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Everything posted by wooly
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With a boat out of Hamburg, get yourself a set of planer boards and riggers. Getting your bait away from the boats wake is #1 priority for both suspended eye's in open water, and trolling the shallows...unless of course you're bottom bouncing lead. Pay attention to your depth finder for hungry eye's under baitfish schools. At the very least, talk to the guys at the marina launch and bait shop and you'll hear all kinds of info of what the hot bite is happening on lately. Listen to the radio chatter and adjust your tactics accordingly.....BUT DON'T BELIEVE EVERYTHING YOU HEAR,lol. One thing that will remain pretty constant is the depth the big schools are running at. I don't mean to say it wont change from day to day...and good luck keeping up with them, but once you've narrowed it down, you've already accomplished a pattern to take advantage of when they do get hungry if they aren't already. Color of bait, water temp, the thermocline depth, and wind variables will all play into your daily success, or lack of when fishing Erie eyes. On real slow days, it never hurts to vary your speed while trolling if a constant is not producing. Start out as slow as your motor will allow and jack it up from there. I've always done best between .08mph and 2.8mph. Sometimes bumping the throttle is all that will provoke a strike or release, and conversly, sometimes you gotta cut it back to let your bait drift back down to them...all about the presentation then! Some days it's just a matter of which way your boat is going....float 2 miles with the wind and never get a hit..., but turn that boat back into the wind, and you can't keep eye's off the line! I used to do a lot of eye fishing out of Dunkirk off "The Stacks" and "Purina" and Sturgeon Point and the Catt with some good success. A lot of those charters down that way are real good guys about sharing info when there's no tourneys going on, so maybe a walk down the dock before you launch will get you headed out of harbor in the right direction. Good luck out there and hope to see some big azz 12lb'ers outta ya soon!
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....but then I'd have to call it the $8 euro!
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Very nice! Did you notice the turtle?
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I think if you're going to start nocking on doors, it may be time to take a new approach. Most landowners who own any sizeable/huntable chunk of property have most likely already granted access to a select few family members and close friends exclusively, and that's usually where it ends...at least that seems to be the way it works around here lately.., and I'm pretty sure, not to terribly far from me. The whole song and dance of the righteous, well intentioned hunter asking permission has gone the way of the dinosaur when it comes to obtaining rights IMO. Nobody is going to roll out the welcome mat because they feel sorry their neighbors have locked you out. Finding another reason besides hunting to obtain access may be a little more time consuming to reach the main goal and at least get your foot in the door, but more effective in the long run. I'll use shed hunting, photography, and simply hiking to warm up to a potential owner willing to grant access by a subtler means. With a camera around my neck, I've snapped a few pics of an elderly ladies flowers from the road, and then approached her to see if she'd allow me to get closer to her "amazing garden" of tulips and dandellions,lol! Sometimes you just need to get past the boarder of posted signs along the roadfront just for the sake of opening the door to a fresh new conversation. She had most likely never been confronted with this approach before, therefore was not prepared to refuse my request, and quite honestly... I think she enjoyed the chatter. Deceptive....?...perhaps.. Effective..?.. Most deffinately! I plucked 2 antlers out of her 64 acres last shed season, and she thought it was the coolest thing when I showed them to her and explained to her how this deer was still alive and well. I still haven't asked to hunt here.... but the incredible photo shoots of tiger lillies and marigolds to come, has me eager to show my face again and prepare for rejection when the subject finally does come up!
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Nice job Joe.... but that string on your spur necklace looks like it will be a little tight around your collar! I like the collage of pics too! Very cool!
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Nice catch Paula! Wish we had some eagles around here to photograph. I've never seen one in the wild before. I bet you'd have some fun sitting around that field with a nice DSLR.., a good long zoom lens.., and a 6pk of sodas!
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I guess when they start dumping last years headgear in mid december, some of them jump off to a good start.
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Gonna be hard to give an estimate without at least looking at a print. If anyone can do that, I probably wouldn't give them the job. Been plumbing for 20+ years and I wouldn't estimate replacing a toilet seat without looking at it first,lol.
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Forgot to set the date and time when I loaded new batteries, but these were from yesterday or today. Looks like this guy will be forking out at the brows soon! I love seeing fresh horns and a new antler growing season here again!
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Just When You Think You Have Seen It All - Video
wooly replied to downwindoutdoors's topic in General Hunting
Very cool footage,lol! Some things you just gotta see to believe! Thanks for posting this! -
Nice job, that looks great!
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Something seems fishy here...... you're WAY to smart for this site,lol
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Matched up my favorite shed from this year!!!
wooly replied to WNY Bowhunter's topic in Hunting Related Pictures
Wow- you got a good deal on that antler,lol Maybe he'll give you some more next year... sounds like the kinda guy you wouldn't mind finding that big ol' 170" rack. -
Matched up my favorite shed from this year!!!
wooly replied to WNY Bowhunter's topic in Hunting Related Pictures
Those antlers belong together! What a great set to complete! I have to ask.... what kind of beer did you get him? -
Thanks guys.... looks like you were right Pav! I may have jumped the gun again with the season ending pic this year! After taking mom out for lunch this evening, I wasn't quite sure what I'd do with the rest of my day. A quick browse through my favorite forums, and I decided to shoot across the creek and go hang another cam. On my way out I cut along the top of the ridge that overlooks the creek when I spotted an antler on the edge of a vine cluster! I thought for sure it was ironicaly the mate to #28(the missing horn from season end pic) because it was in the same area, but it's not. Anyhow, it is #34! Looks like mom and me both got a special treat this Mothers day!
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Eddie, I had the exact same thing happen to my last Stealth. Eventually the digital display began to vanish one line at a time. 8's start to look like 3's....0's start to look like C's...etc,etc.. You can probably guess what happened next.
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Now that was sweet! Great vid!
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Time for my season ending pics.... or maybe this is technicly just the mid way point. I'll keep hiking right up till this falls hunting season, so maybe a few more will find their way home with me in the coming months. For the most part, things will slow way down now and the mad rush of antlers is over. It was a great season for me again full of many memorable hikes, horns, and encounters along the way. Winter lasted longer than expected and got in the way of some prime hiking time, but I can't complain. I'll get started with my skull take homes. Way too many dead deer out there this season. Towards the end, I simply stopped keeping track, but the total fresh dead finds was probably in excess of 40 deer without counting the old skulls. A couple of my earlier young buck skulls were stolen by the critters this past winter. Here's two of the fresher deadheads I found that I did a little work on to set up for display. .... and now onto the antler finds. I picked up five sets this year. One being from my goal buck last season, and probably my most impressive set of two of the smallest antlers I've ever found in the button nubbs at the very bottom of the pic!(look closely...they are there!) Here's the 18 righties together. ....and the 14 lefties. ....and finally the whole lot of 33 antlers to this point! After counting them out right now, I must have missed one from the collection when I was taking the pics,lol. Dammit, I do that every year! Season total of 33, but now with 32 pictured I need to figure out which one is missing here.
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I Googled it on my Macintosh... does that count,lol
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Cut the S.O.B. down and tear off the leaves. Cover it in saran wrap keeping the humidity level to 83.2% for 36 days in direct sunlight. Apple trees should not produce fruit untill they are 4 1/8 years old at the very least, and must have maximum bark crust of 11cm for optimal cider and pie fillings. If you're growing them for the deer, things get a little more technical. You'll need a bee colony with two queens to cross polinate between two pears and a cherry to prevent inbreeding and a breakdown in carbon elements throughout the trees 'family tree' DNA lineage. Deer will crap out a stronger strain of seed if the apples are round-up ready and fertilized at least once every blue moon..... and remember, it only takes one bad apple to ruin the whole bunch,lol Geno- I hope your tree grows to be a real producer! Good luck with her!
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The topic never came up. She was just a volunteer doing what she was called upon to do, so I didn't feel the need to get into anything like that. Glad you all enjoyed!
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Hope you had a good one fellas! Happy B-day!
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Paula- I'll call next week to see if they can give me an update on her and pass along anything I find out. Just for the record, it was NOT determined this deer was raised and released but it was a possabilty. As the EnCon told me, there are also diseases in deer that make them exhibit this kind of behavior that have also been found in NY, so I don't like to jump to immediate conclusions before all the other possibilities are ruled out as well. Pav- I hear ya about the turkey,lol. I almost feel guilty for not taking the time to soak up my successful hunt. I'll mount his fan and it will serve as a nice reminder to a great day! clay- thanks! I only did what I felt was right and not what I honestly wanted to do,lol
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Sorry for the delay. Here's the rest of the story and thanks for the comments and following along. After a good long while contemplating what to do next I was still undecided. I'm usually pretty good at figuring things out by myself and making up my own mind when it comes to this kind of stuff, but now I was technically in posession of a deer, and didn't quite have all the answers I needed to make the wisest decision. I decided at this point it was best to put it in someone elses hands who would know better what was best for this little rascal. Reluctantly, I got out my wallet where I had a card from a DEC officer who I met in the past and explained what had happened. The officer sounded interested on the phone and said he would be out shortly to take a look at the critter and then we'd go from there. He arrived and observed the deers behavior, her physical condition and appearance, and her tempermant. After gathering all this information, he rattled off about a half dozen deer diseases like they were the common cold, but I had a hard time even pronouncing any of them again,lol. After making a few phone calls, he pointed out several possabilities for this deers abnormal behavior that he felt were worthy of investigating further without having to put the deer down. One explanation being, illegaly posessed, raised and released, but that wasn't determined true or false at the site. He had seen all he needed to see, and informed me he was just there to make a judgement call on what to do next. After 1 1/2hrs since I placed the initial call, it was obvious this little doe wasn't going anywhere. The DEC officer made one more call and told me someone would be coming out to collect the animal soon. He gave me another card with Laura's number on it and said she'd be the one coming out but didn't say when. Another 1/2 hour passed. Now I've watched 'Swamp People' so I already had a picture painted in my head of the ruff and tough, 300lb, animal wrassler "Laura", who would show up in her safari buggy fully decked out in off road lights and roll bars. I did not get what I expected,lol. When she arrived and assessed the situation, it was clear to see even though she didn't fit my stereotypical visions, she was all bussiness. She grabbed a needle and we tried to get hold of the deer so she could administer the sedative. Her first poke would prove to be her last as the deer quickly wised up and knew we were up to something. It was hard to get close to her any longer and she was making her way through the woods now and into the neighbors yard. My neighbor has a 30'x30'(x7' high) outside dog keenel for their labs so we coralled the deer into there. Now this bugger was bouncing off the fence and scared out of it's mind. Every lunge she made against it to ellude us could have ended bad if one of her hooves got caught in the fence. In the blink of an eye and without warning, Laura pounced on the deer like a WWF wrestler ad picked it up. The deer thrashed and kicked and squirted free so I did my own rendition of her cat like manuever and we flopped on the deer together where she was finally able to administer the sedative! We stepped out of the kennel for about 15 minutes to let the drug take affect then returned to transport her once she calmed down enough. I flipped the camera into 'AUTO' mode and had to pass it off so the pics get a little sloppy now. As you can see, Laura turned out not to be the beastly hulk of a woman I was expecting to wrassle deer with today,lol. We got the deer wrapped in a straigh jacket blanket and it was time to carry her back to the buggy! We finally got her back to the "safari buggy"... also her daily commuter, and I waited for her to prepare to load. You guessed it.... I hope the tranquilizer doesn't wear off any time soon,lol So I like to believe my encounter with this little deer had potentialy saved it's life. At least I know I did the resposible thing to do and the rest is up to the deer and those administering help now. She was taken to a rehab facility where they'll do their thing and hopefully raise her back to being 'wild' and released again. I'll try calling for an update on her progress later in the week and keep you guys posted of the outcome. Who knows, she may have been one of the spotted fawns that followed me around all last spring and summers photo shoots. Regaurdless, she's in good hands now!
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Thanks again guys! Just got a call from Micheal Waddell, he wants to launch the "Spur Collector" apparel lineup after seeing this pic! That's what happens when I dress myself in the morning,lol