Gator

And I assume Musky's role in this was to film the whole thing? That's something I'd pay $$$ to see...

Yup, ethanol is not the solution, that's for sure. I don't believe in wind power as a viable alternative, either. Frankly, nuclear power, contained in small reactors with advanced technology, strikes me as being a fantastic alternative. I'm no expert, but the small form factor, ability to contain and effectively manage waste, and relative safety seems to be big +++. Anybody know where I can get a small reactor or maybe a hydrogen fuel cell (no shortage of water on Lake O) for powering my boat after the Yamaha croaks from intoxication?

I heard from Brian that it cleared out after we left. He fished til 2 pm and had three pike in the last hour. Said there were only ~8 people left when they took off.

Imagine the fun you could have with a white deer and a paintball gun. Like fresh canvas... I'd have shot her no question, particularly given the survival rate as PKomrowski stated.

Hey lund I left a message on your cell phone

Winter laker fishing can be phenomenal on Seneca. We usually start fishing perch in February and I'm begging the guys to take a meander into 80-100' and let me catch a few lakers. Typical jigs, plastics, vertical spoons and minnows all work. Wind is definitely your enemy though, and running an outboard in the winter requires some precautions. Go get them!

If you go over to the Iceshanty site and do some looking under the Icegator thread or under the "ice augers" child board, there are a number of concerns with their quality and dependability. I know that sometimes a few vocal people can make something appear to be worse than it is, but it's still probably worth looking at the threads. Also, the advertised weight of the auger is minus the batteries and the final weight was more than I expected...upgrading to the lithium battery to save weight is unbelievably expensive (~$800 last year!). I'd love to see one of these in action on the ice and form my own opinion, but I'm not going to be the guinea pig. I'll second the comment as to the Nils. I don't own one, but they are butter smooth. Only drawback is that the chromium blade replacement is >$70 for a hand auger. The only place I've seen the 8" Nils available lately is RedRockStore, but I think Fish307 has some 6" models left (I'm thinking of buying one this year). Last year I had a guy on Honeoye show me that a Nils and an 18V power drill is a killer combination...

I've pulled our 24' Wellcraft around with my Silverado 1500 no problem, and I'm assuming that my new F150 would perform just as well (it's rated to tow up to 9500 lbs), but I also drive the truck daily and use it like a truck should be used. I can't imagine driving a rice-burner. That having been said, my wife's Honda has 150,000 on it and is still going strong. So I guess my opinion is that getting a second vehicle is the way to go, if you don't have a routine need for a truck. To me, a 2500 or diesel seems like overkill for the occasional trip. I guess I'm going to chime in on Jimski2's post, too. I know a couple of guys who fish out of 18-19' aluminum boats, and they are usually able to fish the same water that we are...perhaps not as comfortably. But they save lots of $$$ and don't seem to have any problems running 8 lines for four guys. It almost makes me miss the old days of the original Nothing but Net, a 19' Sea Nymph GLS. Almost Not that the original question had anything to do with boats...

Nice buck! A guy I know shot a buck with a really decent rack near Rush a couple years ago that was also in full velvet. I haven't seen the final mount, but I guess that it's a cool conversation piece.

And so the dream is shattered...the kid has practice for Bach Childrens Chorus tomorrow nite starting at 6:30. Drink a few for me.

I agree with Bill. You might want to have your son check out LabX.com for a used microscope, as well. Gator

Tonight I will dream that at one point in time my wife looked like that...and while I'm at it I'll dream that I shot a big twelve point this season Heck, X-mas is coming. And I know how generous LOU'ers are. PM me for my mailing address. I assume the models are included?

I'm Mr. Mom for ten days while the wife's at a meeting, but I bet Jaenelle would be up for it. Wings and beer sound like heaven, too. Might get a little late for the kid, though. Scott, give me a shout on Wednesday, would you? My mental calendar has been on the fritz this month.

It looks to me like the consensus is either a Yamaha or Honda high thrust 4 stroke...I own a T8 and while I rarely use it on my Lund it's been reliable and efficient. I also agree that the remote steer/Trollmaster combo is fantastic if you can afford the upgrade.

Hank, Sorry to hear the news. Hang in there. Gator

I've seen lots more doe than bucks, but like this morning I think that the doe are starting to group together. I had two groups of 4 or 5 doe come through; no bucks. Earlier in the season the ratio was probably 3:1 for doe:bucks, including little guys with the does.

Tracks are great, just make sure that they're long enough to accommodate all of your "future" expansions. We recently upgraded to 4' sections on each side and Pursuit swivel bases. Nice!

I told you that I'd sell him to you, but noooo.....

Lots of good thoughts in this thread...I wish I could make myself keep better records, both as regards hunting and fishing, but given my job as a PI at UofR it would make recreation seem too much like work. I certainly recognize the value of having a database like that, though. And applaud those like Rob who make it happen

Hi Shadster, Normally I'd agree with you, but in this case I'd be ignoring the fact that Charlie has a facility down in Avoca where he studies deer and deer behavior. His observations are made with a rigor that would do a scientist proud, and like any good scientist he tries to explain what he observes using various models. Sometimes they're right and sometimes they need to be modified...it's a process of elimination. And no model is perfect, nor does any model incorporate every variable. I don't think that you'd get any argument that weather plays an important role...but it's not predictable (or at least the weathermen here in Rochester seem to have a tough time out beyond 4-hours or so ). The moon is predictable, though, which gives the sports who're trying to set up some vacation time a target window with better odds of seeing rutting activity. And it's a game of odds, as not every buck and/or doe is going to trigger at the same time. Charlie is a writer and photographer, but long before he became well known I knew him as "that crazy guy who studies deer". There's probably an element to what he writes that's designed to sell magazines...guy's got to make a living, after all. But it certainly doesn't help his reputation to put garbage out there or to pull dates out of a hat. I'm sure he'd admit that he doesn't have all the answers, but I do believe that his answers are better than most of the phenomenological or strictly observational n=1 opinions that most guys have (no offense to folks with years of experience, but unless you document you observations, it's still just opinion not science). And that's strictly my "opinion". For the record, I just head out whenever I have time and hope to stupid into a horny buck. Hey, that works too!

Boys, boys... The both of you have valid points, and I'm not sure they're even mutually exclusive. Ray likes to paint it on a little thick, but his bottom line is that an experienced deer hunter who spends lots of time in the woods knows when the rut is occurring. And Tony likes Charlie's theory, which appears to reflect what we're seeing this year. Okay, so you're both right. Everyone's entitled to an opinion. And Ray, that "grasshopper" kung-fu sensei act is just stoking the flames...but you already know that Let's keep it chill. We're all on the same side here.

I didn't manage to catch a peek at the big boy after Friday morning, but I did play with an eight-point yesterday afternoon for ~45 minutes using the grunt and estrous bleat. It was nice with the relative calm not to have to hold onto the tree for "deer" life. Anyway, the buck finally stepped onto the lane, into the crosshairs, then back off again. I guess I felt generous, and he was only a marginal shooter (by my own personal standards). He certainly acted interested, but I don't know enough about deer physiology to tell from sight alone what stage he might have been in. I also saw thirteen mature does that were traveling in two separate groups, but no bucks were associating with them. For what it's worth, I think that Charlie has been right on the money...a "trickle" rut separated by two distinct periods of heavier activity following the full moon.

Now, nobody on here is advocating anything illegal, to be sure Just a little bit of justifiable frustration. There's not enough e-cons to keep even the most flagrant violators at bay. How do you protect what you've paid for? Maybe we need to move to a system like in Alberta, CA, where it's illegal to accept $$$ for hunting rights. That puts everyone on equal footing. Of course, it would probably be a victory for the yahoos and it won't solve landowners' issues of trespassing. Okay, I'm off to sit in my own piece of bought-and-paid-for heaven.

Hey Scott, I'll sell you Keith and a pair of stirrups...I think he goes 250 or so...and he's definitely used Gator

Okay, let's get this thread back on track. I agree completely with the sentiments on this board. We lease land and we're protective of our lease. Now here's the kicker...when any subset of society stratifies into "haves" and "have-nots", there is going to be an element of the "have-nots" that decides to just take, regardless. As hunting land and permission have become harder to obtain and land access has become increasingly restricted due to leasing, among other things, the "have-nots" have increased in number. Most of these folks are law abiding citizens, but the sheer volume of people who can't find a place to hunt anymore means that a few bad apples becomes more than a few bad apples. And hence we have these trespassing issues. It's going to get worse as more and more of the land gets leased. It's gone that way in other parts of the country and it's going that way here, as well. It's a no-win situation, because as land use becomes more restricted, we lose hunters. Participation declines until only the privileged ($$$) or extremely dedicated have a bucket to sit on opening day. And the public sentiment turns against us. I don't have any answers, and to me it looks inevitable. Anybody got ideas??