Gator

I disagree. Nobody HAS to give up their time. It's a pleasure to be able to help either physically or financially with something that improves our fishery. I understand where you're coming from though. Who volunteers their time to fix potholes for example? But there are things that go above and beyond what we can reasonably expect from our government, and pen-rearing, which is very labor intensive and on-site at many different locations for a short period of time, falls squarely into that category. When it comes to tax dollars, it's all about cost-benefit. Not enough people benefit from pen-rearing to support what it would cost if DEC took the reins. So the stakeholders pitch in. I truly believe that it's a stellar system, an example of us at our best.

If I'm not inducing nausea in somebody, I'm not doing my job right!! C'mon Matt, you've got to stay with us. Your opinions are always well-stated and fun to read, even if I don't always agree completely. It's a great point about how hard new technologies are to introduce, particularly when they're replacing age-old techniques with a large historical database. That's one reason that I got out of fisheries science early and went into molecular genetics. So, a point about that from a conversation that Brian and I had last night. I think we can all agree that the salmon are spawning at an earlier age now than 25 years ago. However, they're the same strain with similar genetics, at least at the DNA level. What's changed? One possibility is the interaction of their genome with the environment. There's a field called epigenetics that come into vogue over the last decade which focuses on how "transient" modifications to our DNA can lead to changes that persist for generations. One of the things that my lab is researching involves how a parent's sensation of food quality can alter reproductive choices in offsping. The point I'm getting to is that Mother Nature has a way of telling life to reproduce more quickly when they're balanced on the edge of survival. I'm not talking starvation...the fish are healthy...what I'm referring to is a "boom-or-bust" lifestyle where nutrient availability isn't constant or where the nutrient quality of the food is somehow suboptimal...it could even relate to a vitamin deficiency. I'm not claiming that this is what is happening. I'm simply saying that it's a possibility based upon what we know and forms a good premise for looking at epigenetic markers in this population. Sorry if I flew my nerd flag too high.

You're right, Brian. But it looks from my vantage point that they tried to hit the same marks, just weren't able to get in all of the trawls in 2016. It's a given that any sort of repeat-measures limnological research is going to have gaps over time. Which makes it hard to put stock in one year's effort. Often, the overall impact is only recognized retrospectively. The baitfish surveys are nice in that there's a rolling record. Fish that were one year old in 2016 but got missed in the trawl would be 2 years old in 2017, which lets them apply a correction. In other words, it's not perfect, but it's the best we have. I wish I'd come to the meeting. Frankly, it was a sh!t day at work and I forgot.

I’m on an oak flat next to a swamp. Not as many nuts falling as I’d hoped. So far, just a four point chasing two die. It’s pretty dank and dismal, but that magic hour is here. My buddy is in the field with his kid and a rifle. Hopefully he gets a crack. Sent from my iPhone using Lake Ontario United

Interesting enough sit. Tommy saw four or five deer, Jim shot a doe, and I had this visitor under my stand, as well as a couple of other doe. No bucks sighted. The only sticker was that when I checked two of the cameras with view screens, they only had a couple dozen photos, mainly of us walking. I have no idea why? I'll leave them and pull the SD cards next weekend. I had hundreds of pics from the first two weeks.

Be careful with the ozone. It'll destroy the rubber on your boots and do a real number on rubberized suspenders. I have a shower curtain in the back of my truck under the cap that I use to give my clothes a ten minute douche twice a season and that's it. Otherwise, boots get baking soda and there's always a fresh spot of fox pee ten yards off my stand. I think I might have gotten busted once or twice last year, but I also had multiple doe downwind that fed through without a care in the world. First sit coming up tonight.

I pulled the SD cards yesterday after having put my cameras up in mid-September. True to form, there were a bunch of doe and yearlings, a couple of scrub bucks, and predators including coons and coyote. I usually see the first shooters show up ~October 15th. I suspect that the bachelor groups are hanging closer to the ag and fruit. I was surprised not to have any turkey in the pictures, given that we've had multiple flocks call the property home over the past few years, but the coyotes may have something to do with that. I also have several doe that look emaciated with ribs showing and a button buck that appears to have mange with tufts of hair coming off his haunches. That's concerning.

Much as I love and respect Brian, Vince, Scott, Rob (agree with Belize, by the way), and others who have voiced their opinions, I will weigh in on the opposite side. Stocking numbers were cut by 20% several years ago, and we had our best fishing arguably ever this past summer. Please correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't the two year old fish we've been pounding the same year class as was cut? If so, the cuts sure didn't impact our success. I hear numerous voices claiming that Lake Ontario can't go the way of other Great Lakes. I disagree. I'd rather accept DEC's management plan and be wrong than crash the fishery entirely. That having been said, I don't fish for lake trout and Nothing but Net would be sold if the king fishery disappeared.

Well, stupid never dies. I was back out in the woods planting the rest of my trees this afternoon. Luckily, no more close encounters, but every time I heard a buzzing sound, I flipped my sh!t. Not much sign at my place yet. Soon though.

Word to the wise: be cautious of ground bees this time of year. My buddy and I were putting up a new stand and we must have disturbed a hive. I got nailed just below the eye and he got tagged five times on his belt line. This was half an hour after. It's swollen almost shut now. Benadryl and ice packs the rest of today.

No, but occasionally Keith H. puts on a deer costume, douses himself in doe urine and poses seductively beneath my tree stand. I've never shot anything over him though. Matt, now's the time of year to look at those hedgerow apples and tie a ribbon around the ones that look or taste like they have potential. We missed the window last year, but I'd be pleased to lend you my very limited skill set and top work them in March.

I have a combination of Bushnell Trophy and now all my newer cameras are from Browning. If you can, try to find the BTC-5HDE model, which is the "Elite HD" that Rob mentioned. They show as sold out on the Browning site, but may be available from other sources as a late year model. I bought a few of the earlier/lower end Browning cameras cheap, and they weren't nearly as good. I haven't tried this year's models. I've been shooting on and off for a few weeks now and I mowed the trails at our property for the second and final time yesterday. The boat gets pulled this morning, and it's on to thinking about tree stands. September is a crazy month.

Ooohhhh .