BellR

Welcome. Why not share some more information on what and where you plan on hunting? NY is pretty big, and the hunting is very different in the different parts of it.

The class was something I had to sit through in college due to being in biology. It has proved useful though, basically I was able to take the data that Colorado DEC releases and crunch the numbers to come up with the units that have the highest fill rate on OTC licenses. Still nowhere near some of the draw hunts, but no preference points required for the OTC ones. Still going to apply for the draw ones to start building permits, but I figure it will be a few years until I draw a good one and until then I'll just start to build experience. I figure if our group of 2-3 drives out there, buys tags, and camps out fairly cheaply we should be able to keep total costs under $1000 per person from when we leave to when we get back.

I'm planning a diy elk hunt in Colorado next year. Well be my first tone, but I'm trying to give our group the best chance of success by using that statists class I had to sit through to analyze the different management units and find out which one we have the best chance in. We'll see...

Yes they do. Unfortunately they are pervasive in of both sides of the political debate, leaving those of us in the middle mainly disgusted with both parties. Don't assume I'm a democrat based on the fact I support equal rights. I have some very unfavorable opinions with either side, because generally I support the constitution and neither party does that anymore.

Exactly.

The thing is, unless you legally want all heterosexual couples to have "civil unions" as well as far as the government is concerned, the 14th amendment does come into play here. What religions choose to do is separate from what the government does, and in the eyes of the government all people (are supposed to) have equal rights. I am completely in favor of religions having the freedom to choose who they "marry". On the other hand, I don't think that the state has a choice legally and the majority of the supreme court agrees. It has already been decided that "separate yet equal" is unconstitutional, so both gay and straight couples legally need to have the same title. The thing that most people forget is that a legal "marriage" and a religious "marriage" are NOT the same thing, and you can have one without the other. This ruling only pertains to the legal side of things, not the religious. I have hear a lot of reasons why not to allow gay marriage. So far every one has stemmed from one of three things: 1) Hatred 2) Fear 3) Religion None of these are valid reasons to deny other people equal rights.

As far as I understand it, Article IV of the Constitution would also apply to both cases. If a person is married in another state, it requires the other states to recognize it. This should also apply to open carry/concealed carry permits (ie. Reciprocal Carry). It's the reason that your driver's license is good from one state to another from my understanding (and I may be wrong). If this is the case and I remember my social studies and constitutional education, I don't see why both carry laws and gay marriage shouldn't be legally recognized in states other than those that they are licensed in.

Last year I hunted in my red and black plaid wool jacket for most of the season. I also had my most successful season yet. That's kind of telling to me, unless plaid is NY specific camo.

Silly people who think that their opinion typed on a hunting forum will sway complete strangers opinions of the world over the internet, no matter which way you lean.

I think he means 120. 120 (degrees between blades) x 3 (total blades) =360 (degrees in a circle).

Here is a link to a time lapse video I made of processing a gator. We cut the back of separate because it makes processing easier, but you can skin them a couple different ways if you want the scutes in the hide. We didn't mind taking them off because they don't make the best leather. Really hard because of the bone in them. We are going to use the back plate to make some gun slings. Not sure about the rest of the leather yet, but I'm thinking of making a few wallets and knife sheathes.

The Peace River in Arcadia FL.

I don't suppose anyone drew a gator tag in FL and is looking for a "guide"? The way my luck has gone this season in the lottery for tags I'd be surprised if I get to do much hunting. Still some hope for Phase III of the process, but I'm not holding my breath. Anyways, if anyone did get tags in South or Southwestern FL I'd be glad to help fill them in exchange for some of the meat. I have all of the gear needed.

I finally finished up tanning the hide of my 6'5" gator from last fall. Its only a quick cell phone pic, but I thought you might enjoy!

I had a kind of funny thought when I saw it. After hunting gators for a few years, when they first showed some of the dinosaurs I was sizing up the tail meat...

There is. I don't believe that there is power, and it is on a seasonal road. Combined, that basically means there is no chance of building a house. However, that also makes it the perfect place to have a hunting camp... or at least I hope other people feel that way too when I try to sell. We'll see. Worst case scenario I bought myself a future hunting camp. Best case scenario, I make some money. Looking at some of the land for sale at Christmas & Associates, I'm actually considering pricing it fairly cheap for similar land.

Good point. There is a small clearing already at the road, maybe I'll just clean that up a little (mow, trim brush, ect) and leave it at that.

I got it for a fairly good deal, so I "should" be able to resell it for a profit without even waiting for appreciation. I was sort of leaning to just clearing a site for a cabin/camper as it is not only less work, but also less investment and no chance of vandalism.

I'm originally from upstate NY, grew up in Fulton Co. Yesterday I picked up 20 acres of woods at a tax auction up there. It directly borders about 2500 acres of State Land, and has road frontage on a seasonal road that is a snowmobile trail in the winter. Eventually, I'm going to sell it to hopefully make a profit, but what I'm wondering is if I should put a small cabin in or just clear a spot for the buyer to do it or pull in a camper. I'm not sure if the investment in the cabin would pay off, or if I would just be putting in a lot of work for not much difference in profit. What do you guys think? I would be doing all the labor myself and I can get the lumber fairly cheap from someone I know who owns a sawmill. My question is what would you pay for the land vs. the land with a nice, small, off grid cabin.

That is a video my wife put together for last year's hunts. Unfortunately a lot goes on at night, and our GoPro sucks at low light so we don't have a lot of the actual catches on film, but this year we plan on getting a deep cycle marine battery and some flood lights so we can get some more footage.

Here is our largest one of last year, 9'3".

If they issue permits this year I am going to try for one. Saw some nice sized tracks down at Picayune Strand and I know they are in Big Cypress SOMEWHERE, it's just so #%@& big its hard to find them.

Hey Ladies and Gents, I have lurked and read for a while now, and I figured I would create a name and introduce myself. My wife and I are both avid outdoorsmen (and women). I grew up hunting and fishing and she has really gotten into it in the 10 years we have been together. I have always hunted upstate NY, even now that I dont currently live there. When I was growing up I hunted the southern zone (4a and 4f) with my extended family and hunted in the southern adirondacks where I lived (the western tip of 5j). We still make it up to NY every year for deer season, and will probably be moving back up that way in a year or so for good. Currently, my wife and I live and work in Southwestern FL. Since we live down here, we have taken up Alligator hunting with a passion and are currently trying to bag our first Oceola turkey. I think that once we move up that way I'll still be making annual trips to go alligator hunting. Last year our group of hunters filled 7 of the 8 tags we were issued for an average size of 7'3". That was our learning year (none of our group had ever hunted gators before), and we are hoping to do even better this year. My personal goal is to break the 10' mark as long as either the wife or I get drawn for tags. Anyways, just wanted to say hello to everyone, and hopefully I'll be up there more full time soon!