wolc123

I too wish you luck getting the crossbow into NY. I think allowing it only during gun season is some kind of cruel joke. It was tough for us in NY to get them into the early archery season at all, and we only got the week prior to the opening of gun season. Fortunately, that included the peak of the rut, which allowed me to fill my buck tag without too much trouble. What I would really like to do with the crossbow is to fill some antlerless tags, and getting the other 3 weeks of early archery season would help a lot with that. Here also, a small, but extremely well politically connected group of archers has fought ferociously against the x-bow. They may be on the ropes now, but are definitely not finished. Only when the crossbow is allowed throughout archery season, as is the case in most states now, will they be down for the count. Or, when they individually get too old to pull back their vertical bows.

Surprised that no one mentioned the biggest disadvantage of the tree stand. Every season, falls from those causes more serious injuries and deaths to hunters than from any other cause. With a vertical bow, they definitely have an advantage when it comes to fooling a deer in close. Not so much with a crossbow or gun however. I wouldn't be suprised at all to see hunter injuries drop significantly since NY allowed the x-bow this year. I just wish they would give us the rest of archery season. That would pretty much eliminate my need to ever hunt from an elevated stand. Where I rifle hunt in the Adirondack mountains, up in the northern zone, there is no need for tree stands or blinds, as a chair set up on a high ridge, looking down on a valley provides an ideal vantage point, often several hundred feet above the deer, just due to the topography.

I would like to see the crossbow allowed throughout the early archery season, not just the last week like they did this year. Gun season can stay the same, but a couple more weeks on the end of late ML, to extend a ways into January would be good. Working full time, it would be nice to a few of those vacation days around Christmas and New years to fill a few tags with the smoke-pole or crossbow. I filled both of my buck tags this season, but had no antlerless deer within range throughout our X-bow, regular gun, and ML seasons. I don't think I would have had to much trouble filling them 3 antlerless tags with a couple weeks added to the start and finish. It seems to me that the 10% or so of the hunters who take 90% or so of the deer each year, are those who hunt all three seasons (early archery, gun, and late ML). Give us a little more time and I guarantee we will fill more tags, especially on antlerless deer.

I have never heard of as many of those as this year. It is just amazing what a bumper crop of acorns like we had will do to push deer nocturnal. I cant wait to see what the harvest numbers are this year when they come out. We usually don't get acorn numbers like that on consecutive years, and with such a low kill this year, and mild winter (so far anyhow), next season should be spectacular.

I have hunted up there about 12 years and only ever saw 3 different bucks. I did manage to get a nice one this season in the town of Fine. My taxidermist also has a camp near there, and has never seen a buck in the area. The other bucks I saw were a pair of small 1-1/2 year olds in September, a few years ago, when they ran across the front yard of our old camp near Theresa. I did get a nice doe there once with the ML. Very pretty country up there but the hunting is not easy. Food plots would probably help out a lot. This year, with so many acorns around, they probably wouldn't do too much however. Acorns are the real key for me up there and have factored into any deer siting I had up there. Both stomachs were loaded with them. Kind of like corn, back home in the Southern region. I would think you will be looking at pretty acidic soil up there and rye grain, planted mid august, might be your best bet as a food-plot.

If restrictions on fracking were lifted throughout US and Canada: 1) What would be the estimated North American reserve of NG in terms of years, based on current consumption? 2) What would that drop to if all oil and coal-fired electric generation were changed to NG? 3) What if all transportation power, currently using oil, was changed to CNG. My rough order of magnitude guess on the answers would be something like : 1) 2500 years 2) 2000 years 3) 1000 years. One would think that 1000 years would be sufficient to fully develop even cleaner sources of energy. It seems that we are shooting ourselves, and future generations, in the foot by burning so much of the dirty stuff now when there is no need to. It might not be a bad idea to do everything possible, in an environmentally safe way, to hasten the conversion from coal and oil to NG. With all the current push on reducing carbon emissions and such, throwing up road blocks against a cleaner burning fuel seems outright silly to me, or may indicate some political corruption fueled by the big oil companies. I think the cat is out of the bag now on this whole deal anyhow, and that is the real reason why we are seeing the collapse in oil prices. I cant see anything bringing them back up to where they were. I am looking forward to the $1.50 a gallon gasoline that may even hit NY within the next year or two.

The shoulder blade will put them down on the spot but wreck lots of meat in doing so, therefore I always avoid that unless hunting up along posted land or near other hunters. They will go down in their tracks with a shot behind the shoulder, and in front of the diaphragm, if the bullet impacts when the heart is on the compression stroke (about 1/3 of the time). The cardio-vascular system can not handle the pressure spike and the lights go out immediately. The caliber, etc. is somewhat irrelavent, but the increased shock of a good bullet and better energy transfer does up your odds of the put-down.

As a hunter, you will never stop learning. Nothing will teach you like your own experience will. Mistakes will teach you a lot more than successes will. I have been hunting a few years more than you have been breathing, and I still make some. My biggest this season was staying out too late one night during late archery season and falling asleep in my blind. I also had seen very few deer throughout the season this year, so I was not expecting much. Naturally, I was awakened by the soft footsteps of a nice young fork-horn buck as he approached to within 15 yards of my blind. My crossbow was on the floor, and our eyes locked as soon as I woke up. Very slowly I lifted the bow, but as soon as it cleared the rest, he bolted off never to be seen again. Sometimes mistakes are really blessings however. A couple days later, I did get the jump on a slightly larger buck, seeing him before he saw me. The range was far, but everything else was perfect, and he rests peacefully in our freezer now. I was also extremely blessed to harvest my largest ever buck this fall wit my rifle, up on a ridge in the Adirondacks in an area that sounds similar to where you were (zone 6C). I was very high up and had a good view of the buck sneaking along the creek below. The ice along the bank was crashing hard at the time and that was probably what kept the buck from bolting off after my first two shots. Fortunately, I was able to find a good branch to rest the rifle, for the third shot. The buck paused in an opening just long enough for me to concentrate on hitting a tiny spot, high behind his shoulder. I made two mistakes on that buck, underestimating the range and missing low on the first, well rested shot, and rushing the second shot offhand. Just like baseball, he was out on the third strike however, and now rests peacefully in the freezer also. My wife even let me get a mount for the big 50 birthday I will hit in a few more days. Over all those years, I have made almost every mistake that I thought was possible, but the good news is that they do diminish a bit with time. Be thankful if your are one of the fortunate few who can learn from others mistakes. Across NY state, this was one of the toughest years on record for deer sightings due to record acorn production. All the deer had to do was find the nearest oaks, and get into some heavy cover downwind, waiting for the coast to clear. They remained nocturnal for the most part, from the time those acorns began to fall. Don't be surprised to see way more deer next season, as I know that the numbers are still high, and the puny harvest numbers this season will also lead to a lot more chances next year. So will the mild winter that we are getting again. In the Western part of the state, they are calling for temps in the mid 50's next week and the ground is not even frozen yet. If this keeps up, we are going to have to deal with hogs soon, like those poor folks down south have to deal with. Some folks on internet sites like this just love to criticize folks by telling them that they were just lucky and stuff like that. That is usually the bunch that still has their tags when the season ends. Two things they don't have good recipes for are tags and antlers. Generally, you will find that the more experience you gain, the more "luck" you will have. Good luck next season.

I was one, and Dad was up at fort Drum then. I will have to make a copy of that add for him to check out. I am sure he was out having some fun with his Browning Sweet 16 whenever he got the chance. I remember always looking forward to that "army food" that he brought back, along with the pheasants, squirrels, rabbits and such.

My wife is getting a couple hundred pounds of boneless venison, topped off with some from a fine button-buck, which to her is like the icing on the cake. What more could a woman ask for?

Recently, I drove Newark NJ from Buffalo NY. On the way out, my rout kept me in NY most of the way. On the way back, I stayed in PA most of the way, where fracking is allowed. I was amazed at how much better the roads were in PA. Where did all that money come from? In PA, the thru-way "text-stops" had bathrooms with flush toilets. In NY, you had to go behind a bush. I don't think I even saw a pothole on the PA stretch. Good thing, because I think I wore out the shocks on my rental F-150 on the way out on the NY roads. No shocks were needed on them smooth PA roads. I also have to thank those PA folks and their fracking money for letting us keep our Football team in Buffalo NY. We be just poor folks here, and would have surely lost our team otherwise. Now it looks like we will be getting poorer, but money aint nothing but the source of all evil, so we are doing well.

One nice thing about getting them late like that, post-rut, is there is a lot less fat to trim off. My buddy gave me a heavy 2-1/2 year 8-point he shot in early archery season and I probably spent an hour trimming the fat off the rear after I skinned it. Congrats on the fine buck.

19 days total, 7 in northern zone (240 mi drive) over (2) long weekends. Got a nice, old, heavy 8 point up there to fill gun tag. 12 days at home in Southern zone and at my parents farm 15 miles from home. Filled archery tag at home with crossbow on a young but tastey 6 point on Veteran's day. I saw very few deer this year but was fortunately able to capitalize on two of them. Not a single doe or fawn was within range of me from the beginning of crossbow season. In my opinion, the heavy acorn crop across the state this year is THE reason why so many saw so few in the daylight hours this season.

My 2014 ended tonight at 4:38 pm as I can't hunt during the week due to work requirements so Mon and Tues are out. It was an odd ending for sure as I was able to get one of the 6 month old deer I was after but not in the way I had expected. I got within a minute of getting a shot at one with my ML, over at my folks place, but time expired before I could get a clear shot. When I arrived home, about 15 miles away, the phone rang a minute after I walked in the door. It was the neighbor across the street who said she had just heard a crash and that there was a deer flopping around at the end of my wife's driveway (I keep my truck out by the barn down another driveway). Sure enough, a fine young button head lay out there and I finished it with a quick slit of the throat. It looked like one of a pair I had been watching grow thru the summer but which seemed to have gone nocturnal before crossbow season began. There doesn't appear to be any road damage to the meat, and it probably just ran into the side of a car, breaking its neck. Some poor motorist gets a dented door and I save two pellets of 777 and a bullet. I guess I will be able to complete the taste test of tenderloins from 6 month, 1-1/2 year, 2-1/2 year, and 3-1/2 + bucks. I guarantee these ones will be the best. The liver will be even better. Tomorrow's dinner will be the best of the year for certain. This puts a perfect ending on the best season I remember.

Our 10 and 11 years old daughters were getting into it a bit up a Grandpas cabin on thanksgiving weekend. The older one (on right) wanted to go out in he blind with me a for a little while the following weekend at home. We heated some apple cider on a little Coleman stove and watched for deer a while. She enjoyed herself but we didn't stay out to long in the cold. Santa is bringing her a bb-gun for Christmas, and mamma don't know about that yet.

Unfortunately, there always has been and always will be some people in any sport who have no conscience or integrity. It amazes me to hear people say "they filled their wifes, grandfathers, daughters, etc. buck tags", or to hear shots an hour or more before or after legal sunset. Personally, I could not do those things and any deer harvested in such a way would haunt me the rest of my life. It is one thing to take some risk of wounding an animal with a long shot, etc. In more than 30 years of hunting I can think of only two shots that I knew I would make with 100% certainty and my gun misfired on one of them. It is quite another to blatantly disregard the law and label one's self as a poacher.

It sounds to me like you are talking about gun season only. My suggestion would be to get yourself a modern in-line ML and hunt that season first in the Northern Zone. That will give you a buck/doe tag to use up there during that early one-week season, and you will still be able to use your regular tag in the southern zone. 2 bucks/year with guns total are allowed that way. If you take the bow-hunting course, then you can get another doe-only tag which can also be used in the Northern or Southern Zone. Most Southern zone's have one or two DMP (antlerless) tags available as well. Then you will also be able to use a crossbow in the northern zone for 2-weeks prior to the ML season up there. I like to take a 4 day weekend up north that covers the last two days of Archery season ad the first 2 of ML. Does are fairly plentiful up there in several areas I have hunted in zone 6c and taking one with either the crossbow or ML is not overly difficult most seasons. The following weekend this year I was able to fill my archery buck tag in the Southern zone with a 1-1/2 year 6-point. I usually skip the early part of gun season up north and save my gun tag down south unless a 2.5 year plus buck shows up down south before thanksgiving. That allows me to preserve my gun tag for another 4-day weekend over thanksgiving up north, where this year I was blessed with a 3.5 year plus Adirondack large-bodied 8-point. It sounds like you may be interests in harvesting bucks only. Personally, I prefer does as my primary concern is venison, but I have yet to have a good shot at one with any weapon in either zone. Tomorrow is my last chance at filling one or more of three remaining doe tags with the ML or crossbow and I plan on hitting it hard, all day long. Our freezer is full now with 2 bucks of my own and a third a buddy gave us early in archery season, but some of my friends and neighbors were skunked this year so I would like to help them out a bit if I can. The deer population in the southern zone I hunt is significantly higher than it should be and with the poor harvest we have had to this point, coupled with another mild winter as it looks like we are getting, the crop damage next year is going to be real bad.

For me it is mainly the born-predator thing. I love fishing too, but not the "catch-and-release" type. To me, that is nothing but the senseless maiming of a fine food source. Some will say "keep them all and they will disappear, leaving none for future generations" That would only be true if the DEC took their hands off the ball and allowed folks to do whatever they wanted to. I cant think of too many other states where the "free meat" situation, thru the legal harvest of fish and game, is in better shape than it is in NY. If the numbers of any popular fish or game gets too low or high, the state has always made the needed adjustments. Nobody on this earth is perfect, but I haven't seen any other state, take careof us "meat-hunters", better than they do in NY. Without question, there are other states with better "trophy" possibilities when it comes to whitetails, and some get that way using controversial methods such a Antler Restrictions. So getting meat for my family is my top reason, and it is a lot more fun doing it thru hunting and fishing than it is by raising livestock or going to the grocery store. Anybody ever try to keep cattle and sheep water from freezing in the winter, shoveled manure all day long, paying vet bills, rushed to get hay in before the rain, or killed animals who thought you were their friend? How about fought the crowds in the grocery store checkout lines, to buy meat products that is often downed dairy cattle (90% lean grind?), often which has been fed growth hormones or who knows what. What about paying the big bucks to get the "organic" stuff. In this state, that is not necessary. It don't take a lot of effort for me alone to gather up with most of the protein our family needs without doing any of that unpleasant stuff. Not only is that protein a lot more fun to gather, do in part to scenery which again, tops that of just about any other state, but it is also healthier than that which the stores provide.

I Might give one a try next year also, sounds good. I stumbled into a new area to hunt this gun season up north where such a seat would be perfect. My cheap little red folding camp chair did ok this year but was very limited on the shot angle. Thanks for the info

I use them in both my .50 cal ML T/C Omega with 100 grains 777, and my 12 gauge shotgun (2-3/4"). Accuracy is great from each. They have always performed excellent inside the deer, except for one time I pushed the range limit too far with the (ML) at 175 yards, and there was insufficient velocity left for proper expansion. That 12 gauge shotgun sabot has plenty of energy to do the job there, but 163 is my longest with that. I would have no problem using it at 175 yard with the shotgun as long as the other conditions were right (wind, rest, still, etc.) That long ML shot may have hit just about where I aimed, at the quartering away buck, but he showed no sign of a hit at the shot. There was no blood or hair at all, and I followed the tracks for about 400 yards on fresh snow, until I lost the trail, and I wrongly assumed a miss (anybody out there perfect?). The crows helped me find him about a week later, about 100 yards from where I lost the trail, in some very heavy cover, half eaten by coyotes. I have limited that ML combo to under 150 yards, from then on where it has done well every time, putting the deer down in its tracks about 1/2 the time, and down within 50 yards the other half, most shot center-lung. That lost buck was one of two deer that I was not able to recover in about 30 years of hunting. That one taught me the importance on knowing the range limitation of your weapon/ammo combo. I did stumble a bit there this year with the crossbow, due to a slight error in range estimation, but I was fortunately blessed with a low hit (to the heart) in just about the only spot at 60 yd that could drop the buck quick with such little penetration (8") from my little 135 lb draw, 300 fps crossbow. I am not sure how the SST does on the shoulder blade, as I have always shot behind, being a meat-driven hunter, and the thru-the-ribcage shot takes out very little useful meat. I know lots of the Antler-driven "trophy-hunting" folks like the shoulder blade shot as they usually prefer the instant drop with little care for lost meat. It would be interesting to hear how the SST does on those bone-crushing shots.

Fewest sightings ever for me also, hunting in the Northwest part of the state and the upper Adirondacks. I got lucky they say on 2 of the 3 bucks I saw, one with crossbow, one with rifle (both posted in crossbow harvest thread). No does in range thru archery or gun seasons. Hopefully they show this weekend for late ML, but I will have to give them away as the freezer is stuffed now with buck meat. A lot of my friends and neighbors were skunked this year, more than I ever remember.

I have rarely driven a road in NY state where the average speed of traffic was less than 5 mph above the posted limit, unless there was poor weather conditions or congestion caused by volume or accidents, etc. . Driving below the speed-limit would be more likely to cause an accident especially on the highway, even though to not do so is "technically" illegal, than keeping up with the normal traffic flow. This makes "bending the law", by 5-10 mph, the lesser of two evils. This is a case of common sense trumping the law. Another reason for the lack of enforcement in the 1-10 mph over range at highway speeds is to allow for some calibration inaccuracy of radar and speedometers. I am fairly certain that I would not start hunting before sunrise, or continue after. For a few years I never put bullets in my gun in the morning. My second year hunting, I took my first buck about 30 seconds after legal sunrise. There were no slugs in my grandpas old Ithaca 37, 16 ga. pump, as I heard him approach from in the adjacent jungle. I had a slug in my right hand as the seconds were ticking down. Just as he broke out of the brush, just below my tree stand, I shoved the slug in from the bottom of the receiver and prayed that it would get into the chamber as I slammed the action forward. That frightening sound, so often portrayed in movies and cop shows, stopped him in his tracks, and he looked up just in time to catch the muzzle flash, feel the crush on his shoulder and hear the blast. For a many years after that I loaded the gun in the dark, as soon as I got into the stand, but was never tempted with taking a shot before legal sunrise time as was listed in the local paper. I cant say for sure that if a monster buck appeared I would not have shot, especially if I had heard a few go off already. It was always interesting to hear when that first shot was taken on opening day. I could picture the game-warden honing in on it and heading right for the spot. In later years, I noticed that more often than not, deer were spooked in he dark on the way in. I prefer to wait until legal sunrise now before staring, and still-hunt my way to the stand. I feel a little safer that way also, with some ding-a-ling less likely to shoot me in the dark. For evening hunts, I sometimes reverse that procedure and allow enough time before legal local sunset to still-hunt my way out. Usually however, I watch the last second tick down, then remove the bullets / arrow, and walk out. The season before last my third largest buck ever tested that limit also, but made it just a few seconds under the wire. I had taken a button buck in the morning and a good friend gave me another one, almost identical. They were both fat and well-fed, probably 75 lbs or so field dressed each. The woods behind my house had been alive with gunfire that opening day morning (only one of the shots was mine). I do all my own butchering, and a warm stretch of weather was coming, so I was not all that enthused about an afternoon hunt, especially behind the house where there had been so much commotion that morning. Nonetheless, it was opening day, I still had my buck tag, so late in the afternoon, I headed across the road to the big woods over there where it had been quite in the morning. I climbed up in a stand, with grandpas old 16-gauge, up in a pine tree, on the edge of some heavy cover, and started reading a little Bible I carry in my pack. I saw another hunter cross thru about 100 yards away, a few squirrels, but nothing else. With about 2 minutes of legal time left, the Bible slipped from my hands and fell to the ground, about 15 feet below. Since the meat-hooks in the garage were loaded now, I decided to pack it up a couple minutes early. With the loaded gun in my right hand, I carefully made my way down the steps (sorry for the safety violation here folks, please don't come down on me too hard). When I got down, I crouched down and reached for the Bible with my left hand. Just then, I heard crashing sounds in the thick cover from all sides. I looked up to see that a flock of turkeys had descended right on my position. Some were less than 5 yards away. They had not seen my blaze-orange jacket because of the heavy cover I was in. Had I still been up in that tree, they never would have got that close, as turkey season had just ended the previous day. I looked at my watch and there was just under a minute to go. Just then I caught movement about 7 yards, straight ahead. The wide, high 8-point rack, head and neck of a nice 2-1/2 year old buck was right there. The deer in these woods often like to hang with the turkeys to gain the advantage of their superior eyesight, while the turkeys don't mind them hanging around to capitalize on the deer's better sense of smell I suppose. I lifted the gun swiftly, put the crosshairs on the center of the neck, and dropped him right there in his tracks. There were about 15 seconds to go. I emptied the other 4 shells, gutted him quick, and had him to the edge of the woods before it got pitch black dark. Thankfully I have lights on my loader-tractor, so getting him the rest of the way home was no big deal.

Crossbows were legal implements during this season, but we used something else. This Adirondack buck (town of Fine) was the heaviest and probably the oldest buck I have ever taken. The 8-point rack was decent, but not huge. The teeth were so worn, that most of the acorns stuffing his belly were barely chewed. I will ask the taxidermist for the exact age when I talk to him next. I probably would not have gotten him mounted were he not the first buck and my in-laws new camp, and all the "special" help I had in the harvest and recovery. For the second consecutive time this season, the good Lord guided the shot to exactly the right place (diagonally thru the rib cage from about 300 yards, just below the backstraps to not ruin any of the "good stuff"). The 150 grain Federal 30/06 bullet out of the Ruger M77 put him down in his tracks.

My respect for the animal is constant. My main purpose for hunting is to get meat, and I don't care a whole lot about antlers (I will have to spring for another mount this year for my big, old Adirondack rifle buck however). That shot was a bit of a stretch also, with my 30/06 at about 300 yards, but I had practiced up to 400 with that gun at least. I will try and post a picture of him on in the crossbow gallery if it is ok. That wasn't my largest rack, but probably the heaviest and oldest buck I have ever taken. The teeth were so worn that most of the acorns stuffing his belly were not even chewed. I will have to ask the taxidermist the age. Without a doubt, I will take more chances with an empty freezer. My wife, two fast-growing daughters and myself all love venison. How was your season this year? I know it is easy for folks to slam successful hunters, out of jealousy, if they didn't do so well themselves, but hang in there, next year will be better. ML season also has a ways to go this year. My best advise for being successful, hunting or anywhere else, is to stay right with the Lord. Practice, read, put in lots of time, but you are only going to get that deer if the man upstairs wants you to. I am 2/2 since being "born again" this past summer. Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night.

I cant wait to get out in the cold with mine this weekend to try and fill some of my antlerless tags. I tagged out on bucks, but the does never got into range for me during early archery or gun season. I will take a doe over a buck on the table any day. Inside 40 yards, I see it as more effective than a ML and it is a lot easier to clean. Best thing to hit NY since rifled slug barrels. I also prefer arrow killed deer over bullet killed deer because less meat is destroyed, and that is the # 1 reason I hunt. We gots to eat.