pitweiler

Thanks everyone. I hope the wind works in our favor. Luckily I have three to four spots lined up in case we have different wind than I expect. This little boy has a lot of future hunts planned already: Black Bear, Elk, Moose. He really wants to do some Coyote hunting in the spring. I wish NYS would make that season year round.

I’ve located some fairly well used trails that seems to get use early morning and then again around mid day. The amount of tracks and size looks to be does, which is fine, I have a DMP. I also think there is a buck cruising the area maybe still in rut. He seems to cruise through fields through the doe trail and then through the wooded areas to stay hidden. This is public land so I don’t have any cameras up. Im taking my boy out tomorrow. He’s young and very energetic. It’s going to be his second outing. I want to try to get some action for him, at least see one. I was going to put some Tinks 69 scent bombs out, but I’m afraid the estrous smell would potentially scare away any does not in estrous. I was thinking of trying to Doe-P or just sitting on the trail without scent bombs. I figure Doe-P wouldn’t scare away the does in the area and might still entice the buck that may be cruising. What are the thoughts on here?

Dick’s and a few other retailers have the Ameristep Doghouse for $50 right now. My wife got me one for my birthday. It holds up well. When you tie it down it can withstand wind pretty well. It’s also fairly water resistant. Only complaint I have is the shoot-through windows are small.

I'm bringing this thread back from the dead. Can you just go hunt there or do you need to sign-in, register, etc? Does it follow NYS season length or does it have it's own seasons?

Except everything is made in “Notameristan” now.

I like Runnings too. However, I’ve noticed that once they sell out of something they don’t restock it quickly. Gander to me is the same over priced stuff Dicks sells. Except they try to get you to buy a $30 Good Sam membership to get discounts. Uh no.

I think the main issue with Dicks is price. They sell everything at or near MSRP which is a lot more than other stores. People won’t spend the money when they can buy it online and save 25%.

Thanks, great info! I wonder if making some sort of sled would help. Even if I quartered it that’s still a lot of meat.

I agree. My off season scouting suffered this year due to work commitments, but next year I’ll pick it back up. Especially since my son will be 6 and is willing and able to locate sign/tag along. Great info. Thanks for a good thread guys! G-Man, my rifle is chambered in .243Win. I have other options, but that is my favorite rifle. I’ve toyed with having it bored out by JES in Oregon to .338 Federal since he said he could do it and I have a 5.56mm, which in my opinion when shooting copper a 62gr TSX is not going to be much different than an 85gr TSX for deer. Now, for bears I’ve read all sorts of stuff from you need a 987 Super Magnum to a .223 with good bullets will do them in. From my interactions with them I know they can get big. I think a .243 Win with an 85gr TSX would probably do the trick just fine, however, I’d like to hear your opinion because it sounds like you’ve poked a few.

I like to buy a lot of my stuff from Acadmey Sports and Outdoors. They don’t have any physical locations around NY, but their online shipping is fast and the quality of their Game Winner and Magellan Outdoors brands are on par with Field and Stream and Cabela’s/Red Head in my opinion. A lot cheaper too. Just got my son a soft shell jacket and pants- wind/water resistant, quiet soft material, scent control of some kind (not too sure what it is) and I paid $40 for both. They were on sale for 50% off on Black Friday but even $80 is a decent price for something like that. They’re coming in this Friday. I expect the quality to be at least worth $40. I’ll report back if anyone cares.

Does DEC put out a bear density map by town or county?

I'm thinking about expanding my big game hunting opportunities and pursuing black bear in 2019. Is there a good resource available with some guidelines about what lures are legal, what is not, how people remove the carcass, etc? I'm really interested in how people get a bear out of the woods. I grew up going to camp in ADK and interacting with black bears that used the camps as food sources and I remember some of them being rather large. I found some good resources about field dressing, etc. I'm probably going to focus on Early Bear in the Catskills. Maybe the ADK for some adventure, but success rates seems to be much higher in the southern zone. Any information is appreciated.

I’m trying Tinks 69 this year. I think I might try Doe-P next year. I think it’s hard to say how long it lasts. When I spray the 69 I smell it for a while. No telling how long after I can’t smell it a deer can still smell it.

I think the biggest thing that makes it hard for me is land access. I only hunt public land and with varying amounts of pressure, by the time the first weekend of gun is over its somewhat useless information. If I can find a way to get a lease of good land I’ll probably be able to get out more frequently.

I think allowing land owner tags would be reasonable so that you don’t have to break the law. If you own land you should get a tag.

What about getting rid of implement-specific tags and issuing one tag per hunter with a lottery for extra buck tags and DMPs?

That’s not a bad idea.

I hope your kids’ health improve. Do they go to daycare? Any chance someone could be sending their sick kids instead of keeping them home? We dealt with than until we switched to an in home daycare provider.

Land owner exemptions could be written into the regulation. As it is, what if you’re the guy who owns land in a WMU where DMPs aren’t issued or are hard to get? Seems like the same concept. Putting a system like this in place could be limited to one or two WMUs in the northern zone and one or two in the southern zone. Doesn’t have to be a large scale operation. Another option would be to get rid of general buck tags and make buck tags just like DMPs, issued for each WMU. Perhaps people could then draw two tags, each for a different WMU or for the same if the draw numbers allow. Draw applications due by ~August 15, results come out ~September 15, left over tags go on sale ~Oct. 1. If you forget to apply you get what’s left over, just like a DMP. That tule of system could work.

There have been a few discussions on here about QDMA, antler restrictions and the like. Seems each camp has their own valid points. I was listening to the Hunt Talk podcast today and they were talking about the limited draws in some areas out west and the impact it has had. Some areas saw an increase in better quality bucks, others stayed the same. What if NY tried that? Pick a few WMUs or counties where the general buck tag isn't valid and require people to enter into a limited lottery draw. Seems then everyone might be happy. The people who just want to have an opportunity can still do that with their general tag outside the draw areas and the people who want to chase "Mr. Big" can do that to. Think those areas would see an increase of mature deer if a draw was imposed and the number of tags was reduced?

I hope your knee holds up. I can only imagine how difficult that must be. If you haven't done so, check out the onX Hunt maps app. It's on sale for $21 a year right now and I find it indispensable. It allows your phone to be used as a gps without cell signal through the use of downloaded maps. It also has a computer interface that is tied to your mobile app. I find it really helps me e-scout different areas and figure out where movement might be based on topo features. So far I've been pretty accurate. I've found good sign in each place I e-scouted. Cuts down on the walking around. Might be helpful for you. ETA: I don't work for them. Just a typo.

My wife is great about making sure I get to go out and I do my best to make sure she gets her time. I'm definitely going to miss the kids being little, but I am excited that my boy is getting big enough to tag along with me. He told me yesterday that we wants to get a moose tag. I told him New York doesn't have a moose season. He said "but Canada does"... Kid has big dreams lol

I had no idea how much responsibility having kids and getting married would be. I'm glad I finally understand.

LOL. That's going to be my boy. Got him a red ryder for this Xmas. Really erks me that NYS wants to tell me when MY kid can hunt. I think he might be ready to head out as a hunter when he's 8-10 or maybe sooner. Depends on maturity and development.

I've heard the same thing and frankly, my experience is similar. So far my time in the woods hasn't yielded any encounters, but last year I ran across a buck chasing a doe full sprint, about 30 yards in front of me. It was an awesome experience. Happened at 11:30am.