Core

It is. This guy said the bear ran 60 yards, but he recovered it the next day, which makes me think he thought he hadn't hit vitals. Here's another spear hunter. It looks pretty clear to me he didn't hit vitals, in which case he's cheering about the fact he just totally wrecked a bear's month (and possibly life if it doesn't recover) for no gain.

Yes! I had to learn this the hard way as many did. It can be hard to convince a newbie that a $200 black tube with two pieces of glass on the end is better than a $50 one. You're just stuck in your old ways, they'll show you the $50 does fine. Then the newbie gets to the range and just the jarring of the action slamming closed causes the crosshairs to start twisting in the scope. Then they realize heck maybe there is something to that $200 scope after all. That was my experience with a simmons. Now the rifle has a nikon.

Agreed. I know this is a tiny bit of sour grapes, but honestly if you can find access to good public land that isn't over-pressured there is a real freedom to it. Nobody can kick you off it and you don't owe anybody anything when you take a deer. Yes, I still want a private spot. If only I lived closer to some public tracts I would be perfectly content with them and never have to worry about finding land

You don't want to argue with a home owner, but it specifically is NOT a liability by new york law, it is plain as day if a farmer lets you on their land there is no liability for them. This could be a BS answer from them, though, to get you on your way.

I'm also east of rochester. I'll admit I probably left it late also. Hay season was a while back I understand, and offering help there would be useful. I've visited one land owner who I had a lead on so far but he wasn't home, so I left a message. I don't expect a call back. Tonight I found out who owns a farm close to me and will probably ask him this weekend. The problem is, as mentioned above, most people will say no, and I have to assume most farmers already have friends/family on their land. The farm within bow range of my house (literally) I won't bother asking because despite being huge and awesome and deer 30 seconds from my house, I know he hunts. Anyway, I planned that after asking, before the person had a chance to say no, that I would offer some form of compensation. I can hunt one friend's house in Marion, but it's not an ideal spot. It's only through weird word of mouth they even found out I hunt and then I was like hi, let's do this. I am going to give them meat if I get anything. Mostly I plan on doing what I did last year: public land in the lake shore marshes. There are deer there. Oh, and I absolutely intend on doing any requests with one of my daughters in tow to try and soften any resistance

This is just me but I'm the sort who would put another stand back with trail cams (difficult to hide so unless has cellular picture sending it may get taken as well and cell ones are too pricey) or bury a GPS transponder in the seat such as this one. https://www.amazon.com/Yepzon-One-Personal-GPS-Locator/dp/B013MB3CBW/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1471546588&sr=8-6&keywords=gps+locator Another idea is you could actually hang a note on your next stand telling the person that anybody approaching the stand has already been captured on two trail cams, so please don't do something stupid. Of course, these trail cams need not exist. That's your cheapest bet and I think would work quite well to be honest. I have a climber but if I had a known spot on private land I would absolutely go back to fixed. Carting around 20 lbs and setting it up is far more annoying than carrying nothing and setting up nothing

Thanks for the posts. So, it does indeed sound like a treasure trove, but nothing in the pipeline yet for hunting. Would be an epic spot! The 2016-2017 guide says the NY DEC bought more land this year, but I can't see anything on the horizon in this area for new land.

What a tool. It's all unraveling today and the "robbery" was just him covering for the fact he acted a drunk hoodlum. Apparently his two buddies taken off the plane have admitted to it.

Anybody in Monroe county knows public land is very sparse here. I would even say it's a uniquely bad area compared to the rest of WNY, with a veritable dead zone of public land to hunt within nice driving range of the city. I'm aware of: 1) Braddock bay (small) 2) Oak Openings (small) 3) Perinton town land (but must be a resident for a limited number of permits) Mendon Ponds is huge, must be packed to the gills with deer, allows horse back riding and lots of other stuff, but no hunting of any kind. Has it ever? Is there any sort of a push for it? I imagine cars are hitting deer all the time near there.

Less weight to carry around. Not sure where you guys are hunting that a few inches extra on the barrel has ever honestly cost you a shot because it got hung up on a branch. I'm sure it could happen but the fact most people here seem to have no issue with a lengthy rifle tells me it hasn't been a problem for most.

That's why I'm trying to lose a few lbs before season starts

6 days ago in Tennessee I saw a fairly petite doe with a fawn in tow and it had very pronounced white spots, for what it's worth

True and bowguy 1 corrected me there as well. General consensus is that during the rut deer can move about whenever

Get a bolt action and be done with it. An extra few inches of barrel is not going to meaningfully catch on anything and unless there is a deer bolting across you at 15 yards how much does the swing really matter? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Seems like a lot of you are probably using fixed broadheads...I'm guessing mechanical would struggle mightily to get through a shoulder even from a very heavy bow.

Today only. http://www.fieldandstreamshop.com/p/field-stream-outpost-xl-17-ladder-stand/15fnsufstpstxlxxxtsb?camp=EML:FNS_PRM:08012016_FlashSaleLink:Body_OutpostLadderStand&mcid=284172317&csm=949501671&csc=57913&csa=948186541&csu=57916

That does sound compelling. I just ran the figures through those calcs and a 500 grain sure does drop a great deal out of a 50 lb bow compared to 400 grain! Interestingly if I upped my bow from 50 lbs to 70 and increased from 400 to 500 grain the pins would stay darn near exactly where they are now, but I've got 30% more KE.

Does this happen much--getting through a shoulder with a bow? I can certainly see the benefit of it but can a heavy broadhead realistically get through bone on a shot that doesn't go where it's intended?

Last year was my first hunting of any kind and I went with a bow. I didn't have a mentor, but read quite a lot and questioned on forums. I did get a deer after going out more than a dozen times. I wasted a ton of time doing the wrong thing(s). Here are some of the main things I learned off the top of my head. This is from a person who's only hunted one year, so take it for what it's worth. Also, sadly, it's nothing I hadn't read before I started out. Sometimes we have to learn the hard way. Just because I can group well at 40 yards doesn't mean I can even hit a deer at 25 yards. It's easy to know distance when the target says what it is. This was a hard lesson and resulted in immediate purchase of a range finder after my first day out. Now when I am at a spot I constantly range different trees and things to try and get a feel of distances, which even to this day surprise me (I chronically overestimate range in the woods with my eyes). Hunting deer at any time other than early morning or late in the day is only worth doing if you don't value your time and/or have gobs of it. My greatest mistake was dropping time early afternoon or late morning hunting. Just burning up hours when the deer were all rested. Waste of time, waste of effort, won't do it again. This year I plan on bailing two hours after sunrise unless I have some sixth sense that deer are out or they keep trotting by. Won't waste time again like I did last year. Still-hunting with a bow is absurdly difficult. Insanely difficult, even. My very first day out I still-hunted and walked up on a deer and had a beautiful shot (missed; see first bullet). This was the worst thing that could have happened to me because it gave me over confidence that I could do it again. I tried on another dozen hunting trips to replicate it and the deer almost invariably hear you or see you coming. Worse, as the season goes on and the ground is crunchy, this is even harder. Still hunting can absolutely be done, but IMO no newbie should bother with it. It's hard as heck even for a veteran. Dragging a deer is hard freaking work. I'm fairly fit and strong and it took me two hours to drag a deer half a mile where I was, because of the hills. I'll try something else this year; cart, block & tackle, something hooked to my vest, I dunno Hunters are lazy. I hunt public land and although I didn't see a ton of cars, the ones I did see appeared to be driven by people unwilling to spend much time walking, so they'd stick close to the road pretty much where others go. Get a tree-stand. I know, you've already spent so much money on gear you feel sick about it and you're not even telling your wife about it all, but sitting on a stool at ground level waiting for deer to come to you not only makes your visibility much worse, but the odds of them seeing you are too darn high. Yes, it can be done, but it's hard. IMO either go with a stand that won't be moving (ladder or hang on that you leave there) or get a climber. Carting around climbing sticks is silly and a huge hassle. If you cannot or will not do a stand, use a ground blind, either store-bought or built out of branches and what not. Something to hide you drawing and moving if the deer goes by. Tree stands are still better, though. Your feet will get cold. Even in October, with insulated boots, and a tendency to have hot feet I found myself requiring the carbon foot wamers later in the bow season. Sitting in a stand sucks when you're cold, don't let it happen!

FWIW field and stream is giving them away now. I was there yesterday and they had a laddery stand complete for $79, I had to check the price a few times. It seemed like an acceptable one. They had a nice larger one for a ton off money, too. Of the two stands I tried last year, one without a rail and one with I really prefer a rail and that even includes a shot I feel I missed because my string hit the rail (I won't repeat that mistake in the future--was a learning lesson). I rest the bow in front of me on the rail and also the rail helps immeasurably in the feeling of security and even shifting position around on the stand.

I spent a couple of hours yesterday on online calculators. This: http://archerycalculator.com/estimate-bow-speed/, this: http://archerycalculator.com/archery-kinetic-energy-and-momentum-calculator/ and this: http://www.bestcrossbowsource.com/crossbow-arrow-ballistics-calculator It's quite neat to see how at close range (20 yards) even a very heavy arrow doesn't move point of impact much, but up to 40 it becomes very pronounced. Heavy arrows also shoot a little quieter, but going up to 30 yards the point of impact starts to change quite a lot when you compare something like a 350 grain total weight arrow to 450. I personally shoot 400 total weight @ 50 lbs with a 315 ibo bow, but I'm hardly an experienced archer, though I am a decent shot in perfect conditions (i.e. range). I confess I don't understand the emphasis on penetration. A through-and-through shot will definitely leave a much better blood trail, but how often does a person truly hit the vitals and the deer doesn't fall within 50-100 yards?

People definitely do, but your fear is very well founded. I think it can be done but only with extremely confident shots, and also depends on density of housing, because even a well hit deer can run a short distance.

This is a cool trick, basically the same concept as using a climber. I like this, will definitely look into it.

Normally love the olympics but for some reason this year I just have close to no interest. Not really sure why.

Wow, this seems SUPER terrible: http://www.opb.org/news/series/gunstories/mandated-shots-hunting-in-germany-is-a-different-game-/