wooly

Had a similar experience with a local REPUTABLE taxidermist a few years ago when my sis shot her first turkey. As it turned out, the taxi MAY have honestly run into some legitimate issues with the bird that were simply beyond his control, but after catching them in a few lies, and the stall tactics they used on us for over a year, will never go back to them or recommend them to anyone else. It was a sad day when we picked up her gobbler handed over to her in a black trash bag with no work having yet been done to it other than disassembly. The half frozen carcass with wings, beard, legs, cape, and fan, all stuffed in a bag like rotten Thanksgiving day dinner. Here's a $25 in store gift card that will make things right. Sorry for the inconvenience. I wont mention the store by name, but if you're taking your trophies anywhere out in the Springville way you probably have a pretty good idea, and need to be VERY cautious if you end up waiting longer than the estimated completion timeframe for your mount.

36" maple whole round log burned and stained golden pecan. Will varnish to finish. Gonna do some of these in the full body version soon. Don't know what it is about this one, but it was a fun carve to do!

I see Wegmans is now also carrying corn, salt, apples, beans... as well as a grocery list of other FRESH deer baits and attractants!

I have an Instagram account, the only problem is I can't seem to get the hang of that place so I don't spend much time there. I started a Facebook page for this stuff that is slowly and steadily gaining steam and followes, but for now I'm finding it best to keep things local. I can't even imagine what it would cost to ship some of this stuff across the country. Believe it or not, I've had a lot of luck with the garage sale groups on FB so far, but that's not exactly the first stop shop for the people who are actually looking for this kinda stuff.

I was thinking about that too,lol! I have one person interested in him right now but not real sure how serious she is about buying until I hear back from her. If I end up holding onto this guy for any length of time, I have one more log left about the same size that I could carve his sidekick out of. I think they would look awesome as end pieces for a nice custom carved bench with one on each side and maybe something carved out on the back rest. I'd love to do something like that just to say I've done it, but my reach is so limited right now, I'm sure I would have an even harder time selling it than I do right now, and I have no use for something like that for myself.

Hey Mark, I have the MS 170 set up with the 12" carving bar, and I picked up a used 018 (almost identical saw with same engine displacement) that I use the 16" bar on now for blocking out. It came with a 14" set up but tat just got my collection of spare parts started. It's nice running two saws, but THREE would be better,lol. Swapping out components all the time was getting to be a real pain. I'm looking at a MS 250 or 271 next with a 20" bar so I can get into taking down and blocking out some bigger stuff. I can't imagine I'd ever need anything bigger than the 50cc saw for this, so that will probably be where it ends.... probably,lol! I see they're running a pretty good deal on the 250 right now, so if I can get rid of this owl quick enough, I may just scoop that up and be good to go. So far all my profits from these carvings have gone right back into it, but man am I ever enjoying this kind of work!

I put the finishing touches on the owl today and got it sealed up with a can of spar varnish. I'm gonna miss working on this guy! Now the hard part begins..... trying to sell this thing for a fair price.

Don't forget the toilet paper! Eventually those nuts will need to be returned to the earth!

A fish is definitely on my list of future carves. Just trying to figure out a way to get my next load of logs here. Might have to rent a Uhaul if I can't figure something out soon!

This ones taking some time but I like the way he's coming along. 42" total tall. Not quite sure yet how I wanna finish the base yet. These owls are just as popular as the bears, but a lot more work. I prefer to do stuff like this that takes some time and thought over cranking out #'s of cookie cutter carvings.

That's the theory, but in all honesty I've never noticed much of a difference through personal observations and trail cam footage. We got lots of yotes AND plenty of fox. I believe the fox may alter some of their behaviors in coyote dense areas (hunting areas, den locations, day time activity, etc) but everything I have seen does not indicate they will force them out of an area. Coyotes may cover many, many, properties in a single night within their packs territorial range. Simply put, they roam a lot and may never even sleep in the same place twice.There would literally be no escape for the fox to find a safe sanctuary away from coyotes at this point. Fox tend to find a core area and stick to it simply adapting to the changes happening around them.

I've been hunting with my smokepole in the regular season for 10+ years now. When I first started using the ML exclusively I thought for sure I'd be at a disadvantage. Nothing could have been further from the truth. In fact, my success rate IMPROVED over hunting with the shotguns. I never really gave it much thought as to why that is, but seeing I'm at 100% shot, kill, recovery rate since I started using it, I don't ask too many questions. One thing I'm positive it's NOT a result of is extending my effective range. That has remained the same, or even lessened some from my effective range with shotguns. If I go two weeks with the same load in the gun I start to get nervous and will reload just for my own peace of mind. I've also had to reload in the field for a follow up shot a time or two. Just keep all your chit together and it's really no big deal. Of course you will feel like the pressure is really on at that point, and it will seem like an eternity until you touch off that follow up shot, but in reality it doesn't take THAT long as long as your organized and confident in reloading as quickly as possible. I say go for it man! Shotguns are for bird hunters,lol

Happy B-day man!

Good advice Ed! We always seem to take tomorrow for granted, until you get that wake up call. Hope the health issues get resolved for ya soon!

There's a local guy not far from me right at the end of the 400 in Wales on the right hand side, He should have a sign going up any day now if it isn't up already. He used to be a butcher at Tops in EA. No refrigeration at his place though, so you want to make sure you can pick up when he calls you. He gets to them pretty quick so they're not laying around for long, but he fills up fast once regular season starts since he's in such an ideal location.

I got a thing for cutting wood lately.

Cover it up with dirt and you'll likely have a forest full of cherry trees growing in that spot in a few years! Just goes to show how such a useless, nuisance, "vermin creature" like a coon can play an important role in the balance of nature!

Thanks man. That was a really cool encounter to watch from start to finish. I LOOOOOVE coyotes,lol

This being the "season of plenty", I don't think you'll find many coyotes taking on adult size deer unless they're sick or injured. It's too risky for them right now to be targeting deer when there are so many other weaker critters on the menu that pose less a threat to becoming injured to hunt and take down. Contrary to popular belief amongst hunters, yotes will eat more than just deer,lol I've heard fruits, insects, vegetation, fish, and the occasional sissy hunter that gets lost in the woods after night fall! It's hard to find a carcass after deer season that hasn't already been found by yotes. I presume the majority of those were either unrecovered animals, or wounded from the season making them easy prey. Those prolonged winters with extreme weather that has taken a physical toll on the herd are the times I think we lose a good number of adults to predation. I've seen them catch and kill fawns as the doe looked on in the spring, and I've even seen one jump an adult buck and take chase before thinking twice and calling it off when he realized he may have bit off more than he could chew. I watched this yote using his nose and the wind to hunt down this bedded deer in the tall grass. I'm sure he was hoping to jump a fawn, but instead went hungry a little while longer that night.

That's awesome! I'm definitely planning on a strutting gobbler soon! Finally got some bigger logs that should work perfect for that!

No one name comes to mind for me. I ain't too picky as long as she's got a nice blower,lol

I'll bet he ditched the drugs, cash, stolen jewelry, and murder weapon up in the ceiling tiles of the Lowes restroom before exiting the store with his new and improved attitude. Should of gave him a piledriver in the parking lot, and buffed your bumper with his forehead,lol

For a little while anyhow. Surgery #43 (at least that's what it feels like) coming up later this week so I'm cramming all my fun and recklessness into these next few days,lol

Ha- now that you mention it, he sure does! I can promise you that wasn't intentional, but it's a hell of an idea! I got a really big beech that I'll be taking down soon. Really hoping the centers not rotted out. So I should have something with more room to work with coming up. It's hard for me to squeeze anything extra into these skinny logs sometimes, but I'm hoping that may change with experience.