Untwisted Pretzel logic

1. Way too much information. 2. Nice bike - hopefully you will find peace and happiness going forward. 3. If your Ex has an account on this forum, I hope she doesn't share her side of the story in the same detail. LOL

I also have an older Optima, which I have had for at least 12 years with a nickel finish barrel. Extremely accurate with 2 50 grain sticks of Jim Shockey gold, a blue color plastic sabot, a yellow tip 200 grain Shockwave bullet and Win 209 primer. Have only shot one deer with it - in the season right after I got it. The deer was only 5 yards away and I was sitting on the ground so the bullet went right through it, so no expansion which was probably due to the close range. I haven't shot a deer with it since, mostly due to getting enough deer during bow and regular gun each year, as well as the fact that the weather is usually a total crap show; wind, heavy snow, ice, rain - or all of these at once in the last weekend that is late muzzleloader season. One word of warning. Do not waste your money on the bullets that have the plastic attached at the bottom - powerbelts? I tried these and they were all over the place, could not get them to group

Spent $650 in 2020 for a nice 8 that I got in the fall of '19 with a crossbow. Probably won't do any more going forward - but, never say never? Last year I spent $85 for a skull cap mount of a 8 pointer covered with leather on a plaque. I looked on you tube and watched a video of how to do a skull cap mount from a Vermont taxidermist - Rodney Elmer. Since I had a box full of antler heads that I saved from many years of hunting, I tried this method and did 3 of them last spring. Cost is very minimal since I had some scrap 3/8" plywood and staple gun with staples as well as stain for the plaque. Just had to buy plaster of paris from Walmart, faux leather fabric and plaque from Hobby Lobby. Cost is about $8 per finished product and looks good. This is what I will probably do in the future with deer I get. Still have a bunch more in the box to work on next winter. As far as anyone starting their own business - whether it be taxidermy or anything else, I wish them the best of luck.

You're joking right? If not, you are playing games with people that are trained not to play and if your scheme to elude their detection does not work, you lose whatever you're trying to hide. So I guess - like gambling, only play with what you can afford to lose. Most airports make you take your shoes off and put them in a plastic bin which goes through the detector. A few years ago, I forgot a cheap small folding knife was at the bottom of a side zipper pocket in my carry on bag. They found it and took it. Our flight to Orlando out of Buffalo was delayed for over 8 hours because our plane had mechanical problems and was being fixed prior to coming up to the Buffalo airport. So I had time to go back to TSA and get my knife and take it to the car in the lot. Fortunate to be able to get my knife back, but it was not really worth the 8 hours that were lost. Getting back on topic, I love my Kershaw knife that opens like a switch blade; which is a cool feature. However, the best thing about this little knife which I also use to field dress deer, is that the handle is a blaze orange color. I got tired of searching for my knife with a brown handle when I set it down in the woods, and now it's no longer a problem.

Most expensive perfume in the world Will be in the market for a new small 4X4 truck next year. Been driving a 2011 Ranger and checked out the price of a new one, and it's crazy

A lot of great advice above. Check out my response to Luberhill's April 19th request titled Never Hunted Turkeys before ?s I gave many tips there. One my many tips was: if there are turkeys in the area and you can locate a field where a farmer is spreading manure - that will be a spot that the turkeys will eventually go to feed and hang around.

All good advice above. Usually if you drive around and see them in fields during the day you can be sure they will be nearby in the woods. Here's some advice that I have posted in other places that should be helpful in your quest. Have shot dozens over the years; however, I'm not into it these days. Advice to getting a turkey - obviously most important - go where you know they're around, either where you've seen them in fields or heard them in the woods.If you can find a field where the farmer is regularly spreading manure - that's a turkey hot spot.If you hunt a field, set back about 5 yards into the brush, next to a tree, something to cover movement; put some brush in front of you or camo netting.If you're hunting in the woods, make sure you cover your movement and stay still; again, the use of camo netting or brush around you will help immensely.Box call is easiest to master, just get the cadence of the calling sequence down by practicing a little, it's not that hard.Make sure you're comfortable, bring some snacks and water; in case you have to sit a few hours it's all good; a turkey lounger or type of low slung lawn chair helps immensely.I used a cheap foam hen decoy that I set about 15 yards away from me, stuff a black plastic bag inside the cavity to keep the body fuller.If you call and hear a turkey respond, hopefully it will come in right away. If it doesn't; just be patient and call every 15 minutes or so. Somewhere in the little pea brain of that turkey, it will remember where your call came from and it will eventually wander over to check it out; it may take over a few hours for it to come in, but it will.Here's where the being comfortable and limiting your movement comes into play, since you may have to wait a few hours, being in a turkey lounger and behind camo netting will keep you hidden until the turkey surprises you by popping out somewhere close to you.I got many turkeys at first light, however, just as many between 10 and noon after waiting out a turkey that I heard earlier and taking brief naps and relaxing waiting for the turkey to show up.Contrary to any magazine articles you read that suggest turkeys are geniuses(which is laughable to think about, let alone to write about) I will tell you they are stupid, and if a nice gobbler is around, you should be able to get it. The only thing that will mess you up is if another hunter is wandering around close to you in your area. Hopefully, this will not be the case. In any case be very careful, and best of luck to anyone who ventures out in May; hopefully the above advice from my experiences will help you.

Yes This will knock them over for sure. No need to change the choke that comes with this. I have a Bushnell Banner 1.5-4.5 scope on top of mine and leave it at 1.5, a great combo. With the 3.5 inch #4 Winchester Supremes, just be careful no birds are10 to 20 yards behind the one you are shooting at, or they will be on the ground as well.

Yes, do the simple math as instructed above. Or just pay every year like I do - somebody has to pay off the deficit right? LOL. I know, my $s are just taking one speck of sand each year from a beach that grows bigger by the dump truck loads. Really it's not that complicated for me, I just pay and don't even think about it because I enjoy hunting so much and compared to everything else I do the $100 or so, per year for all the tags and fishing license seems like a bargain. But if you want to save money; do the math and if it makes sense to get a lifetime license, then go for it.

Have a couple of cheap decoys made out of light weight foam that I used for years, I think they cost about $12 each at the time. They fold in half and tuck into the back of the vest and the 2 piece stakes fit right inside. I usually just use a hen decoy and while not a perfect replica of a turkey, they are good enough to draw in many jakes and toms. One tip that may be helpful - put your decoy and warm over clothes inside a black thin plastic trash bag that you can store in the back of your turkey vest when you are moving to your set up location. This will keep things dry and easier to transport. Once you get to your location remove everything from the bag - you can then use the bag to stuff inside your decoy to keep it plumped out and more realistic looking than a caved in piece of plastic.

Bought one of the cheap chinese ones online from a vendor through Walmart.com, cost around $30. Just has a heated back section, but works well as the layer over my bottom thermal long sleeve undershirt layer. Even though it is made in china, it has red , white and blue settings; signifying hot, medium and low = quite patriotic to a USA consumer. At the lowest setting, it runs for as long as I can sit on stand and keeps me warm with one of the charged up USB battery packs. I think I have a 20M size battery pack (2 of these cost about $25 total, or 12.50 each). I bring an extra battery pack, since they are light weight and it's good to have just in case. Also, as stated earlier these run small as if they are sized for someone in china - I got a 2XL which is the equivalent of a US size Large. Money well spent on the vest and battery packs to stay warm and comfortable.

Think of what's happening here. How big was the demand by hunters to hunt after Christmas? I'm ok with snowmobiles doing their thing; why extend the hunting season to cut into theirs. Also do we really need to shoot something before we can see it well, especially if there are antler restrictions. Why change legal shooting times. Maybe I'm a conspiracy theory guy; but I think some of this stuff is put into the rules by these politicians just to get hunters and other outdoor people fighting amongst each other. Don't underestimate how underhanded our Governor is; he works in ways that benefits what he wants at the expense of others.

Never trust your life to just one ratchet strap holding the stand in place. On our ladder stands, we lag bolt a bracket on each side of the back of the stand behind the seat to make sure that the stand will not be held by just a ratchet strap. The lag bolted brackets are squirrel and rot proof and are rock sold. We leave the stands in the woods for the whole year. I'm using just ladder stands now, however, when I used hang on stands I used 2 ratchet straps just to be sure.

I use the 100 grain fixed blade Carbon Express quad pro 1" with good success. They fly true are sharp and will go through a deer, I know that from experience. The best thing is that they are less than $18 for 3. no need to pay extra for the advertising of big name brands to get performance I used Slick Tricks also with good success, however, Carbon Express work just as good for me

"As far as the original poster's desire for full inclusion; I don't think that he sees that by his words and actions, he is his (our) own worst enemy for that cause. " Wolc 123 - Please stop as you continue to get further and further from promoting your cause. This will be my last post on this, as any further discussion will be a waste of time. To quote Confusious - be wary of arguing with an idiot on the street corner, as a passerby may have a difficult time determining who the idiot is.

Been hunting for over 30 years with rifle. You will not go wrong with the 150 grain Remington coreloks. Expensive is not always better

This thread was originally about getting full inclusion during archery season. I will stand by what I stated about vertical bows and crossbows being similar. Of course my feeling about shot distance was a general statement and there are exceptions; however, exceptions are just that and are not the general rule. In most cases the exceptional shot distance will result in a higher probability of failure. As far as the original poster's desire for full inclusion; I don't think that he sees that by his words and actions, he is his (our) own worst enemy for that cause.

Please note: The effective hunting range of a crossbow is for all practical purposes the same as that of a verical compound bow. I have an Excalibur Xbow that shoots just over 300FPS. Comfortable shooting range for me with an Xbow is no longer than 30 yards in the deep woods. I am accurate out to 50 yards under ideal conditons = knowing the exact distance, nothing in the way, off of a stable rest and with a stationary target. Most of your shots in the deep woods will be in the 20 to 30 yard range. Individuals can still be successful with shooting at longer distances, however the probability for success decreases exponentially as the distance goes beyond 30 yards. There are many factors that lead to a lower probability of success; mainly - the ability to judge distance (gravity affects an arrow the same from a Xbow or a vertical compound bow) and the movement of the deer. Whatever type of bow you are using; take practical, makeable shots - i.e., ethical shots. Save the Hail Mary stuff for church. The above is just a commentary on ethical shots and I am making a point regarding the effective range of Xbows and vertical compound bows - they are essentially the same. There are some hunters that do the hail mary thing whatever they are using and will use their own logic to justify it. To address your question as to what needs to be done for more crossbow inclusion into regular archery season - I believe it will just take some time. At some point more of the individuals who are now against it will get old or have physical limitations that will prevent them from using a vertical bow. Everyone gets old. These individuals that have selfish interests now, and are against Xbows, will be in favor when they are older and can no longer use verical bows. It will be good to have more inclusion of Xbows; as more women, elderly and physically limited hunters will be able to enjoy the woods more. The DEC always states a desire to encourage more hunters - increasing the Xbow season would really help to accomplish this.

Please note: The effective hunting range of a crossbow is for all practical purposes the same as that of a verical compound bow. I have an Excalibur Xbow that shoots just over 300FPS. Comfortable shooting range for me with an Xbow is no longer than 30 yards in the deep woods. I am accurate out to 50 yards under ideal conditons = knowing the exact distance, nothing in the way, off of a stable rest and with a stationary target. Most of your shots in the deep woods will be in the 20 to 30 yard range. Individuals can still be successful with shooting at longer distances, however the probability for success decreases exponentially as the distance goes beyond 30 yards. There are many factors that lead to a lower probability of success; mainly - the ability to judge distance (gravity affects an arrow the same from a Xbow or a vertical compound bow) and the movement of the deer. Whatever type of bow you are using; take practical, makeable shots - i.e., ethical shots. Save the Hail Mary stuff for church. Best wishes to everyone

The Barnett Recruit is an excellent entry level XBow. I know several friends that have these and are quite pleased. According to the crazy NY State regs. these XBows are too narrow and therefore not legal. The amount is by the tiniest of margins. I do not mind that anyone uses this Xbow in NY as I believe that there should be some level of practicallity when making and enforcing rules. I have an Excalibur which is a recurve and I think the 200# draw upper limit on Xbows in NY is also crazy.

Find a big box store near you that can let you try some out at their indoor range. Not sure if there are many by you, such as Dicks Sporting Goods, Bass Pro, Cabelas or Field and Stream. Right now you can get a reasonable priced compound crossbow for $400 or so. Getting a good scope is a must as well. Also, if you have shoulder or back issues, you should seriously consider a crank cocking device. The cranking aid is worth every penny to save you physical pain which can come on without any warning after straining to load a crossbow manually. You can get advice as well from on line dealers. Wyvern Creations in New Hampshire is excellent, and David will answer all your questions and give you some good advice. Best of luck, you will really like crossbow hunting.

cutbait, on 10 Jan 2015 - 3:05 PM, said: You need some research on genetics if you believe a buck is a buck. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Like This In his book, Beyond Fair Chase, Jim Posewitz noted, “The most important measure of hunting success is how you feel about yourself…” I love your quote above about hunting sucess, however, it is somewhat counter to pushing for AR or Trophy hunting regs. You need some research on genetics if you believe a buck is a buck. Additionally if you are really concerned about genetics you would not be pushing for AR restrictions. Do some research and you will find that AR restrictions are not about improving the gene pool. To me a buck is a buck and I will feel good about whatever I shoot. I wish the same for all hunters. Best of luck to you.

Absolutely against AR or trophy hunting whatever you want to call it; it's all the same. A buck is a buck is a buck, whether it's a spike or a 10 point. They can breed does just the same. No one should be embarrassed to shoot a spike or have to explain it to anyone else when they are providing food for their family and enjoying the outdoors. How we got to these AR rules is just crazy and amounts to political b.s.