uberyan

Oohh definitely a rifle that I need to get at some point. Tried it out at a range event once. Loved it from the first shot.

This is getting ridiculous. Sitting through that 8 hour course with my butt falling asleep and getting sore at the same time, the main thing that the instructor drilled into our heads was safety, safety, safety. Anytime you step out into the woods as a hunter you represent not just yourself but the entire hunting community. You practice safety above all and make damn sure you know what you're shooting at before you even think about pulling that trigger. Unless someone was walking on all fours with fake antlers on their head, I'm sorry the human form looks nothing like a deer. The bipedal human silhouette is a dead giveaway to most of the animals that humans hunt. Hence the camo and hiding and all that. So if you're too much of a dumbass to know what's a human, then you're less intelligent than the animals and have no business being out in the woods. Call me a goodie goodie nerd or whatever but I think with the current state of hunting with all the antis and negative attitudes it's really on us to make sure we do things legally, responsibly and morally.

I think I've narrowed it down to the following: New Forge Pochuck Roosa Gap All three are within 2-2.5 hrs for me and are acreages that are small enough to be able explore somewhat thoroughly. I was in the Catskills last week and it's just way too massive. Not to mention the area I was in was very steep terrain with just the smallest basin areas. Someday I'll have to figure out where in the Catskills to hunt, then again I've been hearing that there is very little success to be had in the Catskills, not sure if it's even worth it. Definitely good if low pressure is your main concern I guess.

It's a tad pricey but maybe something to consider for next season: thermal cloak

You're fairly close to a lot of areas without a lot of restrictions so you should have a fair amount of spots to choose from. The majority of land in NY is privately owned so unless you're able to lease a spot or get permission from an owner, public land is all you can really do. I was also pretty averse to hunting public land, all those stories of trigger happy idiots shooting anything that moves and whatnot. I've been out to the catskills once, the day before thanksgiving and only saw one truck parked in the area I was in. Didn't see any deer but had a good hike at least. Not sure if that was an anomaly or not, going to try my luck in some other public forests this weekend as well and hope for the best.

ASAT at some distance.

Not familiar with Vertigo but Predator was one of the ones I was considering when I started. Really nice patterns. I ended up going with ASAT as I thought it would work for more seasons and different environments. And because blackovis ended up having a flash sale on first lite gear so I figured it was meant to be.

Even the tree hugging liberals get orange vests for themselves and their dogs when they go hiking during hunting season. Any color, other than blue, as long as it isn't presented as a solid mass should not stand out to deer. The problem with a lot of the popular mimicry camos that I see is it's based on micro details that become unnoticeable at 20yards and farther. You just end up becoming a human shaped blob of color. Breakup patterns that are meant to disrupt silhouettes rather than make you invisible seem more effective to me. Selections for orange with breakup are limited but I think Cabela's carries some called Blaze Horizon that should fit the bill. You can also find them in fabric stores if your DIY-inclined.

Haha. It's not about the tolls. It's more of trying to avoid the cross Bronx or tappan zee. Much easier and less prone to traffic if I could just shoot north up the taconic. planning on making a short trip, late morning till sunset sort of deal so I won't be able to be on the road in the wee hours when there's no traffic.

Superfeet makes an insert that's designed specifically for hunting. Great orthopedic support and the merino lining does help add some warmth. Walked around with those in brand new boots for about 7 hours and felt comfortable the whole time. Close fitting teko socks with a fluffier wool sock over in uninsulated boots. As long as I was moving around my feet felt good. Temps were in the 20s to low 30s

Hmm. Perhaps that's why it doesn't have anything on the DEC site. Not very promising. I was trying to stay away from Orange county spots since they're usually more crowded but I may not have a choice. Maybe I'll try out Pochuck...

Spent a few days researching areas in Dutchess county only to find out it's no rifle there. I'm looking for somewhat closer places that don't require crossing the Hudson which means Columbia county. New Forge State Forest looks like a nice sized plot to stalk/still hunt on. Problem is there's very little info to be found on it, it doesn't even have its own page on the DEC website. I think I was able to figure out the parking area location from Google satellite but that's about it. Anyone have any experience with this place? Only other place I can see in Columbia county is Beebe Hill which also did not have much info.

Congrats!

Congrats

Wow. Really nice racks on some of those. Short of aggressive calling not much you can do legally. Stalk em and try to find them bedded.

Really? I thought only 3S (westchester county) was no rifle.

That's weak sauce. Unless they were really hard up for money it's a pretty weak move. Hope you're able to find another good spot that will appreciate you more.

Ah that sucks to hear. I was thinking of hunting there towards the end of rifle. Any experience slightly north with big buck?

Hmm maybe I'll try to hit up some state lands again towards the end of reg. My trip to the Catskills yesterday didn't quite work out as I'd hoped. Is there typically a big final rush of hunters on the last weekend or does it stay dead?

Yeah. Definitely a good learning experience. Still confused about the tracks in that one lot and nowhere else to be found. Not sure if I'll be able to get back out this season. Probably stick closer to if I do. State lands more east of the Catskills and whatnot. You have any luck while you were in the western side?

Part two after deciding to just explore the area, notice a portapotty in the far corner in the trailer parking area. While walking over notice tons of pretty fresh tracks in the snow. I remember reading that bigger bucks like to drag their toes like this to save energy. Curse ruger again. Follow the tracks to see what I can find. Fresh scat. Whats some brown stuff without some yellow to go with it. Thought it was odd considering it was just off the lot on the road side. The lot was full of tracks. From different deer as far as I could tell. Odd thing was I couldn't really trace any of them to a clear start or ending point. It was like they just dropped into the lot. Had a little deer orgy and then flew away. After exploring other parts of the area I decided to come back to the trailer lot and follow the tracks in the opposite direction. Scat again. But then right next to the scat: I swear this lot is inhabited by flying deer. I followed the blood trail for about 20 feet and it just ended with this: The boot print is mine. It's the only human track I saw. No one had retrieved this deer. No drag marks. No evidence of processing. It's like the deer just bandaged itself up, stopped bleeding and carried on. One thing I forgot to mention. I took a picture of my planned hunting route: Definitely underestimated the gradients here. Even if the ruger hadn't broken I would've had to find a new plan real quick. Hunting where hunters normally don't go is one thing. This terrain looked like deer wouldn't go anywhere near it unless there was immense pressure. Considering I only saw one other truck parked in the area and heard only 2-3 gunshots (from a distance away at that, most likely from the peak south of where I was) I don't think the deer are pressured here. Not sure where they are though. Other than the one trailer lot I didn't see any fresh signs. No tracks, scat and definitely no scrapes.

So a little epilogue for closure. This will be a bit long and possibly ranty, but hopefully entertaining. For those short on time or patience, no I did not fill a tag today. For those who need something to read while on the loo... alarm went off at 2. Probably got about three hours of sleep. Wanted to get to bed earlier but I had to run to a friends house to pick up a gps that I was hoping to have days ago. Pointless as the gps wasn't able to acquire a satellite the whole time while I was in the Catskills. Took forever to fall asleep since I normally go to bed after 1. Anyway. Showered and out the door by 2:30. Stop by the 7-11 for a giant coffee and croissant and onto the LIE. After crossing the first bridge I start worrying that I left my multitool in the range bag and forgot to pack it. Crap, how will I change the blades on the havalon without cutting myself? nice to drive through zero traffic. Long stretches where i'm the only car on the road. Darkness surrounds me as I enter the start of Catskills range. Feeling quite surreal. About 20miles out from the destination I almost hit a dumpster diving doe. Think to myself this means I'm going to see a ton of deer or this will be the only one I see all day. Arrive in the Catskills peekamoose valley a little past 5am. I've never been here before. And I don't think I've ever been in the mountains in darkness. I cannot get over how dark it is. Can't gauge anything it's so dark. Sit in the car. Eat the croissant and finish my coffee. Sun starts coming up. Another thing I notice, it goes from pitch black to light very quickly. In the backseat scrambling to change into my hunting clothes. Been a while since I had to put pants on in the backseat of a car. All dressed, check my pack (multitool is there), fill up the bladder and strap it on. Attach the bino harness. Attach the hand warmer. All regular gear set. Now just need to get the rifle ready. Left that last to be extra safe. Put the bolt in. Release the mag, four rounds in the mag and back into the rifle. Huh, mag didn't make the click going back in. Try racking a cartridge, mag noticeably shifts out of the rifle. Wtf. The hinge clip that holds and releases the mag has snapped off. There is nothing to hold the mag in. Expletives fill my head. Im in head to toe camo, save for a blaze orange beanie but have no weapon. Now yes I could've just manually chambered on and racked it. And yes the plan is one shot one kill. But being in a completely new area. No idea what to expect, I felt uneasy knowing I didn't have extra rounds in the mag ready to go. go back and forth between should I hunt should I not. All the while I'm running through the eloquent vitriol I'm going to spew on ruger once I get back to home to an internet connection. finally decide to just play it safe and put the rifle away. There will be no hunting today. Change back into regular clothes save for the boots and decide to just hike around and scout out the area.

Nice. Congrats

looks like the hilly creeks are winning. Those hills may be pretty steep after looking at some more detailed topo maps, peaks over 3000'. Hopefully there are some flatter areas along the bottoms closer to the water.

Going over the hunting plan. I've got two options. 1. Hilly/mountain section with a few parallel running brooks and creeks. I'm thinking of going up and down the creek edges, looking for funnel points. 2. Opposite side of the road is gentler gradiented and not segmented by water. More of a square area to explore in whatever direction the signs (if exist) would take me. Quite torn between the two... What do you more experienced folks think?