E J

I'm looking for antler's. If I want meat I'll shoot a doe later on

I saw a flock of 8 or 9 turkeys yesterday afternoon. Two of them were swinging some mighty nice beards! I was a little surprised there were so many all together yet. I think the warm weather next week will get the flock split up a little bit more yet.

The estimate I was given was 10,000. That was before we found out there was solid rock 5 feet down though! I'm hoping it won't get too much higher than that by the time it's all said and done this summer. I think it would be a lot cheaper if you had some slope you were working with. My area is about as flat as it gets so that means a lot of digging. The guy in charge of digging mine figured 2 machines running at 125.00 an hour each for 5 days.

I had him dig a little ditch in a low spot in the field that dumps right into the pond. I'm hoping it will help dry out the field a bit too.

The heavy machinery left today. My builder will be returning this summer when it's dry out to hammer and dig out some rock to put in the deeper areas and do some grading and dirt moving. The pond is filling up real fast with all this rain.

I took a few pics off the top of the dirt pile today. I think by the end of Monday they will have most of what they can do now done.... If it isn't raining too much!

If I can do it I would love to do just what your saying you did with perch walleyes and crappie. How has it worked for you? I have read a bunch that says crappie can be hard to control in a smaller pond. I plan on doing some spawning structures

Thanks guys. I don't know if we'll be able to get to 15 feet or not now. I'm definitely hoping for 12 though. The guy building it thinks we should be able to get that. I'm still not sure just what I want to stock it with but I'm being patient with it. I'll be putting fat heads in this spring sometime and then wait and see what happens. I do know I'd like to have some good perch fishing a couple years from now though.

When it's all done it should be about a half an acre or a whisker bigger in surface area. I was hoping to go about 15 feet deep but I'm not sure now just how deep we'll go. Hopefully in a few years me and my boys will be catching fish like crazy!

More

Some more pics

After what seems like forever my pond was finally started this week. After digging for a few hours the builder called me and said he hit solid rock about 5 feet down. After talking it through with him we decided to keep digging the whole surface area I wanted and come back later this year with a rock hammer on his shovel to dig out the rock to put in the deep holes I wanted. He said ponds made in rock like this are typically really clear, cold and fairly weed free.

Hey, hey, hey! What are you trying to say?? I married a Canisteo girl. Did I get sold a bill of goods?? Ha!

I own 89 currently. I bought my house with 54 of mostly brush, woods and a little swamp. I cleared out a couple acres for plots. Then added 35 last year that is next to it. That piece is mostly open ag field with a little more brushy woods along one side of it. I hold a good doe population but the does keep the bucks out most of the year. I rarely have bucks on camera except during October, November and December. But during that time frame I get quite a few good bucks moving through and hanging out. My neighbors across the road get mostly bucks all year long on their cameras but not hardly any does.

Nice. Fantastic dogs. Mine is the most persistent dog I've ever seen. He's my best buddy but he almost cost me my marriage with his antics between age 6 months and two years! He couldn't not be contained in any sort of fence in the yard. He would dig under or crawl over most anything. He finally mellowed out at age four, at age five now and with a younger lab around he has turned into a couch potato.

As a second best memory. One year the opening morning of PA season I was heading to my lease in Potter county. I was almost there when I realized I had forgotten my vest which had my license, shells and calls in it. So I raced back to camp 40 minutes away and then back to PA. I was rushing back to my spot when I hear gobbling so I didn't make it all the way into my spot. I got set up and had two Tom's headed my way together. When they got into range I shot at one and swore he took off running, so I fired at the other one and I missed by a mile as he was making a run for it. I got up and headed to where they had been and realized the first one didn't get away he laid there dead as a doornail. I sure was glad I missed the second one!

My best so far was my first long beard. My uncle had scouted out his property in Steuben county. I had tagged along with him many times in the past but had killed a Jake on my own mid season the previous year so he must have thought I was ready to go out on my own. Opening morning of 1998 I went out on my own to where he told me to set up. I had action right off the bat but it took him quite a while to work in and a couple of moves on my end. I'll never forget when he popped up onto the logging road below me and starting strutting and spitting and drumming. I held tight and didn't call and didn't dare move. He finally made the move my way up off the logging road after what seemed like forever. I made the shot and was hooked!

I preferred your eggs from a couple of weeks ago personally!

Went out on sodus bay this afternoon. Caught a bunch of dink perch and a handful of keepers. I thought I saw a guy with an Amish looking outfit out fishing but didn't really pay attention until I left a little before 5 and saw a horse and buggy tied to a tree! Would have never guessed that's what I would see today.

Nice catches Chris. I've been flirting with the idea of trying Onieda for the first time but it looks like if it doesn't happen in the next couple of days it might not happen this year with the on coming weather.

Winner on that one

Make sure you use a surfactant with it or it won't work well.

Go get em!

Good luck guys!

Looks like a nice place. How big will your plots be? Is there any agriculture in the area?