Gator

Brian, I'm looking forward to seeing that beast in action. I've bought new Strikemaster AND Jiffy gas augers in the past couple of years (Steve repaired the Jiffy and is currently using it with the chipper blade), but I hate the weight. The gas doesn't bother me so much. It's great to see the new toys first hand, though. Got to get below 60F to make ice...

I've fished most of them...of course opinions are like armpits: we all have them and they all stink...but the Marcum LX5 is a heck of a unit. I just got one for myself this year. There's been a recent price drop and there's a rebate if you purchase prior to Dec 31st, too. Iceshanty has a great breakdown of the features on each of the respective units, plus lots of other sports weighing in on their preference. Here's the site: http://www.iceshanty.com/ice_fishing/in ... board=74.0 All the top manufacturers make great units, particularly at the high end. Make sure that you get the depth range you need, particularly if you fish deep sometimes, think about interference with other units, and decide whether zoom or fineline options are necessary for you. In case you're interested, Reeds has the LX5 for less than the "rebate" price and they'll give you a receipt for $499 so you can get the rebate, too.

No deer endangered, either! Happy Thanksgiving, all!

I think that Steve was making reference to the SuperSonic shot in his post above...at least that's my interpretation. I've not heard personally of anyone having issues with BlackCloud.

That looks just like the one I bought off you last year!! What did you do, buy in tandem? It's still sitting in my basement...

Steve, I'll take it for Jaenelle. Gator

Dropping the price would spark interest

A Steelers win would have been a great present. Oh well, I'm sure the stadium beer tasted good. And maybe we'll see a few deer this week. Stranger things have happened...my wife is proof of that

So much for great expectations...three guys, great property over in Gaines near Oak Orchard, no deer. One of the guys says he heard a buck on a doe "somewhere to the East". I guess you've got to see deer first to figure out if they're rutting. This season has overall been the worst I've seen in terms of deer sightings. Not sure what's up. I may have to take a day to duck hunt tomorrow and get my head back in the game.

Out all day yesterday and saw/heard no rutting activity whatsoever on our property near Albion. I was quite surprised, as my wife said there was a hot doe near Mendon Ponds Park that was driving a couple bucks wacky. Another buddy who's an avid bowhunter has been out three times straight without seeing a deer late this week. Maybe the warm shut them down for a day or two? If so, I have great expectations for this morning, as the thermopop shows 24F outside my window. Good luck to all!

I'm going to ditto the bloodlines thing. My first black lab who is 12 years old now was from Joe Letta in Shortsville (retired now), and she was a great hunter till she went deaf (note to self: dog stays on left side in future). Our year and a half old black is from Cresland Kennels near Victor that breeds primarily guide dog stock. Since I do more bowhunting now than duck I wasn't too disappointed when she ended up being as dumb as a rock Okay, that's going too far, but she definitely lacks drive and ambition. She's just not enthusiastic about the game. I know that the trainer is usually at fault for issues with the dog, and I'm not the world's best trainer, but the difference between her and the first one is night and day. Both dogs are small ****es and they're both really laid back, but I truly believe that the idea of a "hard-charging" workhorse and a well mannered guide dog are incompatible. Just saying, pedigree is worth paying for...when I was looking last year I saw a kennel down in Northern PA that was Orvis endorsed and seemed to be saying/doing all the right things. I forget their name, does this sound familiar and does anyone have any experience with them?

I saw Nada last nite while out in Gaines, but I think that's because Keith had all the deer in the woods around him...must have been a breeding nucleus, with a couple small bucks, one big buck, a few does and probably one of them hot. Lots of running around but no shot on the shooter. Gator

Nice deer Steve. What you gonna do with the rest of your time now?

I've resigned myself to the fact that fracking is inevitable. Where $$$ is involved, it doesn't matter what the truth is, unfortunately. Please understand, I'm not bashing fracking, but I don't for a moment believe that it's as harmless as we're led to think by the gas companies. When there's money to be made, there's no risk, ever, to the environment...and it wouldn't matter what data you put in front of people, if they want to believe that it's safe, then by God it's safe! I love pulling out my Dad's old magazines, and an interesting parallel exists in some articles from Outdoor Life in the 1960's where they debate whether DDT, Agent Orange etc. does any real environmental damage. Lots of folks, including sportsman, were coming down on both sides of the fence. I'd guess the same was true when they started strip mining in PA. I just hope that 50 years from now we aren't sitting on our golden thrones looking back and saying, "What the hell were we thinking?" Personally, I don't have any answers, but I'm not sure that anyone else does either. The gas isn't going anywhere. When it runs out in one place, our gas will be that much more valuable. I'd like to see less rabid fervor and more careful consideration.

That's a good question. I had an eight bust me this morning...came crashing in on a grunt, I came to full draw as I saw the rack, and he must have spotted me move. He stopped at 20 yards facing me and looking right up at me. That and a few overhanging branches between us kept me at full draw for 3-4 minutes til my arm was shaking. Shook the bow right into the buckle of my harness and the game was up. I doubt I'll see him again out of that stand this year, but I guess you never know. Thoughts?

Best wishes in tough times.

Here's a third vote for Otters. Last year we bought a pair of Walker plastic collapsible boards, but they were diving on us a couple times a trip. In flat water, too. After much back and forth, I finally got a replacement from Walker. A single board Better than Silver Fox, though, who docks next to us. They had an identical pair that did the same thing and last I'd heard Hans couldn't even get a reply. At one point during the fiasco I finally said screw this and ponied up for a pair of Otter Boats. I ordered the "keel and a half" to run coppers from and they seem to do their job. My only concern is that it's hard to stow them...not just size, but in terms of how to actually lay them down. There's so much weight on the keels that I'm concerned they might bounce and break the board itself. Thus far, though, it's been fine.

Ouch! Somebody got ratcheted...

Gambler's going! BBQ on the ice! Sounds like a good place to put the new Marcum LX-5 to the test.

Well said, Vince!

Awesome! I grew up fishing Waneta and let me tell you, that lake has some big muskies, but she's hard to persuade to give them up. You guys must have hit a magic window. Or you're just that good Anyway, you'll remember it forever, that's for sure. Congratulations!

Agreed. Although it doesn't look like we're going to get more than a brief reprieve from the rain over the next week. I hope you like your venison well marinaded!

Sounds great!!

What I really need to do is give up my job. It started innocently enough, but quickly became a bad habit...

Interested, but between ducks, bow hunting, fly fishing and work (ugg...) there's just too much going on to make the trip. Thanks for the advice last year; we did some fish on the hard water and look forward to doing it again this winter. I hope you light them up before then! Tight lines. gator