G-Man

Here is one of a buck going to a scrape in an apple orchard...was fortunate enough to get him in the middle of nov. and one of some turkeys cleaning up seed from my 15' high bird feeder.. I don't consider this baiting but i will take advantage of the situation to get some nice pics....when the bird feeders get taken down this spring(or the bear climbs up on the deck and destroys them) the birds move on.

The DEC would say it is... especially now with the bear feeding restrictions. I agree though a lot more goes on for ill advised purposes than i would like to see.

yeah i agree the tv shows make hunting look very easy, my friend took his daughter(10 years old)to sit with him opening day and after 15 min she said dad your doing something wrong where's the big buck?? tough to keep kids interested if all they see is huge game on the tv and all dad gets are 6pters and some scrub buck... Glad they didn't have these shows when i was a kid my dad was my hero just coming home with a spike!!!

there are so many big bucks out west and mid west due to several reasons, first properties are larger here in ny 30acres is nice and 50 or more you are a land barron, small farm out there 100+acres average 400+, second less hunters there are a lot less hunters per acre there then here.. less pressure more deer can make it thru till next season. seasons are short 5 -10 days and are split up some gun seasons are closed during the rut , only 1 buck allowed in a lot of states. Add to that a media that glorifies a big buck and poaching will result as normal people do not have 90 days to hunt.... The question is... if deer didn't have horns how many hunters would still hunt?

yeah thats a bummer, sanctuarys only work if you stay out of them,much better hunting the fringes than blasting thru the center... thats one of the reasons its nice to own your own property..

Well from the shadows from the pine it looks like your fingers point south, very nice for letting light in although the pines will shade it early and late. Are there other properties off the private road if so you might want to plant a barrier off the road to hide the deer that will be exposed to road hunting(it does happen a lot mor ethan what people think).Although the field will still have a southern exposure allowing suffient light for what ever you decide to plant. I have an exposed field and actually pilled logs 6' high to block it off after several springs of finding spent shell casings melt out of the snow banks.

still can hunt fox,coyote,squirrel,and lots of other small game!

one reason to always hike with a walking stick! glad your ok!

For apple trees look for semi dwarf or full size trees you will need at least two as some need to cross pollinate, try to get trees that yield early ,mid, and late as well as late and early polinaters, the bonus of apples are you can eat them yourself!! Don't forget crabapples as well but make sure they are fruit producers many that are raised now are ornimental and do not produce fruit. Look at the national arbor association tree book for kinds(varieties) but buy local as they are larger(especially if you can buy bare root vs potted bare root are cheaper) and are usually hardy to our climate. Pears are great but tend to drop in sept early oct our season isn't open yet(maybe it will be oct 1 soon). For bushes try to stay with native winterberry or highbush cranberry planted on the outside edge of pine/spruce are great for grouse,deer and turkey. The invasive choke cherry and autumn olive produce quickly but will spread and in my opinion can and will be an obnoxious thicket that will be extremely tough to erradicate,natives are much easier to controll. You may also look into hybrid chestnuts (chinese/american) they are extremely fast growing and will produce bushells of nuts in about 5-10 years and unlike oak they flower in july every year and therefore miss the frosts that can wipe out acorn and apple production for the year. The Nwtf has them called sweethart chestnuts (blight resiatant, or you can buy pure american (they will be killed by the blight) from the state/county in your area, they are not cheap. and i recommend putting 2"x4"x5'welded(not chicken wire as the deer will push it right into the tree to browse it) wire fence around them to keep deer from browsing and rubbing on them untill they are large enough(of course i took my fence off my largest chestnut last year 8"in diameter in 12 years only to have a bear climb it and scar it all up), same for any apple trees or fruit trees you plant. You may want to create small orchard of 5-10 trees in various areas rather than one large one. Most importantly the earlier you plant them the less likely they will shock mid to late april is best, as we still get spring rains frequently.(plus its a good time to scout for turkey and hunt for sheds!)

Using fert. spikes and pruning does wonders for old trees!!!

Got about 30 crappie today and a half dozen perch, wouldn't take minnows, but hit well on wax worms.....

I like the idea of a hit list, we never really say what ones we are personally looking for but everone wants the big one, fortunatly everyone i hunt with is a big enough person to genuinely be happy for the guy that gets one. We have been doing some kind of management since 94' and are fortunate to get a least one pope and young class buck a year since 1999, still looking for the b&c but 140's are nice too!

nice looks like it might of broke off in velvet.... As for dec officer removing an antler from private property..unless he had permission its still theft. He can go on anyones land looking for poaching,ect. but not remove the horn.. Its a shame that horns have that effect on people....

The plan we use was initally food plots and planting of trees/shrubs, it soon evolved to include a logging/tsi plan with the help of a forester, and the creation of 2 sanctuarys within the property. We have never used a ar program and instead use "if its legal go ahead just don't complain if someone gets something bigger". Almost everyone now passes 1 1/2 year olds as the trail cameras show some good bucks and everyone wants a bigger buck... We do try to take 10 doe a year off the piece as the population never seems to decrease or increase with this goal. It allows just about everyone to fill their doe tag and take home meat thus reducing the pressure to kill a 1 1/2 year old buck just to fill the freezer. The biggest boost to seeing bigger and better buck were the creation of sanctuarys on the property.

I have a bearded hen on video fromabout 12 years ago spring season gobbling and strutting,sounded like a sick jake, definately a hen didn't shoot her though... nys says its legal but i'll pass everytime..

IT would be nice to see the fine increased and more importantly the laws enforced!!!

Well if you own property do you have your own management plan? Or do you just follow state regs and hope for the best? I am not just talking about passing bucks unless 3 or 4pts a side. Do you plant food plots/create natural browse/plant trees,shrubs for cover or food/try to take a minimum number of does/create, or have sanctuarys? I am not looking for a debate in if its right or wrong just though if you did any of these things what works for you! It also might help others decide to try or add to what they do already.

You can fertilize the trees with 10-10-10 at the drip line ,or easier is a time released fertilizer spike that you can pick up at any nursery lot eaiser to appy and carry into the field.

Well back when you could feed deer after the season and before, i started feeding with 1 hanging spin feeder and went thru about a ton of corn, 3 years later i was going thru 10ton plus at 4 feeders with in 100 yards of each other to allow other members of the herd to eat (them dominant does do a number even to old mature bucks once they shed their horns). the average cost per 100lbs bag then was about 5-6$ the food plots i now have produce almost twice the tonnage at a fraction of the cost. I would not go back to feeding at all. Plots and creating natural browse is a lot more cost effective, and we seem to have enough deer to shoot every year...and we pass a lot more than we shoot. ...... just my opinion.

Joe, maybe you should start a post called herd management! I know what you are trying to say because i am an old qdm member, unfortunatly the term AR has become the rallying cry of trophy hunters.Which is why i have to be against mandatory ar's.to bad though qdm started as somthing really good, Kind of the way the word gay once meant something totally different than it does today...... just sayin'

got my order in for white spruce (need winter thermal cover)

Well i am glad after 56 pages of posts your position is finally clear and concise! So a seperate season for crossbow no restrictions(not just disabled) is ok with you as long as bow season remains unchanged for vertical bow users(and from your earlier posts you would accept disabled hunters using crossbow as well in the "vertical" bow season).

Seems like in other posts when guys find a dead buck they complain that the hunter didn't look for it, what a waste,ect.. Well here is a guy that followed up and Found his deer!! I give the man a lot of credit and i would like to think he follows every deer he hit with such percistance!! Yes he made a marginal shot but he followed it up anyway knowing the deer must be dead even to the point most or all of us would of gave up looking i am sure!

I agree, just because you may of out qrown just filling your tag with a buck to wanting a trophy is not a reason to change something. If you want a trophy pass the little ones and be prepard to not fill your tag. I get the feeling that if ar's were in place they expect big bucks to be behind every tree... and even if it happened that way then what 160" plus only legal... If your happy with what you shoot then i don't have a problem with that,just don't complain if i wait and get someting bigger

Looks like some of your area is mown for hay? or do you just cut it? If your going to plant small plots 20x20 be prepared to not have much make it especially if you have any kind of deer population. Corn is good if planted in a large enough area 1 acre+ maybe a half acre if racoon/deer/goose are not that populated. Buckwheat is good as a first year crop as it helps loosen the soil and deer and turkey love it! Oats planted with clover give you the added bonus of a quick growing cereal grain (helps shade and protect the clover which is slower growing but will last 3-5 years or mor ewith proper mowing. If the area is dry try using alfalfa (deep rooted).and has the same growth durablility as clover.