PROS: High quality Merino wool, warm, durable, odor resistant, wicks moisture away for quick drying.

CONS: No heavy-weight insulated outerwear for late season hunting in ice and snow.

I recently was in the market for some new hunting clothing and was interested in the ASAT pattern when I came across First Lite Clothing. First Lite was started in 2007 by Kenton Carruth and Scott Robinson from Idaho. The duo developed next to skin base layers as well as outerwear that is great for stalking game.

I have wore the clothing on several hunting and scouting trips with great success. The garmets do a great job of wicking away sweat and keeping you dry. They're also great for layering and easy to pack in a backpack. The only downside I see is that First Lite doesn't currently offer heavyweight insulated clothing for late season treestand hunting.

If you're looking to upgrade your hunting gear next season check out First Lite clothing.

Michael Shaw of Westchester County headed to the woods early one morning in hopes of coming face to face with a mature whitetail. As day broke Mike noticed some movement in a nearby field and to his amazement it was a pack of five coyotes.

One of the coyotes broke off the pack and headed right towards Mike's stand. As the coyote came within 25 yards, Mike drew back and sent his Rage broadhead right through the coyote's boiler room. After the dog hit the ground Mike looked up and couldn't believe his eyes. The other four coyotes ran in and started circling Mike's tree as to taunt him for killing one of their pack. This went on for over twenty five minutes before they decided to run off.

After making sure the coyotes left for good, Mike climbed down out of his tree to retrieve his trophy. A gorgeous forty five pound coyote laid steps away. It's a great trophy and not many people can say the arrowed a coyote. It's definitely something to be proud of. Congrats to Mike on a great coyote and great story.

Hey guys, Team NYB headed out to the deer woods over the past week to do some scouting on a new property.

With turkey Season around the corner, team NYBowhunter is eager to start filming each other whacking down uncle TOMMY! During the month of March we will be interviewing Mr. Charles Anderson himself. An avid turkey hunter and custom call maker and a PROFESSIONAL at what he does.

A few of us from Team NYB went out to the woods early this morning in the 4 degree weather to try and call some coyotes in. We had two rifles, a shotgun, a bow and our camera equipment. There were tracks everywhere and the cottontail calls and fawn distress calls did little for us.


It was fun to get out there though and just be back in the woods. Deer season is a long way off and it will be nice to get back out there once the snow melts and see if we can find some sheds and try our luck again at some predator hunting.

New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner Pete Grannis today announced the adoption of a new plan to guide DEC's management actions for wild and state-propagated ring-necked pheasants for the next decade. The document revises DEC's 1999 version of "A Ten-Year Management Plan for Ring-necked Pheasants in New York."

"This plan incorporates the extensive information gathered by DEC biologists and input provided by sportsmen and other partners to provide a comprehensive assessment of pheasant management in New York," Commissioner Grannis said. "We look forward to fostering and continuing the tradition of pheasant hunting opportunities in our state for many years to come."

New York's wild pheasant population has declined by more than 90 percent since the peaks seen in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Numerous factors contributed to the decline, with the main causes being the loss of fallow grasslands for nesting and brood-rearing, a decline in grain farming and expanding commercial and residential development. Most of the pheasants hunted in New York come from DEC's pheasant propagation programs. Each year, more than 100,000 pheasants are hatched for fall stocking and cooperative rearing and release programs that provide recreational hunting opportunities for hunters of all ages and abilities.

The plan announced today provides an action plan for guiding management and use of pheasants for the coming decade. It was developed by a team of DEC biologists and technicians following a review of the current pheasant management plan and programs, looking at how other states manage the birds, and talking to sportsmen and other pheasant program partners and cooperators. The pheasant plan revision process included a two-month public comment period that ended in November 2009.

Management activities directed by the final plan include:

• Establishing a focus area in western New York to concentrate efforts for wild pheasant management by DEC and other interested organizations. The focus area would utilize available resources and help determine if increasing wild pheasant populations is possible under current biological, social, and fiscal conditions.
• Extending pheasant hunting seasons in most areas of the state to provide greater hunting opportunities.
• Reducing the size of the cock-only hunting area in western New York to reflect changing habitat and land use.
• Discontinuing the Young Pheasant Release Program (YPRP) after 2010, while continuing the Cooperative Day-old Pheasant Chick Program.
• ncreasing adult pheasant production from 25,000 to 30,000 birds annually beginning in 2011.
• Discontinuing the supply of adult birds for field trials.
• Establishing one or more pheasant hunting areas for people with disabilities.

The pheasant management plan and additional information about pheasants in New York can be found on the DEC website at: www.dec.ny.gov/animals/7071.html. If you do not have access to the internet, please call (607) 273-3763 to request a copy of the plan. DEC appreciates the input provided by pheasant hunters and others during development of the new plan.

Contact:
Maureen Wren (518) 402-8000

One of our reader's recently sent in some photos of a piebald deer in the southern part of the state. It's awesome to see deer in this color phase. I have never seen a piebald, albino or melanistic deer (even rarer than albinos, melanistic deer are all black).


According to Buck Manager, piebald is a genetic variation (defect) produces the piebald condition in white-tailed deer, not parasites or diseases. Piebald deer are colored white and brown similar to a pinto pony. Sometimes they appear almost entirely white. In addition to this coloration, many have some of the following observable conditions: bowing of the nose (Roman nose), short legs, arching spine (scoliosis), and short lower jaws. This genetic condition is rare with typically less than one percent of white-tailed deer being affected.

New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Regional Director Ken Lynch today announced the beginning of the development of the new Twin Sheds Unit Management Plan (UMP). Unit Management Plans assess the natural, physical, social and recreational resources of the landscape and provide a foundation for the development of long-term land management goals, objectives and actions.

The proposed Twin Sheds Unit includes both Hammond Hill and Yellow Barn State Forests, which are located in the towns of Dryden and Caroline. Together, the two state forests cover more than 5,000 acres of land in Tompkins County. Because of their collective size and proximity to Cortland, Cornell University, Ithaca, Ithaca College, Tomkins-Cortland Community College, and SUNY Cortland, the forests are highly valued for the many recreational services they provide to the public.

The unit is called "Twin Sheds" because it is divided by the Valley Heads Moraine, a moraine created by the Laurentide Ice Sheet. The moraine dammed the southern ends of the Finger Lakes and formed an east-west drainage divide. The northern part of the unit flows north into the Greater Lake Ontario basin, and the southern portion flows into the Susquehanna River basin. At the landscape level, the unit drains into five smaller watersheds totaling about 304,592 acres, or 476 square miles.

In addition to DEC management actions, the agency depends on volunteers to help maintain the 22 miles of recreational trails throughout Twin Sheds. DEC recognizes the importance of public participation in the unit management planning process and is asking for comments and ideas as the plan is developed. To learn more, an informational meeting is being held on Thursday, Feb. 11, in the Forum room of the Tompkins-Cortland Community College main campus in Dryden.

The meeting room will be open at 6:30 p.m. DEC staff will present a brief overview about the unit management planning process at 7 p.m. Directions to Tompkins-Cortland Community College are available at http://www.tc3.edu/about_tc3/directions.asp In the event of inclement weather, the meeting will be held at the same location on March 11.

"The Twin Sheds Management Plan is being developed to address both short- and long-term land management opportunities and needs on these state forests," Regional Director Lynch said. "Unit management plans provide a framework to address the past, present, and future management of forest ecosystems, wildlife habitat and recreational trails. Through the process, the state aims to develop strategies to conserve, protect and enhance the many values, products, and ecosystem-based services that state forests provide."

For additional information, please contact: Senior Forester John Clancy, NYS DEC, Division of Lands and Forests, 1285 Fisher Ave. Cortland, NY 13045-1090; (607) 753-3095 ext. 258, or jmclancy@gw.dec.state.ny.us . Written comments can also be submitted to those addresses by March 15, 2010, for consideration in the development of a draft UMP.

Contact:
Diane Carlton (315) 426-7403

Here is a giant shed that was found last week in Allegany County. The shed was in a small patch of woods about 150 yards from the college dorms. The shed was unofficially scored by two individuals and they came up with 84 7/8" and 86 1/8" so they're in the ballpark with this shed.


To keep it simple, giving this buck a score of 85" and assuming his other side was also 85" you're looking at a 170" deer. Now add in the 18" spread credit that is added to a set of sheds when both sides are found and you're looking at a deer scoring 188" - that's a buck of a lifetime here in New York!

Here's the story by the hunter, Keith Strychalsky:

The month of November came quick this year. In the past, I would count down the days in anticipation for the rut. With a busy work schedule and a daughter just turning one, spending the amount of time in the woods that I felt was necessary for getting a chance at a mature buck seemed bleak. Early in November I usually travel to New York to hunt with my friend Scott, but he was traveling to Kentucky to hunt leased land with another friend of ours. We usually do well this time period taking several bucks that grossed P&Y. Not having that opportunity this year really got my spirits low. I was hearing stories about big bucks being seen and shot and felt like I was a spectator at the big game. So I knew I had to put my time here in Connecticut if I wanted to compete with my friends. I had limited time to hunt, but, as I always do, I sacrificed sleep and tried to squeeze every available minute out of a day to get some time in the woods. I would get up early, go through my morning ritual of a shower with scent free soap, get dressed and leave the house with my green tea and oatmeal breakfast and would devour it as I drove to my hunting spot. As I drove, I thought, this could be the day, you never know.

I hunted several mornings and afternoons for the first three weeks of November. Some of the mornings I would hunt up until 8:00, not by choice, and then go to work. I was seeing great numbers of deer, but no mature buck movements. I remember on the 5th I saw over 20 deer running around the woods. I was excited to see the rut action, but not impressed with the age class of the bucks. It seemed that the mature bucks were locked up with estrous does and the younger bucks were roaming the woods experiencing the rut for the first or second time. I continued to hunt a small 7 acre piece of private land that bordered open space. I just felt with the number of deer I was observing that something mature was going to walk by my stand. Back in 2002, I was lucky enough to arrow a 10-point that grossed 147 4/8 and netted 142 2/8 just a few miles from the spot I was hunting. I had faith in my spot, but it seemed time was running out and the rut action was starting to slow down as I got into the third week of November, so I decided that I needed to make a change. I have two stands on the property, and I was hunting one that I felt was in a better spot. I actually took my leaf blower and blew trails to my stand to ensure me getting in there quietly and without leaving much scent. We all know how noisy dry leaves sound when you are trying to sneak to your stand. So, after one morning hunt when I felt the deer were just out of bow range and going past my other stand that I would sit the next afternoon or morning in that spot. I hunted after work on the 19th and thought conditions were ideal for getting a shot at a big one. I was wrong, it started to rain and heavy construction on the road front seemed to keep deer movement to a minimum. I had three does come almost into bow range, until a pay loader scraped the asphalt surface and scared them back from where they came from. I got out of my stand and planned on going back for a morning hunt on Saturday the 21st.

It was a beautiful morning on the 21st. I usually like this day because it is the opening weekend for the gun season and that really gets deer moving around. I had a small buck go under the stand at first light, but I couldn’t see exactly what he was sporting for headgear. He just had his nose to the ground and was on a steady walk eager to find some receptive doe. After that, I had two does come under the stand and smell my tree steps as I watched through the base of my fixed stand. I figured this was a great sign; none of the deer were nervous or spooked. Throughout the morning I tried to call in distant bucks with the bleat can and grunt call. Deer were on the move and I felt like this could be the morning. Around 8:00 I had a small 4-point with no brow tines come right under the stand. He passed by without winding me and I figured that the conditions were perfect. I then saw another doe feeding in an acorn flat about 100 yards away and watched her vanish into the deep woods. At this point in the hunt I was happy and was thinking that if the hunt ended right now that it was successful because of the action that I had. But little did I know that was all about to change! Suddenly, I spotted a doe running through the woods being chased by a 2.5 year old six point and I was excited because he had nice frame and he looked impressive. But I noticed another buck behind him and it was a “monster”. I could immediately tell from 100 yards away that this deer was a giant. I could remember saying out loud, “Please come my way”. The doe ran down a gully and up onto the ridge where I was sitting, I was optimistic about the situation. It was obvious that this 1.5 year old doe was in heat and that this big buck was going to be glued at her side. As the buck made the decision to follow her down the gully and up on to the ridge, I drew back thinking that I was going to get a shot. As they played “ring around the rosy” under some oaks, my heart dropped when it looked like the doe was going to drag him away from my stand location. Still at full draw, the doe circled a tree and ran right under my stand. The big buck followed her, grunting at every step. At that point I had the 20 yard pin locked on the top of his back, in between his shoulder blades. As he got within 10 yards of the stand, I released the arrow and drilled him through both lungs and he bulldozed the woods down and piled up at the bottom of the hill. He lay only 50 yards from where I parked my truck! At this point I was still in disbelief on what just unfolded. I was thinking to myself, “Did I just shoot a 160” buck? As I text messaged my wife and friends, I was still in awe on how things worked out for me. I unhooked my safety belt, and climbed down and made my way over to the deer that I could see lying in the leaves from my stand. As I approached him, I could not believe how massive his rack was. To my surprise, he had a third main beam that was about 14 inches long that protruded out from under his left brow tine. I was so excited that I just dragged him to my truck and lifted him into the pickup bed myself. I immediately brought him to the check station to make sure I fulfilled my tagging requirements. I was surprised to see that he only weighed 175 pounds live weight! His hind quarters were so skinny that he had to be running around the woods chasing does and not eating for weeks. His neck was swollen and huge.

I made my phone calls and spoke with my hunting partner Scott and told him the news. As he congratulated me, we discussed that it was only a matter of time before I had a chance at an exceptional buck. I hunted this spot for 6 years and never saw anything that was Pope and Young status. For that matter, I never saw a deer that was over 110 inches in this spot. I happen to arrow a 105” 6-point last season and that gave me some hope for this area, but with the amount of woods that surrounded my spot we always said to each other “You never know”. The first phrase that came to mind after I shot my buck was “Never give Up” in the words of bass pro Mike Iaconnelli. I wanted to scream that from my tree stand, but I refrained because there was still deer surrounding my position.

When I arrived at my house my wife and my baby girl came out to greet me. I was still in disbelief! I walked around my driveway with my arms in the air like I just won an Olympic gold medal. I green scored the buck at 164 7/8 as a non-typical 11-point. As a typical 10 point, he grossed 151 1/8. After the 60 day drying period, he should net score as a non-typical just over 160 inches! In my eyes, he is a true giant for this part of the country. I would have never thought that I would have topped my 2002 buck, but “You never know” anytime you step into the woods to hunt.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with the firm named below, today announced a voluntary recall of the following consumer product. Consumers should stop using recalled products immediately unless otherwise instructed.

Name of Product: Talon Hunting Hang-on Tree Stands and Brackets/Straps

Units: About 6,800

Manufacturer: Summit Treestands LLC, of Decatur, Ala.

Hazard: The tree stand can unexpectedly detach from the tree when the brackets fail, posing a fall hazard to consumers.

Incidents/Injuries: The firm has received four reports of the brackets failing, resulting in reports of falls and injuries including broken bones.

Description: This recall involves Talon Raptor brackets/straps and Cabelas Realtree series hang-on tree stands with the Talon brackets/straps. A safety label sewn onto the bracket reads "Treestand Strap Assembly." Tree stands involved in this recall have the following model numbers: rsEagle 82044, rsOsprey 82041, rsFalcon 82042, rsHawk 82043 and Cabelas Realtree Outfitters Series Hawk Deluxe 81509. Model information is printed on the tree stand warning label that is sewn onto the seat.

Sold at: Hunting stores and in catalogs nationwide from May 2009 through November 2009 for about $25 for the bracket only, for between $130 and $180 for the tree stand.

Manufactured in: USA

Remedy: Consumers should immediately stop using the brackets and contact Summit Treestands to receive a replacement bracket/strap.

Consumer Contact: For additional information, contact Summit Treestands at (800) 241-5559 anytime, or visit their Web site at www.summitstands.com

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CPSC is still interested in receiving incident or injury reports that are either directly related to this product recall or involve a different hazard with the same product. Please tell us about it by visitinghttps://www.cpsc.gov/cgibin/incident.aspx

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission is charged with protecting the public from unreasonable risks of serious injury or death from thousands of types of consumer products under the agency's jurisdiction. The CPSC is committed to protecting consumers and families from products that pose a fire, electrical, chemical, or mechanical hazard. The CPSC's work to ensure the safety of consumer products - such as toys, cribs, power tools, cigarette lighters, and household chemicals - contributed significantly to the decline in the rate of deaths and injuries associated with consumer products over the past 30 years.

To report a dangerous product or a product-related injury, call CPSC's Hotline at (800) 638-2772 or CPSC's teletypewriter at (301) 595-7054. To join a CPSC e-mail subscription list, please go to https://www.cpsc.gov/cpsclist.aspx. Consumers can obtain recall and general safety information by logging on to CPSC's Web site at www.cpsc.gov.

Contact:
Firm's Recall Hotline: (800) 241-5559
CPSC Recall Hotline: (800) 638-2772
CPSC Media Contact: (301) 504-7908

Joe Benedict arrowed this 9 point buck during the Southern Tier archery season in Cattaraugus County.

Tom Kaczmarek arrowed this monster 10 pointer during the 2009 New York Archery Season. Congrats Tom!