wolc123

The NY state parks have done a terrific job on the unisex bathrooms the last few years. Never have the bathrooms been in better shape or cleaner. That makes it much better for tent camping and those with small truck campers like me.

What time did you guys start and what was the temperature? I was out this morning, on a lake almost exactly the same size, up on the NW corner of the Adirondack park. I got a late start today (10 am), because the temp was -5 F when I got up at 6:30. I decided to stay in my in-laws nice warm "hut". I should have got out earlier today. The action was fast, the first 15 minutes, but then dropped off to nothing. I lost 3 fish on tip ups, as I was setting them up, and landed one smallmouth bass, around 14". I caught 2 more smallies about that size Saturday, and one decent perch (my mother in law got a fish sandwich from that), and three more similar sized smallies Friday afternoon. That is about an average take for a long weekend up there. On Saturday, they had an ice fishing derby on a much bigger lake, a few miles to my west, that drew over 500 participants. An 11 pound Northern pike took top honors there. It was tough walking conditions out there Friday and Saturday, but everything was froze up good this morning. My father in law has that same drill. It does a very good job. On Friday, when I drilled 5 holes, we had 12 inches of snow, on 1/2 inch of ice, on 6" of water, on 12" of solid ice. That made for a sloppy mess drilling the holes.

One 12" perch finally hit the little fake Chinese jigging Rapala at sunset. It might make enough for a sandwich anhow. I hope a few more show up tomorrow morning.

This one is a little on the hoppy side:

That was at least the second time that I caught the same smallmouth bass on two consecutive days. It is not that surprising on this litte 100 acre Adirondack lake. The other one was even dumber, because it fell for the same lure (1/4 oz bucktail jig) both times, but the lake was many times larger (Erie). I knew that was the same bass, because it only had one good eye, and I saw the wound on its lip from the first time. I caught it on the same shoal on a Saturday and Sunday. I suppose that it could not afford to be too fussy about what it ate, because it was half blind.

I am thankfull that my in-laws (in St Lawrence county) have had thier second shots, and my parents (in Erie county) have had thier first. They are all in their 70's and 80's and none had any side effects from the Mederna vaccine.

I usually go for non-fiction on WW 2, or the Civil war. Currently, it is "15 Stars" about Ike, Mac, and Marshall. There were some interesting ties between those three Generals. It is not bad, but I am more looking forward to my next one. I found an old 1st edition of Ike's "Crusade in Europe" at a local flea market.

I stuck it out outside on the ice for an hour and a half in 17 degree weather, trying for perch. I finally caught a smallmouth on a rainbow colored, Chinese imitation jigging Rapala. I caught and released the same bass yesterday, along with a couple more, on a tip up, baited with a fat head minnow. If you zoom in, you can see my "tag" (gold hook) in his throat. It is easier on me and the fish, to cut it off and re-tie, when they swallow it deep. Now, I am inside my inlaw's heated "hut", watching the tip ups thru the picture window. One more smallmouth so far. It is easier to stay hydrated this way. I dont always drink beer while ice fishing, but when I do, its Dos Equis.

I have my doe picked out for early ML season. I had 3 encounters with her during that week last year. I saw her and her fawn an hour ago when I was out on the lake ice fishing. She was a few hundred yards away. If you zoom in you can see her on the lead, behind the tip-up.

With the new "holiday" ML season, I am going to have to bump up my corn acreage a bit this year. I never had to worry about it lasting past mid December before. The coyotes helped me keep the coons out of it last year, allowing my 4 acres to last until then. I dont know if I can count on that this year, because my neighbor has taken out quite a few coyotes with his traps. I guess I will be doing some extra corn planting this spring and some extra coon trapping this summer.

I liked it. That made me feel better about the two misses I had one last year.

My wife wants one like that now.

I like the idea of spring deer scouting while fishing. I always wondered if there was brook trout in the little steam up where I hunt. I think I will bring my fly rod with me, over Memorial day weekend this year, and try and find some.

I have one of those big Gerbers also. It has a stainless steel blade and is made on Asia somewhere I think. It was inexpensive and I bought it about 5 years ago, when I misplaced my Sharpfinger. Maybe I will use it someday. I found my lost knife before I needed it again. The Gerber is way heavier, so it is very unlikely that I will use it. Most likely it will end up as a gift to someone. I always carry an old Gerber folding saw in my pack. It gets lots of use trimming branches and cutting pelvis bones on deer. I always open them up, to make sure everything is cleared out good. That saw has held up very well. I also have a Gerber multitool that has served me very well. I trusted the name, based on the service of those two tools, but the Asian manufacture of the big knife caught me by surprise. Besides the heft, that is another reason why I have not used it.

I am glad to hear that you guys are planning on giving it a go this fall. I hope to be up at my inlaws, 30 mi NW of Lows location, this year again. I was not quite fast enough on the draw to get a shot at the big Adirondack buck that made this scrape on opening day of rifle up there last year. The deer dynamics are changing a bit up there. In prior years, I would see an average of 6 antlerless deer for each antlered one. I missed a small buck up there, during late ML in mid December. Those were my last two deer sightings up there, and odds are, they are both still kicking. The browse line, all the way around the lake, indicates that the local deer population is good. Your chances of getting a buck over there might be better than you think, not that it matters much with that kind of scenery. Best of luck to you and looking forward to the photos and videos.

That is my favorite. Thankfully, I still have my "made in USA" one. I will have to be more careful with it, if they have now offshored. I do use another old classic Buck 110 up in the northern zone, but only because my father I'm law gifted it to me. He usually arrives near the scene of the kill with his ATV, before I finish gutting. He would be offended if he caught me using another knife. I prefer the Sharp finger, but the Buck 110 aggravation (it dont hold an edge as well and is a pain to clean) is a small price to pay in exchange for the free room and board at a primo hunting/fishing spot. It is going to be a long time till I might need a gutting knife. Hopefully, the weather and fish cooperate this weekend and I can use the other fancy knife that my father in law gave me on some perch or brook trout out of the ice holes. It hasn't seen any action up there since last Labor day weekend on a quick limit of topwater smallies:

That is my favorite. Thankfully, I still have my "made in USA" one. I will have to be more careful with it, if they have now offshored. I do use another old classic Buck 110 up in the northern zone, but only because my father I'm law gifted it to me. He usually arrives near the scene of the kill with his ATV, before I finish gutting. He would be offended if he caught me using another knife. I prefer the Sharp finger, but the Buck 110 aggravation (it dont hold an edge as well and is a pain to clean) is a small price to pay in exchange for the free room and board at a primo hunting/fishing spot.

Keep up the good work.

I know that I killed my first and largest Adirondack buck, as he walked right along a stream, much like that you describe. That time, my shots came from high up on the adjacent mountain ridge, and the bullets traveled nearly 300 yards. I had watched the buck approach from over a mile away, and he stuck close to the creek the whole time. I shot when he reached a clearing at the nearest point to my location. My first, well-rested shot missed him clean. I think it may have struck a branch. He walked on and I followed from up high. He must have heard my second, rushed offhand shot, taken when he reached the next opening. He stopped walking, just as I reached a sturdy tree to rest my heavy rifle on. My third shot was on the mark. That was late in the fall, and the creek was too high for me to cross. Getting to the carcass on the opposite bank involved a 5 mile hike. Had the water been a bit lower, and the wind favorable, I can see where I might have been able to take him with a 30 yard shot from the middle. The area down by that creek is swampy, and it is always loaded with deer sign. Quite often, I hear them snort down there, when I am walking the ridge and the wind carries my scent down. If it is warm, the wind is favorable, and the creek is low this early ML season, I might give the creek walk a try. Does are fair game then, and there always seems to be lots of them down in that swampy area.

I am interested in hearing how you make out with that. There is a similar stream at my spot up in the northern zone. I think it might work at times when the prevailing wind direction aligns with the current. That way, one could sneak in from downsteam, without the wind and water currents tipping the deer of of your approach. You would definitely need some good, high boots, and I would only attempt it on warm days.

I would also turn to into 2 guns, a Marlin 336 30/30 with a Redfield Revolution 2-7 scope, and a T/C encore 50 cal ML with fiber optic sights. That would give me a fair weather mountain deer rifle (something I currently "borrow" from my father in law. A foul weather ML is something I am lacking bit sure would have been handy last season when it rained thru most of the early northern zone ML week. $ 2k would get both of those plus a considerable quantity of ammo. I am guessing that 30/30 ammo will be back on the shelves, at regular prices, by May 1.

How much for the big gold spitoon ?

I think many hunters go thru the "trophy" stage. I also went thru a few years of it when I was young. Some of us get thru it, and eventually realize that MEAT is where it's at. I can only think of one frequenter of this site who does not show much hope of ever getting beyond the "trophy" stage. I am ok with that, because other folks reasons for deer hunting makes little difference to me. I appreciate the trophy hunters, because I prefer to not kill does (they take me longer to process). The "little bucks" that they pass have kept my family fed thru many a cold winter.

"Good", not "great". "Great", would be a button buck roast, but unfortunately, I have not been blessed with one of those since November '18.

Hot roast doe that has been vacuum sealed since Nov '19. It still tastes pretty good, especially when washed down with Spring Bock. I am waiting for it to warm up enough outside to move a cord of firewood up onto the porch. It is zero out there now, but almost 80 inside by the stove. It looks like it might finally warm up enough next weekend to get out for some ice fishing.