BSmaster

Southern tier:  Before Saturday, I didn't see a scrape line or rub.  On Saturday, I saw 2 scrape lines that were very fresh and a couple rubs.  I was getting concerned (with no visual sign) with all the reports coming from the northen part of the state but now it is definitely starting to happen.  Getting pumped...

Not for everybody...

https://www.carterwhitetails.com/

But definitely for some.  I don't visit adult book stores but I don't see them going out of business either.  To each their own. 

After they figure that out it would be nice to rid us of the emerald ash borer.  I doubt either...

This post made my day - thanks for sharing.  Congratulations on the hunt.

I saw the Arby's commercials on the outdoor channel but it said nothing other than "we have the meats" with a buck peaking in at a few sandwiches.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/nation-now/2016/10/25/arbys-takes-stab-venison-burgers-select-locations/92727506/

Fast-food chain Arby’s will begin testing venison sandwiches in select markets by the end of the month, the company announced Tuesday.

Arby's venison sandwich features a thick-cut venison steak and crispy onions with a berry sauce on a toasted roll, according to the company.

The new sandwich will be offered for a limited time at 17 Arby’s restaurants across the country. According to the company, the locations were chosen in heavy deer hunting areas in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and Georgia.

The sandwich is part of Arby’s “It’s Meats Season†campaign, which celebrates the start of hunting season. Maybe those trying the sandwich didn't have any luck this season.

I process my own too.  I like to combine my youth days when I worked under a trained butcher and also when I went to school as biologist dissecting animals.  It takes me longer to process them now because I am more meticulous.  I could never make money at deer processing because I am too slow.  When my roasts are finished they are just red - no membranes or arteries.  I pack them away as roasts but these can be thawed and sliced into steaks which is what I usually do when I keep them as such.  Never tried venison stock but I am a firm believer that the bones in the neck make the neck roasts taste better.

Last few years, I have kept the neck roast, the loins and the heart for myself and processed the rest for hotdogs since this is the only thing my kids will eat and I feel better knowing they are eating organic...  I do not (over) harvest like I use to.  If it was just me, I wouldn't care.  I'd rather fish more now than hunt besides.

Kevin, I hope I live long enough to enjoy retirement like you are demonstrating.

Banks of the pond are steep.  It is the only watering hole except for streams in the area.  Again, no noticeable trauma to the deer what so ever.  I took my anchor up to pull it to the side so we could get it out and it was too waterlogged for me to pull it out.  I only grabbed her front leg and the smell on my hand was terrible that was left behind.  I used clorox wipes and hand sanitizer to try to get it off.  She didn't look like she had been there that long.  Maybe it was a mild car to deer collision (Road ~40ft away), maybe disease...  I never saw a deer (or hoof prints) in the pond before - usually they go up to the side and drink with no real contact with the water.  Water in that pond isn't polluted.  No waste source to flow into it.  Blue tongue - never knew about it before today.  A gnat carrying a disease.  That sounds plausible too.  I smelled death in the woods this summer but couldn't locate what or where it was and with all the browse in full vegetation it is hard to locate anything.

The smell is enough to warrant me not going near it again.  The landowner was contemplating calling the DEC to take care of it but I told her they probably wouldn't.  I told her to have her grandson wear  dish gloves and drag it over the bank where the yotes can find it. 

Definitely a mystery...

I found a dead deer in a small 1/4 acre pond with no apparent trauma.  I am gauging the deer (doe) to be 1.5 or 2.5 yrs old.  Any idea why or how?

Is perception the new reality?

• Kings do spawn successfully
  
• The urban trolls poon other fish besides salmonids (ie. walleye)
  

• Fancy fisherman with real jobs have legally caught fish, gut them for eggs and thrown the corpses back in the river (Witnessed)
  
• You witness bad behaviour at a choking point during salmon season and you stayed there for what reason - to whine about it?  Real fisherman don't fish at the falls.
  

The only thing I read on this that made sense is to call the DEC (repeatedly)  The only thing worse than deliberate rapin and pillagin of the resource is people throwing stones on this website.  If people break the law out of necessity it is still breaking the law and extremely unfortunate.  If someone breaks the law out pure contempt of the rules than that is vile and should be regarded in a different more harsh manner.

Rant over - @Unreel - That is funny...

As a kid hunting rabbits I had several times where the dogs got crossed tracked on a deer and even with me yelling and chasing after the dogs those deer circled back within 5 yds of me so I could get those dogs off its trail.  They knew where I was and must have also known I wasn't after them.  1st time I thought that it was bizarre - after a few times I knew it was something more.  Everytime I think maybe they are a lot smarter than people give them credit for I drive to Rochester and am reminded that they haven't learned how to cross the road safely yet. 

Does anybody know why those corridors are so magical?  You can only use them on the same body of water you collect them on anyways.  So why doesn't the entire state follow this? 

Saturday morning I heard it going down.  A farm on a hill over yonder from ours releases them.  We end up with some of them when people don't shoot so straight.  I don't think it was a coincidence that I didn't see any deer.

@BigMac:  "Decent Day" - ?  I can only assume that you are being sarcastic because if you are not I would be curious to see one of your awesome days...  Nice catch - thanks for sharing.

I actually enjoyed the video.  At 1 point I said "there goes the rod!" (But the fish wouldn't cooperate)  I am surprised that they landed it.  They had no idea how to net it.  I wondered where the crackers were.  I thought they were going to start piling on the roe and bringing out the Starka...

@Blambam88:  Ignorant people do that regardless of what they are or where they come from.  Before the end of the season someone will berate the PA brethren.  Just like every highschool has its "Breakfast Club" so does every culture.  I think the smug people annoy me more because they should know better.

I have seen gulp ones just about everywhere.  They come in 1in and I think 3 inch.   The actual soft plastic ones I picked up at Bass Pro this year.  It was not a name brand I recognized or remember but they had different colors all the same shape.

You have options:

http://www.basspro.com/Bass-Pro-Shops-Hellgrammite/product/1305230801412/

Good, Bank Fishing, and Perch is a hard combo to achieve at Keuka.  You have the state Park in Branchport and the town park in Hammondsport.  No guarantees what you will catch or how much or how big but you should be able to catch something at either place.  I am inclined to believe you will be disappointed. 

The have plastics Dobbies now.  I use the real thing most of the time but I have used the substitutes and they work good.  Live ones smell bad and i think that when you jabb them with a hook it lets all that scent out as fish attractant.

Frogger is right.  Blindly stick your hand into the bucket to get yourself one.  The best way.

Also, I heard $9 a dozen last year.  Is this true?

What I think will happen is that the stores will become more generic and this sounds bad at first but I also believe this will open a lot of opportunities for small time entrepeneurs to fill special niche voids.  Bass Pro carries one thing that I only get at Bass Pro and Cabelas carries one thing that I only get at Cabelas.  Everything else I have found elsewhere.  Amazon is being smart in realizing it can be the conduit between manufacturer and consumer without an outfitter inbetween.  I think other online outlets will also become more popular regardless of what big box stores do.

What I find really disturbing is that the stores becoming more generic means when you make a special trip and they do not have an item you want to look at carefully before purchasing  you wonder why they even bother having a store in the first place.  Been burned by Auburn several times.

I am not going to lose sleep over it.

Steve Martin shot.

I hope someone gets her (soon).  This is a prime example of what makes non hunters not like hunters/hunting.

Soon as he mentioned balance, I was hooked.  Very well written...

This entitlement idea is interesting in itself.  How is NYS going to react if people decide not spend money on this fishery given that they perceive the state isn't putting resources into it?  In my mind the cuts go deeper than just the charter businesses.  How comforting will it be for businesses to know that if you can make it for a couple of very bad years it will be great again?  Will the lenders understand?

I am not going to comment on the fish biology because I honestly don't know but the psychology of it is simple.  People will make the trek and spend money when it seems that is is good and will stay away when they think it is bad.  So in essence, I feel bad for everyone depending on the salmon (directly or indirectly) for their livelyhood.  The picture being painted is not good.  Hopefully, I am wrong.  Maybe the picture will look better next year and everyone will be excited to experience what Lake O has to offer.

I got some envy too...  That is a nice catch.

I am guessing that area has a good catfish bite after a storm...

Well if they don't spawn in Dresden then maybe they are getting married there and the Honeymoon is in Catherine. 

Gonna give it a try Saturday - I think I am gonna hunt the acorns.  Anybody going after apples or Ag fields?

My last pin is set at 40 but I was shooting natural feel at 50 and shooting 80% in the kill zone.  The likely hood of me ever using this distance is nil.  feeling comfortable with your shot selection is important to me.  Wounding deer may seem like part of the hunt to some people but it it affects me deeply and I remember every deer I wounded and didn't retrieve.  To me that is disrespectful and that is why I try to be more responsible about my shot.  Does it still happen - sure, but I don't take it lightly.  I shot a few arrows at 60 and even though they hit in the right spot I saw them do some funky movement in the last 10-20 yards, so to me this means that even open field I would not try this with my set up.  Most of my situations are set up for a 20 -30 yd shot and this I feel is pretty predictable (high confidence).

I saw the guy on bone crushers shoot a pronghorn at 60 yds at last light in high wind and it made me cringe.  He killed it.  The dogs ate it.  He is proud of it.  Same episode same guy shoots a muley in the back of the back.  I don't watch the show too much anymore.  Another (different) show, woman sees the biggest buck she has ever seen hunting and the shot was just outside of her comfort zone and she let it walk.  I was more happy that they filmed that than all of the other shows I saw this year combined.

Clint Eastwood:  "A man has to know his limitations"