adkbuck

I am a little more optimistic that a significant change may be taking place, although it is hard to argue with a sitting pope!

Good for Maine!!! The current approach has been working well and is the most effective way of managing and keeping the bear population in healthy balance with the environment and avoiding human-bear mishaps.

http://www.newsday.com/news/region-state/republicans-regain-control-of-state-senate-1.9585667 Lets hope they at least slow down Cuomo's unconstitutional efforts.

Two Areas: Area: 7J Southern Onondaga County, Decrease, Down at Least 50%, Reason: DMP and DMAP, Apple Orchards killing loads of deer (one orchard killed 40 head recently one season). Area: 5H Central ADK.s, Stable or Slight Increase. Seeing deer more regularly while hunting the last few years. Not sure if its more deer of if the son-of-a-gun wearing my boots is getting quieter.

Upstate, I had the same experience last Thursday and Friday hunting the Indian Lake area. No rut sign to speak of. Southern zone on the other hand, seeing lots of rut activity.

Hi Coyote, Good idea! I've hunted two areas this week in 5H and 7J. Here are my results: Hunted the Central Adirondacks Last Week Thursday and Friday last week and CNY this Monday, I will report on both Area: 5H, Indian Lake, I covered about 4 miles a day still hunting, one day on a mountain, one day along and in a swamp. Saw deer each day including one small buck but surprisingly did not see any scrapes or rubs or chasing activity. Zero beechnuts on the hardwood ridges by the way. AREA; Area 7J, Southern Onondaga County. Lots of rubs but few scrapes. Definitely some chasing activity. Shot a decent buck Monday that was chasing a doe.

Thanks Guys, Not a big scorer but I was very grateful to get him. He was chasing a doe when I stopped him with a verbal grunt. Looked at the arrow 10 minutes after the shot and it looked like a good pass through. Found him within 35 or 40 yards of the hit and I was very grateful for that as well.

Killed 11/03/2014 WMU 7J., 8 pt. X-bow

Obviously ELK's are willing to put the time and effort for this cause..... so why not? Even helping a little bit is better than letting a hide go to waste so it doesn't help anyone.

Cabin, I contacted the ELKS national office, veterans affairs office by email and will hopefully get a listing for NYS.

Near Rochester: Newark Elks Lodge 1249 will participate in the nationwide Deer Hide Collection Program to benefit veteran hospitals and living centers. Hides can be dropped off at Brennessel Farms, 262 Finewood Road, Newark or at the Elks Lodge, 223 S. Main St., Newark. Donations should have the name of the donor and its designation for the Newark Elks collection program attached. Donors will be issued a charitable certificate for $35 for each hide upon request. For more information, contact Daniel Brennessel (315) 331-5574 or the Elks Lodge (315) 331-1249. Read more: http://www.waynepost.com/article/20131115/News/131119716#ixzz3EhVECFem

Please consider donating you hides this season to help Veterans. The ELKS are collecting hides at various lodges throughout the state to benefit Veterans in VA hospitals. You can drop off your hide anytime. They recommend placing the hide in a cardboard box (NOT in a plastic bag) to avoid decomposition. The will flesh out and salt the hide. If you would like a receipt for tax purposes write you name and address on the box and the ELK Lodge will send you a $35.00 (IRS) receipt that you can use for you tax deduction purposes. IN CNY take your hides to: Camillus Elk Lodge 2367, 6117 Newport Rd., Camillus NY 13031 (315-672-3106). Other ELK lodges in the State Participate (Lyons. NY) and the I think the Canandaigua VA has a drop off. Jump in an add drop off site info if you have it! Thanks!

Hi Wing, NFA-ADK is correct. It can be very difficult hunting and he is also right that you have be well prepared. I don't think you will not regret a minute if you like hunting big country. It is beautiful country! I was there just last week canoeing on Cedar River Flow and southward up the Cedar River well into the West Canada Lake Wilderness. The Moose River Plains area and the adjoining wilderness areas are big country. To have your best chance of success be willing to put some time and locate the areas that hold does or if tracking snow is present get off on a good track and stay alert.

Thanks, this sounds like something worth watching!

Dom, You need to have a garden to provide the veggies to go along with your fish and game to lower your grocery bill more. You can even grow melons in NY ( I grow mine on black plastic mulch):

I think our over stepping government likes to create a crisis when non exists to further their agenda which in this case is the elimination of hunting as a first step in the removal of private ownership of firearms. If anyone thinks this will end with the banning of lead hunting bullets, unfortunately it is only the first step. The total elimination of lead bullets will be closely followed by the reclamation of all rifle ranges for which it is conservatively estimated will cost $2.5 million per range plus recurring monitoring costs of $100,000 per year for a number of years following the reclamation. Fish and game clubs, trap and skeet clubs and gun clubs will go out of business. It will be very similar to the "Climate Change Crisis".

In NY state and most of the country carrion eaters are primarily crows, raccoons, opossums, coyotes and raptors (hawks making up the large majority) and all of these are on the increase or at historical highs as far as there population is concerned. Turkey Vultures and Black Vultures in the East are expanding there population and increasing their range. California Condors are the notable exception, they do not reproduce until they are between 6 and 8 years old and produce only one egg every two years. The bird's problems have not stopped and have gotten worse after a almost one year of the total banning of lead ammo in California References: http://www.oglethorpe.edu/faculty/~r_donnelly/expanding.pdf http://rpi-project.org/2011/assessments.php Thanks primarily to the activism of the NRA and NRA members, the EPA was not able to implement "anti-hunting groups" demands that the agency impose a nationwide ban on lead ammunition. This is still real danger despite soft peddling by some. Most hunters, (myself included) already use some copper, tungsten or steel in our hunting. Many in our society and the mainstream media already marginalize hunters and want to stop hunting do we really need "useful idiot" hunters to help them?

Latest Predictions for Precipitation Nov, Dec and January (For the Northeast its equal to normal) I realize its a crap shoot but just wanted to report current predictions :

Yes Lyman makes some good ones. Many bullet manufacturers like Hornady, Nosler, Sierra and Speer and Barnes make great manuals. I recommend getting one or two manuals to learn the basics. There is also a series called "Loadbooks USA" where you can get proven loads all specific to one cartridge in one volume collected from all the bullet and powder suppliers for about $7 each. Many of the power suppliers like Alliant and Hodgdon have on line manuals. A lot of my reloading equipment is made by RCBS. Born, check out RCBS's website at http://www.rcbs.com/default.aspx Its full of info for beginner and seasoned vet alike. They also have a bunch of online instructional videos that are free of charge and will answer many of the questions you might have. You are right, its very relaxing hobby and will give a joyful means of continuing your hunting avocation when you can't be in the field during the off-season.

Born, (Another great question, by the way) I started reloading rifle cartridges soon after I started to hunt deer many years ago and started reloading shotgun a few years back when I saw what they were charging for a few rounds of wild turkey ammunition. It is an extremely extremely rewarding hobby and I believe it will make you a better rifleman and shot gunner. The specific benefits include: (1) You will have a much wider selection of bullet weights and styles to chose from. In the case of cartridges like 45/70 that I think you use or the 35 Whelen, one that I shoot this is a big advantage. I know that commercial 35 Whelen ammunition is offers very little choice in bullet types and weights because the cartridge is not widely popular. (2) You will save a ton of money an insulate yourself from the inflated cost of factory ammunition. After you have invested in the equipment you can make a box of shells for as little 20% of the commercial cost. Some rounds that use premium bullets will cost you a bit more. I consider my "coolie labor" as free. (3) Increased accuracy. You can customize the load for you specific firearm. For instance I have been able to decrease group size by 50% just by optimizing cartridge overall length (referred to a COAL) in few cases. (4) You can optimize the load for you firearm. Unlike the 270 Winchester I found many of the factory ammunition loads for the 35 Whelen were pretty low velocity because they were loaded for safety in old rifles converted from old rebuilt military 30-06's. As a reloader I was able to take advantage of the chamber pressure that my modern rifle was capable of and make a much flatter shooting round. By the way, I find that the 270 and 30-06 also benefit from reloading. (5) You will be able to shoot more because you can afford to and because commercially manufactured ammunition has been in short supply over that last few years for whatever reason. (6) It will be a hobby that you will bring you a good deal of enjoyment and satisfaction. For rifle reloading: I think you can get well set up with quality reloading tools for $400 plus about $30 for a set of dies for each cartridge you plan to reload for. Your main tooling costs will be a reloading press, a set of dies for each cartridge you are planning to reload for (one to resize the brass and the other to seat the bullet), a brass tumbler to clean your old brass, a case trimmer to get the brass back into spec after it has been shot a number of times, calipers, powder measure, powder scale and a few other incidentals. For shotgun reloading you can get set up for about $200 or so depending upon whether you go with a simple press like a Lee Load All (sells for a little of $50.00) all or something more sophisticated which will produce many rounds quickly. Reloading requires focus, some mechanical ability and a dedicated place or room to reload (safely away from children and an area without any distractions). I didn't have time to watch the whole thing but I found what looks to be a good tutorial on rifle reloading: Good luck if you decide to pursue it. Send a PM if you have any detailed questions.

Born, I have quite a bit of experience with red dots on both rifles and shotguns using both holograph and conventional red dot types. Target acquisition is very good but I ultimately changed to low power optical scopes for three reasons on my slug shooting shotguns and woods rifle. I have a Weaver V-3 1-3X20 Riflescope on two shotguns and one woods rifle (Remington 7600, 270 Win.) like them much better than the red dots I used to have on them. I keep them on 1 power most of the tome. Their field of view, wide exit pupil and target acquisition are as good as a red dot plus they have the added benefit of better reticle crispness and superior light gathering during periods of low light even at low power. The disadvantages of red dots for me were as follows: (1) You continually have to adjust the brightness of the reticule as the light conditions change during the day. There were times when I would have been helpless to get a round off due to pointing the rifle into a brightly lighted area (2) The reticle is just not as sharp as that of a optical scope. It tends to waver and is not crisp like a rifle scope (3) In wet weather they can be hard to see out of. I was hunting during a spell of wet weather in the ADK's and the red dot scope became totally useless. I found my low powered weaver is much better to see through even if it gets a bit wet and I forget to put the lens cover on it. Just an opinion. Good luck. http://www.opticsplanet.com/weaver-rifle-scopes-v3-hunting-849400.html

Happy Birthday Fasteddie! I hope the coming year will find you feeling faster and getting faster! I'm not talking just about getting to the dinner table or the beer section of the market!

Hi Elmo, LOL. I wonder if this gun violates the SALT treaty?

Virgil, I really don't know why people feel they have to play mind control games and put the "pressure on" when someone doesn't agree with them. I first saw this when the SDS was preventing freedom of discussion on college campuses in the early 70's. Why not just make you point and to be a gentleman about it? Give us a break. Everyone has a right to state their opinion, its not a communist state, there is still room for dialogue. If you are not willing to let people voice their opinion why not start you own web site where no one can disagree with you. The other point of view is substantiated by well controlled studies. To wit: A study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 2008 tested lead levels in the blood of 700 North Dakotans. Most (81percent) had consumed wild game, including venison. Most (62 percent) ate venison at least once a week. None of the people tested had lead blood levels above the CDC's recommended levels. In fact, the average lead level was below that of the overall U.S. population. No one has ever been documented to have gotten sick from eating game killed with lead bullets. Not ever. We are talking about people who are not birds. Birds have stomach mechanisms and stomach chemistry much different than humans. Pure copper shot is not currently allowed to be used for waterfowl hunting. A small amount of copper used in plating is allowed but pure copper shot is not permitted. Why is that? Do you think there may be some long term hazards associated with copper particles being worked by the gizzards of birds? I'm interested and I have an open mind. Thanks for letting me speak.