coonhunter

We were in the same boat yesterday chrisw. Some great fishing early, and then nothing. It wasn't Onieda, but it was exactly the same. I couldn't believe how far off the bottom they would come without biting, over and over.

my wife and were laughing like hell over this one.

Tonight's supper was fresh crappie, venison steaks, and fried potatoes and onions. Sure did eat up good.

I was a young, know it all on Pepacton Reservoir one early spring day. There was still ice on a lot of the water and my buddies and I were fishing minnows under bobbers and night crawlers on the bottom because the water was so cold. A woman came up near us and started throwing a Crocodile spoon, which was a go to bait there in the warmer months. I told her the water was still way too cold for the trout to chase down her spoon, and offered her some of our bait, which she politely refused. She told us, "These are trout. If they are hungry, they will chase these spoons down no problem." We chuckled and let her do her thing. An hour later, we had a few decent browns caught on the minnows, and as expected, she had nothing. Well, a couple minutes later, her real is screaming as line is peeling off with a big fish on. It ended up being a 14 lb. brown. Talk about eating some crow, but it sure was a learning experience.

Sorry for your loss and your family's loss.

Finally made it back on the ice this morning with a guy from work. It was 3 degrees out at 6:30 and I was only worried about getting my shanty up and the heater lit. I remember recommending some Clam gloves that fit nice and tight and were plenty warm. Well, let me tell you, there is a cut off somewhere between 20 and 3 degrees because my hands were froze dragging my shanty out. It was a beautiful day and 21 when we came off the ice and the gloves kept my hands nice and toasty warm. The fishing was fast for about an hour and then dropped off to drilling a bunch of holes to keep on some fish. It was a pretty decent day with a mix of nice 8-9 inch bluegills with a few nice crappies mixed in. My buddy just got an electric filet knife, so we kept a pretty big batch of fish. The knife worked perfect and the fish fry was about as fresh as you can get. The forecast looks like my weekends, and even some nights after work are set for awhile.

I'm not kidding a bit when I say I use plain old chapstick. I literally shoot thousands of shots a year, and have always used it with no string problems at all.

Bill is right about using your mouth and throat if you just can't use a mouth call. All you really need to do is keep him interested so he hunts just a little further for that hen. Plain clucks or soft yelps will finish the deal lots of times, or even just plain, old silence. Good luck this spring, Rob.

This is the one sport my wife will watch on tv. We also go to a few live events every year to see the velocity tour, where we can see some of the guys that we have seen on tv. The cities where the PBR events are held are just too much for me to deal with.

I think you guys are right about the glass calls being higher pitched and not sounding as good as a slate. But, I will say that I have worked just as many gobblers in with the glass as I have with my slate. I don't understand it because that Quaker Boy slate sounds sweet to my ears. It is a handicap if you can't work the mouth calls. It is much easier to work the tom in the last 20-30 yards when you don't have to be moving your hands. Try trimming them way down, or try one with an aluminum frame so you can bend it a little to fit better. That's what I do with the Quaker Boy mouth calls.

We did have to take turkey hunting into consideration for the pkc hunts in the spring, by not hunting off the final four because it would run into the time that the turkey hunters were coming in to set up. At the same time, the local turkey hunters would tell the clubs where they were seeing coon returning to den up for the day. But, that was back when sportsmen worked together.

I almost lived for running coon with my hounds. Until the snow was too deep, or the temp got down too low, I ran my hounds 5-6 nights a week. I made a lot of money off of hides in the heyday, and also had a ton of fun running the competition hunts in UKC and PKC with quite a bit of success at times. The big professional deer hunting trend put an end to all of it. All of a sudden, we were no longer wanted on a lot of properties because we would all of a sudden ruin the deer hunting. Even had a couple people think it was a good idea to touch off a couple rounds towards me and my dogs. They found out it was a very bad idea, but I got out before something bad happened that I couldn't get out of. Miss it all the time.

My wife loves them knick knacks of animals and holiday stuff. So i got her a couple Jim Shore birds and a little trinket box with owls on it. Then i put a couple hundred dollars in her card for her to order clothes, shoes,or another darn pocketbook. She and her parents love Christmas, me not so much except for when little kids are involved. I am perfectly happy with family, a ham or turkey dinner, and a couple days off from work.

I have been chomping at the bit to get out, but I know better than to get careless. My brother and I got a nice couple batches of crappies yesterday and today. We had to fish through a lot of shorts, but came up with enough for a small fish fry for five people. It is looking doubtful for next weekend as the highs are going up for this area. Some rain last night and this morning did nothing to improve the conditions.

I was on the ice today in New Berlin. Weather is iffy, but nights are all below freezing, so it may stick around. Further north, I would think there is more ice on the small to medium lakes. Big water is not even close yet. I was on 4-6 inches of good ice today, but the weather is in the 40s today and tomorrow. i will make it back out tomorrow morning with my spud to be safe, but I don't know if it will last til next week. It is going to be a definite maybe. If you go, take a spud and use it for more than a walking stick. Early ice can be uneven and unsafe.

To me it is a huge amount. You guys obviously make a ton more money than me. $1700 would set me and my family back a couple months to catch up. By no means am i condoning jacking deer, but that is a big amount for shooting a deer from a car.

All I can say about my hunt today is," Where the hell are all the hunters?! " I heard one shot all day. Deer were moving great long into the morning. Weather was chilly, but not bitter. I just don't get it. I saw over 20 deer today from stand, including 4 different bucks. And that is not including all the deer I saw driving home. I was hunting my own land that anyone can hunt if they ask. It's just a thick, 3-4 acre swamp with some apple, oak, and beech trees on a small ridge above it. It's just so frustrating that fewer and fewer people are enjoying a sport that a family or a group of friends can all do together.

I prefer audio by a mile. I rarely hunt where i can see good enough to shoot more than about 60 yards. I like when I see a deer, it is already in range, or close to it. This year has been wet most of bow season, and snow most of gun season, so the hearing them coming hasn't worked out too well. In all honesty, i think I get more excited hearing them coming than i do when I actually see them.

My wife is the only thing keeping me here. Her parents are both alive and in good health, so here I will stay. She puts up with a lot out of me, so this is one price I pay to even it out a little.

Thanks Halfnelson for reminding me how old I am. Loved the video, but I can't remember ever seeing Mick Jagger that young! Man that was a long time ago, and the song sure does apply to hunting.

I can't believe all the people that think this is a good idea. A local news station had a facebook post and there were several people that thought it was a perfect way to find terrorists and whackos. Just writing the "whacko" would probably flag me for something so I couldn't get a gun.

I will agree with wishing the temps were a little colder so the snow was light instead of a sloppy mess. I love winter, but like the lakes to freeze up with solid, black ice like last year. The driving through slop and having to clean it up after work is not fun at all. This year has been my year to be wet in the stand, whether it be rain or snow. Saturday I got a little greedy thinking the rain was going to hold off. Nope, I was soaked almost through by about 4:00. I'm pretty good about not getting cold, but that was the second time this year I have been cold sitting on stand.

Thanks for taking the time to tell this story and put up some nice pictures.

I sat all day in 7M on my old stomping grounds. Finally I saw a couple decent bucks. They were strictly on a feed mode, eating a mix of apples and brier leaves. Does were in the same area and they didn't even go near them. I didn't see a deer until 9:30, and then I saw 11 from then until 1:00 with 3 of them being bucks. Then it died off until a little after 3:00. From then until quitting time I saw I saw 8 with two bucks being repeats from earlier, and probably the others were repeats as well. Darn near perfect day for sitting with mild temps and wind. I heard a few shots as I was walking out, and they were the only shots all day.

Right choice by far. If you doubted the success, you were absolutely making the right decision. I have lost a couple hunting buddies due to me wasting a day tracking down their piss poor decision to take shots like this. My honest opinion is that at least 3/4 of the wounded deer stories are from people that feel they have to shoot, whether it is a bow or gun. Lots of times there just isn't a shot, or they shoot too soon because of pressure they put on themselves. The two biggest bucks I ever saw from a stand I had to let walk due to brush on one, and the other went by 3 times chasing a doe and would not even slow down even though I yelled at him the third time. Brush and running deer don't match with a bow at all. Let your buddies run their pie holes, you know you are right in this case.