Gator

I should be asking you that question! We just bought the property this year and the Dunstans went in ~May. I have >90% survival and I'd say that half of them showed some growth in the tubes, the other half leafed out and look good, just not much vertical growth. I guess that's to be expected. Next year they'll get Osmocote in the spring and I'll spray around the base to prevent competition. I'm actually intrigued about the Auburn Buck IV that drops in November. It's patented and pricey, but I may put a few in this coming year. They're a grafted variety. And there's big news just emerging about a GMO where they've got an American that can survive blight. It'll be a couple of years til we see that one on the streets. Corey from Future Forest is also trying some this year. We'll have to compare notes down the road. How do the ones at your cousins look?

That's an awesome picture! Any chance your daughter is in Rush-Henrietta? I have a daughter in 9th grade academy there. She used to hunt with me, but that got left by the wayside a few years ago. She's a heck of a shot with a bow, just other stuff going on. Maybe if she knows your daughter it will stimulate her interest again. I'll show her the photo. Congratulations to her!

I think that's the point. Although I'd be careful about alleging any particular misconduct without solid proof. That having been said, it wouldn't surprise me to see some bucks come out of the doe-only area, particularly on the edges...

My land sits on a corner with crop fields to the West. The stands along the West side closest to the fields should be good in an East wind, and walking in is easier since the scent is drifting into the field. Since it's the first year, I don't know for certain though. All our other properties have at most one or two stands that work in an East.

I shoot my does when it's convenient, and that's generally later in the season once it's cooled off and I don't have to worry about spoilage. A doe-only start to bow season won't make me shoot them any earlier! Ie, I hunted last night and passed on three doe. Why was I out there? Who knows? You always make the choice of whether to let one fly or to refrain. I chose the later. I will shoot does, just when I choose, not DEC. The primary benefit of early season moving to October 1st was for hunters who patterned bucks on summer food. This is a great way to arrow a big boy. Once the bachelor groups break up, their patterns change and all bets are off. That opportunity has been lost now, only a few years after it was given to us. But IMHO the only reason that DEC instituted the two week thing was that it's a necessary step in process and allows Phase 3 to happen: muzzleloader during archery. I think that Phase 2 is designed to fail, but implemented so that they've covered their butt and can tell archers that, "you were given a chance". Seriously, though? Who in their right mind thinks that archers, which are a minority of the deer hunting population, can by themselves in a two week period make a significant dent in the doe population? And that's without the blowback that we're seeing from archers who either won't hunt at all or who go to the Southern Tier where they have a crack at a buck. It's a ridiculous management plan with little to no likelihood of success. Dollars to donuts, every archer in this area could arrow a doe and it wouldn't be enough to make DEC happy. And here come the muzzleloaders! At least we have two years of this doe-only period mandated before they can implement Phase 3. Enjoy archery season while you can. For the record, I have nothing against muzzleloaders and I love to gun hunt. But I bow hunt for different reasons, and bringing guns into bow season would negate most of those reasons. I'd rather have a shorter bow season and a progression from bow to muzzleloader to shotgun rather than have an interrupted bow season. Just my opinion.

Hit the stand for an hour last night. Forgot the pee jug, so I climbed out 15 minutes early, took a leak, and collected two SD cards from the cameras. I managed to walk up on three doe to within fifteen yards...they were on the far side of a brush pile near my Dunstan chestnut plantings. They got a pass (as opposed to a pass-through ). I'm pretty sure that it was the mature and two yearlings I've been seeing on the property all year and I couldn't bring myself to arrow her. Yet. It was just good to get out. And what's with all the East wind in the forecast? It works for my property, but strange...

Yup. That's what I keep telling myself. I don't have the excitement notched up yet, but I am itching to sit in a tree on the new land and see what I see. Not many big boys on the cameras yet, but I've been working over there a bunch, so I'm not too concerned about busting a stand. As plantings and such wind down, I'm confident they'll show up. Just in time to be met with a Slick Trick in the boilermaker!

The flood tide at harvest moon is an awesome time to hit the flats! My brother is in Jacksonville and I've been down fishing the flooded grass a few times with him from his Pathfinder and kayaks. Good stuff!

Yeah, I seem to recall that too. Probably cost-benefit analysis. I wish we really were advanced enough to deal with this stuff!! Unfortunately, we can't even stave off antibiotic resistant flesh eating bacteria, and we've had over fifty years of research eating up 100s of millions of dollars suporting the effort. The federal funding level for this kind of stuff is way, way less than that. It would be nice to tap into some of the $$ that BP has allocated for Gulf research as restitution for the spill...those guys are swimming in it. But even given unlimited funds, my money is still on Mother Nature. Michael Crichton had it right...minus the dinosaurs

I'd like to be getting excited about now, but it's tough with having to wait two weeks to even think about a chance at a big boy I have another forty trees and bushes coming in this afternoon to plant, so at least there's something to keep me occupied, but out in the woods at the same time. Shagbark hickory, Ohio Buckeye, several types of oaks, and a bunch of nannyberry, viburnum, american hazelnut and such.

Hey Brian, Not to get off topic, but what else are you referring to that could be done to stop Asian Carp? When have we ever really had the means to halt an invasive species? There's probably a bunch of stuff that won't work out there...but what will? That, as I see it, is the core of the problem. You can't keep eggs from attaching to bird's feet and entering that way. Nature always wins. I have some hope, however, since the most recent research suggests that the Great Lakes environment isn't suitable for Asian Carp, as they are evolved toward slowly moving rivers. It would suck to be wrong, though.

Anyone who's retired from DEC will tell you that there's some decisions made based upon evidence and some decisions made based on politics. And all decisions are based on $$$. The lake trout/native species thing has been going on for years, sometimes being pushed harder than others. Gotta say though that I doubt simple stockings are the main root of the problem. It's gotten complex out there with the invasives. That having been said, all of the stops should be pulled to save the king fishery before we go ie. L. Michigan.

This isn't really about the lake, but about the land around it. There's a new invasive on the horizon called Black Swallowwort. It grows like peas, with a vine and pods, and the pods burst open this time of year like milkweed. In no time at all, it seems to have taken over many open areas in both Oatka and Mendon parks, forming a dense monoculture. Thankfully it dies back each winter. IMHO, it's the primary invasive we need to be concerned about. I can't believe how fast it spreads. Keep an eye out for this stuff while you're in the woods this fall, and if you see it, make sure to inform the landowner. I'm not convinced that we can keep it in check even with forewarning, but you gotta try...remember, the seed pods have likely opened by now. Since it climbs all over everything, it's relatively easy to spot.

The hot thing now is to steal a licking branch and reposition it by your stand. All that good nasty scent on it is supposed to lure them in. I've seen five bucks walk by one branch in an evening and every one of them stops to lick it. One of them danced on his hind legs for a good 30 seconds to wrap his antlers around it. Quite the show. I haven't tried it yet. Anybody?

Chasing and breeding are two different things. At the time most of the does are being bred, the bucks are in lock-down. IMHO, weather has more to do with it than anything. A couple warm days seems to shut them down. Good, crisp weather, light steady winds, right at the start of the rut (give me Nov 3-10, please) when they're horny and stupid...okay, I've worked myself into a lather now FYI, I posted some thoughts on CWD on the Hunting New York Empire Hunting Forum. I got called a "white coat" several times in reply by a deer farmer...I guess twenty five years of training in the field is outweighed by his personal experience. My only point was that CWD is scary and shouldn't be dismissed because it's not 100% lethal in deer. And that's from a guy without an agenda. Prion diseases, like most neurodegenerative disorders, progress with age. Deer only live to be 5-7. If it jumps to people, which BTW happened between sheep and people in England with a similar disease...well, we live a lot longer than deer. It could become the new Alzheimers, if not worse. Anyway, the thread is entertaining and it brought out some thoughtful commentary and a bunch of trolls. Nothing new.

I'm with Mike Engle on the Dogfish Head and Bells, although I prefer their 90' and Oberon. Those two beers are staples at our summer lab BBQs. My brewing days are past, but I used to brew quite a bit. Here's a funny story: Years ago, when I first started graduate school, I brewed up a batch of beer with another guy in the lab and we used an ultracentrifuge to clear the yeast from the wort prior to bottling. Unfortunately, it worked too well and we didn't get enough carbonation. So, we made a mini-wort and added a teaspoonful to each bottle, then capped them and waited. Well, it was during a tour of the lab by some university bigwigs that the bottles that we'd stored under the bench started exploding. Once the first one went, it set off a chain reaction. Crap. So the other guy, who used to work on Drosophila (fruit flies), which eat yeast, says calmly, "Dang, too much pressure in those bottles of fly food". And all was well. The worst part was that we lost most of the batch. Now, this was twenty five years ago and would never happen these days...as I'm sure graduate students have evolved since then

It's Ray!!

I'm fairly certain that there's not only some beer nuts, but a few beer crafters, as well. You know Kurt who caught that 33 lb laker a couple years ago on Gambell's boat? He grows hops and organizes a festival near Canandaigua. Why? You have something in mind? LOU Beerfest? It is that time of year...

This doe-only early season is phase two of DEC's three part plan to "progressively increase harvest pressure on antlerless deer where needed". This is from the DEC website. The next phase is an early muzzleloader season. It's coming. Opening day in the middle of bow season. There's a question and answer page on the DEC site that reiterates this over and over. Grab your ankles and get ready.

Brian's new hero!!