GAMBLER

Strictly an opinion and sure as hell not a fact. Not taking deer and being selective means tags left at the end of the season most of the time. Taking deer helps no matter what age because it keeps the population in check. Last I checked, over population in a deer heard is not healthy. And to answer your question, 20lbs of meat is worth it to me because I really enjoy eating venison. Every little bit is consumed and not wasted so I have no reserves on shooting a small deer.

These pics don't bother me either. I'm a meat hunter and don't care about horns. I have no problem with someone taking yearling deer. How many yearling deer do not survive a long hard winter? I would much rather see them harvested. Slow Rollin, have you ever had Veal? I sure hope not. That would be a little hipocritical.

I run my coppers with the spro swivels, haywire twist with shrink tubing, Uni knots and I also add 6' of 50lb floro between the backing and the copper so the releases hold better. I run the Scotty Power grip releases. Find the double stacker releases and cut the mono and add a shower curtain hook to the one that will be missing one. They run around $12 each. The Scotty Power grips alone run around $12 each so this way you get 2 releases for the price of one. The problem I see with the releases in Sk8mans post is the clip. Once a release comes off the copper, and you send a new one down with a line in it, it can swing over your line and wrap keeping your rod from releasing. These new Diawa reels have my attention. If the drags are as smooth and adjustable as the Saltist, all my Penn copper reels will be sold one by one and replaced. My only worry will be the line guide. Will it be big enough for the spro swivel to go through smoothly.

Opening day was interesting for me. Saw a ton of deer including the biggest buck I have ever seen on the good in the woods. At around noon, 2 hikers with an unleashed dog came walking through and the dog spooked deer out of the brush. The monster ran by with 6 doe at full speed. I just watched in awe. I ended up dumping a button buck with the muzzleloader at 100 yds around 420 pm opening afternoon. Not my first choice but it's meat in the freezer and now I can get back to perch fishing.

As a dog owner 1. What is your dog doing on someone else's property. 2. What is your dog doing in the woods during deer season? Would I shoot someone's dog? No. But I would not feel sorry for someone if it did happen to their dog. There are leash laws for a reason. People that own animals need to take care of their animals. It is not ok to let your animal roam free and do what it wants.

Congrats rob. Was this near my house or another spot you hunt?

Only problem I see is the fly will get flattened and not get its shape back.