dremarquis

Fisherman21 - not only are you an incredible hunter and fisherman, you have one of the cutest and most enthusiastic kids on the planet. KUDOS to YOU! I'm sure he will grow up to be one hell of a hunter and fisherman, not to mention a good man! Andre PS - I "second" Gator on his comment about the lack of need for dogs just above and behind the shoulder!!!

yes, great story. And to turkey hunt with a 410 - wow, that puts a limit on things! Congrats!

that is WILD! - catching eel on artificial rather than bait!

now THAT's cool!!!! what did you catch it on?

i don't see the video

I only now looked in the fishing regs and there is no open season for american eels in any Lake Ontario Tribs, so I won't be fishing for them.

Hi all, I have read that the American Eel is present in the upper reaches of the Genesee river. Why would they not be throughout the entire Genesee river? Does anyone fish for these? I have heard they are very good eating. Are there certain bodies of water in the fingerlakes region or western NY where they can be caught? I'm guessing you fish for them with bait, but what kind? thanks for any info, Andre

Beautiful fish and awesome looking plugs and spoons! Did you paint those yourself? Andre

Rob, I also shoot a CVA Optima V2 with a nitride barrel. I am shooting Barnest Spit Fire TMZs with 100 gr triple se7en and I'm getting golfballs at 100 yards. At the risk of starting a controversy, I no longer clean my barrel like I used to. I followed some guys instructions about simply LICKING the patch and I have noticed my MZ shooting much better. Here are the instructions I follow, FWIW, and I feel awkward posting this because I know so many of you know more about these things than I do (but this has really been working for me): This is taken from somewhere on the web, I can't remember who or where: Here are the steps I follow in loading every shot, every season, every circumstance with all my muzzleloaders. Period. 1. After the shot, lick a clean, cotton patch. (yes, lick a patch; with your tongue) Place it wet side down on top of your barrel. Using your ramrod with a cleaning jag attached, work the patch in ever-lengthening strokes to the bottom of the barrel. 2. Remove the ramrod, flip the patch over and run the other side of the patch to the bottom of the barrel. 3. Remove the ramrod. Discard the patch. 4. Dump in the pre measured powder charge. 5. Seat the bullet until the powder stops compressing. Done. Use this simple five step sequence every time you shoot and groups will shrink and velocities will stay constant, shot after shot. Using this method, I have shot my flintlock 100s of times without a full cleaning. Here are some simple DON'Ts. 1. DON'T use any type of cleaner on the patch. Blackpowder and Pyrodex shoot much, much better on a fouled barrel than they shoot on a clean barrel. Using cleaner will remove the "first shot fouling". The "spit patch" will remove the excess fouling while leaving the "first shot fouling" on the barrel. Chronograph three - five shot strings with the same load. For the first string, do nothing between shots. For the second string, swab with a patch dampened with cleaner. For the third string, swab with a spit patch. You will be amazed at the results. 2. DON'T go hunting with a clean barrel. My best example of this is using Pyrodex RS on a clean barrel with a Knight Wolverine. The first shot out of a clean barrel can be as much as 6" out of the group at 100 yards. With that first fouling shot on the barrel, 1" groups are very common but on a clean barrel, that first shot can be anywhere in that 12" circle. 3. Always seat your bullet using a bullet starter that will not deform the end of the bullet. Deformed bullets may shoot fine at 50 yards but cannot fly the same over extended ranges due to variance in ballistic coefficiency.

i don't think i would even eat that "21 pt doe"! and that piebald looks like a goat to me - FWIW andre

one of those bucks looked incredibly thin - the ribs were so prominent. Do you think he is sick? andre