jmark

Nah, if that were the case, he would have blamed Brett Kavanaugh.

That's the funniest thing I've ever seen! Cracking up here.

OK, yeah, that article says, of bear attacks in the 2000's - "Of the 46 total fatal incidents, black bears perpetrated 25 of the attacks, while brown bears perpetrated 21 of them." That seems to me a close call and hard to make generalizations. I do take your point, apparently black bear fatal attacks are more common than I thought. Interesting comment on wikipedia: The number of black bear attacks on humans is higher than those of brown bears, though this is largely because the black species outnumbers the brown rather than their being more aggressive. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bear_attack

Interesting article, and seems to rebut the common assumption (that I always held) that the most dangerous black bear is a mother protecting her cub(s). Still, it doesn't say anything about the comparative likelihood or instance of brown vs black bear attacks. ?

Is that correct? I have always thought instances of black bears killing humans were almost unheard of.

I'm thinking of putting one of these in our camp (28 by 12). I have a Big Buddy heater, which is a similar unit but portable. Hooked to a 20 lb tank it will run you out of a room that size in single digit weather (assuming good insulation) and run for days on end. I've used it through a number of power outages at home (including 12 days during Sandy, although it wan't that cold). Amazon sells the Dyna-Glow units (and others), and has a lot of reviews and Q&A's. Generally favorable. Edit: Question - does anyone know what's involved in installing, say, a 100 or 200 lb tank outside a home/building? Does it require a permit? Any particular kind of base? Is propane much cheaper when delivered by a truck and pumped into a large tank? (Sorry to hijack, but I figure these questions are probably relevant to the OP as well.)

I just met with a well driller from Schoharie yesterday. Great guy, true country in the sense we used to say down South. Small town, hard to imagine a tragedy like this doesn't hit everyone one way or another. Condolences to all.

Uh... yeah. Not good with math here. Left off a zero. :/

I think most recipes say a cup or so - use sea salt or kosher salt. I generally go a bit more, at least cup and a half. The key is to let it soak overnight. Or at least 6-8 hours anyway. It's hard to mess up a brine. Just use your imagination. I think this year maybe I'll throw a pound of raw bacon in there. Nothing can go wrong with bacon!

Haven't done it with a wild turkey - haven't got one yet (new at it). But I have been brining my supermarket turkeys for many years. I basically change the recipe every time I do it, just tossing in whatever I have or think of. Fruits, onions, spices, a bottle of cheap wine, couple of Budweisers, quart of orange juice, whatever. The key is the salt. I have a very large stainless pot that I used to use in beer and wine making, I put it all in their, cover it well, and put it out in the garage overnight. I tend to get lots of favorable comments on the birds I cook. But then, I also make sure to pump my guests full of beer and wine...

Obviously I don't know the guy, and I guess few of us do, if any. But... say, if it was a Silver Pigeon, if 10 of us contributed $20 each, we could buy him a new one. Nice way to help out a retired brother, and maybe get a new forum member, too. I'd be in if others are.

I wonder what the penalty is. Article says "ticketed". He should be locked up, and should never be allowed to obtain a hunting license again. At a minimum.

Thanks for all the replies, very helpful. Funny, as I'm checking stock at various places, it seems freezers are flying out the door. Must be something about the time of year....

Greetings Folks, I need a freezer. Should be big enough for a couple of deer (processed) and couple of turkeys. I'm thinking 5-7 cubic feet should be plenty, probably a chest unit. I've read that some (many?) freezers are not intended to be kept in a place that is, well, freezing. As in possibly an unheated garage or something. Not quite sure why. Also, I've read that the best freezers for storing meat are *not* frost-free (no automatic defrost feature). This would be kept in a "cabin" that is not heated unless I'm there, which would usually be at least (most) weekends, but less in the deep winter. I also read somewhere that the best way to freeze meat is "flash freeze", which means getting the freezer down to -15 f. Most that I see don't go that low. Any thoughts on what I should be doing here? Thanks! jm

No expert here, but I was in Cabela's in Charlotte NC a couple months ago and got quite a nice deal. They were apparently closing out the back room where they sell discounted items, so lots of stuff on sale there plus an additional 25% off. There was a pair of Leupolds and a pair of Vortex, similar pricing. I can't remember the model of the Leupolds, but they started around $300 and were on sale for around $125. Vortex about the same. My son and I spent about 20 minutes comparing them. It was pretty much hands down the Vortex. Much cleaner image, better light. These are Vortex Diamondback 10x42. About as good as I could want for anything under 200 yards. FWIW. jm

Where we live (40 minutes north of Manhattan), there are tons of young people. I was a PTA chair and I know many of the kids and parents in our town (most of them). I know exactly one young person who is in any way interested in hunting - my son (14 yo). The rest of them... video games, etc. It's depressing. I grew up in NC, where every kid had a .22 by age of 8 (at the latest), and we carried them around in the woods and "shot stuff" after school every day. Hunting and firearms were a basic part of life. Here in lower NYS... well, let's put it this way, I had to go to the school and to the local police department to explain myself when my son posted an image of a rifle on his Instagram account. It's bad, folks. Very bad. (Upstate not so much, thankfully...)

Handsome fella.

I love northern Maine, but you better be prepared for cold, and isolation. And cold.

A couple of "quick reads" I've enjoyed - https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/0825306493/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1 https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B003O2SQL6/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1 Both are "flawed" in some ways, mainly because the writers are not professional writers. That's also what makes them more enjoyable, to me.

Thanks, guys. I've ordered the Lynch World Champion. Much appreciated. jm

I figured I would try one of them this Fall. They seem to run the gamut from $10 up. Cheapskate here... what do you prefer? Is there a significant difference between the $10 ones and the $100 ones? jm

I did that with some industrial permethrin a couple of years ago. It did have a smell when dried. I later read that the substances used to carry the permethrin are different in the industrial/insecticide varieties as compared to, say, Sawyers. I think I read that there can be some skin irritation issues with the former. But mainly, that it doesn't hold well onto fabrics (or something). Anyway, I ended up switching to Sawyers. No odor that I can detect. I'm not 100% sure about the above, I just did some googling back then and that's what I recall.

46 right now in Greenville (9:45 a.m.). Beautiful early fall day. A dozen turkeys just walked by.

I don't think trees can read.

Yes.