knehrke

I did exactly the same thing once in the same location years and years ago, but never went back. It was too much of a PITA. For example, returning to shore was interesting...the cops told me I'd be arrested if I tried to come ashore on the Russel Station property. They didn't much like me hunting there . Luckily, a local guy who lived four doors down was watching the shenanigans and invited me to return via his property. He went so far as to walk down to Russel and drive my truck back to his driveway. Now that I'm older I just want to get as far away from the googins and asshats as possible.

I suspect that as with most enforcement efforts, the largest contribution of adding this technique to the arsenal will be as a deterrent.

Minimum width limb-to-limb not including cams is 17". Most of the Scorpyd lineup fall in that category, but the Ravin R20 for example with it's axle-to-axle 10.4" uncocked width isn't even close and would be illegal to hunt with in NYS under present regulations.

Okay, now you're on my turf. Sorry to inform you, as a DNA expert who's mentored American Indian graduate students (and NOT a member of the hypothetical conspiracy), it has absolutely not been proven by DNA testing. And "exceed the speed of light"? Dude, crack kills.

I'm not going to quote it, but that joke doesn't even approach funny.

As a scientist, it's my job to disprove theories, even my own. So, I'm a born disbeliever. I'm also not arrogant enough to think that we know everything. So while I will never say never, even superficial scrutiny will reveal that there's no credible evidence for Bigfoot. Actually, I'd like it to be real. That would be fascinating, adding a layer of mystery to our world. Ever since I saw that episode of, "The Six Million Dollar Man" when I was a kid where Steve Austin interacted with alien Bigfoot (explaining the intermittent sightings--spaceship, of course), I thought that it would be great if it were real. I suppose that if you want to believe enough you'll find evidence that will convince you. Or maybe it's like faith, where you don't want or need evidence. Either way, I'm a bit sad that I can't believe, because it'd be a nice change from the crazy, verifiable reality that's become daily life lately.

That's a nice looking gun. A buddy of mine has a similar setup, but his longest harvest is only 168 yards. It's capable of more.

Lol! We have an agreement. My wife agrees to do the thinking and I agree to do what she tells me...when she tells me to purchase land so that I have a place to hunt without worrying about who else is out there, what choice did I have? We bought property. Seriously, though, if concern for being shot prevented us from taking our families for a walk, then the same concern should keep us from taking our sons and daughters hunting (notice I didn't include husbands/wives). What a shame that would be.

Lol. My wife has more common sense than any other ten people you could round up. But she made an informed decision. In contrast to the analogy you provide, the odds of getting shot while taking a walk dressed appropriately on a public trail in the middle of the day--which is commonly used during deer season for walking dogs--is simply miniscule. We'll have to agree to disagree on this one. I also heard on the news last night that somebody shot at a truck, mistaking it for a deer! In his defense, the truck was brown (sarcasm).This isn't going to be a good year public perception-wise for hunters. It's going to make me think real carefully about what's behind where I'm firing.

My wife's reaction to this is that if it isn't safe for us to take a walk with the appropriate safety gear on, then it isn't safe for me to be in the woods. She's not wrong. I could also try to forbid my wife and daughter from crossing the street or driving, both of which have inherent danger. We walk extensively, taking hikes at least two or three times a week. I agree that there's lots of idiots, but I'm not ceding the woods to them for the entirely of deer season. Middle of the day, good light, public walking trail? That's ridiculous. You can't plan to idiots like this criminal who shot the lady walking her dog...which, by the way, we passed at least four other people doing. So, as hunters it's our responsibility to always make sure of our target. Period.

I'm about to take the family on a walk around Canadice Lake and this story makes me question my decision. We wear bright colors, but still...and this is what gives hunters the reputation of being a bunch of outlaws. When you have a gun in your hands, one bad decision can mean somebody's dead. We need to own this as a community and call out poor judgment.

It's silly, but: when snow is falling on my bare face and it itches and I don't want to move to wipe it off. So annoying. Lots of other stuff infuriates me, but my take on a pet peeve is that it's something that's not widely thought to be significant.

I always tell my wife, "it's not what you save, it's what you spend". I just laugh at Dicks/Field and Stream with their regular advertised specials. It's always the same stuff at the same price, like clockwork. I have never seen the prices any different than their advertised sale price. It reminds me of when we were in Italy two years ago. Every store had a "Saldi!" sign in the window. If it wasn't on sale, it wasn't for sale. I told my wife that America was moving in that direction, too. So long as you keep the consumer confused, it's good for business, I guess. I miss transparency.

Strange...we have property in 8A and where there's usually a good drop to hunt starting mid-October, there's been none this year. All red oak. And driving around Rochester with all the old oak trees hanging over the streets, I haven't seen any "road kill". Of course, there was none last year either, as the trees aborted early from the drought. Hickory are everywhere though. I guess it's dependent on the location within the location. Good to know it's not a widespread issue.

I've been waiting for them to start dropping and I'm beginning to think that the oaks are having an off year. I don't see many nuts in the lower branches, and I've looked from Letchworth to the lakeshore. What's the general consensus on the state of the crop this year?

I don't feel that he's stating that all xbow hunters act like this, only that when you have a large influx of new hunters that don't have a tradition of bowhunting and can buy an xbow off the shelf and reasonable kill a deer with it the next day, there's a good chance that there will be some yahoos in the crowd. Hard work turns people off, and learning to bow hunt is hard work. Once you add an "easy button" you attract people who don't want to work hard...not all of them, but you've got to admit that it's more likely. I own, shoot and hunt with an xbow, so it's not like I'm against them or anything either.

I don't think that any of the deer in those pictures is the same. The rear deer in the bottom pic has larger bow tines and unless I'm imagining it the front deer has a crotch at the end of the right antler. Scores range from 100-120.

Heck, half the time I have trouble finding my own arrow in the woods, shooting from a stand after it's passed through a deer and is full of blood . I'd be shocked if she had the presence of mind to look for the arrow.

This happened exactly as you describe to me last week, except rather than dart away (I thought I'd been busted at first), the doe stopped and had a decent eight jump out of the thicket and scent check her. He dove back into the thicket, made his way under my stand, scent checked the ladder (oops, no gloves while climbing...), then meandered away. Classic early rut behavior from a young 2 1/2 year old buck.

As with most issues, America is becoming more divided, with the haves and have-nots lining up on opposite sides. The gap just gets wider and wider. Those with the energy and means tie up the best land and bemoan trespassers., all the while contributing to the problem. Those without bemoan the hunting elite who ruin it for everyone else, all the while contributing to the problem. Yeah, it's a complicated issue. I see both sides. I own land, post it, and only let my close friends hunt with me. But I spent years canvasing for places to put a tree stand, too. There's good and bad on both sides. The only sure thing is that the problem won't go away. Hunting has become more and more about competition, for land, for resources, for deer (ie, food plots). It's every man for himself, which doesn't bode well for the future, since hunting has been saved to date from the antis mainly by the number of participants. Lack of access means less hunters, more people playing Pokemon Go. Interesting times...

Doc, you've hit the nail on the head, and eloquently at that...if it's possible to eloquently hit a nail? Hmmmm...I'll just say, "Ditto"

Indeed. For example, you might blame the lack of deer sightings on a hunter's willingness to stay put, and you might be right most of the time, but opening morning everybody sits for a few hours. And that's typically when WWIII breaks out in the woods. Except that it doesn't any more. So, what's the deal? We can't blame that lack of shooting THAT PARTICULAR MORNING on folks not pushing deer around. Unless there really are less folks in the woods. Or less access to prime habitat. I know that my group is part of that problem...we lease, we don't push, and we don't shoot small bucks. And IMHO there were far fewer shots the past couple of years than normal. Seems like lots of folks saying the same thing. The only question is why? Environmental or cultural? Or a combination of both?

For what it's worth, on two properties we hunt in 8A/8G the last two weeks of October were crazy with searching, then there a week of chasing, then the does ditched the little ones (which were wandering around alone), and now I think that we're in the midst of breeding...we've seen several large bucks tending does at field edges...with some does rejoined with their yearlings already. There's still some small bucks searching/chasing, but I think that it was a slow burn this year and that the first round is nearly done.

I think that you could apply Doc's concern about exclusivity to almost anything. Let me make an example: youth sports. Why should we exclude grown men from participating in junior varsity football? After all, don't they have just as much right to play? I mean, yeah, they have their own leagues, but how can we be so selfish as to say that there's a league they can't play in. It's their right, isn't it? Or is it? The point here is that there are sometimes clear divisions for very specific reasons. Our obligation as rational people is to ask whether these reasons are valid. It would be unfair to bow hunters to have gun hunters in the woods at the same time. As well as unsafe. Hence, the ethical reasoning supports a separation of seasons. This is not exclusivity or selfishness. Bow hunting is an ADDITIONAL opportunity for someone to be in the woods, and it certainly doesn't impinge on the very long gun season here in NY. And let's be honest...there's a bunch of hunters who take advantage of opening day and never set foot in the woods again. So long as they have their day in the sun, all's good. They don't want the gun season diffused any more than bow hunters. My two cents.

I'm pretty sure that what's ethical and what's legal overlap only occasionally. Life would be so much simpler is there were more societal pressure to "do the right thing", instead of using the law to justify our every action. Be careful who sees this thread. We might end up with fifty new regulations intended to clarify the situation. As if it isn't confusing enough...