cwhite

The only benefit I can see to gutting a deer in a couple minutes is if you crack one under a light or on posted property. Guess that is why I'm not in the guiness book for gutting. I consider myself quick at skinning, but not that quick. I can have the hide off a deer in roughly 10 minutes if it isn't froze on.

Never heard the saying fat, dumb, and happy before have you. It wasn't meant to be literal. But they aren't wasting away like some of the yards in northern NY. At times, the deer will actually bed in the corn. When they aren't their, they are in their cedar and hemlock swamp which only 50 yards away.

We're fortunate to have a yard close to where we put our winter plots. We actually designed them that way. There is no digging to eat. Costs us about $350 to put in a 2.5 acre soy/corn field that yields more than 10 tons of feed. Corn runs more than $200/ton right now. We've had a tough winter this year but the deer in our yards are fat, dumb and happy.

We leave a few acres of corn and soy standing to help the deer get through the winter. If snow gets deep enough to prevent them from accessing that feed then we hit another iceage. A feeder may help keep a few deer alive during the winter where a food plot designed for the winter will keep a whole herd of deer alive. I'm not opposed to winter feeding. But if you have the land and equipment you should plant food plots.

In my opinion the penalties are small when compared to other illegal hunting practices. The worst part of getting caught is your name in the police beat section of the newspaper. I am reasonably certain that you won't lose your gear for first time baiting offenses. You'll be out a days pay at McDonalds. Honestly, I don't get all worked up over a guy dumping apples on his own land. If someone wants to watch a pile of food with does and fawns around it all season with the occasional spike or 3 pointer showing up then have at it. Although, I don't want to hear about how great their hunting skills are. Rarely does a mature buck show up for a free meal. The thing that chaps me to no end is a truck load of guys riding around with a rifle, spotlight and no respect for private property. We lose beautiful bucks to jackers every year. About every other year we find a dead buck on the edge of the woods that was shot and left because the guys lost their nerve after squeezing the trigger and didn't retrieve their "trophy."

I would rather deal with a stoner than a drunk any day of the week. When I was a kid I didn't even try weed for fear of getting caught and then the consequences from my old man. After school I took the job I am in now so I have never had the desire or temptation. I'm not a smoker or drinker either, but I am hooked on Mt. Dew. I just can't seem to get off the Dew. My idea for legalization is this. The government grows marijuana in their own greenhouses, package it in their own factories, and sell it in their own stores at a price that would make a black market nonexistant. Of course you would have to make harsh penalties for possession of non-government weed. The government would get all the profit but we would have thousands of more jobs, our taxes would go down, the national debt would be wiped out in a few years and the hard working people who like to toke up after work or on weekends wouldn't be breaking the law. Arrowflinger is correct, the violence is in the name of money. The narcs. that I mentioned are the source of their money and without the demand for them there wouldn't be any money. I could care less if people smoke weed, I was simply disagreeing with a statement that a bottle of alcohol can kill people but smoking weed has never killed anyone.

OK, Pat I'll indulge you. They are killing people with guns, knives, vehicles, poisons, explosives, and about everything else you can think of. Everyday they are dismembering people, skinning out their faces etc..... All in the name of weed, coke, heroin, etc..... The people are killing people not the weapons. They are just the tool used. This violence has spilled over to the US several times. There was a beheading in Phoenix last year. Brian Terry was killed by Mexican Cartel members in December just south of Tucson. The marijuana industry finances very bad things. I could list you example after example. The only point that I am trying to make is that weed has killed plenty of people. Maybe not directly, but indirectly.

Agreed, I think I mentioned that it belongs on a different forum in my initial post. But, that debate is one I can't resist.

You don't need to give me some potheads propaganda website to prove me wrong. I can prove my point easily. Look at Mexico. 30,000 people killed in a drug war that is dominated by marijuana. Supply and demand. If people weren't smoking weed then a valid argument could be made that those 30,000 people would still be alive. So in that sense, yes, weed has killed plenty of people. I could go on, but do I really need to?

Weed has killed plenty of people. Maybe we can start that debate on the general chit chat forum. Now back on topic, I say profit from the baiting. It is going to happen anyway, it happens all over the state. There are several places to buy apples by the bin, corn by the ton, and carrots by the pallet within a 30 minute drive from my house alone. There are guys at those places all day long buying "goat feed." I am willing to bet my house that a good percentage of people who belong to this site bait in one form or another. The state should sell a baiting permit for $250 per year and make the fines if caught baiting without a permit extreme. Right now you can bait deer, get caught and only be out $77.50. ($25 fine, $52.50 court fee) No loss of license. No loss of guns. Just a fine and back out hunting. Sell the permits and up the fines to $1000.00. Maybe we could get our fisheries and pheasant stocking programs back on track.

I just chose six random letters in no specific sequence.

Jordan, how old are you again?????

I don't normally look for bear crap in the spring and early summer but it is common knowledge in our neck of the woods that bears love to eat those nice and tender fawns. If you google it you will find several images of black bears dining on new born fawns.

Tighten is an understatement. Petrify better describes it.

To me the animal moves like a cat but you can't see the tail. That is the thing that really sticks out, kind of like a long club. I'm guessing a bobcat. Possibly a lynx but I highly doubt it. I have a mountain lion story...... In 2000 I was walking in the desert east of Douglas, AZ and started to drop into a wash. (dried up river bed) About two steps down the 12' drop I came face to face (less than 8' away) with a 100+ pound female. The first thing I noticed on her was the long tail that you would expect her to swing from jungle branches with. This wasn't the first time I saw a mountain lion in AZ but instead of running like they usually do, she just got up and circled around me staring the whole time. I kept watching her as I backed away down into the wash and then I noticed the den with at least two babies. I had a handgun but if she charged it would have been a toss-up if I could have drawn it fast enough to shoot. Then if I did draw the gun and got a shot off it would have been pure luck if I hit her. If I did hit her the chances that I hit her hard enough to incapacitate or kill her were slim. Fortunately I backed away and she didn't come after me. For days after the encounter I could have made diamonds from coal in mear minutes. Its rare that I feel intimidated but that cat scared the hell out of me.

Based on his body, face, and antlers I would guess him at a 3 year old minimum.

Agreed. DEC releases trout, salmon, walleye's, pheasants and in some instances turkey's and they are having a hard enough time doing that.

Are we at least in an agreement that there is the occasional cougar that roams in the wild in NY in the form of an escaped or released pet? I am trying to get the video uploaded but need authorization to do so and am meeting resistance. In the mean time go to the following links. The bigcatnews site has a link to the video that was on the news but it comes up broken for me. I have been in the field where the video was taken. This cat stood a good 2+ feet tall at the shoulder and even skeptics are believing it is a released cougar. This video is authentic. http://bigcatnews.blogspot.com/2006/03/mountain-lion-filmed-loose-in-ny.html http://old.thedailystar.com/sports/2006/03/03/spbrock5.html For the record I do not believe in conspiracies, except for the Kennedy assassination and UFO cover ups, of course. I don't believe that there is an elaborate yet secret program headed up by NYSDEC aiming to reinrtoduce cougars, wolves, sasquatch, champ, or any other extirpated/legendary creature into the woods of NY. I do believe that there is the occasional situation that a wolf (more common) or cougar is roaming in the wild in NY. If enough of these animals are released they could eventually mate. Look at the pythons in the Everglades for proof of that scenario happening. I predict feral pigs will be here before cougars are populating NY.

Anyone who has ever been to the bars in Northern NY know that there is a huge population of cougars roaming the state.

Steph, I have your smoking gun. A Border Patrol dispatcher picked up a mountain lion (or is it cougar?) on a camera near Rouses Point, NY in 2006'ish. The camera is located near the border and used to monitor traffic. I have seen mountain lions up close and personal in AZ and there is no mistaking this animal as a mountain lion or cougar. The long and thick tail sticks out. The video footage was taken in the late afternoon but there was plenty of daylight and it aired on several news channels. It was determined that it was most likely an exotic pet that was probably released. I doubt there is a breedable population in the wild. I have a copy of the video on VHS tape and if I can get it burned to a CD and uploaded I will try to post the video and let you come to your own conclusion.

Thumb nipple. That would be awesome. I might go look for some road kill so I can get my own.

You know what I find is that the kid has more balls than most of the "men" on this site. He posts an essay, defends his position and doesn't sway easy. But what I find most admirable is the fact that this 15 year old kid (which has been pointed out enough by now) has the nuts to actually sign his name to each post and not spout off and then hide behind a screen name like some "men" on here do. -note I said some- Jordan, I'm not a teacher/proffesor but I provide training to our new guys on report writing for courtroom purposes. I can tell you that for your grade level, it is much better than a C paper. I have to say you are in the B+ to A- area at a minimum. Good luck.

I guess the fact that this is a controversial essay assignment and the debate that has spun out over three threads should mean that he gets an A. For the record I am not a huge Ted Nugent fan. I'm not a Ted Nugent hater. I don't have a positive or negative opinion on the guy. One thing for sure is that he shows the diversity in the hunting population. He is a world famous hardcore rocker and a proud hunter. Definitely not the stereotypical outdoorsman.

There has to be a ton of hunters who likes The Nuge because his show won the Fans Favorite Hunting Series and the Fans Favorite Host awards at the Outdoor Channels Golden Moose Awards. Whether that makes him "Great" or not should be up to each individual person and not up to a committee. Kind of like a beauty is in the eye of the beholder type of thing. Can someone explain to me what posting that essay on this forum hurt? It's unfortunate that some of you grown men made a kid feel the need to appologize for his opinion. I bet that is a notch on the belt that feels good!

Just kidding. There shouldn't be a "face" of hunting rather an image. I think it should be a group of people; atheletes, celebrities, musicians, politicians, and the everyday guys and girls combined. The faces should change frequently but that image should remain. This image should portray a respect towards their game, the woods, and non-hunters. Everyone has skeletons and I don't like the thought of one person. On a side note I don't have the heartache for The Nuge that some people have. He must have some clout in the hunting world, the old game hunter "Deer Hunter Revenge" (the one where deer hunted men) had a call you could use calling out an offer to meet The Nuge. I miss that game.