wolc123

Is the freezer shot ? I have heard that new ones will pay for themselves in electric cost savings, but I am not so sure on the dependability, compared to the older ones.

I could not find the perch again. Just this one 16” “snowmouth” bass. I had to pull the plug on the fishing before hypothermia set in. That might be the first open-water bass that I have caught while it was snowing. It didn’t fight as hard today as the ones that size did yesterday morning. It was pretty out there with the snow, but not too comfortable. Hopefully, it will be a bit warmer, the next time we come up here (Memorial day weekend). The $5 electric motor worked very good this morning. I probably could have stayed out longer, if I had used the oars, and generated a little more body heat.

I tried for perch this morning but only caught smallmouth (about a dozen). This 19 incher was the longest. Several, in the 16” range, put up very good fights for low 40’s water temperature. The wind picked up so much, that it swamped my small 12 ft rowboat, while it was tied to the dock. The 50 year old foam “upright floatation”, under the seats of that old Sears boat, still works. We pulled the boat out, full of water, with a long chain and my father in laws tractor. The docks and barge, that we just got into position before the wind picked up, handled the storm very well. My fishing stuff is drying out now. I might go back out a bit a sunset, since the wind has let up.

My pump shotgun experience includes a 1960’s 16 ga Ithaca model 37 featherlight (which I will never voluntarily part with), A mid 1970’s Remington 12 gauge 870 Wingmaster, that I owned for about 20 years, and a mid 1990’s Remington 12 gauge 870 Express. Several of my friends had/have Mossberg 500’s, which feel “chincy” in comparison. Several of them were held together with baling wire or welds. Most of them still work pretty well though. I like pump shotguns mostly because of their reliability in all weather conditions. I have never handled a smoother operating gun, of any action type, than my old Ithaca 37. All hand fitted, machined components made by skilled gunmakers is tough to beat. My brother has an early 1990’s 12 ga Ithaca model 37, which is not as smooth. By that time, the Ithaca 37 pump had “interchangeable parts”, but they gave up some of that “smoothness” to achieve that. Remington was able to keep most of the smoothness, and keep the parts interchangeable, with their 870 Wingmaster. I used one for trap shooting. It came with an 18” smoothbore deer barrel, with rifle sights. That barrel has brought down each of the 6 or 7 deer that I shot it at, and only one took more than one shot. Although I sold the Wingmaster, I kept the short barrel and I still use it on my Express, when weather conditions are not good for a scope. The first extra barrel that I bought for the Wingmaster was a 34” fixed full choke. That made for a crazy long gun, but it really shot a tight pattern. You could powder clays at 50 yards with it. I missed more than I should have in close though, so I sold it and got a 30” fixed full. That was just right for trap shooting and went with the gun when I sold it. Early in my career, I worked on a recoil absorbing system for shotguns and we bought two 870 Remington Express shotguns to test that system. One was modified with a slide mechanism in the stock and the other was unaltered. I kept that one when we finished the project. It felt just as smooth as my Wingmaster, so I sold that, when I quit shooting trap. I still have the 18” smoothbore rifle sight barrel and the original 28” screw in choke barrel for the Express. I killed my only turkey a few falls ago with that and an extra full choke. For a few years, I used a Hastings a paradox rifled barrel, with a cantilever scope mount, on the 870’s for deer hunting. That was a bust, and I missed a few, killed 4 or 5 (one was my only 10 point) and wounded one with it. Eventually, I determined that the point of aim would change with changing temperature, probably due to the cantilever scope mount. I traded that barrel in towards my T/c Omega. I used the 870 with short barrel for backup, during regular gun season (shotgun zone), for the Omega, and took several “doubles” with that pair over a span of about 10 years. Now I get by with a scoped “3 shot” rifled bolt action shotgun that is as accurate as the Omega but packs three shots, each with double the wallop of the Omega. It is much nicer carrying just one gun.

All catch and release of these bass that were caught “by accident” while I was trying for perch. I couldn’t find any of those this morning. There is a strong west wind blowing out there now. We got the docks straightened out and I put the motor on my father in law’s big party boat. The new waders that I brought up last fall worked good for that. If the wind lets up this evening, I will try fishing again.

First time out on the open water this year. I wanted to try out this electric motor that my mom got, along with some other fishing grear, for $ 5 at the auction at our family reunion. One of my cousins has a lodge up in Canada, and he always brings some type of old fishing gear. Patience is a virtue that I have very little of. Certainly not enough to fish on a windy day with an electric motor. It was ok, when it was calm early, but not so hot after the wind picked up. I was trying for brook trout and perch, but only smallmouth bass were biting. The 16 incher next to the motor was my first, and the 19 incher was the biggest, with about (10) more in between over the first two hours of daylight. All on a 1/8 oz brown bucktail jig. The biggest one didn’t fight all that hard, but the mid-sized ones pulled real good for water temp in the low 40’s. Way better than they did thru the ice, when I was up here in February. I tried fly casting a little bit early with a Royal coachmen, but no dice there. Lots of work to do getting the docks straightened out, but I may try fishing again at sunset if the wind lets up.

I finished splitting the cherry from Sunday this afternoon. It splits quite a bit tougher than ash. I wouldn’t want to do it manually. It made about 1-1/2 face cord. There is about that same amount of cherry still down in the woods over at my parents place, that I got to get in May. It will end up being in the middle of my wood stack, so hopefully it will get burnt during the coldest part of next winter. I will start out with ash and end with ash, which does not make quite as much heat. I usually go thru 6-8 face cords each winter. There is about 4-1/2 face cord cut and split an that stack now. I hope to have about 15 done by June 15. I like to try and stay two years ahead, but I have fallen behind lately, because of too much other stuff to do (new barn building and old barn dismantling).

I usually grind everything but the tenderloins, back straps, and neck roasts on all deer that are 2-1/2 or older. It’s been a few years since I killed a 1-1/2, but I make some roasts from the hind quarters of those . I never add pork or beef fat to the grind, because that adversely effects the taste in proportion to how long it is kept in the freezer (fat is an oil that does not freeze). There is so much that can be done with straight ground venison. Tacos are our kids favorite, but I like stuffed cabbage best. We all like spaghetti with meat sauce. Goulash, lasagna, stuffed peppers, meatloaf, chile, and sloppy Joe’s are all great with it. On rare occasion, when I make burgers on the grill, I mix some raw egg with the grind as a binder and form the patties a few hours before grilling. They hold together very well that way. I don’t make any grind from 6 month old deer and we were blessed with two of those over the last year (the one from New Year’s Day would be closest to 7 months and the one from September would be closer to 5 months). There is no reason to grind something, that even the lesser cuts of, is so tender that it will melt in your mouth without chewing. I chunk up the “scraps” for soup/stew meat and make as many small roasts as possible. Last Thanksgiving was my all time favorite, thanks to a turkey stuffed with one of those 5 month old roasts. I did not have to eat any of that “dry cardboard” tasting bird like usual, and that little roast was done perfect all the way thru at 165 degrees F. I finally found a good use for a turkey.

We had our kids favorite tonight, venison tacos. This is the first grind we have had from last year’s wmu 9F 9-point. I was aching to try it, so I gave away our last few packs of wmu 6c doe grind. That was good, but this is a smidge better. It must be the corn diet that makes the difference.

Pm me, if you want to shoot it so bad that you would give up (10) 12 ga 2-3/4 in Hornady SST’s (currently available at Runnings in Lockport) for (20) of my 4/5 oz, 16 ga Remington sluggers.

So far my record on turkeys is one for one and I would like to keep that perfect record intact. As it have said repeatedly, I was not overly satisfied with the performance of my 12 ga. 3” #5 and extra-full choke on that one fall bird. It took two shots to finish her. She certainly would have expired from my first shot had I been a little more patient. When I was 15, I missed a big buck with the open sights on my Ithaca 37 and I have always blamed that on buck fever and not having a good sight picture when that buck was in close (about 20 yards). The same thing probably resulted in a less than perfect hit on the one and only turkey that I shot with my 12 ga 870 and single bead sight. Since I put that 1.5 Weaver on my Ithaca 16 ga pump, when I was 16, it has not failed to deliver on deer. last years in case you forgot: That is the primary reason I want to use it (with my modified choke barrel) on turkeys. I detest the thought of wounding any animal regardless of how awful it tastes to me. I will gladly choke down a couple of “feathered-rat” breasts if I have to, just for the sport, and to save a little corn for some tastier animals. I know now that I have to get those turkeys within 25 yards, to insure a clean kill, but I am very confident that will be the result if I have that Weaver’s crosshairs on their neck when I send out 1-1/8 oz of lead # 5’s. I would be thankful if I could the first forum member to kill a turkey with a 16 ga. It sounds like you and a few others have done ok with 20’s so it shouldn’t be that tough.

Not in effect yet but pending. There is a current proposal that would make # 9 shot legal starting in Fall, but you still need to stay with # 8 - # 2 in the spring. The math works out that a single # 9 TSS pellet has the same energy downrange as a # 5 lead due to its increased density and the cartridge has much better pattern density due to the smaller size and higher shot count. Maybe I will switch to my full choke .410 next spring if this goes thru. As far as the 16 gauge modified choke goes, Two springs ago I called a tom into about 10 yards of my truck cap blind at home. He came in silent and I wasn't ready with my 12 gauge full choke, so I never got a shot off. In that situation and at that range, a modified choke would have been better. I doubt I will get one within 25 yards this spring because they seem to have disappeared over at my folks place and I have not seen any at home in a over a year. I will keep trying, until the bugs get too bad anyhow.

Manner of Taking You must carry your hunting license and turkey permit while you hunt. You may hunt with a bow or crossbow. You may not hunt turkey with a crossbow in the fall in the Northern Zone if you are using dogs. You may hunt with a shotgun or handgun only when using shot no larger than #2 and no smaller than #8. -pasted from current NY state regs for those who are unsure of shot size etc and # 9 is smaller than # 8 regardless of what material it is made from.

The 16 ga #9 shot TSS ammo, that you just posted is not legal for turkey in NY, because the shot size is too small. You best brush up on the rules, before handing out “free” advice. Kind of like when you thought they changed the rules to require a blaze orange or pink hat AND vest for big game hunting last year, when it was really one “OR” the other. I suspect that the 1-1/8 oz 16 #4 Federal duck and pheasant loads that I will be using will get the job done just fine on a turkey, inside of 25 yards. It looks like most of the more experienced turkey hunters here concur. For someone complaining about my ethics, How “ethical” is it to go hunting without knowing the rules ?

I burned a tank of chainsaw gas in my parents woods today, clearing away a dying ash that was leaning over an atv trail, and chunking up a decent sized cherry that fell in an early winter wind storm, near my new deer/turkey blind. The base was rotted and I left the first couple chunks, but the rest was pretty solid. 4 trips back with dad’s Ranger made about half of a truck load. I have been burning mostly ash in our wood stove at home for about 10 years (since the ash borers started killing them). I can’t wait to burn this cherry. It makes more heat than ash, but the best part is, it does not leave lots of ashes in the stove for cleanup after burning like ash does. I probably won’t hit those woods again until Turkey season opens, but I will definitely be hauling back some more cherry and maple. That edge of the woods is high and dry. It will probably be months before I can get into my muddy woods at home, where all I have to cut is ash. I stopped at the Res for gas on the way home ($ 3.90 per gallon there today).

Pound salt.

Praying for your families quick recovery. 23 % of our workforce was out with it last week, which was by far the highest percentage that we have seen since the start. So far, my own family has not had any serious Covid troubles. My wife tested positive on a home test once, a couple months ago, but had no real visible symptoms. Our older daughter, who is away at college, supposedly had it before Christmas but had no symptoms. Our younger daughter had a high fever shortly after her sister came home for Christmas break and I had a cough, so we both went for PCR tests then, which came out negative. She got a high fever again in February, after my wife had her positive in-home test, and I had the cough again. We both went for PCR tests again then, which again came out negative. I missed just one day of work that last time, while I awaited PCR test results. We have all been vaccinated, but none of us are boosted. The only way that we will do that is if some travel restriction required it. It seems like most of those who have caught the latest variants are vaccinated and boosted. At least that is true with my coworkers and the patients and coworkers that my wife sees at the local doctors office where she works. The “boosters” seem to be a real bad joke. Thankfully, my parents (in their 80’s), and my wife’s parents (in their 70’s) have not had it, but most of each of our siblings families have had it with just minor symptoms.

Decoy at 15 it will be. I value your turkey advice Bill. I like the bigger shot also, mostly because it’s easier to pick out of the meat. I can’t imagine having to pick 7-1/2’s out of a turkey. 6’s probably wouldn’t be that bad, 5’s were ok when I had to do it one time.

It has been a few weeks since my parents have seen any turkeys feeding in the clover plot. Undeterred, I got my 16 gauge modified choke patterned today. Tasks remaining, before the May 1st turkey opener, include setting up my pop up blind over there and sighting in my smaller crossbow, to use in it. I need to use the crossbow because the planned pop up blind location is closer than 400 ft (but more than 250 ft) from a trailer park). I grabbed a bucket full of dirt from a pile on my way back from the range (plus had to go back for (3) more) to repair some winter lawn damage.

No, only a hen in the fall. I am not sure of the range, but I would guess about 35 yards. I was not impressed with the performance of my Remington 870 12 ga with extra full choke and 3” #5’ lead shot and single bead sight. She flew up into a tree, closer to me, after taking my first shot. I was 8 ft up in another tree, behind a 3 ft barnwood wall, much like I plan on using this spring for toms. She dropped out of that tree, after about a minute, into a ditch, probably due to a few pellet hits in the lungs. I shot her again in the head, from point blank range, because she was still flopping around in the water. I have had gobblers answer my calls in the spring and not come in, and I had one come into my call without gobbling. He got to within 15 yards, but caught me by surprise, and I wasn’t able to get a shot off. My first shot at a spring gobbler will most likely be with my 16 gauge. There is a slim chance it could be with my crossbow, because I have one blind location that is too close to a trailer park to use guns. I will probably do 6 or 7 turkey hunts this spring, because I am not planning any May fishing trips with my boat. Our freezer is still very well stocked with fish, and gas prices are astronomical. My plan is to hunt every early May Saturday morning till 11:30 or so at my parents place, where I have two shotgun tree blinds and a “trailer park” pop-up crossbow blind. There is a good population of turkeys over there. I will also hunt most early May Sunday mornings at home for an hour or two before church, where I have been seeing coyotes but no turkeys. Finally, I will bring along my 16 gauge Ithaca, hen decoy, calls, and pop up blind, when we visit the in-laws, at their Adirondack retirement home over Memorial Day weekend. I will only hunt there, if I hear turkeys gobbling while I am out on the lake fishing, in the mornings. On that fall hen, I never patterned the gun and I wasn’t sure of the range. That won’t be the case this spring. I know my limitations. Good luck filling your tags.

Keep pounding Jack.

It lacks a receiver mounted scope and that’s the deal breaker on that. No living thing has survived my Ithaca 16 gauge when my crosshairs were on it when I pull the trigger.

I expected more from the 6’s, but I am glad that the 4’s did better. All the 6’s that I used were Remingtons. That’s what I have always used for rabbits. They have worked very well for them with my side by side. Most shots at those are under 20 yards, and it is choked I/C and mod. Only the 7-1/2’s averaged more pellets in the 2-1/2” circle than the 4’s and just two more. Those are what I use for grouse from the side by side. I am glad that I won’t be wasting any of my good rabbit or grouse ammo on turkeys, because I actually like the taste of rabbits (not as much as squirrels), and grouse (by far my favorite bird). I’ll do my best to limit my range to 25 yards on a turkey with that gun. I will take my laser range finder and verify that my decoy is at 20 yards. And yes Bill, I will center the crosshairs on the neck instead of the head. At least those big #4’s will be easy to pick out of the breast, if any strike there. If I do any more “patterning”, it will be on “live targets” in May.

Pound salt, I’m going with what I got.