wolc123

I am not yet sure that it will float, but all the rivets look tight and it looks like it should. Hopefully, our creek will rise soon, and I can drag it out and give it a try. We are a bit overdue for some "high-water". We have been struggling at home, for the last 20 years or so, with a tippy canoe when that happens. I have regretted trading my old 14 ft Starcraft rowboat for that canoe. It will be nice having a stable rowboat again. I have another, older Sears Gamefisher 12-foot rowboat up at the in-laws place, but that one has a narrower beam and seems to be made from lighter gauge aluminum. I also don't have paperwork for that one, so I can't register it. That is no big deal on that "private" lake. This one is quite a bit heavier and looks like it would be a lot more stable. I am looking forward to getting it out on Hemlock lake, but first I got to make sure that it floats. If nothing else, maybe I will drag it back to the pond this summer, or fill it with a garden hose. I am lacking oars at home right now though, but I hope to remember to bring a set home from the in-law's when we visit up there on the 4th of July. There are a few extra sets up there, but all I got at home are paddles. The guy I bought this one from had not had it in the water for a long time. He just used it upside down, over the top of his "work-boat", for winter storage.

That is a good yield but it sounds like it is costing you quite a bit. I judge the effectiveness of my food plots by the yield in pounds of boneless venison, compared to input costs (fertilizer, fuel, herbicide). The free seed helps a lot, as does the free nitrogen from the old clover. Corn has long been my "go-to" crop, when it comes to holding deer on our place, which is mostly all old hayfields. Last year was the first time that I can recall not getting any planted (it was too wet all spring). The deer pretty much vacate our place, if there is no standing corn, after the first shot is fired on opening day of gun season. I was very fortunate to take a good one here during crossbow last season, as I did not even see any after the first day of gun season. I am almost looking forward more to the "damaging" coon trapping, starting at the end of the summer, than I am to the late season deer hunting this year. Both should be spectacular, because this is shaping up to be the best corn growing season in recent memory. I ended up with around a dozen coons two years ago (the biggest was that fat boar in the photo), and I hope to double that take this year. Hopefully, my new "coon-burner" sees plenty of action, starting in late August.

Here is a photo of the $ 100 rowboat I may put one on:

That was the going rate this spring, which was down quite a bit from last year. Maybe we can thank the Corona virus for that, or the Russia-Saudi squabble, which drove down oil prices (fertilizer cost generally follows that). Do you broadcast fertilizer ? Most of what goes between the rows is wasted. I only incorporate it directly on the rows with the the planter. Also, I get away with a lot less nitrogen because I rotate my plots 4-5 years white clover, then corn. All those years of clover builds up quite a bit of "free" nitrogen in the dirt. I also minimize Roundup usage by applying it only on the rows (2.5 gallons usually lasts me a couple of years). I don't shoot for real high corn yields, but generally get around 75 bu/acre using this method. I just picked up a new "smart-phone" I will try to get some photos this year's crop (no old ones available). That coon up above (picture taken with my old flip-phone) was from a couple years ago and all that fat on it was from my half-way decent corn that year. Eliminating coons is my key to make small plots of corn last until the end of late ML season. I think I will plant the rest of my corn this weekend. We are not supposed to get more rain until Monday, and bass season opens the following weekend. I would rather be fishing than planting corn with my spare time after that happens.

It has been kind of dry and I have been afraid to look at this plot until we got some decent rain. This morning, there were puddles on the driveway so we must have got an appreciable amount last night. I went back and looked at the corn after work today and it looks pretty good. The 14 long rows planted with old RR field corn actually looks a bit better than the 14 short rows of fresh sweetcorn, as far as the germination goes. All of it is up about 3" tall and the germination percentage looks to be just over 90 % on the field corn and just under that on the sweet corn. Now that I know that particular batch of old seed is good, I will use what is left of it on my back smaller plot in another week or so. My next planting will be the buckwheat between the sweetcorn and field corn on the front plot, and I hope to get that in this weekend.

Most of today's news is "make believe" (Trump uses another word). What do you suppose will happen when Biden faces Trump in a live debate ? I am really looking forward to that. Four more years of Trump will be great, but the 8 years after that with Pence driving will be better yet. Today polls mean just two things: Nothing and Sh1t. In "real life" things are good now, but I expect them to get better over the next decade. Evil thrives on gloom and doom. P!ss on that I say.

Downfall ? , Heck no we are finally all alone at the top of the heap. At no time in history has this country enjoyed the # 1 spot by such a wide margin. China was gearing up to be a contender, but the Covid thing pretty much did them in. The cold war has been won and Muslim terrorism has been vanquished. We have never had it better than we do today. The only thing good about "the good old days" is that they are over. Lighten up Francis and smell the roses.

Two-story blinds are my favorite. The upper deck is open-top for good weather conditions, with a 3 ft wall for safety/concealment/gun or crossbow rest. The lower level is just above ground level and enclosed for foul weather conditions. The back is open, front is closed (faces prevailing wind direction), with swing open window covers on each side, over 3-foot (gun rest) walls. Have killed a fair number of deer from both levels, including a 3.5 year old buck from up top with the crossbow last season. This one is built on an old snowmobile trailer for portability:

There is a strong bond between mother and offspring with all mammals. I have witnessed and/or participated in events which resulted in does and fawns perishing together on several occasions. Most of the time, it has been minutes or seconds apart, but there were times when it took several hours. Usually, the doe is the first to go. Being somewhat soft-hearted and not wanting to break up the family, I do not hesitate to help the fawn join it's momma in "deer-heaven" (my families food supply), if I get the shot opportunity and still have a tag. Opening day of gun season in 2016 was the last time that I participated in such an event, and that was most similar to the "hayfield" situation described in the OP. I was hunting with a friend that year, who did not like venison but enjoys hunting. I put him in my best blind that morning (a comfortable two-story unit with an open top deck), with the understanding that he would take bucks or antlerless deer, if a chance developed, because my own family uses venison as the source for most of our protein. He readily agreed to the mission, and dutifully fulfilled it with a fine button buck from the top deck that morning. He said that there had been a slightly larger antlerless deer with it that morning, but he took the one that gave him the easiest shot. The larger one ran off into the adjacent heavy cover at the shot, as did his "target". That one folded up about 20 yards in, having been "double-lunged" by the 12 ga slug. We dragged the deer back out into the field and gutted it, then hung the carcass in my garage. My buddy had something else to do that afternoon, and the weather conditions were getting bad (rain/sleet and high winds) so he departed. I hunkered down in the enclosed lower-level of the same blind he had been in that morning. The weather was terrible that afternoon, with very high winds and sleet pounding the closed end of the blind. About an hour before sunset, I noted a large antlerless deer walk out of the heavy cover. It put its nose into the button-buck gut pile, just in time to catch my 12 gauge slug thru the spine. It pulled itself into the adjacent ditch with its still-functioning front legs. I walked over and dispatched it with a second shot to the neck. I am fairly certain she was the same doe that my buddy had seen in the morning (she still had milk in her). The fact that she returned to the scene of her earlier loss, despite what had to be a known risk, demonstrates the strength of that maternal bond. Certainly there is a bond there, and the loss of that has to increase stress. Stress is about the biggest killer that there is for all forms of life.

I finished the hookup and it seems to work ok in the barn. I won't find out how it works in the water for a few more weeks. It sure is quiet compared to the old Huminbird flasher. I know I will love that part at least. The screen looks like it will be a lot easier to read in the bright sunlight, which was always an issue with my old flasher also. The GPS is going to take some getting used to. I suppose that will still work without the transducer in the water (it will only be in when my trolling motor is in action). It seems to have a pretty user-friendly menu. If I like it, I may get another with a portable kit to use on a canoe, kayak, or rowboat. There are a fleet of of those up at my in-laws place in the Adirondacks. I also just picked up a 12 foot Sears gamefisher aluminum rowboat, for use around home. It looks to be in good shape and I got a great deal on it (same price as the Garmin Striker-4). I have always wanted to try Hemlock lake. If and when I get around to registering the "new" 1979 rowboat, I might give it a try. My 1956 5.5 Evinrude ought to be legal there, but I would probably go with my older Mercury 5, since it runs 40:1 oil mix ratio compared to 16:1 on the old Evinrude. I don't care for much extra "complexity" in my brew. It would be cool to fish the lake where the primary ingredient of my favorite beverage comes from (thats the "Geneseecret").

I am working on the installation this morning and struck a small "glitch". The power cable has (4) wires and no where in the included "mult-lingual" paperwork was it defined what they were for. After looking it up on youtube, etc, it seems that the two extra cables are optional for some type of VHS hookup or a Garmin add-on of some type. The trolling motor transducer part went very well and it fits my bow-mount Min-kota perfectly. I was waiting for a rainy day to get this project done but there is none in the long term forecast.

I wish you the best of luck in getting that situation straightened out. I was in a similar bind myself, 21 years ago this week. There probably is not a worse week to have engine trouble. The lower unit was junk on my 1989 Johnson 60 hp that came with the boat when I bought it new, fresh out of college. The seals got damaged from fishing line, and the gears were shot, as a result of water getting into the oil. The marina where I bought the boat was too busy to even look at it for a few weeks. They had plenty of time to set me up with a brand-new 70 hp the next day however. This 17 footer was a bit under-powered with the 60 hp back there, but that 1999, 70 is just right. I am a bit more careful on maintenance now, and it has not given me a lick of trouble the last 20 years (the power pack went the first year, but that was covered under warranty). I down-sized my "kicker" this year, from a 1989 15 hp Johnson, to a 1956 5.5 hp Evinrude. I had to replace the bow-mount Min-kota last year, but that did not cost me anything. I found it on craigslist and the guy traded me even for an old "spare" stern mount that I had. I just need to get my new depth-finder hooked up in the front and I will be ready for opening day of bass season in a couple more weeks. I already have Saturday and Sunday booked with fishing buddies.

It depends on the conditions. A problem with spring tine harrows (we call them drags) is that they are easily plugged up with sticks and vedgetation. That said, I like them better for keeping an area weed-free after all the original surface junk is gone. The advantage of them is that you don't have to grease them each time you use them like you do with disks. Not too many food-plotters put enough hours on them to wear out the tines.

I am one day ahead of schedule, having got the the corn plated on that front (2) acre plot yesterday. It was a bit on the cold side, but it looks like it is going to warm up this week, so it should be ok. I had room for 14 long rows of RR field-corn on the west side and 14 short (cross-ways) rows of sweetcorn on the east side. That took almost exactly 100 pounds of triple 15 fertilizer. The 50 yards or so in-between, I will seed with buckwheat, after it warms up a little more, and then plow that under in early August. My nephew says he can get me some oats. If he does, I will plant half of that "in-between" area with oats and the other half turnips at that time. The turnip/standing corn combo has worked well for late ML season in the past and I am hoping the oats make it better yet. On Saturday afternoon, I noted a couple deer walking thru the tall grass behind that plot. I could not tell whet that first one was, but the second one stopped to feed for a while on the clover/grass combo back there. He was a solid buck with heavy velvet nubs that were longer than his ears already, and a decent sized body. He looked to be at least a 2 year old. Hopefully he sticks around. I was able to get a bit over an acre plowed up further back, by my two story blind, earlier in the week. That spot should be dry enough to disk tomorrow. I will go with the same field-corn'/sweet-corn/turnip/oat combo back there, but that sweetcorn will be mostly 92 day silver-queen and only about 1/4 of it will 82 day bodacious which was all I used up front. Hopefully, I can get that in near the end of June. That way, if the coons don't get it all, we should still be getting some decent sweet-corn to eat or freeze past Labor day, if we don't get an early frost. I was a bit worried about my old JD model 246 corn planter because I had not used it at all last year, and the year prior it gave me some trouble (the chain jumped off a few times and one of the fertilizer hopper bases needed to be reworked due to corrosion). I made sure I lubed it all up good before using, and it worked perfectly yesterday. I made sure to clean it out real good after, also. Leaving some fertilizer in them and not letting them dry out good after washing is a sure fire way for problems on those old planters.

Stop over sometime. Speaking of horses, I found a shoe, while planting corn today, in the field next to the creek. I hung it on that concrete one. It had to have been out there since at least 1950. That was the year my grandad bought his first tractor and sold his last team. They never had any saddles back then either, just harnesses and collars.

I see that it runs two frequencies. One is supposed to provide better definition and the other a wider field of view. Which one do you use most often ? I don't often use the bow-mount sonar on water that is more than 40 feet deep, so I imagine that I will be running the lower frequency most often. Does the surface temperature readout seem to be accurate ? On rare occasions, I fish from a canoe, so maybe I will rig up a portable setup to do that (it would also work on the rowboats up at my in-laws). I used one of my flashers for that a few times, carrying the unit and a lawn-mower battery in a wooden box, and using a clamp-on transducer mount. It would not be difficult to modify that setup for the Garmin. My daughter located a sunken wood boat, a few years ago when the lake level was real low, up at the in-laws. With this thing, and the built in GPS, I ought to be able to pinpoint its location. That would be a good structure to hold fish if nothing else. It looked like about a 14 footer, but when I dove down about 15 feet, and tried to attach a hook to the bow cleat, it pulled off. The last few years the lake has been much deeper so there has been no getting to it.

I don't care for heights but I do find a hammock-style, on the ground, tree seat very comfortable, as long as it is not raining. I do have a hoss, but no saddle:

I was hoping to get it installed today, but the weather is too good for working outside. The ground is drying out real well and I still got lots of corn to plant. It is supposed to rain on Tuesday, so I will probably get it installed then. You can see my old Eagle flasher on the council and a little bit of the Eagle LCR graph at the stern, but this little baby will go up front by the trolling motor: Maybe I will put disconnects on the power cable so that I can take it up to the in-laws place in the Adirondacks and use it on a rowboat or my father in law's party boat (he keeps a 12-volt battery on that for his 10 hp, 4-stroke, electric-start, "weighs a ton" Honda outboard. I mostly fish the shoreline up there, so a depth-finder is not a necessity.

I don't disagree. The main-stream media exists to "fan the flames" . No story with no flames.

Those days are the best. I don't enjoy releasing ANY fish. That is especially true for bass, which I find to be better eating than walleye or perch, since learning how to properly care for and prepare them. Bass have more oil in them, so the meat stays moist while cooking, using "healthier" methods, such as baking, grilling, or broiling. Fish-oil is very good for you, while vedgetable, or animal oil that is usually used for frying is not. The key to the excellent taste of the bass, is to keep them alive and as fresh as possible, until the meat is removed and vacuum-sealed. A live-well works wonderful for that. I have worn out more live-well pumps than I have outboard motors. Perch and walleyes do not have as much oil in them, and they tend to dry out too much in comparison to bass. To me, "catch and release" is mostly just the senseless maiming of a fine food source. God gave man meat for food, not for sport. That said, I ain't perfect and have done plenty of it, usually when they are too big to be real good eating, or when they contain too many chemicals to be safe to eat.

This country has two big black eyes, one from carrying on slavery so long, and the other from the mis-treatment of native Americans. It should be no wonder that the descendants of those who were made to suffer long ago, react violently at the slightest provocation. This type of thing will continue until folks realize that there is no such thing as "race" and that we are all the same people in God's eyes (and biologically).

Thanks for the recommendation. I will keep you posted on how it works out, but probably will not get out fishing again before the third Saturday in June. The new fishing rod that I ordered the same day, from the same place did not arrive yet but they say that it shipped.

Bass Pro Shops had these on sale last week ($ 99), so I ordered one and it arrived yesterday. It is surely a major upgrade from the old Huminbird that I had up in the bow of my boat. It will be nice to be able to read water surface temperature again, since my old Lowrance temperture gauge has not worked in about 10 years. The GPS feature should be good for getting back to the "hot-spots". I am very "old-school", so I am sure I will appreciate the "flasher" feature. Hopefully, the screen will be easy to read in the bright sunlight (that was often a struggle with my old flasher). I am pretty sure that my favorite feature will be the silent operation, after listening to the old Huminbird "hum" loudly for the last 30 years. Last Sunday, it was more of a "scream", as the bearings must be on their way out on the drive motor. I have two Eagle Sonar units on the boat (a LCD graph at the stern and a 35 year old "Silent-60" flasher at the center council) and both are noise-free. I always disliked that loud Huminbird up front due to its "hum". One of tomorrow's projects will be to get it mounted on my boat. It came with a trolling motor transducer mount. I had Jury-rigged a transom transducer on my trolling motor for the old Huminbird, after the custom trolling motor transducer (that I think I paid $ 100 for), got wrecked. That worked ok, but never as good as the custom trolling motor unit. I nearly skipped this new purchase, and almost moved the old Eagle graph from the back up to the front instead, since I rarely use it back there anymore. I might try backtrolling for walleyes or salmon trolling with downriggers again someday, and that stern mount graph is great for those. It was really the GPS that made me drop the hundred however, and I would have hesitated even less had I known about the surface temperature feature.

I went for a "real-beef" one of those (a double but without cheese) from the drive-thru on Wednesday, for my first meal out since all this Covid-19 stuff started. I had to work late and I needed the calories before the drive home. It tasted pretty good, after three months of mostly venison for protein. Not a bad use of $ 6.79 (I had the exact change). I brought my own water, so I did not need to spring for their high-priced beverages.

Happy birthday and good luck hunting and fishing.