wooly

Thanks guys.., I figured with only two wires I had a 50/50 shot of getting it right on my own without having to call an electrician,lol Me and electricity don't usually go well together for some reason!

Well..., technically it's not mine any more. Tomorrow is my sisters B-day so I gotta wrap this sucker up for her as promised so I don't have to actually BUY her anything,lol I was just happy the bulb lit up when I hit the switch. I was running out of time to get this done.

Biz- my yote was a female so no penis bone. Actually, I've never even heard of that so I wouldn't have even thought to look on a male. Sounds different and just the kind of idea I was looking for. Love that rattle Roadkill- I'll start saving as many of them as I can find now. Thanks for the idea. Dom- this was the first yote I ever skinned. As far as I knew leaving the feet on does nothing for value of a skin. Since this was just for my own personal use, all I really cared about was the hide..., but on second thought decided to rescue the feet as well just for the hell of it. I don't know for sure why nothing will eat those things, but I'm kinda glad nothing did,lol

I gave it another shot this weekend, but no luck. A few lone sets of fresh yote tracks in the snow, but nothing like earlier this winter when they were everywhere. I did find a den 2 weeks ago that I'll pay more attention to when they start to have their pups. I prefer to shoot them with a camera anyhow.

Very sharp! Did you just research on your own and dive right into this or do you have some help from someone more experienced?

I think it's safe to say most everybody likes skulls, antlers, and mounts in general, but what about all those other useable miscellaneous animal parts still left on the carcass. I have real hard time being wasteful no matter what critter it is I decide to kill. I took a hike yesterday and noticed my coyote carcass from early January was still laying untouched where I disposed of it. A few times I had passed by and spotted a downy woodpecker hammering a hole in the fat on the rear quarter, but other than that, it looked like the day I left it there. Already knowing the carcasses condition before I got here, I came with a purpose in mind to reduce it to a more manageable stage for the maggots come spring. I intended to pick apart anything I may have a known, or unknown use for, and save it for a rainy day. As disgusting as that may sound, I broke out my blade and hatchet and got to work. The first thing on my list was to strip as much sinew off of it as I could for a primitive project I have in mind. When I collected all that I could, I packaged it up and looked the animal over for anything else I might find some use for down the road. When I skinned this critter, I cut the hide around the bottom of the legs so he's been laying there frozen solid.., naked.., wearing only a pair of socks since then. I thought maybe with a little imagination I could come up with something to do with the claws. They might make neat necklace charms on a leather strip, or some other ornamental feature to another piece. After de-clawing one of the two back feet that I originally skinned down the wrong side, I thought it would be a good learning experience to attempt to skin the other three feet with the claws on. Much to my surprise, I did a damn good job and now have a new skill in my arsenal for future skinning purposes. As labor intensive as it was, I was glad I tackled it and learned something. Not having to worry about screwing this process up took a lot of the pressure off me, and these little padded pouches might make some unique golf ball holders.., or a knife sheath.., or simply something else when I get around to working on them again. I now have several nice pieces of skins salted and dried from critters from the past season I will experiment with primitive tanning techniques on when the weather finally breaks. Rawhides, brain tans, bark tans, and buckskins are all on the list of summer fun techniques I'll be playing with in my free time in the coming months. Last piece that caught my eye on this carcass was the windpipe. Although I have no clue as of right now how to preserve this thing, I can see me finding a project to incorporate it into if it survives a hot boil and holds up. To me there would be nothing cooler than having a genuine coyote windpipe for the tube on a homemade wood or bone grunt call. I'll see how that goes,lol After dismembering Mr. Coyote to this more acceptable state in my mind, I decided to head over to a deer carcass to grab some more supplies. I needed bones. Particularly, leg bones for a bone with antler handled knife I've been constructing in my mind. Heck, it may be bone blade with bone handle for all I know right now, but that will be determined at a later date. The coyotes had this carcass clean as a whistle, but scattered around under the snow made finding all the parts I wanted a bit challenging. I walked away with 2 leg bones, 4 hoof shells (toe nails),and another bundle of stringy sinew that was still clinging to some of the joints for some hide glue. So, there's really no purpose to this post other than sharing my pathetic weekend gathering adventure with you all, and to remind myself I need to find some material for a handle on my carving knife. When I get bored out there I like to practice my ninja knife throwing skills so it'll need to be something that can take a beating,lol Maybe you guys have grabbed some other pieces from your kills or carcasses in the past and found some use for them. If so I'd love to hear about them! Better yet, post some pics!

That's one way to pass the days through the long winter months. Looks like he's making some good progress and will be able to start the rest of the village by spring!

I hate when that happens, but I'd definitely be making a return trip to that area. They can't all be doe! Gotta be some horns laying around there somewhere. At least now you know where they are NOT so just check every place else next hike!

The only kind of animals I like to pose with are already dead! Last winter I got too close to a dying yearling deer with the camera and took a hoof right above my eye. Felt like she clobbered me with a baseball bat. Lesson learned,lol

I talk to a lot of west coast guys on another site who are allowed to put out bait stations with antler traps and it's not always as easy as you'd think. These guys are top notch shed hunters hauling in 40, 50, 60, even 100+ antlers a season. You just can't beat putting in the time and mileage to find antlers consistently. Very few antlers actually ever turn up in their traps. I would imagine even fewer would turn up in low density woods most of us have access to in NY. I've just been doing some short hikes around home this winter with nothing to show for it yet except for one oldie back in November. We're snowed in for a while yet. I did bump into a real bruiser last week still packing both sides as well, so I'm not too worried. It sure is a sweet feeling when you expect to find an antler in a certain spot and all of a sudden BAM... there it is! Sometimes it's almost freaky the accuracy you can predict them to pop up almost to the exact tree they'll be under. Really makes you feel like you almost know what the hell you're doing out there,lol

My favorite spots are bedding and browsing thickets but antlers can turn up anywhere. There's no right or wrong way to look for antlers as long as you're out there looking. You know the deer habits in your area probably better than anyone can tell you on a forum like this. Follow the heaviest sign to and from bed to feed and every trail in between. I like to think I have a "fast eye", meaning that I can identify an antler with just a quick glimpse against all the clutter on the forest floor. I zip along at a pretty good pace now. Starting out you may need to take your time and really pick apart every nook and cranny for that one piece of that jumps right out at you. Good luck!

Found some inspiration for you in the favorite sayings thread Eddie! Suck it up man!

After reading this post yesterday I found myself watching "Fact or Faked" last night. Kinda like Myth Busters trying to recreate, then prove or debunk paranormal videos sent in from around the world or posted online. They come to some interesting conclusions and often overlooked possibilities.

I like them from time to time. I can get tired of them quick though if I eat more than once or twice a month. No fancy flavors or brands for me..., just straight up minnows in their own natural coffin and embalming fluid,lol

I'm usually looking for antlers when I'm scouting turkey!

Nice! How many fox did you finish the year with? I think I've seen 3 greys here my entire life but we got lots of reds.

I'll bet they make the T silent as a sobriety test. If you start pronouncing it, that means you're loaded under Chinese law,lol.

Heeeeey it's Shawn! Glad you made it buddy. Pull up a stool and I'll buy you a round! Just don't go playing anything crazy on the jukebox and we wont have any problems here,lol I don't know how you pronounce these so I'll get you one of each!

Who....who...?

16 pages in the beer thread and not even the hint of an argument yet. Not sure what's going on with the rest of the site.

Thanks, yup 4 fat sheds from past seasons on this one. I'll probably throw another one together for a matching set. The lamp parts I salvaged from one that was getting tossed, so I'll have to get another chord and socket for #2.

So what else would you expect me to do but make an antler lamp,lol Just need to wire it up and I'd like to make my own rawhide shade for it if I can find some skin.

Another Valentines Day alone...... Beans and wieners for this happy bachelor,lol You married guys are missing out!

Just wait and see. It's coming,lol

Ohhhhh boy....here we go!