Elmo

Hmmm..good point.

I was at Sterling Forest pretty much ever other weekend through the entire winter and didn't see a single bear.

Yeah, West Point itself. During any other season, only West Point cadets is allowed to hunt in the military training grounds but during deer season they open it up to all active military personnel and their guest. Due to this restriction, there aren't as many hunters there as other public lands. I am not sure if it is open during all deer season or only regular gun season because I only do not bow hunt, I've only gone there during the regular gun season. http://www.westpointmwr.com/ACTIVITY/OUTDOOR/hunting.htm

Hunting is a sport. Whether physical or mental, you're pitting your skills against that of an animal. Yes, you can sit on top of a tree with a rifle and shoot a deer a few hundred yards out. I use think there was no challenge in it. The deer can't shoot back so where's the competition? Until I tried it. I saw no deer at all. That's when I realized there is so much more to it. The months of scouting. The knowledge of the deers behavior. Even the hours spent training a dog to hunt is a skill. No random city slicker like me can just walk into the woods and shoot a deer. How Tred Barta shot that bear, you could have literally grabbed any idiot out in the street and they could have killed that bear just the same with that kind of support Tred had. I have nothing against people with disabilities enjoying the sport of huntig and I fully support it. But let's keep the fact that it is still suppose to be a challenge and a test of ones skills.

Jusputtn, I don't really know. Last winter I tried night stalking by hiding in an area where I found tons of coon tracks but I forgot to GPS mark the spot so I couldn't find the spot in the middle of the night. We ended up walking around in the woods in the middle of the night shining out spot lights around hoping to spot something. I don't have a dog either (Well, technically I do. It's a tiny Maltese so she doesn't count. Long story on how I ended up with a Maltese if anyone cares to hear it). I watched the "Crumblin Coons" DVD by Minaska Outdoors and they proved that it is possible to call raccoons in even during the day. I figure I'll give calling them in a try this fall (night and day).

I was flipping through the channels once and stumbled onto one of his shows. He was in a van because they had tree'd a bear. A couple of guys then bought him out of the van, placed him in his wheelchair, carted him over mud and debris, over to a tree. There was maybe 15 people waiting under the tree with a few hounds and a bear scared out of his wits. They bough him over and handed him a crossbow. He took aim and took two shots to bring the bear down. He bragged about how great it felt. The guys then carted him back to the van. I stood there thinking they just handed this bear to him in a silver plate. I understand that he is handicapped now and people with disabilities should not be denied their rights to hunt. I don't care how you look at it, he did not hunt this bear down. He murdered the bear. Plain and simple. I turned the channel in disgust.

welcome aboard.

How about this one? I'm just kidding!

On the serious side, these things are a cause for concern but the positive side of it is having more edible game in the woods. I would gladly take one down on sight knowing that I am helping the ecology, the farmers, and my belly.

Pseudorabies in pork? Isn't that how most zombie apocalypse movies start out?

One day, three men were hiking and unexpectedly came upon a large raging, violent river. They needed to get to the other side, but had no idea of how to do so. The first man prayed to God, saying, “Please God, give me the strength to cross this river.” Poof! God gave him big arms and strong legs, and he was able to swim across the river. The second man prayed to God, saying, “Please God, give me the tools to cross this river.” Poof! God gave him a rowboat and he was able to row across the river. The third man also prayed to God saying, “Please God, give me the intelligence to cross this river.” And Poof! God turned him into a woman. She looked at the map then walked across the bridge.

Two blondes are out walking when they come across some tracks. "They look like deer tracks!" says the first blonde. "No they don't, they look like fox tracks!" argues the second blonde. They were still arguing when the train hit them.

Three men stand before St. Peter awaiting admission into Heaven. However, St. Peter has been informed that Heaven will only admit 33% of applicants today. The admissions standard: Who died the worst death? So, St. Peter takes each of the three men aside in turn and asks them about how they died. First man: “I’d been suspecting for a long time that my wife was cheating on me. I decided to come home early from work one afternoon and check to see if I could catch her in the act. When I got back to my apartment, I heard the water running. My wife was in the shower. I looked everywhere for the guy, but couldn’t find anyone or any trace that he had been there. The last place I looked was out on the balcony. I found the bastard hanging from the edge, trying to get back in! So I started jumping up and down on his hands, and he yelled, but he didn’t fall. So I ran inside and got a hammer, and crushed his fingers with it until he fell twenty-five floors screaming in agony. But the fall didn’t kill the asshole. He landed in some bushes! So I dragged the refirgerator from the kitchen (it weighed about a ton), pulled it to the balcony, and hurled it over the edge. It landed right on the guy and killed him. But then I felt so horrible about what I had done, I went back into the bedroom and shot myself.” St. Peter nodded slowly as the man recounted the story. Then, telling the first man to wait, he took the second aside. Second man: “I lived on the twenty-seventh floor of this apartment building. I had just purchased this book on morning exercises and was practicing them on my balcony, enjoying the sunshine, when I lost my balance and fell off the edge. Luckily, I only fell about two floors before grabbing another balcony and holding on for dear life. I was trying to pull myself up when this guy came running onto what must have been his balcony and started jumping up and down on my hands. I screamed in pain, but he seemed really irate. When he finally stopped, I tried to pull myself up again, but he came out with a hammer and smashed my fingers to a pulp! I fell, and I thought I was dead, but I landed in some bushes. I couldn’t believe my second stroke of luck, but it didn’t last. The last thing I saw was this enormous refrigerator falling from the building down on top of me and crushing me.” St. Peter comforted the man, who seemed to have several broken bones. Then he told him to wait, and turned to the third man. Third man: “Picture this. It's cold, you're naked, and you’re hiding inside a refrigerator…”

Allow supervised sewer rat/pigeon airgun hunts in the slums of New York City. That's a win-win situation if you ask me.

I am trying to decide between Mission Craze, Bear Charge, or Diamond Rock II (with the Diamond Rock trailing fffaaarrr behind). All three are priced the same.

I agree that something needs to be done but I don't know what they can do and I don't think they really care. I go camping, hiking, and the few times I've gone hunting. Outside of squirrels, I have not seen any small game. Not even rabbits. That's just not right.

Thanks for the offer. I pulled an old bow out of my brothers garage. It's over 20 years old and it's at 29.5". I had it touched up and re-strung. Haven't actually taken it out to shoot yet. I think what happens is that my form is fine when I'm focused. If I'm taking my time on every shot, I don't have a porblem. But once I get into a flow and I stop thinking about it, I start to lock my elbows. Next time at the range, I'll see if I can record myself.

I recommend reading "Born To Run" by Christopher McDougal. Talks about how the human physiology is designed to run a lot more than you think. Some of the stuff he brings up blows your mind. Go ahead a look up "persistence hunting" and the "man versus horse marathon" on wikipedia. As far as reducing stress to your body, it is one of the reasons why I run with Vibram FiveFingers all the time. But if you do have knee and other joint problems, the stationary bike is the best cardio exercise out there by far because there is absolutely zero impact on your joints. The elliptical machine is the next best machine. Just when you do ride a bike, I recommend that you don't ride behind a bus.

28" as measured in a pro-shop. They said I can even go to 27.5 ideally.

http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2011/07/29/2011-07-29_sag_harbor_sea_gull_pierced_in_head_with_dart_is_latest_in_string_of_long_island.html

The compound had a d loop and wrist strap release. The recurve I shot with fingers. I don't really have my own bow so I was using the rental ones at the range. I kept locking my elbows a lot especially towards the end of the day when I was getting tired. From 10 yards out, I would get 3 out of 4 arrows into a one and half inch grouping. The fourth arrow was all over the place. My form isn't consistent enough yet, I don't think.

Thanks for the tips. That was actually from last weekend. The color just started to really set in the last few days. First time with the bow. Most of the damage was done at the end when I was starting to tire a little and had also switched over to the recurve. I really enjoyed it. Will definitely buy a compound in the future just to shoot at the range, etc at first. I won't hunt with a bow until I'm good enough to gaurantee a clean and ethical kill.

This is what bad shooting form gets you huh? Look like I would need a bigger arm guard.

Great choice! If I knew you could have stretched your budget, I would have told you to get the Ruger 10/22 from the get go. In the future, if you get tired of it, you can alway mod it up. Just last week, I bought a bull barrel and a hogue synthetic stock for mine so now mines looks exactly like the picture. Same parts, etc. I just don't have a bipod for it yet. Enjoy your new toy!

Both, Adorama and B&H have extensive used departments: http://www.adorama.com/catalog.tpl?op=category&cat1=Used http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/browse/Cameras-Photo-Gear/ci/2871/N/4294247179