance hole and explode inside with no exit hole. The 150 gr Core-Lokts will punch a .30" dia entrance hole and at least a 1" diameter exit, every time and from any angle. A THS bullet placement would completely eliminate both the entrance and exit hole with the V-max. Good luck on the yotes.

1.) Do some hinge cutting in sanctuary areas, and open up some white oaks in the woods and hedgerows (this winter). 2.) Put in 3-5 acres of field corn, fertilized a bit heavier than last year (this spring). 3.) Trap and kill raccoons. 4.) Fill both buck tags with 2-1/2 year olds. 5.) Fill antlerless only archery/ML tag with a 1-1/2 year old doe. 6.) Fill (3) DMP tags with mature does and (1) with a BB.

They said in that video that there is only 2 tasers available for 800 Buffalo police officers. I think the cop did an excellent job using the equipment he had available. The perp was not hurt badly and that gentle nudge with the bumper was enough to subdue him so that he could be peacefully taken into custody. A taser may have caused him to have a heart-attack and die. It looks like everybody wins in this one, the taxpayers had to buy less tasers, the perp was not hurt badly and has already been released from the hospital, and the cop did not put himself or others under unneccesary risk. If that is not an example of outstanding police work I don't know what is. The cop should get a medal for that one.

I was his real target and the one who rattled his cage, causing the breakdown. His (and others) selfish, elitist arguments against the crossbow are built on lies, which always lead to self-destruction. Sorry you got caught in the crossfire Doc. By the way, I only killed four deer this season (I transferred one DMP to a friend), and the local area (zone 9F) is still badly overrun with deer. My cage is going to be rattled if I hit one with my car, driving back and forth to work, and that anger will be directed at those who are "holding the line" against the crossbow.

Were there many ticks on that one? I have never seen as many on one as this buck from up on the NW edge of the Adirondack park had on him. All the ones I found were in the white-hair areas on the belly, throat, and rear. They show up good in those spots and I picked off and killed a hundred or so, prior to skinning. Hopefully, they only live in the white hair areas, otherwise he must have had thousands on him that I missed. I always throw the fat and bloodied meat trimmings, carcasses and hides on a pile out back from which I have shot a few coyotes and lots of crows (excellent target practice with the .22). My neighbor has really figured out trapping the coyotes this season and pretty much eradicated them from the local area.

Sorry Belo, I did not want to let FSW down after I finally got the picture. Now he has what he asked for. Also, to me personally, an Adirondack 6-point is worth more than a flat-land 12, especially one with those red antlers. Also, thanks to the shot placement and deer/barrel alignment, very little edible meat was lost. I am going to try and get a scale up there even if I have to buy one myself. On a sad note, the ticks that I piked off him probably totaled over a pound.

I have heard that the number of deer hunters in NY state has been declining for a few years now. Texting, smart-phones, and other distractions are surely part of the reason the youngsters are not getting into it like they use to. Even with full inclusion, it is unlikely that this trend will be reversed. Allowing the dwindling number of hunters access to a more efficient way to kill deer is at least an attempt to stem the loss, when it comes to managing the state's deer herd. I hope they never come up with a better way of managing the deer herd than hunting. They might have to if hunter numbers drop so far that they can no longer control the herd. Would you prefer buck contraception over full inclusion? How about wolf or mountain lion introduction?

Thanks, now I don't feel so bad about feeding so many to the birds this year.

A box trap baited with a peanut butter coated marshmellow works very well. When and if they get too smart for that, a little cat food poured into the bottom of a dog-proof "beer-can" style trap will get them every time. Fortunately, raccoons are about the easiest furbearer there is to trap. Does anyone know what the hides are fetching this season? I have let the buzzards eat quite a few due to the poor market in recent years. Some day, I might toss a carcass in the crockpot, because I heard they are not bad eating. I imagine that one which has been on a steady sweetcorn diet would be especially tasty and there is only one way to find out if that is true. A few winters ago, about this time of year, I found a big one dead out in my barn with his head stuck under the bucket of my tractor, and his foot tangled in the netting of a big salmon net that he must have dragged around for a while before getting stuck and suffocating. The fur was very "prime" on that one so I gave it to my cousin who skinned it and tanned it for me. Trapping season is open now, and NY state regulations allow a landowner to trap raccoons that are causing property damage to be trapped and killed by the landowner without a licence or a DEC permit. During open trapping season, you may dispose of the carcass almost any way you wish (I prefer tossing them out in a field and letting the buzzards and coyotes eat them). A landowner may also trap and kill raccoons, that are causing damage, without a licence or DEC permit, prior to the opening of trapping season, but the carcass must be burried or burned.

I would never call you bad, but you do sound a little bitter. How is that helping your cause? Have you ever drank poison and expected it to hurt those you are mad at? I suggest you kick back and let it go. Someday you might be thankful for full inclusion. It might allow you to enjoy a few extra years of "quite-time" archery hunting with your kids and grandkids. Sharing the deer and the woods with others who may not be as big and tough as you is not such a bad thing.

I will have to talk my father in law into getting a scale when he moves up there full time. At least the last time he let me hang one in his barn (prior to pouring the concrete floor - now that is off limits). He had a rope and pulley in there and I could lift my 200 pounds off the ground on the other end of the rope while that older buck's heavy rear was still in the stones. This one was smaller for sure, but it would be nice to eliminate the guess work. I don't know if you caught the part about the standing corn up the road this year, or the belly-full this one had. That can pack on the pounds in the fall. There is also quite a few does for every buck up there (10:1 or so) so less chasing and easier for them to keep adding weight thru the rut. Do they have the red antlers down in the Speculator/Lewey lake area where your camp is? I agree on the "any Adirondack a trophy" part, especially when they got those red horns. The buck I shot at home this year with my crossbow, may be a year older, a bit heavier, and had larger antlers, but it does not mean nearly as much to me. I also ended up with more meat from the smaller Adirondack rifle buck due to the "special" shot placement. Did you have to trim away much meat from that big one you riddled up there this year?

If you get on the whiskey, let somebody else drive. Happy New Year

You will still be very welcome in OUR woods with your longbow, recurve, or compound. I don't mind sharing, especially with trophy-hunters who pass on many of the "good-eaters".