sfoulkrod

I've tried it. Spent 50% of my time tying knots in waist deep water, the remainder of the time was spent getting untangled. Before I got into a rhythm, a beaver swam up to me, slapped his tail on the surface of the water and had me running for shore. Of course, I fell, my waiters filled with water and everything that floated began racing downstream. Still, if you were to ask me in person if I fly fish I'd say, "Hell yea, I fly fish."

Amazing!

As a new hunter, I've been doing lots of internet based reading over the last couple of years and my searches I have landed me on this forum several times. I've always been amazed by how active the site is and how thoughtful and supportive the members are. Thanks for all the information I've already learned and thanks in advance for things yet to come! Steve

I can't believe the police weren't called by a single person.

Just a matter of time.

That was some serious MMA action! Chokes, kicks, punches, stare downs... Awesome!

If a buddy asked me that same question, I'd tell him it's up to him - if it's legal and ethical then go for it. Personally, when I hunt whitetail, I'm thinking about feeding my family so unless I'm feeling especially empathetic or entertained by a doe, I'm putting her down as long as I know the meat will be used. The thing is, I've never been in the situation where I've harvested two deer and am able to go for a third, so I'm only speaking about what I think I might do. Jeez, I wish I had your problem!!

I hunt whenever I'm done with work and family responsibilities. So when I get a day, I'm going out.

That's awesome!

Sounds like trail cams are the way to go. I'll pick a couple up on sale this winter and give them a go. Sounds like I need a cable strap and padlock and some creativity when it comes to placement.

I hope so, I really do. I have been impressed with many of NY's decisions, but to your point I have learned that we need to keep a close eye on them because like children if we don't they make stupid decisions. The DEC page for voicing our concerns on this is unbelievably hard to navigate and I would have shared my 2 cents but it would have cost me too much time to get in there and do so (which I believe is intentional). I mean, it's not the Dakota pipeline heh, but it begs the question, are they looking out for us here?

I have never used cameras. I want to, but each time I go to pull the trigger, I read reviews that scare me away again. I mean there's some downright hatred for some camera's reliability. The other reason I haven't pulled the trigger is because everyone I know that mentions their trail cameras almost always mentions theft shortly thereafter. If you had to guess, what percentage of locked trail cams get found and stolen? Grizz if I knew I could hang cameras and find them when I returned guaranteed, they'd be out all year long.

This is a great topic because it brings up an issue that is really important and I knew nothing about it before you addressed it. I had to look a lot of stuff up to get a handle on things and I'm a better man for it, thanks Four Season Whitetails. My gut feel... Stock up on urine... From what I read, CWD is a nasty deer killer that is spread via fluids & feces. It seems there are defective proteins called prions that attack a deer's brain - it's 100% fatal and deer will act erratically and eventually waste away. This is according to Dr. Schuler, who is a wildlife disease ecologiest. She works at Cornell University's College of Vet. Medicine (local knowledge!). According to her, these prions can also bind to soil particles and get taken up by plants and then eaten by deer years later, and there's no minimum safe dosage, so one prion molecule and that's all she wrote. When you think about deer farms that produce urine, it stands to reason that one prion-positive animal taints a huge supply (think dipping a ladle into a deer porta-potty) not to mention potentially infecting every deer on the farm. Sadly, the symptoms of CWD take months to show, so unless the deer are tested every time before they urinate, there's no guarantee of purity. Also, most of us can agree that companies often over state their quality control. One more thing, CNY (my stomping ground) is now on the list of areas were CWD infected populations exist. The data was updated this November 2016 by the CDW.ORG website http://cwd-info.org/map-chronic-wasting-disease-in-north-america/ So on the surface it seems like an easy law to pass. Go Go government... I think pro-urine hunters have a few things going for them. Firstly, NYS moves super slowly, which gives the scientists who are refuting theses claims to prove the experiments and conclusions are faulty or biased. Researchers are far from reaching consensus... There's a deer urine farm near me in Lyons, NY - highly regarded in this area. I initially felt bad for him, but then I started thinking about how prices might skyrocket due to an enormous black market demand. To be clear, experts don't agree that banning urine attractants will reduce the spread of CWD, so logic would dictate a wait and see. But if you look at this from the eyes of a political legislator, it's low hanging fruit on the 'to do' list. I think I just convinced myself to go stock up on deer piss.

I'll be out, quite a bit in fact because I have the 9th through the 20th off, so I'll finally get a chance to spend a big block of time in the woods. I'm not super pumped about fighting the cold, but I've armed myself with a few extra extreme cold solutions this year. /fingers crossed for all of us...

I would absolutely hunt in a doe-only area. I don't know why, but I've always passed on young bucks. It has less to do with conservation and more to do with empathy. I mean, what crimes must a man commit to be sentenced to death before he gets laid? Sorry for being vulgar, but that is exactly what I think when I see a spike in range.

Hey Nodeerhere, I'm at the point where I'm looking forward to the end of gun season for deer. I'll be bow hunting 12/12-12/20, then I'll be excited to get my dog with me again. We'll be hunting small game through Feb. During this time, I'll also be carefully scouting deer to see who made it and who didn't. This helps me with planning my fall bow hunt - not saying what they're doing in Jan-Feb is anything like what they're doing in Oct., but you know how those bucks are, they stick to a pretty tight grid. I think late season is the best time to figure out where that is. Anyhow, then you got ice fishing... Then you have the month of May to try turkey. After that it's ticks, mosquitoes, heat and humidity and that means time to work on the garden. Non-hunting wise, lots of Netflix binge watching, crazy YouTube deep dives and PC games. I like reading too.

I have noticed a minor difference sometimes, but I have no idea what causes this. I have heard that animals eating fruits and berries will have better tasking meat, but I can't say I've really been able to tell. It always tastes good to me. Regarding the preparation, Steven Rinella's Meat Eater show has some episodes devoted to preparing game. Seasons 5 and 6 are now on Netflix, which is awesome. He's also got a 2 book series that has recipes and ideas that cater to feeding wild game to hesitant family members. Spoiler alert - lot's of bacon...

To Core, First of all, I've been in the same situation and I've thought about this issue quite a bit too. Based on your requirements ---> semi-permanent stands like ladder stands that are already set up when you head out certainly meet the requirements you have, 1. light, 2. quick, 3. quiet and 4. comfortable. Reading between the lines, it seems like you want to move around a bit which is where the trade off comes in. Some people use more than one ladder stand (or move it around periodically throughout the season). I've also seen guys with hang on stands leave the hang on locked up in the tree (if they plan on returning soon) and just remove the sticks as they climb down. It's relatively quieter, quicker and lighter for your departure and return. If you are 100% carry in, carry out then ladder stands as they currently exist won't perfectly meet your needs. I mean, I've never seen a guy routinely pack his ladder stand in and out each day... So that leaves you with hang on/climbing sticks or a climber. I really like your idea about an ultralight, portable ladder stand - build a prototype and get rich!!! Lone Wolf has been know as the quietest, but there are some new brands out that are comparable now. Stlil to your point, the Lone Wolf isn't that quiet until we address the issues. Here's a link to get you started, but there are lots of little things you can do to quiet your gear. I used a Summit climber for years. It wasn't super quiet, nor was it particularly fun to pack in/out, and I was limited to limbless trees to climb but the freedom that came with it made it well worth it. Killed lots of deer from it and it would do you just fine. I currently use a Lone Wolf Alpha hang on with sticks. I purchased Molle Shoulder straps and kidney belt (waist belt) and I sometimes forget it's even on my back. Things got much better for me when I reminded myself that the goal isn't to be up in the tree ASAP, but rather to be up as slowly and quietly as possible. It might take me 20+ minutes from when I take my stand off my back to when I'm 100% ready - sometimes longer. I bet I could ascend a tree in pitch black in 6 but why would I do that unless I was trying to impress a sexy lady hunter?

My dog sleeps on my bed, eats vegetables from my garden and harvested game from my freezer. He goes with me everywhere and is by far the most important thing in my life other than my immediate family. I chose my living quarters based on proximity to walkable land for my dog. I've even chosen jobs based on whether or not I can go home at lunch and take him on day time walks. My concern for his welfare preoccupies my thoughts and has completely changed the plans I make with my life. In this regard, I couldn't agree with you more. We are hunters and lovers of animals. In this regard I couldn't agree more...

To me hunting skills are handed down from generation to generation. Unfortunately, my dad didn't really hunt, so I learned 90% of what I know from a buddy. I like the idea of the solitary hunter, but there's lots to be said about going out in a group of 2 or more. It keeps camaraderie up and you get to bounce some of your ideas off someone rather than mull them over by yourself...

Great Shot! Congrats!

The other day while sitting in a ground blind, a dog came up to me and licked my hand. It made my day. I suppose a dog running through my spot could ruin it, but it might also move deer around to me so in my mind, it's a wash. I'd been out there for many hours by that point, saw nothing, was cold, so I enjoyed the company even if it was only for 10 seconds. Caveman, I couldn't agree more. This reflects poorly on us as hunters. This news source could have been a little more objective. For example, it wasn't so long ago that the shooting of a dog pursuing deer was acceptable. Maybe they could have mentioned that when they gave his age of 59 yrs. The dog owner admitted that both his dogs bolted off into the woods and didn't respond to him when called. Not saying the owner is irresponsible, but if my dog runs in the road chasing a squirrel and gets hit by a drunk driver, I'm blaming myself. Yea, the drunk driver will be charged with a felony, but I bet the dog owner harbors tremendous guilt and accepts a lot of the responsibility... The article also went out of it's way to make the dogs look like members of a family and friends to the community, which is tasteless. Lastly, they could have interviewed a DEC officer or expert who could say something on behalf of the vast majority of hunters who generally have a deeper appreciation for wildlife, a stronger connection to nature and have contributed more money toward environmental conservation than the top ten environmental non-profits combined. You know, shed light and educate. Don't dumb it down and oversimplify... This helps explain why, while hunting on public land last week, I started hearing this awful loud racket. It sounded like two people cheering for a football game. I turned around and about 100 yards away I see two people in jogging attire making a commotion on a logging trail. So I glass them with my binos and immediately realize they're smacking sticks together and kicking leaves up because they see the blaze orange wraps I use around my treestand. Basically, they were trying to scare off Bambi because an evil monster was in the woods hell bent on killing... I bet they couldn't identify three species of plant life in the forest. This is why I don't tell anybody (but hunters) that I hunt.

It's a pretty cool idea Biz, Some of the public places I hunt have rules against cutting or damaging trees in any way; not sure if that applies to you but if it doesn't then yea you can cut branches and pile them up, depending on how far you plan on dragging it from where you cut it. Might get sketchy if you've got a food source that isn't native to the immediate area. For example, I doubt law enforcement would be cool with me chopping down corn from a nearby standing field and piling it up, but they can't say anything if I chop it down. Also, I'd be surprised if you can still find lots of acorns stuck to branches that you can cut and pile up as acorns typically fall in Sept. and early Oct, and have mostly fallen from the tree by now. It may be worth checking to see what type of oaks they were eating under - white oaks (leaves have the rounded outer edges) and chestnut oaks (leaves look more like beech than typical oak) are usually gobbled up by wildlife first and the Red & Black (pointier outer leaves) are often eaten once the preferred stuff is gobbled up. Also, it's probably worth mentioning that no two oak trees are the same, some produce better tasting acorns and will draw the attention of wildlife over other same species trees until their crop is devoured. So, if they were trolling around white/chestnut oaks and have moved on, it might be worth thinking back to whether they were clustered under one super tree or whether they were spread out under many trees. Then it would be worth noting what kind of oaks they were. In either case, if they've moved on then it might be a waste dragging less tasty nuts into an area. They may still be eating there though, perhaps they're just switching it up a bit? If you haven't worn out the site then camp it again until noon then still hunt upwind while looking for signs of what they're eating now (yea, much easier said than done). Good luck to you! Edit: and Deerstalker, yea... If you're looking to draw them in, calls and scents might produce better results with less overall effort.

Best wishes for a speedy recovery and grats on seeing some cool stuff in the woods this year.

Yea I would definitely visit the public lands in your area. You could even make it a point to visit someplace new each week and soon you'll have more hunting ideas than days to implement them. Bring your retriever and shotgun or a .22 and small game hunt while scouting. I used to bring a camera, field manual and notebook too, but you can get apps to do everything you'd need these days and that really helps on weight and bulk. I like to take good notes because everything blurs together after a while. I spend hours well into the evening using Google Earth and making plans. Regarding the horror stories, from all that I've heard over the years I must say I've been disappointed in how little craziness I've seen on public land. In fact, the scariest thing I've ever had to do as a hunter (so far) is approach armed poachers who were criminally trespassing on a piece of property that belonged to a family member. The problem I have with public land is that there could be a bunch of guys headed out on the same day to hunt the same area as you because they read the same articles about hunting public land developed the same strategies. The only deer taken on opening day where I hunted was harvested close to where everyone parked. The rest of us all got out there at 4 AM and walked miles to the far reaches of the border when we could have tailgated in the parking lot until 9 am. It's the same think when you get to the checkout of a supermarket. The only 6 people in the store all finish shopping at the exact time; meanwhile once the 6 shoppers filter through the cashier goes back to playing solitaire... Showing up for hunting seems a lot like this on public land from time to time.