GAMBLER

I'd be dead dragging that far.

Congrats Rob!

I used to Hunt Letchworth. Running into people on state land is part of hunting state land. Just because they are camping and hunting there doesn't give them the right to push anyone out of an area because they are camping there.

What an amazing afternoon for my kid! After not seeing a deer opening day, I was happy when he asked if we could hunt this afternoon. The cams were blowing up with activity so we went. Walking in, we bumped a stud buck and a doe bedded right behind the tower we hunted yesterday. We got settled in to a blow down with a great view of the hard woods. 15 minutes in, a 6 point comes strolling through the woods to our south. Brayden gets on the buck and has to wait minutes for a clear shot. Once he gets a clear shot, he squeezes the trigger and click! WTF! The buck caught me handing him the .308 and trotted off. He was bummed but I told him, things happen for a reason. Maybe he will get a crack at a bigger buck. 20 minutes later, he points north through the hard woods. Here comes a bigger buck. I stopped him and Brayden didn’t have a clear shot. He starts walking nose to the ground again and I stopped him again. At this point I can’t see him at all. Brayden fires and the buck turns north and runs 50 yds piling up in a depression in the woods. This is Brayden’s first buck and he made a great 95 yd shot across the woods.

Congrats Manny!

I hate when that happens!

There is another solution. Powder Mill is a privately run hatchery. Contract out Powder Mill raising a portion of the kings. This would solve the fear of infecting stocks that go all over the state. The state contracts out everything else in the state.

Fun morning in the snow with Gator. This buck came to me on a string and paid the price.

Did the buck jump the string? I have seen some pretty wild drops and weird entry angles on videos.

Good luck Rob and Hunter!

I can tell you the pH of Lake Ontario has not changed much over the years. It does change throughout the season when temperature changes. The lowest pH last year was 8.08 in February.. The high was 9.03 in August. Turbidity on average is way down compared to the 80's. When I first started here, my boss had the data. I will see if I can still dig it up in his old files.

Caledonia Hatchery has a better water source than the Salmon River. Spring Creek is a spring fed trout stream that has a more stable water temp. It has the water.....

Right on. If the kings are truly managed for the lake, we should manage them for the entire lake. On another note, the Salmon River is a huge natural reproduction tributary. The kings are managed for the lake yet the DEC allows our breeding stock to get raped and depleted all fall. If we depend on natural reproduction to sustain a large portion of our lake managed kings, shouldn't we give our breeding stock some protection? Low water years like this year, kings are easy targets. The more kings that are roped, the less natural reproduction opportunity we get and the less "lake managed" kings we will have in the system.

HDPE is not a great option. It is very slick, heavy and could warp in the heat of the summer.

May be true on good spawning tribs but the Genny wouldn't support natural reproduction. Too much silt covering the eggs.

Could you imagine the ramifications? Lost year class. Natural reproduction will give us some fish BUT, when that year class spawns, that year class will be smaller. Add in a low water year and it could be horrible. It's just a horrible way to run a huge business.

One hatchery and a disease or issue that kills all of our salmon, all the fishing communities on the South Shore will suffer. Not a smart way to run a multimillion dollar fishery.

Very odd.

Sorry about your lab Bill. Sucks. I just put my 8 year old lab down due to cancer in his sinus cavity. Get those bastards for trying to dig him up!

There are ways to sterilize eggs so contamination will not happen........

Congrats Hunter!