wolc123

I have always aimed to be in the stand about 1/2 hour before sunrise on opening day of gun, the first Saturday, and Thanksgiving (the "big 3" in our area). Other days and archery & ML seasons, I usually wait until legal light prior to walking in. I have spent most of the last 30 opening days of gun season on our farm in the southern zone, which has been in the family since just after the Civil war. I have killed about 15 deer on those days and more than half were from 1 to 10 minutes after legal shooting light and shot from a stand. I always check the times in the paper and do not load my gun prior to sunrise and I also unload it prior to sunset. I will never forget my first and fastest (the 1 minute buck). That was also the shortest season I ever had. It was my third year hunting and I was just 19 years old. I chewed tobacco back then and I could see in the moonlight that the brown spot I was trying to spit on in the snow below my stand was getting larger as the seconds ticked away. With about 2 minutes to go, I heard what sounded like clumsy person struggling thru the brush next to me, on the neighbors land. I kept looking back and forth between my watch and the spot the noise was coming from as I held a 16 ga slug in my right hand. Suddenly a feisty looking buck with a couple busted off tines, and 7 remaining points, stepped out of the brush right below my stand. I had seen this same buck several times during archery season but never in range. He buried his nose in the tobacco spot as his last minute ticked away. I prayed that the slug would find its way into the chamber, as I shoved it in and cycled the pump on my granddad's old bottom-loading, Ithaca model 37. Then I centered the crosshairs of the old 1.5X Weaver scope on the top of his shoulder and was relieved to hear the bang and feel the heavy recoil of the "featherweight" gun against my shoulder. The buck went into a spastic "break dance" and flopped around at the base of my tree for several minutes before laying still. I gutted him quick, hung him in the garage and made it to college in time to take an exam (not sure how I did on that one, but I did pass the class). Our neighbors don't have any clear lanes on their land so they usually follow our adjacent lane on their way into the woods, just after first light. Most of the rest of my opening morning kills were pushed to me by them at this time. I am glad some folks wait until daylight on the "big-days", as we would go hungry some years otherwise. My first buck came in the first minute of an opening day and my largest-racked, symmetric, "typical" came on the last just a few years ago. I never would have taken that one had I not climbed down from my stand 3 minutes prior to legal sunset. The only reason I did that was because the Bible I was reading at the time slipped mysteriously from my hands, falling to the forest floor below. I had filled a doe tag in the morning (thank you next door neighbor) and a freind had given me another so I had no real need to hunt until the last minute. Our meat supply was good. As soon as I got to the ground with the same loaded 16 ga Ithaca in my right hand (sorry about the "safety" issue but it paid off this time), and reaching for the Bible with my left, a flock of turkeys landed almost on top of me. As is often the case around here, they were accompanied by a deer. The turkeys like to hang with the deer to capitalize on their good sense of smell, and the deer appreciate the turkey's superior eyesight. Combined, they have a nearly impregnable defense against a hunter clad in blaze-orange. This wise old buck's line of turkeys was breeched now however, and his big rack and head popped out from behind a bush just 10 yards away. I brought up the gun, centered the older, 1.5X Weaver scope on his neck and put him down in his tracks, with just a few seconds of legal light remaining. As I have just explained here, I have pushed it close to the limit at least twice, but in thirty years, I have never been tempted by a shot prior to or after legal sunrise or sunset. I also have no respect for those who call them selves hunters yet think nothing of shooting way before or after the legal times. They are "poachers" in my book and there certainly is no shortage of them in these parts based on the shots I hear in the dark.

I left my slug-gun lay at the base of a tree well before sunrise one opening day of deer season long ago. I was also carrying a portable stand with a shoulder sling and after I had stopped to look at my compass with a flashlight, I thought that was my gun as I walked off a few hundred yards. Somehow I managed to walk right back to that tree in the darkness when I realized my mistake. I was on the giving and receiving end of two other mishaps. During a rifle-team match in high school, as I closed the bolt of my hair-triggered .22, it discharged. The muzzle was pointed upward, at about a 45 degree angle, and the bullet struck the concrete ceiling. Chips flew back, a few striking me. The guy next to me clutched his chest, yelled "I'm hit", and fell forward. He was always somewhat of a jokester. The chips or shrapnel did not penetrate his canvas shooting jacket however and we were able to continue the match after making sure we were ok. After that, I always made sure my rifle was pointed down range at the target when I closed the bolt, but I never had another misfire. The other incident occurred when I got down from my tree stand a pursued a doe which was out of range and had just walked of my granddad's farm, thru a hedgerow and onto a long hayfield of our neighbor's. When I stepped onto that field, I saw the doe out in the middle. Then I felt a slap on the side of my face, immediately followed by a gunshot. I hit the dirt and soon dirt started to fly against my face as 4 more slugs hit close by. Even though I was wearing blaze orange, a hunter in the opposite hedgerow had unloaded his semi auto at the doe, not touching it but nearly taking me out. If you ever had a bullet pass less than an inch from your ear, it is a feeling and sound that you will never forget. It certainly changed the way I hunt. I stick to our own land, and up a tree or in a good blind most of the time now.

I ran into a couple many years ago on a hut out west. A friend and I took our truck to a trail-head on the outskirts of a popular Colorado ski town. The trail went about 10 miles, along a creek that flowed down from a tall mountain. It was popular with joggers and hikers (this town is really crazy about fitness), and hunters are rare. We were on the trail well before sunrise and my friend had taken a mule deer the day prior. On this day, he just walked up a short distance to try for an elk, giving me directions to his spot further up where the mullies seemed to be migrating thru. I went about 5 miles up the trail, then headed off a mile or so up a mountain side, to his "hot-spot". A short while after I found a nice overlook, which offered a good shot to the migration path, a group of 5-6 antlerless deer came by. Exactly 1 hour later, a second, similar group passed. I was ready an hour later when a third group passed, and this one included a decent buck. I killed him up there with my 30/06. My friend and another successful hunter had just left their deer, then came back and got some helpers before dragging them out. I was young and stupid and it was still fairly early in the day so I thought I could just take it slow and drag it out myself. It was a little rough getting it down to the trail (those things are a bit heftier than your average whitetail), and I started a small avalanche when the rear end caught between a couple boulders and got a whole bunch of them rolling downhill. Other than that, going downhill wasn't all that bad, but uphill was tough. Thankfully I had a canteen and water purification tablets and must have drank 5 gallons from the creek on the way out. By early afternoon it was getting quite warm and I packed the carcass with snow that I found on the shady side of a mountain, up high. I had a sling-shot in my jacket pocket but it was rolled up in my backpack due to the high temperature. Down on the trail, about halfway out, two large German shepherds came at me from around a bend. They were barking and drooling and very intent on the carcass. I backed away and tried to dig my slingshot out of my pack. Before I could lay down some fire, they ripped open the bag containing the heart and liver and wolfed them down. As I was still struggling to get the sling shot, two young women in bright jogging attire trotted up and called off their dogs. I must have been quite a sight, stripped to the waist and covered with sweat and blood. they looked at the deer and said: "That's gross". I replied: "Bambi was hurt real bad and I was trying to get him to the vet. He ain't got a chance now that your dogs ate his heart". They just continued on their way. Before I got back to the truck, just before sunset, they came by again without saying a word. When my buddy arrived shortly thereafter, he couldn't believe it when he saw the deer laying next to the truck. He asked me "what did you have an adrenalin rush or something?" He did get a kick out of the jogger story. All that work wasn't worth the effort as the meat was no where near as tasty as that from our NY whitetails. I probably should have just let the dogs have some more of it.

The last few years in the NZ, the weather has been a little too warm during the one week ML season for much good action. Since I have a 4.5 hour drive to the in-laws camp up there, I wouldn't want to deal with the doe-meat anyhow due to the temperature issue and keeping the meat in good condition. I have taken doe up there with the ML some years ago when we had cooler weather. I am keeping my fingers crossed for cool weather this fall when we go up for a 4 day trip covering 2 days of x-bow and 2 days of ML. I prefer shooting bucks because they are easier and faster for me to butcher, because of less fat to trim, but I wouldn't mind using both of my tags on nice fat NZ does this fall. There is way to many of them "flatheads" around the camp with at least 20 per antlered buck on trail cams. If we are lucky, we may even bring home (3) as my father in law is going to break out his ML this year. He wont sit thru the archery course to get the second tag however so that is the best we could do.

We consume 4-5 average size deer per season and have not bought beef in more than 15 years as a result. Fortunately our whole family prefers venison over beef. Since I do all the work, and bucks are easier to butcher due to less fat to trim, I prefer them over does. The perfect deer for me in terms of quantity and quality is a 2.5 year old buck. We were blessed to have a friend give us one of them last season, and to have a hit-and run driver knock the wind out of a button buck at the end of our driveway last winter. I finished that one off with my knife, plus killed a 1.5 year buck with my crossbow and a 4.5+ year buck with my rifle. With a legal bag limit of 2 bucks, that was the first year ever that all our venison came from bucks. The 2.5 and 4.5 bucks were steer-like monsters, as far as body size, so our overall meat quantity also was the highest ever last year. That was fortunate because my kids are getting bigger appetites as they get older. Hopefully they can help me with the freezer filling task in the next few years. On a normal season, most of our venison comes from antlerless deer due to the more liberal bag limit (4) in our home zone. There have been a few years when I limited on those but I average about (2) antlerless deer per season, 25% of which have been button bucks. Whenever a group is in range, I target the largest first as long as I have tags and freezer space. With a repeating shotgun or rifle, If I see a doe with one or two fawns, I will anchor the doe first with a shoulder blade shot, then proceed to the fawns in order of body size with center-lung shots. I like to send them to "deer heaven" (our families food supply) together if I am able. I stopped hunting with a vertical bow last season when they made crossbows legal and am 1/1 on bucks with that far more effective deer-killing weapon (I would rate it as at least 10X more effective in my hands). It would be nice if this poll had a Crossbow/Shotgun/Rifle/ML category as I have used all but the crossbow to kill does and will take every opportunity I am presented with to kill one if there is still room in the freezer and I have tags. The only "passes" I hand out are to small 1.5 year bucks and that may stop this year during x-bow and gun seasons now that they are no longer allowing bucks to be harvested during ML season in our home zone. All of the areas I hunt in the Southern and Northern zones have above optimum deer populations and could stand a higher doe harvest even after the tough winter we had last season.

A bit verbose maybe, but except for one big omission, I thought it was a good article. I especially liked the emphasis on the importance of the meat. We will never convince anti-hunters to go along with the whole "trophy-hunting" deal. There is way too much emphasis on killing only old, mature animals or those with massive headgear in today's hunting literature. What it lacked was some reference to God's creation and how he created the animals, birds, fish, and plants, for man to consume. I know that opens a can of worms with many but it is really the most important aspect of the whole deal. Forever hangs in the balance, not just the brief time we all get to spend here on earth.

Maybe for a heavy draw, high speed model but the noise of any crossbow is certainly a lot closer to a vertical bow than it is to a gun. A lot also depends on the model. The little entry-level one that I bought last year is no louder than my 65% let-off high-velocity compound. Granted, it is only 300 fps and 135 lb draw but it should get the job done inside 50 yards. At 59 yards last season the penetration was marginal, just getting thru the heart, so 50 yards will be my limit with it going forward. I have no doubt that if I had those first 2 weeks this fall I could kill some does easily inside of 50 yards. The trouble is, they go nocturnal soon after they know they are being hunted and the only "easy pickings" when x-bow finally opens now, for the last 2 weeks, is 1-1/2 year, rut-crazed bucks. As a pure meat-hunter, 2-1/2 year old bucks are number one on my target list. These new regulations should definitely increase my odds a bit in getting one of those with my crossbow since they are now off-limits to the early bow-hunters. Them, and older bucks are also usually smart enough to go nocturnal soon after they pick up the scent of bow-hunters. I can definitely see these new regs reduce the early bow-season pressure as most bow-hunters I know care only about killing bucks. Taking away that pressure should make for a more productive gun season opener. It has been a little lame at home the last few years do to increased bow-hunting activity. Overall, for me personally I see more good than bad to these new regulations, with my only dislike being the loss of the ability to kill a buck in the ML season. I will just have to make sure my buck tags are filled prior even if it means killing a 1-1/2 year 3" unicorn buck.

Most agree that the vertical bow is about the least effective weapon for killing does. This is mostly because of limited range and difficulty in "making the draw" with a group of deer in close. Does are in such great numbers in these areas that it is rare to see them alone. The bow does have one advantage over a gun, it's silent report. In those areas which are infested with deer and the state has resorted to this new measure, the does go nocturnal, almost at the sound of the first gunshot. Allowing ML's or guns for does early is not the answer, they are too loud and will put most of the does into a full nocturnal mode before adequate numbers can be harvested. The crossbow is the true solution, not needing to be drawn with groups in close yet nearly as quiet as a vertical bow.

The biggest divide I see is between the small minority of bow-hunters who are fighting desperately to keep the x-bow out of archery season, and the majority of hunters who would like to see full inclusion. I see full inclusion of crossbow as the best way to control the deer population in those areas that are now subject to the "doe-only" restriction for the first 2 weeks of archery and ML season. Killing does in these areas with a vertical bow is much easier said than done. The areas are infested with groups of antlerless deer and it is nearly impossible to draw a bow on one individual without alerting the group. Shooting lone bucks of any age is like taking candy from a baby in comparison. Those doe groups also become mostly nocturnal as soon as they detect some hunting pressure and certainly after they hear the first shot or two when gun season opens. The silent crossbow that does not have to be drawn quickly with the group in close is the ultimate answer for reducing the deer population in the areas that need it. Basically, the selfish effort of that minority of bowhunters to keep x-bows out of archery has blown up in their face and now no one can take bucks in these areas during those periods. The part of it that bothers me the most is the loss of the opportunity to take a buck during ML season.

I live and hunt in that area of Western NY which they are making "doe only" for the first couple weeks of archery. I like the change because I gave up those weeks of archery season anyhow, after seeing how much more effective the crossbow was. As a pure "meat-hunter, I slightly prefer to shoot bucks, as they are easier and quicker to butcher, with much less fat to trim, and taste the same or better than does. This will improve my odds of taking a buck after x-bow season opens by eliminating some time for the "early-bird" archery hunters to go after them. We are in serious need of herd reduction here, so I hope they are able to clean out some does early. Taking a doe around here with a vertical bow is a real challenge as they are almost always in groups and many sets of eyes must be fooled to draw with them in close. Those archers have an uphill climb. I cant see them getting the job done, and the state will likely be forced to open x-bow throughout and/or add a couple weeks of early ML if they really want to get the population under control in this area. The only part I am not thrilled about is making the ML season "doe-only". That will force me to be less selective on bucks when they are legal, during crossbow and gun seasons, so I don't end up with "tag-soup". Definitely more positives than negatives with the changes however and it is getting me excited about the fall. We are down to about one big buck left in the freezer now from last year, so it cant get here too fast. The smallmouth bass fishing has been productive however, and I will soon have a few weeks to augment the food supply even more with some squirrels and grouse.

Last season was odd in that I did not fill any doe tags but we are still In decent shape thanks to a road kill button buck and a nice 2.5 year old 8-point archery kill that a friend gave us. I gave some of those and part of my own 1.5 year archery buck and 4.5 year, 200 + lb gun buck to a friend who got skunked last season. We still have a freezer shelf and a half full which should take us to archery season at least. IT has been many years since we needed to buy any beef.

I have not heard from too many of the anti crossbow folks who are willing to admit to the far greater effectiveness on the x-bow. The truth will set you free. This ones for you JJ: If my best buddy upstairs were to hunt deer, what weapon would he choose?

You just hit on another reason for the crossbows much greater effectiveness on "live" game. String-jump is a significantly bigger issue on alert deer than it is on those that are totally clueless about impending danger. Many a calm deer has been "alerted" when it caught a glimpse of an archer drawing his bow at close range. I have no doubt that string jump accounts for more wounded deer than any other cause during archery season. Just like a gun, no "in-close" draw is needed with the x-bow. Using a x-bow, there really is no excuse for not shooting at only "calm" deer. From 30+ years of archery experience, I knew prior to the shot in question that there was near 100% certainty that the buck would be in the same exact position when the arrow arrived. In the case of that semi-calm and distracted (by a couple does)59 yard buck last year, he was also about 10 yards beyond the range where release noise would be an issue. He certainly never knew what hit him until his heart was pierced. I suppose his heart was already broken when I hit it, since the two does did not seem to be receptive. I guess maybe I put him out of his misery. His pickled heart sure was tasty. Those of you archers who are so selfishly opposed to the crossbow may want to loosen up a bit. There are plenty of deer to go around here in NY. Hunter numbers are in decline and allowing the crossbow may stem the tide a bit by allowing hunters who are unable to draw and hold a regular bow participate. You may be good with your regular bows now, but there will come a day for almost everyone when the crossbow could add a few more seasons to your hunting. At least drop that argument that a x-bow is the same as a regular bow in effectiveness. Anyone with a spare $30 and an hours time can easily disprove that myth with a "subsonic" BB-gun using the little experiment I outlined in my prior post.

Has anybody else shot a deer thru the heart at 59 yards with a $250 crossbow? If you want to get a hint why even a cheap crossbow is 10x more effective than a conventional bow, take about $30 up to Dicks and get yourself a Crossman 760 BB gun (with a scope). Take it home and place a target 40 yards away. Using a good rest and the scope, fire a 10 shot group (BB's are cheap). Now take the scope off, and repeat, from the standing position using the open sights. For a more realistic comparison, for the standing shots, do a dumbbell curl with about 60 lbs between shots, holding the weight up for a minute or so. Compare the size of the two groups. The ability to fire your shots from a rest with telescopic sights is just a part of the reason for the order of magnitude increase in x-bow effectiveness on live targets. Couple that with the elimination of the need to draw and hold with an animal in close. 10X is actually quite conservative when it comes to how much more effective a x-bow really is. It is actually much closer to a ML than a regular bow in effectiveness on deer. Maybe that's part of the reason NY currently treats it more like one of those.

I don't think the problem is related to mileage, but rather to corrosion from road salt. After about 3 years, almost any vehicle operated on NY state roads is toast.

For beginners, a 410 with #6 shot is the best squirrel gun. Store-bought ammo is more expensive than 12 ga due to supply and demand as previously stated but if you reload, it is cheaper because you use less lead and powder. After you get a little experience, a .22 rimfire with solid lead bullets is the way to go. I still have some old .22 target ammo left over from my high-school rifle team days, when the coach always let me sweep the range after practice and meets. That is about the best squirrel ammo you can get. Skip the high-velocity hollow points as they cost more, make too much noise and ruin too much meat. Head-shots on squirrels are no more ethically-correct than head shots on deer. Just because a squirrel is small, does not mean it doesn't deserve a quick, clean kill. A squirrel running around with a missing lower jaw or a chunk blown out of its throat is a sorry sight because someone wanted to be a hero or thought they could save some meat. Center lung shots with these standard velocity, solid lead bullets will not ruin much meat. Squirrels are great eating, better than rabbit, but my favorite thing about them is they get my shooting in shape for deer hunting each season. You learn a lot more by practicing on "live targets" than you do on paper. I know plenty of folks who shoot paper targets just fine but fail miserably while actually hunting. Its a lot cheaper to learn on squirrels than it is to learn on deer, and a lot faster because opportunities abound. After you get to the point where you can center-lung hit squirrels every time with a .22, at ranges up to 75 yards or so, killing deer with a center fire rifle or shotgun slug gets almost as easy as shooting ducks in a barrel. I like to hunt squirrels from tree stands as that makes it easy to use the ground as a backstop. When shooting upward, I always try and make sure that the tree makes a good backstop. "Knowing your target and what lies beyond" obviously doesn't make exceptions for any shooting situations. Another big advantage of the .22 over any shotgun is the quiet report, especially if using standard velocity or CB ammo. Keeping the noise down makes it a lot quicker to limit out on squirrels, sometimes without the need to move much from a single spot. I am getting more time to squirrel hunt the last couple years since NY made the x-bow legal for deer. Now I have them extra 3 weeks of early archery season to hunt squirrels. The x-bow is so much more effective on deer than a regular bow that 2 weeks is all I need to get a deer. Shooting squirrels with a .22 is also practice that applies perfectly to a x-bow.

I have been trying to get a big Adirondack buck for around 20 years and finally succeeded last year. It is much harder getting one there than it is in the Southern zone where I live. The last few years we have been heading up for the thanksgiving weekend at my in-laws new camp, and that is my favorite time to hunt up there. Here are a few tips I picked up after many years of trying. Most important is food. White oak acorns are #1 on the list and if you can find some white oaks, that is where you want to be. The big, old 8-point I took last fall had a belly stuffed with acorns, most of them not even chewed, as his teeth were so worn. He was probably more than 4 years old. In the central mountains, where oaks are few, grassy road-shoulders provide more food than isolated areas far from the road. Does are far more common up there than bucks and I was able to take a big "lead" doe up there a few years prior as she led her pack of about 8 antlerless deer up onto a ridge loaded with white oaks during the early ML season. That area was so isolated that she had no idea what hit her after taking the minni-ball thru the lungs. She just stared at me, began to wobble, then toppled over the edge of the ridge. Does are the #2 factor to help you get a buck. Up there, they are almost always in large groups. They tend to bed on grassy hilltops below the oaks and above swampy creek bottoms. The far less common bucks reside elsewhere but keep track of their "harems" by scenting from downwind of the doe bedding areas. Last season, I got my big one from up on a downwind mountain ridge that provided a good view of a trail along the creek bottom. My father in law had been watching a large group of antlerless deer for about a week prior, on the other side of the creek. They must have gotten tired of his harassment and had vacated by the time I got up there, but that didn't keep the big buck from walking by to see if they had returned. He was in for a surprise when he felt that 150 gr 30/06 bullet cut thru his rib-cage. The 3rd important item, that I see has already been mentioned, is the importance of keeping yourself in shape physically. I learned that lesson from Western mountain hunts where it is even more important because the altitudes are higher, and the air is thinner. The Adirondacks rise nearly as high from the base elevation as the Rockies however and getting up high is not easy. I do at least 20 minutes of every other weekday morning and 20 minutes of weight training on the mornings between. Also, another 20 minutes on the bike almost every evening year-round. Not only will staying in shape make getting up them mountains easy, but it will really pay off in spades when you have to get your kill out. I called my father in law on the cell phone (don't count on that working in the central Adirondacks, luckily his camp is on the Northern edge) as soon as I came upon the carcass of my buck last fall. He was able to get his ATV about a mile from the kill. I never would have been able to drag that 200+ lb carcass out of that swampy creek bottom had I not been in decent shape.

I would have spent more money on a crossbow if they had given us all of archery season. I do hunt both the Northern and Southern zones. It looks like we still get 10 days in the Northern zone plus the 14 days in the Southern zone, which opens later, effectively giving us 24 days to use a crossbow in NY, prior to opening of gun season. In the Northern zone the early ML season runs concurrent with x-bow for the last 7 days, and I switch over to the ML as soon as I can. Because my family depends heavily on venison, I will always use the most lethal, legal instrument available. This isn't about fun and games or "challenge" for me, strictly killing and eating. I did well with an entry-level, $250 x-bow last year, killing the only deer I shot at, striking it in the heart at 59 yards. I was not satisfied with the penetration (8") at that range however and will limit future shots to 50 yards with it. My in-line ML is effective to 150 yards, my bolt-action, rifled shotgun to 175, and my 30/06 to 350 yards. I will always pick the one that is legal and provides the greatest range. I would rate my entry level x-bow as approximately 10x more effective on deer than a conventional compound bow, so I don't suppose I will ever pick one of them up again. It is nice to have that extra "early-archery" time to do a little more small game hunting with the .22 rifle and shotgun. Because of the order of magnitude increase in effectiveness over a regular bow, it don't take that long to get the job done with the x-bow. I think $10 a day was a great price to spend on a crossbow. I'd have to be a billionare before I would consider spending $30/day however. My x-bow is still in like-new condition so the cost will drop to $5/day this year. Because they are so much more effective, far less practice is required with a x-bow than with a regular bow. I could cover 30 yard groups with a quarter on the day I assembled my crossbow last spring.

This is an easy one. The #1 reason I hunt deer is for the meat. I don't look for any "competition" and antlers do little for me but provide convenient "drag-handles", and reminders of past hunts. My favorite deer to kill are 2.5 year old bucks because they provide the best combination of quantity and quality of meat. Does slow me down when butchering due to all the extra fat that needs to be trimmed away, and do not taste any better than bucks in any given age class. The last thing I want to do is challenge myself when killing deer, and I will always go for the most efficient, affordable, legal method available. The crossbow is the best thing to come along in years in that respect. I am very fortunate that my wife and kids like eating venison nearly as much as I do. Trips to the meat-market are rarely required thanks mostly to the liberal limits of deer and fish available here in recent years. Each season I will hunt until I have sufficient quantity of meat in the freezer to last until the next year. I typically pass a few 1-1/2 year old bucks each season but no other deer get passes until available tags are expended (antlered and antlerless), or season ends. I realize that every hunter has different reasons for hunting deer. I respect them all, but I don't like it when hunters try and limit what others do. That includes placing restrictions on the use of more effective weapons like crossbows, in-line ML's, or center-fire rifles. Regular bows, Side-lock ML's, and shotguns have all caused me problems in the past, and I am extremely thankful to see the regulatory tide in NY turning firmly toward the more effective weapons in all these classes (archery, ML, and gun). There is still a little work to be done there however, until we can get all of archery season open to the crossbow and a few more zones opened to the rifle.

I am a meat-hunting killer so my likes follow my stomach mostly. There is nothing I would rather eat than venison so that is #1 when it comes to hunting. It just offers the best combination of quality and quantity plus provides other valuable "side-benefits". I don't care too much about antlers and 2.5 year old bucks are #1 on my hit-list. Does slow me down butchering as I need to trim off all the extra fat. Older bucks are not as tasty and younger ones don't provide sufficient quantity. To me, fishing is the same as hunting, all about killing and eating. Although technically its not "hunting", I devote about equal time to the pursuit of smallmouth bass as I do deer. We are especially blessed here in NY to have some of the best smallmouth bass fishing in the world, making it no problem to gather up good quantities of those fish for the table which are unbeatable if properly prepared. Again, I am not into targeting real big bass, keeping only 12-18 inchers for the table. I combine my two favorite outdoors pursuits by taking 95% of my bass on lures I make from deer hair. It is so much cheaper and more effective that way than bait or store-bought lures, plus making them lures is a good way to fight "cabin-fever" in bad weather. Some other game I like to hunt includes grouse and squirrel. Both are great on the table but just don't offer the quantity to get them in the same league as deer. I have no use at all for wild turkey which tastes like "cardboard" to me. Rabbit is not bad, but less tasty than squirrel and harder for me to get in sufficient quantity to make a meal.

I have sort of a love/hate relationship with the coyote. The hunters in the zone where I live (9F) are not getting the job done on deer and the coyote helps keep numbers in check thru aggressive fawn and rutted-out buck harvests. By eliminating the weak deer they strengthen and improve the overall health of the herd. Also, they do well on those "feathered rats", the wild turkey which have put a hurting on my field-corn if not controlled somewhat (again, hunters alone don't get the job done here, since only spring hunting is popular and you cant shoot hens then). I do love to eat venison however and the thought of all that wonderful red meat "going to the dogs" is where my hatred comes in. Right now, there is a mamma coyote with pups living adjacent to a soybean field behind our house. I am a little nervous about letting my 11 year old daughters go out back to the pond fishing or play in their fort. There has been coyote attacks on kids in CA recently and even a few in NY I am told. If one of them is ever successful we can expect a year-round coyote season. Lets hope that doesn't happen.

That's something I should try and learn to do better. Fortunately my father in law is very good at it. Last year he gave me an antique Buck folder that he had sharpened up so I could almost shave with it at the start of the season. Field dressing (3) bucks and skinning (4) has taken most of the edge off it now however. I really struggled with it when I dispatched the poor little button buck that a hit and run driver knocked the wind out of at the end of our driveway last winter. I think I will give it back to him for a little "touch-up", prior to using it this fall. I like that knife but am not overly impressed with how well it holds an edge. Maybe I can convince him to carry it, especially when I remind him that it was used on the buck that made the nice shoulder mount he currently has hanging up on his wall up there. Personally, I don't believe in that "Luck" crap. It is the man up stairs who has full control, determining where all the deer end up. I do appreciate a tool that does its job well however. This fall, I will carry another classic that my wife picked up for me at an antique show this spring. It is another classic, an "old-timer" by Uncle Henry. It is a "made-in-USA" version and appears to be in factory un-used condition. Them things were legendary for holding an edge and I cant wait to get it into a few fat does. It also is so sharp now that I could shave with it. I lost my "Sharp-finger" a few years ago, that had been my favorite hunting knife and really held an edge well. I will try and be more careful with this one.

I am looking forward to the fall. The deer population looks to be above optimum up at my in-laws camp in the Northern zone based on antlerless deer sightings by them this spring/summer and the visible browse line all around the lake. I am planning on getting up there for a 4-day weekend in October to hunt 2 days with the x-bow and 2 with the ML. My father in law has not hunted deer in more than 40 years. I don't know if it is because he can get a free license now, or the nice 8-point I took at his new camp last year, but he is exited about hunting up there this fall. It was a horrible year for growing corn at our farm in the Southern zone due to record rain thru June. I tried to get in 3 acres but have less than an acre that looks much good. I don't expect that to even make it to opening day of x-bow. A family of coyotes has moved in along side of a couple of acres of soybean I got in and they are doing a good job of keeping the browse pressure down on that. Mature soybeans just don't seem to have much drawing power compared to corn or acorns once hunting season starts however so I don't hold out much hope for them. It finally dried up enough today so that plowing conditions were nearly perfect and I was able to turn a few acres for a wheat/soybean/clover mix and turnip plots to be planted in the next couple weeks. Hopefully I can repeat that over at my folks farm about 20 miles away (assuming I can get grandpa's old John Deere M to fire up which hasn't run in a couple years now). The deer population is still way above optimum at both of our Southern zone farms, so I am hoping I can fill some antlerless tags this year. I struck out on those last year but fortunately a friend gave us a nice buck and I was able to fill my own bow and gun buck tags, plus a button-buck road kill, so we still are eating good. I have forgotten what does taste like, and hopefully we can do something about that this fall.

I agree that his advice was pretty much spot-on. I know I need to try and take more does up in the northern zone area I hunt. When I was fishing there over Memorial day weekend this year, I noticed that the pine trees all the way around the lake were trimmed neatly to about 5 feet of the water-line. It almost looked like professional landscapers did the job with hedge trimmers. Trying for lake trout, I did manage to catch and release 68 smallmouth bass without loosing a jig on a snag as a result, but that's an awful lot of browse pressure. I am going to try and take two mature does up there this fall during the early archery and ML seasons, even though it means giving up any chance at a Southern zone archery buck. Killing mature does at home in the Southern zone is necessary but easier said than done. Getting them is way harder than getting mature bucks during archery season, because of the "groups" they always travel in, making drawing a bow very difficult. That problem would be eliminated if they opened up x-bow for the whole early season. The wise old does usually go completely nocturnal after hunting pressure is detected by the last two weeks of the archery season when the x-bow gets legal. Last season I managed to fill my archery tag with a buck in the southern zone and gun buck tag in the Northern zone, but did not have a single opportunity for a shot at an antlerless deer. I did manage to knife a button buck that a hit-and run driver knocked the wind out of at the end of our driveway however. Killing them 3 bucks is keeping us fed good but didn't do much to reduce the deer population. I will have to try harder for some does this season. What I didn't like about the video was his emphasis on taking the "evil" does from the "neighbors property". That sounds a little selfish to me, which makes him sound like an evil man. He had better get his act together there or he may be in for a rude awakening when his time on earth expires. "Selfish" is never good in the long run. One should always be looking for opportunities to help their neighbors, especially if you can help yourself in the process. Killing does can be a win-win-win-win deal, as it benefits the overall health of the deer herd, the habitat, yourself, and the neighbors. That is always true in zones where the herd is above optimum, as it clearly is in the northern and southern zones where I hunt. Personally, I take any good opportunity at an antlerless deer. If they are in groups, targeting the largest first, no matter where it beds. Over the years, that has averaged about 25% button bucks. I don't mind, and my wife loves it when that happens as no deer is better eating. That is the main reason I hunt, antlers are overrated.

Even if they don't make changes, if you are willing to take a drive up to the Northern Zone, you can get 2 weeks up there, in addition to the 2 weeks in the Southern zone. In most zones up there you can take two antlerless deer or one antlerless, one antlered deer with your crossbow if you purchase both an archery and a ML tag. I am heading up again this fall for a 4-day trip, catching the last two days of the Northern zone crossbow season, and the first two of the ML (You can use a crossbow thru that 1 week season also, giving you a total of 3 weeks for the crossbow up there prior to gun season). I was up there a couple weeks ago, and the open-for-public hunting land around Kring Point State park was loaded with deer. You can be there in 4-1/2 hour drive from home. Here in the Southern zone, a nice feature is that those two weeks down here include the peak rut "prime-time". I am very thankful for what we got here now with the crossbow, but I have no intention of "letting" up in the drive for full inclusion for all of archery season. I have seen first hand how the crossbow is about 10x more effective on deer than a compound. The last thing I will do is let that small selfish group of bowhunters who are fighting the crossbow relax. They are down, the time is right to put them out.