OldNewbie

Mixed bag for me. Set a goal to harvest three, ended up with two, but passed on several near the end because I was holding out for antlers that never showed up. Had several firsts -- first kill from a treestand, first tracking and recovery in snow, first pass-throughs with the compound bow. Low point was hunting alone the whole time, wife and daughter not interested, son interested but now lives out of state. All in all nothing to complain about, I hope to be back at it next year.

This was my fourth season overall and third with a bow. I'm still very much a newbie. So yeah I learned plenty: 1) treestands aren't that hard to put up by yourself if you only go 12 feet instead of 15 feet. And they still work well enough. And aren't as scary. But I still used a harness and safety rope for climbing up/down. (60+ yrs old is just too old to recover from a fall without some lasting damage.) 2) button bucks can look an awful much like a doe on the last day of archery at 4:30 PM. I will use binoculars to verify no buttons before shooting henceforth (they are tasty, though...). 3) I learned that if your first shot on a deer hits left by six inches, then your next shot probably will also, if you don't take time to re-check and adjust your bow sight. 4) A friend told me, and I tested and verified, that deer don't spook much at sounds ("the woods are full of sounds") as long as they don't see or smell you. 5) Grunting and rattling actually works. It helps if you have done enough sits to hear real doe bleats. I found I had to cup the end of the call in my hands and squeeze it tight to get that soft, muffled doe bleat that I have heard real deer make. Like humming with your mouth closed. 6) micro food plots work great.. for a week or so.. until they are totally eaten up. 7) lighted nocks (Lumenocks etc) aren't any help in tracking a deer if you shoot pass throughs. And they don't help recovering the arrows either, if there are a few inches of snow on the ground. 8) tracking a deer in fresh snow is really really easy! Even in the dark. 9) don't push a liver shot deer. Just don't. Even if gun season starts in the morning and the deer is heading toward a neighbor's stand and its getting dark and the coyotes will be out soon. Just.. wait. There's probably more but I have to go cook dinner..

I haven't heard many people saying machine guns should be legal, though they clearly are firearms and essential to any 'well armed militia'. So if you are OK with machine guns being illegal, why would you make an exception for bump stocks? Why do you draw a line between the two? Is a full auto AR that much faster/more accurate/more lethal than a semiauto with bump stock?

And this is stronger than NY's restrictions on AR-15s and similar.. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives 27 CFR Parts 447,478, and 479 [Docket No. 2018R-22F; AG Order No.RIN 1140-AA52 Bump-Stock-Type Devices AGENCY: Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives; Department of Justice ACTION: Final rule. SUMMARY: The Department of Justice is amending the regulations of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) to clarify that bump-stock-type devices-meaning "bump fire" stocks, slide-fire devices, and devices with certain similar characteristics-are "machineguns" as defined by the National Firearms Act of 1934 and the Gun Control Act of 1968 because such devices allow a shooter of a semiautomatic firearm to initiate a continuous firing cycle with a single pull of the trigger. Specifically, these devices convert an otherwise semiautomatic firearm into a machinegun by functioning as a self-acting or self-regulating mechanism that harnesses the recoil energy of the semiautomatic firearm in a manner that allows the trigger to reset and continue firing without additional physical manipulation of the trigger by the shooter. Hence, a semiautomatic firearm to which a bump-stock-type device is attached is able to produce automatic fire with a single pull of the trigger. With limited exceptions, the Gun Control Act, as amended, makes it unlawful for any person to transfer or possess a machinegun unless it was lawfully possessed prior to the effective date of the statute. The bumpstock-type devices covered by this final rule were not in existence prior to the effective date of the statute, and therefore will be prohibited when this rule becomes effective. Consequently, under the final rule, current possessors of these devices will be required to destroy the devices or abandon them at an ATF office prior to the effective date of the rule. DATES: This rule is effective [INSERT DATE THAT IS 90 DAYS AFTER PUBLICATION IN THE FEDERAL REGISTER]. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Vivian Chu, Office of Regulatory Affairs, Enforcement Programs and Services, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, U.S. Department of Justice, 99 New York Ave. NE, Washington, DC 20226; telephone: (202) 648-7070.

Rattled up no less than three bucks this AM.. Wouldn't you know it, all were buttons! Nice big mama doe hung around, just out of shooting distance. One little guy hung around for at least 30 minutes. I was about ready to give him a name and put a collar on him. In the end, no shots taken, but had a relaxing couple of hours in the blind.

They taught us that in Boy Scouts.. they called them 'widow makers'.

If one of your tractors is up on blocks, it counts.

The snow gives you so much information, also. It's been very interesting seeing my own tracks to and from the blind behind the house pile up on top of each other, makes you realize how much scent you must leave hunting the same spot repeatedly. Also really enjoyed the still hunts I did on state land, seeing all kinds of tracks in the snow - deer, rabbit, squirrel, fisher, bobcat, grouse, turkey, fox, and coyote. I found one spot near me where no less than five different deer trails intersected. Putting a tree stand there next year for sure. I do wish we'd had some warmer days, I might have spent more time in the tree stands vs. the ground blind.

I learned to fish, shoot, hunt, tie knots, build a fire, cook through Scouts. I still try to do a good turn daily. You and your son both have something to be proud of.

I got out on some state forest land this afternoon.. Walked down a nice horse/snowmobile trail in the woods, downhill across a creek and up the other side.. started to look like good deer woods.. and BLAM goes a shot, not that far away. I stood still for a minute or so then BLAM. Another blast. Figured whatever deer were there were either dead or running scared, so reversed my steps.. coming back up the hill saw three guys just getting set up.. about 50 yards from the road.. Whole thing looked Deliverance sketchy.. so I left. Drove down the hill to the apple orchard, walked a trail, saw some tracks.. but no live bodies. And on the way home I saw 8 does and a buck, less than a mile from my house. Of course!

That right there qualifies as Too Much Information...

Sitting in my ground blind, I have a limited field of view. I often hear a footfall or twig snap, then another 3 min later, then another.. when they finally come into view I already have my bow at least on my lap or at the ready. I do sometimes scan the far woods with binoculars, but more from boredom than anything else. Can't say I ever spotted a deer through glassing that I didn't see first without the binos. Tried a ladder stand this year and shot a doe from it. Visibility is much better, but its just not as comfy as the ground blind with the padded swivel office chair (a curb alert find).

Last one I did I butterflied it if you call it that.. sliced it like a loaf of bread, but not quite all the way through, then put in a pyrex baking dish overnight in the fridge with a marinade making sure each 'slice' was coated with the marinade. Next day drained the marinade, covered top of dish with alum foil and baked in the oven till the outside was done and the inside still pink. There were no leftovers.. Marinade: pretty common recipe made from soy, worcestershire, steak sauce, salt pepper vinegar oil and whatever.

What part of 8W are you in NYtracker? We got three inches last night, had to shovel this morning. (On a hilltop near Beaver Dams).

I have tried to use a Butt-Out on several deer and each time it has ripped a hole in the poop chute. I just stick it in turn and pull it back out. Is there some trick to making them work?