WNY Bowhunter

I wouldn't say that. Some of the bucks that I wanted to get pics of the most this year (LFN) are still unaccounted in my 2012 trailcam archives...

I'm hearing that scrapes are popping up everywhere right now. I've had a camera set up on this scrape for three weeks now and get bucks visiting it every night. They are still bachelored up at this point...

Our season opens this weekend here in Region 8. I can't wait to chase some birds around!!!!!!

Getting back to this... I contacted the Region 8 office on friday and talked to an ECO for 10 minutes on the phone. He told me thad their job is to regulate the "deer on the hoof" (what's in the freezer), not the antlers. He said this subject has a lot of gray areas but it's best to call them in a situation like this. At the end of the conversation he went on to say that this deer sounded like a car kill so it would be OK to go ahead and remove the antlers. I told him that I already had and he responded by saying to contact them first in the future. Honestly, after talking to him I was more confused about this matter than I was before??? Today I got this response from another local ECO: "Hello Jason, there are no regulations that prohibit the removal of antlers from a dead deer provided the deer was not illegally killed."

Not true at all. The fawns have all acquired their survival skills over their first few months of life. Nature has designed them to grow up quickly in a unforgiving/harsh world. The male fawns typical buddy up with other buck fawns over the winter but doe fawns will stay with their mothers in groups consisting of realted females for their entire lives.

That's what people don't realize...a predator population CAN NOT out grow it's food source. I've seen TONS of twin fawns this summer/fall, more-so than in recent years.

No reply yet. I'm off to work (rather be in a treestand)...

I don't see anything that says its a law. I just emailed the Region 8 office about it...

It's kind of like this law: You may use lights to observe deer and bear under the following conditions: You are not within 500 feet of a home or farm building, unless you have permission from the owner or lessee. While in or on a motor vehicle and operating a light and no person has a firearm or bow unless: the firearm is taken down or the bow is unstrung, or the firearm is securely fastened in a case, or the firearm is locked in the trunk of the vehicle, or the firearm is a handgun. Never could get over this one!!!

Sure you can. Think about how many people find dead deer over the course of the season? I pick up several dead heads every year between hunting season and looking for sheds in the spring. You can't utilize the meat, hide or hooves (this is what my Forest Range buddy told me). In some states like OH and IL you need to obtain a tag for the antlers but not here in NY.

After talking things over with my buddy who runs the farm, we decided not to call the DEC since we could find no evidence of foul play. If we could have taken the deer down to the barn to hang up/skin out maybe things would have been different? I hated to see all of that good meat go to waste...but, the coyotes got the carcass and I've got the skull/antlers boiling up right now.

It'll have no effect on fawn recruitment!!! Obviously, the dead bucks in all of the harvest photos won't be doing any breeding in a few weeks but there will be plenty of bucks left to get the job done.

I'd guess him at upper 140-150ish. It's awesome to see what a buck can do from 3.5 to 4.5. He's a stud right now...dang, he'd be a monster next year!!! That is, if he gets by you this fall. Good luck!!!

There are several bucks in the area with larger antlers. Like I said though, this is probably the biggest bodied deer that I've ever personally seen locally.

No big deal if he gets bent out of shape over it. My dad has 6 brothers and 6 sisters so I've got plenty of cousins left to hang out with...lol.

I'm the guy holding the deer in the first photo. The other person is my cousin. I just blocked his face out because he's not much to look at...lol.

I really wanted to skin him out to see but decided not to. I would have loved to have put him on a scale too...

Nope...northeast corner of Steuben County.

There was a hole there, but not one that I wanted to exam too closely...lol.

The gash was just a flesh wound, basically a long scratch and had nothing to do with his death. Right after I discovered the deer I went to get my buddy who's parent's own the property and we flipped him over several times and found no evidence to the cause of death... no blood...no broken bones. A big, healthy deer doesn't just keel over for no reason??? He was only 50-60 yds from a road so he could have been hit by a vehicle, but it's a lightly traveled season road and seems unlikely. I wish we could have skinned him out to examine the carcass better. Man, I'm just hopin that we aren't dealing with worthless scumbag poachers again...

No, but I believe that I picked up one of his sheds this spring. I've seen several bigger racked bucks in the area this summer but like I mentioned, this guy was built like a small steer and I would love to know what buck made that gash on his neck!!!

Well, it's not the way that I wanted to put my hands on some antlers...but, I found this big ole 8-pt. this afternoon. He scored 136" with a 11 1/8" G2 on the left antler and a 19" inside spread. I was on the way to my hunting ground and stopped to check out a spot on the neighboring farm to possibly set up a ground blind and there he was laying dead in the goldenrod 60 yds off of the road. I coudn't find any sort of visible bullet hole or wound other than a scabbed up 5" gash on his neck where another buck stuck a tine in him recently. He must have died overnight or early this morning. I know that he wasn't there yesterday morning as my youth hunter and I where set up in only 40 yds from where he layed. While it's certainly not the biggest rack that I've ever held onto...his dude had one of the largest, if not the largest body of any deer that I've ever seen locally and I've seen a lot 'em!!! I wish I know what killed him? Looks like the coyotes will be eating good for a while...

it's not impossible that there are cougars in NY. However, I won't believe that they're here until I see one for myself!!!

Heading out right now to try to get one of my own. Tonight show be awesome!!!

No pics?