Gator

Where exactly do you attach those leads for recharging your batteries? Good luck, all.

Yeah, rubs and scrapes opening up everywhere. We have some cut stump bushes where nearly every overhang is torn up. Mostly little guys, but we've also started to get pictures of a couple shooters this week. Too bad I've got no desire to sit in 80 degree weather. It's tough to envision even taking a doe this week for smoked bacon burgers. Just the bugs on the meat while processing would gross me out.

We lost three of our four shooters one year to vehicles, and the fourth was found weeks dead near somebody's stand at the start of MZ.

Back to the topic. Did anyone else read in the Sportsman News last week that the DEC has created an office of Indian Nation Affairs and a new position to interface with indigenous peoples? I'm in favor of being cognizant and respectful of native rights, but I hate to see our bureaucracy become even more bloated. Does this require a brand new office and appointments? It seems like part of the job description for existing positions. Meliora, I guess.

Agreed. Last couple days have seen some daylight photos of decent bucks. The week prior to Halloween is my favorite kind of candy on years like this...

Nice! And Billy...I hope Tommy didn't request an HD image lol.

Losing two weekends to vacation in the ADK necessitated all-day stand work, and it's not done yet, but we don't have any huge bucks patterned either, so early October is still fair game for last minute trimming and blind work. I am definitely not feeling prepared. At least all of our stands have been scouted for safety issues; lifelines make the high stands that much more trustworthy, and straps were all replaced last year. Onwards!

Au contraire, mon frere. If there was only one leader who could turn this around, we'd be in a heap of trouble. Together, we can all turn this around, regardless of who's at the helm. I believe in people, not demagogues.

I pick your boat for my fantasy fishing quarterback next year

DEC is going nuts trying to figure out how to get rid of the walleye, since they're impacting the trout fishery. Unlike Owasco, there's no alewives in SkinnyAssless, so the walleye have fun loving freely. I think there was a recent article, maybe in NY Sportsman?

Availability? What availability lol? It's just crazy how busy things are, all the time. Self-inflicted wounds though -- ie, headed to ADK for a week of climbing and paddling soon. And don't even talk to me about treestands or clearing shooting lanes. I think that we are in the midst of some strange astrophysical time compression thing.

You were planting no till into buckwheat for a few years...what was the final take on that? Continued or moved on? We should really hook up for property tours, being so close to each other.

Pretty sure I recognize that guy...

We run a bunch of them, as well as Moultrie. Make sure that you set them up at home and verify that they work as advertised. I had one that needed to be replaced in the first year. It only took three months and two trips to their headquarters lol. I'm also a big fan of running them off external 10 Ah lithium batteries (Nermark on Amazon is ~$45). Lithium AA are expensive, and these cameras eat them. Buy once, cry once. Be aware that you need smaller connector cable than for many other brands (Tactacam takes 4 x 1.7 mm connectors, while Moultrie takes 5.5 x 2.1 mm). The cheap, gasketed Plano field boxes can be had for less than $10. This setup will last you all season (remember: protect the cord from critters with corrugated electric conduit). Run the wire from underneath over the camera and under a strap before going to the battery to keep it from being pulled out. Make absolutely sure you use the recommended drive 32gb Class 10 U3 sd card. Hard to go wrong with Sandisk. Finally, figure out whether your ATT or Verizon signal is better where you're hanging them, and insert the right SIM card before you get to the woods. Hey, you did ask for tips lol.

Meh. It's easier to find somewhere else to play. Big lake, lots of fish, life's too short.

This is a review article that summarizes the latest work on factors influencing lifetime reproductive success in salmonid species. It's dense but worth wading through, although oriented more toward generating progeny than spawning age (which is just one factor among many). Obviously, a complicated topic. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8372082/ A recent study of Alaskan salmon in a VERY good journal suggests that the declining body size they see in their returns is driven mainly by earlier reproductive age and can be attributed at least in part to increased competition for food (you have to see the number of hatchery derived pink salmon - forget their returning to spawn every two years, the streams are littered with them on a yearly basis). It's not Lake Ontario, but similar principles should apply. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-17726-z