ripnlip

Nice bucks Giz! Hope you can connect with one.

Beautiful pics!! I think that Alaska is a bucket list item for a lot of us on this site!! Keep the pics coming!

Wow! Hope she's harvested soon. That's gotta hurt!

Skinny. I do everything by the letter of the law set by the Game Commission. If you don't like my practices well that's your opinion. I done trying to explain it to you. I'm not going to get into a pi$$ing match with you on a site where we're supposed to talking about & enjoying our outdoor sports. We get enough of that from politicians & anti's. You have your opinion & I have mine. You be safe & have a safe hunting season.

Skinny420, Please stop calling the items I am discussing a snare. I do not, have not & will not use snares on my trap line. I use a cable restraints. They are 2 different things. If you look thru all my posts on this thread I've never called them snares. Please get your facts straight. As far as lowering my loops on my restraints. They are set at 6-8" off the ground if I'm targeting fox, 10-12" off the ground if I'm after yotes. The loop diameter is small. About 6" for fox & 10" for yotes. I have never set a restraint at hip level. Again, get your facts straight. Yes I have killed 3 deer over the 10 years I have been using restraints. But every incidental kill was followed by a call to the Game Commission. Also, in those 10 years of using restraints I have removed over 35 yotes using restraints. You run dogs, probably for small game. Do you think I hurt or helped the areas I trapped for small game? If you've trapped like you say you have. Are you going to say you've never had an incidental catch? Say someone's house cat? And had to put the animal down because you couldn't get the cat out of your trap without getting ripped to pieces? As for being a real trapper. I've been doing this since the mid 70's. Were you born yet? You want advice ask me. I have 40 years of knowledge. Idiot? Maybe take a look in the mirror.

Thanks Giz! You do the same.

RD3. Not a big deal posting 3 times. I like hunting the 1st week & the last 2. But I do hunt all thru the season (as most archery hunters do). The season is so short. You have to be out there as much as you can. Can't shoot them from work.....or the couch! Good Luck!

This area always has had great genetics & it shows in the bucks. My problem is (like a lot of people) come the season I only catch glimpses of them. Although we do get lucky & we do harvest 1 now & then. I've pulled 3 real nice bucks over the last 10 years on this property. And my Brother in law has taken 2. The largest was about 145 class & the smallest out of those 5 was about 130 class. We've never had them officially scored. I see no reason. They're not world records but for Pa it's somewhat respectable. It keeps you coming back when you see pics like these.

Skinny420: Of all the places I thought I would have to defend my sport to someone I didn't think it would be on an outdoor Fishing & Hunting forum. You have as much right to your views as anyone else. But please try to keep an open mind to all the views mentioned on this site. We all pay our license fees & all have the same right to use the public ground that we all purchased thru the license's we buy.

Here's a few bucks I have on camera in my area. I just hope I can find them during the season. Good Luck to everyone & be safe!

I'm one of the lucky ones. I get 7 weeks vacation every year. I take vacation most years from last week of October till 1st full week of November. For the most part in a typical season part of the pre-rut into the rut will take place during that time frame in my area. As far as the weather, a few years ago when the torrential rains from Hurricane Sandy hit our area and few of us crazy azz bow hunters (me included) were out every day & did very well (I bagged a nice 8 pt.). They weather didn't seem to affect the deer from rutting. Even with the terrible rains. I think the desire to breed supersedes the desire for shelter.

I agree 100%. That's been the talk on this part of the state as well.

PAP, That's crazy! What's to be gained by doing something like that other than killing off the yotes? Stoneam2006 brings up a very good point. All it takes is 1 anti with a camera & it would have been front page news! That's all your brother needed in his condition. What if he was alone? Caught in that mess. God Lord knows when someone else may have happened by & heard his screams considering it was January! We had a problem on a similar line down our way with poaching turkeys. Some piece of crap would (I hope this doesn't give anyone ideas) take heavy duty fishing line (100lb test or better) & put small treble hooks on it with corn on the hooks. The turkey would swallow the corn &....... I swore if I ever found out who was doing it I'd go to the fullest extent to make sure they were arrested. Not sure if they ever found out who was doing it. As fast as it started it stopped.

Just an FYI about using restraints. If you're from New York it's a no go. They're not legal in NY. And if you're from Pa. remember you need to be certified & take a cable restraint class provided by the Game Commission before you can set restraints. Hate to see anyone get into trouble. Good luck this year!

I understand your apprehension. Because you're correct. There is a chance of fur damage because of the restraint. But if you check the restraints regularly (I check my traps/restraints every 20-24 hours) you can eliminate most of that from happening. There's a down side to everything I guess. I do use footholds, dog proofs, weasel boxes & am going to try Fisher trapping this year with live havaheart traps. I figured I would give myself every opportunity available in my arsenal to use while trapping. The only trap I have not used often is conibears. That's a whole other side of trapping I've not tried often. I may try some leaning pole sets for Fisher with conibears this year. Good Luck!

Wishinfishin, Thank you! You got to say what I was going to say before I said it. To the other gentleman complaining about restraints. First of all Wishinfishin is exactly correct. These are not snares. These are cable restraints. Snares tighten up till they strangle the animal. Restraints do not. There is a built in stop lock that will not allow strangulation on dogs & other smaller animals. I've been running restraints since they became legal in 2005 in Pa & I do everything I can to make sure incidental catches are minimized. I am not 1 to set my restraints in areas known to be hunt hard for small game. There's just to much of a chance of catching someone's pup. Even though, I have seen a beagle in a restraint. She just sat there (like on a leash) till my buddy (his dog) walked over & released her. I myself make sure when I'm done setting a restraint the animal has a 360 degree clear & free circle to roam & I have only had 2 red fox dead upon my arrival. Mainly because they tried to jump thru the restraint instead of walking thru. It caught them on the chest, restricting their air flow. If anything I have had more trouble with "people" stealing my restraints or animals, cutting or destroying my restraints than the other way around. I do very minimal damage to the area I trap. If it weren't for my tracks in the snow you wouldn't even know I was setting restraints in an area. And when I leave it looks the same as it did before I got there, minus the coyotes & fox. And as far as leaving a restraint behind because they are cheap? That's just absurd. Why would I leave a restraint ($2 for the restraint, $1.50 for the ground anchor, $.75 for the quick connect link & my upright wire) behind? As well as a restraint that has my license # attached to it? Yes I have had deer caught in the restraint. Most get out by breaking the S-hook release. I'm not going to lie. When you're setting deer trails & field edges it's going to happen. Yes I have found 3 dead deer in my restraints. They were smaller 1st year deer who weren't strong enough to break the release but too big for the restraints cable stop. Which is a shame. But compared to the numerous yotes I have taken out of circulation in the areas that I trap these areas are better off deer/rabbit/pheasant wise than before. What the other gentleman needs to understand is I'm not trying to hurt his dog. I'm trying to do us both a favor by trying to reduce the population of coyotes & fox so the he can enjoy his preferred sport just as much as I enjoy mine. It's a win win. Sir, please do your homework before spouting out something you obliviously know next to nothing about.

that picture says thousand words! memories like that last forever! great pic!

Well put. You ask those people who don't shoot why they don't shoot & they'll give you every reason in the book. "No time, nowhere to shoot... But they always manage to find time to get into the woods. Wish they put that much effort into practicing with their weapon of choice. If you gave me a choice I would rather fill my tags with a bow than a gun. But I do still like the comradery of gun season. Hunting camp, deer drives, seeing a young hunter bag their 1st deer.

I have a few real nice ones on trail cam. Can't figure out how load them onto this sight. But I'm working on it.

Couldn't agree more. Good luck this season! Take care & b safe!

Yep. Wish we had more hunters who know the limitations of their equipment or their abilities with their equipment. We'd have less wounded animals in the woods. Plus, it's just to darn expensive when you release that arrow. For me the cost would be $11 for the arrow, $12 for the broadhead, lighted nock $8-$9. You release that arrow you better be sure. Cause you might not get that arrow back. I shoot a bit all thru the year. But I start shooting my bow hard in mid-July. And I still won't take a 35-40 yard shot in the woods. Just too many variables you can't account for in the woods. Now in an open field I'll reach out to 50 yards.

Stoneam2006 I'm shooting piledrivers as well. Tipped with 4 blade Slick Tricks. They shoot just like a field points. I only practice out to 50 yards. Never shot further than 33 yards in the woods. But it sure doesn't hurt to shoot out that far. Makes the close shot a dink.

Stoneam2006, Welcome to the forum! Everyone is right! This is one of if not the best forum around. Everyone is very helpful.... & knowledgeable.