wolc123

Cats work very well for chipmunk control.

I like it better than any of the other blinds that have been posted in this thread, and that is not just because all the materials were free. The upper deck is missing one thing that I see all of the others have, and that is a big advantage for deer hunting. They all have "blind spots". You never know from what direction a deer may appear from and I like to be able to see 360 degrees around. More than 3/4 of the times that I have hunted that blind, the weather conditions were good enough to hunt the top level. I have only taken one deer from the lower level of that one since I added the upper level about (5) years ago. Back when it only had the lower level, I would move it around from year to year, based on where my best food plots were. Now it has found a permanent home in my favorite spot. I have another, slightly smaller one made from a 6.5 ft construction style truck cap, over at my folks place. I have never taken a deer from the lower level of that one , but did kill what may have been my largest-bodied whitetail buck (43" chest girth) from the upper deck of it with my crossbow in 2017. That buck showed up about 4 minutes after i cleared the leaves out of the upper deck. I am fairly certain he was attracted to that sound, thinking it was a rival buck clearing a scrape. This one is not in such a hot-spot, and also built on a trailer, so I may give it a move. I can't always depend on having dry leaves to scrape out of it.

That is all I use for chucks, since I traded away my Ruger M77 22/250 a few years ago. All my shots are under 50 yards, so that 22/250 was overkill and buying that expensive ammo was a waste of money. A nice thing about that gun was that they never even flinched after taking that bullet from less than 50 yards (aim-point center of mass), and it never left a mark on them. I suppose it turned their insides to jelly when the bullet exploded internally. Most of my shots are from my bedroom window, so the noise was also an issue. You should definitely aim for the head with the .22 LR, if you don't want them to make it back to their hole. I usually kill a few every year and they love living under my old barns. I have been seeing a few this year but have yet to get a crack at one. My 10/22 and a clip of yellow jackets is at my bedside now, just in case one gives me a chance.

You can kill a buck (one 3 in, or larger antler), or a doe with that tag. If you take the archery course, then you can get a second tag that is antlerless only. You get a another buck tag to use during gun season (or late ML) when you purchase your big game license. For an additional $ 10, you may also apply for DMP tags (2 in some DMU's), which are good for antlerless deer and may be used in Archery, Gun, and ML seasons. After November 1, a second draw occurs for "leftover" DMP tags, and you can get (2) more then for free (assuming you paid the $ 10 fee for the first application(s). You can also recieve up to (2) DMP tags signed over to you by another hunter. It is relatively easy to get up to (9) tags in some DMU's but only (2) of them can be "legal antlered (3" or more) bucks, and you can kill all (9) with your crossbow if you wish, starting 2 weeks before the gun opener. Bucks with antlers less than 3" long may be tagged with DMP tag, and you can kill up to (9) of those in a year if you wait until late ML season (the gun buck tag reverts to an either/or at that time). All that venison comes in handy in these days of limited meat supply in stores. NY state is a meat hunters paradise. Most of the confusion results from NY state being forced to consider a crossbow a muzzleloader because the hard lobbing effort of the anti-crossbow group New York Bowhunters. This nonsense has resulted in a glitch whereby one can hunt deer with a crossbow without taking the archery course (but you must remember to carry that little signed form when you are hunting).

"Free" is a bit of a stretch, but there have been a few years when my venison has came in at less than $ 1.00 per pound, including most input costs, and I often get close to that with fish. Combining the two activities is one key to minimizing expenses. For example, bass love bucktail jigs, especially in zebra mussel "gin-cleared" waters. Hooks are cheap and I can always get lead for free (along with the bucktails). I can pour some heads and tie up a few in less time than it would take me to catch nightcrawlers. Tons of money is wasted needlessly on hunting and fishing equipment. Too many folks buy into the lie ""you get what you pay for". In reality, the best things in life are free. "A fool and his money are soon parted" is a much better fit when it comes to hunting and fishing expenses. When it comes to boats, my primary vessel has been serving me well for more than 30 years. I am still killing deer with the old Ithaca 16 gauge that I inherited from my grandad. My supply of Remington sluggers, that I picked up for $ 1.00 a box when a sporting goods store went out of business up in Brewerton a few years back, is starting to get low however.

If you want to try for walleyes, the latest information that I have (from last season) indicates that the "hot bite" has been in the deep holes with jigging Rapalas. I used to go for walleyes down there a lot in my younger days, before I learned how much better bass are. I still have some good friends who are into them and they did very well down there last year.

That is a question I have often wondered about myself. The answer is that many would not be satisfied anywhere, because they are lost spiritually. That leads them to focus and obsess on the dark side. Globally, It would be hard to argue that the dark side was not making great strides under the prior Washington administration. Look at the percentage of global land mass that was controlled by ISIS for some proof of that. I wonder if the 4 or 5 individuals here, who are arguing so strongly against the current administration, realize that they are on the same side as those who "wish death upon the infidels". Nationally, It would be hard to argue against the job that the current administration has done, particularly in areas like black unemployment, which had reached an all time low. The other party does a lot of tough talking but starting with Lincoln, it has always been the Republican party that has actually delivered. As far as NY state goes, there is a "bright" spot that resuls from our disfunctional politics. The hunting and fishing is so spectacular in this state (where it is relatively easy to get all the protein one needs to feed a family "for free"), that everyone and his brother would want to live here without it. That would create a traffic nightmare on the roads, and way too much competition for our readily available "free food". I watch some of those "Alaska" shows and it appears that those poor SOB's have a much tougher time keeping their families fed "off the fat of the land" as I do here in "the best state that there is". I know of only one place where things will be better than they are right here and right now. That is because I know that the dark side will loose, as is written in the world's all time best seller.

I never tried it and it looked dangerous. The guy claimed that it worked good though. I like the old OMC factory pressurized tanks and two-hose systems better than the newer setups. It seems that the old motors with those idled down and trolled a little better. I also had a 1971 9.5 Evinrude, in addition to the 1989 15 hp Johnson (both with the modern single hose fuel systems) and neither idled down as smooth as the 1956 5.5 Evinrude. That was actually the same year/make/model motor that Cathryn Hepburn used on a rowboat in "On Golden Pond" to bring the guys their lunch while they were fishing out on the big boat. Up at the in-laws, we call it the "Ethyl Thayer".

It does look like a much better hull design than my other 12 foot Sears "Gamefisher". That one does not leak at all, but it is poorly designed and it is much slower, using the same outboard motors, as my father in law's 14 ft Meyers rowboat. I only use that one over Thanksgiving weekend (on the years when the lake is not froze by then), because it is light, cheap, and crappy enough to just leave down by the water year-round. We always bring the "good" boat up for winter storage by that time. There must have been a few different vendors who built the aluminum boats for Sears back then. I paid $ 250 for the "crappy" one (found on Craigslist), but that deal included my 1956, 5.5 hp Evinrude, and a 10 hp Chrysler outboard. I gave my marina-owning buddy (the guy I got the "new" boat from), that Chrysler in exchange for his getting the Evinrude running like a watch, and finding me a nice, OEM 4 gallon, pressurized fuel tank for it. The prior owner used a home-made contraption (made from a 5-gallon plastic bucket) for a fuel tank.

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.