Hello, I've been lurking for a few days and registered yesterday.
Nancy and I live on our farm in Sennett, NY about 20 miles southwest of Syracuse, New York. We live in a great area for fishing and hunting. I hunt deer, geese and turkey with a little bit of black bear hunting on occasion. I had stopped hunting for quite a few years and started again about 8 years ago so I think I have re-made every mistake I ever made in my youth while getting back up to speed. But what the heck, a bad day of fishing or hunting is still better that a good day of most other stuff.
As a kid I grew up surf casting on Long Island Sound and never really took to fresh water fishing but I've done more open and hard water fishing in the last six months than I have in 35 years. It would be safe to say that my fresh water fishing learning curve is shaped much like a cliff but a good friend who's a state fisheries biologist has been a great mentor. I figured if he couldn't teach me to catch fish I was pretty hopeless...
In addition to the farm I'm a trim carpenter and manage construction projects but with the slowdown in construction things are pretty slow so I've been doing a lot of work on our own place.
My former Army National Guard duties kept me on the road 100-110 days a year before 9/11 and like a lot of folks I was gone a lot more afterward. I spent 29 years as an infantryman and for over 20 years was in and out of the competitive marksmanship and combat marksmanship training and competition arenas. Since my retirement in 2005 I made a decision to get a lot more involved in conservation, wildlife habitat management and sporting related issues so I don't shoot competitively much anymore.
I currently serve on the state Fish and Wildlife Management Board and the Conservation Fund Advisory Board (both are volunteer boards). The conservation fund is where our sporting license monies go along with any sporting related fines so if you have any questions about the state of funding for fish and game related spending in NY I'll do my best to answer them. I can't claim to have all the answers about what is going on at the state level but will do my best to get a straight answer to any questions and concerns.
I'm looking forward being part of the community here and would like to thank those who participate as moderators etc. I know it can be a pretty challenging and sometimes thankless task keeping a diverse site running.
Again, Thanks.
Lance Robson
