greybeard

Belo.. I disagree about the youth hunting, but we all have our opinions based on many factors and experiences so disagreements are fine with me.

I think that these preserves serve an important function. It can be good training for a young person to observe his/her reaction to shooting, and dressing big game as well as teaching safety issues. It's enjoyment for disabled, or elderly person who can't, or who can no longer get out to hunt on his/her own. It's also outdoor enjoyment for any other gun owner who wants to go just to go and have fun. I suspect that all, or most participants support the 2nd amendment and hunting rights so I don't think that hunters who don't go to preserves should knock them. They purchase firearms, ammo as well as making other hunting supported purchases., so hunters win. I know a number of people who have gone to preserves and all of them freely admit to how and where they got their "trophies", and all of them are gun owners and hunters. In addition, I would never use the term canned hunts, which, as I was told, was a term started by anti hunters. They win whenever we quote them, or we go after our own. So in my opinion if someone wants to get some antlers on the wall, and that's how they want to do it they should go for it, have fun, hang their trophies and tell their stories.

They look really great.. Thanks for posting that

I hung up my saltwater fishing gear, but today I was walking with my wife at the beach and we saw working birds at the surf . I went home after we walked and went back and got a few stripers, so the fall run isn't over.. The bass were small, but I did hear reports of some larger fish caught recently As soon as the bass move on I can get into some squirrel and crow hunting..I thought that I'd be going this week, but now I'm not sure.

I have fun just calling things sometimes and not shooting. I like"messing around" with my calls also I have some old calls that work like new..In fact, I have 3 Olt crow calls, 2 of which I bought in the mid 60's and both sound exactly as they did when I bought them. I still use one of them at times..

I used to do a lot of calling at ducks..,.. I learned from a "tape, and watched some shows on t.v.".. ...Now, there's Youtube and you may get the hang of it by watching some videos... You can learn the hand movements also. I have about 20 duck calls, and they all sound different and some require blowing into them different, and using different hand movements.. Out of those calls there were usually 2 calls that I used for puddle ducks, the others stayed home, or on my lanyard . So you may have to play around with that call until you get a sound that you like...I have a couple of them that no matter how hard I try I can't get a sound that I like.. I don't know if the ducks cared, but I did so I didn't use them.. As far as the ducks sitting on the pond, I wouldn't expect too much of a response from them. You can coax them in at times if they decide to swim over. It sure is better to try that if you have a few decoys out.I used to do that mostly by low kind of drawn out quacks, and maybe a little chatter. Calling to flying ducks over decoys is the best way to get them in(my opinion), and the most fun .. Try different tactics.. Someone once told me that "Everything works, just not all of the time"...

I stopped waterfowl hunting because my old bones can't take the cold anymore, but this morning for some demented reason I took the kayak to fish the north shore. I started out before daylight and as the it got light I saw birds over swirling fish..I think that most were herring, but I tried for stripers..My fingers got so cold and frozen that they hurt and eventually got numb..I didn't get any fish on my usual stuff so I kept changing lures which is tough with frozen fingers. I finally got the right lure and caught 3 stripers.. They were all in the 16 inch range, so I got nothing good for all that cold..Up until a few years ago I liked the cold, but now I'm whimpy and can't tolerate it.. I think that I'm hanging up the kayak until spring..By 9 a.m. everything was dead so I left. I went to the south shore beach after that with my wife to walk the boardwalk and it warmed up.. I guess , this morning, I should have surf casted instead...

Excellent ..

I just began this project in my garage a few moths ago. It's still a work in progress

I never fished the Hudson for stripers, but have heard some good stories about them upstate.

I took the kayak out on the north shore this morning... Gulls all over hitting the water with stiped bass breaking under them...I paddled out to them and even chased them to get quite a few bass...They were on small bait and pretty picky, but I got a bunch. They were UP TO 24 inches so no keepers, but fun...They were there from around 7a.m. until maybe 10 a.m. I tried to get pictures as I caught some, but couldn't get any good shots... I heard some shooting, but didn't see any duck hunters. I was kinda surprised...

I fished the south shore surf today for only one striper.. I saw very few others caught. Lots of gannets working far out, maybe on herring, or shad. A seal was close in, but not sure what he was eating.

I'm happy to read that you had such a good hunting opportunity... I hope that you post pics of the mounts when you get them back from the taxidermist...Those sheep have great horns !!

I forgot to ask.. How are you going to have it mounted ??

I went to the north shore of Long Island today in the kayak. It was around dawn and almost the top of the tide. There were hundreds of birds working over fish about 1/2 mile out. I paddled insanely to try to get up to them before they moved off, but was too late and only got 1 small striped bass. (2 bald eagles were flying over there too). It was pretty breezy 10 to 20 mph with the winds, coming in from the north which blew directly down the harbor. I got cold so I headed to more protected areas and saw birds there now too...The bass were finicky so I sized down and got 4 more, but nothing big... I spoke to a guy in a boat who told me that he caught 3 keepers(over 28"), but I couldn't chase them like he could.. So I froze for only 5 small bass, but it was fun anyway.(.I can't take the cold like I used to)... I wanted to get a picture of all the birds hitting the water, and the eagles , but my fingers were numb from being wet and cold so I didn't try to take the camera out of my pocket...

Cory.. I did Euro mounts on over 40 coon skulls, and a couple of other skulls, but never bleached them. On this boar, I only took the lower jaw so I don't know how bleach would have affected the nose cavity. I did loose one tooth so maybe the bleach caused that..... I used bleach on the boar because I had no experience in doing a boar and most ,if not all, of the info that I read, or saw stated that the hunters used bleach. I, also, used it to disinfect it because of diseases that they carry. I'm not sure if it disinfects, but it eased my mind..( I wore heavy gloves when handling anyway.) The boar that I shot years back was a shoulder mount which I had done for me..... Thanx for that info

congrats on the sheep .. really nice horns .... great pics of the deer also..

Here's how the jaw looks so far. It looks like there's a little stuff in the tusks, but it may be a change in tooth thickness... After it dries out totally I'll yank at those tusks, then I'll try the peroxide and if it looks good after it dries totally I'll seal it with mop and glo.If not I'll cut the tusks out . Here's how it looks as it dries

If you decide to try small game hunting on L.I...... they stock pheasants at the coops(Rocky Point and Otis Pike usually weekly until the end of season. Tough without a dog, but you can get lucky.

Thanx for the info.. I would have liked to see the tusks but I can figure out how they''d look. I may leave it and hope that thy just fall out like yours did....The smell seems to be gone, but maybe I'm just used to it ...When it dries I'll get a better idea of the odor .. It really looks clean from the rear, but not sure if there's any junk where I can't see. Thanx again

Thanks.. I don't know if you bow hunt for deer, or small game and waterfowl hunt , but if you do you might want to look at some of the Tidal Wetland spots on Long Island . Most are for waterfowl only, but there are a couple of them where you can deer, and small game hunt. You have to read the guidelines for each spot hunt.. The permit that you need for some Wetlands is the same 3 year permit that you get for the off season coop.. It's called the Managed Land Access Permit and the Managed Land Access Parking Permit.. They are 3 year permits and FREE !! You can get them on line in seconds, or by contacting the DEC in Stony Brook. I'm not recommending them, because I haven't hunted some of them in years, but it may be an option.. I'm not sure, but I don't think that you can shotgun deer hunt there so you'd have to check that.I used to small game hunt in some of them and waterfowl hunt also. You may not be alone when you hunt the wetlands. There are separate maps for each of them and they should spell out what type of activity is permitted... Good luck

Outstanding !!!! Congrats

Thanks for that info...I did use some peroxide from a drug store, but I 'll check a local pool store for the stronger stuff...I thought pulling it while wet was better, so live and learn, I'll wait until it dries thanx. I , originally, was going to just cut the tusks out and attach them to a plaque, but thought that I'd try the jaw mount after seeing some hanging . Years back, I cleaned and Euro mounted quite a few coon skulls and never took out the teeth, but from what I read the boar teeth and tusks have to be taken out and cleaned.. Did you mount the tusks on a plaque ??

I assume that you are asking about the coop at Ridge(Otis Pike, or Rocky Point) since you mentioned parking spots. If so , when you see the parking area it will list how many vehicles can park there, if there are no cars then when you park the area is yours.. In some locations the spots connect so you may wander into someone else's area, or they may wander into yours..( be sure to look at the sign because there are a few 2 vehicle spots, and I think there's even a 3 vehicle spot)........ (There are other coop areas in addition to Otis Pike and Rocky Point) , but I'm not sure about those as far as access... If you are going to scout, or hunt the coop in bow season you will need an access permit and parking permit(free)..The check Station is open from Nov. 1 thru Dec. 31, so you check in before you go out. It is controlled so you have to have the appropriate permit to access the land for any reason... It's really an easy system once you see how it's done. It's just different from probably most places that you've hunted in. The problem with scouting is that due to the # of small game and bow hunters that are out almost every day deer can get spooked from the area that you thought was good... There are no small game hunters out at most spots at Rocky Point and Otis Pike during the shotgun deer season, but they are out there in bow season I'm not sure if this helps, if so you can pm me and I can try to answer your questions

Has anyone here tried to remove boar tusks ? If so, I could use some help. I've done Euro mounts and cleaned a lot of skulls(mostly raccoon), but never worked on a boar I cut the jaw off of a boar. to display it. I did NOT boil it, but I soaked it in boiling water a # of times with degreasing detergents as well as bleach. I cleaned out the tusks from the back of the jaw, but can't get them to come out to see if I got out all the junk inside. The jaws are VERY loose and can be moved back and forth, but just won't come out. I've continuously pulled them back and forth as well as kind of sideways ....All visible meat, etc. if off of it. I'd leave them as they are if I KNEW that they were clean.. Any ideas..