CNYScott

I just returned from Sabattis Scout Reservation and was reminded of how generous the Friends of NRA has been to the Boy Scouts. Longhouse Council alone has secured over $30,000 in the past ten years from the FNRA Grant Fund to build, improve, arm and supply its various shooting programs. We have introduced thousands of kids to shooting for the first time through Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts. The FNRA has been there every step of the way to make sure we can fund these programs. If your Scout Council, 4-H group, club or other organization isn't applying for grants from FNRA they are missing a huge opportunity. To apply for a grant: http://www.nrafoundation.org/grants/statefund.asp To attend a FNRA event in NY: http://www.friendsofnra.org/StateHome.aspx?sid=33&sc=NY To join Scouting: wwww.BeAScout.org Check out these pictures from Sabattis Scout Reservation in between Long Lake and Tupper Lake:

Great topic and much often overlooked by many hunters. A good state of physical fitness helps with everything from rolling out of the rack at 4:00 a.m. to hit the woods to pulling a 200lbs. animal through the snow when the job is done. Your attitude, health, fitness -- pretty much everything, improves if you pay a little attention to treating your body right.

Remington Core-Lokt here, too. Great expansion and puts the deer down. I've found it is consistently accurate in both my Winchester Model 70 (.270) here in NY for Whitetail and my Ruger M77 Mark II (.300 Win Mag) which I use out West for elk and bear. I have tried many "premium" rounds that are more expensive with no difference except a lighter wallet. Nothing substitutes for good shooting fundamentals - that makes the most difference.

Favorite sportfishing is Muskie in the St. Lawrence and selected lakes. Primary fishing is large mouth bass in CNY and NNY, perch and pan fish with the kids, occasional King Salmon in Lake Ontario.

I haven't seen a problem identified that would justify shortening the hunting season. I'm all in favor of increasing hunting opportunities, which seems to me would be best helped by increasing, not decreasing, the time available for hunting.

Seems like a very reasonable price at $10. I've done numerous editing projects, they are very time consuming. I'll be contacting you after the 4th.

I'm a convert to bad weather hunting. I've always had better luck in rain, wind and snow. I'm not a big fan of the "others pushing deer" method as I think it spooks them and takes them off their patterns and puts them on alert in hiding. I'm also not inclined to shoot at a running animal. Proper gear and proper attitude can carry you through a lot of bad conditions, and I actually like knowing I will hunt in conditions that many others won't.

One more note -- I have used this hunting story as a lesson for my twin boys (age 9) and their Cub Scout buddies to do several things - 1) Make a point about persistence and sticking to a task no matter how tough; 2) Hunting is an adventure; 3) Being properly prepared; and 4) the end result of hunting pays dividends. To that end I have introduced Pack 244 to the pleasures of properly prepared venison. Many of the boys now ask if I'm bringing venison on our camping trips, and If they ask I will provide. Below is a picture of our Pack at Highland Forest in May 2011, and I'm taking steaks from this deer off the grill for the boys. I thought I defrosted too many - about 20 small/mid-sized steaks. Couldn't have been more wrong. The boys scarfed them down, leaving very little for the adults, and were asking for more. If we want more hunters, getting them hooked on venison early is a good way to do it!

I've been deer hunting for 12 years. In that time I've learned plenty - patience, deer patterns, deer habits, cover, scent control, wind, sign, but perhaps more than anything - time in the saddle counts so hunt when others won't. Third day of 2010 Southern Zone was miserable - 35 degrees, wind, hard rain. When the alarm went off at 4:30 I thought seriously about two more hours of rack time and going to work. I had already planned for the day off so I dragged myself out of bed. It didn't help that both my buddies had to work and another guy that hunts with us bagged a monster 8-pt. the day before, probably the best deer in the area. But off I went, alone, in the dark and rain. I was on stand ready to go by 6:15 a.m. Rain was heavy and made me appreciate the investment in my Cabela's 7-in-1 Gore Tex gear. I saw four bucks between 8:30 and 10:00 - two four-points, a spike and a six I could have jumped on for a ride he was so close. Confidence boosters that my movement was low, scent was masked. No shooters yet. Twice it got so windy I came down out of my ladder stand - the tree was swaying something fierce. Quick lunch under a poncho and back on stand for the afternoon. By 3:00 p.m. I was seriously questioning my sanity. I was still dry but that chill from not moving was beginning to set in. I steeled myself and convinced myself I could survive another 90 minutes until dark. Out of sheer boredom I took out my rattling bag - a skill that I was unconvinced I had just yet as it had never worked. I rattled on and off for about 90 seconds and tucked the bag back in my ruck, convinced that my technique still needed work. THEN...only about 1-2 minutes later I heard this odd sound over my left shoulder at the 8 o'clock position. I carefully turned my head and could not be believe my eyes. A nice buck was snorting and wheezing in my direction, stomping a hoof. I could tell he couldn't see me in my stand, but he had focused on the antler rattle and was looking in my direction for a fight. He was the nicest buck I had seen in my 12 years of hunting and I was determined, after nearly 9 hours of solo hunting on stand in crap weather, to bring him home. I carefully picked up my Winchester Model 70 in .270, aimed, exhaled and held my breath and squeezed the trigger. I knew I made a true shot and strangely enough I was stone cold during the shot - no buck fever at all (a first for me). He jumped straight up and took off like a shot off my property, across a border road and onto the adjacent property. As I had lost a similar wounded buck opening day in the pouring rain two years prior I did not wait. I lowered my rifle to the ground, scrambled down the ladder and bolted towards the road thinking that would be the easiest place to pick up a blood trail. My heart sunk when I didn't see a drop of blood. I knew I hit him, but could find no proof. I immediately set off onto the adjacent land which was slight uphill grassy fields broken up by small hedge rows. It was tall enough to hide a downed deer, so I started a rapid criss-cross pattern, rifle at the ready. I normally would never have pushed an animal so hard so soon but I was by myself in the pouring rain and time was not my ally this day. As I broke through the first hedge I began to get that sinking feeling - beginning to psyche myself out that I had lost a second wounded buck in bad weather. Just as I about to mumble some bad words to myself I saw an unnatural white patch up ahead and to the left. I broke into a sprint. Sure enough I saw the belly of a deer, and to my overwhelming joy, a rack of antlers. It wasn't moving, I approached carefully, gave it a nudge - dead as a rock. Adrenaline surged from head to toe. I let out a victory scream. I called my wife and yammered on about the entire ordeal like a nervous school girl. I marveled at the beast for about five minutes before I could collect myself to begin the task that needed doing. I field dressed him, cleaned myself up and called my hunting buddies who were very happy for me. I dragged him down to the road, about 100 yards, and retrieved my gear and my truck. It was starting to get dark and realized I didn't have a good plan to get him onto the hitch platform on the back of my Chevy Tahoe. I could get one end of him up but could not get enough of him of to stay on while I got the rest, and all I could think of was snapping the rack off on the road when he fell as I tried to get him up there. I called my Dad, he could be there in about 45 minutes to help. The road is remote so waiting for someone willing/capable of helping was not a great plan. Just as I was about to ask my Dad to head my way a car approached - it was my buddy who had bagged the 8-pt. the previous day returning from work. The two of us easily got him up there. He was not a monster, but a big-bodied buck whose neck suggested active rut. I took him to Marsh Mill Ranch for butchering, and to North Shore Taxidermy for mounting. He's more tasty than trophy, but I felt I truly earned him and that warranted mounting him. He has provided many a fine meal for me, family and friends, and this mount hangs in my office as a reminder that persistence pays off. Here are pictures of him on trail cam in September 2010; after harvesting; mounted on the back platform behind my full sized Chevy Tahoe; and the mount that I got back in early June 2011.

Double welcome then. I was a PL in the 108th a million years ago. My best buddy from ROTC was the Divisional G2 for Operation Anaconda and did a second tour as XO for the 2-87. When he was was on post we did some great bass fishing on base. Never got to hunt there but have heard from many stationed there that the on-base hunting is quite good. Would be happy to host you for a day on my property in Madison County during southern zone deer. My hunting buddy is a retired E-8 from the Air Guard. We're happy to invite a fellow warrior to hunt with us, the least we can do. Stay in touch. Also - not sure if you have kids, but Pack 26/Troop 26 Scouts are great units on post if you have sons.

A plan beats no plan, and this seeks to promote hunting with expansion of archery season, a dedicated youth hunt and attempts at improving deer herds. It's by no means perfect but it's not bad either. Bottom line on youth hunting -- It's up to us as individuals to introduce kids to the love of hunting. Perhaps if we're not preoccupied with our own pursuit of game we will be more inclined to include kids in our hunting plans. Not to mention it gives us the opportunity for some last minute scouting, which isn't a bad thing.

CantrellTaxidermy, that was a Hell of a find. Too bad that buck wasn't harvested and now hanging on your wall and gracing the dinner table.

And I REALLY appreciated this young buck's cooperation with the trail cam. It was practically posing for the photo, probably a once in a lifetime stroke of luck.

Thanks everyone for the kind comments. The best part of this particular hunt is the fascination my twin sons and their Cub Scout buddies have shown in hunting after seeing the trail cam pictures, wall mount and tasting the venison steaks. I'm loving it that the Scouts are now asking if I'm bringing more venison steaks on our camp-outs. If this keeps up I'll need to go for three deer/year instead of my normal two.

Good Lord. Thank God the hunter kept his wits about him. No margin for error on that hunt.

I use three Bushnell Trophy Cams - no complaints. Great pics, day or night.

Welcome! Ft. Drum itself has some great hunting and fishing. Will you be associated with the base?

More tasty than trophy, this 8-pointer is the first buck I hung on the wall. I rattled him in at 3:06 p.m. the third day of SZ regular season in Madison County. I had been on stand for nine hours, 35 degrees and heavy rain nearly the whole time. I had scouted him for months and got him perfectly on trail cam in September 2010 (see picture). I earned this buck. Taxidermy by North Shore Taxidermy / Bob Halbritter of Williamstown, NY.

Doc - I think Ontario County was addressing a wide range of issues, I'll investigate further. Many companies do now recapture 100%, but not all and where drilling has been going on for a while the technology is older, prompting the need for wastewater treatment. Let's take a reality check here. WASTEwater is mostly residential sewage and kitchen/shower water. It's not stuff you'd want to consume. It's also industrial waste from manufacturers, including nasty chemicals, pharmaceuticals, petroleum, etc. Nothing in frac fluid is even close to the nastiest stuff that our municipal plants already treat successfully. As for spill remediation, it does and will happen - as with any industrial site. There are strict protocols and standards, that's why we have the DEC. Spills happen - from gas station spills to industrial accidents. Companies such as NY based OpTec are the best in the world at remediation. I don't profess to know chapter and verse on what you do with contaminated industrial soil, but I know it is nothing new and is being handled properly. Not for nothing, but horizontal drilling fluids, water and soil have been handled in NY for decades.

Typical NY - day late and many dollars short. Most drilling companies are now recapturing and reusing 100% of the water used in the process. There was an article in Towanda, PA yesterday on how their water and sewer rates are staying the same due to proceeds from the township selling water to the drilling industry. Those proceeds are also paying for multiple capital improvements. Many wastewater treatment plants across NY already treat frac solution imported from PA and Canada - never has been an issue.

Interesting update on environmental progress within the drilling industry: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/business/energy/7345085.html

Welcome to the club. Nice shooting brings good eating.

Doc -- I'm a bigger is better knife guy for the same reason. I'm a former paratrooper, and the comfort of a big knife is probably old habit more than it is practical - but I still carry one. I threw my small fixed blade in my pack after watching my buddies carve through deer much easier than me. Granted, they've been at it longer but I've got enough under my belt in 12 years of hunting that I should be able to reasonably match them. I noticed they all used 4" or less blades. I tried it this year and went through my two kills far quicker than any before them. The small knife was just easier to use, got in the way less, less risk on knicking good meat in the process and less chance of stabbing myself when two hands are at it. My system now - bring the big knife for heavy work and emergencies, but bring the small, almost negligible weight fixed blade to do the work at the end of the successful hunt.

Switched to a 3 1/2 inch blade this year myself; dressing my two deer were never easier. A small, basic knife was by far the easiest tool I've used to dress-out whitetails. Good article. Post Standard outdoor reporting has gotten really good.

That is a monster by any standards.