Addicted2Fish,

Well if you won't buy that argument, then all the idiots with buck fever out there shooting at anything that move.   Plenty of that goes on.  BTW,  not everyone hunts from a tree stand.  The real hunters stalk their game on the ground.  

Until they catch a slug from some idiot that shoots at running deer or anything else they see moving and think to have a 1% or greater chance of being one.  I'll take being a live hunter with no holes other than the ones God gave me, thank you very much, and not contribute to the apparent pollution of improperly utilized ballistics and encourage others to do likewise.  I still hold that those who hunt deer on the ground in a place not resembling Wyoming or Montana where there is no semblance of a human being on the horizon for miles can be accurately described by one word: foolish.

Well those dodge 880s and M1009/9's at work are perfect for that, just before you send them out.

You guys must be talking about the Catskills to the NYC line!

Or Buffalo area....

I can only think of one place here in central NY (Basswood Pond near COOPERSTOWN) where things like that happen with regularity.

Mostly it's a MASShole/NYC/CONN/NJ urbanite kind of thing....

No, I'm NOT BASHING ALL Cityslickers!

We had some of our city dwelling hunters at ARFCOM HUNT 09 phase 1, and I'm sure some of the same will show at Phase 2.
All of which I saw good gun handling from

I hunt from the ground. My friends and I prior to deer season were squirrel hunting with .22s and I saw 4 bucks within bow range and one of them gave me a nice broad side.

This guy came from a Chenango County hillside this AM. Nice sized-body. No tracking required

I like eating venison too much to hold out for a big rack. Also, the small properties I mostly hunt get lots of pressure around them, so I might be waiting a LONG time for a truly big buck to appear.  I have not had a doe step out in front of me as of yet (that I had a valid doe tag for. I saw 8 on the Chenango Co property on Monday. Man, that sucked as the trigger finger was primed to go!).  

I do think that there have been less hunters out this year. I have generally not heard much shooting this week. I have hunted locations in 3 counties.

I have seen some WHOPPER bucks taken this year from friends' emails and deer seen at my butcher shop. A friend of mine is finally getting his son (25 YO) into hunting. He sets the kid up at a prime spot and he whacked a MASSIVE 7 point with a 22 inch inside spread. Biggest 7 pt I have ever seen by far. Hell of a way to start out, as it will probably only go downhill from there

Was that anywhere near Columbus by any chance. I was out there this morning. Not as lucky as you though!

not too far from Otselic.

Bump for the Arfcom deer killing crew to add their dead critter pics!



tagged "button buck"

I spent 11 days "hunting", biggest thing I saw was a red pine squirrel.

I did manage to get about 12 hours sleep a night and eat 6-7 times a day.

Just got back from our camp up north tonight;  Our camp hunts hard and we all agreed that this year was the worst we've seen, with not many does to be seen between predation and last winter.  We passed on several small bucks (4-6 point) back in November and pulled out a big 6 and small 7.  We chased a smasher around since Thursday, got a glimpse of him today and wished I had a few more days to spend chasing him.



Shot 2 coyotes on Friday, my first of the season.  (Pics to follow.)  I have time scheduled off over the next few months to hunt them with a vengeance in NY and PA and I'm very much looking forward to it.

Got a doe with muzzleloader Saturday. Took her from 30 yards with optic sights. I'd use a scope but didn't have time to sight it in. It's my first muzzleloader hunt as well. My older brother got one with bow. Late Archery/ Muzzleloader ends the 22 in Souther Tier. It's been a very good year. 8 deer harvested on our 48 acres since October, 4 bucks, 4 doe. It's my first 2 deer season as well.

Nice deer! I have been out a bit  the last few days with my muzzleloader. I passed up a couple small does (possibly fawns) on Friday afternoon. I set up a friend in one of my spots yesterday. He had 3 does coming towards him-but he moved on the crunchy snow and they saw him.

A lot of folks I've talked to have had a poor season. I suspect the deer harvest will be down a good bit. On the other hand, some whopper bucks have been killed this year.

I am hoping to get something done on Long Island ths year.
Wish I was back in Maine.