CharlieNY

The general rule of thumb is to charge the farmer for the total property taxes per acre. Therefore, the farmer would be charged the total property taxes to cover the 25 acres that he will farm. I hope this helps you out.

Lawdwaz- whenever you use a vacuum sealer on any meat that has blood or condensation on it, you just put a thin strip of an absorbent paper towel at the top of the bag just below where the seal will be made. As the sealer sucks air from the bag, the blood or condensation will be absorbed by the paper towel and you will not get any of it into the sealer and you will get a nice tight seal. I hope this helps you out.

Congratulations- you did a great job and you haven't even done the finishing touches yet. I only wish I had your talent. Keep up the good work!

Same here on my property in 7F. My trail cams (which don't lie) show that the deer have become almost totally nocturnal and are moving well after sunset until the early morning hours way before sunrise.

Joe you have done a great service to all New York State whitetail deer hunters with your website. It is great to read stories and see photos from regular sportsmen deer hunters who enjoy the sport and hunt for recreation, instead of the "professional" deer hunters who make a living out of the sport. I really appreciate you contacting me to get the story on my son's archery buck he got last season and placing it on your website titled "The Augello Buck". Keep up the good work and thank you for an enjoyable and informative website.

I think this post got a little off topic. Whereas there may be some confusion about some of the DEC regulations concerning hunting, I do not believe there was any confusion in the regulations about crossbow hunting starting in the Southern Zone on November 7. All one has to do is check their guide they should have received with their license or check on the DEC website. I am not trying to criticize anyone, but just trying to remind them to check if they are not sure and they will find the season dates clearly listed.

Here is a pic of a fresh rub and scrape made on my property last year. The tree that was rubbed is a spruce tree and the bucks like to rub the soft wood trees.

I agree that we are still a little early. I haven't seen any scrapes yet and only a couple of small rubs. I've been seeing a lot of young bachelor bucks walking around alone, but no sign of the rut. From my many years of experience, the rut activity seems to kick in right after Halloween.

At age 64 I too am experiencing hearing loss due to 50 years of hunting and shooting without any form of hearing protection. I have found that the ideal solution is to buy a quality pair of electronic hearing muffs to wear in the field. I highly recommend and use the Howard Leight Impact Sport hearing muffs. They have a volume control so you can control the amount of amplification of sounds and they cut out when you fire a gun. In addition, they will keep your ears warm in very cold weather. They are low profile and do not interfere with shooting a long gun. I use them in the duck blind, in my treestand, on the ground when I'm turkey hunting, and even when I'm hunting rabbits with my beagles. In adddition to the advantages I have mentioned, they will protect you from any further hearing loss. My son and several of my buddies went out and purchased them after I let them try out my pair, and now they all wear them out in the field when hunting.

The simple answer is Layering. You need to wear several layers of quality insulated clothing that will trap air. Start out with some insulated cold weather thermals. Over those go some insulated hunting pants and a heavy wool shirt. Next would be an insulated vest to keep your torso warm. Finally an insulated hunting parka with some form of a wind blocker material. Get your self a warm insulated hunting hat and wear a facemask under it on very cold days, along with a quality pair of hunting gloves or mittens and some chemical handwarmers or a hand muff. Do not skimp on cheap boots either- they must be insulated and should be large enough to give you the ability to wear 2 pairs of thermal socks inside of them. With all of your clothing, make sure it is a little loose fitting as tight fitting clothing or boots will constrict your blood flow to those areas and result in you getting cold. Don't be afraid to wear too much clothing. As my late father always told me "you can always take it off if you brought it with you, but you can't put it on when you leave it at home."

Don't forget the "little things" that need to be replaced each year. Here are a few: new batteries in your flashlight, changing your backtag from last year's, carrying your new tags with you, making sure you have a pen that will write to fill out your tags, carrying a pair of gutting gloves, string to tie on your tags, checking batteries in your rangefinder and GPS, sharpening your knife, carrying survey tape to mark blood trails, spare set of keys for your vehicle, etc. And don't forget that "you never know when you're gonna need it" paper that comes in rolls. Have a safe and productive season everyone.

So today I go to a local town clerk to get my new hunting/fishing licenses. I am the first one there and the only one in line. The clerk puts all my info into the computer and it takes just shy of 1/2 hour before the computer prints out my licenses. This could have been done by hand in less than 5 minutes. A short while later my son calls me and tells me he is going to go and get his new licenses. He calls me later and tells me that he had gone to Walmart and that there was a guy who had been waited on and was still waiting 45 minutes later to get his licenses. So my son tells me he goes to Bass Pro Shops and there is a man and his wife in line who were unable to get their licenses. The clerk tells him that there is a problem but decides to try for him and it comes back that there is no record of him. While there the local Dick's calls Bass Pro to see if they are having problems with their computer as they cannot get licenses through theirs. This system was supposed to make getting licenses faster and more efficient, but like many computer systems, has done just the opposite. Now my son has to return to the issuing agent on another day at another time to get his license (Hopefully). So have any of you had problems with the system and what is your opinion on this system which seems to be doing more damage than good?

ItalianHunter5- the Franchi is not really a pain to unload. Unlike other semi autos such as the Remington and Browning, you cannot unload the magazine by manually cycling the action. After you pull back the bolt and eject the shell in the chamber, you turn the gun upside down and unload the remaining shells in the magazine tube with your finger. This was designed as a safety mechanism. Again, fit is going to be the most important determining factor for you and if the Franchi fits best, I would not let the unloading procedure eliminate my choice of the Franchi.

The Browning and the Franchi are both quality semi autos that are recoil operated vs. gas operated. Both are quality guns and will give you a total of 5 rounds without the plug inserted. I would lean toward either of these guns for what you are hunting for vs. the double barrel, which will limit you to 2 rounds and different choked barrels. What will determine what is best for you will be the fit of the gun to you and the barrel length and choke. You will want a modified or improved cylinder choke for upland hunting if the gun has fixed barrel chokes. If the gun has screw in choke tubes, that will not be a determining factor. Barrel length should be either 26" or 28" for upland hunting. I have owned both of these guns and if I were you I would try them for fit and would go with which one fits you best. If the Franchi fits you best, go with it. I would only use high brass shells for pheasants, and would use either high brass shells or low brass shells for grouse and rabbits depending on the distance of the shots and the cover.

Try the Federal Fusion 130 gr. rounds. They are extremely accurate and devastating in knock down power. Check out the reviews on them on cabelas.com and midwayusa.com for some good advice.

I would agree that having the receiver drilled and tapped would be best. However the B-Square saddle mount for the 870 would also be a good choice. My son has the B-Square saddle mount on his 12 ga. 870 and it is solid and does not move. He has the gun set up as a dedicated turkey gun with a scope and exclusively shoots 3" magnum turkey loads with it and has never had a problem. The advantage with the saddle mount is that it can be removed easily and does not alter the gun in any way.

I use the Hot Hands brand. They work very well and do in fact last for 12 hours if left open to the air. You can put them in a ziploc plastic bag, push the air out, and seal the bag and you will get more than 1 day use out of them.

Rabbit season closed yesterday. What started out as a good season right after the late muzzleloader deer season ended, turned into a shutdown. We got hammered with snow here in the Finger Lakes region in addition to the record cold temperatures. There was too much snow to hunt in with my beagles. Even if I wore my snowshoes, they couldn't make it through the deep snow. When we found rabbit sign, it was close to their holes and they were not venturing far from the holes to gnaw on tree bark. I hope enough of them make it through this record winter to make next year decent.

I would go with the .30-06 on the heavy end with 180 gr. bullets for big game such as elk, caribou, pronghorn antelope,mule deer, and black bear. Then I would go with something a little lighter for whitetail deer and varmints like the 7mm-08 with 140 or 120 gr. bullets. However, if you plan on hunting moose and brown bear, I would go with the .30-06 on the lighter end, and a 7mm. Mag. or larger on the heavier side. The decision would plan on what you plan on hunting and how often you would hunt those animals.

I have owned hunting dogs ever since I was a young boy and I currently have 3 beagles. I have gone through your pain and depression each and every time that I lost a dog or had to have one put to sleep. Yes- you will miss him and the good times you had with him. But when you are feeling low, just think of the wonderful life that you gave him and think of how many dogs out there are not as fortunate. My advice to you is simple. As soon as you get over the initial pain, please go out and get another dog and give that dog a wonderful life too. Think of all of the poor dogs out there who never enjoyed the good life you gave your dog, and give that same gift of a wonderful life to another dog. You will not regret it. Your dog lived to the human life equivalent of 91 yrs. of age and you could not ask for more. Go and give another dog that love and friendship.

Paula- your dog does not suck! I have 3 beagles that are all top notch hunters and on some days we run into similar situations. On some days the rabbits are just not out of their holes or as Huntscreek noted, they will just sit next to their holes and duck in when approached. I have found that on windy days they tend to do this and that on days following moonlit nights that this sometimes occurs. I saw a picture of your beagle on one of your previous posts and you have a nice looking dog. The fact that he ran around looking for almost 2 hrs. indicates to me a dog with a strong drive to hunt. Don't blame the dog if he did not put up any rabbits- he can't find bunnies if they are not out, and neither can any other dogs. Remember that we go out hunting, not shooting, and with any type of hunting there will be good days and bad days. But please don't blame it on your dog. It's not his fault. Just keep taking him out and you will run into some good days eventually. Be patient.

Check out Ameriglo sights at ameriglo.net and I am sure you will find a quality set to your liking. I have a Glock 22 and replaced the factory sights with a set of ameriglo night sights which are all metal and I am very pleased with them. They have a variety of replacement sights for your Glock.

I personally think that it was time for the pendulum to swing the other way. I posted a thread about the expanded seasons, special seasons, excessive permits, expanded coyote population, and the like having a cumulative negative effect on the number and size of deer that many hunters like myself were seeing or not seeing during the regular firearms season. I knew that the present management policies that have evolved over the past few years could not be permanent and that sooner or later that many of these policies would have to be ended or changed. It is my opinion that the time has come for some sensible changes to be made. We may not all agree as to what changes should be made, but I feel many of us will support some changes if it will improve on our hunting in the future.

If remounting the scope does not work, you my want to try some windage adjustable scope rings. Major companies like Burris, Weaver, and Millett make them.

I was wondering if anyone else had any opinions on why a lot of us had a bad gun season here in the Southern Zone. I saw very few deer compared to past years, and many hunters in my area had the same experience. When we did see deer, they were small deer which we would not shoot, and they were few and far between. I have thought about this and have some ideas as to why we are seeing less deer during the firearms season. Here are some of my thoughts as to why: 1. Return of a large coyote population. 2. Early opening of archery season (Oct. 1). 3. Early crossbow season, 2 weeks before firearms season. 4. Early firearms youth hunt. 5. Too many deer management permits being given out in recent years. 6. Issuing of "deer nuisance" permits. I was wondering if any of you had any thoughts on this. I think some changes will need to be made if we want to experience some good deer hunting in the future. What do you think?