CharlieNY

I also feel that anyone who hunts during the firearms season without bearing blaze orange is not being responsible. I have always worn blaze orange during the firearms season even though I hunt on my own property, and it has never affected my hunting negatively. When my son began hunting some years ago, I required that he wear blaze orange during the firearms season, and he has worn it ever since. I would ask any hunter this question- Would you want your child or a loved one going into the woods during firearms season without some blaze orange on? If your answer is no, then you should also be wearing blaze orange.

I am 63 yrs. old and just retired on Oct. 1. I have been going out in the brutal conditions daily. I stay warm by dressing in layers and my outer layer is a windproof hunting parka. I keep my face protected with a tight knit facemask and I wear a couple pair of 100% wool socks inside my Sorel boots to keep my feet warm. For my hands, I use an Icebreaker handwarmer muff with midweight gloves and a chemical handwarmer inside. I sit on a hot seat in my stand. With this combination, I have had no problem sitting on stand and staying comfortable on these very cold and windy days.

My son bagged a beautiful buck on Tuesday morning on my property. I am very happy for him and very proud of him. And, of course, he learned everything he knows about deer hunting from his father!

SOLD.

I have for sale a Tritronics Classic 70XLS 2-dog system. The system is in excellent condition and was reconditioned by Collar Clinic. It has tone and 5 stimulation levels for the collars with separate transmitter buttons for each collar. It comes complete with transmitter, 1 red and 1 green collar, long and short contact points, wrench, spare (new) collar battery, spare covers, chargers, and hard plastic case. System is in perfect working condition and has 1 mile range. The ONLY reason I am selling it is because I just picked up another dog and needed a 3-dog system, and this system is not expandable. I used this system on my 2 beagles and had to cut the collars down a little bit, but other than that the system is perfect. Price is $250. I will ship the unit for an additional $10. Please reply to this ad if you are interested.

I got the male when he was a 9 month old pup and he was a "natural." He came from hunting stock and all I had to do was take him out to an area that had rabbits, and he would run them. I got the female when she was 2 yrs. old. She was a started dog, meaning she was already running rabbits, and was also from hunting stock.. She learned a lot from hunting with my male, who was 7 yrs. old at the time, and they run perfectly together. When I retire my male, I will train his replacement with her. I have been doing it like this for over 45 years now.

After the long and extreme cold spell, got out yesterday with the beagles. Weather was perfect and ground conditions were good with a light coat of fresh snow. Dogs ran 7 bunnies by me in 3 hours and I intentionally only shot 2 of them, leaving some for another day. It was good to get out and get some fresh air and exercise, both for me and the dogs. I owe my success to the dogs in the attached photo. My male beagle is on the right in the photo. He is 10 yrs. old and still thinks and runs like he is 2. The female is on the left. She is 5 yrs. old and pairs up with him perfectly. I plan on retiring in 2 yrs. and will be looking to get another started beagle as my male will be 12 yrs. old then.

If I had to pick only one movie, it would be The Magnificent Seven. It was a great movie with a super cast of top notch actors, my favorite of which was Steve McQueen. This movie was made in 1960 and illustrated what Wayne LaPierre of the NRA stated that "the only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is with a good guy with a gun." If you saw the movie the ending probably brought tears even to a grown man's eyes, where the little Mexican boys buried Charles Bronson and tended to his grave as they promised him they would do.

I also had a strange encounter with an owl. I was out rabbit hunting with my beagles one day and they were running a bunny in a thicket along an abandoned railroad line. I positioned myself for a shot in a likely spot for the bunny to cross the line. As the dogs ran the bunny out of the thicket and onto the old railroad line, I raised my 20 ga. to take the shot, when all of a sudden something came into my line of fire. An owl had swooped down and grabbed the bunny. I just stood there in amazement. As he tried to fly away, he only got a few yards above the ground and then dropped the bunny. The bunny was fine and ran off. I pulled the dogs off that rabbit figuring that he deserved the live that day.

The French author Voltaire is widely credited with the famous quote as follows: "I may not agree with what you say, but I shall defend to my death your right to say it." The critics of Phil could learn a little lesson from him. Free speech does not only include "politically correct" speech.

I also leave mine out year round. I have found that by doing so the deer get used to them, and have many times had tracks leading right up to the base of my ladder. I too replace the ratchet straps periodically. I have some ladder stands that I have left in place for close to 20 years with no problems.

I have tried everything to keep my hands warm up to and including the gerbing electric gloves. I have found that the best way to keep my hands warm is to place a Hot Hands chemical hand warmer inside of a glove or mitten. They are advertised as lasting up to 10 hrs. and I have found that they will actually last 12 hours. This means that you can place them inside of your glove for a morning hunt and have warm hands, take a mid-day break, and put the same gloves on for the afternoon hunt and have warm hands for the rest of the day. You will have warm hands for less than $1.00 per day.

These are my 2 rabbit hunting beagles, Naomi and Dusty.

In addition to all of the other valid criticisms of this ad, did you catch the alleged "hunter" in the ad? He is sitting in a pickup truck with a shotgun with a CLOSED ACTION in close vicinity of another adult and 2 children in the yard, with the gun pointed in the direction they are walking towards. ANYONE who knows anything about safe gun handling knows this is NOT SAFE. This gun could be loaded and should not be pointed in that direction. This is what happens when people who know nothing about guns and the safe handling of guns, make commercials with actors and not real hunters who would know better. For the millions of dollars he spent on this ad, he could have at least shown the safe and proper handling of a gun in the ad.

I did real well this last season hunting with my 2 beagles. Weather and snow conditions were good which resulted in a good season. Left a few for seed wherever I hunted. Here is my favorite and easy rabbit recipe: 1-2 rabbits quartered 2 cans Italian Stewed Tomatoes Salt & Pepper Soak cleaned rabbits in brine (salt water) for 24 hrs. Quarter rabbits and parboil in water for 4-5 minutes. Place rabbit quarters in crockpot. Add 2 cans (14 oz. each) Italian stewed tomatoes, 1/2 cup water, and salt and pepper (to taste). Cook on slow for 4-5 hrs. Don't bother putting out a knife with the table setting as the meat will break off with a fork!

I am also no fan of Oprah's politics, but can disregard that for what was a great commercial which recognized and honored our men and women in the military. As the father of a son who served 1 year in combat in Afghanistan in the U.S. Army, I had no problem with Oprah's narration. I judged the commercial on its' content and message, not on the messenger, and thought it was very well done.

Watched the Superbowl last night, and of course the commercials. For the first time I was proud to see some good commercials. The three I am referring to are the Jeep Welcome Home Heroes commercial, the Dodge Ram God Made a Farmer commercial, and the Budweiser Clydesdale commercial. If you did not catch them, you can view them online on several websites. I am sure you will be glad you viewed them. Just be forewarned, you may want to have some tissues handy as they will probably bring tears to your eyes.

Lawdwaz- am having the head done in a European mount by a local taxidermist.

Here is a close up picture of my buck that went DRT with my Remington 700 in .243.

Well I got my shot at a buck today with my Remington Model 700 in .243. Buck was coming at me through a swamp and I let him come in to my shooting lane. Buck was at 40 yds. and I put the crosshairs right behind the shoulder. At the squeeze of the trigger the buck dropped dead right there. I again was using Hornady 95 gr. SST Superformance factory ammo. Glad I did not listen to my friends who told me that a .243 was kind of light for deer. Proof is attached.

I live in Cayuga County, New York, where centerfire rifles became legal for deer for the first time this season beginning on Nov. 17. This morning I got a 75 yd. shot at a big mature doe. I was using my Remington Model 700 in .243 Winchester. I put the shot right behind the shoulder and she flinched, walked 10 yds. and dropped dead. I hd some reservations about using this gun as some other hunters told me it was "kind of light for deer." I was using 95 gr. Hornady SST Superformance factory rounds. I love this gun as it has very light recoil compared to the shotgun slugs I was used to using in the past. I will be carrying this gun for deer hunting from now on during the firearms season. I have no reservations about it now.

I have 11 brand new Easton XX75 Realtree Hardwoods HD Green arrows, size 2216, 30" length with 2" blazer vanes, 7 brand new Easton XX75 Camo Hunter arrows, size 2117, 30" length with 5" plastic vanes, an Arizona E-Z fletch jig for aluminum arrows, right helical fletch in like new condition, 94 brand new plastic vanes in various colors, and 24 brand new orange and red 5/16 nocks. I would like to sell everything as a package and will accept any reasonable offer. Please PM me with any offers.

Ditto on the Simmons LRF600. It is accurate, has simple one hand operation, and uses a standard 9v transistor battery. Check it out on Cabelas or Bass Pro Shops and read the great reviews it gets.

I am a seasoned veteran hunter. I hunt on my own land and frequently encounter does with fawns, and have had this happen a few times already this season. I personally will not shoot a doe with fawns. A few years ago I regularly had a big mature doe with her fawn come by my stand during bow season. I would not shoot her. On opening day of gun season, she came by me again with her fawn and I let her walk. She walked off my property, crossed a road, and shortly thereafter I heard a single gunshot. I knew someone shot her and felt terrible. The next day I hunted my property and as I walked to my stand, the fawn followed me to my stand like a lost puppy dog. I climbed into my stand and the fawn just hung around and would not leave. I felt terrible. A couple of days later, the fawn was killed by coyotes and I found the remains right in the same area. Everyone has to decide for themselves, but I would personally rather not have any venison in the freezer than shoot a doe with fawns.

I am looking for a used bolt action rifle in .308 cal. in very good to excellent condition for a reasonable price. Please PM me with any offers and details.