George Weekly Diary

This Diary is updated on a weekly basis each Monday night. We maintain four weeks of information on this page at all times. Our intention with this page is to bring helpful information to you on a weekly basis. Please feel free to E-mail us with your questions and comments.


With plenty of rain, the onions are big and the sunflowers are ten feet high!

It certainly has been a busy week with plenty of rain. Some of my sweet corn got knocked over and broken by the wind but that is nature. We got the garlic and onions dug and they are drying on the back deck under cover. We harvested one row each of yellow and green beans and two rows of Roma beans. This will give us over a year’s supply of quart bags in the freezer! The cucumbers and squash are going strong and we are now picking every other day (rain permitting). Plenty of squash to eat and give away and we have put up ten quarts of pickles as of this week.

Click to view photos July 27 2010.

Along with other things was able to catch up on my work that didn’t get done over the previous weekend and shipped seventeen bowstrings, two bows and two dozen arrows to needy customers! Of course I would much rather be busy than sitting around with nothing constructive to do.

Yesterday I cut out seventeen strings that I have to make for stock and hope to get those twisted and bagged before I have to leave to go to the Muzzy shoot on August 6th. We have a dozen 2317 Super Slam aluminums in process to fill an order and this is the first dozen that we have sold in over a year! Not much call for aluminum any more!

We received an email from Bill Wilcox representing Trenton Fish & Game Club. He said that the club had asked him to take over their Archery Program and hopes to be getting back on the 2011 3D Schedule. Under Bill’s management they have redesigned their archery course and scheduled two shoots for the balance of this year. The first will be August 15th and the second one will be held on September 5th (Labor Day weekend). The club is located at 8001 Wood Road in Holland Patent with easy access from both Route 12 and Route 365.

Upcoming Events 2010

August 7 - 8, 2010

28th Annual

John Musacchia Stump Shoot

Lexington, NY

Info: yvonne@muzzy.com

3D Shoot Results

July 25, 2010 *Cassety Hollow*

Men's A Class

1		*John Cox*
2		*Rick Jennings*
3		*Frank Degiglio*

Men's B Class

1		*Barry Williams*
2		*Kermit Secor*
3		*Ed Kellogg*

Traditional

1		*Ken Kinville*
2		*Joel Solomon*
3		*Lawrence Spinak*

Women

1		*Brenda Galarneau*
2		*Janet Signore*
3		*Emily Raney*

Juniors

1		*Hunter Keith*
2		*Zack Noble*
3		*Cody Beeching*

Next Scheduled 3D

Shoot or Shoots

August 1, 2010

Tri Town Coonhunters Club

I am packing my rusty van to go to Long Pond for the Region 6 NYB Youth Camp. It will be my thirteenth year and if you are superstitious it stands to reason that there will be problems. We have sixteen students preregistered and we will be working with three instructors and three chaperones. Our staff this year is about half of what we normally have but we will get through the session without too many difficulties. (If the 16 kids show up we will have run this event for a total of 181 children.)

And of course there were problems……..Tee shirts were ordered late and I still don’t have them. We had to conduct the class with half our normal staff. We had one late signup because the Youth Camp advertisements passed out at the Watertown sports show had the wrong mailing address on it. One girl’s mother was persistent and got her in but who knows how many gave up? Four of the boys that were sponsored and signed up had already received their Bowhunter Ed certificates at other locations so they were bored for their stay. I had their new certificates voided and they didn’t have to take the test or attend the class sessions if they didn’t choose to!

We got through it and many thanks to the instructors: Don Polley, Tom Dutcher and Jay Glazewski and the youth councilors: Tom Dutcher and Howard Anderson who herded the boys around and Erika Hooker who took care of the girls.



*The shooting line of fierce competitors! Almost everyone is in the picture but me.*		The young lady on the right with the black lab is Erika Hooker who served as our girl's councilor. Erika attended this course several year's ago and we were happy to have her help.

While in Long Pond someone brought in the latest copy of Outdoor News which had a news item regarding the passage of A00924 and the companion Senate bill concerning the use of the crossbow. When I got home I printed the ten page document and it has passed both House and Senate and awaits the Governor’s signature.

If Patterson signs it into law then the crossbow will be legal to hunt big game during the Regular Season plus any special Muzzleloading seasons that are scheduled. Although the new law doesn’t open up the use of a crossbow in any season due to an individual’s handicapped condition that may well be a future consideration. The law makes provisions for crossbow training and certification as well. Probably the only Southern Zone season that we will share will be the late bow/muzzleloader season in December.

It will be great for the economy (Gander Mountain/Cabela’s/Bass Pro Shops/Dick’s Sporting Goods will certainly benefit with the new interest in crossbows) but you can rest assured we have no interest in selling them and no interest in the service work either.

The lawn and garden are demanding attention and I am horribly behind on backordered bowstrings. We have to dig the garlic and onions along with green and yellow beans to pick. The winter wheat is still standing down at the cabin and I have been seeing deer wandering around the edges. (If they were in the wheat I wouldn’t know it anyway!)

Upcoming Events 2010

August 7 - 8, 2010

28th Annual

John Musacchia Stump Shoot

Lexington, NY

Info: yvonne@muzzy.com

3D Shoot Results

July 18, 2010 *West Winfield Rod & Gun Club*

Men's Open

1	*Ryan Cox*	394
2	*Pat Rutledge*	374
3	*Ron Young*	372

Men's Bowhunter

1	*Rick Jennings*	378
2	*Wayne Rinaldo*	377
3	*Chuck Diamond*	375

Traditional

1	*Marty Seeley*	334
2	*Don Sweet*	324
3	*Randy Buell*	302

Women

1	*Brittany Britton*	330
2	*Nicole Guskin*	317
3	*Amanda Brit*	304

Juniors

1	*Cody Beeching*	333
2	*Dalton Walker*	294
3	*Damaris Carpenter*	168

Cubs

1	*Travis Guidi*	324
2	*Austin Reed*	262
3

	*Pee Wees*

1	*Dominic Rinaldo*	268
2
3

Next Scheduled 3D

Shoot or Shoots

July 25, 2010

Cassety Hollow Rod & Gun

Oxford Rod & Gun

Thursday we were able to pull and process all of the pod peas that we had growing. The snow peas (edible pod variety) are still producing so those plants are still there. We will be eating off those plants for another two weeks or so. Beans will be coming on soon and the garlic/onion crops will be ready in about three weeks.

I spent the weekend at the Oxford Traditional Archery Rendezvous and my vendor booth did very well. I sold three bows along with a few dozen arrows and the usual accessories. I had a good time and a profitable weekend which is more that I can say for the shoot sponsors. The club membership went out of its way to provide a great event (including lowering the registration fees) and the attendance was only 35 shooters over both days of the event. This was the third year of the OxTAR event and I will not be very surprised if there is not a fourth one.

As I mentioned earlier, we received the PSE Blackhawk recurves and I called a customer who wanted to see one. He made arrangements to visit and after shooting the bow purchased it on the spot. He sent us the following testimonial:

I recently purchased a one-piece recurve from Tollgate Archery. The bow was the PSE Blackhawk recurve. The bow it self was set up with one of George's custom strings, string silencers, rug rest and a strike pad. I test shot the bow indoors at Tollgate from 10, 15 and 20 yards then bought it right there and then. I was shocked how comfortable and fast this recurve shot for a "production" bow. I thought to myself," Can't wait to get home and really see what this bow was made of!" The bow itself was 60"@ #50 and George set the brace height at 7 1/4". Later on that week I shot two straight hours on my 15 target course at various distances. The bow was a nail driver. It was extremely quiet and would make a fine addition to anyones' hunting and 3-D arsenal. Its design reminded me of Martin's Dreamcatcher recurve with its maple and walnut riser and clear glass over the limbs to highlight the maple. On closer inspection, a layer of black fiberglass is seen under the maple layer. This probably aids in the bows speed. The throat of the grip is cut deep and accompanied by a thumb indicator which makes consistent hand placement a breeze. Bottom line, the PSE Blackhawk is a smooth drawing, fast, quiet and accurate bow. Custom performance at a production price. Money well spent. Thank you Tollgate Archery!

Scott Morgan

Traditional Shooter

Kirkville, New York

The PSE Blackhawk bows are manufactured by Greatree Archery in Connecticut and they sell the same bow under the model name of Deerslayer. As with any bows that we carry we add our own Flemish string with beaver fur silencers and shelf rest setup. We have also received a couple of Goshawk takedown recurves from Greatree Archery and this model is going to be an outstanding seller. The riser is zebrawood with a three lamination stiffener installed. The limbs are maple under black glass and attach to the riser by means of two pins and a limb bolt. This takedown will be priced at $130.00 which is less than the cheapest used bow! It shoots as well as any other recurve bow that I have had in my hands and the price can’t be beat.

We had some excitement here yesterday. When Merlyn and I came home from the cabin I saw a young woodchuck on the front lawn on the east side of the house. This was about 8:30 AM and by the time that I gave them their mid-day feeding treat in the early afternoon they were more than ready to go outside to run around. The woodchuck had been busy as well and when our dog pack went out after lunch it had dug a hole under the fence and made his way to the garden. I was carrying our oldest dog down of the back porch when I heard the other four screeching about the woodchuck in the beans!

The dogs had the woodchuck pinned against the fence and I was able to stun it so they could finish it off with their old dull teeth. Our youngest dog has the sharp five year old teeth but the woodchuck weighed more than she did so she was biting from two or three feet away! That was our excitement for the week.

Upcoming Events 2010

July 16 - 18, 2010		NYB Region 6 Bowhunter Youth Camp Oswagatchie FFA Camp *Long Pond, NY*

August 7 - 8, 2010		28th Annual John Musacchia Stump Shoot *Lexington, NY* *Info: yvonne@muzzy.com*

3D Shoot Results

July 11, 2010 *Waterville Forest Fish & Game Club*

Men's Release

1	*Mike Walker*	384
2	*Steve Laymon/Bill Wilcox*	383
3	*Chip Smith*	380

Open Class

1	*Ryan Cox*	396
2	*Ed Hewitt*	382
3	*Frank Degiglio*	364

Traditional

1	*Jim Domion*	270
2
3

Women

1	*Kristin Wilcox*	366
2	*Brittany Britton*	352
3	*Janet Signore*	345

Juniors

1	*Cody Beeching*	341
2	*Logan Bailey*	323
3	*Damaris Carpenter*	142

Cubs

1	*Dominic Rinaldo*	206
2	*Alex Taylor*	152
3	*Sky Brit*	111

Margaret went to the Madison County Fair and stopped to talk to the Beaver Valley guys. They were wondering where their July 3rd shoot results were and she told them they hadn't been received yet! They concluded that is was the vacation time of the year. So here they are!

Margaret promised that they would make the website! (Hi guys!)

3D Shoot Results

July 3, 2010 *Beaver Valley Rod & Gun Club*

Bowhunter

1		*Kelby Hilts*
2		*Don Bare*
3		*Chad Trudell*

Traditional

1		*Randy Buell*
2		*Don Sweet*
3		*Scott Dillon*

Women

1		*Sherry Bishop*
2		*Samantha Keith*
3		*Krista Smith*

Juniors

1		*Tyler Stetson*
2		*Hunter Keith*
3		*Dalton Walker*

Cubs

1		*Travis Guidi*
2		*Mike Burdick*
3		*McKenzie Trinkhaus*

Next Scheduled 3D

Shoot or Shoots

July 18, 2010

Pine Tree Rifle Club

Gilbertsville Rod & Gun Club

West Winfield Rod & Gun Club

Margaret and I harvested seven heads of broccoli and put them in the freezer. The seven heads converted into eleven meals for us and there are four heads yet to pick. We leave the plants to continue growing as healthy plants will continue to produce edible shoots as the summer continues.

Margaret reported seeing a Monarch butterfly. This is the first one of the season and hopefully not the last one. I can remember vividly forty years ago when our children were growing up we could easily find the Monarch caterpillars on the milkweed plants. We would bring them into the house and install them in an old fish tank to watch them go into the chrysalis stage and ultimately hatching out into adult Monarch Butterflies! In the fall we would watch thousands of the insects resting on the leaves of the five big maple trees in front of our house as the summer’s hatch started their migration to their wintering grounds in southern California and Mexico.

It is not likely that this scene will ever repeat itself again in the northeast as humanities’ greed and the subsequent destruction on the Monarch’s habitat has moved this glorious creature to the brink of extinction.

My nesting robin at the cabin successfully sent one baby into the local bird population. She lost three eggs in her first nest and obviously had only one egg left for the second nest on the porch overhang. I managed to get one picture of the little guy before it got big enough to leave.

We managed to spend Monday at the cabin with all of the doggies. They certainly enjoy going there and taking walks in the woods. In the process of our visit I noticed that the red raspberries are ready for picking and enjoyed the taste for the first time in a year!

Please note: I will be at the OxTAR event this weekend so if you want to see me from Friday through Sunday that is where you will be able to find me. Hope to see you there!

The following weekend is the Region 6 NYB Youth Bowhunting Camp and we will be CLOSED during that period of time (July 16 through 18).

Upcoming Events 2010

July 10 - 11, 2020		OxTAR Traditional Gathering *Oxford, New York* (Click) for printable flyer *Info: email - jvpvsv@aol.com*

July 16 - 18, 2010		NYB Region 6 Bowhunter Youth Camp Oswagatchie FFA Camp *Long Pond, NY*

August 7 - 8, 2010		28th Annual John Musacchia Stump Shoot *Lexington, NY* *Info: yvonne@muzzy.com*

Next Scheduled 3D

Shoot or Shoots

July 11, 2010

Tri Town

Waterville